A Day's Work

Sarah Young's Jesus Calling Devotional
I am clinging to this message!

The cutest little individual sized cantaloupe, creamed peas
and potatoes, and mixed green salad.

Kendra's celebration birthday party at work!  It was really nice!  We work with such an awesome team!

Have you ever made macaroni salad!?  It's kind of a new awesome thing in my life!
Fresh watermelon, tomatoes, and beet tops!  Oh, and of course, BACON!!

Today's Harvest!  *Bountiful Blessings*

After a long day's work at work and on the farm, we retired to the amazing
hot tub under the stars!

~ Stop and Smell the Flowers ~

Happy lunchtime out on the ole' school desk with
fresh garden produce!

Honeysuckle in bloom around gazebo!

"Weeds" around the gazebo that I LOVE!

Taking a moment to pause and enjoy this beautiful day!  Our hammock is a great place to do that!

My man working hard to maintenance our mowin' machine!  This eXmark is awesome!  It makes our mowing our yard go really fast!

Bountiful Harvest

....and the very next day......these gardens are incredible, absolutely amazing!

Bountiful, Bountiful!

Life on the Farm

We cleaned up at Five Rocks this morning.
God blessed us with overcast!

I took these pictures on two different days.  Pretty neat to see the sky in both!

We were able to share an early supper together this evening!  This was an awesome feeling to have been able to have supper ready when Heath got home!  Then, we were able to head out into the garden!

Version #1:  Homegrown peas, marinara with mushrooms served
over spaghetti noodles, complete with hotdog bun garlic bread!

Version #2:  Homegrown peas, mushrooms, yellow zucchini
with garlic and onions, spinach salad with tomatoes and cucumbers!

Life on the Farm!

So, I inadvertently created a monster with our animals!  When the kittens were babies, I randomly grabbed a peacock feather lying close to me on the ground and used it to play with them.  My goal was to help them with their paw/eye skills to become good mousers (that is their job around here).  Turns out, now that they are a little bigger and also a bit braver, they now go after the feathers that are still attached to Petey!  Cats:  'Mom, but they look the same?!  What's wrong with this?  Isn't this what you taught us?!'  Oh, the things we learn as we go....

A little wee one!

Oh, how wonderful!

Oh, how marvelous!

Oh, how beautiful!

We are grateful!  Thank you Lord for blessing us with a bountiful harvest!

Garry and Barb's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Party day is finally here!  It seems like it has been in the works for such a long time!  So glad that all of the out of town guests made it safe and sound!  On our way out the door, we found our mama kitty in labor.  2 kittens out and more on the way!  I wonder how many she will have!?  Easy birthday to remember!  When I got home last night, I was soooo surprised that she was still pregnant, she looked as if she could pop at any given moment.

*C*E*L*E*B*R*A*T*I*O*N*

Beautiful ~ Bride

Once in a while, in an ordinary life, Love gives us a Fairy Tale.

Day #8: Wednesday

Yummy breakfast = GO power!

Good breakfast and start to the day and a lovely walk to the Clinic.  When I arrived, I was just in awe of this large lobby full of people from all over the world and from all sorts of different backgrounds.  This place is absolutely amazing and the memories that I have from here are so very positive!

~ Mayo Lobby ~

My prayer for Rose today!

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I finally found the stairs that go all the way up to the 14th floor.  Once I found them, it has been my morning routine to use them at least on my first PT visit for the day....sometimes again later in the day!  This was a fun, challenging way for me to increase my steps without making it a big deal.  It was a great fit into my overall plan of implementing simplicity while also using exercise as a stress reliever.

Ever since I saw that picture hanging above the couch in my Air B& B, I wanted to see the real deal!  The Kahler Hotel is directly across the street from the Mayo Clinic and, in fact, it is connected underground through "the Subway."  The picture portrays a swimming pool on the roof of a building with a BIG old-school red light up sign above.  Earlier in the week I had tried to go up to see the swimming pool on the top floor, but it was locked and you had to be a key-carrying guest.  I decided to try again at a later time.  Today, I tried again, but instead of going straight up there, I stopped at the front desk and asked if I could just take a peek at the pool.  They made me a temporary key and had the security guard on duty direct me how to get there.  It was fun and kinda creepy at the same time.  I rode up this old, creaky elevator to the top floor and then had to find a 'secret' set of stairs to then walk the rest of the way up to find it completely empty.  I found this interested because upon arrival to the pool, they had a wheelchair access entry into the water.  This was the place that the picture was taken and now I can say that "I've been there."  It seems that this was an iconic hotel back in its day.  It definitely needs some upgrading/updating I would say, but you can't beat the location for Mayo patients!

Kahler Hotel
Pool Seen = CHECK!
~ Mission Accomplished ~

Lunch TIME!  Tomatoes, mozzy cheese, and homemade beet chips....

and goulash!

I made it a point today, in between appointments, to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather with my book.  My goal is to finish this book before I leave (or at least make a good effort)!  It's a great book and I really like the idea of a "Supper Club" as Jen refers to it.  Just getting together the good ole' fashioned way.  Visiting each others homes and sharing a sit down meal together; she even offers recipes!  This got my wheels turning to think of 3 other husband/wife couples that we could "all do life together."  Lots of prayer will go into creating a "Supper Club" of our own!

In PT today, we had 'arts and crafts' class.  I learned how to make my very own balloon drop kits.  This balloon is used in conjunction with the biofeedback meter to retrain my muscles how to relax.  The only way to expel this balloon is to relax those muscles.  We, of course, had to make my balloons lots of bright colors!  The last one that I am to use is light pink because Rose wants me to remember her and all that she has taught me during our two week program together.  Rose said these balloons should last me several years and that the are reusable!  LOL, somehow that was initially gross to me until I learned the whole cleaning process.

After my last session, I headed home and had a plan.  Since, it was a nice day and my mama was coming into town tomorrow, I decided to give my plan a whirl!  I had my eye on this inflatable water park just a few miles down the road.  Since, this past weekend I did not feel up to driving to Wisconsin to go to Noah's Ark like Heath and I had originally thought would be fun, this was the next best thing.  Just a few miles down the road, I packed a towel and some snacks and hit my bike.  I used this as a fun little tour to see the town by bike and explored several of the trails in their amazing bike system.  The beach was free and nice and sandy and sunny!  I found a nice, quiet little spot to set up a camp for a short while.  But before I did this, I had to check out the inflatable water park connected to the beach.....maybe later, I thought to myself, maybe later....

Fun times relaxing on the sandy beach!

After I laid in the nice warm sand and read for a while, I was nice and relaxed.  It was a super nice feeling that I let linger, but still had a small desire to check out the water park....so....I did!  When I went over there, I told the guy that I only had 30 minutes to do it and he offered a pro-rated rate which was super nice and totally unexpected.  I got my lifejacket and got into the cold water.  I was a bit hesitant at first because those of you who know me, know that stuff touching me in open water totally scares me.  (For being an open water swimmer in tris, I'm still not sure why this bothers me....)  So, I counted to three (with another little kid) and we swam really fast and awkward with my lifejacket on over to the park.  The seaweed totally freaked me out but, GUESS WHAT??  I made it!  I met another girl about my age and she asked if I was here with my kids.  "Nope, just me, " I replied.  It was 99% kids out there running around playing tag and climbing and jumping and sliding like crazy and having a great time.  I watched them to see how to use some of the different obstacles.  My favorite, which I totally conquered, were the rainbow shaped monkey bars.  I DID IT!  It's been years since I have done monkey bars and straight across ones at that, these went up in the middle and then back down on the sides.  I called Heath and told him that I need some of these to play on at home please!  Boy, will I be sore tomorrow!

Foster Arend Park Inflatables

While walking over to the water park,
I stopped to pick a 4-leaf clover!

On the way home, I tried a different route sort of on purpose, sort of on accident.  It was quite lovely and shaded.  I even saw this sweet little deer having a bite to eat.  She wasn't afraid of me even when I paused to take out my camera to capture this moment.

*God Winks*

When I first arrived to town, Kristi - my landlord - recommended a yoga class that she really liked and thought that I would enjoy.  It happened to be full, but she invited me to a different class that was offered tonight.  I thought that would be a great way to end my day, so I went.  It ended up not  quite working out for me because they were burning some type of incense that gave me a headache.  No big deal, I just went outside and waited for the class to finish to thank Kristi for inviting me and for such a lovely place to stay!

Lovely supper with fish!

Day #7: Tuesday

Fresh granola with some frozen berries topped with a little
half and half, sprouted toast, and tea with cream to get
my morning started off right!

The bookmark Justin made me
in Home Economics at Mitchell.

Today, I was at the Clinic for a very long time.  Oh, so much was learned!  I had the opportunity to attend several classes offered at the Cancer Patient Education Center in the Clinic lobby along with my two PT sessions with Rose.  It is so funny how perspective can change in such a short period of time.  Last week what seemed slightly awkward is now my new "normal."  I was able to prep for my session while continuing to visit with Rose and also visit the whole time I was doing my biofeedback.  No biggie!  What a blessing to receive all these wonderful lessons today!

I Spy: a very small spider in the top-left
corner diligently spinning her web on the
14th FLOOR!

When Rose came out to get me today for my first session, she paused briefly to point out a spider gently and quietly spinning her web outside the window (above).  My first thought was:  this really isn't a big deal for this country girl until I grasped her point.  She reminded me that we are on the FOURTEENTH floor...now, that has a totally different meaning!  How did she get up there?  She is suspended by a small thin silky-web thing, that's it, hanging upside while moving up/down/backwards/forwards then repeat.  She's not scared, just doing her thing.

*PAUSE* is a good word for me to remember because it is in these moments that we can really feel, acknowledge, and then therefore appreciate all of life's little God winks.  Without Rose's pause, I would have totally missed the reverence for God's amazing creation!  This is a little reminder for me to work to incorporate brief *pauses* throughout my days, weeks, months, life.

The first class I took this morning after PT was the "10 Minute Artist."  In this class, I met a gentleman who was here to get cancer treatments on his eye.  He was a regular in this class as the teacher knew his name and his story.  He was jolly and had a great sense of humor.  I also met with this other lady whom I had been running into quite a bit with a similar schedule as me.  When we connected today in this class, we realized that we are both in the pelvic floor therapy program.

We were making these cute little clay potted succulents in this class.  We got to pick out the decorative tape to place on the pot and then all we had to do was pop in the fake succulent and we had a cute little project to take home.  Now, for any of you that have tried to place take on a curved object know that there will be wrinkles.  OH noooooo, not WRINKLES!  This was a great time to practice desensitization and not allowing my perfectionism to ruin the fun and simplicity of this project, sooooo can you believe it, I left the wrinkles!?!?  YAY ~ one small step forward ~ I will take it as a win!  Thank you God for bringing this small example to my mind and allowing me to work through my struggles.

Cute ENCOURAGING *FUN* project!

At the close of this class, the teacher said there was another class titled "Releasing Stress and Renewing Energy" beginning right now if any of us would like to attend.  I still had an hour before the next class that I wanted to take, so I happily went next door to this class.  Boy am I sure glad I walked through those doors.  None of these classes require signing up or anything of that nature, you just simply show up.  The beauty in this class was the attendees.  The instructor did a great job facilitating so that we could all learn from each other.  WOW, was this good especially after identifying my struggles with perfectionism and OCD.  The class consisted of a woman dealing with cancer and her brother (caregiver) and another lady who was also a cancer patient.  The one lady was like me and didn't know how to relax and everything has to be "just so" and we never sit still while the other lady was the total opposite and needed a little motivation.  The brother, he just liked his coffee.  He was the most laid back person that I have ever met and he was not stressed at all.  He shared that it could take him 3 days to mow the yard simply because he "likes his coffee."  He breaks often for his coffee and that's ok with him.  The yard will be there the next day(or the next or the next) and it will get done (eventually) on his schedule.  I LOVE IT!

Can you believe all these people were brought to this class at this time and for me to get invited at the last minute?  I feel like this class was one of the most valuable ones I have attended as it was a very healthy group session of each of us sharing our fears, doubts, and hopes.  Listening from two totally opposite perspectives really helped me gain balance on what my new "normal" could look like while searching for that balance.  It was amazing and the leader did such a great job facilitating all of our stories that were being shared and turning them into teaching points.  We learned that sometimes the fears and concerns and worries we have today are actually tomorrow or "Wednesday's worries" or next month's worries.  And guess what?!  Sometimes by the time tomorrow or Wednesday or next month rolls around, that concern is no longer relevant!  Why spend time worrying today about something that might not ever happen?

The next class was called "Reverence and Awe."  Since I had used my hour between classes to attend another class I politely asked if I could eat my lunch during this session.  She was totally fine with it!  YAY!  This was a large class and the instructor really just spoke of giving people and moments reverence and seeing them for what they really are.  The "pause" I was referring to earlier seems to be a good fit for what she was telling us.  Notice and acknowledge.  By incorporating this "pause" to celebrate milestones, chosen traditions, and memories (which bestows honor).  She mentioned that we become so hardened, so 'used to stuff,' and so desensitized to things that happen in our world today.  We take things for granted.  Celebrating the birth of a new born child ~ a true miracle from God.  Social media does a great job of trying to tell us what we don't have and what we 'should' have instead of being thankful for what we already have been given or what we have already worked hard for.

"THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS TO LIVE YOUR LIFE:  ONE AS THOUGH NOTHING IS A MIRACLE OR AS THOUGH EVERYTHING IS A MIRACLE."
~ALBERT EINSTEIN~

What a great way to look at life.  Why not, I ask myself!?  

Take the time to look at your friend/spouse/family/boss while you are talking, stop what you are doing when they are talking, listen to them, engage with them....woah do I have a lot to work on!  Thank you, oh so humbling, class!

Next up, PT session with Rose and then to a class called "Creative Support," using different techniques to relax.  This teacher had us close our eyes and led us through this short relaxing thing.  It was a good summary/review of what I have learned through the other offerings.

The last class I had chosen for the day was Tai Chi Chih.  I had a couple hour break in between classes, so I was hoping it was going to be a really good one.  It was interesting to say the least.  Full of basic, very slow gentle movements and breathing exercises.  This was definitely not for me.  By this point in the day, it was hard to hold my attention for this class.  It was taught by a really nice lady who had a cool accent!

After a very fulfilling (and exhausting) day at the Clinic, I was on my walk home when I passed this sign (below).  Now, I have passed this sign at least twice a day for the past week.  But today, it read in a different way to me.  I read this sign COLON Building.  Gently giggling and smiling to myself, I paused to get my camera out to take a picture.  I was the only one who engaged in this exchange with the sign, but it tickled me so.  God has a way of adding humor even during the tough times in life.  CAMP COLON you are wearing off on me.  I am grateful for this sense of humor!

COLON Building?!?! Really Kinsey. Great to stop and
share a smile with GOD!

On my walk home, I took the time to rest at a small park with a beautiful fountain and park benches.  I got to enjoy a conversation with my Mama on the phone and take in the sights and sounds of the day while sitting under a big ole' shade tree.  I was exhausted and taking this short break was sooooo worth it.  I was rewarded by being recharged to finish my trek home.

Fountain at the park.

Wonderful, simple supper....

....and dessert!  Wonderful stuff!

Here is a picture of all the hair care products that my landlady sent with her hubby yesterday!  What a fun way to treat my hair to a little vacation too!

All the Monat hair products Kristi let me try.
THANK YOU!