Five Simple Things (April 23)

Hello.

Yesterday was Earth Day. Did you hug a tree? We enjoy Earth Day for the simple fact it's like a day to give a thank you to Mother Earth. Sort of like her Mother's Day. 

Some facts about Earth Day:

1. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. Organizers thought this date would maximize student participation because it fell between spring break and final exams for children of school age. The more students got involved the more the information would spread of the day's importance. 

2. Earth Day went global in 1990. About 10 years later the United Nations General Assembly designated April 22 as the day of International Mother Earth Day.

3. Today, Earth Day is the largest observance in the world as far as celebrations and is celebrated by over a billion people worldwide.

We didn't plant a tree, but we have this Poplar Tree that sprouted in the backyard that we've been taking care of. We gave it extra love, as well as the other plants, and sat outside enjoying the day. Our poor Crabapple might have become a victim of the wildfires last year. It hasn't bloomed at all yet and we are thinking it may have succumbed to the ash and lack of sun from last summer. We are hoping we can save it, so fingers crossed. We went out to eat for the first time this week since the pandemic started. We went to HUB in Portland, Oregon. And, I'll tell you, it was odd eating out for the first time in awhile. There wasn't any plastic dividers between the tables, but everyone was spaced out and the waiter wore a face mask the entire time. We had to keep our on until our food came. We don't eat out a lot and mostly cook at home, but after this, I'm not sure we'll go out again for awhile. We also spent the weekend at the coast surfing at Devil's Punchbowl/Agate Beach. It was a nice surf trip to be able to practice surfing more. Surfing is an extremely addicting sport. Here are five things this week.

1. This Food.

Although going out to eat this week was odd, HUB's beer cheese and pretzel sticks were great

2. This Strawberry.

We experimented with melted chocolate and ended up creating the cutest heart-shapes inside of strawberries. I may post a tutorial on this later on the blog, but for now, we're going to eat them all.

3. This Snake.

Our yard is a haven, even with our ducks, for all kinds of animals. We seem to find several garden snakes every year. Skylar likes to pick them up and play with them for a bit before letting them go. It's been a great educational tool during our classroom time, too.

4. This Perspective. 

Skylar brought me something to drink and at just the right moment I noticed he was in focus through the ice cube that was sticking over the top of my glass. Little things like this should be important to everyone. Maybe the world would be a better place and have a lot more love in it if people focused on the right things.

5. This Morning.

I've had some bad mental health days this week. Mental health and mental illness are two separate things, but when my mental illness gets too overwhelming, my mental health declines. Jeff and Skylar knew when this happens, and they know exactly what to do to make me feel better and help me through it. I got breakfast in bed this week and a "day off," which I needed. Everything on that plate is organic. Organic hash browns, organic eggs, organic chilies in the eggs, organic sausages. This breakfast we have when we are treating the other person and it's one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Of course, I didn't cook it, so that's one reason it was delicious.☺ The word searches on the right were ones I got before my surgery last year and I finally got to finish them all. It was a good day.

Did you get a chance to view the Beehive Cluster this week?

Positive affirmations this week:

Take risks is the phrase, but how about taking risks that reap great rewards for you in the end? Jumping from an airplane seems like a risk that would be associated with risk-takers, but what about other risks that most people don't think about. Like, starting a business, starting a blog, taking more pictures and posting them online, putting yourself out there, cutting off people that no longer serve your life, or even taking up a new sport that you didn't think you'd ever try? These are a few risks I've taken in the last two years. Risks fall under a category that is something you wouldn't normally do, if normal even has a definition. Risk-taking is something we should all do and never get comfortable, or settle. Settle for anything and you're doomed. So, make that an affirmation for yourself-risk something in the coming year. It's all or nothing. Start small and see where it takes you and how great it feels.

Have a nice weekend.

Five Simple Things (April 16)

Hello.

This week we took a trip up the Cascade Mountains and played in the snow for a little while. It was nice to get out of the Valley and away from some of the stressors that seem to frequent the area where we live. It seems that Linn County here in Oregon is constantly having someone protesting something and right now people are protesting having to wear face masks. I don't understand the mentality behind people that protest protecting themselves and others. The selfishness is unbelievable among people nowadays and it's extremely annoying. The protesters claim the face masks are like dog muzzles. Clearly there's only ignorance behind the protests. I hope the face mask wearing continues forever, honestly. I like the fact that no one recognizes me. As an introvert, it's nice to be able to walk into a store, get what I need, and leave without being held up by someone wanting to brag about themselves. I'm joking, of course. Well, kind of, but it is nice to run in and run out sometimes. We also took a few pictures of Jeff in his fire department uniforms. He officially resigned/retired this week and it was bitter sweet. There were several reasons why he did this. One main reason is, we are moving, but another reason is because he didn't feel welcome in the district anymore. He learned a lot and thanked them for the training, but overall, they burned him out. Plus, other relatives being part of the district made it awkward for him to even step foot when they were around. Jeff is too proud to admit it, but being treated outside the district as a business deal, or a burden really wore on him over the years. It was hard watching him day in and day out go through that type of abuse. Those that do it don't even realize the toll they took on him. But, on a positive note, he is in a much better place and said he feels less weight on his shoulders. Here are five things this week.

1. This Snow.

As stated above we took some time and drove up to the Cascades and played around in the snow for a bit. It's weird that it's 75 degrees just 20 miles from where we were, but because we're up in the mountains, of course we got just what we wanted with the snow, too, and it was a fun day.

2. These Boxes.

Mighty Nest

Mully Box.

Cairn.

3. This Kitty.

I woke up to her meowing and thought she needed something and realized it was 9:00 a.m. She knew it wasn't normal for me to sleep that long and she was meowing to make sure I was okay. She's such a sweet cat. I am glad she picked us.

4. This Retirement/Change.

Jeff officially retired from the Lebanon Fire District this week. I helped him type up his departing letter and it was bittersweet. He was glad to be giving it a break, though. He said he's burned out on the fire department, especially the one he gave 10 years of his life to. It's a good change and good things to come. We love you, Jeff, and we will always be on your team.

5. This Episode.

Our latest podcast episode is out this week. It's a murderous nurse that had only thoughts of herself and what she wanted over others. Check it out at the podcast link at the top of the blog, or here.

Did you check out the new moon this week? It was a beautiful sight. New Moons normally bring about changes, so I am looking forward to positive changes coming soon.

Positive affirmations this week: 

"Today is a bad day, but tomorrow is a new day" 

Sometimes bad days make us think we have bad lives and that isn't true. Just because one day is bad don't let it keep you from trucking forward and getting better and staying the course. You can do this!

Have a nice weekend.

Five Simple Things (April 9)

Hello.

We had a great Easter this year. We got Skylar a lot of the things he wanted, including a Ping golf hat he's been looking at for a few months now. He has been wearing it almost every day since Easter. Oddly enough, this is the first Easter I can remember where it didn't rain at least once in the day. It was mild temperatures and sunny. That isn't normal for this area. I have never liked Easter, but with the rain every year it made it worse. But, this year it was actually nice. We used to do Easter baseball games, but we stopped doing those a few years ago because of the field being plotted for construction. Hopefully, when we get some land we can have some fun with the baseball again. Here are five things this week.

1. This Salt.

Did you realize that most salt we use contains trace amounts of plastics? Sea salt has more plastics in it than we know. But, Only Salt contains zero plastics and it tastes great. The crystals are larger than regular salt, and therefore you end up using less. We love their pinch bowls for easy filling and use. You can check them out here and get a 7 ounce bag here.

2. This Juice.

I juiced about 14 lemons this week in order to have fresh lemon juice for our smoothies. We've been trying to drink smoothies in the morning for breakfast to get more fruits and vegetables in. The vegetables have come in the form of spinach right now, but we hope to incorporate more over time. 

3. This Date.

Last Saturday was a fun date. I always love it when dates create interesting number combos. Saturday it was 4-3-21.

4. This Marblescope.

I bought this marblescope for a Christmas present this past December, but decided to keep it for myself. I have zero regrets. It is relaxing to look through and actually calms my mind at the end of the day. I want to take pictures through it at the coast and see how they turn out. Something to look forward on our next surfing trip. You can get one like this here.

5. This Cat.

Grace is one of the neighborhood feral cats and she's otherwise skittish, but every once in awhile she'll come over and let us pet her. She's a sweet cat and she's the oldest of the other five ferals that live on our street. 

Positive affirmations this week: "Naming a struggle you're facing right now and how are you able to begin to overcome it?"

Getting past childhood trauma. I am able to overcome it slowly with therapy, meditation, and reminders of self worth. It's a slow process, but every day I see some small amount of change. Some days I get set back, but it's only one day and I know that one bad day doesn't undo all of my hard work. One day I will look back on all this and be proud of how far I've come and how hard I worked to get past it. I won't ever fully be over it, but at least I won't let it define me anymore. If you are struggling with something similar, I wish you all the best and I hope one day you can look back on how far you've come, as well. We can do this!

Have a nice weekend.

Easter 2021

We spent Easter at home, like most people this year. After 2020 I think a lot of people just want to keep things simple and calm. We haven't done much for Easter in a few years and actually are homebodies anyway, so we enjoyed just staying at home and not having any excitement. Skylar loved his Easter basket this year and that's one thing I enjoy putting together for him. He got one thing he really wanted, so we were happy to see him get so excited about it. This year Jeff and I put bills in eggs and hid them around the yard for him to find. It was $100 in total and it took Skylar about an 30 minutes to find them all. We ate and relaxed mostly and it was a good day.

Five Simple Things (April 2)

Hello.

This week we tried the soap berries/nuts that came in this month's Kiwi Eco Box. They were pleasantly surprising. We also went back to Gorge Performance in Portland to check out some of their surfboards. We have a few in mind that we want, but we need more practice on the foam boards for right now. I am really enjoying surfing and I have found myself wanting to go surfing during the week, even. It's very addicting. We also had a lot of spring show it's colors this week and one including the cherry tree in the backyard. It's always so pretty this time of year and loads of honeybees and other pollinators love it, too. Here are five things this week.

1. This Shop.

This place has become one of our favorite places to hang out now. They are super nice here and they seem to always have what we're looking for. We love them!

2. This Box.

In this month's Kiwi Eco Box was soap berries/nuts and we enjoyed using them. They are supposed to clean just as well as regular laundry detergent and they really did clean well. I am going to keep using them until they are used up and then compost them. Definitely an eco-friendly alternative. You can sign up for next month's Kiwi Eco Box here.

3. These Blooms.

The best thing about having a cherry tree in the backyard is when it blooms in the spring and all of the pollinators come to visit it. And, the cherries, of course.

4. This Wash.

The car wash in our city installed neon lights as you go through the wash and Skylar and I love it. Since getting my car, it's been fun driving it through. I love how my car looks all clean and shiny. 

5. This Episode.

We spent this week recording our latest episode of the podcast and edited a few places to possibly work in some background sounds like car keys jingling, car horns, horses hooves, etc. We are hoping to incorporate some sounds in possibly the next season, but right now we are just experimenting. You can listen to this latest episode at the podcast link at the top of the blog, or here. 

Positive affirmations this week: "What was the last thing that made you laugh?"

During a road trip with Skylar and Jeff and Skylar telling us jokes. His laugh makes me laugh. I love how genuine his laughs are and how pure his laughter is. He is such a great, funny, and awesome kid.

Have a nice weekend.

End of March 2021 (1 Second Every Day)