Grow Through It

This year has been a doozy so far. How are you? I have been experiencing a lot of growing, and while growing is by theory wonderful it requires a lot of energy and faith. And if you know me, I am a worrier for sure. I am excited to update on all the things that have occured so far this year, and do a massive photo dump. I’m sure I won’t cover everything but I’m excited to share. Lets start with the winter, though summer is knocking on the door.

I played tennis all winter, except in the snow, which was honestly brutal but the irony is, now I have to get reacclimatized to the heat outside. Has that ever happened to you? I also was forced into doing indoor kickball which was a ton of fun but man some sleep would’ve been great. The not so fun part? The drive!! Do not ask me how far I had to drive.. that is honestly a thing I am going to try to reduce this summer because driving for me is tiring, and at night all bets are off. I have no idea how I make it anywhere and back. seriously.

Next, I have now started a new hobby that I honestly love, and that is bird watching. Yes, you read that correctly, Bird Watching!! It is so fun and peaceful and I have met some lovely friendly people including a wonderful guide who I am excited to partner up with this year. The local park we visited felt like we were somewhere else with the early morning dew. I look forward to going back there and doing a nice walk.

The next sport I have added into my weekly reps is swimming. Which has been great. I have really enjoyed getting laps in at the pool and now I am wondering if I should have auditioned for the Olympics. Joking! Or am I? Can I also say RIP to my hair. I know for a lot of people swimming is hindered due to hair but don’t let it be. Get a good cap and get to swimming. I do feel sad for the baddie in me that wants to have straight hair more often but alas, that is not possible.

Lastly I just finished spring kickball and spring tennis knocked on the door. I have been enjoying daily walks, and just soaking up the weather. With all of this activity I have run into a hiccup along the way. I have had some knee issues that have escalated and am currently in PT. I won’t elaborate here but I am excited to begin the healing journey.

I also did my first solo hike for my birthday, accidentally. Will totally prefer not to do that again, especially when its getting dark, and its raining. For me I don’t feel totally safe, for personal reasons, but it was an adventure that will get it’s own blog post. And overall Im glad I did it (I did not intend to hike alone, and did not dress or prepare for hiking), but I was safe in the end and made a wonderful memory.

Lastly, I cannot wait to share my veggie garden and plants. My plants have currently freaked me out because they decided they wanted act weird all of a sudden. I panicked due to leaves yellowing on my fiddle. So I am doing some testing now, and an array of other things. I hope to start giving my plants rain water again. They were so spoiled and then they switched to tap (boooo). If you have any suggestions on collecting rain water please let me know!!! I feel like my plants really loved it. I am sure they are screaming at me. I cannot collect from my type of gutter, so how do you get rain water? Please let me know. My plants are so big now and require A LOT. I added 2 new plants to the line up by the way, don’t ask me why, or how, or if I have space.

Pretty though right?

I will stop here. Let me know what your plans are this summer! I look forward to sharing more tips, my experiences, outdoor adventures, and health and wellness with an emphasis on children, and senior friendly posts.

I also have a batch of lip balms in the making and some nice body scrubs that I have made in the past. Next post is on being more aggressive!!!

If you have anything you want to see or tips on anything specifically let me know. I am excited to share and grow with you as we grow through it!

cute heart on the softball field. ttyl

Bald Eagles, Harriet Tubman, and Wind

I still have a post on more ways to combat and improve food waste soon but i’m looking to do something special with my mini-me to convey the message more uniquely so stay tuned. In the mean time….

A little over a week ago my mini me and I set out on a fun Saturday adventure. We went to an Eagle Festival on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and it was a fantastic time, despite those deathly winds. A swift reminder that if you’re traveling over an hour, the weather will probably vary. I dressed SO wrong for this day it wasnt even funny.

My outfit was a cross between spring fitness, grocery store run, indoor rock climb haha. Seriously.. On our itinerary was a Harriet Tubman underground railroad hike and somehow I envisioned muddling through the marsh, climbing trees, getting dirty… ehhh I think I exaggerated a bit. Anyway, my goddaughter and I had a lovely time and ill share some of the highlights and troublesome moments…

1. They had a lot of children activities, my little explorer got to paint a shirt, make buttons and more. She loved it!

We went on a 2 hour eagle prowl with a group and it was awesome.. Saw so many eagles! Did I mention I lost our tickets to our reserved spot? Yea.. they fell out my pocket, but somehow we managed to find a ranger who had the list w/our names. He gave us 2 extra tickets to which I had an 11 year old tell me she’d hold them bc clearly I wasnt responsible enough. Hilarious! Yet… sad. I have a few silver sprouters on this noggin but sheesh.

We also did some archery which I feel like in a past life I was totally a professional, buddhist, competitive, cowboy, archer. Yea I just made that up.. but really it was fun and i’d like to get into archery more.

Next up, shooting a bebe gun. Did I spell that right? Now for my country ppl, thats no big deal, in fact my little cousin has one, but ive never held anything close to a gun.. unless paintball guns and water guns count? Anyway, that was fun. Except the part where the target was a turkeys neck and i dont eat meat soooo yea. Our hunter guy was like “shoot that turkey dinner in the neck”… Ehhh. I felt so bad but I really wanted to shoot the bebe gun and it was only a theoretic neck so im in the clear right? and guess what? I aint get the turkeys neck, YAY! haha. Awkward!

Lastly was the Harriet Tubman walk and it was on the anniversary weekend of her death, it was a really good turn out. Over 100 people of EVERY background gathered around. and I must say, Tony Cohen did a great job. A lot of talking… but a great job. Also an antsy 11 year old who was getting tired and I couldn’t be mad.. It was 3pm and we left at 7am.

She learned a lot, I learned a lot.. we had a great fun day! The wetlands in MD are B-E-A-UTIFUL. Stay tuned for our next adventure. Below are a few pics!

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