Our Anniversary Trip

 I shared a few photos in my "Week in Photos" post on Saturday but I wanted to go into more detailed about our amazing day trip for our anniversary.  

In planning for this day away one of my main goals was doing things and finding things that bring joy to my soul.  That focus alone brought so much peace about this get away!  We started our journey with a stop at a favorite coffee house right in our town - Sozo's.  We both got our favorite coffee drink along with something from their bakery.  (They have amazing homemade bagels!) For me, a "Zebra, Hot with Whipped Cream" warms my soul with the first sip!  (For real, I get a contented smile on my face with that first drink). After picking up our drinks, we headed north to start our trek. 

Our first stop in our journey was in Lundington.  This is such an adorable town.  We drove to the city beach, which is huge, and made the mile hike out to the light house and back.  Lake Michigan is my happy place.  If I could, I would head to the shores of Lake Michigan on a weekly basis just because it centers me and brings me peace.  

Look at all those minnows!  Yes, the water is really that clear!  It's just beautiful. 

From the beach to the light house it is about 1/2 mile so yes, we really did walk a mile :-)  When we started, there was a nice breeze but by the time we headed back, it was HOT!  We even got a little sun kissed from our walk.  The lake was calm on this day or we would not have made the hike out as the pier gets slippery when the waves are crashing.  

After our hike, we got back in the car and headed to our lunch spot.  It ended up being in a totally different spot then we thought it was in but it was an amazing drive.  It brought us past this Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant.  It drains water from Lake Michigan under this bridge into a huge reservoir on the left during the day. At night, all the water is drained back out and it creates lots of power to be used by the people in the area.  It's so breathtaking, actually, but we came upon it so unexpectedly that this was the beset photo. 

We stopped (and parked on the side of the road - the only parking for this place- and got our lunch at Bortell's Fisheries.  They deep fry everything.  This place came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint.  We both got the cod dinners and then added a 1/2 pound of shrimp.  It was so good - as long as you like fish :-) 

There is no place to eat at the fishery but they direct you just down the road to this little park and it is a true gem.  We dreamed it was our back yard as we sat at a picnic table to enjoy our meals AND this amazing view of Lake Michigan.  

There was a swing that we enjoyed too.  We spend more time enjoying this little park then anything else all day.  It was fun to dream of living this close to Lake Michigan.  It is so peaceful and relaxing to sit near the water.  It's calming - more calming than anything else - at least to me! 

After relaxing at the county park for awhile, we hit the road again and made it our goal to drive on roads with as many views of Lake Michigan as we could.  That allowed us to drive by some beautiful beach homes and get breathtaking views of Lake Michigan along with some great inland lakes too.  As we drove along we drove through Silver Lake Sand Dunes area, stopped for some Ice Cream and enjoyed the views of the dunes on Silver Lake.  

We stopped at Mears State Park to see this light house which sits in the sand right on the shore of Lake Michigan.  The beach is out of the way and so pretty.  (We found some new beaches to take the boys too in the future!) We did hear that this beach is a favorite for viewing sunsets so the closer it gets to that time, the busier it gets.  

We continued our trek along roads that kept us close to the lakeshore and came upon this place called Cherry Point Farm and Market. We picked up some homemade jam before taking a walk out to the Lavender Labyrinth.  I've always wanted to see one and the concept here is so neat.  The sad part is that they lost all of their lavender in 2019 during the polar vortex and had to replant in the spring of 2019.  It will take a few years for it to get back to it's old glory. 

The Herb garden in the center is just full of flowers and herbs and it is beautiful.  The idea behind a garden like this as well as the lavender is it is suppose to offer a calmness and peace to each person that enters.  Many will use it as a prayer circle as they walk through the circles of lavender.  While it is peaceful, it doesn't compare to the Lake Michigan Shoreline.  

As we left that farm, we were headed onto the next town, came over a hill to this!  It was stunning . . . breathtaking . .. .like nothing I have ever seen!  

We even took a selfie (which is really hard with a big digital camera HA!)  The sunflowers were just so bright and cheery.  We learned something new.  So, when sunflowers are still young and waiting to bloom, they turn their heads toward the sun to constantly gather life from the sun.  Once the sunflowers bloom (like those in the fields) they all face East because that where is they get the most sunlight.  The farmer telling us this said, "If you ever get lost and come upon a field of sunflowers, you will know what direction you are going because sunflowers always face East!"  Pretty cool! 

We

This deer was just munching away on some grass on this front lawn and let us stop and take his photo. This was just as we were entering Montague and Whitehall.  While driving down one of the roads outside of town,  we found a new little subdivision with lots for sale so we decided to stop and look.  We did find the perfect lot on Lake Michigan for our dream home that we would buy in an instant . . .. if it wasn't out of our price range!  We can dream, right? 

We ended our adventure at our favorite beach - Muskegon.  Sunsets on Lake Michigan are hard to get and this was no exception.  Even on a day that had zero clouds, as it nears sunset, the clouds tend to move in and block those last few moments of sunset.  It is still beautiful though - granted any day on the lake is a good day. 

It was almost 10:00 by this point so between the time and the covid-19 restrictions we were limited on dinner choices so we picked up Arby's and ended up with some amazing chicken sandwiches which were super hot and so tasty . .. or maybe we were just super hungry HA!

Did I find joy throughout the day?  The answer is yes.  We had a great day being together, traveling down roads we had never driven on, finding out of the way places to enjoy, and taking in many views of our favorite lake.  It was a blessed, peaceful day. 

Sunday Worship - Reba McEntire - Back To God (Official Video)

This is a little more unique and I'm sharing it more because you just can't go wrong with Reba and Lauren Daigle singing together.

2020 Weekly Photos - #30

Here's a look back at our week:

Saturday - We had a super quiet day at home before heading to my mom's for an early dinner followed by a Zoom call with my brothers and mom. 

Sunday - We had a second super quiet day at home again. 

Monday - My mom brought me this amazing bouquet of sunflowers! 

 

Tuesday - It's our Anniversary :-)  We also voted and the fridge repair guy came to check out our fridge . . .which was broken so we went and bought a new one.  We then went and got Taco's from our favorite place and found a great park to eat dinner at.  Finally, we stropped at my cousin's frozen yogurt place and got dessert. 

Wednesday - I took the boys for their annual Sunflower Shoot!  I'm not 100% happy with them as the sunflowers were facing the wrong way and the sun was right at "squinty" level so we might go back a different day in the evening. 

Because this is life this year. 

Also, Nate went for his weekly trip to hang out with his friend and Josh had a friend over. 

Thursday - This was my busy day with a Leadership Team Meeting and grocery shopping. 

Friday - Darryl and I took off for the day for our Anniversary.  Here's a snapshot of our day.  I plan on sharing more specifics in a post this coming week which includes what we did, why we chose what we did and I was looking for in this outing.  

** disclaimer:  Blogger has changed their formatting so if my pictures are messed up this week - I'm still trying to figure it all out! 

Weekly Menu

So, I still don't have a refrigerator.  Ours is super dead, not just a little dead.  We ordered a new one on August 4th and it is scheduled to be delivered on August 15th.  Needless to say, that leaves me with over a week of needing to cook (we did a little "extra" eating out while waiting for the repair man to fix it but . . .it's time to buckle down and own this cooler thing). 

So, here's the plan for the coming week.

Friday - Darryl and I are taking off for the day for our Anniversary.  My mom is hanging out with the boys and providing them dinner.

Saturday - Pork Loin, baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

Sunday - our plans our up in the air.  We may go to an outdoor birthday party for a family member but we may not due to possible storms moving it inside.  We are super conservative on gatherings especially as we've now had 5 good friends all test positive for the virus in the last week.  I will have Spaghetti on hand for a quick easy dinner if needed.

Monday - Pork Chops on the grill, Mac and Cheese, and corn on the cob.

Tuesday - Sloppy Joes (In the freezer already) and french fries

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks and breakfast meats.

Thursday - Chicken on the grill, baked beans, and corn on the cob :-)

I am looking forward to NEXT week knowing I will have a fridge once again and can plan some more new recipes!

August Goals

There are just 5 months left in this year to accomplish my "year goals" that I posted all the way back in January.  Yes, that January when things were still normal and we all thought that this was THE year because it was, well, 2020.

I'm calling July my "reset" month.  The month where I just relaxed and enjoyed summer by reading in my chair and staying cool!  Therefore, August is my "get back into the groove" month.  I took time to go back to my 2020 goals and focus on what needs to get accomplished!

1. Scrapbooking - I've refocused on my scrapbooking goals after being all over the place for a few months.  1) Order the rest of 2019 photos.  That's the only year I'm focused on when it comes to ordering photos.  2) Scrapbook 2019.  My desk is currently clean and I am organized and ready to go.  I'd like to get all of April and May 2019 scrapbooked this month.  3) Finish up my niece's graduation book and get it mailed to her.

2. Reading - I wish my kids loved to read as much as I do.  I tried.  I really did.  They only read at this point because they are required too :-)  BUT I love to read so read is what I will do.  I have a two fold goal this month 1) Read for fun.  Every day.  Preferably outside if the weather allows. 2) Read my "self-help" books on my list.  I don't like the word "self-help" but I'm not sure what else to call them :-)  I have a goal of reading 4 of those in August.

3. Cleaning - It's time to get back on track.  My original plan was a 20 day a month cleaning plan.  I'm back to this concept - a room at a time.  I'm also really working toward simplicity.  We live in a small house and each room works for multiple purposes often so keeping a simplicity through the house is key as is organization. My goal is August is to revisit some rooms I worked on the first half the year and just do a quick redo of those rooms.  That would include the master, the dining room, and the living room.  Once those are done, the fourth room (one a week!) is the kitchen.  This one needs little more work to just go through all the cupboards again and clean some things out.

4. Family - Josh needs some running shoes.  I've "heard" there is a running club he can join through out on-line group so I want him prepared for that adventure.  We have a day trip planned to New Buffalo to visit the beach.  We always camp in South Haven in August but we aren't camping this year due to COVID - I'd like to take a day trip to South Haven and do the things we normally do  such as go Blueberry picking (for like 20 minutes because I actually hate it HA), go to the beach and order our favorite Italian Food.

5.  Homeschool - I wrote my goals HERE.  The August goal is to just make sure we are ready for school to start.  This includes cleaning out the boys desks, making sure they have any needed supplies, and making sure we have the items for their goals.

6. Holiday Journal - I've kinda let this slide this year because, well, it's been different.  I do need to focus on Halloween, Birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas now though and start working on my plans.

7. The Basement - I really do see light at the end of this tunnel.  To think, when we bought the house we didn't need the basement HA!  I'm cutting this into more manageable pieces, though.  For August my one main goal is to reorganize the toy room in the basement.  I have new shelf that fits the space better.  I need to hang Nate's race track, clean out some of the toys, move the big shelf to the other side of the basement and maybe add some more of the floor panels so it's more comfortable for the kids.  Secondary to that is to clean out the area at the base of the stairs.

8. Piano - 1) Get the piano tuned.  I have the name of the tuner, I just have to schedule it.  2) The boys need to get back into practice.  I'm hopeful their teacher will teach this fall so that they can pick up their lessons again. 3) I need to work on a song.

9. Photography - I still have a goal of figuring out my new lens more.

10. Spiritual - Two things - 1) Read my daily devotional.  2) Do my weekly Bible Study that ladies from church are doing together via Facebook.

11. Misc Goals - 1) Gather our cameras/video cameras and make sure they are all charged, work, etc.  2) Continue to work in the yard depending on the weather.  I've even thought about planting my Sunflower seeds now - then they will be in full bloom by the end of September!!  3) Organize our beach bags 4) Set up the new shelves in the garage and start organizing things better 5) Hang my new flag; get a new flag pole for the front of the house and have Darryl hang it 6) Fill the holes in the yard 7) Clean out both vehicles

What We are Eating Wednesday - Veggie Ravioli

This is a recipe that I put together a few weeks ago after seeing it on an episode of The Pioneer Woman.  It was super easy and so tasty.  I would list this one as a "Church Potluck Dinner".  It's, again, easy, feeds a crowd, and being pasta, makes a lot of people happy!  I did take a photo but, forgot to upload it before I sat down so . .. here's is the photo from the The Food Network Pioneer Woman Blog:

As well as a link to both the photo and the actual recipe: 

Pioneer Woman Veggie Ravioli Bake

It's super easy to just print it right from her blog. 

Also, for the record, I used our traditional spaghetti sauce in the recipe, not the vodka sauce.  I am not a fan of vodka sauce.  So, obviously use whatever sauce you love.  I think a nice creamy Alfredo would also be good.  

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It was 19 years ago today that I married my best friend.  We met on-line through a Christian Matchmaker website and the rest was history! 

 Great memories of a great day!  It was everything I every dreamed of. 

 We went on a cruise for our honeymoon and it was just amazing

We added two kids to our family a few years later (This is one of my all time favorite photos!) 

Another favorite from about 6 years ago at a family gathering.  This was just a few days before Darryl's major back surgery

This is us now  . . .well almost a year ago :-)  Another favorite! 

I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband.  He brings joy, fun, and wisdom to our home.  I appreciate the way he thinks through things and solves problems and how he makes us ALL laugh . . .a lot!