Goodbye 2015

365 days already over. Well.... almost. There's only 4 hours left of the 365th. Good old December 31st, always bringing about a nostalgic, bittersweet end of a year.
I suppose some people will stay up to watch the clock change from 11:59pm to 12:00am, thereby heralding the beginning of a new calendar. But really, isn't that all this is? The celebration of removing a filled up and used old calendar for a new one with new pictures and altered numeric arrangements? I can't understand all the hype over such a simple and mundane ordinance.
Yet, maybe it is a big deal. After all, if we're here to put up a new calendar, we've just lived through 365 more days of living on this earth. That's 8,765 hours we've just survived. 525,948 minutes we've managed to encounter. That's 31,556,926 seconds that passed while our hearts ticked on.

Yes, I supposed it is something to celebrate, the closing of a chapter in the time table. We've made it this far... so here's to the next 366 days... Yeah we have to make it through that extra day thanks to Leap Year landing in 2016. 

Here's to the rest of 2015. May this next year bring us closer to God, closer to our families and closer to our goals. Happy New Year's Eve! Cheers!

A Christmas Song

We listened to a number of Spotify playlists during our Christmas celebration yesterday. We all really like this song by Bahamas.



It was a very nice, relaxing Christmas day for my family.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house...

....not a creature was stirring, all except for a Chocolate Mouse!

Here are a few tips on how you can spend this Christmas holiday, from none other than a mouse:

1. Make sure you have all your presents wrapped and ready to go...



2. Eat a candy cane. 



3. Get out the mop and broom and clean up the house. Your mom will be impressed.



4. If you're getting tired out or anxious, be sure to stop and smell the poinsettias.



5. Hit up as many parties as possible...





6.  Dress up and do a little Christmas caroling... if this mouse can sing, so can you.



7. Be sure to spread a little peace and joy...



8. Hang out with a friend you haven't seen in a while.



9. Greet strangers with as smile and some small talk... it could make their day!



10. Be thankful for your blessings... like a warm house.



11. It's okay to dream of a white Christmas, even if you live where it's warm.



12. ...and if you do have snow be sure to enjoy it!!

13. Play lots of Christmas music.

14. Above all spend time with your family...

15. Oh... and make sure to dance, and sing praises to our Savior with a heavenly host.

Here's to you and those you hold dear....
Have a very merry Christmas full of laughter and cheer.

 

When Your Neighbor's Barn Burns Down

Well, it's been crazy. Not just the usual kind but the wacko kind of crazy. Our neighbor's barn burnt down. 

We could see the huge cloud of smoke from our house.
Here's a picture I took from my bedroom window:

We rushed over there to offer them our farm facilities since they'd be needing somewhere to milk their 130 cows and we have 130 empty stalls. Ever since last Friday it's been a constant buzz of vehicles going up and down our driveway now that there's a huge herd of someone else's cows being milked on our farm. Holsteins, nonetheless. ;) We've had to change a few things in our parlor to make it fit the bigger cow breed, but otherwise it seems to be working out. 
Here's a picture of the other farm's employees milking.... I was helping out, showing them how to operate our parlor set-up.

Today the concrete company my dad works for came and they poured some concrete walls in the parlor. They'll hold the big Holsteins in better than the old, metal railings we had in place before. 

 Hopefully this cement wall will hold the cows in better. ;) Anyways, I thought I'd share this poem I wrote back in 2010. It seems to fit well with the circumstances right now.

The Farmer
 
the farmer labors harder and harder each day
he can't go on vacation when there are bills to be paid
the weather it seems just ain't on his side
when the corn needs rain the ground is dry

the house wife continues hard at her work
sweeping the floors and moping up dirt
her mind is always thinking and planning ahead
working out problems and fighting off stress

with the bank at their heel's and over-due bills
there's always that feeling of climbing up hills
there's never rest nor enough time to relax
just a glass of wine to get by or a power nap

reliable help is seldom to be found
and the few hired-hands are rarely around
they have their own lives and don't understand
the drive for the farmer to hold onto his land

holidays are simply icing on the cake
a bit of cheer to disguise the chances they take
a time to forget the problems outside
and visit with the family be it December or July

winter it seems is constantly hard
things never start up but instead fall apart
the farmer sees the sun coming up at dawn
and knowing it'll be 30 below, puts more layers on

every day he just keeps on moving forward
with his wife by his side and his kids for support
and through the moments of good and times of bad
the farmer cultivates the dreams that he's always had

If you need your heart melted...

Excuse me for not posting more often. ....and while I'm at it, excuse me while I melt your heart with this little Android commercial:

Thankful it's almost Thanksgiving.

The days have been full of milking cows mostly. My knees are hardly getting used to the exercise, although I think my muscles have grown from carrying around those heavy milkers. I do enjoy my job immensely.  The only thing that could be better would be milking my own cows in my own barn. I hope that will come in time.

I think we need a bigger house. Mostly so that we can invite more people to our thanksgiving feast. The head count this year is over 25 people... and will likely increase by the time we get to the big day. Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. Not that Christmas isn't nice as well but more of the family can come to our Thanksgiving feast. I wish I could make all the pies. I love making pie.... But with my new job I'll only have four hours each day to accomplish things this week. Therefore I'll be making the apple pie. Most people don't really do apple pie justice. They make them flatter than pancakes... but what you need to do is pile your apple slices 5 inches high because when you bake your pie the apples will shrink down.


I'm getting excited already! Well, time for this girl to go get some things done. Coffee break is over.
We have a friend in the hospital, a relative who's in hospice and a friend's grandma who just passed away. It reminds me of how fleeting time is and how precious people are. Spend time with your family. Enjoy the time while it lasts. Be thankful for the abundant blessings we have in this life.
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Long Overdue

In spite of the fact that it's extremely cliche, I must say, life has been busy for me in the past few months. My summer job of mowing lawns and helping a fun lady, named Shirley, move her household, has come to an end. Shirley is all moved and the cold weather has brought an end to the grass cutting business for this year. In fact, we just had our first snow last night. It wasn't a big deal, having mostly melted by this morning, but it was enough to stick and count. Yikes... here comes the cold, nasty winter.

In the mean time, Fall has been terrifically beautiful. The gorgeous colors are seriously a driving hazard. I am tempted to whip out my phone and snap a picture while cruising down the road (and have given in to temptation, on many occasions). Texting and driving never was a problem for me, but then they had to go ahead and build a camera into cell phones!

This month has been incredibly memorable. My job milking for the neighbor, Tyler, was concluded on the 5th and on the 7th I began milking for Tyler's friend's, Ted and Corey, who run a father/son dairy operation. I  like to call it Milking Bootcamp because the herd size it twice as big as what it was at Tyler's and I'm carrying around heavy, automatic units the whole time, since it's a stanchion barn. I went from 1.5 hour milkings to 3 hour milkings, so it's quite the work-out. The challenge is good for me though and my new bosses are great to work with.

I've also been able to have some really fun times this month, even with the job change and crazy work-load. A good friend was just married this past weekend so I was able to take a little vacation to SoWis... which is one of my favorite things to do! The wedding was short and sweet.



There were SO MANY people there that I knew, so even though the church wouldn't allow dancing, the fellowship was endless and everyone had a wonderful time. I was able to hang out with this cool chick, Emily... who is the funnest person and I feel like we've been friends for years, even though we've only met twice.



I was also able to go visit Courtney! I don't get to see her often enough!



We had a great time full of spontaneous adventure and disaster. We went to church with her parents and Robbie; two messages on worship to the Lord and the influence we have on the lives of those around us. The we road home with Robbie in his dad's corvette.... so three people in a car that seats two. It was terrific! ;)







Courtney and I managed to make it to the beach on Lake Michigan and play with the camera for some fun pictures!



 



 

Did I mention that Courtney is one serious photogenic chick?!?!? ...some of us are meant to take the photographs and others are meant to be the subject in a picture. LOL I wish I could post all the cute pictures of her, but maybe I should save that for another post. ;) Oh and did I mention she has adorable dogs? This is Zirk... he's the bomb.



Then that evening my car decided to die on me. The alternator went bad! Courtney's dad was so kind and spend all evening fixing it... and according to my dad, the alternator isn't an easy fix. Thanks to Court's dad I made it home safe and sound.




...and this Tuesday, Sandy, KayLee and I had a chick's night out. Or more like in. We bummed all day on the couch watching chick-flicks, with snacks like chocolate chip banana bread and oreos. It doesn't get much better than that! =D



Well..... back to the real world. I stayed home from the woods today. Yes, it's pine tree season again and the little bit that I've been able to help, it's been a fun time with Sandy, Channing and Abe! ....and thankfully the trees are better to work with than last year.



Anyways, due to the snow and wetness, I stayed home so as to avoid getting pneumonia again. I enjoy these rare days at home when I get to work on chores around the house with tunes on Spotify to set the mood. I also try to catch up on blogging or editing photographs, and sketch something decent for the Inktober art challenge where you sketch one picture every day with only ink for a medium... (so pens, markers, calligraphy pens and the like). It's been a lot of fun!










Until, next time....
Mary

The Blood Moon

The rise of the almost-full moon.

 Big and bright: Before the eclipse.

The Blood Moon. We won't see another 'till 2033.

 As the eclipse is occurring we see the waning blood moon engulfed by the light of the sun. 

We see the blood moon no longer as the moon is an illuminated orb.

Hypertension: Keep it from affecting you.

According to the CDC:

High Blood Pressure in the United States:

• About 70 million American adults (29%) have high blood pressure—that’s 1 of every 3 adults.¹
• Only about half (52%) of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.¹
• Nearly 1 of 3 American adults has prehypertension—blood pressure numbers that are higher than normal, but not yet in the high blood pressure range.¹
• High blood pressure costs the nation $46 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications to treat high blood pressure, and missed days of work.²

Knowing a number of people who've suffered from hypertension I decided to do some digging around to find ways to help lower and prevent it. The last thing you want is for your doctor to prescribe for you a blood pressure medication so finding natural ways to fight anxiety, stress, and hypertension/high blood pressure were my goal.

Here are some of the methods that I've discovered, some of which are really easy or at least important to implement:

1. Homeopathic Remedies:
There is one really awesome remedy that could help a lot called Nat. Mur. and you can find it at most health stores or online.

Natrum Muriaticum

If you want to research it you can pop that name into your google search bar and read about it, but otherwise know that it helps with anxiety, stress, depression, worry, high blood pressure... etc.

A secondary remedy is homeopathic doses of Phosphorus. Although it whether this remedy works may depend more on specific indicators of your condition, it would be worth looking into if you can't find Nat. Mur.

2. Herbal Remedies:
Some of the #1's are common cooking herbs! Check out this website. Basil, cinnamon and cardamom are the top three that help.

Also on that list there is celery seed. My brother Jed goes on a fishing trip once a year with his buddies and all they eat is bacon. During this time his chronically high blood pressure goes down.   LOL ... maybe bacon is the way to go? A lot of the naturally cured bacon is made with celery. There are many who say to stay away from bacon and other highly salty foods, still it is an interesting side note. If you're interested in eating bacon I'd recommend reading Dr. Mercola's review.

ALSO.... here are so practical and tasty ways to help yourself out. Try these fun recipes! Notice the first thing it mentions is cutting salt? ....and the homeopathic remedy is like a vaccine. If you look up Nat. Mur. you'll find that it IS sodium chloride. It's such a small does though that it's like a finger print. Barely traceable. Yet, your body recognizes the "finger print" and sends antibodies to fight away the "poison" therefore actually treating your real problem!!! Win/Win situation.

3. Diet:
Salt, Sugar and Gluten....
Sugar is worse than salt for blood pressure! Sugar is like the worst thing we can put in our bodies because it creates inflammation and inflammation causes a TON of issues in our body. The problem is that sugar or a lot of ingredients that come in sugary foods are addicting. It's hard to stop eating it but sometimes you have to decided you don't want to wake up anymore with the health problems that control your life. Mind over matter.

Watch this fun little video about sugar:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4CZ81EmAsw
Another thing is WHEAT. Yes... like sugar it seems to be in EVERYTHING which makes it SO HARD to eliminate. But it's wreaking havoc in your life. According to Dr. Mark Hyman in this article (which you should read or just watch the video) "Health problems caused by gluten sensitivity cannot be treated with better medication. They can only be resolved by eliminating 100 percent of the gluten from your diet." "Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric and neurological diseases, including anxiety. depression, schizophrenia, dementia, migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). It has also been linked to autism."

One book you may want to take the time to read is Wheat Belly. Also, Grain Brain is a good book, too. To read a little about the main concepts of Wheat Belly check out this website:http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/against-the-grain-how-wheat-wrecks-your-health.html
And if you're sad because gluten-free means no more tasty foods check out The Gaps Goddess! Her lovely photos of healthy desserts will make you change your mind. :)

4. Reduce Stress:
Find ways to get rid of the unnecessary stresses. Too many activities... focusing on problems... letting them overwhelm you. This isn't something I can give you any particular info on because I'm not in your head. You know your thoughts and which things are causing the most grief. Talk to someone, pray, remove things that cause stress in your life and find time to relax. This will help greatly. Check your daily routine to make sure you're getting enough sleep, proper diet, sunshine and things to keep your equilibrium and tranquility at top notch.

5. Be Happy:
No, seriously... if you're feeling glum maybe you need some B happy vitamins. B12 is a good place to start. B6..... or maybe a B Vitamin Complex? Sometimes we're just deficient, often times due to diet (gluten often prevents the body from absorbing the nutrients our bodies so desperately need). Vitamin D is also important and you can get a test through your doctor to determine if your levels are low. Check out Dr. Mercola's products or some other healthy resources for vitamins and supplements.

A Wonderful Week With Courtney

We went to Isaac's secret swimming hole.

Had to trek over some RR tracks....

  Climb down a steep bank....

...and enjoy an some exciting swimming!

....with a stop at Culver's for some food.

I roped Courtney into milking with me a few times. She's a pro.

We had a girls day out on the town!

KayLee, Sandy, Courtney and I. 

Courtney made us some delicious cookies.

Cookies and rag curls!

Random trips to Caribou.... and random dudes who stop to give us prophetic words of encouragement. A bit weird.... totally sketched us out.

Court hated the rag curl look. 

I didn't think it looked that bad but I admit the hair style looked a bit like a 1700's wig. lol

 Random trips to McDonalds!

Jo and Jo!!

We went hunting for herbs... like, seriously we had to really search hard!

Tried our chances at the lottery. ....and lost.

Making an herbal tincture.

Sandy and Courtney and Josie helped me with chores one evening.

Channing and I drove Courtney home 8 days after see arrived. 

It was a wonderful time!