End of July Faves

Wow....it's been summer now for one month and 4 days and I've been on break from the classroom for almost 4 weeks now and STILL dealing with significant back pain that started 3 weeks ago.  UGH!!!!!  But....I'm still trying to find little blessings through the fog of pain and chiro visits....and trying not to stress about not getting my work-outs in or the active things I had planned and just trying to focus on each moment of each beautiful day that God has blessed us with!

I'm joining in with other writers to share 5 of our fave moments from the past week....mine aren't super exciting but they are definitely blessings from the Lord....join in with us to share your faves by heading over to Susanne's site...she is our gracious hostess.

FIVE FAVES

Dave on the trail up Pillsbury

interesting tree shape

Another FireTower checked off the list!!

The Central Adirondacks
as seen from the summit of Pillsbury Mt

Pillsbury Mountain as seen from Mason Lake

• HIKING!  We had had a scheduled group hike all set for last Saturday and although 3 of the original group had to drop out for various reasons, my friend from my hometown area decided to join us, so she met us at a designated meeting point and joined us for the rest of the way into the West Canada Wilderness Region of the Central Adirondacks.  The trail-head is about 2 hours north of our home.  Although my back ached the entire way, my foot pain was nonexistent. Until we started the climb down at which point my back was just a dull ache but my foot was throbbing! I was very frustrated at how this 3,597 foot mountain took us all afternoon to hike.  We did spend about 25 minutes on the summit to eat some lunch, relax, climb the fire tower as far as we could (it is an unmaintained one) and then take some photos. Pillsbury Mountain is well into the wilderness and I was thankful our SUV was able to handle the extremely rough and narrow road. The hike was one of the most challenging hikes I have done thus far in the Fire Tower Challenge and I now only have 7 Adirondack mountains to climb to finish this challenge. Unfortunately, I don't think my goal of being done this summer is going to be reached due to this back issue. The blessing is that it was a fun day anyways with lots of laughs, singing, and talking.  I always love when my husband and good friends join me for a mountain climb.

• SAFE!  Our oldest daughter was camping with friends on Cape Cod for a 4 day weekend last weekend and she texted when she arrived Thursday evening, and then she made it back safely on Monday evening.  Huge relief as that whole area has so much traffic in the summer months.  And our youngest daughter left with some of the other teens from our church's youth group to attend a camp in the Berkshires.  She texted us on Sunday evening that they all arrived safely and she has called me once this week.....huge blessing to know God watches out for these precious daughters.

• QUIET TIMES  I've had some good quiet times this week....the youngest has been gone all week and the oldest has been working a lot so I've had the deck to my self,  and one morning, before the heat and humidity got to me (we had awful high heat and humidity earlier this week) I journaled some thoughts based on some Scripture I was reading.  I love these quiet moments with our Savior...He brings such a comfort to me......what a blessing it is to have the Word of God within our reach.

• DATE NIGHTS!  Sunday evening, Dave and I were alone for the first time in a long time.....overnight!  So, we grilled some yummy chicken, had a nice bottle of wine on the deck with dinner and just sat and talked.........and then Monday evening when he got home from work, it was just too humid and hot to grill anything so he took me out to this place which I love........oh what a wonderful piece of tilapia and veggies I had...and a yummy martini..........it was a lovely night. It's a blessing to have these slow summer evenings to savor with my husband.

the West Canada Creek in Herkimer, NY
24 July

• HOMETOWN VISIT:  Yesterday, while Courtney was at work, I drove out to the central part of NY to visit my hometown area.  Driving was horrible due to the lower back pain...but as soon as I got out of the car and stretched the back, it was a little better and I enjoyed my visit with my dad.  He is getting old and frailer.  It is tough to see. But he is a healthy man so.....that is a blessing.  I did a little light cleaning for him, and took him on an errand.  We enjoyed chatting and reminiscing on his screened in back porch.  He was getting tired so I left in the late afternoon to meet one of my good friends for dinner at this place in town.  Diane and I had so much fun getting caught up on the family news, etc. She also has back issues so we were sharing tips on how to deal.....we always have had so much in common!  We realize that our climbing mountains days are almost over so she and I plan on doing a flat hike sometime later this summer.  After dinner, I needed to get a rock from the West Canada Creek for my father in law (a LONG story that I will share later! HAHA) so we drove outside of town to where the creek is the widest and oh, what a gorgeous evening it was. I took the above pics to show my daughters as they typically don't get out to the Valley except in the winter months.  It really is a blessing to be able to go back to one's hometown and see a parent(s) and old friends.

photo courtesy of trip advisor

• GRAPEVINE FARMS/MOMS DAY OUT!  On Monday, a couple of the moms from my small group were finally free to go with me to this place.  We had it scheduled back in April but that day ended up being one where people had too many conflicts so I rescheduled for a lazy summer day.  Oh what fun we had. I did some early Christmas shopping for my daughters, bought myself a new bracelet, bought my husband's upcoming  birthday gift, and we had lunch on the side porch. After lunch we did the wine tasting.....where I sampled six different NY wines and then we all had their homemade ice cream on the front porch.  It was a fun day out and it's a blessing to have good friends united in Christ.

that wraps up my week... and yup i know that's SIX faves but it was hard to choose from the small blessings God gave me....

We are now having the "perfect summer weather"....clear skies, sun, and NO high temperatures or humidity!!  I love this weather and I'm loving my chiropractor.....I'm off to go see him and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend embracing every moment and activity God gives you!