End of October Faves

 

This was one of those weeks where it is so difficult to just share FIVE of the blessings that came my way.  But it's FRIDAY FAVE FIVE so I will stick to that number but let me tell you, there are way more than five in my brain.  I'm linking up at Susanne's site with other bloggers who set aside time to reflect on the Lord's blessings. 

FIVE FAVES

Trail in the Willie Wildlife Marsh Preserve
Southern Adirondack Mountains
Caroga Lake, NY

Willie Marsh
22 October

• LUNCH AND HIKING: I had last Friday off for a personal day due to Dave leaving for the airport before dawn.  I had made plans to have lunch in the southern Adirondacks with a childhood friend and although it was an overcast day, the sun came out in bursts so I spontaneously stopped at a nature preserve I had learned about a few years ago but never hiked in.  It was a beautiful preserve and the trails are super easy there.  Good thing since I had NO hiking boots with me nor hiking clothing on.  It was a wide flat and often boardwalk type trail with an inner loop and an outer one. I hiked the inner one as the longer, outer one was too muddy for my boat shoes. I also met a married couple who ended up chatting with me for quite a few minutes about hikes we have completed/challenges we've attempted or finished and they asked if they could feature me in their blog!  So. They did!  You can find them at hikingnyadirondacks.blogspot.com I'm thankful for new places to discover and hikers to meet!

Brant Lake in the town center, Horicon NY
Eastern Adirondack Mountains
23 October

• CHECKLISTS COMPLETED:  Saturday dawned chilly but sunny. I had a checklist of things I wanted to accomplish that day.  Claire had the day off and wanted to sleep in and Dave of course is on the missions trip.  Here was my checklist:  work on Bible study; bring donated items to the Salvation Army Donation Center; get a signature in Horicon for the ADK 102 Challenge; visit the Adirondack General Store; do a load of laundry; meal plan for the upcoming week; pay bills; spend some time with Claire; answer work emails; order dinner; watch a movie. I was able to check everything off my list by 9 pm that night!  And yes I found a human being/tax payer for the very small hamlet of Horicon so now I only have 51 more signatures to get out of the 102! I'm thankful I accomplished everything I set out to do.

Deer Run Interior Trail
Peebles Island State Park
Cohoes, NY

Deer Run (beginning of trail)

Along the Perimeter  Trail
and the Mohawk River

Mallards on the Mohawk

The Mohawk River at Peebles Island

Courtney and I on the perimeter trail

• LATE AFTERNOON HIKE:  Sunday afternoon was just so beautiful outside.  My oldest girl Courtney had to come over for a few minutes to pick up some cookies I had made her and to inspect the final paint job we did in her old bedroom. After that, I asked her if she wanted to take a local hike with me in one of the nearby state parks.....and she said yes!  (see? they really do hike again after their teen years if they hiked when they were younger....ok....well, not Claire.  yet.) We headed over to Peebles Island State Park which is only about a 10 min drive east of our home. We had a good time and we even saw some deer camouflaged in the brush.  ( I posted that pic on Facebook). I'm thankful my oldest girl spent some time with me on Sunday. 

• PHONE CALL!!   Tuesday evening, as I was cleaning up dinner, I saw Dave was calling me!  I was so happy to hear from him and to learn that the missions trip is going very well.  In fact, they were headed to a safe house on Wednesday to work with some girls who are minors who had been rescued from the sex slave industry/prostitution and were learning new work skills.  I'm so thankful for our missions team and their service.

Beginning of upper trail at Fox Preserve
Latham NY

entering the wooded area at Fox Preserve

massive trees along the trail

• AFTER WORK HIKE:  Wednesday started out cloudy and chilly.  We had had an entire day of rain on Tuesday and I power walked in the evening when the rain let up but saw that Wednesday was supposed to be rainy, too.  Well, it wasn't!  Around  9:30 am the sun came out and by the time I left work at 2:30, it was downright warm...close to 60 and full sunshine.  I dashed home to  change into workout clothes/sneakers and hit the road to drive about 5 minutes across town to the Fox Preserve across from the bike path.  I was the only person there walking the trail although there were people on the bike path. It's a short trail......up and over a ridge, then in to the woods, down another ridge and out to a side road.....and only .9 mile long making it easy to do a brisk pace after work.  I'm thankful I live close to parks, preserves and 5 different mountain areas (Adirondacks, Catskills and Helderbergs of NY; Green Mts of Vermont, and the Berkshires of MA).  

That wraps up my faves list!

Dave and the rest of the team will return home from the DR very late tonight and I have plans to just relax with him all weekend!

Whatever you have planned, I hope it includes some time in nature and time for rest and relaxation after the busy work week. 

Peace,