A Bit of This and That Faves

 

Friday..... and yesterday was a day off from work so we could honor the armed services veterans who have protected our country.  Although I had the day off from teaching yesterday, it has turned out to be a very busy week! But there are always blessings to look for at day's end or week's end and I'm sharing FIVE of my FAVE blessings with other like minded bloggers.  We all link up at Susanne's site....our gracious host!

The beginning of the mountain trail
with so many lush green ferns

28 degrees and icicles at the beginning 
of our hike...we began about 9:30 am

along the 2nd mile up the mountain
we were thankful for warm sunshine

me on the 3723 foot summit of 

Balsam Lake Mountain

Catskills, NY

From the 2nd level of the fire tower
looking out over the Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest region
Catskills 

• HIGH PEAKS HIKE! Saturday, my friend Gerri and I were up in the early morning and we drove 2 hours south to an area of the Catskills called Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest area.  She needed to climb this mountain for the FireTower Challenge (I climbed it back in April of 2013) and since I just loved the trail the first time I hiked it, I decided I'd go with her.  It was cold at the beginning and for most of the hike. Yes we wore our late autumn hiking gear and did remember to bring fingerless gloves.  I actually only wore them for the first 2 miles up.  We climbed 3 miles to the summit.  Ate lunch in the sunshine, chatted with 2 other hikers who came up from the other side, and then after we both took a turn climbing to the top of the fire tower for photos,  we walked another half mile down the other side of the mountain, only to turn around and go back down the 3 miles where we came in from. (the other way was shorter by 2 miles but far steeper and her foot couldn't take it nor could my back).  It was heavenly and the weather turned out to be perfect sunshine and a bit warmer with temps in the low 50s. I'm thankful I had the chance to climb this high peak again.  The Cakskills are vastly different from the Adirondacks and it had been awhile since I had hiked down that way. 

• FIXED!  We needed a plumber to come fix a bad drain we have had for awhile in our bathtub/shower in the upstairs bathroom.  Friday, we noticed water in the basement and Dave guessed it was that  faulty drain. It was a small leak so was easy to clean up.  Tuesday our plumber came and the entire bill was less than $200 and it was a rather simple fix.  He worked on and even gave us a new drain cover/stopper thingy.  I'm super thankful for a good plumber (he happens to be the oldest son of a church member we know) with reasonable rates and who was able to fit us in!

• WORSHIP:  I'm thankful this week for worship and communion.  It was Communion Sunday and the worship was powerful. Also, this past week my small group discussed the chapter on Fears in the Becoming Myself book.  We also do the study guide that goes along with the book and those questions have been awesome to help aid the discussion.  I love that my group is dedicated in doing some journaling and that they discuss these vital areas of learning to embrace ourselves as women of God. I'm so thankful for each and every woman in my group. 

one of the 5 cul-de-sacs in my neighborhood
Wednesday late afternoon

the edge of the woods in our development

Mark Cemetery
National Historical Register due to Mark being part of the Revolutionary War 
and warning of the coming Native Americans
On the edge of the woods in my neighborhood

Cherry Hill Farm across the road from my neighborhood

looking towards the distant mountains of Vermont
 from Cherry Hill Farm
I love walking here!

• AFTERNOON FITNESS WALKS: This week, I power walked outdoors every day (Except Monday) because 1.  I love to get my cardio work out in as soon as I get home 2. it's been a very mild and sunny autumn here in eastern NY 3. the darkness comes earlier so I MUST get in my sneakers as soon as I'm able to after getting home from work (typically I'm home around 3:15). I tend to do a couple things first like change out of my work clothes into fitness wear, and then I'm pounding pavement.  This week I took a few photos from around our neighborhood/development.  I'm so thankful I have safe places to do my power walking and that I sometimes run into other neighbors who are out walking, power walking, or just walking their dogs. A bonus fave for this is that I managed to get my heart rate up more in the cardio range and I'm walking further in a shorter amount of time!  

French Vanilla Hot Coffee with Almond Milk
(Claire had the Peppermint Hot Cocoa with oatmilk)

Breakfast Burrito (totally vegan) with fresh salsa
Claire's lunch 

BLT and Sweet Potato Fries with Raspberry Sauce
(the "bacon" is tempah and yes it tastes JUST like pig bacon minus the fat and nasty stuff!!)

Operation Christmas Child boxes!
I shopped for a 5-9 yr old girl
Claire shopped for a teen boy

• SHOPPING AND LUNCH DATE!  My youngest girl Claire (aka the ballerina) also had the day off yesterday and since she still lives at home, we made plans to do our Operation Xmas Child shopping in the late morning, drive north to Saratoga to do some Xmas shopping in a bookstore there, and then go a bit further north to Glens Falls to this amazing cafe for lunch.  It is a vegan cafe and they also sell amazing donuts so we bought a half dozen to share with Dave.  We also surprised Courtney by showing up at her office with her fave flavor.  (we were going to wait until she was back in her apartment,  but she gets home late from work and we decided it would be fun to visit her at her work place since it was on the way home!) Our boxes aren't due to church until a week from Sunday but we decided to get this task checked off of our "to do before Thanksgiving" list.  I'm thankful for a fun day with my girl. 

That wraps up a little bit of this and a little bit of that from my week.

I hope whatever you have planned for the weekend, that it includes some of your fave people or things.

HAPPY WEEKEND!!