Goodbye Desert

Today I head home to Yesteryear Acres and I get to see my sweet Mr. Yesteryear Acres and the Doodle Doggies and Doodle Puppies and kitties and horsies and garden and house and tonight I get to sleep in my very own bed! Mr. Yesteryear Acres said he has a big hug waiting for me when I land late tonight at the airport. I missed them all!!!!!!!

Goodbye Gila Monsters

Goodbye beautiful desert flowers

Goodbye Amazing Desert Storms

Goodbye Desert

I am coming home!

When they say rain...they mean RAIN!

We had a wicked storm come through here yesterday.  The storms out west are nothing like the storms at home.  It is so dry here and all of the sudden the winds pick up and you can feel the humidity coming right towards you.  It went from hot, dry, and completely still, to forceful winds barreling down the desert and then the skies turned as black as the night.

The dry desert suddenly filled with rushing water rapids and rivers

And the lightning filled the clouds as if someone turned on a huge spotlight.

It was an amazingly beautiful storm. 

Then rainbow clouds appeared!  They weren't traditional rainbows but clouds of rainbows!!!

It was hard to capture with the cell phone camera but they were just beautiful!!!!!

I think the cactus loved them too.

Heart Cactus!!!!

Thank you rain storm!

Hard Work Does Pay Off!

Have you ever literally jumped for joy? Hands straight up in the air, feet leaving the ground with a smile so big your very cheeks hurt? Well that is what I did today.  I leapt into the air with pure celebratory joy.  I got the results back from my doctor today and they were fantastic. In the past I had some serious health crises. I survived a drunk driver hitting me as well as surviving a heart attack.  The recovery road has been long and full of hard work.  Today, my doctor report was full of nothing but good news.  I am no longer under-muscled.  In the past 4 years, I have gained over 7lbs of lean muscle mass!!!!  This is a really difficult task because at my age, I naturally LOSE muscle every year so I had to beat that plus gain more!  I strength train regularly and this past year I have been adding more weights and more weights.  I can feel my own strength improving and my test results today proved it.  This alone makes me so proud because I have been working diligently on improving my lean mass.  I also received my bone density results and my bones are really strong! I still have weaker bone density on my left side stemming from the car accident. My left hip is weaker in some troublesome spots but with some new exercises, I should still be able to increase my bone health. I will be incorporating the new exercises into my weekly routine and hopefully increase my density by this time next year.  My right side is super strong so that is awesome too!  I also got my complete blood panel back and ALL my numbers were great!  ALL of them!!!!!  Cardiac markers, inflammation markers, glucose, etc. etc.  I am so proud of myself and want to take this time to thank my family for allowing me the time to heal, recover, bounce back, and come back stronger than ever!!!! And a huge special thank you to my mom, who took me to the right doctors who put me on the path of healing so I could be the healthy happy person full of life that I am today!

My Hero!

Guess what arrived today?????

MY MOM GOT ME A NEW FITBIT!!!!!

Oh my gosh! I am so excited.  Literally none of my steps have counted for the past few days.  Every step was a step without accountability.  It was torture!  How do I know if I met my goal?  How do I know if I have enough active minutes? How can I keep my stats current?  My fitbit missed me and I missed my fitbit.  Today I have to go in for a multitude of medical tests.  I mean MULTITUDE.  I am a little nervous because what if the results are bad?  What if something is not quite right?  I know  that if something is not right, I will fix it and work at it to make it better, but I have been working very diligently and faithfully. I make lifting weights every week for my necessary strength training a priority.  I was previously diagnosed as being very under muscled so I have to get my lean mass up.  I have been adding more and more weights so I am full of hopefulness for a good report. Tomorrow when I go get my results, I will have my fitbit by my side!  We will get through this together fitbit! Let's start walking!

How Could I Lose You?

Late last night, horror struck me as I looked at my wrist and it was BARE!  I lost my fitbit!!!!! For some people this might not seem like a big loss but I am telling you a piece of my very soul was missing!!!!!!  I realize at the age of 50, losing a fitbit should not be in my skill set and I should be at the age where I do not haphazardly lose a precious beloved piece of myself, but I did. It was gone.  I quickly got dressed, grabbed a flashlight, and set out in the biggest torrential thunderstorm in search of my fitbit.  I retraced my steps.  I walked everywhere I had been and then started walking places I didn't even walk.  Maybe it is down this road which I clearly have never visited.  Maybe it is over in the bushes, maybe it is behind this wall, maybe it is under this rock!  I followed the torrent of rushing water in the street to where it emptied in the gullies and stood in 3 inches of water, in the dark, with various amphibians lurking and watching, searching for my beloved fitbit.  It was gone.  Whenever someone passed by asking me if I lost something, and I responded with rising panic, "MY FITBIT" I felt better when they had the same reaction I had. "NO!!!  NOT YOUR FITBIT! I couldn't even live without mine!!!!!"  The camaraderie helped and a few people even stopped in the worst storm to help me look.  After about 45 minutes of searching, it was clear that I was not going to find my sweet loyal constant companion.  As I made the long walk back, the irony of my walk was clear.  I probably got at least another 1,000 steps for the day.....but I will never know!!!!!!!  MY POOR FITBIT!!!!!  I am so sorry I lost you.  I will miss you forever!

Goodbye Geese

We have been having so much fun watching our 6 little goslings grow.  The last two weeks the geese have been playing almost daily with our little twin fawns out by the pond.  They have been having a great time chasing each other and scurrying back and forth from the woods to the pond while the parent geese and deer just watch the playtime ritual.  The geese have been getting more proficient in their flying skills with each passing day.  They have gone from just flapping their wings, to running and flapping, to 10 seconds of airborne flight in just 2 weeks time.  Last week when we went to the pond the geese were making flights to the next field.  Sometimes we would find them hanging around our pond but other times, they were nowhere to be found.  We haven't seen our geese for a good 5 days now so it is clear that they have officially moved on. Goodbye Dear Geese!!!!  We enjoyed watching you hatch, and grow and thrive.  We will look forward to next Spring when the parent geese return and have new little goslings for us to love.

Marmalade Monday

Marmalade's Double Doodle Puppies are big butterballs of love.  They just love everything about life and their tails are always wagging.  They are a happy, loving, tail-wagging, lovable bunch!

"Alright everybody! Time for a potty break!"

"Like this?'

"This looks like a good spot"

"Time to explore"

"Yippee!"

"This grass feels so soft"

"I love playing outside"

"Pssst.....I love you"

"This is the life"

"Time for kisses!"

"SMOOCH!"

"Earlobe Kiss!"

Come!

Good puppies!

"Can I have a belly rub?"

"Can I go next?"

"Awwww feels so good"

"That was great"

"Yay! It is snuggle time!"

"Napping with my bestest buddy"

"I love afternoons like this"

Happy..........

Monday!

Blossom Sunday

Our June puppies are so adorable, I can't possibly squeeze both Blossom and Marmalade's Doodle Puppy pictures into just one day.  Tomorrow's puppy picture day will feature Marmalade's cute Double Doodle puppies and today is BLOSSOM SUNDAY!  Just look how much Blossom's F1b Goldendoodle Puppies have grown this week!

"I love kisses"

"I wanna be like Olive when I grow up"

"Mmmmm sweet smells of fresh cut grass"

"You are right, it does smell good!"

"Now what should we do?"

"Let's find Bri"

"There she is!"

"Let's follow her EVERYWHERE!"

"She is fast!"

"Got her"

"I love when she pets us"

"Thanks Bri"

"Now what should we do?"

"Wrestling!"

"What do you mean that is not how you wrestle?"

"Who should I pounce on next?"

"Not me, I am resting"

"Me too"

"I think I am ready to go back inside"

"Can you carry me?"

"Happy day before Monday!!!!"