Wednesday, March 31, marked another milestone. I have now completed 2 consecutive years of exercising every day! March 24 of 2019 is when my last streak ended. I was working on my 12th year at that time. So for almost 14 years, I have only missed 7 days, and they were all in a row. I am continuing to run, and exercise, and gain strength. That first day starting this new streak I walked 1/4 of a mile, and that was tough. Since I had my major health issue back then, I have continued to keep working on new goals. But, it all starts the same for all of us:
The biggest obstacle to overcome involves the space between your ears. Your mind and attitude can carry you through some major issues, or it can destroy everything. You have to decide. I decided, finally, that I would learn from this experience, and take it for what it taught me–appreciate what you have, and don’t take anything for granted. Live your life to the fullest, as if today were your last day. Like I said, finally! It has taken awhile for me to get to this point, and I have to keep working on it. But, I am getting there! This was a great weekend to spend outside. I had my two daughters and my son-in-law over the weekend. Megan’s boyfriend was here Friday night, but my son Nick could not make it because he had to work. He is coming home next week though. I got to spend some quality time with my girls on Saturday, and of course, we spend some of that time moving, as we went out walking. You can always make time for exercise!
Of course, the dogs came along too! And in this second picture with Molly, I got to spend some time with my grandson already. Just waiting for him to officially arrive at the end of July! I can’t wait!!!!
The dogs had a good time too. Dakota is our dog, the Golden Retriever. Dobby, the black dog, is my daughter Megan’s, and the third dog is a husky mix, and belongs to Jen West. They came over Saturday afternoon and the dogs were out tearing around in the back yard. They were exhausted after this! But they were having fun exercising too!
I always have my exercise partner, Sarah, to go workout with. Saturday morning was a beautiful day to go for a run! It was a nice way to start the day. Sunday morning is our weekly run with our run club. I always look forward to that morning! The run club is a great way for all of us to talk about things, especially running. What works, what does not. Who likes what kind of shoes, and what type of workouts, and who is holding it all together yet, and on and on! It has been a great way to help stay motivated through all of these years, which was started in 2012. It has been especially helpful these last 2 years.
We all have our struggles. We all have those days when the workout, or run, could not have possibly been any worse, or could not have been any better. We all have good days and bad days. We just need to do what nature was doing this week. We have to learn to break through the ice! Earlier this week it was cold and windy, and the ice just built up on everything at the Lake. Now it is all gone. We have to learn to weather the storms just like everybody else. Some days are easy, and some days you learn to hang on, and especially when it is windy, you learn to keep your feet on the ground! You need to believe…believe in yourself!
You can do it! I did it, and so can you. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Don’t ever stop believing. Realize there are going to be good days, and bad days. Those good days are why we keep you coming back for more. Strive to Survive. Live life to the fullest. Don’t have any regrets! Keep moving everybody!
Do you have your Easter baskets all ready for the little (or big) kids in your life? Easter baskets are usually filled with all kinds of goodies and I like to think of them being just as exciting as getting your Christmas stocking! My family has all kinds of funny stories about the big search for finding our Easter baskets and of course what we find inside is even more exciting! The candy aisles at the store are filled with all kinds of goodies, but let us not forget that there are plenty of other non-junk food options to fill your Easter baskets with. Here are some ideas for you:
• Sidewalk chalk
• Color Dotz by Crayola (color your bath water with them!) • Books • Coloring books
• Stuffed animals
• Sunglasses
• Shoes
• Socks
• Hair accessories for girls
• Mini cars or planes for boys
• Nail polish
• Gift certificate to the movies or iTunes
• Magazine subscription
• Jump rope
• Yo-yo
• Pencils, crayons, markers
Happy Easter!! I wish you all a blessed and blissful day!
Several years ago, this was Sarah waiting for me at the finish line of the Twin Cities Marathon. I was wiped! She was there then, waiting to cheer on and support me, just like she always does. She is “always by my side”. There was nothing more true than this 2 years ago, March 24. This past Wednesday marked 2 years since I had my major health issue. I admit, there are times when I am still “pissed” about what happened. With everything that I try to do to stay healthy, and then this happens, and I had no control over it. I still have my moments, but I am getting better at getting past this stage. There is no question, I do not have the stamina I used to have. I am still able to run, just not as far as I had been doing. I don’t know if that is because of everything that happened, or the fact that I am getting older, or both. I don’t know! This pandemic is not helping at all either because of all the stress this has created for over a year now. I had some help though this Wednesday morning.
I had a meeting at 7AM this Wednesday with a group of doctors, and we have a monthly spirituality gathering. We read different books, and each month one of us leads the discussion. This month it was my turn. The current book we are reading is “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day”. Very good book! The chapter this month was “Playing it Safe is Risky”. There is nothing easy about taking risks. Most of us have a greater fear of missing out than the fear of messing up. We regret things we wanted to do in our lives, but never had the courage to do them. If I learned anything from everything that has happened to me 2 years ago, it is that I have learned to appreciate the small things in life much more than before. That is where all the pictures I take of the clouds, sunsets, and sunrises comes from. It is very relaxing to me, and the colors and beauty it reveals is just amazing. What is more amazing is that it has always been there, and I did not bother to pay attention. I would get so caught up in all of the pressures of everyday life that I think I actually forgot to live each day. I am not going to make that mistake anymore.
We need to learn to step out of our comfort zone each day, and do something different. Appreciate each day for what it brings, and have the courage to take on new adventures. Step out of that comfort zone, and pay attention to what is in front of us!
Sarah and I went on a get away trip to the Hills last August. We stayed in a cabin, secluded from everybody else, and brought our own food, supplies, etc, so it was just us! What a relaxing week! We went hiking, biking, walking, running. We sat and read, and took in the scenery We need to do that more often! So do you!
I definitely found this out. I don’t recommend having major health issues, where it comes close to taking your life, before you figure this out. I will say it has given me a whole new appreciation of being on the other side of medicine. I am usually the one providing the advice and care, not the one receiving it! It can be a “hard pill to swallow”! Life really is too short. Don’t miss out on the things right in front of you, or the people in your life closest to you.
This is one we, I, have to keep being reminded of. Nothing ever goes without challenges. Nothing ever goes as smooth as you think it should be. Everything we change and do, changes everything. Every choice we make affects our future. Have the courage to take some risks. As it was pointed out in the chapter this week for discussion: Do we have the mindset of “Better safe than sorry”, or one of “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? We have a choice. Find the courage to make that choice.
We could learn something from these geese. We can “spread our wings”, and expand our horizons, or sit idly by and waste our time. We can learn to take on new adventures. We can learn to experience different things in our lives. We can learn to have the courage to take on challenges in our lives, and not dwell on “what could have been”, and to keep dwelling on the past and wonder “why”. When I write about things in my blog, then I am also helping to convince myself of this too. We can always learn something everyday. All of us! None of us knows everything! The moment we quit learning is the moment we quit living. What is it you want to learn? What is is you want to do? What is it you need the courage to figure out?
It doesn’t get easier. It gets tougher some days. You get more tired some days. Hopefully, as you keep pushing on, you get stronger. There is no question that is the case when it came to me running marathons. You had to put in the time, and the miles, to be able to make it to the finish. Well, what do you know? Here I was all of these years talking about running, and marathons, and I could have been talking about life in general! I guess everyday is a different form of a marathon. Here I have been training my whole life…for my life! All these years of marathon training should have prepared me for what happened 2 years ago. Too bad it has taken me awhile to figure that out. Live and learn…always learning! Always!
We all need to quit dwelling on the past, especially me. Get ready to take on life, and live it to the fullest extent that we can. Appreciate each day we have, and have the courage to live with no regrets. After all, playing it safe is risky. Worry about missing out, not messing up! And if you are as lucky as me, then you always have somebody by your side. Thank you Sarah! I will get there. Everybody, especially me, needs to keep working on it. Everybody needs to keep working at it. Everybody needs to keep learning every day. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Find the courage inside you! We only live once! Next week I will talk about my new exercise streak going past 2 years. Keep moving everybody!
I’m a few days late on my National Ag Day post, but I figured better late than never!! If you ate today, be sure to thank a farmer! Consumers want to know where their food comes from, yet know very little about how food gets from the farm to the dinner table. Do you know where your food comes from? Most consumers today are three generations removed from the farm. For example, one thing consumers are unaware of is that milk travels from the farm to grocery store in about 48 hours. In addition, some criticize farmers because they use GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds and hormones in cattle to promote growth. Farmers understand the science behind these products and why they should be used: by using them, they can use less water, less pesticide and herbicide, and produce enough yield to feed the world! Without these scientific advancements, we would not be able to feed the starving world! Farmers share the same values as consumers on many topics including those related to producing nutritious food, environmental stewardship and animal care. This is not a just a “job” for them, it is their life!
Check out the information and facts below!
What Is Ag Day All About? Ag Day is about recognizing – and celebrating – the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives. The National Ag Day program encourages every American to:
Understand how food and fiber products are produced.
Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.
Why Celebrate Agriculture? Agriculture provides almost everything we eat, use and wear on a daily basis. But too few people truly understand this contribution. This is particularly the case in our schools, where students may only be exposed to agriculture if they enroll in related vocational training.
By building awareness, the Agriculture Council of America is encouraging young people to consider career opportunities in agriculture.
Each American farmer feeds more than 165 people … a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. Quite simply, American agriculture is doing more – and doing it better. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States. https://www.agday.org/promote
Here are few fun facts for you about agriculture in South Dakota include:
98% of farms in South Dakota are family owned and operated – in fact, over 2,500 South Dakota farms have been in the same family for more than 100 years.
The average size of a farm in South Dakota in 2016 was 1,397 acres.
The average age of a South Dakota farmer is 57 years.
There are 46,000 producers in South Dakota on 31,000 farms or ranches.
Each year, one South Dakota producer raises enough food to feed 155 people in the U.S. and abroad.
South Dakota’s agriculture industry has a $25.6 billion economic impact each year. With more than 19 million acres of cropland and 23 million acres of pastureland, our farmers and ranchers are one of our economy’s key drivers.
In addition to generating 20% of our state’s economic activity, production agriculture and its value added industries employ over 115,000 South Dakotans.
Here are some fun facts about dairy production:
Milk takes about 48 hours to get from farm to store. Thanks to hardworking dairy farmers for making our food fresh & local.
Between 1944 and 2007, milk production has quadrupled but emits 63% fewer greenhouse gasses, requires 90% less cropland and consumes 65% less water.
Cheers to the dairy farmers working hard to make the milk behind our pizza!
Take this 10-stop video tour to see how milk from real cows, on a Midwest farm, becomes dairy foods you love. Use your smartphone, tablet or computer for an insider’s view of dairy farm living: http://bit.ly/MidwestFarmTour
Delicious dairy comes from local farms – see for yourself: http://bit.ly/MidwestFarmTour
Producing the food that you put on your table, truly is a labor of love and hard work, so in celebration of National Ag Day, I encourage you to thank our local farmers for helping put that delicious food on your table and the clothing on your back… and take extra appreciation of it!
To all of you that work in acres, not hours. We thank you!
Below are some pictures of my favorite farmers/ranchers–my husband, sons, and the Raml family! I married into a farming/ranching family and it certainly has had challenges, but ag is our life and we are thankful for all it offers us! I especially enjoy learning more about the production side of agriculture so that I can appropriately and effectively educate my patients on the practices and nutrition side of it! Enjoy looking at a glimpse into our life!
Beautiful summer day to check cows in the pasture and give them some mineral.
Combining beans with Dad.
Playing in the corn! Gotta scoop up that corn in his payloader!
Corbin loves the baby calves. Here he is giving this his baby calf some love at the Black Hills Stock Show.
Checking out Uncle Ben’s pigs!!
Corbin helping get the planter ready with Dad and Uncle Grant. Tractor family selfie! I think Adam enjoyed the quiet after we got out! 🙂Carson is a lover of cows! He says a real good ‘moooo’!! Corbin learning how to work calves with the guys.Cute calves and cute boys of mine! Always exciting to see the new babies! Corbin and I got put to work helping video bulls for our sale this year. Photo credit: Brad Hook.This is one of my favorite photos taken by professional Brad Hook. This is really what it’s all about–PASSION and a LOVE for farming and ranching! We wouldn’t be doing what we do if it wasn’t for my Father in Law Phil sharing his passion with us. We are blessed! Corbin (5) & Carson (1) – 6th Generation Farmers.
Spring fever is hitting in full force now. We had those days of 60’s, and then got hit with snow twice following that, which brought everybody back to reality again. The snow is now gone again, and we just had the official first day of Spring yesterday! Take advantage of this and get outside. We have been isolated and social distancing for so long now…over a year! Get outside when you can. Sunshine is the best medicine!
The bike trail is again clear! Get outside. A special shout out to Park and Rec Department. They did a great job of clearing snow on MANY sections of the trail this year so we could get outside and use them. It is so much safer on the trail than being on the road.
The views from the trail, especially along the Lake, are amazing. You can just go walk and get lost with the views. If you have not ever done this, my only question to you would be: “What are you waiting for?”
Members of the Watertown Area Run Club were out in force this AM. It was a great morning to get out and enjoy the weather. Spring fever is definitely occurring , and it is one illness we all need to catch!
Catch the Spring fever! Take a break from the pandemic. Move!!! The scenery is just for you to take in. You won’t be disappointed!
Capture the moment! Enjoy life! Keep moving everybody!
