Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 22

November 3, 2022 / Jessica / 11 Comments

Holy smokes! I’m guessing this could possibly be the longest 22 day challenge in history. I started this gratitude adventure on September 25, but because of some “I miss my momma” grief sprinkled in, it seems to have stretched it out a bunch.

Gratitude:

Lake Wappapello
beach time with my son, in Missouri (which isn’t near any oceans)
reflections on the water
a beautiful afternoon in nature on some random Wednesday

My son has a club on Wednesday afternoons for a couple of hours. Instead of just going home afterwards, we went out for lunch, then drove north to an area lake.

It was the perfect day to go. It was sunny, warm, and not very busy. We did a 1.5 mile hike on the hiking/bike trail near the marina and beach. It runs right next to the water and is absolutely beautiful! .

There was only one other person on the trail and she was very nice. She said that she walks 6 miles on the trail most days and sometimes she does it twice a day. I can see why! If I lived near that lake, I’d probably want to see those views every day, too.

Miracle photos:

*part of the hike/bike trail at Lake Wappapello in Missouri*

*the section of the trail we were on has a walk out in*
*front of the marina*

*toes on the beach at Lake Wappapello in November*

We went to two other areas around the lake after our hike. This one was completely new to us and it was down a lake road we haven’t been on before.

*a new to us area on Lake Wappapello called Lost Creek*

*reflections at Lost Creek, Lake Wappapello in Missouri*

From there we ventured to beach number two. We’ve been there many times. In fact, I’ve done other posts about this beach before.

This time, my son and walked the beach at sunset, drew in the sand as a tribute to his grandma/my momma, and tried to skip rocks. We are always on the lookout for heart shaped rocks, too.

*beach number two, a heart for my momma*

We had a really wonderful afternoon. Saturday we are going to a new hiking area about an hour north of our home. It’s near a lake as well.

For some reason, my love for hiking has kicked back in. Luckily, it’s a wonderful time of the year! Less crowds, less bugs, plus beautiful fall colors.

Thanks so much for being here!

Jessica

Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 21

November 2, 2022 / Jessica / 22 Comments

Gratitude:

Alley Spring
hiking
this lovely area where we live

On Halloween, after we went to Rocky Falls, we drove north and west about 20 miles to Alley Spring. My boy and I have a history there. Many times we have gone in autumn, when the leaves have fallen. We always make leaf piles and lay on them while watching the sky.

We arrived just about sunset and there were only a few other people there. There are two hiking trails. One is a mile and a half and the other is a third of a mile. Since it was close to evening, we chose the shorter one.

We’ve hiked it several times and I’ll tell you what, the views definitely change with the amount of sunlight. With or without much sunlight, the place is just amazing.

All the people left, so we had the place to ourselves! We made the leaf pile, stared at the sky, and walked back up to the mill near nightfall. The thought occurred to me, that now that almost all of the humans are gone, maybe nature could take a breath and rest for the night.

It puts on such a glorious show.

Thank you for reading. Hope you’re still seeing miracles and gratefuls.

Jessica

Miracle photos:

*sign to the mill near Eminence, Missouri*

*Alley Spring Mill near Eminence, Missouri*

*look how much water flows through here a day*

*view of the mill from the hiking trail*

*I love this photo- the red, the water, and*
*sunset on the trees*

Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 20

November 1, 2022 / Jessica / 16 Comments

Gratitude:

Rocky Falls

my boy

Halloween fun

When my boy was little, we used to do all the Halloween fuss- trick or treating, costumes, stopping by friends houses, trunk or treats, etc. I loved every single second of it, too.

This year it seems we have outgrown all the costumes and stuff. What’s a mom to do? I wanted a memory making day for him, so we started our own new tradition:

Halloween hiking

Miracle photos:

Rocky Falls, near Winona, Missouri

*waterfalls we went to on Halloween 2022*

*at the bottom of the rocks at Rocky Falls*
*near Winona, MO*

It’s a gorgeous place to visit. It had been quite some time since we’d been there, I’m so happy we went back. From there we went to Alley Springs. I’ll show you those pictures tomorrow.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Jessica

©️ All photographs taken by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day Whatever it is

October 29, 2022 / Jessica / 22 Comments

My 22 day Miracles and Gratitude Challenge stalled around Day 19. It’s not that I haven’t seen any miracles or that I gave up being grateful. It just became more of an inner noticing.

Grief rears up sometimes when we’re trying our hardest to close the door and push it away. Bingo. My logic in doing this challenge?

Count miracles + be grateful =

Well, I don’t know what it equals. I just know I didn’t make it 22 days in a row of posting. Sometimes it seems like our best intentions don’t always add up or go as planned. So, I’m starting on whatever day it is. This day.

Gratitude:

pumpkin patch
my son
sunflowers

Miracle photos:

We just left the pumpkin patch. We had a great time playing games, miniature golfing, seeing animals, hayride, slides, basketball hoops, and getting pumpkins. I even got to go into a sea of sunflowers. Love flowers so much!

Thanks for reading. I appreciate it.

Jessica

** all writing and photographs by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day 19

October 25, 2022 / Jessica / 9 Comments

Gratitude:

Rain!!!! We are in a severe drought with burn bans daily and right this second it’s raining!
The rain may help fill our pond where the deer drink water. It’s been so low.
A kind gentleman started brush hogging our back field yesterday. I can walk out there now without getting caught up in stickers.

Miracle photos:

*back behind the tall trees has been brush hogged (mowed with a tractor)*

*this side is next to be brush hogged*
*(mowed with a tractor)*

How’s it going with your gratitude and miracles? Hope you’re still seeing them. I took a week off to just give myself some grace. Hope you have a great day!

Jessica

Miracles and Gratitude Day 18

October 18, 2022 / Jessica

I’ve got nothin’.

I mean, I’ve got all the regular stuff. I’m thankful for this day, my son, my husband, my life, my family, home, food, friends…

But, today, I’m missing my momma.

So, I’m going to share photos instead.

She loved my nature photos.

If you’re missing someone you’ve lost today, my heart goes out to you.

Parent loss is incredibly hard. Today I’m going to give myself some grace.

Jessica

*** all photographs were taken by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day 17

October 16, 2022 / Jessica / 2 Comments

Saturdays are family day for me, my husband, and our son. Yesterday we went to a fall festival, picked up lunch, had a picnic at a lake, and bowled.

The cool thing?

All of those things were at the same town where we bowl on Tuesdays, 55 miles from home.

Gratitude:

getting to see our friends clog
riding The Scrambler
seeing new friends from bowling and homeschool clubs at the festival
picnic at the beach
bowling SEVEN games- I’ve never bowled that many at once
spending the day with 2 of my besties- my son and husband

Miracle Photos:

Being barefoot on a beach in the middle of Missouri in the middle of October! Humongous miracle!

*love that they have life jackets kids can borrow*

*there were deer tracks everywhere down by the water, here’s my foot with some*

I miss my momma sooooooooooooo much. Especially when we’re around water. She loved water. I wrote Mom in the sand.

*‘Angel wings’ I found on the*
*beach next to the water*

*that sky!!! Clearwater Lake in Missouri*

5 days of miracles left in this 22 day challenge. Thank you for being here and for reading.

Jessica

**** all writing and photography was done by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day 16

October 15, 2022 / Jessica / 12 Comments

You guys!!!

I got to meet a blogger in real life!

On Thursday, October 13, 2022, my son and I got to meet Betty who has, https://chambersontheroad.com, and her husband Dan.

How cool is that?

We met at a cute cafe not far from their campsite, an hour north of our house. When we walked into the restaurant, it was like coming home.

We were met with smiles and gifts. They bought our lunch. We ate, laughed, told stories, and laughed some more.

Afterwards, we met at their campsite. I thought we’d maybe stay an hour. We stayed four! We played games, went for walks, took nature photos, and told more stories.

It was a really great day!

Gratitude:

that I found Betty’s blog months ago on a search for camping/ hiking blogs
that through writing/reading each other’s posts, it made the awkwardness of meeting someone new not as awkward
for the sunny, but windy, afternoon
for Dan’s help playing Yahtzee
for learning to play Rummikub- it’s really fun
for walking around the campsite and seeing Halloween decorations other campers had out
for their hospitality
for hearing about driving adventures, the Million Mile Van, movie stars, and the 300 game
Betty’s yellow shirt
that our jackets almost matched
for hugs and pictures at the end

Miracle photos:

*some brilliant orange stuff growing*
*on a tree that we saw on a walk*

*trees reflecting on a bridge history sign*
*we saw on our walk*

If Dan and Betty happen to read this, thank you for a wonderful day! We really enjoyed it!

If you like reading about camping, Pickleball, cast iron fried donuts, recipes, and other adventures, maybe have a look at Betty’s blog, it’s really great!

Thank you for reading! Hope you have a sunny Saturday!

Jessica

** all writing and photography were done by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day 15

October 14, 2022October 14, 2022 / Jessica / 21 Comments

Gratitude:

my aunt Esther who is 103
that my son and I got to visit her in August (she lives 11 hours away)
that she sent us a Halloween card 2 days ago
for Etsy!!!!! Etsy allows me to choose sweet gifts from some cool shops that I can send to Esther, just because- the last gift was soap in the shape of a bird
the tiny bit of rain we got that turned the leaves orange and red
getting to see our friends do their clogging dance at a festival tomorrow- they are SO good, it’s kind of like tap dancing but louder
hearing my husband’s fishing tales- he just got home from a trip to Florida
that even though my bowling scores were lower this week, I’m a little more comfortable bowling in front of teams now and I had fun
my dad is letting me use my momma’s bowling ball- last week when I used it, I cried, this week I didn’t cry!

Miracle photos:

My great aunt Esther and her daughter Patty lived together from 1979 to 2021 in a small lake town in Iowa, near Minnesota. They did lots of crafts and ceramics. Every holiday, they decorated their house with the things they made and bought.

Patty unexpectedly passed away on March 26, 2021. In May 2021, my son and I went up to see Esther for her birthday.

I hadn’t been to her house in many years. When I asked if she had an attic, she let me go up and look.

Up in the attic were all these boxes. Esther told me that if I wanted any, to take them because they were going to goodwill.

Goodwill?

That made me wonder what was in them, so I started opening the lids! Holiday decorations! Some bought, some handmade.

We had our bikes in the back of my truck, so I jammed as many boxes as I could into the back seat. Always wishing I could’ve gotten more… but, we barely had room for our suitcases, ha ha.

Because winters are very harsh up there (like 20 degrees below zero), they gave away the rest of the stuff, Esther sold her house, and moved into a cozy assisted living home.

Now, when I open up those boxes to decorate for each holiday, I can smell her storybook house, sold over a year ago.

If we hadn’t been there for her 102nd birthday, we wouldn’t have any of her things.

Miracles.

Thank you for reading. I hope you are seeing miracles wherever you are. I’d love to hear about them if you are! Feel free to comment, if you’d like.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Jessica

** all writing and photos are by me

Miracles and Gratitude Day 14

October 12, 2022 / Jessica / 9 Comments

When I was at my dad’s recently, I saw some Mindful cards my momma had bought one of us for Christmas. As I went through the cards, one in particular caught my eye.

It said:

“Put your hand on your heart and feel your own heartbeat.”

Say what?

That would mean slowing down enough to actually notice this amazing thing we have in our chests.

I tried it.

It instantly shifted my perspective on what a miracle a heart is and because of its work, what a miracle I am. We are.

My grateful list today is to offer somewhat of a ‘standing ovation’ to some parts of this body that keep me going, but tend to get taken for granted a bit. A ‘thank you’ so to speak.

Gratitude:

a heart that beats
eyes that see
ears that hear
liver that does many jobs
kidneys that flush
adrenals that handle hormones
brain that gives movements, memories, thoughts, and functioning
taste buds
nose that smells
skin that glows
hair that grows
lungs that breathe

Miracle photos:

My kitties

Hope you have a great day!

Jessica

** all writing and photographs are mine

Miracles and Gratitude Days 12 and 13

October 10, 2022October 10, 2022 / Jessica / 16 Comments

Gratitude:

this gorgeous day
that was my husband was able to go on the fishing trip to Florida that he wanted to go on
this skirt I’m wearing that I got at a cool store in our tiny town- it’s black with red and yellow flowers all over it
my son’s humming- isn’t music grand?
getting on the schedule to get the pool closed (I thought they’d be booked)
pictures from my sister- she’s visiting my dad
my friend SanDee- she’s a “through thick and thin” kind of friend
having the windows open
bird singing
wind chimes
the moon- my momma LoVeD the moon- she’d text me a single word “moon”. I miss that.
songs that come to mind all of the sudden on some random Sunday
babies- my friend’s baby turned 3 months old yesterday
movies- we have a movie room and tons of dvds, it’s fun to watch movies on a big screen
2 1/2 days at home!!!!! Sunday and Monday became our Saturday and Sunday. Lots of activities going on these days
a sudden text from a friend- thanks, Cathy

Miracle Photos:

Different stages of zinnias ~

*one of my zinnias getting ready to open*

*looks like a party dress with some swing*

Thank you for reading. I hope your gratitude plate is overflowing and that you’re seeing miracles wherever you look! Feel free to join in!

Jessica

** all writing and photographs are mine

Miracles and Gratitude Day 11

October 7, 2022 / Jessica / 15 Comments

Gratitude:

having a camera
learning about history
being able to put myself in someone else’s shoes

Two days ago, we were at Falling Springs, south of Winona, Missouri. I photographed the log cabin there, while thinking about what it must have been like so many years ago.

The road in now is curvy, hilly, and rocky. Can you imagine going there in a covered wagon or on horseback or on foot?

Building a house and a mill without a lumberyard or electric tools must have been some hard work. And then, getting the equipment there to run the mill? My goodness, I bet that took some doing!

One thing I love about the log cabin is the doorways.

*front door on log cabin at Falling Springs*

Another cool thing I really love, is the windows.

This huge window is on the back wall. The spring and mill are out that window and to the left.

*another view of big window looking out*

What a tremendous view from those windows it must have been. The cabin sits right near the water, with trees all around. It’s gorgeous going there now, so back then I bet it was really something to see.

Miracle photos:

Inside the mill~

*Falling Springs Mill, near Winona Missouri*

*view of the inside of Falling Springs Mill and the water wheel out the window*

Why are those photos a miracle to me? Because someone was able to get all of equipment up and running like 100 years ago, way back in the woods.

Thanks for reading!

Jessica

** all photographs and writing are mine

Unmeasured Journeys

life without limits, life unmeasured

22 Day Miracles and Gratitude Challenge

Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 22

Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 21

Miracles and Gratitude Challenge Day 20

Miracles and Gratitude Day Whatever it is

Miracles and Gratitude Day 19

Miracles and Gratitude Day 18

Miracles and Gratitude Day 17

Miracles and Gratitude Day 16

Miracles and Gratitude Day 15

Miracles and Gratitude Day 14

Miracles and Gratitude Days 12 and 13

Miracles and Gratitude Day 11