Take a New Route Tuesday.
Today, I am trying something new. 
A new route to better health and mental wellness. 
Online counseling. 
This may seem like a foreign concept.  Maybe even the idea of counseling is scary. 
But I am comfortable with using video chatting for work, so I am going to give this a try. 
In my work, I have made a shift from nutrition to human development.  A very comfortable place to land, but it comes with some new sets of challenges. 
I find that I have an empathetic personality, continually pouring out, but not taking adequate time to fill my cup. 
So, this new route is for ME.  Some time and space to breathe. 
I am hopeful.
I am grateful.
I will enJOY.

Take a New Route Tuesday

Today I am actually traveling a familiar route. Today is what we call in Extension Holy Tuesday, or faculty meeting day. We all travel to our central regional location to have our meetings and administrative updates. For me that means driving a familiar route to Clinton, Missouri. 

We had some pretty big storms move through Missouri last night. As I drove through Cross Timbers I began to see for about a mile stretch big uprooted trees lying on their side, branches down everywhere, large trees broken completely in half. 

I am amazed at the amount of damage. 

As I drive further down the road, everything is dry.The sun is shining. No leaf clumps scattered on the road, no broken branches, no groups of huddled folks beside 4-wheel drive pickups. 

I begin to think about how on this Tuesday, the route is so different for folks living just 10 miles apart. 

Storms have a funny way of doing that.  Here in Missouri we are well aware of the destruction a single path from a tornado or straight line winds can make. 

So my heart goes out to the people in Wheatland and Cross Timbers as they clean up the mess.  Their  route is most definitely quite diverted today. But just as I saw several miles back; folks come together, messes are cleaned up, and the human spirit ultimately finds a way to enJOY.

Take new route Tuesday. 

This morning at 8 o’clock as I’m ready to leave to head to Columbia for our Youth and Families Spring conference, my youngest daughter calls to tell me she is coming back home because the road is closed. Mind you she has a phone with GPS, and there are multiple routes to get from our house to school, but they are routes she’s not familiar with and she is only a few months in as a new driver. Needless to say, I helped her take a new route. She followed in her car as we wound our way on back roads avoiding the closed road on our way to the high school.  

Watching the clock tick, I could feel my shoulders tense knowing that I would be late for my meeting. But I take a deep breath and realize sometimes in life there unexpected curveballs, or road closings, that get in the way of the best laid plan. We are then faced with a choice to let these curveballs make our day miserable or give us an opportunity to look for a new route.

Today I am choosing the new route.

enJOY!

Take a new route Tuesday 

This morning I left my house early to make a 9 o’clock meeting which is two hours away heading north. I’m driving into fog and drizzle. And the thought weighs heavily on my mind that I must drive two hours south to make it to the class at 6 o’clock this evening that class is another two hours from my house. 

So essentially I making a big triangle in mid Missouri today. Sometimes I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into with the amount of travel that comes with Extension work. 

But then I remind myself that I’m not alone. So many others across the state are doing the same thing, getting behind the wheel of the car, windshield time, in order to make destinations that will end up serving the citizens of Missouri.

I am grateful for this job and this opportunity even on those days when 300 miles is Not a stretch.

So today, I will try to practice what I preach and look for the possibility... to enJOY!

Take a new route Tuesday

This week I am traveling to Saint Genevieve for a leadership meeting all week. I am definitely taking a new route. I have only been to Saint Genevieve one time before. And I wasn’t driving. Thus I wasn’t paying much attention. 

But this morning as I drive I am struck by the beauty of the landscape. Maybe it’s because we had such a long gray winter or maybe it’s because we just had a beautiful Easter weekend, but nevertheless I turned off the music and drive in silence giving myself plenty of opportunity to take it in. The colors are amazing. Bright fuchsia of the redbud trees, stark white of the dogwoods, pops of yellow daffodils and other flowers scattered on the ground, and the entire hillside blanketed in every color of green imaginable. 

I love Missouri and the opportunity to experience different seasons. 

Take some time today and walk outside, or take a drive. 

Soak in the spring because before we know it the heat of summer will be on us. 

Enjoy!

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

bloom where you are planted

2014. Something about the new year makes me think of new beginnings.  My daughter was working on homework last night and she asked me a question.  I misunderstood and thought she said "Do you have a blog?" to which i responded "Well, I used to...".  What she really said was "Do you know I have a blog?". She is a writer, of course.  

But it got me thinking about what I put out there a few years back when I started this blog and why I started it.  My life hasn't changed all that much in the past few years, we live in the same house, my husband and I are in the same jobs, we have the same group of friends.  But our children's lives have changed.  We have a new driver, an active middle school-er, and a blossoming 10 year old.  They are busy girls.  But, we are truly loving every minute of it.  Savoring, almost.  Somehow, in the midst of all of the chaos, my husband and I have found contentment.  I guess that is the real reason for the idea of "blooming where you are planted".  There will always be some adventure out there that someone else is experiencing, something they have that you don't. But to take note of your own journey and own the life that you are living, that is profound. 

 enJOY, 

Amy

Red velvet cupcakes- oh my!

Out with the old

I must say...Parquet flooring is durable. 12 years and 3 kiddos later, it's still tough as nails. Maybe that's why they used is for gymnasium floors for so many years.

Progress!

A little elbow grease-- taking up 4 layers of old linoleum.

Back to work

Cards trump iPods!!

New tile? Home projects for the winter months

2013--a year in photos

A new year brings new goals, new ideas, new challenges. I like to SEE what I have done and where i have been... On that note, my goal is to post a photo every day to chronicle 2013. I call it "A Day In The Life"

We The Consumer.

http://consumerist.com/
Although this is not really blog-worthy, it is a very interesting site that might be worth your time to peruse.  Lots to say about products we wholeheartedly give our dollars to. 

NCLB...better known as "why my kids never have snow routes"

I am going to repost a link from a great blog Fed Up With School Lunch that I follow.  Mrs. Q has a small article about No Child Left Behind.  In it you will find a few informative links to new laws that are being passed and what this all means for our kids.  NCLB failed.  No doubt about it.  I have an anxiety-prone 8 year old to prove it.  School is just one big test.  No time for creative learning, engaging the students, or excitement about achievement.  It is a welcome breath of fresh air to know that we may be on the tail-end of this nonsense.  Higher educational standards for our children-YES.  Gaining more statistics from standardized tests-NO.  Standards for the sake of standards are a waste of these precious minds.  The children are our future people.  Whitney was right!
http://fedupwithlunch.com/2012/02/what-did-nclb-really-mean-education/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FedUpWithLunchTheSchoolLunchProject+%28Fed+Up+With+Lunch%3A+The+School+Lunch+Project%29
enJOY.

food science with kids

in case you were wondering what i might be doing this afternoon.  here is a sample of a crazy program that i am teaching for 3rd and 4th graders in an afterschool setting.  Food Science.  fun time. 



HOW TO MAKE SLIME

CUP 1:          1 TABLESPOON OF GLUE

                   1 TABLE SPOON OF WATER

                   1 DROP OF FOOD COLOR

                   MIX WELL

CUP 2:        1 TEASPOON OF BORAX POWDER

                   1 TABLESPOON OF WATER

                   MIX WELL

POUR CUP 2 INTO CUP 1 AND GENTLY STIR.  YOU WILL SEE A CHEMICAL REACTION OCCUR.  YOU JUST MADE A POLYMER. 

WHAT IS A POLYMER?    A SUBSTANCE THAT POSSESSES QUALITIES OF A LIQUID AND A SOLID .  SOME OTHER EXAMPLES ARE GUM, RUBBER BANDS AND JELLO!

HOW TO MAKE GRAPE SODA

·       POUR ANY JUICE INTO A CUP ABOUT 3/4 FULL

·       DON’T OVERFILL YOUR CUP

·       ADD 1/4 TEASPOON OF BAKING SODA

·       WATCH IT FIZZ

·       ENJOY YOUR NONSUGARY SODA

The fizz will happen because juice contains citric acid.  There is a chemical reaction between baking soda and citric acid.  You can experiment with different types of juice. 

Do you think orange juice will fizz more than apple juice? 

The sugar that is in this soda occurs naturally from the fruit.  There is no added sugar like you have in a regular soda.  now you really can have soda for breakfast!

Just a day in the life...I really do have the greatest job.  after that, i plan to enJOY my weekend.  hbu??

snap ed.101 or "let me pick my jaw up off the floor"

as you may or may not know. i work in a county extension office for a major university.  my job is to work with low-income families teaching them nutrition education.  my position is funded in part through a grant from usda/snap-ed...better know as the food stamp program.  i had this brilliant brain fart of an idea that instead of "pantry challenging" my family, that we would actually try to prove that a family can eat healthy on a food stamp allotment each month.  thereby proving to many, many of my clients that--it can be done.  well, after a few clicks of the mouse on the usda website, and my eyes are literally popping from my skull.  the monthly allotment for a family of 5 (mine) is approximately $793.  well, shit my knickers.  i cannot do this experiment.  in fact, the only way possible that i could do it, is if i actually received the @#*^#-ing food stamps.  we have 2 working adults in the home and we do not spend that much on groceries each month.  maybe when we are being extremely decadent, or it is a holiday, or we are having a party. but for pete's sake.  i am depressed.  no wonder we are in the shit bucket as a country...what's the incentive to work?  more research to come.  until then, trying to find a way to enJOY my peanut butter and jelly sandwich i brought for lunch.

top unhealthiest foods. check the list people...

in my quest for REAL FOOD, i decided to look for some of the worst. our problem in america (relating only to food-health, because believe me, our problems in america are way too complex for me to tackle on my little blog) is that we have equated the need to fill our cars with gas, with the unequivocal need to fill our bodies with crap. so each time we stop to put $4/gallon gas in our vehicle, we put $10 worth of high fat, high sugar, high caffeine (or all 3) into our bodies. it's pavlovian people. stop the cycle. this concludes todays lecture. are you with me?
The 30 Worst Foods In America! (Did Your Favorite Food Make The List?) Hip-Hop Wired