New Year's Resolutions

It's probably (okay- definitely) cliché, but I've been thinking and planning on some goals for the upcoming new year. 2013 flew by in such a rush, and I know that 2014 is going to be another wild ride, especially with our new little one coming around July 1st.

In thinking about new year resolutions, I keep remembering the hymn "I am Resolved." It's an excellent reminder of where our life's focus should primarily be.

 

I am resolved no longer to linger

Charmed by the world's delight;

Things that are higher, things that are nobler-

These have allured my sight.

I am resolved to follow the Savior,

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what he sayeth, do what He willeth-

He is the living way.

 

It's so easy to set goals, and then give up on them by the time February or March comes around. I've read that it's especially easy to set these goals aside if you don't share them. If you talk about a goal, write it down, and have at least one accountability partner, you'll increase your rate of success exponentially.

 

2014 Goals

*Read the Bible in a Year

This shouldn't be such a challenge for me, but it is. By reading an average of 4 chapters a day, you can read the Bible through in a year. However, more often than I care to admit, I end up reading one or two chapters while I put Grace down for a nap, and that's my Bible reading for the day. I've read the Bible through, but I've never have the necessary self-discipline to complete this in a year.

 

*Run (and Sometimes Walk) 200 Miles

That number, at first glance, seems crazy high to me. And, when I add in the fact that I'm going to have a baby in July, I'm not sure it will be accomplished. However, when I break it down, that averages into 3.8 miles per week. In one run, I usually go between 3-5 miles. Therefore, as long as I stay focused (and don't mind walking more than running as I get further along in pregnancy), it should be very doable.

*More Writing

I'm not sure exactly how this goal will look, as it's one I'm still ruminating on. However, lately I've been writing more poems and articles, and it's been a major source of creativity and enjoyment. So, I'd like to continue with that.

*Once a Month Blog Post

Pretty self-explanatory. I don't want to forget about this little blog, even if I'm not on here much!

 

*Eat More Chocolate. And Sushi (after July). And Turkey/Avocado Sandwiches.

Okay, maybe that last one is just me having some cravings. It is lunchtime, after all.

I am resolved, and who will go with me?

Come friends, without delay;

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,

We'll walk the heavenly way.

 

 

What are you resolving to do in 2014?

Sobieski Area Featured on National Geographic Web Site

Check out this article, posted by the Shedd Aquarium, that discusses a unique situation with migrating fish near Brown Road in Sobieski.

You can read it here.

It's not very often that a tiny town like Sobieski gets featured nationally!

The Mountain Top and the Forest Floor

Well, Fall is definitely upon us! Tomorrow, Luke and I will be taking our annual trip up North to get pumpkins, but I wanted to post pictures from an earlier up-north excursion before I forget about it.

 The following post was actually written about a month ago; I forgot to add the pictures, and never got around to publishing it. Enjoy!
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In mid-September, Luke, Grace, and I, along with our good friends Paul and Judy, took a trek up north to spend some time in the comfortable, 60-degreeish weather. We were looking for an abandoned fire tower near Mountain, WI, where we were going to pick beech nuts. I'd never tried them before, and we'd read that they were both nutritious and delicious.

Well, instead of finding the abandoned tower, we found one that, while no longer in use, was still climbable. I strapped Grace into her carrier, and UP WE WENT! The flights of rickety, narrow steps definitely got our hearts pounding (literally! It was a big climb). The gorgeous sight at the top was well worth it, though.

The first hint of changing colors!

 

 

 

 

McCaslin Mountain, several miles away.

 

After that, the day was still young. We stopped for a quick picnic, and went on to check out Anderson Lake. Paul had been there as a child, and he wanted to see how the water levels and such had changed. Turns out, not much has!

 

Anderson Lake on a bright, early autumn day

 

 

Of course, a day up north isn't complete without SOME sort of wildlife. I found the tiniest little photogenic frog.

 

 

 

We finished off our afternoon with a wonderful hike. There were lots of wintergreen berries out, so we had a fun time chewing on the leaves and enjoying the minty-fresh berries.

 

A wintergreen berry up close. Beats gum any day!

 

Wintergreen, fresh off the plant.

 

So many wintergreen leaves along this little trail.



 



It would have been so easy to keep our eyes on the trail in a rush to finish before daylight faded; yet if we had, we would have missed out on an awesome opportunity to collect and enjoy the wintergreen.

 

John 4:35 says, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."

 

It is so easy to look straight ahead in life, focused on our own goals, responsibilities, and priorities. But when we do that, we miss out on so much! There are struggling people ALL around us, in need of prayer and compassion. Most of all, they are in need of finding out how to have a true and complete relationship with God.

 

I need to train my eyes to "look on the fields" and see those struggling souls.

 

Otherwise, I'm walking down a trail, but I'm missing out on the beauty. joy, and purpose of the hike.

 

~Jen





Her Father's Arms (Or- Grace at the Beach)

 Several weeks ago, in the middle of a heat wave, Luke had a day off of work. We celebrated by trekking up to Door County. We thought we would take advantage of the 94 degree day by cooling off at Whitefish Dunes. Well, we did get to cool off; the water was definitely cold. We took a few baby steps in, waited a couple minutes, then went a bit deeper.

We were especially looking forward to Grace's reaction, though. She had never been to a big beach before, and we thought she would love it.

Boy, were we wrong. Anytime she was lowered near the water, she started crying. We knew it wasn't the temperature, because she liked having her feet in the freezing water near the shore. She was just scared. The enormity of the water, along with the depth and the waves, must have just been too much for her little self to handle.

 

 

So, Luke held her above the water, wading around while I went swimming. Watching Grace feel strong and secure in her dad's arms, I couldn't help but feel how much that mirrors our relationship with God. We all go through times in life where our circumstances are scary and overwhelming. Yet even when God takes us into a dangerous place, His strong arms hold us secure. Grace trusted Luke so completely, and she was so happy as long as he was holding her. It's so important to remember that we can always trust our Heavenly Father's love as well!

 

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

~Isaiah 41:10

Then a storm rolled in, so we took some time to check out the nature center. After the rain, we went for a stroll along the trail at Whitefish Dunes. We saw some beautiful flowers and ferns!

Along the trail at Whitefish Dunes.

Bluebells at Whitefish Dunes

(Identified thanks to the UW-Stevens Point Wildflower Identification Guide- Love it!)

 

 After that we hopped into our car for a quick two-minute ride to Cave Point. It was gorgeous, and the passing storm had created a breathtaking sky and atmosphere. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees as well, so that made it the perfect temperature for exploring.

Cave Point, just after the storm.

 

 

Looking at minnows and crawfish in the clear water.

Walking -very carefully- near the edge.

 

 

 

Sturgeon Spawning

A few weeks ago (April 29th, to be exact), Luke and I packed up Grace and went out to the Shiocton/Shawano area in order to see a once-a-year spectacle. The sturgeon were spawning! For about a week in early spring, you can see these massive fish up close and personal as they lay and fertilize their eggs on the Wolf River. It's one of the few places in the world that allows you to do so.

Many Wisconsinites have never even seen this before, Luke included. Since I used to work in Shawano often, I'd had many chances to see it before. Nevertheless, it was great to watch.

Luke was in charge of the camera that night and got lots of splashing fish pictures. He was very enthusiastic in his photo-snapping (mostly because this was his first experience getting up close to these awesome fish), so I'll just share the best pictures from the night.

At first, there wasn't too much to see. Just a few ripples...

 

 

Then some fins appeared.

 

Pretty soon they were all around us!

 

 We even got some up close views.

 

These fish were massive! Some were more than 6 feet long.

After viewing the sturgeon, we went and looked at the local marsh as well.

Grace and Luke enjoyed their first sturgeon spawning.

^"All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air,

and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

Psalms 8:7-9

Jen

My Mother's Day Flowers- Shade Annuals

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of flowers. Luke has always known that the easiest way to my heart is through a big bunch of blooms, and so holidays requiring a gift are a no-brainer for him.

While I love cut flowers, I prefer to get plants, because then I can enjoy them longer. The challenge comes in with our balcony; we have a north-facing balcony that only gets a little bit of sun in the morning. A lot of flowers are only part shade or mostly sun, so we are limited in what we can grow.

The other part of the challenge is that I can be a little picky about flowers. I am bored by the "traditional" shade plants (like impatiens or hostas), and we can't grow the plants that have that huge WOW factor due to our limited space and sun.

Luke found me some awesome plants, though. They don't look like much yet, but they're going to grow into impressive flowers as the summer goes on.

1. Begonia

I know what you're thinking- begonias are a common, traditional plant.

 They are my one exception to my "no boring plants" rule.

A begonia was the first plant I ever grew myself, and so it has a special place in my heart.

2. Torenia (AKA- Wishbone Flower)

This flower blooms from early summer all the way until frost,

which means we'll get to enjoy it for months.



3. Nierembergia

 

This plant will eventually get small purple flowers on it.

I'm excited to see what it becomes!

 

So there you have it! My Mother's Day gift. As usual, Luke did a great job. :)

 

 

I'm so grateful to have this first Mother's Day with Grace as well. She turned 6 months old yesterday. This year is flying by! This time last year, she was just a little bean in my tummy.

 

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."

Psalm 127:3

 

Hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day!

Jen



Friday Night Fishing: The Search for Smelt

Whew! The weather has finally warmed up in Wisconsin, and Luke and I have gotten outdoors as much as possible in order to take full advantage of it. I'm behind on my blogging; I have so many adventures to tell about! I'll start with a couple weeks ago, when Luke and I did the first night fishing we've done in a long time.

Luke and I have many relatives that grew up in Wisconsin, and we've heard from many different "old-timers" about the legendary smelt runs. According to the tales, you could just head out on May 1st (yes- that date specifically) and throw a dip net in the water. Within a few minutes, you would pull it in and be up to your elbows in the small, wriggling fish.

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Sea Grant

 

For those of you unfamiliar with this fish, you can read more about them here. If you're from Wisconsin or the U.P., you've no doubt gone to at least one smelt fry in your life. Well, those are what we were hoping to catch.

 

We weren't able to make it on May 1st, but instead went out on Friday, April 26th (this was the closest to that day that we had free). We drove on up to County Park 2 in Oconto County, tossed out the net, and hoped for the best.

 

Luke getting ready to toss it in.

 

 

And we caught...

 

 

A shiner! Not a smelt.

 

We actually didn't end up netting any smelt. We caught plenty of shiners and perch, though, and had a nice time with that. It appears that, at least for us, those stories will continue to remain legends. Who knows, though, maybe the smelt will make a comeback just like perch have in the past 5-10 years.

 

We ended up switching to fishing poles, since we thought we might catch a larger fish that way. We decided to fish for smelt again later when it was darker.

 



 

We loved the excuse to use our lantern. 

Grace was nice and snug in her stroller. She enjoyed watching the action, though she wasn't quite ready to hold a pole on her own.

 

Luke showing Grace the first catch of the year- a tiny perch (yes- we threw it back).

After it got too dark to see our poles, we went for a hike along the rocks leading to the bay. Grace was snug in her carrier, and she promptly fell asleep.

 

Although, in this picture she was still wide awake. :)

 

 

On our walk we found a few friends. We saw a muskrat paddling around, and I was able to snap a few shots of this photogenic leopard frog. You can tell this is a leopard frog (and not a pickerel frog) by the fact that the blotches do not form parallel rows; they are more randomly scattered on the back. 

 

 

 

We went back and tried the nets again, but the smelt outsmarted us (or maybe were just sticking to their calendars). We'll have to give it another go on May 1st, 2014.

 

We finally left around 9:45 when a thunderstorm rolled in across the bay.  It was amazing to watch the lightning slowly get closer to us over the course of a half hour. It just felt great to be outside!

 

 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:" ~Matthew 13:47

 



 

Praising God for shiners, smelt, perch, muskrats, and leopard frogs,

 

Jen



First Signs of Spring

I'm so excited for spring to be here! Usually it's about halfway through spring before I feel this way, once I see the daffodils and tulips in full bloom.

I think I've just been more cooped up than usual, with not wanting to bring Grace into the cold weather. During a typical winter, Luke and I will still do lots of outside activities, such as hiking and ice fishing. This past year, however, it feels like we've been in hibernation mode- we didn't go ice fishing once!

So, I've been long overdue for serious outdoor time, and this past week I finally got it. We've been enjoying lots of time outside going for walks and getting our balcony garden organized. I was cleaning out some rubbish in my herb garden when I noticed our first element of green- chives! Yup, my trusty chives have come back yet again.

If you don't have a green thumb, plant chives. They're practically impossible to kill and come back every year with absolutely no effort required- a real ego booster!

We also have a mysterious sprout coming out from our orange tree pot. I'm not sure if it's a growth from the orange tree or an out-of-place seed, but time will tell.

A hint of good things to come!

 

Chives are seriously the easiest thing to grow.

They come back effortlessly every year!

 

Our mysterious sprout.

It might be part of the orange tree, but I'm thinking it might be a sunflower

from our bird feeder. We shall see!

 

 

Spring, as a season, is very encouraging and inspiring for Christians everywhere. Of course we celebrate Christ's resurrection, but I also love how spring reminds us that:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17

Dead-looking brown straw will become lush green grass, my hydrangea bush (currently a collection of twigs) will produce gorgeous blue blossoms with emerald leaves, and pea tendrils will curl out of brown soil in a tangle of sprouts. These reminders of life will "spring" out of what previously looked dead.

Food for thought for Christians- do people look at your life and see a "new creature"? Can people tell that you are "in Christ" or do you look and act like a pile of dead grass?

Keep Growing!
Jen