Daily Life

The last three weeks in a nutshell: I officiated my 2nd wedding, turned the ripe age of thirty-one, went hiking through caves, started horseback riding lessons again, came down with a cold, and bought a new(er) car… oh and I’m kicking butt at work! 😉

It felt good to write all of that because I’m constantly feeling like I’m failing. But when I actually step back and look at my accomplishments, adventures, moments with friends and family, and making time for the things I love.. I realize that I’m doing okay with this juggling act of life. Maybe that’s something we all need to do more often. I know some amazing hardworking women that juggle motherhood, going back to school, working multiple jobs, running their own business, etc.. and I don’t think we take the time to step back and really appreciate just how much we’re capable of. And that we are all doing the best that we can and sometimes that just needs to be enough.

So let me go back to the beginning… If you didn’t already know, I became an ordained minister to marry my parents several years ago. Two of our good friends were tying the knot at the end of September and hadn’t yet found a minister to make it official. After I told them the story of how I married my parents in front of a waterfall in Oregon, the bride asked if I would do the honor. I quickly accepted and then realized I have a major fear of public speaking and would be officiating this wedding in front of 120+ people…

After practicing several times and choosing a high-neck blouse so no one could see me break out into red splotchy patches due to nerves.. it went perfectly! They even forgot to bring the microphone up so I had to speak even louder and it still went great! Jerrica was incredibly sweet and handed her bouquet off to me at the end of the night. It was a huge honor to be able to officiate and celebrate this wonderful couple. Congratulations yet again to Mr. and Mrs. Yasumura!

The very next day was my birthday and we celebrated by driving three and a half hours east to the Maquoketa Caves State Park. I hadn’t been there since I was a little kid, so we spent the day hiking through various caves, encountering several very scary and territorial woodchucks, and enjoyed a little picnic and beers. We got back into town late, but stopped off at my parents where my mom presented me an awesome spiderweb cake, we grilled out, and ended the night with a birthday bonfire.

That same week I started horseback riding again, painted pumpkins and watched Hocus Pocus with my niece and nephew, and we caught our first movie at the Iowa Theater in Winterset: Dracula! Every Wednesday they have Way Back Wednesday and play some of the classics. Last week was Bride of Frankenstein and last night was my favorite… Creature From The Black Lagoon! And I’m thinking a Creature inspired cocktail should be my next drink post.. what do you think?