Wellness Wednesday: Mental Health!

Hi everyone! Boy, I'm feeling the aftermath of a long day, followed by a short night of sleeping, followed by a short day of work, and a WHIRLWIND of a trip from the UP to the north woods of Wisconsin! Are you ready for another edition of Wellness Wednesday? Well here we go! 

Let's talk about the power of "mental health" days, shall we? Yesterday, the hubs and I jumped in our car and drove a bit over three hours away to spend the night in Wisconsin with some family friends. Mid-week trips are pretty rad (and feel a little sneaky too), but the BIG NEWS is that this trip marked the first trip I've taken outside of Michigan since my honeymoon in January! I am a prisoner NO MORE! I drew a line in the sand, declared that I would indeed be taking time for me, and left. Glory be! 

Did we do much? No! Is that amazing? Yes! We ate good food in a great location with AMAZING friends, and even though I am weary now, I feel restored! If all goes according to plan, I will have a few more days away to visit family and friends at home later on this month! Oh it just sounds too good to be true! :) 

Back to the day! We were invited to crash in on a family visit of a dear friend. Her grandmother lives in the north woods of Wisconsin, and man were the surroundings beautiful! Sure, we live near Superior too, but it's always beautiful and fun to see from different angles! Here's a peak into the little that we did and saw while away! 

How awesome is the Lincoln Log cabin we got to stay in?! The view was unbelievable! 

The backyard of the cabin was once home to a quarry! See the markings? 

 

Exploring the backyard and shoreline of Lake Superior, beautiful! 

We got to play the most polite, friendliest games of Scrabble I've EVER had the pleasure to participate in last night! The kiddos were pretty wiped out from their full day, but even so, mom and grandma were up throughout the night a few times and up and at 'em pretty early! There were so sweet and got all the kids ready and out the door for a morning hike and let us sleep in! There is something about sleeping in when you are really worn out that is just... magical... isn't it??? 

This morning we did some more visiting and explored the nearby town! Shopping and beautiful sights? Okay! I'm in! 

I like to call this, "The Many Faces of Martin & Beatrice!" She's so sweet! 

No one can feel at all down when a baby is smiling, clapping, and grabbing for you, am I right? I was playing with Bea this morning, but she was absolutely fascinated with Martin's beard! She kept flirting with him, and finally I grabbed the camera and handed her over! How sweet were these two?!

Exploring the town, and SHOPPING! 

Of course our camera decided that it was time for the battery to die way before we were done taking pictures! I have a few on my camera, but I'm not going to wait until I get them on my computer to finish this post! Maybe I'll add them in if they look good!

So there you have it! Hiking, Scrabble, visiting, sleeping, eating, and SHOPPING made this a Wellness Wednesday that I would gladly repeat!

Well, now that I'm back home in the UP, it is only appropriate to end this with a big dash of... Yooper Love!

Wellness Wednesdays

I'm determined! This is not going to become another food blog! DETERMINED! So I thought and thought and I decided that I would make a concerted effort to avoid that, and thus "Wellness Wednesday" is born! 

So... I'm not as original as I thought, turns out a LOT of people celebrate Wellness Wednesday!

Up until a few weeks ago I was working every Wednesday at the dual language (Chinese and English) preschool in the area. While I'm still at that center a few times a week, I don't have a set and steady schedule anymore! I now find myself with some unexpected free time on Wednesdays! Both jobs knew all about my schedule, so I'm rarely asked to cover shifts that day - woohoo! 

I've been at my two jobs for around seven months, and have been overworking myself for about.... seven months. I do a pretty good job taking care of other people, but I do a pretty crap job of taking care of myself. I'm getting better at setting limits (no more than 50 hours a week between the two jobs, only one 13+ hour work day per week, at least one day off per week, etc), but for a LONG TIME I was saying yes when I should have been saying no, and I could feel my body and spirit breaking down. Along with setting limits I've started to seek out ways to refuel my body, mind, and soul. It might not always be on a Wednesday, but I definitely take some time each week for myself. 

So... what did I do today?

I went to the opthamologist to for the first time in YEARS. Do not wait for years to the opthamologist, mkay? Okay good! I have been abusing my eyes for a long time now, and I'm so glad that I decided that needs to STOP. Once upon a time I had glasses, but I lost them, and I spend way too many hours a day with my contacts in. I'm getting some hot green contacts, and some hot green and brown glasses! Woot! Check 'em out! 

Sassy new glasses for Linnea!

I found several frames that I liked a lot, and if I ever feel like I have a surplus of money, I'd like to get a secondary (or even third...ary...) pair of glasses. I'll tell ya right now that I plan on living in my glasses for at least a week after I get them. My eyeballs deserve a break!

I also treated myself to an eyebrow waxing so that my peepers will look slamming in the glasses, and because I looked like a wildebeest. Mainly because I looked like a wildebeest. 

I had big plans to tackle a rhubarb chutney today, but I wasn't feeling super hot, so instead I decided to take a nap. Naps should be a requirement for Wellness Wednesday, don't you think? Who doesn't love a good nap, am I right?? I must have been tired because I was barely bothered by the contraction outside my window that literally was shaking my house! When I woke up, Martin had just texted to say he was on his way, so we decided to scrap the original dinner plan and work on some of our leftovers instead.

After dinner we watched "Midnight in Paris." WHY did I wait so long to see this?! Oh man, it was so magical! But... a little dangerous too. Now I have a serious desire to get to Paris! Shoot, we're hoping to make it to Germany to visit with Martin's brother before the end of the year (and meet my first nephew! SQUEEE!!!!) so maybe we can sneak in a Paris trip too?! I can wish, right? Anyhow, I totes magoats recommend the movie. 

Ah, Paris! J'adore! 

So that was my Wednesday. Very low key and very restful, which was very needed! Back to the grind tomorrow, as usual! 

What do you do to unwind and renew yourself? 

Got any ideas for me? I take direction pretty well ya'll! 

Shoot...that ya'll just reminded me... did you KNOW that PAULA DEEN has become a eyewear designer? Don't believe me? Please, I beg you, check this out: Coming to a Walmart NEAR YOU! The most disturbing thing is that I actually liked some of her frames. I know. It's frightening! 

Oh, and if you're going to judge me on going to Walmart for my eyeglasses needs, I totally understand! But a chick with no insurance needs to go to the most cost effective place, right? Right. (And I totally laid down some fat cash regardless... just less than if I went to the private practice place!) 

And with that, I'm really signing off! Yooper love, ladies and gents!