Disneyland

What an amazing day!  Joel said everyone is happy at Disneyland and he wasn't kidding!  I am so glad to have had this experience.  I am not sure it can be captured in words or pictures.

We parked and rode the tram then entered the park.  

You immediately are in a fantasy land called Main Street with shops and Victorian houses and cute signs.  

At the end, you can see the famous Disney castle which was glittered up for the 60 year anniversary celebration.  

We made some plans and made our way to get a fast track for a bigger ride later to cut down on the waiting then made our way back for the first attraction, pirates of the Caribbean.

All the rides have waiting but they really work to make the waits decorative or entertaining for the most part.  Pirates of the Caribbean  was an indoor water ride with amazing animated scenes set up all along a water pathway.  I liked the scenes but I hate log rides where they take the boat up ramps then release it because it makes my anxiety go through the roof.  Just a fact.

We then waited in line for the haunted mansion which was also very cool.  The first room we all went I to while waiting grew because the ceiling raised way up.  Then we got in these little carts that whisked us through the attraction of animated horror scenes.  Some of the lighting ones were pretty impressive.

We got a snack then waiting in line for Space mountain.  The boys had to do a lot of talking to me while waiting for this one because it was a roller coaster.  But it was indoors and didn't have any drops and so I liked it!  The lighting was again fabulous as we shot through space while hurling 35 miles per hour around curves, etc, so to be honest with you, I had my eyes squeezed shut for most of it.  But it was fun!

We walked around some more through the various parts of the park, Adventureland, Tomorrow Land, Frontier land..... And walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle.

I liked The Buzz light year ride even though the line was long and hot.  We got in carts and basically shot targets with lasers.  It was so fun!  I just completely became a kid for a few minutes!

The Indiana Jones ride was cool mostly because the waiting was in a cave like structure that fit the theme and was pretty impressive.  The ride itself was fast and bumpy.  When Indiana was being lowered down to us on a rope, it really looked like Harrison Ford!  And it looked so real!

The jungle tour water ride was fun, silly, entertaining.  There were fake animals and the tour guide joked the whole way.  At one point, perhauana fish spewed water all around the boat.

We all liked the Finding Nemo ride, too.  We got into a submarine and were actually submerged under water for a fun show as the sub traveled around a lagoon.

We had a couple of good meals, one in downtown Disney.  I bought some sandals.  And we went into the hotel lobby which was a perfect place for my nap.

Our favorite ride was the Star Tours, which is a short, interactive,simulated Star Wars flick. So we were on a space ship with c3po and shot through the galaxy and under the water and participated in an intergalactic battle.  Loved it!  The wait was all about boarding the ship so there were Star Wars characters and it felt like they were taking right times.  

At the end of the night, we got in the middle of a huge crowd for the ending parade and fireworks show.  We were exhausted and my expectations were low. I could not believe how unbelievably fantastic it was, particularly the lighted parade!   Each float was animated and lighted and themed and each one blew my mind!  I cried!  Then the fireworks show over the top of the castle with the castle being illuminated and Disney movie songs blasting was crazy.  So emotional singing Jungle book and Little Mermaid and then of course, Let it Go, from Frozen.  Awesome.

So we had to end the night with a second Star Tours ride.  Fun!

Afterwards, Joel wondered what stood out in my mind.  I'd have to say that the fun times I had hanging out with him, standing in line, etc, is what stood out.  Joel is so humorous and easy to be with.  

I loved Disneyland.

Coloring

I bought a coloring book!  I've been spending the cool afternoons out on the back deck either listening to praise music or watching hgtv and coloring in my new coloring book!  A friend called the other day and asked what I was doing.  I said, "Coloring in my adult coloring book."  She said, "what, does it have nudies and stuff?"  You'd have to know my friend, she's hilarious. Right, I'm coloring the fun parts different colors.

Laramie and Home

We got back to the hotel after the hike and showered then were rejoined by Hannah and Kent for delicious pizza which we ate on the bed.  Leah and I stayed in a super cheap pet friendly hotel, TravelLodge.  It looked like it was falling down on the outside but the room was totally fine.  

After we ate, Kent went to do homework and the girls and I snuggled up under the covers and Skyped with this guy:

And this guy:

And laughed a lot.  It was a perfect evening.

The next morning, we picked up Hannah and took her for breakfast at the Night Heron bookstore and coffee shop.  We ate our breakfast burritos and drank our lattes outside.  Then we walked around downtown Laramie and looked at the murals.  We also walked up on the railroad trestle.  

Leah and I had a good, long drive home listening to our audio book "The Help" pretty much the entire way.  I was so tired when I got home but it was sooo worth it!

Here are some more various random pics of the trip:

Med Bow Mountain

On Sunday morning we hiked Medicine Bow Peak.  I planned on kicking this mountain's butt, but alas, it kicked mine:).  But I did it!  I only panicked three times and cried once:).  The kids planned on it taking 3 hours, 4 at most.  It took 6.  Kent can do it in 1 1/2!  This was my second time up med bow and I don't remember it being this hard.  A few years older may be it, who knows.  I told Hannah that if her pack weighed 30 pounds, we were probably close to even up only mine isn't on my back but more around my middle.  

Leah and I got coffee before we left against Hannah's advice.  Double shot lattes.  I knew I was hydrated so I wasn't worried about that but I hadn't thought about the altitude.

We drove the beautiful one hour drive to the snowy range across rolling hills that I think of when I think of Wyoming, with cows and deer and ranches and wild flowers and the mountains in the background.  These are lower, wider, flatter and less rocky than the flint hills.  The sky and clouds were amazing.  We drove through a tiny mountain town, Centennial, then up into the mountains and along beautiful, clear tree lined lakes.

We parked and got situated and started up.  Kent carried our water, hannah carried our lunch and put Professor in her pack.

 Sierra, Kent's dog tagged along.  She kep running ahead and back and checked on us.  She loved the snow, rolled in it in delight.

Kent and Hannah are used to hiking and they are beasts!  Leah admitted later that it was hard for her, too, but she quietly hiked.  Though it was hard for me, I don't regret it and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.  It was an adventure and growth experience.

The first 20 feet right off the bat I was sure I would die.  My heart rate skyrocketed and I couldn't get my breath.  Kent must have anticipated this and stopped to check on us.  After a short rest, I got my wind and off we went.

The very first part is switchback through rocky meadows and trees and then eventually out of the trees and across some snowy patches and wet grounds.  This was the easy part.  We went a good pace with lots of stops and water breaks.  When I got pretty fatigued about 3/4 of the way up, we stopped for a snack.  As I laid down, the whole world was spinning.  Snacking helped and on we went.

We eventually reached a part where we had to scramble over huge boulders next to each other.  Kent just hopped along like they were nothing.  I had to pause frequently to plan my next few steps since my legs were tired and it was difficult when I'd step onto a precarious rock at a slant to get to other flatter rocks.  But I did it and eventually we reached the top!

The top is always great.  It is so beautiful up there!  We ate lunch and took pictures and rested.  

Then came the hard part.  We decided to go a different way down than the way we'd come.

First, we headed down a fairly steep snowy berm.  It was slippery in my tennies and every now and then, my foot would sink in pretty far.  Once, it sunk in all the way up to my crotch.  So there I was with one foot all the way out and one foot all the way sunk.  It was a scary feeling but I got out.

Then came more giant boulders with no end in sight.  It was fine but took lots of leg strength for my already exhausted legs.  Then it started to get a lot more difficult.  I kept having the experience of feeling stranded with no options in all four directions to turn other than precarious steps on slanted or far apart boulders.  I had to sit and scoot and reach over and over.  The kids went on ahead and I couldn't see them.  At one point, I had started to feel sort of panicky and I looked up and realized that it was going to get steeper as we went down these crazy boulders.  I started breathing hard and crying.  Hannah saw me and the kids headed back toward me.  Kent went back the way we came and spoke to another hiker ( we only saw two people up that high) and found out we were off the trail.  The other trail down, however, was a long, deep snowy section that was also steep.  So this meant we had to go back the way we came!  Across the boulders and back up the step snow bank!  On the way up, I had to put my hand up so I couldn't see the view, sort of like when you are reading in the car and block the view so you don't get carsick.  

We got back to the top, up and over, and got through the boulder section and back the way we came.  People think the way up a mountain is hard, but the opposite is true.  It takes completely different muscles to go down, on already exhausted legs.  My ankles were pretty fried from all the rocks, Large and small.  But it was still beautiful.  Kent walked much of it with me and we had a great talk.  He was very patient.  The only other panicky moment was when on a snowy part, my foot sunk in deep and got jammed between two rocks.  It hurt and I had to dig it out of the snow with my hands.  

Overall, I loved this, the beauty, the clean, quiet air, the adventure and camaraderie.  I think next time we'd better take a little easier hike.  

Laramie

Leah and I drove to Laramie for a long weekend!  I love coming up here and spending time with Hannah where she lives.  We always have such a good time.  And this time it was special,because it was also with Leah!  

Leah and I got up Friday morning and took her puppy to be boarded in Manhattan then drove to Laramie!  we brought our travel companion, Professor!

We got to town about 6:30 and met Hannah and Kent their friend Maggie and her boyfriend at Coal Creek for a beer and to finish watching the USA  women soccer match.  Then we went for dinner at Thai Spice then went over to see their apartment and met their new roommate, Conner.  

Saturday morning we were going to go to hot yoga but didn't time it right so we did yoga poses in the park for a few minutes.  

Then walked to a coffee shop called Turtle Rock and ate breakfast and chatted.  

Then we went to the Laramie pool and laid out in the sun for much of the afternoon.  It was perfect weather, warm with a cool breeze.

We thrift shopped in 3 stores and bought some fun things!  I bought two white summer shirts, some leggings, a tiny purse for my work tag, and some leather gloves.  I also bought a colorful dress to wear with leggings.  The girls found some cute things, too.  

Saturday night we went to Downtown Laramie for dinner and ate delicious burgers at Born in a Barn then went back to Hannah and Kent's and watched netflix with Kent's brother Garrett.  

Today we hiked medicine Bow in the Snowy mountains!  I'm super tired and we don't have access to the pics so I will blog about it tomorrow!

Strong Emotional Experiences

Last week was an emotional weekend for me.  Starting with Thursday through Saturday, I drove to Leavenworth to pick up my sweet mama.  I love my Mom and love spending time with her.  But I find myself being hard on her, critical.  She and I are both aware that it is because I don't want her to continue aging and I take it out on her. I try really hard. It to be. This weekend it was because she could only hear about 25-50 percent of what I said even with her hearing aides.  It was incredibly frustrating.  She faked it so I wouldn't know she hadn't heard then asked the same questions later.  We did have a fabulous time together, as usual, anyway.  And the good news is that she made an appointment to get her hearing aides checked!  

On Friday Mom and I drove to Newton to see Leah!  We went to her house then David's work, then had lunch at Mojos.  After lunch we drove over to Hesston to look at Leah's classrooms.  Then we went downtown and did some shopping at our favorite downtown shops including Prairie Harvest, owned by the Gaedderts!  I stocked up on local honey and ground peanut butter and also found an adorable pottery tea pot, creamer and sugar.  Then we went to dinner at the Breadbasket and had a German buffet.

On Saturday I drove Mom home and then went to the Lansing State Penitentiary to visit my friend, Bryce.  What an experience!  I wanted to blog about it because not very many people have done this and it was fascinating at the same time as it was terrifying.

First, not many people understand the bond between Bryce and myself.  We met through one of my Homestead girls and then became super close through a Bible study group.  Bryce is addicted to meth and has been since he was young.  He is 26 and bonded with me like a Mom.  He made it 8 months this time before he used again, breaking his parole and ending up in prison.  One by one, everyone close to Bryce has given up on him and dropped out of his life.  I'm not going to do that.  In prison, Bryce has truly become a new person in Christ.  I believe that he has started a true transformation.  

So on Saturday, I drove to the pen and finally found the visitor reception area around the back side.  I went in and my heart was already pounding in my chest so I got all flustered trying to go through he metal detector and took my keys through it and set it off.  The guards made me feel like an idiot and then treated me like one.  The gal said, "you know you're going to have to lock up those keys" and gave me a quarter for the locker and said, "now be sure to give that back."  I exchanged some money for tokens to buy a snack in the visitation room but they made me take all the tokens out and turn out all of my pockets.  They questioned me about the visit and if Scott was with me.  Then They told me to go wait by a gate.  I did and it buzzed super loudly then loudly slid open.  I stepped through and it shut loudly behind me then a pause then the next gate buzzed then opened and then there was a third gate.  I went into a room with a guard and inmates and their families.  It was very stiff and people weren't touching at all.  I sat there like a boob and just waited then the phone rang and they told me I was in the wrong place, that Bryce was waiting in minimum and I was in maximum.  So I went back out each of the gates then down some stairs and into three more gates.  

I finally walked into a large visitation room and stood there and up walked the most handsome person!  It was Bryce looking completely different than he had before he went in!  He looked like a movie star!  He immediately threw his arms around me in a crushing hug.  I was overwhelmed with how good it was to see him.  I was also still incredibly nervous, as was he.  

We went over and sat in plastic chairs and just talked and talked.  I held his hand the entire time for some reason feeling strongly compelled to do so.  We prayed together and talked about his options and plans when he gets out, the people in his life (and not) including my friend who is now dating someone else, and his plan to get his kids back.  He talked about what it was like in there and how he has changed.  He said that he feels like something has fallen off.  He said he still struggles with his addiction but he knows he can do it his time because he is resisting in there( apparently it is easy to get drugs in prison, no surprise).  We laughed a lot, too.  

We got drinks from the snack bar and he had to place the tokens on a sheet on the counter and I realized that it was because the workers do not want to have to touch the prisoners.  I couldn't believe the overall "un human" way they are treated.

When it was time for me to leave, Bryce said that I couldn't leave until they cleared the count time.  I really didn't like feeling that I couldn't leave.  Also, to be cleared to leave, I waited by the gate while Bryce went into another room to be strip searched!  I asked him if that was humiliating and he said yes.

Bryce said that the living situations themselves in minimum are surprisingly good, other than no air conditioning.  But he said matter of factly, "I've only seen one act of violence since I've been here (a stabbing) and that someone died of a heroin overdose just below him the night before.  Wow.

I was pretty happy to walk out of there but also very very glad I went.  Please pray for him.  

Detox

So I've been doing some research on brain based Biblical counseling techniques and decided to do a 21 day brain detox by Dr. Caroline Leaf.  She has researched the brain growth that occurs when people use scriptures and has actually seen what happens in the brain when people take thoughts captive, etc.  The Bible has tons of verses about renewing your mind (Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2 NIV) For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.... (Proverbs 23:7 KJV) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV) Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV)). She says that science is catching up with the Bible!

Even though I mostly did this as research to benefit clients, I also knew that I've been in a funk lately, not motivated, bored, lonely, not really enjoying summer.  As I started this process, which first has you recognize your toxic thoughts, I realized I really did have a lot of negative thinking.  She then teaches you how to change your thinking, and by doing so, build new protein trees in your brain, literally changing your brain. 

 So the first few days I did notice the funk beginning to lift and I started to feel, well, just happier, lighter.  It does take some work but I started seeing the results. 

Last night, after working hard all day not to give in to "boredom", I took my book out onto the deck.  At first it was sort of cold and sticky humid at the same time and started to rain and dusk settled.  Then as I was looking up into the trees, I felt something sort of pop in my brain and all of the sudden I felt like all my senses were heightened and realized how cool it was that I was lying on the deck, reading, in the rain.  I looked at the trees and could see the beauty in the contrast of the darks and lights.  I felt my toes which had been cold, under Diego, who was sitting on them.  They felt warm and snuggly and his fur was soft.  I listened to the rain softly falling. I felt cozy and content. It was super cool.