I Wear My Sunglasses in the House

Yes, I am wearing my sunglasses inside the house today.

No, I don't have visions of becoming a rock star.

I had my annual visit to the eye doctor today, hence the sunglasses, eye dilatation. I hate getting older, every year there is another added annual visit for something in my body. I need annual visits to the eye doctor now because I have thinning retinas. My husband gets thinning hair and I get thinning retinas, I am not sure which one is worse, but at least he can wear a hat.

My thinning retinas were discovered last year at my bi-annual visit. Thinning retinas can lead to holes, tears, and/or detachment of the retina. My eye doctor tends to be overly cautious, hence the yearly visits to monitor their thinning. I am thankful for her cautiousness though, the eyes are the windows to the soul and I would like to keep mine going for a long time yet.

The good news is that mine have not changed in the last year. YEAH!! She gave me some "warm fuzzy" information too, when she told me that in her 12 years of practice, she has only sent 4 people to the laser doctors for repairs. I will pray that I am in the larger percentage of patients that just progress slowly...so I only go blind slowly.

Glen and I always joke that he will be leading me around because I am blind, but we will get run over by a car because he is deaf and didn't hear it.

Matcha Smoothie - #38 On My List of 44 Things

My Matcha arrived in the mail on Friday. So begins the daily Matcha Smoothies, which is #38 on my list of 44 Things to do while I am 44.

What is Matcha?

Matcha is a premium green tea powder from Japan used for drinking as tea or as an ingredient in recipes. The health benefits of Matcha tea exceed those of green tea because when you drink Matcha you ingest the whole leaf, not just the brewed water.

Health Benefits list.

Mallory discovered Matcha while we were on vacation in the Traverse City area and she went to Light of Day Organics Tea Cupping workshop. She decided that the health benefits were worth a 30 day trial and invested her own money into the 30 day supply. Since she wants to have her own tea shoppe someday, it was also a business venture.

She started making the Matcha smoothies as soon as we got home from vacation, along with a few other lifestyle changes, like getting up at 6 a.m. to exercise Monday through Friday, and eating three meals a day at regular times. Something most college students never do. Her body was in favor of the new routine, running like a well oiled machine. She plans to continue the Matcha smoothies at school, as well as hopefully, the regular exercise and regular meals. I see a blender purchase in the near future.

Since I have had on and off back problems for most of my life, and deal with inflammation almost daily. I figured I would give it a try as well. I have nothing to lose and if it works everything to gain.

Smoothie Process:

1 cup Pineapple juice

1 cup Coconut Milk or Almond Milk

1 banana - sliced

1/2 tsp. Matcha

(I also add a small handful of frozen raspberries, but didn't for the photos, not the nicest color when blended)

Place all ingredients in a blender

and blend...

Pour in a glass, add a straw and enjoy :)

Scenes from the Market

Today is Wednesday, which means it is Farmer's Market day. I love Market I can not get enough fresh fruit and vegetables.

Here is my must have list for today:

strawberries
zucchini

small potatoes
cherry tomatoes
herbs
flowers
cookies

I didn't buy any cherries, but they look delicious

Lovely Sunflowers

My favorite herb vendor

The small potatoes I needed

Grape tomatoes, close enough to cherry tomatoes

rhubarb - always looks interesting just not sure what to do with it

My take home for today:

And the cookie...

The cookie was not as fun without Mallory, since this is our treat every week. But still worth getting. Chocolate cherry cookie and Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos tea from Light of Day Organics.

44 Things

Today I turned 44.

Since birthdays, just like New Year's are a kind of new start for the year, I came up with a list of 44 Things I would love to do in this year that I am 44. In no particular order.

1.  Watch a sunrise
2.  Watch a sunset
3.  Make a writing area for myself on our four season porch
4.  Enjoy a candlelight dinner with my husband
5.  Take more on-line photography classes
6.  Photograph old buildings
7.  Have more "date" outings
8.  Go away by myself for a couple of days to write and take pictures
9.  Visit a new winery
10. Start and finish our Alaska trip scrapbook
11. Walk in the rain
12. Visit all the Ottawa County Parks (I visited 12 out of the 26)
13. Use my new trekking poles a lot
14. Start using on-line banking
15. Set up more lunch dates with friends
16. Sign up with Maribeth for some personal training sessions
17. Do more self-portrait photography
18. Visit Mallory in Marquette
19. Do the Agawa Canyon Train Tour this fall
20. Drive the golf cart for my husband while he golfs
21. Walk hand in hand on the beach with my husband
22. Go on a picnic with my husband
23. Keep eating healthy
24. Read Wicked
25. Refinish a piece of furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
26. Get an iPhone
27. Cook more recipes with shrimp
28. Tell my daughter everyday that "She is beautiful"!
29. Do another volunteer outing with nursing home residents
30. Collect and count all my pencils
31. Take a sewing class
32. Find a comfy couch for the porch
33. Turn the porch into our reading and writing retreat
34. Make more hand made cards
35. Lose 5 lbs.
36. Eat outside more
37. Take a train ride
38. Start having Matcha Smoothies everyday
39. Drive my dad's tractor
40. Simplify my wardrobe
41. Take a cooking class
42. Make my dad cookies
43. Plant an herb garden
44. Listen more to God, instead of talking ( I am still working on this one :)

I may not get everything accomplished on the list, but I am going to give it my best shot.

Beauty

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rainy Days

The rainy days a man saves for usually seem to arrive during his vacation - Author Unknown

On Vacation

Ah....Vacation.