Category: parenting

Weekend Coffee Share – Snow In Las Vegas

Sagittarius Viking32 Comments on Weekend Coffee Share – Snow In Las Vegas

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My little goof ball LOVES snow! 

Hello Weekend! Or almost, weekend, it’s Friday morning and I’m early with my Weekend Coffee Share. I’m having Moringa tea this morning. Would you like some? Or if you’d rather, I’d be very happy to make you some of that magical black brew. (Mine is always very black, since I like my coffee strong as sin. There has to be some kick to it, otherwise I’d rather skip it.)

How was your week? Mine’s been great! Starting out with President’s Day on Monday. I worked, but my daughter didn’t have school, so she came with me to work. That was lots of fun! She is so awesome with the little boys in my care. Yesterday she whispered in my ear Mom, I’m so happy now that I sort of became a big sister. Of course that’s fantastic for a mom to hear. She say such sweets things every day. Like before bedtime, we have this routine of singing in Swedish, and after we finished she always says Mom, you know that you’re the best mom in the whole wide world, right? I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this sunshine in my life, but I am so grateful.

On Wednesday it started to snow here in Las Vegas. A lot! It snowed all night to Thursday. I thought for sure that the schools were going to be closed. They had been talking about that, but they were open as usual. As soon as I found out, we planned to leave for school early. We always pass through a park on the way to school, and the park has a big field. We played in the snow for about 30 min before my daughter’s school started yesterday morning. We had a blast!

After dropping her off at school, I made breakfast for the kids at work, and took them to the park. They are originally from Florida, and have only seen snow once before. The oldest boy had a blast, the youngest didn’t know what to think.

Today Friday, the schools in Clark County (Las Vegas,) are closed. There’s still snow out, and the roads are icy. So wise decision. We’re definitely going to have snow on our schedule today. This much snow is highly unusual for Las Vegas. Can I get you a refill on your hot beverage? Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?

We don’t go to the movies very often, but this weekend we have tickets for the new How to train your dragon movie. My daughter was obsessed with that movie when it first came out. In fact we had a dragon themed Christmas, when she was 2,5 years old. She LOVED those movies so much. Instead of Christmas ornaments that year we had plastic dragons from that movie. Fun memories! She is excited to see the new movie, so I’m excited to take her.

Have a fantastic weekend! Stay warm and safe 🙂

Love,

Ms Zen

 

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas

Sagittarius Viking14 Comments on Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas

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My daughter and I had such a glorious time in Red Rock Canyon last Tuesday, when I was able to get off work early (instead of the usual late..) so I decided to get us up early on Sunday morning, to enjoy some more time there. The city often feels like it closes in on me, in a way that I don’t appreciate, but I only have to get out of the city limits to be able to breath again. For me it’s never been shopping, or material things that done the trick, it’s always been nature.

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On the way out to Red Rock my daughter said she was tired a couple times, but as soon as we got out of the car in Calico Hills (she had never bee there before,) that feeling was completely gone. It was like she was on fire! Happy is her usual state of mind, but it was a while since I saw her so into something like she was climbing the boulders in Calico Hills. The boulder in the photo above is more than 15ft high, hard to tell since I happened to have a telephoto zoom lens on my camera. The view from the boulder, is the view you can see in the first photo. We felt like we were on top of the world!

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It was a very cold (for this part of the world,) and beautiful morning. I’d say that the views in this part of the valley was even more magnificent, than the incredible ones we experienced on Tuesday.

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When you do the right thing, you get the feeling of peace and serenity associated with it. Do it again and again. – Roy T. Bennett

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Nature always makes me feel humble, and helps me put things in perspective. In the city there’s so much I don’t understand, out in nature everything makes perfect sense. Does that make any sense?

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Calico Hills from a distance.

I am grateful that I get to spend time in the Mojave Desert, it’s a unique geological area, and I wouldn’t want to be without this experience.

One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls. –Jack Kerouac

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The desert is intense; the blue skies, the air, the sun, the emotions, the sharp colors of the yucca’s…everything. It’s impossible to not be touched. As the hours went by, we met other people enjoying the beautiful day, several of them had tears in their eyes, as they admired the beauty of this place.

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The northern slopes was covered with a light dusting of snow. We even walked through snow in some places.

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Rocks engulfed in fluffy clouds, that turned darker midday.

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The mountains are calling and I must go. – John Muir

 

What type of nature is calling your name? For me it’s always been mountains.

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One thing that I love about Red Rock National Preserve is that it is easy accessible for everyone. You can enjoy just driving the scenic drive, in the photo above, and still get a huge dose of the unique beauty this place has to offer. Or you can get out and hike for hours, to explore more untouched parts of the canyon. I didn’t take any photos of the visitor center, but it is very nice, and located right in the beginning of the scenic drive. If you’re planning a visit, I suggest you start there.

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This incredible place is 25 minutes from my house, a shorter distance than if I would drive to the other side of the city, and definitely a more enjoyable drive. I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour. If you’re visiting Las Vegas, you don’t want to miss Red Rock Canyon.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. – Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

It’s Tuesday morning, and time to get my daughter up in time for school. Have a fabulous day!

Love,

Ms Zen

 

 

Weekend Coffee Share – Gratitude

Sagittarius Viking25 Comments on Weekend Coffee Share – Gratitude

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I think I would choose to have our virtual coffee date on the top of a mountain today (photo above taken at Hilltop Campground, Mount Charleston, Nevada.) Why? Because I can! Would you like some coffee and conversation, with a beautiful view? Great! Nothing can compete with coffee made over the campfire!

This has been a somewhat thought provoking week. I worked overtime a few days last week, and I worked Saturday, so my new week started with slightly less energy levels than normal. It was all because of unexpected circumstances, and not voluntary overtime. It happens. We just do the best we can. In the beginning of the week one of my friends passed away. She had cancer and it wasn’t a surprise. Still devastating in its own way. She was an inspiring woman, and an amazing person. Later during the week I had reasons to be grateful for the peaceful home we have, where yelling, name calling, and disrespectful behavior doesn’t exist.

All this have been heavy on my mind. I’ve been doing a lot of meditating this week. It helped. I used to write a gratitude journal. For some reason I stopped, I still think of the five things I’m most grateful for before going to bed, and the first thing I do before getting out of bed in the morning, but I haven’t written it down lately. I decided to start again. I’m going to write down something I am grateful for every day, in a physical book. Maybe do a short summary in my coffee shares? Probably not every week, but once in a while.

Today I am extremely grateful for my good health. I will do almost anything to stay healthy; including making sure we (my daughter and I) live in a thriving environment, that we eat healthy, get adequate rest and exercise. This is something I’ve been giving a lot of thought this week. I always do, but more than usual. I NEED to stay healthy, to be able to take care of my daughter, and myself. The thought of challenges in this area scares me more than anything else. I don’t feel that I have anyone reliable that would be there for us. I prefer not to dwell on that, but at the same time I’m working very hard to make sure that we will do well.

I am grateful that I have income that allows me to provide a good life for my daughter.

I am grateful that I have a vehicle that runs and drives.

I am grateful for the bliss of another weekend.

I am grateful for the love and kindness in my life, my family and friends.

I am grateful for the amazing nature that surrounds us. All the adventures ahead.

I am grateful for life…I feel an immense sense of gratitude in my heart.

I am grateful that my daughter is doing better in school, all the hard work is starting to pay off.

..and of course I am very grateful for my faithful German Shepherd who is just the most awesome, faithful, loving dog I could ever wish for.

When we had coffee last week I mentioned that I was going to put together a new loft bed for my daughter. I did. This is how it turned out.

She absolutely LOVES it! Which makes me very happy of course. She has now turned the space underneath into her own little art corner.

How about another cup of coffee? Isn’t the view just breathtaking here on this mountain top? We need to get back here often!

How is your week so far? What’s going on in your universe? I hope everything is well with you and your loved ones. Do you have anything fun plans for the weekend?

I have some ideas for the weekend, but nothing set in stone. There’s a hot air balloon festival 1.5 hour away, there’s some trails that I want to explore, and some trail riding businesses that I’ve looked into. Perhaps we need a spontaneous camping trip somewhere? We’ll see, my daughter have several art projects she’s working on, I might just let her indulge in them, and get some kind of hike in when we need to get out of the house. I’ve been working on my online photo gallery this week, and I’m going to spend some more time doing that this weekend. I’ve been pretty good at writing a couple posts here on the blog every week, but I’m behind when it comes to uploading the best photos to my gallery. I’m almost where I need to be, I only have to put in a couple more hours of work to get there, An easy fix. I’ll take care of that this morning, to get it out of the way.

I wish you a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Ms Zen

SagittariusViking@gmail.com