Wednesday Wonder: Hospice Moments

 

Hi there Friends 💗

I hope this week has been wonderful to you so far. :) 

Today I thought I would share some thoughts related to the hospice work that I do. 

I think it's a gentle kind of work that doesn't get talked about much. At least not in everyday conversation. Sometimes I think it's difficult for folks to think about. The fact that there is a cycle to our lives and it ends in the same place for us all. 

I have been doing hospice work for almost 9 years now...and I think it has gently changed me through the years. 

It has taught me that the smallest things - a familiar song, a favorite blanket, a warm hand, and even a whispered prayer...can become the most meaningful gifts we give one another. 

I'm not sharing this to make your hearts heavy, but to remind all of us that even in life's final chapters there is still so much love to be held. 🙏🏻🌸

I thought I would share a few photos I took when I was up at the hospice house the other day. There is a commercial kitchen behind closed doors. But there is also a community kitchen for families to use. It has all the amenities most folks would need right down to slow cookers. 

Sometimes when folks pass away... their family gives the facility flowers they received so there is often pretty fresh flowers displayed around. 

One of the roles I have helped take on over the years is scrapbooking obituaries of patients that passed that had stayed at the hospice house. You can see some of the albums on the shelf in the background in this photo below. When I make a scrapbooked page of an obit I like to pray over that person and their family that is left behind. When I work on these albums I often think of it as a gift I like to give them...that their story mattered and I'm helping to keep it safe. 

In the community kitchen and dining area there is always a coffee pot  on...or the items to make a fresh pot of coffee as needed. And there is also hot water for tea or cocoa. As well as cookies - that are also baked by volunteers (another role I have helped with at times). I have also held and lotioned hands, said prayers with family (or on my own) over patients, and mainly just been an ear when a patient or family just needs to vent or wants to share. 

Some volunteers also give of their time by playing music for the facility. I love this corner in a living room at the house - with the beautiful piano, pretty old clock and light streaming in the windows. 

The nurses that work at the hospice house are absolute Angels in my book. They do amazing and loving work to help ease a patient's pain, concerns, and to help with comfort while they stay there. As well as their  family's comfort as well. It is an honor to be a part of this environment and I feel that the hospice house is like sacred ground. It is something I have felt called to do, and next to being a Mom - I think it's some of the most important work I do in this world. 

Thank you for letting me take a moment to share my passion and to say this: if you have ever thought about giving of your time in any special volunteer capacity - DO IT! You will never regret it and the ways your life will be blessed is too rich to put into words. 

I have a busy few days ahead so if I don't pop in again this week - have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch you next week. 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello dear Friends of my heart!

First of all I need to sing out 🎵🎶 Happy Birthday to You🎵🎶 to my sweet Annie boo!! I can't believe this little Pumpkin (& the baby of our family) is 20 years old today. Please hold me. 😢 I need time to slow down!!

But I'm so proud of this young amazing woman and all that she is working towards. I'm especially proud of the wonderful kind, smart, sweet, genuine human she has become. I pray God's blessings over her everyday. 🎂🎉

Did you have a good weekend Friends? Did you celebrate Mother's Day? 

We had a multiple celebration here this weekend. We had my kiddos over and Jill (my son's partner - Annie's bf is in FL), and my Mom and step Dad over. We celebrated Annie's birthday and my step Dad's birthday (his is the 13th) and Mother's Day. 

Matt BBQ'd burgers and I made sides and the cake Annie requested so we had cake and ice cream as well. It was so wonderful having the kiddos around all weekend to play games and visit and catch up on their lives. And to honor my Mom & step Dad too. And of course I'm so happy my Annie is home for the summer! 💗

I had a lovely Mother's Day too and felt so loved and spoiled. Matt and the kids gave me the most beautiful and touching cards (they always make me cry) and gifts. And the sun came out later in the day and we sat out on the deck and soaked it up. And just a little after we came back in the house some baby bears were running around in our back yard! (pics below) 

It was a great weekend as we also went out to dinner one night with Annie, went to church Saturday evening, and then the wonderful family time. It doesn't get better. And now it looks like warm weather is finally going to be in our forecast and I can feel summer in the air.

 Life is good!🙏🏻

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

iced protein coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

spectrum here again as still having some modem or cable lines issues, hospice meeting for education updates, folks coming to give estimates for bathroom reno we are going to do, hang out with my Annie :) 

errands, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

how close it's getting to where I can go pick out flowers and what I want to plant in my little veggie garden - yay!! 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

When my daughter likes to pamper me - like she did this weekend when she did a gel polish job on my nails with a curing light. They turned out so cute...and she used a little tool to make those little summer oranges!

CURRENTLY READING

I received a fun romance book for Mother's Day from Aaron's sweet Jill and I'm excited to dive into that next!

 

But in between I've been reading

The Waiting Place by Eileen Button as well. I just read a chapter a day as almost extra devotional time. It's a group of essays and it's great food for thought and uplifting.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office,  Survivor, Outlander,   Ghosts,  Love on the Spectrum (need to finish it)

Matt and I need to go back and finish The Last Kingdom series

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftovers (spending part of the day with Annie but she's doing her bday tonight with her dad)

TUESDAY - cardamom french toast (Annie fave) and fruit, bacon

WEDNESDAY -  pasta, garlic bread, salad (another Annie fave)

THURSDAY - maybe leftovers?

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read in the sun, hang with Annie, craft

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

*This is the company that I was talking about when I shared that I had Matt's wedding ring made with materials I picked out. His was made with Koa wood (sacred to Hawaii a place Matt loves so much), and fishing line and gold to match my ring. 

The company started because a husband and wife started it after they did something unique for his wedding band to represent his likes and they got so many comments from people they knew they were on to something. So they decided to start their own company so others could have what they wanted too. You could have car parts, typewriter parts, deer antler - almost anything you can think of that would represent your partner you can pick. They have women's rings too and standard designs not just men's. And you can pick the metal materials too. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Scenes from a family celebration. There isn't pics of my son because he doesn't always cooperate about them. Lol

My kids always pick out what cake they want me to make. Annie picked a homemade lime cake (I used real lime juice and zest so I added a little food coloring to make it more green) and homemade strawberry buttercream icing. It turned out really well and everyone loved it. It was really tasty. (I'm always so happy when it turns out! Lol) 

I had found a "hello twenty" sign in rose gold and planned the cake decorations around it. Annie collects sonny angel figures and I put a birthday one on the cake and a gold "20" along with spring flowers and butterflies. She told me she loved it so much and was the prettiest cake ever - so I know I did my job well. :) 💗

cake and vanilla bean ice cream (does it get better?😋)

I hope all of her wishes come true! 

And then some baby bears came and played on our hill. I had just been saying to Matt that I was surprised we hadn't seen bear visitors yet. Lol

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For healing for Matt's knee. For my in-law's safe travels as they head to the lake from AZ.

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have and amazing week ahead Friends!

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Cooking Thursday: Pesto Sausage & Orzo Skillet

 

Hello Friends!

I hope you're having a wonderful Friday Eve! Yay for the weekend ahead. I think the weather is supposed to be pretty decent here in the northwoods too. I sure hope so for the sake of a lovely Mother's Day. 

And I'm so excited as our dear Annie is supposed to roll in from college today. Yippeee!! My momma heart is doing a jig of joy. 😊💗

Today I thought I'd share this skillet I kind of made up after seeing some things that were similar on different places in social media. 

It's a pretty straight forward dish and has pesto and some caprese flavors involved. 

Here are the ingredients I used:

1 pack of caprese flavor chicken sausages

a handful of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)

half of an onion

3 garlic cloves

a carton of chicken stock

1/2 of a small box of orzo (although next time I'd use only about 1/4 of the box or so)

3 big TBSP of pesto

parmesan cheese to taste

I think this is really more of a method and feel free to use the ingredients you prefer (Italian sausage, chicken, different veggies etc) But I started by heating up a big skillet to medium high with some olive oil. I added onion, and the sausages and sauteed a few minutes. Then I added in the garlic and tomatoes and cooked until the tomatoes started to soften up. While you're getting this going fill up a sauce pan with chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then throw in your orzo and cook to package instructions and when done drain and set aside as you continue cooking.

Once everything was getting nice and browned I deglazed the pan with just a little bit of chicken stock. Feel free to do a little wine here instead - whatever you like. I think cooking should be open too interpretation and it should be fun to experiment and play around. 

Once that had reduced a bit and all the flavors were melding I threw in some pesto and some sprinkle parm cheese and mixed it all together.

Then I took the cooked orzo that was set aside and stirred it into the skillet.

 

I drizzled ours with some balsamic glaze and then sprinkled on a bit more parm. We had it with a nice green salad and it was delish! 

Have a wonderful weekend ahead dear Friends. For those Moms that will be celebrating - Happy Mother's Day blessings to you. And for those that struggle with that day, please know you are seen and loved. 😍

It's going to be a busy one once Annie rolls in. I will make the visits to you all as soon as i'm able. 

Enjoy!

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello beautiful Friends!

How is your week (& May) beginning so far? 

This morning in the northwoods it's a breezy gray one with threats of raindrops. But it was gorgeous over the past weekend and so it was a productive one for us. 

We spent a lot of the weekend at our lake property a few hours away. We opened it up and cleaned everything to get it ready for Matt's folks to return soon for the summer. It's a family property Matt bought after his Grandma's death to keep it in the family. His folks still come every summer but "rent" from us now. It's the property we plan to renovate and will be our retirement spot one day (hopefully along with snowbirding in AZ). 

We also got some time here at home Sunday to clean up our yard and get out the deck furniture. Matt did a lot of yard work and I weeded out all of my lilies. We still need to power wash all the deck furniture - but that is for another day. My poor Hubby hurt his knee a few weeks ago. He has had surgery on both of his knees due to sports injuries in college. But the doc thinks he has a slight tear in his ligament so he's in a brace for 4-6 weeks and can't do anything too crazy. But, he was still on the roof at the lake doing silly things & I was on his case (such is the way with stubborn dudes sometimes - Lol) But overall he did less than he normally does and was smart and let me do more things to help too. 

It's so wonderful getting these things done as it gets me so excited for summer ahead!! :) 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

sous vide egg white bite with cheese and roasted red pepper (from Costco), coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

spectrum here to work on a modem issue, meeting with financial advisor, errands and groceries for Mother's Day (& our Annie's bday!), more closet cleanout, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

I'm so excited my sweet Annie boo is on her way home from college! She should be home by later in the week and will be here with us for the summer. My Momma heart is thrilled and misses my Girlie so much. It's her birthday soon and we will celebrate, along with Mother's Day, this weekend. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

the sound of my wind chime back up (it's windy today so it's playing lots of music 😊)

CURRENTLY READING

Not sure - might read next in Debbie Johnson series or go to something else?

 

But in between I've been reading

The Waiting Place by Eileen Button as well. I just read a chapter a day as almost extra devotional time. It's a group of essays and it's great food for thought and uplifting.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office,  Survivor, Outlander,  Call the Midwife, Ghosts, Shark Tank, Love on the Spectrum

(excited because I just saw that later in the month a show we love will be back on HGTV about a young couple fixing up a chateau in France)

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - Italian chicken sausage and orzo skillet, salad

TUESDAY - tacos (Cinco de Mayo)

WEDNESDAY -  jalapeno and cheddar sausages on keto buns, dill and garlic natural fries, veggie plate

THURSDAY - if Annie home maybe her fave french toast & fruit?

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner or order in?

*planning on a Mother's Day BBQ here and celebrating Annie's bday. My kids always choose their bday dessert and I make it from scratch. Annie chose for this year a lime cake with a strawberry buttercream frosting. So we will have that for dessert with vanilla bean ice cream. 

We will have my Mom and step Dad here (it's also his bday). We will also have our Aaron and Jill here...and maybe my Bro and SIL too. I think we will bbq burgers and do mac and cheese for Annie, side salads, fruit, chips etc. 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

look at gardening magazines, craft

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

It was so great to road trip to the lake and feel like summer is truly around the corner. We spend lots of time at the lake in the summer to get quality time with Matt's folks (& cuz we love it there) 💗

my cute Clark Kent in his driving glasses

Then back at home yesterday we cleaned up the yard, got out deck furniture and the grill,  and I weeded all the lilies along the deck. It felt so good to hear the birds and feel the sun here as it was almost 70* out. 

Some cooing doves have built a nest and laid eggs in a corner of our home near our kitchen window. Bubba has been LOVING the show of them flying back and forth.

still bare branches but seeing some buds on the trees

some wild daffodils in the woods by our house

my rhubarb peeking up!

I got this cute hummingbird solar lamp new for the season. I can't wait to fill up my little planter stand with pots and good things. :) 

I thought I'd include some videos of my favorite sounds over the weekend. Our wind chimes dancing in the breeze. And at the lake property the sounds of the peepers and birds (I missed that sound so much over the winter!)

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace.  For Annie's safe travels. For healing for Matt's knee. And for blessings for all Mother's everywhere and for those that struggle with Mother's Day. 

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

If you are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend I am wishing you (& the Moms in your life) a very blessed and Happy Mother's Day ahead. And I pray for peace and strength for all those that struggle with that day. 

Have a great week Friends! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.