gina prescott

Uphill winds

January 6, 2021 Filed Under: motherhood

I remember hating going outside as a kid. It was always too cold or too hot or too windy or too bright or too gray. Mainly it felt too boring.

I would relish in getting wrapped up in a book or a movie, comfy and cozy inside where I could escape into a made up world. My brain would create scenes in my mind of gorgeous vistas, tall majestic forests, expansive oceans.

I’m not sure when I looked up from these fictional worlds and realized that the scenes described in printed words could be found in real life with my very own eyes.

But eventually I did.

Now I feel this intense desire to explore and to somehow convince my kids to understand the glory of the outdoors in ways that I couldn’t at their age.

So I take them outside on as many adventure as I can.

But there is a lot of complaining. Hills are too steep, the wind is too strong, their hands are too cold, the snow is too deep, and the bugs are too much.

Sometimes they will stop dead in their tracks. They will crouch close to the wet earth and refuse to move. We encourage, plead, pull out snacks, but sometimes they will remain planted in place even if we are on the way back to the car.

We will continue to walk, hoping that a little bit of distance will persuade them to get up and rejoin us but sometimes their will is SO strong.

They do not want to be outside hiking, they don’t find the views majestic (maybe its because now they have seen too many? I can only hope), they simply want to be home, cozy on the couch watching a movie.

But I hope that each short adventure, each time we walk uphill in harsh winds will be written in the souls of their feet.

That they may find humor in strong winds, curiosity in stepping their feet in mud, dust, rock and snow, and that when they close their eyes at night, the will dream of natural wonders.

Something to Look Forward To

October 24, 2020 Filed Under: loss, minimalism, motherhood

After having four pregnancies in six years, I knew I would want a longer break before I thought about having another baby.

Then my husband’s sister came to live with us.

Then a tree fell on our home.

Completely out of sorts, but in many ways paying attention to the universe (and my body) telling me to wait…it’s not time yet.

Then everything started to feel settled and suddenly I counted off the months and I realized I wanted a baby before the 2020 holiday season struck.

March 13th, 2020, I had a positive pregnancy test and later that day school was cancelled for the foreseeable future.

First trimester nausea hit me with force.

“I NEVER want to do this again.” I said to myself and my husband. He was home with no work. His clinic closed out of precaution and honestly wants to go physical therapy when there’s a major pandemic?

In the middle of toilet paper hoarding and tight finances, I survived on Taco Bell, sometimes begging my husband to get me a chicken torta from a local taco place instead.

His work opened back up with safety measures in place and I worried, immensely, about bringing Covid into our home. It felt like a looming threat to this pregnancy and it terrified me.

I tried hard to maintain some semblance of schooling, rising from the fetal position on the bed, breathing long and slow to soothe the nausea.

At my first doctor appointment they did a vaginal ultrasound to check out baby’s heart. “How far along did you say you were?” the ultrasound tech asked.

Apparently I was a full month ahead, I had been pregnant for an entire month and didn’t realize it due to some unusual first trimester bleeding that I mistook for a period. I was exuberant! It’s like I got to skip a month of pregnancy! The horizon for the nausea tapering off was SO much closer.

My doctor eased my concerns about the bleeding and I let my mind relax into hope for a new baby, something to look forward to.

This baby has been like a lighthouse through the fog of the pandemic.

As the water’s of the world get tossed and muddied, I kept my eyes set on Fall. Fall meant the leaves would turn golden and brilliant and baby would come.

A baby girl no less.

I knew that I would ADORE this baby no matter the gender, but I also knew that physically and mentally I was done with the process of pregnancy and I badly wanted to experience sharing life with a daughter. I feel a strong sense of purpose in raising boys who will be kind, sensitive, and respectful men but I also wanted to raise a daughter who would be a strong, kind, woman who knows her value in this world.

Finding out this baby was a girl added to the joy of waiting for her arrival.

As the summer months ticked by I just kept my focus, knowing that October would come and soon she would be here.

This baby has been the greatest blessing of 2020; to look forward, to know that joy was coming, to be able to plan and organize. She has given me purpose to keep myself and my family as safe as possible, she has given my mind something to think about beyond Covid-19, the election and the surge of conspiracy theories. As my stress level would rise at times, I would remind myself to breath for baby, to stay calm for baby, to take care of my mind and my body to keep baby as safe and healthy as possible.

October happens to be Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and I obviously have thought a lot about James as I await this baby’s arrival. I have thought a lot about the lessons that His loss taught me that have carried me through this entire pandemic.

Your world will break and it will be horrible. But it has the potential to bring out so much beauty and growth.

When the world, your world, gets chaotic, simplify. Focus on what matters most.

Be open, be vulnerable, feel the feelings. That is where connection and healing occurs.

Sit in the nuance of it all. Be slow to draw final, exacting conclusions. Look for the humanity.

Seek joy, create joy, relish in the smallest moments it occurs.

Baby girl is set to come on Monday and I just pray that she may feel all the love for her we have built and carried these past months, that she may continue to help us feel hope.

Watching her grow up with her brothers will certainly be something to look forward to.

A New Way of Living

September 23, 2020 Filed Under: faith, loss

I’ve been thinking a lot about the chaos in the world, how it was building up and then Covid-19 came and upended anything left that felt remotely “normal.”

There is greater awareness now of what our public officials are doing, of climate change, of systemic racism, of the dark parts of our country’s history, of the inequality between sexes at home and in the workplace….

All of this was known by some but Covid has seemingly flung open pandora’s box and let out all that we were trying to escape and ignore and push through.

I’ve been studying about when Christ was on the earth and His repeated remarks about a new way of living. He kept telling the people that the Law of Moses was no longer necessary. This measured, calculated way of living that was SO normal wasn’t living in His fullness. He had a better way, a way that cast off what was normal and stretched people to look inward, to change their hearts.

He flung open the box and pointed out the inequality, oppression, and pain that existed all around with people ignoring it or just simply trying to push through it because there seemed to be no solution.

Christ came to teach us a new way, to shake off the old traditions of normal and adopt a life centered on love and outreach and growth. There are no steps to count, no boxes to check, just a continual self-reflection to refocus on living in His love and generosity and extending that out to others.

To see the pain and the heartache. To see the oppression and inequality. To dispose of what was normal and adopt a new way of living.

I think American particularly has struggled in this pandemic in casting off our need for what was normal. We have tossed aside the opinions of scientist and doctors in favor of opinions that fulfill our deep desire to “get back to normal.” But the reality is that Covid-19 is real and over 200,000 people have died. Real people. Grandparents, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, children, friends….

Their lives will NEVER go back to normal. They have been cast into an alternate reality where a person they love no longer exists beside them to enjoy sunsets and fall leaves and the deep joy that can be found in the simplest of things.

I fear that our desire for “normal” has pushed us to ignore the pain and heartache, to reject a new way of seeing the world in hopes to hold onto whatever we can from “before.”

But as a Christian I have learned that being reborn in Christ is a continual process. A process where in all the chaos we can turn to Him to center, refocus and see with His eyes.

I have been cast into that alternate reality of loss. Losing James forced me into living a life that was quite different from the one I had thought would come to fruition. It shook me in deep ways and caused me to reflect on what really mattered.

At the core, it forced me to notice that I was not the only one mourning. The whole world around me was mourning in unique ways and I decided I would always do my best to hear their cries, to read and listen to their stories, to look past my own life experience and attempt to walk in their shoes. It was an entirely new way of living for me but one I knew that I could never cast off. Once your body wails and shakes at noon, seemingly surrounded by darkness though the sun shines brightly outside…you are physically changed.

You don’t have to experience loss to live a new way and you don’t have to abandon your personal needs. Living a new way requires pausing and reflecting, reading and praying for your heart to be open, to understand, to see. This is a new way in which we listen to stories of discrimination and oppression and instead of pushing it aside, reflect inward and ask how can I let this change me? A way of life in which we live deliberately, intentionally, imperfectly all with the faith that He will help us. Christ in His infinite love and goodness will guide our spirits, our hearts, our very beings to stretch and be sanctified.

Over a Year

September 15, 2020 Filed Under: faith, motherhood

It’s been over a year since I have written and posted.

For a long time writing was this way in which I was able to process all my thoughts. To let them leak from my fingers and organize them in a way that made sense in front of me.

In 2018, it felt like our life was swept up in a tornado. Just a constant swirling of chaos and change and uncertainty. My husband’s sister came to live with us temporarily and then over the course of a few months we realized it would be more permanent. There was so much to process with that but the reality is that it’s not entirely my story to tell. It involves a lot of people and my perception of events and choices are mine alone. As confusing as that aspect of our life has been, it felt far too tricky to try to process it through writing.

The massive change of gaining a teenager in our home was quickly overcome by a tree falling on our house. What at first seemed like it could be a tender mercy of getting our home restored and updated with the help of insurance quickly became the longest process of trying to navigate a system that is meant to make you never want to navigate it again. We lived at my mom’s, we lived in our finished basement, we finished it out in a furnished rental and all of this in happened while navigating a teenager starting high school and working on guardianship and parenting plans. It was an entire year where I looked around and sank into the stress.

Then there was a reprieve where we were back in our home (that wasn’t totally finished but livable) and I had started therapy (because I realized I didn’t have all the tools and skills I needed to process everything that was happening) and we paid off our student loans and life was still a little unsteady but there was so much goodness and I honestly just didn’t know how to begin writing again. We got about 9 months of normalcy before the pandemic hit and suddenly we were thrust back into this world of never-ending uncertainty. I found out I was pregnant the same day that schools closed in our state which has been a mix of anxiety and something to look forward to.

For a little while now I have thought about how I haven’t been writing and why I used to do it. It’s been a way to flex my creative muscles and a way to connect with others. It’s been a journal and a way look back and remember tender mercies that have carried me in present times. It’s documentation of my children and their growth and our family life.

To put it simply I miss it and I hope to document and process and think out loud in this space again. Because there are so many thoughts, and realizations, and ways I have grown that I want let flow through my fingertips.

6 years

July 19, 2019 Filed Under: faith, loss

Tomorrow will be 6 years since the day I delivered James. His birthday, his death day.

As each year passes, life slows down in the week approaching. Well, life doesn’t slow down as much as my mental speed does. The grief always rises and emotions hit me like thrashing waves; taking enormous mental strength to process basic things.

But this week has been interesting, amidst the present grief, there has been so much to celebrate. A text from a dear friend that after 7 years of trying to grow their family (via infertility treatments and failed adoptions), was chosen one morning to be parent to a precious baby girl, a friend secretly getting married, another engaged, one successfully undergoing a scary surgery, another starting labor. I can’t help but just be overjoyed at the goodness of life and celebrations around me, despite the approaching anniversary of my son’s death.

I suppose this is the passage of time, it’s not that I don’t think about him constantly or that it is any easier to talk about having dead child, but that as each year passes, his impact on my life is deepening my life experience and the joy I feel for others.

This year has been hard. Suddenly taking in a teenage girl and learning how to co-parent with her parents and then undergoing a home renovation that wasn’t planned for and unending threw me back into the waves of grief. I was thrown into a life I hadn’t planned for or imagined. I yearned for simplicity and was given immense complexity.

This past winter, I decided to get a pedicure in an attempt at self-care. However, in an attempt to steal some more time for myself to go thrifting, I rushed the process and slipped on my flats after what I felt was enough time drying the polish. Once I got in my car to head home, I check the polish and saw that it was all basically ruined. I groaned, but in my resourcefulness decided to just stop at Walgreens and buy a matching polish and fix it at home. At home, I pulled out the applicator brush and realized out of ALL the bottles, I had chosen one that had lost it brush. It was just a stick of plastic.

I lost it.

I crumpled to the floor, gasping for air between heavy sobs. The difficulty of life just got to me. Everything was hard, nothing came easy. There were so many little fires to put out each day and I felt completely incapable of handling it anymore.

In a moment of heavenly clarity, I remember that I had promised myself that one day I would go to therapy to process James’ death. At that moment, I knew I needed it.

You see, often when someone goes through trauma of any sort, a common phrase extended to that person is, “You are so strong.” It’s true, they are. But the reality is that it can become a crutch, something to lean on when days and weeks get hard. They muscle through trials because they know they can. They strive to maintain the image of perseverance and strength.

In my moment of grief over something as trivial as nail polish, I knew that I did not have the right tools and thought processes to handle the trials that were before me. I had worked so hard to escape the darkness and grief of James’ death, yet here I was and my own strength wasn’t enough.

So I started going to therapy. I found a safe place to talk and realize that I was physically keeping myself from feeling emotions, sabotaging my own efforts to heal. I was powering through the heartache, but these trials weren’t ending. There wasn’t a solid, single date to them, they were constantly flaring up and causing frustration. In therapy I have been learning to let myself feel, to cry; to hold both grief and understanding at the same time.

This week, as I was feeling so much joy during such a heavy time, I realized perhaps the true power of our trials is not in our muscling through to gain strength and wisdom, but rather in the deepening of our life experience. My joy has depth and nuance because of the inherent brokenness of my heart. My sorrow works likewise. That is the inherent beauty I see in my life now, that is my true strength.

With that said, each year for James’ anniversary I like to ask family and friends to do an act of service in his name. I call it The James Effect. It has brought so much light to this day, as acts of kindness bring life to his name. This year, however, I have a little twist. My hope is that this year, for your service, you consider reaching out to a friend or family member who has been going through a hard time. Send them a message or invite them over to chat. Create space for them to feel safe, to breathe and feel. Ask them, “How are you coping?”, “What is helping?”, “How is your heart?”. Make room for vulnerability and let them know that they have a village of love and support. Don’t try to fix things, just let them be seen and heard.

Lastly for tomorrow, I hope you do something to fill your own cup, something that brings you joy. Whether it is going on a sunset walk, eating chocolate cake, or having a dance party with your kids, seek out those experiences that are sure to bring a smile to your face.

Fill your cup to overflowing, because when it overflows, that’s when you can share it.

Yakima Valley: Spring Break with Kids Activity Roundup

March 29, 2019 Filed Under: Uncategorized

Spring break is here and you may be panicking. All the kids home for a week can easily turn into a pain (and lots of Netflix) , but it doesn’t have to be!

Here is a round-up of a few activities that I will write about in more detail later. If you are looking for something fun to do, I hope this can help!

Hike:

Cowiche Canyon Conservatory really highlights the beauty of the Yakima valley. Most of their trails have been closed because of snowmelt, but they announced on facebook they are all open now!

Saturday, March 30 at 9am there is a guided hike to look for birds at the Snow Mountain Ranch trail (apparently there are tons out right now). If you can’t make it Saturday, you could always buy a PNW bird book at Inklings Bookshop and hike the trail looking and identifying birds yourself! Birdwatching isn’t just for senior citizens, kids LOVE trying to figure out nature species!

My other favorite Cowiche Canyon trails are Uplands (which gives a gorgeous and non-strenuous view of the valley) and Rocky Top (which has a green and orange harvester you can easily hike to with kids). Directions to both can be found on the Cowiche Canyon Conservatory website HERE.

Visit:

If the weather is crummy there are some obvious places to go, but if you weren’t aware, here are some of our favorites:

Head to the movies! The new Dumbo film is out and showing at the Majestic theater.
Get your wiggles out at Kids Castle or Get Air (there are coupons on the Get Air website that lowers the cost). Tip: Go right when it opens, that is when it will be the least crowded (Get Air opens at 10am and Kids Castle opens at 1pm)
Meadowbrook Family Fun Center! All outdoor activities are now open so you don’t have to be stuck in the arcade with tons of flashing lights, instead you can mini golf to your hearts content.
Yakima Valley Museum actually contains a TON of unique Yakima history. Take the time to check out all the old wagons or the amazing gem and rock collection as you make your way down to the Children’s Underground Area. The underground area is a fun play space that invites imaginative play.

Small Day Trips:

Choose a day this coming week to travel a little further outside of the Yakima Valley for some new adventures.

Ellensburg Rotary Park

Head to Ellensburg with your bikes and helmets and check out this awesome track for kids to practice their bike skills. There are super fun balance beams and jumps (big and small) and more for kids to try out. It’s meant for beginner and intermediate riders so expect to see other parents with their kids.

Directions to the park: Heading to Ellensburg, take the Canyon Rd. exit, taking a right after the exit. Head straight up Main Street, taking a left on W 5th ave. 5th Ave will end with you driving straight into the park, the bike skills area will be on your left.

Don’t forget food! Afterwards you can head to Cornerstone Pie for some delicious fire-roasted pizza. It’s super yummy.

Roslyn

This is my mom’s favorite town and she has shared with me all of the amazing small shops and activities that make this quaint town a fun destination. (Fun fact: Roslyn is where the show Northern Exposure was filmed as well as scenes from season 1 of Man in the High Castle which can be found on Amazon Prime)

Hikes close to town include Coal Mine Trail (you can hike or bike this one) and the Roslyn Urban Forest.
After you finish hiking, there are some amazing food joints you can go to. My favorite is the famous Roslyn Cafe (which gained notoriety from Northern Exposure). It has a Tater Tot Bowl of the Month. Yes, you read that right. Each month they create a new way to glorify tater tots. I had a fancy vegetable one once that was AMAZING. It’s creative, rustic, delicious food.
If you aren’t feeling up for a bowl of tater tots, Basecamp Books and Bites is quite possibly the coolest small shop I have ever been in. It has a simple, small menu that packs tons of flavor, games like Jenga in the back for families and friends to play while waiting for their food, and a small, curated book collection to browse and purchase that has everything from children’s lit to adult non-fiction. There are also other outdoorsy items like apparel, water bottles, and art. I love this place.

I hope your spring break is full of adventure and magic moments.

The Yakima Greenway

March 15, 2019 Filed Under: Yakimom

Over the past year I have been on the Greenway more than I have in my whole life growing up in Yakima. I’m not sure why we didn’t utilize the Greenway more growing up, in total it boasts 10 miles of decently flat, paved trails along the Yakima and Naches Rivers. You have probably seen it driving along the highway on your way to Naches or driving from Yakima to Selah or Yakima to Union Gap. It is perfect for a safe family bike ride or for getting outside while the snow melts in the spring and turns every single hike into a muddy mess.

Returning to the Valley, I avoided the Greenway namely because I never knew where to park. I knew there were multiple spots to start from and that meant multiple directions and sometimes things like that keep me (and I imagine others) from even trying. That’s why I am always so grateful for the expertise of friends who have shown me exactly where to go.

If you are looking to get outside for a walk as the sun is finally melting all the snow away or your kids have been begging to get back on their bike, go to the Greenway. Now is the perfect time to enjoy the sun, get some fresh air and notice the Valley shifting into spring, especially the rivers as the snow melt makes them really come to life!

The Naches Trail section:

This section is a great straight stretch. I will meet friends to walk and our kids will sit in their strollers or scooter alongside. We tend to go as far as seems doable; a good rule of thumb is once the youngest child shows signs of getting tired that is when you should start turning around.

-In the Spring and Fall this trail is perfect mid-morning to mid-afternoon, in the Summer I would only suggest going along the trail in either the early morning or in the evening.

-There is a toilet by the parking lot where you will start and others further up the trail, but best to always start with a bathroom stop if you don’t want to chance any accidents.

-Be sure to bring a water bottle and some snacks for breaks!

Directions: From Yakima, head towards Naches on Highway 12. At the stoplight by Suntides Golf course, you will turn right onto the Old Naches Highway, you will then take the first immediate left into the McIlrath Farm Market parking lot, to the left you will see a gravel driveway that will lead you to the parking spot to start on the Naches trail.

To Sunrise Rotary Park

Sunrise Rotary Park was built in 1994 and I remember as a child it seemed like THE coolest park I had ever been to. With a clear Castle vibe, it has bridges and towers and ladders galore. Getting there was part of the fun because you have to park your car and walk/bike about 1 mile to access it (as an adult that is not always fun, but for a kid…traveling to a hidden park is definitely special). Time has not been very kind to this park, it is definitely more than a little worn, but whenever my children go…they don’t see it’s flaws, only an opportunity for play. They love it just as much, if not more, than I did. Just be more cautious of splinters.

-There are restroom facilities, but they are basic. It is wise to pack your own hand-sanitizer.

Directions:

You can park at Sarg Hubbard Park and head North on the Greenway trail or Rotary Lake parking lot and head South on the trail. Each one is about a mile distance to access the wooden playground.

Alternatively, if you plan to bike to the park and want a longer ride, you can park at the 16th Avenue lot. To get there, head towards Highway 12 on 16th Avenue and instead of turning to get on the highway, just head straight and park. Head East on your bikes. The trail will take you under Highway 12 and I-82, and it makes for a fun ride to get to the park. We have done this, played a bit at the park and headed back. Made for a fun Saturday activity.

*Word of caution when parking to access the Greenway trail at any location. Do not leave any valuables in your car. These parking lots are commonly hit by thieves, but don’t let that deter you. Just be smart.

You can access more information about the trails and look at a map yourself at the Greenway website HERE.

Elk Feeding Station aka Oak Creek Wildlife Area

March 8, 2019 Filed Under: Yakimom

A few minutes past the small town of Naches, you will find a fun little site to visit in the winter.

From around the first snowfall to when the snow melts (roughly mid-December to April), a large herd of elk (~1000) come down from the forest and surrounding hills and are fed each day by a group of volunteers. As snow covers their natural food supply of buds, ground shrubs, and grass, the elk are kept from bothering local landowners and farmers with a steady supply of donated hay. They seem pretty happy with the arrangement.

The Oak Creek Wildlife Area is small and quaint but every time I have taken my children, they love it. Part of it is the elk (they are surprisingly enormous) and part of it is getting hop in the back of an old army truck that drives you out into the middle of the herd to get a closer look. As you bump along, you can listen to a volunteer spout fun facts about this herd and elk in general. You will stop for awhile to stare in wonder as the elk look bewildered back at you. This is usually when the volunteer answers whatever questions anyone may have and each time I come, I always learn something new. It’s not necessarily useful information, but learning is learning!

You would be surprised by how interesting elk are.

This is a fun activity for any family with young children (I think a child past age 9 would probably complain that is was boring), but make sure to bundle up because the whole thing is outside.

Here is my suggested itinerary if you plan on going for a visit:

Leave Yakima area around 9:45am (pack coats and gloves and maybe a blanket for those especially prone to the cold) and drive towards Naches on Highway 12.
Pass through Naches and head towards the Junction for Highway 12 and 410. For a small detour, turn right onto Old Naches Rd. to first visit the Big Horn Sheep up the road (this feeding spot will be on left, just keep driving till you see the fence open up to a small parking lot). The Big Horn Sheep are fed at 10am every morning and they are pretty dang cool. This should only take a few minutes but worth the small detour if you choose to take it.

If you want to get straight to the elk take a left at the junction staying on Highway 12 or if you chose to visit the sheep just go back down the road and drive straight when you reach the junction. You will drive for a minute or so and the elk feeding station will be on your right (If you see the rust colored bridge to the left, you are in the right spot!). You will need a Discover Pass to park (You can buy one at Fred Meyer or the Ace Hardware store in Naches–get the year pass, it’s worth it!)
Head into the visitor center and sign up for the 11pm tour, it should be pretty easy to get right on, but if you are worried try to be there about 30 minutes early . You can stay inside the visitor’s center and look at their plethora of local taxidermy (except for a random wildcat creature from Korea). They have a small table of pelt for kids to pet and antlers and jaw bones. Hands on learning at it’s finest!
The actual tour on the army truck will take about 20 minutes so be sure to keep warm and for fun try to count every time to see an elk poop! It’s impossible to keep track.

The elk feeding station is totally free (except for the discover pass required to park) but they do run on donations so feel free to slip whatever you feel comfortable with in the orange donation boxes along the fence and thank the volunteers, they are the nicest.

When you are all done, you may be hungry for lunch or just a quick treat. I highly recommend stopping at Stick Fingers Bakery and Cafe in Naches. They have a classic diner menu that I have never been disappointed with and are especially known for their their Sticky Bun (it’s amazing and a single bun will happily treat a small family).

Oak Creek Wildlife Area-Elk Feeding Station

Facebook page

Visitor Center is generally open from 9am-4pm with tours at

16601 Highway 12
Naches, WA 98937

Phone number: (509) 653-2390

You can call ahead to make a reservation (and I would recommend it if you have a large group) otherwise it done on a first come, first serve basis.

Directions: From I-82 at Yakima, west on Hwy 12 through Naches. Four miles west of Naches, turn left at Junction to White Pass. Proceed 2 mi. to HQ entrance on right (north) side.

Suggested Items to Bring:

-Warm clothes (coats, hats, gloves, maybe a blanket)

-Discover Pass (https://www.discoverpass.wa.gov)

-Crayons (if you want to color while you wait in the visitor center)

Comment if you have any questions!

I Really Really Really Love My Hometown.

March 1, 2019 Filed Under: Yakimom

I read This Is Where You Belong over the month of January. Immediately within the first chapter explanation of loving where you live, I recognized I was rooted in my hometown of Yakima.

I didn’t always love where I grew up. Like any teenager, I dreamed of “wide open spaces” and “big, city life” where I would become the idealized version of myself. A smarter, glowing goddess who shook off and rose above the dust of valley.

But then something funny happened. Seattle, where I attended university, was drizzly and gray. Where was the sunshine? Where was the grass? There was a plethora of trees, diversity, and open-mindedness but each winter I would hole up in my room, trying to dry my bones from the wet that seeped in daily. I started missing the dry cold, as mean as it could be.

Then I started missing the lack of traffic, the quick drives to the mountains, the produce! Oh my goodness. I realized I had been completely blind to the beauty and bounty of my hometown when I was there. I took the sunshine for granted.

From a distance, I began to yearn for home and when the opportunity arose to move back, me and my family took it.

Shortly after moving home, I started hearing a common theme: Yakima was not family-friendly. There weren’t enough indoor activities to do in the winter or in the summer it was so hot the only thing to do was swim and why weren’t there better indoor activities then! I often heard about how the schools were failing or any community activities were focused around alcohol (we do produce America’s hops). I couldn’t disagree with them. It would be nice to have more options for indoor play and we sometimes seemed to lack festivals that other communities made extremely family friendly.

Had I been wrong about moving back?

Reading this book last month, helped reaffirm and refocus my love for the valley. While reading, I started thinking of all the awesome ways that we as community members can participate in building our city and then I started thinking of all the things that I really wasn’t taking advantage of. There are so many kid friendly hikes and restaurants and there really are more indoor options than one realizes, it’s just some of these small business really struggle to advertise/communicate what they are offering.

So I started thinking, well I wish there was a site where you could really know what to expect with a nearby hike (because hiking a new trail is always a little trepidacious but hiking a new trail with kids feels like a death wish) or I wish there was some way to know more about awesome events or stores or business that are catering to families, because they are out there!

Our city has so much to offer, the information is just hard to find sometimes.

I figured that person might as well be me. Born and raised in the Valley and a big lover of the outdoors and arts, my enthusiasm for my hometown is immense. My goal is to highlight the awesome events and opportunities that Yakima has to offer for families. More importantly, I want to make that information accessible and useful.

So with a google doc full of ideas, I hope locals (and visitors!) will tune in as I review and recommend family-friendly activities every week. Who knows, maybe along the way people may realize that this little city is actually just a diamond in the rough.

I sincerely hope you enjoy what’s to come!

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Praticing Patience, Recognizing Strength

February 5, 2019 Filed Under: faith

The compounded stress of my life has been making everything really difficult lately.

Through setbacks and changes, I often find myself struggling to keep up and sucked into a long and extensive pity party.

Navigating family dynamics, parenting a teenage girl, loneliness, the never-ending house remodel, holidays, small children whining/fighting/yelling, never being able to find anything in our rental, volunteer responsibilities, all of it together feels like more than I can bear.

Why is that hard to say?

There is fear in being vulnerable and vocalizing when you are having a hard time. If you keep it to yourself, no one really knows. They may glimpse held back tears or a bad mood but life goes on. On the flip side vocalizing it can come with major downfalls. You save yourself from unsolicited advice. You protect yourself from insincere comments and help and you don’t have to worry about people thinking that you are needy. You also get to keep up a pretty good facade that you have it all together and are “strong.”

The difficult thing for me is that I have been through hard times. Every bad thing that happens gets compared to losing James and nothing can really top it. I keep telling myself, no one is dead. But the question I really should be asking myself is, why am I trying to rank my trials? They are all hard and difficult to navigate.

Some trials come with a built in support brigade. People show up; in surprising and healing ways. They bring meals and offer help. But that support slowly fades as time between you and your trial grows. I think that is actually one of the hardest parts about going through a loss, when the support fades. It feels a little like a stab in the back. You want to shout, “WELL! I guess you don’t care about my pain anymore! Or maybe you forgot my child died!!!!” (Was that too specific?)

The point is, people can make a difference in our healing process and I have had to grapple with feeling less supported than I had hoped for this year. Now, I am not saying that I was totally forsaken (see this is the tricky thing about posting your thoughts for anyone to read…you want to be honest but don’t want anyone you know to feel bad). Gratefully, I have many who would let me vent and unload and give me kudos for what we were going through but I could recognize internally I was yearning for deeper connection. To truly feel seen and understood. When I am seeking advice, what I am really asking is, “Am I going to make it through this?”

I keep hoping for a quick-fix, a miracle that all of the contracted workers on our house will move at lighting speed. I keep hoping for a break-through in my kids behavior, that magically they will listen and stop picking fights with me and each other. But there is no quick fix, just a long lesson in patience.

And I am working on my patience. I am letting go and letting God take over the things that mentally I cannot spend any more time on. I am working on deep breaths and longer nights of sleep and self-care.

I am working on my patience and am seeing strength.

Patience is often seen as a passive act. But in reality, it takes a great deal of effort to accept things as they are without getting upset. It takes strength. When there is little to no control, I see myself turning to God in prayer for peace. I see myself looking for opportunities to learn and change. It is not perfection. I do and say the wrong things and am not always accepting of things. I get upset. It is recognizing the difficulties and my weakness and still feeling worthy of love and joy. When I choose to vent to the right source, the one that understands perfectly and ALWAYS provides deep connect when I come to Him with sincerity, it is like a balm to my soul. The endless cycle of negative thought gets rerouted as truth is spoken to my heart.

And then I see the wonderful people around me. I am given clarity to see how others are helping me in the ways they can with their own trials and hardships going on. I see their strength and beauty and life feels pretty darn swell.

I recently updated my phone wallpaper. I found one that has quickly become a little mantra when I start to feel overwhelmed. Sometimes, it even feels like a divine whisper. In a simple hand drawn sun it states, “Life is tough, but so are you.”

I may be starting to believe it.