How to get your PhD in nesting

Monday, January 12, 2015

lakehouse_life_post_christmas_wordless_wednesday_FeedMeDearly_4

lakehouse_life_post_christmas_wordless_wednesday_FeedMeDearly_5

More nesting. I apologize. But these are particularly good nesting moments that needed to be shared. They happened post-Christmas, which was technically part of the same vacation as the last post. But I couldn’t bore you with 60 images in one sitting. Or you’d never visit this site again, and that would make me so very sad.

You may recall from the last post that I’m working on obtaining my PhD in nesting. Some of you also may know, from experience, that getting a PhD – whether it be in biophysics, mechanical engineering, or the art of relaxation – is hard work.

I spent the first day of 2015 ingesting healthy foods. Which is challenging when someone with a horse tattoo is trying to steal your spiced pumpkin seed garnish.

And I’ve been working on strengthening the mind/body connection with my spiritual guru. He’s an industry leader, having developed a patented set of progressive methods to induce relaxation. Furthermore, he’s published numerous papers in several relaxation journals, and is frequently cited by Psychology Today as one of the great minds of the 21st century.

Let me introduce you:

Central to his theory of relaxation are 1) find a comfortable spot, preferably an off-limits bed and 2) follow a rigorous set of stretching, snoring, and other breathing exercises.

42 comments

Travel

Skylands Botanical Garden, New Jersey

Monday, July 28, 2014

This is a shorter post this week as I just got back from a busy few days at a family reunion in Alabama. Looking forward to sharing those pictures with you guys next week, but until then I wanted to fill you in on a recent visit to a secret spot near our house on Greenwood Lake, NJ.

We’re lucky enough to live in a lake community that offers a great summer camp for the kids. They’ve been doing archery, cooking, pioneering, and have been taken on some fun local field trips. One of their field trips was to the Botanical Gardens in the Skylands area of Northern New Jersey, which is only a few minutes driving distance from the lake.

The kids came back with so many great stories about our visit that I wanted to see it for myself. So we found some free time on a Friday afternoon and made our way over to the gardens. I wasn’t expecting much more than a few beautiful lawns, but was taken by surprise when we walked into a nearly-private 90-acre wonderland.

We entered the gardens near the teensiest little hut that was apparently going to be used as one of the supplemental film locations for The Lord of the Rings.

Once we were inside the gardens, we discovered miles of manicured lawns….

…and fields of wildflowers.

39 comments

Family

New Jersey power boat races

Monday, June 16, 2014

At the risk of sounding like a one-trick pony, we had another fun weekend up at the lake this weekend.

In what’s supposed to be an annual event, but doesn’t always happen, our lake plays host to the New Jersey power boat races, which draws racers from all over North America.

Since we’re heading into our fourth summer up there, and have missed this weekend on occasion, it was our first time seeing the event live. And it’s a pretty amazing event, lasting two days. The boats are built like race cars with carbon fiber restraints that keep the drivers safe in case of a crash. As you can imagine, having 2-5 boats on the water at a time makes a ton of noise.

But it’s pretty fun to kick back with a beer or two and watch the event. Since the races were happening right in front of our house, we got to view them from every vantage point, including up on the porch…

…and down on the dock.

I mixed up a batch of Micheladas, my first time giving the recipe a try, and although it wasn’t Rodney’s favorite cocktail, I’m totally hooked. Definitely my new summer drink.