25 Things

Since I turned 25 yesterday I thought it would be fun to share a list of 25 things.  These are 25 things I have learned throughout the years, things I love and a few things I am thankful for!  I hope you enjoy!

1. In 25 Years of living I have learned to never take 'No' as an answer.  At a young age (5 to be exact) I had no problem say what I was and wasn't going to do with my life.  My parents love to tell me the "College" story.  Touring the University of Minnesota at age 5 with my parents I declared I wanted to go to the U of M.  My dad stated he thought it was to big and would be happier if his little girl went to a smaller school.  I turned to him and declared that if I wanted to go to the U of M I would, and that no one could tell me what to do.  Im strong willed I guess. 

Oh Yea I didn't even apply to the U of M when the time came, and I did go to a much much smaller school!  Yea Butler!

2.  I have learned that people come in and out of your life.  But your family will always be there for you.  

What can I say we are a pretty goofy bunch!

3. I have learned that life is tough, and sometimes doesn't turn out the way you wanted it to.  However I am thankful for the path my life has taken, I have had many wonderful experiences in my 25 years.  

4. I am thankful for a very very strong support system.  I have a caring and loving family, a wonderful boyfriend and best friends who sometimes know exactly what I am thinking before I say them.  

5. I have learned that it is ok to cry.

6. I have learned that I have a passion for cooking, and enjoy making a ridiculous mess in the kitchen.  Somethings never change!  

7. In 25 years I have learned that sometimes there is no place like home.  And no matter how far you travel you can always go home.

8. I have found that putting your whole heart into something can end up hurting you.  But I fully believe in loving to the fullest, you can never be to passionate.

9. I have learned the hard way that computers can't swim! I am on my third lap top!

10. It is never to late to try something new, and completely fall in love with it!  Mark introduced me to wake boarding and I love it!  I absolutely love being on a lake!

11. I have learned that I love running!  (never thought that would happen)!

12. My parents have taught me the greatest lesson, always do the best you possibly can.  That was their motto for my sister and I growing up.

13. I have learned there is nothing wrong with a little me time.  Sometimes you just need a night to yourself, where you can do whatever you want!

14. I have learned it is ok to ask for help.  

15. I have learned that a good pee your pants laugh can be some of the best medication in the world.  I love sitting around reminiscing with old friends, especially when the night ends with belly aching laughs!

16.  It is never to late to reinvent yourself.

17. I have learned there is nothing like loving completely and getting that love back in return.

18. I have learned/or am learning that sometimes you just have to go with the flow

19.  I have learned it is ok to make a fool out of yourself, and you should never take yourself to seriously!

20.  I have learned that things don't usually happen right when we want them to happen.

21.  I believe and have learned that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes we don't know what that reason is for a long time.

22. I have learned that shopping or window shopping can be a great cure for a bad mood.  And when you get to tired to walk anymore just sit down and try on shoes!

23.  I am thankful for for another year, another year to live with more adventures to come!

24. I have learned that you have to believe in yourself, and sometimes take a leap of faith.

25. And last but certainly not least, in 25 years I have learned to be true to myself!

Hope you enjoyed this!  Have a fabulous rest of your day and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

A Birthday, and Ask5For5

Happy Monday Everyone!  I hope that you all have a wonderful start to your week.  I have a full day of Birthday celebrating to do today with Mark and my family!  Mark and I had a great weekend celebrating with his parents, and we fully plan on continuing the fun today!  25 is a big year! 

I have a wonderful and touching guest post for you today.  I bring you Sarah Lenssen from Ask 5 for 5.  I encourage you to check out the Ask 5 for 5 blog, and please continue reading.  I will be back later this afternoon with a lit of 25 things I have learned in the 25 years of life.  Enjoy and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5

Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Happily Ever Healthy and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps. 

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support, healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!

 

Just Like Old Times

Let me start by apologizing for the fact that I have been MIA in the blog world.  But I think a best friends wedding is a pretty good excuse for the blog to take the back burner for a few days.  I am sad that this weekend has come to an end.  Kady left yesterday ( I was sad to see her go) and Mark left early today.  However I cannot think of a better way to spend a long labor day weekend then with people you love, and celebrating the wedding of one of your best friends.  My whole weekend was centered around wonderful friends/family, and making memories!  We have countless pictures of the "high school bunch" from this weekend.  I felt like I was  back in high school (not that I am complaining), especially when my parents made brunch for all of us Sunday morning after the wedding.  Everyone gathered in my parents kitchen taking and laughing just felt like the good old days.  This post is going to be very picture heavy!  But there are so many wonderful pictures I want to share with you from the wedding!  I cried and laughed on Saturday.  Katie made the most beautiful Bride, and you could honestly tell how happy and in love Katie and Richard are.  The ceremony focused on how they had known each other for a life time, and talked of there love for one another, you could just see how excited the two of them were to start their lives together.   I am so glad I got to be apart of their wonderful day, and with that being said here are some fabulous pictures!

Beautiful!

The Flowers were gorgeous!

Plummer House and Festivities Recap

Yesterday before going out to celebrate my parents 31st wedding anniversary Mark and I did a little tour of Rochester.  Rochester has three huge mansions, two were home of the Mayo Brothers (I talked about Will Mayo's house in this post) and one was Dr. Plummer's.  The Plummer house is one of my favorite houses. Not only is the house beautiful, but the gardens are sprawling and studded with beautiful flowers and fountains! I held my Graduation (from high school) open house there and even took some of my senior pictures there.  Dr Plummer was not only a wonderful doctor but helped the clinic in many ways, he came up with a correspondence system that was used throughout the Clinic, and was the first doctor to understand and operate the X-Ray machine.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure!

 The tower in the side garden

 Front door to the house!

 I love these fountains!

 King of the Rock!

We spent the rest of our day relaxing and gearing up for the celebration!  Lets transition into talking about the fabulous dinner we had last night!

Happy 4th Of July!

Happy Fourth of July to you all!

I hope you all have wonderful plans to celebrate our Nations Independence!  My family had a wonderful pancake breakfast,

and we are getting all the side dishes made for our 4th of July Celebration!  

Enjoy your day of celebrating, I will see you all tomorrow and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!  Although today I fully encourage consumption of yummy desserts! Thats what I am most looking forward too!