Trying to rise above the bad

I'm back but for how long I don't know. It has been a bad year thus far for my husband and I and I'm contemplating giving up this blog or reinventing it. I'm not sure what to do. Part of me lately is concentrating on living and making the most of each day instead of spending so much time online. You see, this spring Brett and I lost his mom to breast cancer. She had been in remission for 4 years and it showed up in her liver undetected for several months before she lost the fight. I can't begin to tell everyone what an amazing lady she was and how her passing has created a hole so deep in both of us that I'm not sure it can ever be filled. It was sudden and unexpected and now I've lost my cooking hot line, a fellow adventurer and dear friend. She was the best mother in law a girl could ask for and an even better mother and wife to Brett and his dad and she is missed every day.
After that a series of other things happened that I won't go into but have left us exhausted by life. We've lost some friends this year, but gained new ones, lost family but created new in the community we call home. And thus the roller coaster of life continues; for every down there is an up, but the up is often a slow climb.
We have done our best this summer to try and focus on the good things, and to create some new memories for the positive. Slowly we are making our way to the surface but realizing that each day is precious and should be made the most of with the people that matter the most.
So......some positive from this summer. I conquered another item on my life list and went Zip lining which was a blast (high above the tree tops of Cascade, ID), we took a lot of camping adventures with new friends because nature always heals the soul. And I started earning money by doing photography which all started when I took home best of show, 3 first place, 2 second place, and 1 third place with my photos in the county fair. From there I ended up with a few jobs and some sold nature prints. All of which is making me very happy.
Work continues to be busy, but I'm starting to breathe again and I'm enjoying this harvest season. Plus as an added bonus 2 of our dear friends moved back to Ontario which is always good, and I have new exercise buddies so I've lost 20lbs!

And so, some photos from the positive side of this summer (some of my jobs I've done and some of my adventures- more critter photos to come soon. I'll be back when I've decided the fate of this space...
Until then, Sandiana



























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