Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Friendship!

Good Morning everyone!  Welcome Wednesday and the 3rd of May!

I have big news to share:  after much thought, many tears, and lots of prayers, I decided to retire from nursing after nearly 40 years.  To me, it was becoming a rat race . . . so busy, mistakes were being made.  The joy was gone.  I knew that I had to make a change.  I have the support of my wonderful husband.  So I did it.  I am officially retired from nursing. Whew.  It has been a mix of emotions for me, but I believe I made the right decision.

Now I find that I want to get everything done around the house that has not gotten done.  So much to do and so little time.  It's nearly impossible to get everything done in one week, right?!  Ha Ha!

But I found out I need to make time for myself and my health.  I need to make time for the things I enjoy.

I love to scrap . . . so I finished a scrapbook page that I started at an all day crop I attended a few months ago:

This one is a simply one and it's all about friendship:



The second thing I enjoy is taking time to exercise, specifically walk . . . and being outdoors. I have gone for a walk every single morning since I stopped working.

Want to come along with me?  Here we go . . .

I feel very blessed that this beautiful area is just 5 min from my home:

Doesn't the trail draw you in?

Hmmmmmm . . . seems a little scary, but it's not . . .

Looking through the trees to the stream below:

Here comes the challenging part:

Not so hard . . . and very beautiful at the top:


There are lots of tree roots to get in your way, so step carefully:

The sun is peeking through the woods to light the trail:

And you can always take stairs down to the stream if you don't want to hike on the trail:

Just a reminder  . . . we are on the right track:

The sun's shining beautifully on the wild flowers:


Tiny creatures co-exist with us:

This one was slithering along the trail and I had to snap it quickly with my cell phone . . .
Ewe . . .

There are signs along the way to point us in the right direction:

Here's an interesting bridge to cross:

 Let the sunshine in:

 I came upon a wonderful family with 3 golden retrievers:

Here's the stream again:

The trail is heading back:

And finally, here's the bridge leading us to the parking lot:

 One last view.  Ahhhhhh, so pretty:

I hope you enjoyed following me through the woods at Jacobsburg Park!  I feel refreshed and ready for the day.

Take care of YOU today, whatever you may be doing.

Enjoy . . .


15 comments:

  1. Awe-congratulations-you will do well. More time for Annie too!

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  2. Congrats on your retirement from nursing!! LOVING the lo! GORGEOUS colors!! And those photos ... wow oh wow!! They are beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Retiring is a big step, and I am sure hou will enjoy having more time for you, your family, your health etc. after the initial shock wears off. Your LO is gorgeous, as always, and thanks for sharing the pics of that wonderful trail, I would love to go through there. Have a good week, hugs, Valerie

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  4. What amazing pictures and wonderful place to take a stroll.

    Hugs Diane

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  5. Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy every minute.

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  6. I love your amazing layout Sharon and the area you live in is charming! Fantastic photos!
    Big congrats on your retirement! Enjoy the time now - you will have much mor time for art..isn't that AMAZNG?!
    Have a happy rest of the week ♥!

    oxo Susi

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  7. Congrats on your retirement, Sharon. More time to enjoy the beautiful area around your place. It looks great! More time for your family and yourself, enjoy it!
    You made a beautiful lo. Love the bright colours!

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  8. Hello Sharon, congratulations on retiring from nursing. Now the real fun begins and you'll wonder how you ever had time to go to work. So many new activities will pop up (as you've already discovered). Your very beautiful and colourful scrapbook page reflects this. More time for friends!
    Thanks for this fabulous walk, I really enjoyed it and now I'm going to do it again.

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  9. Thank you for sharing the lovely forest hike! And a beautiful scrapbook page. All the best to you in the mew life situation, I'm sure you will love it! But you may be surprised with how busy one still is, not nearly everything gets done! :-)

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  10. What beautiful photographs of the wonderful place you can walk, thank you! Congratulations on your retirement from nursing, the decision must have been hard but definitely the right one and you will have lots of time for you! How cool! Fabulous scrapbook page, so bright and full of happy!!! xxx

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  11. Hi Sharon congrats on your retirement from a wonderful career (oh how I wish I could retire ) enjoy your retirement and may you do all the things you enjoy. Lovely layout of friendship, sometimes a layout needs to be simple to convey the strong feelings, it has a fun, happy feeling to it. Your walk looks wonderful ( except for the snake, I don't do snakes , Yikes )
    Mary x

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  12. Congrats on your retirement--just take one day at a time and before you know it--a new way of life just happens! beautiful page and you live in a beautiful area!
    hug!...marci

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  13. Congratulations on your retirement! I just finished 42 yrs of nursing & it does feel weird not to have any work days, but it's a good weird! I did it slowly going from full time to part time to casual & my license is good for another year. Love your beautiful pictures--could almost be Western Oregon. Great scrapbook page letting the cute picture be the focus.

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  14. Oh thank you I did love that walk, the scenery and the company were marvellous! I could do that every day I think!! And all the best with the next chapters of your life after nursing, a big decision for you but the right one as you now can do so much more with your day.. It sounds exciting! and a lovely layout too. I love the heart paper and a lovely photo of friends.. thank you for sharing a part of your day, see you tomorrow for another walk!!!! hehe...

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  15. What a sweet layout to celebrate friendship and thanks for taking us along for a walk, it is certainly refreshing, I love green and feels calm when I am around trees and nature!

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