My Picture My Story ~ West Baden Springs

another look back at life through a picture

Today's look back is from May of this year. The girls and I were headed to southern Indiana for a friends' graduation open house. While mapping out our route, we realized that we would only be about half an hour from the historic hotel at West Baden Springs. Simply put - our road trip took on another stop or two. :)

I love my kids, and their friends. They keep me young and remind me to find  joy in the everyday things of life. Since Arlene will be graduating soon, I decided to try to take at least one selfie with her each month of her senior year-ish of high school. Well, this was one of those times when she said "Here Mom, give me the phone, my arms are longer." This picture was taken near the end of our detour to West Baden. We planned an extra hour or so for this part of the trip. The girls and I had read a lot about the restoration work that had gone on at the West Baden Springs hotel over the past 20 years, and we wanted to take a step back in time and think about what it would have been like in its heyday in the 1920's.

Since we were headed for a graduation open house later that day, we planned to stop early and pick up one of their other friends along the way. Their friend Zed is about as chill as they come. He enjoys life, and likes mostly everybody, so off the four of us went to peek back into the 1920's lifestyle of the rich at West Baden. 

We were not disappointed! The hotel is a great place to stay (or so I've been told by friends!) and welcomes day visitors to the restaurant, gift shops, spa, and golf course, so we blended right in - LOL! We never really blend in, we just don't mind sticking out. :)

The mosaic work in the lobby floor was amazing, the open atrium was a feat of engineering, and the detail work on the furniture was inspiring. We took time to look around the gardens some as well. The great thing about exploring somewhere new is doing it with friends, so you have someone to reminisce with later. :) I am so thankful to be able to call our daughters friends.

I would really like to return again next year and spend a couple of nights as a guest at the hotel. I think it would make a great spot for a writing retreat! Let me know if any of you want to underwrite my trip ;)

The graduation open house? It was fun too! But that is a story for another picture to tell.

If you would like to see more of our trip to West Baden, check out the pictures on our Instagram page!

Road trip ~ Wonders of Wildlife ~ Wildlife Galleries

In September of 2017, Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium opened in Springfield, Missouri. These two destinations are attached to the famous GrandDaddy Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. Our family has visited this awesome Bass Pro Shop before as Springfield is a great overnight stop between Indiana and Oklahoma. For those of you who have been to Branson, MO, or are planning a trip there soon, Springfield is about one hour north of Branson.

When we learned that the Wonders of Wildlife - Wildlife Galleries were already open, we knew we needed to include a stop there on our recent family road trip. We are so glad we did! We also visited the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium, but that will have to wait for another Road Trip post because there is simply too much to tell you all in one day!

If you’ve ever visited a Bass Pro Shop I’m sure you’ve seen some taxidermy animals in their displays. Bass Pro Shops are known as  destination shops for all sorts of outdoors things, not just fishing. They are also a place where families can enjoy seeing mounted, stuffed animals, as well as live fish, and often alligators as they wander the store. (The people wander the store, not the alligators - LOL! ) The Wildlife Galleries go even further than the typical store displays. I know I won't be able to do justice to just how awesome of an adventure this was for us, but I’m going to try.

So let’s jump in and get started! The Wonders of Wildlife National Museum Wildlife Galleries have over a mile of galleries to walk through. This is the largest collection of taxidermied animals I have ever seen, but it is SO much more than just stuffed animals! To begin with, these are immersive displays, many of which include sounds and or smells. The African display was amazing… but more on that later! This huge collection of wildlife galleries walks you through the history of the conservation movement. It highlights some well known conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy and the National Wild Turkey Federation, as well as some lesser known ones.

To begin our journey, we entered the main doors of the Bass Pro Shop and went up the escalator to the museum entrance behind a huge bronze statue of a buck. Feel free to use the elevator if that is more your style. Upstairs you will walk through a small museum gallery about the history of Bass Pro Shops and then be greeted by the friendly staff who can help you choose your adventure for the day. Go for the combo pass so you can see both the wildlife galleries and the aquarium. Trust me on this one - you will want to see both! 

The staff will explain the timed entry system they use when the galleries are busy that helps ensure every visitor gets to enjoy their adventure. On the Wonders of Wildlife website they recommend allowing at least one hour for the wildlife galleries. As a family we all agree you should plan for 2-3 hours for this part. If you order your tickets online you can choose your time in advance. Weekdays are less crowded than weekends. 

Your trip though the museum begins with tribute to the Indians who lived here first and includes displays of native dress and artifacts, as well as quotes from native leaders. 

Then you will travel through the Lewis and Clark exhibit. This interesting collection was made after plein-air artist Charles Fritz travelled the route Lewis And Clark took on their historic voyage. His experiences, combined with Lewis & Clark's journals, were the inspiration behind many of these pieces.

Your next encounters will be in the North American Wildlife Galleries. This section of the museum has many excellent tableaus celebrating our National Parks and the wildlife found therein. Each scene is tastefully done with excellent attention to detail from the main taxidermy specimens to the painted backdrops and foregrounds filled with rocks, logs, and small game.

Your enjoyment of the displays has obviously been on the minds of the set designers. The fronts are done with anti-reflective museum glass and placed at an angle so visitors of all heights can get a front-row view of the action packed scenes. If you are wanting to practice your nature photography skills, or teach some to your children, this would be an excellent location to practice. The scenes are designed to fill you with wonder and awe of the magnificent wildlife that surrounds us.

Lighting within the hallways is purposefully dimmed (but not dark) to draw your eye into the action, like in this scene of a grizzly bear chasing wolves at Denali National Park.

I never realized just how huge a Bull Moose was until I rounded the corner and found myself face to face with one. This museum lets you get up close and personal with the wildlife. 

After the National Parks you will enter the Heads and Horns Big Game room. Here you can learn more about conservation, big game hunting through the years, and even have a chance to take a selfie or two with some bears or a musk-ox.

By now you may be wondering “just how big IS this place?” It is huge! Fear not, there are benches placed in larger galleries, and in front of the video screens where you can sit and rest a spell if needed. There are restrooms discreetly placed throughout the Wildlife Galleries, and there is always a staff member nearby if you have questions or need help finding a specific gallery.

Think you are having a bad hair day? Check out the porcupine or beaver exhibits and you will immediately feel better. :) 

There is a rather large gallery of Bucks and Bulls that showcases an amazing range of deer and elk from North America, both those you might be used to seeing, and some that are a little … unusual.

Along your trip through the Wildlife Galleries you will learn more about various conservation groups like including those I mentioned earlier, and some lesser known groups. There are areas that talk about each group’s beginning, mission, and current scope of service. 

If you make it to the Wonders of Wildlife Museum by July 5 of this year, you will have the opportunity to view the traveling Portraits of Courage exhibit. This is an excellent collection of paintings done by President George W. Bush that honors America’s military servicemen and women.

Even with all of this there is still more to see. We all enjoyed the room with the live Gentoo penguins and the stuffed narwals. There is an area dedicated to the Inuit and the northern-most animals they live amongst. Kurt enjoyed the walrus scene. I liked the narwals best. The girls both laughed at the antics of the penguins.

The last area you will travel through is the African exhibit. I read online that the creators spent a year on this area alone. It really shows. It not only looks like you just stepped off of a plane to go on safari, it smells like you are in Africa! I am pretty sure that if we let her, Emily could have spent an entire hour just in this one gallery. She has always loved African animals and would wander from scene to scene and then come back and get me to “come see this one.” This gallery is one huge room where you take a winding path past zebras, elephants, and giraffes and end up face to face with a male lion. Amazing!

We give this museum an A+! The attention to detail, the friendliness of the staff, and the sheer amount of awesomeness contained within the walls is amazing! When we finally made it back to the car, one of the girls commented "Worth every penny of admission and then some!" I could not agree more. We will be back to visit again, and we are planning to bring friends! 

We want to give a huge Thank You to the staff at Wonders of Wildlife who hosted us for the day. When you take your own road trip, be sure to let them know you heard about them from us here at Home Sweet Life, it will let them know just how much their hospitality was appreciated!

Where, Oh where have you been?

Do you ever have those times when it seems like your life should be a Dr Seuss story? Where everything just keeps marching along to an unstoppable beat even when you are trying to get off of the ride? Yeah, it's been a little like that around here for the past three or four weeks. 

I am thankful that we have had such great opportunities recently, it has just been a little more full of a calendar than I like. It is definitely time to find some margin again! 

There are a lot of great things to tell you about... which if you're following us on Instagram you've seen some previews of: the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the Women's conference this past weekend, the hikes to enjoy the brief snatches of spring in between the snow showers. But rather than try to fit it all in one or two posts and short-change you on some awesome things God has been teaching me, I'll be back to posting much more regularly over the next two weeks. I've even got a great guest post coming up next week about friendship that I know will get you thinking. 

Thank you for stopping by these past two weeks when it has been a little quiet here on the blog! It is always encouraging to find out that you - our wonderful readers- have not only stopped by, but shared your favorite posts with your friends. :) Apparently many of you have been thinking about where your Rome is. If you haven't read that post yet... it is worth a short detour.

So many of you have asked if I would share a little more about what causes me to choose a particular verse to hand-letter. I'll be making the effort to do that more often this Spring. 

In the meantime, let me tell you a little story...

Last week, for some unknown-to-me reason, I felt compelled to read the book of Nahum. I know, minor prophets are not usually my thing either, but it is good to read the entire Bible and I knew it had been while since I'd read this short book. So I started reading and kept coming back to verse 3 of the first chapter. I think a lot of us just focus on the first phrase "the Lord is slow to anger and great in power..." and then we wander through the rest of the book and check the box- done! But there was something more there, the second part of the verse states that "the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished." Hmm... Perhaps you're recently been in a struggle over something - a job situation, a money issue, or wrongful accusations, then I guess you might notice that part too and be thankful to know that God sees every little detail of our lives and He is keeping track of what happens. Unless, of course, you were the guilty one - then maybe that is a part of the verse you want to avoid because it hits too close to home. But what do you make of the second half of the verse? 

"His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet."

This is the part that made me pause. God's way is in the whirlwind and the storm. This struck me anew - God often does not do things in the gentle way I would choose to do them. He makes His presence, and His plan known - powerfully! That is probably why what we term natural disasters are what the insurance companies call "acts of God." He does His work with power, and where many can see it and stand in awe! He allows many trials to come into our lives to refine us, but He never ever leaves us! He is not only IN the storm, often He IS the storm.

Has God brought a storm through your life recently? Do you feel as though you are always caught in a whirlwind? Instead of trying to get out of the storm, perhaps we should instead turn to the maker of the storm, the only One who can hold us safe in whatever comes our way- God Almighty. It is time to stop running away from the powerful things God wants to do in our lives and instead start running into His plans. He is there waiting for us to realize just how strong and mighty He is. God is waiting for us to pray big prayers, let go of the things of this world, and watch in awe as he is doing a new thing in our lives and in our hearts. 

This past year my life has been one doozy of a storm. So many difficult things to live through, and yet, such peace as I've never known before. God's way has definitely been to use the whirlwind and the storm to show His power - but He has allowed me to be still and know He is God. Psalm 46:10 

Though the trials God has been faithful, through the losses of one kind He has poured out blessing beyond belief in other areas of my life. And then, this past weekend, He reminded me that grief is a temporary thing - even when it seems overwhelming. There will be no crying in heaven, and this body is just a temporary home for my soul. Someday, probably in another 40 or so years, this earthly life for me will end but my eternal life will be just getting started. During a time of great loss it is hard to think about yourself in light of eternity, yet not so hard to know your loved one, if they are a Christian, is in eternity. I wonder why our perspectives are so different during intense grief? 

So, these were some (not all, just some) of my thoughts as I was reading in Nahum. The next morning Arlene and I were getting ready to go to the sewing group at our church. It had snowed overnight - just a bit - not an actual storm, but that morning the sunlight was intense under the lingering clouds. Knowing that if the storm came again - He would be there - we set off. As I was driving I noticed this little church we pass on our way and I asked Arlene to grab my phone and take a picture. It seemed too fitting of a shot to miss, especially after the way the verse in Nahum had struck a chord in my heart. The dark clouds were rolling on by - just like they do in a storm - and yet, the church was bathed in sunlight. There was calm. The church steeple was illuminated by the sunshine - just like our hearts can be illuminated by the Son-shine of Jesus!

It comforted me to see the visual reminder of the spiritual lesson God had put in my heart the night before. A church building is just that - a building. But what happens inside and around a healthy church - the way God's children follow His leading to do His work and show His mercy and grace to others - that is a daily miracle! That is God's power at work - saving one life after another for eternity.

That night when we got home I started reading in Habakkuk. But you'll need to stop back by on Saturday to learn more about that one.  ;)

Know that you are loved by a mighty God - whose way is in the whirlwind and the storm!

If you are at the beginning of your homeschool journey, you might enjoy this week's Homeschool Blog Link-up where several posts are focusing on how to homeschool with babies and toddlers underfoot.

My Picture, My Story ~Dragonfly

Another look back at our memories through a picture

Dragonflies are beautiful creatures, but they rarely stay still long enough of you to focus your eyes on them, much less your camera. This one had alighted on the thumb of our friend Kevin, a local botanist, while we were gathered to start a group canoe launch down our local river. 

Our river has been threatened for several years now by a group of people, mostly short-sighted locals, who think that building a reservoir would be the answer to all of our area's economic woes. We do not agree, and because there is such varied wildlife along the proposed stretch of river, our group had chosen this Spring day to do a group canoe trip down the river. We wanted to enjoy the day on the water, and to try to remind others of what would be lost forever if the reservoir was built.

Emily and Kurt were going to join the float, Arlene and I were going to be cheerleaders, and enjoy the time photographing the wildlife from shore. As we were waiting for everyone to finish getting ready this dragonfly stopped on Kevin's thumb. That did not surprise anyone, as Kevin is very attuned to the local nature, and always find the best critters when we take group hikes. Kevin is the type that can rattle off the Latin name of the dragonfly as easily as he can call Joe - well, Joe. It's just a part of who he is.

The canoe trip ended up being a wonderful day. Kurt and Emily learned some new teamwork, and Arlene and I surprised them about halfway through their trip when they reached our chill out spot - a sandbar in the river as it winds through the local state park. We saw a lot of wildlife - including a pileated woodpecker - while we waited for them. We also had a nice, quiet, relaxing day. 

I have a lot of pictures from that day: trees, birds, canoes, the river... and this dragonfly. This dragonfly photo stands as a reminder of all that we still have around us with our free-flowing river. It reminds me of the canoe trips we have taken down the river as a family. It reminds me that some things are worth fighting for. It also reminds me that God places beauty all round us - if we will only look for it.

My Picture My Story ~ Alaskan Brown Bear

Here is another look back at our life through a picture...

This is picture of an Alaskan Brown Bear. There is some debate in our household over whether this is actually my picture, or Arlene's. Since it was taken on my camera, and downloaded to my computer, I'm going to claim ownership and tell you about it today.

The Indianapolis Zoo is a place the girls have enjoyed visiting since they were wee tiny things. My parents first got us a membership the year Arlene was born. Way back then the Indy Zoo had Kodiak bears in their Forests exhibit. Eventually those bears died, and there were no more bears to visit (expect the polar bear in the oceans exhibit.) 

Then, two Alaskan Brown Bear cubs were orphaned in Alaska in 2008 because their mother had been causing trouble - attacking people and other trouble, and the Fish and Game officials were forced to kill her to protect the people. The Indianapolis Zoo became home to this brother-sister duo and there were bears again. As the bears grew up, so did our girls. This one looks like such a fun, touchable, huggable bear - but in reality, when you see its teeth, you know it is the real thing - not a toy from FAO Schwarz. 

We have seen this bear dozens of times. When we moved too far away to use our membership often, my Mom got herself one and now we go with her. We still go through the Forests exhibit almost every time we visit the zoo. While I wish I could some day visit Alaska (in the summer), to see the wildlife, in the meantime, I'll see the bears at the zoo and be reminded that God has put some amazing creatures all around the world. When I look at this picture, it reminds me of all the happy memories I have of taking the girls to the zoo. We rarely did any of the extra educational activities while there, and I don't think the girls ever wrote a paper about what they saw at the zoo. We went because we wanted to have fun. Sometimes Daddy went with us, sometimes Grammy went, and sometimes it was just us three girls. Always, there were fun memories to be made!

Ever since they were little we would sing this song with Daddy at dinner the night before:




Going to the Zoo by Peter, Paul & Mary

What is your favorite zoo to visit? Tell us in the comments below!

My Picture My Story ~ Eagles

Back in November I told you that I would be going back through some older photographs and sharing the stories behind them. This one is from March of 2015.

We were hoping to see some bald eagles, in fact, they almost assured us that we would see them. Who were they? They were the DNR staff and conservation officers who were leading this eagle watching expedition. We had registered to go on this trek that started at a State Park about an hour away from our home. It was going to be a stretch of our budget that week to fit in the extra gas we would use, but we all really wanted to go. I had only seen one bald eagle in the wild in my entire life...and to this day Kurt still makes fun of me because I didn't get a photo of it. We were driving along the side of the Mississippi river and I had just put down my camera to pick up a piece of chocolate when it flew in front of our car. Oh well, life is full of tough choices! :)

But today, all four of us were excited about the possibility of seeing live bald eagles in the wild. This was not a zoo trip - this was the real thing! First through, we had to find a parking space. I was a little bit concerned because there were SO MANY cars. They said that the spaces to join the trip were limited, but it sure looked like every single person  milling around had come in their own car. We were parked along a service road outside the nature center because every single space was full, as was the side of the drive to the center. The helpful volunteers let us know we would be just fine and could join the line after the parking lot emptied. So we parked and went inside.

Then there was a short informational meeting, letting everyone know what to expect. Many people raised their hands that they had been on this trip before, but we were not the only newcomers.We would be caravanning in groups. First, to see a bald eagle nest (from across the river where a scope had been set up, so we could see without disturbing them.) We were warned to use the facilities before we left because after the nest site we would be led to the area where we could see the migrating eagles come in to roost. It was a rather remote location, and we would find out later, heavily guarded by the conservation officers, and 15 minutes from the nearest bathroom!

After the short program about birds of prey was over, and we had emptied our bladders, we headed to our car to wait our turn in line. Then off we went, along a maze of country roads to arrive at the eagle's nest viewing area. At times Kurt and I joked that we thought they took the longest and most difficult route possible to get there so no one would ever find it again. :)

Once we stopped and got out to look, we saw the biggest nest I had ever seen. I had heard that eagles make big nests, but it's a little different to hear about a 6' wide nest than it is to see one! Even though it was far away, across the river, I could tell it was massive by how big it was compared to the tree it was in. Then, one of the eagles peeked its head up. Wow!

When our group had all had a chance to look through the scope, and time to use our own binoculars, the volunteer in charge of our section of the caravan rounded us up and took us to the roosting location with these instructions: Find a place to park, stay as long as you like, but watch out for this other people who get cold and need to drive over the bridge to leave.

We arrived at the roosting area and walked over to the bridge. The girls were already talking about how cold it was, so Arlene grabbed the extra blanket from the trunk, and we went with our binoculars. As it grew closer to sunset (which comes early in Indiana in March) we saw eagles flying in to the trees just up the river from the bridge. AMAZING!

If you look again at the picture above, you will see that there are seven dark spots showing the bodies of the eagles that had come in to roost. By the time we eventually left, about an hour later, when all three of us girls were chilled to the bone, and in desperate need of a bathroom, there were at least 11 eagles in the trees. This wasn't just an opportunity to see a bald eagle, it was a whole group - a convocation of eagles!

Was it a fun trip - definitely! Was it cold and did our noses all turn red - absolutely! But more than just seeing the eagles, we were together when we made this memory. 

It was not an easy trip. Several of the side roads were muddy and gross. We had eaten all of our snacks we packed long before we got to the eagle roosting spot - but we went anyway! Afterwards, Kurt used the map app on his phone to find us a bathroom, and some more to eat, at a town that ended up being an hour and a half away from home. 

On that eagle watching trip I learned a few things:

-pack a bigger snack bag, being cold makes us all hungry

-you really need a better camera to take quality photos, but any one will do if you just want to take memories

-always pack some cash for emergency food stops

-memories last, circumstances don't. 

Choose the memories!

Your Picture Your Story

Why do we take pictures?

Have you thought about that recently?

In this digital age where it seems like so many lives are not really lived amongst and around us, but are just snippets of social media strung together- why do we still take pictures? Are we trying to impress, are we trying to avoid, are we trying to remember?

Your pictures may never win a prize in a photography contest, but they are still yours. We take pictures to tell a story - either to share with others, or just to remind ourselves of our stories - of our lives. Your picture tells your story. But - unless you tell me more about it, I may not understand why you took that picture, what story you wanted to remember, what feeling you were trying to capture.

So tell your story

Tell me why you took that photo where the ice cream is dripping down the side of the cone, or the one where your dog is buried in soap bubbles. Tell me about that sparkle in your Grandma's eye, or the look of concentration on the face of your five year old. 

I really enjoy taking photographs, even more, I like printing the good ones out and framing them! Ha! 

But, I do not tell the stories behind the photos often enough. So from now on, I'll be going back through old photos and telling you some stories. Some may be funny, some sad, but they will let you in on a piece of my life, and maybe they will inspire you to share the stories behind your own photos with those around you. We were made to belong to communities, to fellowship with other people, to feel. Stories let us do that.

Let us embrace that humanness of our lives where we share stories again, where we linger to finish a conversation instead of hurrying from one moment to the next. Let's decide to live again - a deep, meaningful life lived with other people where stories help us connect, where the story of your life intersects with my story.  Your photos may be blurry or crooked, but they are yours. Find one of your pictures, and tell your story!

Carol on the top of Mount Baldy

Kurt took this picture of me several years ago - it was 2011. We had taken a trip for our anniversary, the first time we had done that since our honeymoon 17 years before. We had left the girls at my mom's house for the weekend, and we were going to spend 48 hours away. We had decided to go to the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan. Neither of us had been before, weird - since I had spent my life living in Indiana, that I had never been. But - it was a beach, and we wanted to go to a beach - and the Indiana Lakeshore wasthe only one close enough to drive to. This picture is of me standing on the top of Mount Baldy, one of the large sand dunes.  I had climbed a mountain - well, not really, but at 120+ feet tall, climbing to the top of Mount Baldy was a serious hike! I had made it, and I stopped taking pictures long enough for Kurt to snap this picture of me to show the girls that Mama had climbed all the way up by herself!

This picture will never win a photography contest, yet it reminds me of an adventure we had. It reminds me of the next trip we took to the Dunes - when we took the girls with us, and we climbed up together. And now, it reminds me that you can only take a hike up Mount Baldy if you join a guided tour with a ranger, because Mount Baldy has developed some pretty scary holes - probably brought on by rotting trees that the shifting sands have buried over the past 80 years. So now visitors climb other dunes, and appreciate Mount Baldy from the shoreline trail.

Today - this picture reminds me that mountains can be conquered, and I can be the conquerer!