Pining for another adventure!

     Hey, it's Ty with yet another adventure that Kelsie and I were lucky enough to take to San Isabel, Colorado.

This is the sort of view we saw all the time, while hiking.

Our time there began with amazing drive up to about 8300 ft to Kelsie's Aunt and Uncle's lake house. Bob and Cindy were kind enough to let us stay there for about 5 days and they were right next to the lake.

Once I stepped out of the car my senses were taken to another place.

• The view of this amazing lake nestled in a valley with birds and trees everywhere
• The smell of cedar, pine, and fish brought me instantly to nature
• The sound of hummingbirds whizzing past and trees rustling in a light breeze
• The feeling of cool air and being in a place so close to nature and the disconnect from civilization

We participated in many activities but the one we did every day was sit on the porch of the lake house and looked down upon Lake Isabel.

This is a view of the lake we could see everyday from the Lake House

Lake Isabel had the views and activities that made the week full of activities that amounted to mostly exercise. We canoed and chased these ducks around the lake but nothing crazy so we didn't flip over.
Kelsie's cousin Lillie and I biked around the lake and we also walked around the lake. If you ever want to visit the lake then here is

The black square in the first picture stands for the general area of San Isabel and the zoomed in portion is where we stayed.

The first and second day we all went ATVing around many beautiful places. Here are a few more pictures:

This is an old abandoned cabin at Marion Mine, Kelsie and her Uncle Bob went and visited this remote place.

A great capture of the high views on another trail that we took with the ATV with Bob and Cindy on day 2.  

After coming back down to a place where there is no cell service we had no choice but to hike a few trails that later turned out to be fantastic finds. The very first hike had the plan that we would run into some magnificent natural water slides/ After a little bit of difficulty to get around some of the rocks and stream; we made it to our destination.

The water slides started out what to be a huge rock that got carved out by the running water. It now makes for a fantastic ride down where you end up falling off the edge of a steep fall...okay maybe not steep.

As Kelsie shows the perfect form (because you're frozen in the form you start in) she ends up right there in the bottom pool that is very easy to escape.

Kelsie and I were completely safe (other than hypothermia) because there were 2-3 year old children that made it there with their parents and everyone was having a great time.

After that day we decided to go hiking again the next day and on a trail called Second Mace Trail. It's called Mace because of its treacherous hills and loose dirt. The combination of altitude and steep hills created hard times for Kelsie and I but some wonderful peace and serenity.

This is Kelsie admiring her accomplishment 

This is her celebrating her time after finishing that crazy climb

Lastly, we had to go to the main tourist site that is only about 3 miles away from the lake house. Bishop's Castle was built solely by one guy by the name of Jim Bishop. He actually built it up to 160 foot tall.

Kelsie actually took this picture from 30 feet in the air. It is incredible that this was built by one person. 

He was financially supported by many and he also used his space for memorabilia. Those glass windows have anniversary, death, and birth dates on them. 

I did not want to go up any higher than about 1/2 way because of the fact I was too scared to. Some of the parts looked dangerous at that height and that stopped me from going higher.

Before I sign off, I would like to thank Bob and Cindy for their wonderful hospitality and great guiding. I will finish with me celebrating the water slide finish!

YES!!! Thanks for reading!

TexHOMEa - way from home

A little funny that aptly describes my sentiments about the weather, and kicks off this post about our time at Lake Texoma.

On a more serious note...
Ty and I have traveled quite a bit so far. We have been blessed to have the opportunity to travel to thirteen different countries, and live in two of those countries. Granted, it was over a period of six months, but it was still quite an adventure. In addition to that great period of our lives, we are also fortunate to have family that live in some pretty neat places, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico to name a few. I promise I'm not being sarcastic. The Eiffel Tower doesn't have anything on the high plains of Texas, the greenery of Arkansas, the rolling wheat fields of Kansas and the blue mountains of Colorado. Nor, does it have anything on the great time we had visiting Lake Texoma (a first for me) with Ty's Stelting grandparents, his dad, and Kim.

Our first stop of the trip was in Weatherford, Oklahoma. It's a city with a small college in central Oklahoma. It has everything you need, from great food, great company, red dirt, a Walmart, and if you're feeling really adventurous, a the Tom Stafford space museum. (Okay, I was being a little sarcastic about the museum.) We visited with Ty's grandparents while our dog, Papi did his best to drive their dog, Bella, to insanity.

Later on, we left the dogs to settle their differences while we went to Corn, Oklahoma to visit Ty's great grandma Marie. And, yes, there is actually a town named Corn. It's a bit like the towns I'm familiar with, you know, the ones that consist of a gas station, a nursing home, a few paved streets, and more churches than there are residents. I really like Weatherford and Corn, and I thing it would be pretty aMAIZEing if we could settle there one day. ;) Anyway, Grandma Marie proved great to visit as always. We visited and she showed us one of the quilts she was making. I hope one day she'll be able to make a quilt for a future mini-Stelting.

After a brief visit in Corn, we went back to Weatherford in preparation of the trip to come. We woke up early... well early to me, and left to Lake Texoma at around 9:30 in the morning.

Lake Texoma is the bit of water with the big red teardrop on it (thanks, Google), and I circled in red some of the surrounding communities we visited. The black line is the border of Texas, so, as you can see, we were literally a hop a skip and a small swim away from ten gallon hats and larger than normal things.

When we arrived, we quickly learned what real summer-time heat was. We've been fortunate up until about a couple of weeks ago to have fairly mild summer weather. Clearly, Mother Nature had different ideas for our trip. Most of the week, we had heat indices of more than 100 degrees, and the humidity was a shock, even for us Eastern Kansas folks. However, we proved the saying that "you're only bored if you choose to be" saying true. Even though it was too hot to go out on the boat or do almost anything that didn't involve ice cream and air conditioning, we found ways to entertain ourselves.

The first night, we took the golf carts out and drove around the lake, so I could see it for the first time.

Of course, what's a lake view without having your handsome man at your side?... and bug spray. Definitely can't forget about the bug spray.

Ty's dad, David, and David's girlfriend Kim, joined us that night around 7:30, so we got in some good quality time with them on the first day. We know first handedly that nothing brings people closer together than air conditioning, good food, and a game of Mexican Train.

Day 2 at the lake, we decided to see what the lake had to offer. We drove to one area where every childhood dream came true... for a price. There was a band camp going on, girls waving flags around, a huge swimming area complete with lakeside trampolines, slides, and other fun toys, as well as mini golf. Unfortunately, the lake fun area was only there for looks (for us at least) because it would have cost $10 per hour, per person! Can you say extortion? So, we chose the more economical, and actually more fun option of mini golf, another first for me!

Here's Grandma at one of the holes along with all of the men in her family: Ty, David, and Jerald.

So, I'm not going to say that it took me more than five strokes on my first hole, but I'm not going to say that it took me less than six. You figure that one out. Either way, Grandpa Stelting won by a landslide, and me.... well, I just tried to hide the tears.

Later on that day we went swimming at a FREE swimming area, which proved to be a nice, refreshing way to spend the afternoon. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy swimming in lakes up until then and I bothered Ty basically every day to go swimming with me in the evenings. (Final score, me: 2, Ty: 1)

Wednesday morning, I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of both Mike and Phyllis. Phyllis had attended Ty's and my wedding, but in all of the excitement that had ensued, I hadn't really gotten the chance to get to know her. Papi didn't get to know them either, so, our dog proceeded to embarrass us by alerting us to their terribly frightening (sarcasm again!) presence every time we saw them. Papi also showed how smart he is by barking incessantly at a ceramic cat in their house. Thank gosh he warned us, because I don't know if that fake cat would have let us escape alive. It's always the inanimate object you've gotta look out for.

However, Papi definitely didn't get his "intelligence" from his adoptive pet parents, because one of the most enjoyable days we spent, was our day in Tishomingo. (Yes, that is an actual town name.) We spent the bulk of the morning exploring the three museums that the town had to offer, much of it revolving around the Chickesaw indians.

About midway through our walk around one museum, a nice lady came to share more information about the Chickesaw. I could be wrong, but I think she does have native american heritage, and she was really eager to inform us on their history.

The gang's all here!... Too bad the selfie-stick wasn't. ;)

One of the main attractions of Tishomingo is a store named the "Pink Pistol." Miranda Lambert opened it up, because, if I'm not mistaken, Tishomingo is her home town. Personally, the store kind of creeped me out because it was kind of like a Miranda Lambert shrine mixed with a pink explosion mixed with some weird cardboard cutouts of her current ex-husband Blake Shelton. (I think they're taking those out now that the divorce is going through....)

That couch was worth about a million bucks more with Grandpa sitting on it!

The rest of Tishomingo was filled with botiques where you could find anything from hand painted signs to homemade jams. Again, air conditioning was "da real MVP."

We spent a couple of more days going to surrounding towns checking out the local shops, and even watched a movie one day. I think I might have shocked Ty's grandparents by my constant need to be doing something, so I'm sure it was a relief for them when they finally were able to sit down at the end of the day without me asking what we were going to do next!

Unfortunately, our time at Lake Texoma had to end. So we packed up our bags, squeezed them into the back of the car (how is it you always have a harder time leaving a place than you do on your way there?), and headed back to the great town of Weatherford.

We did make one pit stop along the way in Sulfur, Oklahoma. (Yes, also a real town!) It's named for the high amount of sulfur and it's rotten-egg stench. Ty halfway fulfilled some strange childhood dream of drinking the water there... until he spit it back out. Apparently it wasn't very good.

A couple of hours and a bathroom break later, we were in Weatherford for our last night: Sunday night.. aka Pizza night! We ate some Little Ceasers, and fell asleep with full bellies and happy hearts.

The next morning, we were able to visit Ty's faux grandma, Ms. Norma Hale. Her dog, Pippy, and our dog, Papi, ran around until they were sick of each other while Norma made us some iced tea, gifted us with some homemade plum jelly, and showed us around her beautiful garden. We ate some of her homegrown grapes, and said goodbye.

At last, Ty and I were on the road again. With that all-too-familiar feeling of saying goodbye to something wonderful, and wondering what the road ahead had in store for us.

Comic from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/e0/2c/aae02c986b005285de4e6a38e37087ab.jpg

The King will reply: "....

On July 1st, I ended one of the most beautiful journeys of my life.

When I began college, I thought I knew who I wanted to be, what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to do it. I devised a three-four year plan that would ultimately guide me seamlessly to my goals. I wanted to be a large-animal veterinarian. When I graduated from high school, I knew a few things 1) I was academically talented, 2) I loved working on the ranch, and, 3) I loved my family. So, working as a veterinarian in a rural area seemed like next step for me.

Then I studied abroad. It made me question myself and my beliefs. It affirmed some of my values and shattered some of my ideals. I learned about hardship, consequences, prejudice, crime, love, distance, perseverance, confidence, and true friendship. I went there thinking I would see the world, and came back realizing that what I had really seen was more of my true self. And frankly, I was confused.

What started as a five-month-long quest to see the world, change my life, and expand my horizons, has turned into an eighteen month struggle of self-discovery. While I'm still passionately pursuing that struggle, there is one thing I know: my heart has never been touched more than it has been since  November.

In November, I was hired as a Residential Advisor Substitute for a company in Manhattan, Kansas that provides residential services to persons with developmental disabilities. Each person is unique in his or her own person-hood, and faces unique challenges in day-to-day life. When I first started, I didn't really know what to expect, and even going in without expectations, I was still surprised. I was surprised about the lessons I learned from working with the "disabled."

1) You can't fix people. A lot of people begin working in this field with the idea that you can somehow cure a person of their disability, or can work a miracle that will totally alter this persons life. While the love that you can share with a person that has a disability can be a life-altering miracle, you won't fix them. Why? Because they don't need to be "fixed."

2) You teach people how to treat you. When I first started working with the clients, I had to show them how I expect to be treated. For some, that was me telling them that it wasn't alright for them to punch, kick, or shove me. For others, it was making it clear that cursing wouldn't be tolerated. It was easy for me to forgive them of these things, because we are all people, and are all learning. But that led me to another thought. I need to teach all people how to treat me! Why is it so easy for me to tell a client that he or she should treat me differently, but so difficult for me to confront a supervisor about inappropriate behavior?

3) If someone is treating you poorly, it is because they don't know better. I'm guilty of taking everything personally. Whether it's a supervisor being short with me on the phone, or a teacher giving me a bad grade, or some dumb high school kid bullying me. Working with these beautiful people showed me that we are all in different stages of learning, and some people just haven't learned how to treat others.

4) You have to make yourself uncomfortable. Sometimes when I was working with very low-functioning people, I felt guilty. I felt embarrassed. I felt uncomfortable. I felt frustrated. I felt sad. I felt so many things. But these people need others to care for them, and I'm glad that I was able to contribute for only a short while. And I'm guessing that my level of discomfort was nothing compared to what some people have to endure every single day.

5) People are people. Something stressed was this phrase that goes "person first, then the disability." Let's face it, we all have disabilities. For some people, it's not knowing how to treat others politely. For others, it's being restricted by a level of physical fitness or an ailment. One of my disabilities is severe fear of judgement and a need of approval from others. So when I look at a person, whether they have a disability or not, I try to meet their soul. I try to hear their thoughts. I try to learn who they are as a person. I haven't perfected it yet, but it's something I'm working on.

6) Integrity is who you are when no one's looking. Many people act differently depending on who they're around, and I know that I have been guilty of this one too. Having integrity becomes  especially important when working with those who are blind, deaf, or mute. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, even if they aren't able to call you out on your actions, so you have to hold yourself accountable.

7) Love people. We have to love each other no matter our faults. And it's a lot easier to deal with someone if you have a loving heart.

I've been blessed to have had such a wonderful job. When people asked me what I do, I was always pleased with their reactions. The conversation would go something like this:
Them: Where do you work?
Me: *Insert company name here*
Them: What do you do there?
Me: I'm a residential advisor, but basically I work with people with developmental disabilities and assist them in leading their lives and learning to live an independent lifestyle.
Them: Wow that's great! or You have a great personality for that! or I couldn't do that.

And I'm still pleased by the compliments. I like to think that I worked well with the clients. I like to think that others know I have a heart for service, and the patience and love it takes to work with those who have disabilities. However, I'm saddened by the last response: "I couldn't do that." Because everyone can do that. Everyone should do that in day-to-day life. We should all freely give our services to those less fortunate. I honestly believe that God gave each of us a talent, and our talents are designed to add to a beautiful and wonderful world that we can all enjoy.

I guess I don't know how to close this, as it's difficult for me to see this particular chapter of my life end. I've made great friendships with the clients, and learned so many lessons from them. So since I'm not sure how to close this, I leave with this verse I've been thinking on:

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." 

Matthew 25:40.