New Year Excitement Earned One Day at a Time

New Year Excitement earned one day at a time was our motto for 2018. We feel so blessed to have choices, but sometimes a year challenges some of our goals. This is how ours flowed into the New Year with renewed hope. (I found this post when I was preparing my 2019 wrap-up for 2020 and realized I had never published it. So, old news, but it explains a lot of where I’ve been and where we’re going, so I’m posting it a year late. But, this way my 2020 Sunrise Sunset Zest post will make more sense.)

We ended Mr. Carnivore’s cancer treatment with a bang and less than zero percent activity on the cancer cells’ part. That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods, as it’s a lifelong journey with stage 4 cancer, but we know where we’re going and we have a plan. Two more tests in the next six months will tell us what we need to do next. (Still cancer free in 2020!)

On my part, I couldn’t be left out of all the excitement, so I spent 2018 fighting Chronic and Acute Pancreatitis. Five times rushed into ER was the magic number that finally earned my gold-star diagnosis. It was one heck of a year, thank you very much! Along with that, I recognized some food allergies, so we’ve been extra diligent with what goes into our bodies.

So – if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been and why there are book reviews on my site and nothing else, I’ve been a wee bit busy living life. I promise – I’m in catch-up mode, so expect more of everything I love, but here’s the scoop on where 2018 took us.

After two years of cancer treatments for Mr. Carnivore and my undiagnosed status at the beginning of the year, we decided to have some fun.

We camped until our hearts were about to burst from the amazing wonder of nature and its healing ability. I took a ton of photos, so be prepared to be inundated with them as I have time to sort through them.

We boated a few times, but not enough to satisfy Mr. Carnivore. It needs a bigger priority in the future to keep him sane.

We traveled to see a hurricane, with family of course, only to be told we had to evacuate. No one had to tell me that twice – I skedaddled right out of there as fast as I could pack. We had 24 hours of beach bliss after all, who needs more?

We landed in West Virginia in the mountains at a cabin for the remainder of the week. Bless that state for offering 50% off to those who were displaced by the hurricane. We met some nice folks who landed there with us, and salvaged our almost broken vacation into a little bit of fun. I couldn’t rightly have a ton of fun while I worried about those who were facing worse things than me when that storm hit their home. I’m just not sure I have it in me for another beach vacation. Give me mountains and lakes and rivers with babbling brooks. Quiet – that’s what I need. (2019 took us successfully to the same location and we had a great time!)

We camped some more and evaluated our sanity as to why we need to run away from home so much.

We gardened like two crazy kids with no sense. As part of the community garden team, we forged ahead with our new friends at the Metro Park, plus old friends from church to grow food for the hungry. Our church pantry earned our compassion and earnest goals for 2019. More veggies to feed more people who need it! If we can survive the hottest summer known to gardeners in Northeast Ohio (2018) in raised beds that needed watered by hand in 90+ degree weather, we can survive anything!

We grew plants at our house too – I had fun with containers and even took some camping with us. BUT – there’s a whole lot of rehab that needs to happen in our garden in 2020, so pray that the weather is cool and sunny with enough rain to sustain us without making me hide inside. I need to de-jungle the back 40 (done late 2019) and harness the Wisteria that ate Akron (done!).

We ran off to visit family in North Carolina in November because we just HAD to test out our F-150. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted a V8, but the vrooom of that engine makes my farm-girl soul sing. Especially riding through West Virginia’s gorgeous switch-backs. I’m sure I’ll love it more when it’s helping me with garden chores and pulling the trailer or boat. (Enjoyed this all of 2019 as well!)

Through it all, we maintained our love affair with the farm share. We brought our bag home every week, took a picture, then never shared it here on my site. In my defense, we were only home maybe 2 weeks out of each month, and we didn’t have reliable internet half the month. By the time I unpacked, washed clothes, paid the bills, and shopped for more supplies, it was time to do it all over again.

BUT – we had a grand time. We learned a lot about ourselves, created new dreams for the future, and I’m hopeful I can be more attentive to my blog this coming year.

I do have a few secret plans up my sleeve, so hang in there… I’ll be back with more to share soon!

And – I’m in catch-up mode with book reviews, so please forgive me if that’s all that’s on my site for a bit. I owe the kind publishers who allow me access to books in advance, so I must concentrate on them first. I promise, I have a bunch of content to work on for those who love travel, gardening, food, and photography!

Above all – I thank those of you who have hung in there with us. Your site visits, emails, phone calls, and texts have meant the world to us both. God Bless you all, and let’s make 2019 2020 the year we prove how grateful we are for this awesome world we get to explore.

Dorine, The Zest Quest wrangler in charge, but not necessarily in control.