Time away from work and the farm helps recharge our batteries so we can be the best husband/wife, dad/mom, pharmacist/nurse, rancher/personal trainer, podcaster/yoga students we can be!
Greetings!!
I’m writing this post in my living room as the rest of my family watches “Alaska: The Last Frontier.” It seems to be one of the only shows the majority of the family can agree on. A burst of winter air has hit the area. Tonight tending to the weaned calves and 4-H animals was a bit of a shock after being in tropical temps the past week
Tonight is my first evening home from our couples getaway week to the Yucatan Penninsula. We spent 4 days, 5 nights at the Secrets Playa Mujeres north of Cancun last week. It was the first time in a long time that I have spent my birthday somewhere other than the state of Missouri. It was a great week filled with great food, good reading, outstanding company, beautiful weather, and stunning scenery. I’ll have to say that Playa Mujeres is without a doubt the most beautiful beach I’ve seen outside of Hawaii.
Vacation is an important part of our core values as both a family and a couple. I’ve written about this before after our family took a trip this past summer to Estes Park. This took me some time to come around to because for so long I felt I couldn’t leave work nor the farm. HOwever, over time it has become something that I’ve been able to value. Keri and I love our home, our boys, and our farm… but we also love to get away from it every once in awhile. In the past 5 or so years, we have found that getting those extended trips away are crucial for our marriage to flourish.
Trips for us to the beach are our favorites. We love the water and the sandy beaches… and especially the warm weather. For the most part, we tend to stick to ourselves and not speak to many other people. Basically the total opposite of how I am normally. But something seemed different this year. We seemed to engage in conversation more with the folks around us this year. And wouldn’t you know it, we ran into some farmers. We were at dinner one night at a steak buffet. The staff seated us next to a group of strangers. Well got to to talking to them and somehow the topic of 4-H lambs came up and the couple we were sitting next to showed lambs as well. So that set the stage for the conversation for the rest of the evening. Turns out they raised dairy beef steers and showed them at the Indiana state fair. In addition to their animals, they were also grain farmers in Northern Indiana. Even over a thousand miles from home, we can still manage to talk about the farm.
Even on vacation, we managed to get a workout in every day. We would wake up, see the sunrise, then head to the gym at the resort for a good workout before a day of relaxation. On my birthday, Keri wanted to participate on the on resort yoga class overlooking the ocean. Yoga isn’t really my game, so I decided to take a run on the beach. I managed to get 2.5 miles in barefooted on the sand. Possibly the hardest 2.5 miles I’ve ever ran in my life. It was a great workout!
Where are your favorite places to vacation to? For those of you involved in Ag, do you always seem to shift conversations that way or do you leave that noise at home. Having things you do together as a couple, I believe, is an important key to a happy marriage. It doesn’t have to be vacation. It’s time together doing something you enjoy. I encourage any married couple to find that something you do together that lights your fire!
Thanks for taking the time to read today and I look forward to seeing you the next time around.
Jason