Unplugged Vacation

Have you ever suffered from insomnia before? I did quite a bit in college. It was not fun tossing and turning all night until about 3 or 4 am, then finally falling asleep until my alarm went off at 6.

My "insomnia" sort of went away after college when I fell into more of a routine schedule and normal bed time.

This winter, however, not only has my insomnia sort of come back on a lighter scale, but my husband was having difficulty sleeping as well! We tried Melatonin, Breath Right strips, hot baths, going to bed later and avoiding caffeinated drinks in the evening. Nothing was working. We'd still lie awake half the night. I'm the type, that when I can't sleep, I usually just lay there. Not my husband though! He thrashes, tosses and turns. Sometimes he sighs and huffs and puffs. It's like having a whale in your bed! I say that with love...

Last week, as I mentioned earlier, we were on our Western Caribbean cruise. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep until the sun came up. It was absolutely amazing! I couldn't think of the last time I had a full night's rest of sleep. We thought maybe we slept so well from running around the boat all day. We also thought that maybe the slight rocking of the boat helped us sleep. We weren't quite sure what it was, but all we knew was how refreshing it was to have 5 nights in a row of good quality sleep!

Once we got back from our trip, we realized that we were "unplugged" for almost a week. No phones, Internet or a lot of TV. I thought for sure the two of us would spend all weekend getting "caught up" on the week but really, once we were home, we were quite hesitant to get online or turn on the news. Instead, we talked a lot, did some grocery shopping, went out for dinner and rented a few movies. We had our first "unplugged" date back at home. It was really quite nice!

A World Without Agriculture

Post created for Rural Housewives of America

So, before we left on our vacation, I had a post all typed up and ready to look over and submit once we returned. After reading through my now very boring post, vacation still on my mind, I thought to myself........ I think I'd much rather write about something else.

This past week, my husband and I had the opportunity to take a cruise on the Carnival cruise line to the Western Caribbean with my lovely sister in law and her husband. We departed from Tampa, Florida on our 5 night over-sea adventure. This trip was an extremely different and new experience for us Hoosiers and Kansasnites as most of us had never even been to a tropical beach nor have traveled on a boat in the ocean, let alone left the country. 

Needless to say, we enjoyed the magazine-cover quality scenery and the warm tropical air. There really is nothing more beautiful than that crystal clear blueish green water we had all experienced for the first time last week. (Think, Pirates of the Caribbean) However, as with visiting most new places, one always thinks for a second, I could live here. I've had that thought while visiting hilly Southern Indiana, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, Napa Valley in California and the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan.

During our stop at the Cayman Islands, the four of us took a land and sea tour. We were taken underwater in a submarine to visit the coral reefs and aftwards, we were given a bus tour of the island. One of the first things mentioned by our tour quide from Jamaica (YAH MON!) was that there was no agriculture on the island. No agriculture.  90 percent of their food, energy and textiles are imported. Could you imagine your life (assuming you follow our Rural Housewives forum because you are involved in the rural or ag lifestyle) without agriculture?