(Note: This mini-mission could have also been titled “Make the most out of a 20 hour vacation”). Saturday afternoon at 4pm, Mr. Cecil and I dropped our three year old off at our good friends house, and then raced down I-64 to Louisville. We were headed to 21c Museum Hotel, where six months ago we spent our two-day “honeymoon”.)

It may not be fair this early in the game (we are only 8 weeks in to 2010) to name favorites, but 21c is a favorite. It is perhaps one of the few places in the world where it is possible to experience art without pretentious curators staring you up and down, evaluating whether or not you are worthy of experiencing art. 21c is part museum- North America’s first museum, in fact, dedicated solely to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art of the 21st century- and part uber-fantastic hotel. (Let me brag about them for a moment: 21c made Conde Naste’s Traveler’s Gold Listthis year, and it was named one of the World’s Best Places to Stay. This little hotel puts Kentucky on the map for something other than bourbon, basketball and horses).

But let me tell you why I love 21c, and let me tell you in video and pictures. For me and my husband, it’s a place that sparks romance because it’s a place that inspires us to get outside your everyday selves and participate in the creative. Here you get to lay down your fears of what others may think of you and don the courage of an artist-whatever that means to you.

Let me just tell you, wearing Venetian masks and prancing around a hotel at 6am in the morning requires one to shed inhibitions. People might (no, probably) think strangely of you. The potential for ackward moments will increase. (Apologies to the lady who glanced my husband and I in the sauna with our masks on-there was far less Eyes Wide Shut going on then you might have imagined). But if you are willing to risk your pride, the rewards are great. Romance and adventure await you…

We packed a lot in in 20 hours…and that’s not even to mention the time we spent at Proof, the restaurant and bar connected to the hotel. See more pictures from our night at the hotel and breakfast at Proof on my Flickr.

——————
Many thanks to 21c Museum Hotel who made us feel right at home even while wearing Grand Maulin Masks, for encouraging us to participate in the art and for setting us up in an amazing room and to the J Peterman Company who let us borrow the beautiful masks.

Lots of love to our friends too for watching Lucca for us so we could have a 20 hour romantic vacation.

When I got the idea for the Bluegrass Romance project, I was at a place in my life where I desperately needed something to hold on to, to wake up for, to get me excited, and to refresh my fading belief that life could still actually be filled with romance and adventure, despite less than romantic or adventurous circumstances.

I created the goal to dedicate a year to discovering how to remain fully alive even when life attempts to steer you into deep ruts, thinking the power of the project would be found in the mini-missions, the weeky challenges that called us out to see and do new things in and around the bluegrass. What I learned though, gradually, in the 8 months since we began, is that there was an entirely different force grounding and guiding this project.

I would learn this year how to remain fully alive with a romantic and adventurous heart despite circumstances that could drag you down, but it wouldn’t be the way I thought I would learn; it wouldn’t be because of the mini-missions.

What I found out was that the real romance and adventure in life is not out there– not in the Bluegrass, not in Italy, not on Safari in Africa or a trek in Nepal. It’s not what you do or see, but how you process your life and dare to leave the familiar to grow.

The real romance and adventure is in here, right where you are. It’s in getting to know yourself, in facing fears and in risking your heart to trust again even after it feels so broken. It’s in knocking down barriers that keep your life small and in learning to receive love in ways that seems foolish.

What I found true for myself this past year is that the real romance and adventure I was looking for all my life was in a relationship with a God.

This year my family and I did some amazing bonding ….we went on a  silly safari, we rock-climbed and tree climbed, and we did some good for our community.

As husband and wife, Ronnie and I got away made some unforgettable memories of our own. We pranced around a hotel in Venetian Masks and danced in our backyard.

On my own, I spent some time with memories and launched a blog about falling more in love with life. I took salsa lessons solo and hopped a fence with a good friend.

All of that was marvelous. All of that was wonderful. All of that made my life fantastically rich.

But none of it changed or transformed me.

When we leave Kentucky in October, what I will remember as the most significant and incredible thing about our experience in Lexington won’t be any of these mini-missions. Instead, it will be about a grace-filled people and a authentic community we just so happened to find at a church (how about that!).

Running parallel to the joy and excitement of all those mini-missions and adventures there was a big part of our life you didn’t see. And that’s the part of our life this particular community knew best.  It was the messy, broken, don’t-share-with-other’s part. And somehow they saw this part of our lives and they loved us anyway.

One day maybe you and I will get a chance to sit down together and I’ll share with you my whole story; about how I, a long shot, came to trust Christ.  I’ll try to explain how despite the heavy guard I had up, loved flowed in anyway and carried me gently on a spiritual journey I never intended to travel. And you’ll see on my face just how surprised I was to wake up one morning and truly find my heart and spirit at rest in a way I didn’t think it ever could be.

Back at the beginning of this journey, I wrote this:

What I know about God is that he loves us incredibly, and wants us to experience more than we often settle for, but it’s up to us to make the moves. -from Why Do This?

My idea of God at that time was vague and more philosophical than personal, but I was right on. What I wrote then I still know to be absolutely true today, but I know it now not because I think it or because I’ve heard other people say it, but because I have experienced it for myself.

The romance and adventure I am discovering now is limitless and forever. What I live for now is the romance of letting Jesus love me and the adventure of trusting and following him wherever he leads.

So goodbye Bluegrass Romance. Thank you to you guys who have read and emailed and let me know in your own ways how this little project inspired you to begin your own search for romance and adventure.  I look forward to our coffee date one day, or to some sort of serendipity, like bumping into one another at an airport where we both happen to have long layovers.  There is so much more to say, but it would be better face to face. So if ever the opportunity arises I’ll be grateful…

Until then, I’d like to invite you to a big party my church is putting on. It’s an invitation to a concert called Questapalooza, and (if you want it to be)  it’s also an invitation to pick up wherever you left off with God. It’s an invitation to “Come See for Yourself”  how he feels about you and what He might have next for you.  If nothing else it’s an invitation to meet this community I have come to know and love, and be changed by their grace as I have.

If you have made it to the bottom of this long and uncharacteristically evangelical post, consider yourself half way to heaven. Just kidding. But leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win 2 tickets to Questapalooza.

What else to say? Yes, we are moving. October will be our last month in Kentucky. We are headed to the Northwest, where I grew up and where most of my family still lives. Portland, I’m pretty sure, will be a lot more receptive to Lola & Eve Boudoir and I’m excited about the new opportunities that will bring. My husband will be learning the ropes at my father’s business and we will get to have weekly meals with Mommo & Babbo again.

The three of us, Ronnie, Lucca and I will find a place to call home and we might even get to work on creating another member of the family.

Whatever life brings we are deciding now to never give up on our faith or each other, and to stay open to the full scope of romance and adventure God has for us. I pray the same for you. Jeremiah 29:13

Even though it’s the end of the road for Bluegrass Romance, I’d love to stay connected with you.

If you’d like to hear special announcements and insights from me, sign up for the Tips on Falling in Love with Life Newsletter:

P.S. If you still want inspiration on things to do in and around the Bluegrass check out the adventures of this family blog:Backseat Traveler. The Smiths are a great inspiration.

There once was a lady named Bright
Who traveled much faster than light.
She set off one day,
in a relative way,
and returned on the previous night.

Thanks to an email from a reader and a bit of reflection, I’ve decided to take a brief summer intermission from blogging. Perhaps I’ll use the extra time to teach Lucca to memorize this favorite Limerick of mine above.

Please pardon the break from mini-mission reporting and new posts on MorganDayCecil.com for the next 2 weeks, or so. I promise I’ll be back before I delve into teaching Lucca the theory of relativity.

My weekly newsletter will continue to share new thoughts, ideas, inspiration, so if you would like to hear from me, make sure you’ve signed up for Tips on Falling More in Love with Your Life.

In the mean time, these oldies but goodies should keep you busy if you would like to play a little catch-up on your Romance + Adventure reading:

Best of Bluegrass Romance Mini-Missions:

Participate in the Art at 21c Hotel

Do Something Good for Your Community

Get into Character at Wildwood Inn

The Abbey of Gethsemene

From MorganDayCecil:

The Miracle of Love

The Last Diet Advice You’ll Ever Need

How to Write Your Life Manifesto

Merging Passion + Career (First Steps)

Photography Lessons

How to Become a Better Photographer

6 Things that Make a Women Sexy Photographically

5 Ways to Spark Creativity

If you don’t feel like reading, enjoy these two YouTube videos…there is a theme in all of this somewhere.

Thanks for sticking with me through this little break. What area of your life (even an area that you love) might you need to take a little intermission from so you can regroup or spend a little extra time on another project? Remember, breathers are good. Summers only come but once a year…

The groves were God’s first temples. ~William Cullen Bryant, “A Forest Hymn”

Last Sunday, 60 ft above the earth, a little yellow butterfly landed by my foot on the bark of a giant red oak tree.

Yes, I was 60 ft in the air…and I was climbing a tree like I had only done in my dreams before.

Bill Bryne, co-founder of Earth Joy Tree Climbing, made me feel completely secure in my harness, and he taught me how to use the system of ropes attached to me and the tree so that I could climb with confidence. His friendly nature and encouragement made me feel right at home in the forest.

Reaching the branch that was 60ft in the air, was a workout. I sat and rested for a few moments before going even higher. Tree climbing for Bill and his wife, Shelly, is not just about how high you go, but how connected you can feel to nature. This is a different kind of ‘view from the top’ where your day-to-day agenda, ambition, and worries dissolve away as you stare out into a spectacular panorama that few, except for the birds, are privy to.

This is adventure and childlike romance at its best, and its the kind of experience we adults don’t nearly get enough of– When is the last time you have felt thrilled physically, mentally, and spiritually all at the same time?

Way up here, with a vantage point that takes in much of the park, it is easy to understand William Cullen Bryant’s Forest Hymn.

The love of nature as well as their fondness for adventure is what inspired the Bryne’s to bring tree climbing to Northern Kentucky.

Seven years ago Bill and Shelly did their first tree climb in Georgia and five years ago they decided to become instructors and guides themselves to take advantage of the forest beauty in their own backyard of Alexandria and bring the opportunity for this kind of adventure and environmentalism home with them to Kentucky.

The Earth in EarthJoy stands for Empowering Adventures Rejuvenates The Heart, and Bill and Shelly believe that spending time on their ‘tree playgrounds’ does good things not only for your body, but for your mind and spirit as well.

I can attest to all of that. When I finished the climb, I was sweatier than I had been in awhile and, strangely, more relaxed. Feelings of exhilaration, connectedness, awe swirled within me as I wiped my brow and looked up at the bird flying from the branch where moments before I too had been. In a word, a felt restored and it reminded me of the power of adventure in our lives to wake us up and make us feel alive.

As for romance…I hear Earth Joy also does ‘romantic tree climbs’ where they will serve you and your partner dinner up in the tree tops while the sun sets. That is something Mr.Cecil and I will definitely have to check out.

Take a look at the pictures below from our climb and see the bottom of the post for contact details to schedule your own tree climbing adventure with Earth Joy. I think you’ll enjoy spending time with the EarthJoy team as much as we did.

Details about Earth Joy Tree Climbing:

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Tree Climbing Tours
Weekends Jan-Dec.
8:00am-7:00pm
Call to schedule:
859-653-2907 or Shelly@climbtreeswithearthjoy.com

A few weeks back my husband surprised me with one of our best dates of all time: private dance lessons for the two of us.

We learned how to dance Rumba to Lady in Red (which is an uber-romantic song to begin with– throw in slow-dancing with the love of your life and it is kinda over the top… in the best way possible, of course).

Mr.Cecil get’s an A++ for effort and execution on the whole evening (note to husbands: Below you will find 5 romantic date ideas. Don’t let them go to waste! Give at least one of them a try. Your wife will be muy appreciative):

- He took care of arranging a babysitter (this alone is very romantic)
- He bought fresh bread, olives and wine and took me to a quiet park for appetizer picnic (it was easy to imagine we were somewhere in Europe)
- He did not tell me where we were going but told me what to wear (heels I could dance in)
- He walked me up to a studio where our instructor, the fabulous Chris Padgett, was waiting for us with a bottle of red wine
- He put down his pride and earnestly tried to learn the steps
- He took me to a wonderful dinner after wards where we ate outside and enjoyed the warm summer evening

Yes, this was a 5-Star date night. What meant so much to me was that my husband took the time and effort to do something special that he knew I had been longing to do. I know now he was truly listening all those times I mentioned how awesome it would be to be on “Dancing with the Stars”.

A life of romance and adventure calls for taking date nights seriously. Women love grand gestures. We also love the kind of simple pleasures and joy we can create in our everyday rounds.

Maybe one day our lifestyle will be such that private dance lessons and dinners downtown will be part of our “regularly scheduled program.” For now, though, (with our credit cards still frozen in the freezer), these activities are very special and rare affairs.

So the challenge is: How to create romance on a budget. Our latest mini-mission conquered this challenge by bringing elements of that exciting date night out back home.

No. 25: Dance Rumba in the Backyard

We plugged our iphones into speakers and turned on Pandora to the “Luis Miguel” station…and just started stepping on each other’s feet dancing.

It doesn’t matter that we only know four steps, or that we botch the rhythm more than we get it right. What matters is that the music is playing, we are close, we are smiling and we are making memories. In all of this we are also teaching our son that marriage can be a fun, ongoing adventure.

Lucca loves seeing us in-love…and we love showing him what a happy marriage looks like.

We try to dance whenever we get a few minutes. Our favorite time to practice is in the evening, waiting for dinner to cook. I daydream about living in a county like Spain where dancing is a part of the culture. For now, we have eachother and our backyard. And that is kind of all we need. Oh yes, and this ridiculous music video of an 80s Miguel (YouTube helps keeps the mood light, full of laughter, which is helpful when your toes keep getting squashed).

P.S. If you are single, don’t think you can’t get in on this fun. Check out Bluegrass Mini-Mission No 16: Salsa Dancing Solo

There is something immediately restful that happens when you walk onto the grounds of a monastery or convent. For me, it’s a similar feeling to the rest your spirit feels when you are absolutely in love. A stay at a monastery is romance and adventure of the spiritual kind and I highly recommend it if you are needing to recharge.

It turns out you don’t have to travel to Europe to retreat with monks. Near Bardstown, just an hour and half or so from Lexington, is the Abbey of Gethsemene.

The Abbey of Gethsemene is a Trappist Monastery, which means the monks who live their have taken a vow of silence; they only lift their voices when chanting or singing. (Their chanting is beautiful. We happened to catch them on Friday afternoon. Lucca was so captivated by their voices too he actually honored their vow of silence while in the chapel).

The Abbey is also a popular retreat space for laypeople like you and I. Back in February I reserved a room for my husband, and this past weekend he stayed 2 nights, getting more rest in those few days than he has had in years. Lucca and I dropped him off Friday afternoon and Saturday morning he sent me a text saying he had slept 11 hours straight that night and had taken a 3 hour nap the day before.

On Sunday when we went back to pick him up, I packed a picnic lunch for us and we ate on the grounds outside the church (where speaking is aloud). Even though it was 90 degrees in the shade, we didn’t hurry away for the comfort of our air conditioned car. Being at the Abbey just felt good way down deep in both our souls. It reminded me of Europe, of sacred spaces, and of course, of Thomas Merton, the Abbey’s most famous monk.

I read Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain when I was in college, in an interesting class on the Spiritual Memoirs of Mystics (I was a religious studies minor). I loved Thomas Merton’s works particularly because his thought beautifully built a bridge between Eastern and Western sentiments. He, a Catholic with a powerful conversion story, spent much of his time in Thailand, learning the practices and philosophy of Buddhist Monks. When he wasn’t in the East Pacific praying and meditating and writing, he was in Kentucky, at the Abbey of Gethsemene, praying and meditating and writing.

When I read and studied Merton that Spring outside the library of the University of Oregon, Kentucky seemed as far away as Thailand. I never thought I would ever end up living just an hour and half from where he called home.

I’ve carried some of his words with me for almost 10 years:

We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.

We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.

Thomas Merton also had some beautiful things to say about love:

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with another.

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

I am so glad my husband got to spend some quality time at the abbey, hanging out with silent monks, eating cheese and fudge (both made there) and going on 6 mile hikes in his sandles. He told me over and over again how grateful he was for his restful weekend.  The few hours I got to spend there brought me real joy, and I look forward to taking my own weekend away sometime in the fall.

Retreating at the Abbey of Gethsemene is donation based and the monks are fabulous hosts. From their website:

Hospitality maintains a prominence in the living monastic tradition. As outlined in Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries, the guest represents Christ and has a claim on the welcome and care of the community.

Some weekends are reserved just for men and some weekends are just for women, and there is limited space so it is a good idea to book well in advance. Visit the Abbey of Gethsemene’s website, Monks.org (isn’t that an awesome domain name?) to find out more.

If all you are doing is having a picnic or taking some pictures and you do “get caught” what is the worst that will happen? The rightful owners of property might ask you to leave. True adventures of any kind take a bit of risk, even the harmless ones, but risk is what makes things exciting. You decide what your comfortable with, I just throw out the ideas

This photo-essay from Mini-Mission No. 23 is a perfect example of combining work and play. The photos are from a maternity photoshoot I did recently, and yes, we had to hop a fence to get to the field where I wanted to shoot— me, AND the beautiful pregnant lady. There is so much beauty you can see, get close to, and have all to yourself for an hour, if you are willing to do what’s slightly uncomfortable. I encourage you to do it, and so does the one about to give birth.

I hope these photos serve as a dose of inspiration for you too hesitant types too: If a pregnant lady is willing to hop a fence (and wear nothing but a cheese cloth), what’s stopping you? The land of memory making awaits you on the other side of locked gates.

Note: Hop fences wisely. Make sure you won’t be landing directly into someone’s backyard, that would just be awkward. Scaring folks on their own property is not the name of the game. If you do find yourself in this situation, give them the bottle of wine from your picnic basket, try to make amends, and do not mention my name. Happy Hopping!

Surely, the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on the axis of pure joy. -Louise Bogan

As the weather around us gets hotter and even more beautiful, and the call to summer vacations get louder and louder, Mr. Cecil and I made a decision that will greatly effect our summer plans: We decided to freeze our credit cards. This means the summer mini-missions of the Bluegrass Romance project will be of the free and bargain friendly variety. Dollywood will have to wait.

I think this is great news for all of us– for one because June, July and August offer so many simple pleasures to be enjoyed without spending a dime, and because it is a great reminder that Romance and Adventure need not be considered a luxury with an exclusive price tag.

Activities like picking blueberries and making raspberry lemonade from scratch will be embraced. We will roast marshmallows and make memories in our own backyard.  With our Visa and Discover Cards held captive in ice, we will ensure the simple pleasures of summer will not be over looked in lieu of the exciting and expensive. Want to join us?

Whether you live in the Bluegrass or not, my hope is that these next 12 weeks will inspire you to set your summer axis on joy… not on your pocketbook.

Bluegrass Mini-Mission No. 22 launches us into this new season, and what better way than with a challenge that calls us to Experience Pure Summer Joy. To accomplish this mission we had to walk no further than a few blocks from our home, to the fountains downtown in front of the court house.

If you have forgotten what pure joy looks like, I hope these photographs will remind you:

Do you have any ideas for “Simple Pleasure” mini-missions? Do you have a great recipe for home-made lemonade? If so, I would love to hear them…

Lexington has it’s own slice of Americana, right off Richmond Rd. When we heard the Lexington Ice Center had one of the Travel Channel’s Top 10 Most Unique Miniature Golf courses in all of the United States, we wondered why no one had told us about this place before. These guys have been featured on CBS Sunday Morning but I had no one in all of Kentucky that had ever played golf there before.

We were excited to go check it out. From their website we heard that their miniature golf had 3 courses, each along three different biblical themes (one on the Old Testament, one on the New Testement, and one on Miracles). The website also said that each course was “beautifully landscaped with trees and flowers, waterfalls and streams.” When we got there, we were a little confused. It looked more like a mini-golf course you’d see in a Scoobie Doo episode than what we had envisioned. It was pretty run down- the pond was very green, and I don’t think we saw any flowers, real ones anyway. We paid the fee anyways, chose Course III, the course on Miracles, and got our hopes up.

If you like kitsch, this place is close. Not quite colorful enough visually to be it in my book. But it is very unique. Each hole is represented by a biblical verse that, according to the website, “explains where the idea for each hole came from.” My husband and I like kitsch–we think there is something goofy- romantic about it. And Lucca really liked swinging the golf club. We would probably go back, if it wasn’t so expensive (over $15 for our family for one round).

We took pictures using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. The plastic camera effect seemed to fit with the venue:

P.S. Once upon a time, I remember being quite good at mini-golf. But this afternoon has made it evident that I am quite horrible now. Lucca, the three year old, scored much lower than me– and I was cheating. My husband, on the other hand, should probably quit his job and try to get sponsored or something at playing mini-golf nationally– he got 4 holes in one. The amount of time I spent looking for my ball in the streams and bushes did make for more adventure though

]]> http://www.bluegrassromance.com/2010/05/no-21-play-18-holes-of-miniature-golf/feed/ 3 http://www.bluegrassromance.com/2010/05/no-20-launch-a-blog-about-falling-in-love-with-life/ http://www.bluegrassromance.com/2010/05/no-20-launch-a-blog-about-falling-in-love-with-life/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 20:42:17 +0000 Morgan http://www.bluegrassromance.com/?p=970 Call me crazy, but I’ve started another project.

Today I launched a new blog that is all about falling in love with life. The Bluegrass Romance project is what inspired it. The experience of seeking out romance and adventure weekly has sparked in me a desire to share with others how they can do it themselves.

As you may already know, romance and adventure is about much more than just going new places and trying new things...it’s about developing an adventure mindset and facing fears; it’s about rediscovering the most romantic parts of who you are and uncovering passion for who you are becoming and the way you wish to live and share your life.

Where the Bluegrass Romance Project is pretty much all about the Cecils and Kentucky, this new blog is focused on YOU, and helping you fall in love with the whole pie of your life, no matter where live.

Here is the truth: I’m a born cheerleader and I love to teach/inspire. While living my own life with romance and adventure is awesome, what I really want to do is help each of you create and your own romance and adventure lifestyles too! And if you are already headed in that direction (because I know many of you are, hooray!) I want to give you tips, and tools, and food for thought to keep you going and growing. That is my goal with MorganDayCecil.com.

I hope you check it out. Here are some topics to give you a taste of what is to come:

13 Keys to Happily Ever Now

How to Write Your Life Manifesto

The Plan Vs Plan B (The Surprising Gift of Single Motherhood)

Most Powerful Beliefs List

and for you creative types and photography lovers:
5 Ways to Spark Creativity

So there you go! I can’t wait to hear what you think so please, please, share you comments!