Simplify your life | Red Pin Adventures

Mia and I in front of the relaxing koi pond at my parent’s house.

It’s 2014 and my family and I just returned to Finland a few days ago after spending three weeks back at home in Florida for the holidays. We have gone nonstop for the past year with the move and my husband’s busy job, so we really needed some time to recharge, thaw out, and just turn everything off for a couple of days. We were successfully able to do so mostly because my dad decided to put in this amazing koi pond for my mom a little over a year ago. My mom is from Okinawa, Japan, and one of her dreams has always been to have a koi pond in her backyard. Well, my dad jokes that he has heard her say that she has wanted one the whole time they have been married (40 years this year). So, if he was going to finally put one in for her, he was “going to make damn sure it was a really nice one, so he wouldn’t have to hear about one for the rest of his life!”

Well, he successfully did so after finding a company that installs koi ponds in the Central Florida area and to our surprise, construction finally began on my mom’s koi pond and was finished in only a couple of days! This corner of their backyard has turned into an amazing sanctuary where you can sit on one of the benches and listen to the sounds of the waterfall and truly feel yourself completely relax. My daughter Mia has spent hours upon hours playing and catching little minnows and frogs at the pond. There is even something so tranquil about feeding the koi (nishikigoi) and watching them come to the surface and swim around each other while they eat.

There is a lot involved in the pond such as the pump, waterfall feature, bubblers, UV lighting to control the algae, the filter, and testing the water. But, overall there is not much upkeep to it other than feeding the koi everyday and cleaning out the filter. There are about 30 koi total in the pond as well as minnows and frogs. The plants have really grown in since the install and although the lily pads that were originally put in looked really nice, they have all been eaten by the koi. Here are a few photos of the koi pond in my parent’s backyard:

A backyard koi pond: The ultimate in relaxation!

A few of the koi coming up to the surface to eat.

Mia spends a lot of time with this little net catching some of the minnows in the pond.

Mia enjoys spending a lot of time with this little net catching some of the minnows in the pond. She puts them in a bucket and then returns them back to the pond.

So tranquil… the beautiful koi peacefully swimming around the pond.

Ahhhhh…its ‘s so tranquil watching the beautiful koi peacefully swimming around the pond. You could easily want to spend all day here!

Mia was so happy to catch one of the frogs in the pond!

A koi pond is loads of fun for kids… Mia was so happy to finally catch one of the frogs in the pond!

My mom and Mia on one of the rocks in front of the waterfall at the koi pond.

My mom and Mia enjoy spending lots of time relaxing at her backyard koi pond.

2013 is coming to an end and this is what is coming to my mind, “Oh my, what a year it has been!” For my family and I, it will always be a year that we will never forget. It was filled with excitement, laughter, ups and downs, and even some “what the heck were we thinking” moments! This was the year that our family decided to donate 3/4 of our belongings, remove toxic people and things from our lives, move to Finland with only suitcases, and basically simplify our lives in so many ways. We also spent a lot of time focusing on our travel bucket list, and as we reflect on this past year, we have so much to be grateful for.

A few weeks before we moved to Finland, I received this email on Facebook from one of my high school classmates who I hadn’t seen in many years:

The email that started “Travel Rocks for Jaedyn.”

My friend lost her baby girl, Jaedyn, at only 16 months old after a tragic accident. Jaedyn would have been 10 years old this year. Since I can remember, my daughter Mia has always picked up rocks wherever we went. She has probably picked up a thousand by now! I would find them everywhere… at the bottom of my purse, in my pockets, her pockets, and her daddy’s pockets. She even has a very nice collection of them on her window sill in her room in Finland. So, after receiving this email from my friend, I knew this was a perfect job for my family and we started to pick up rocks for Jaedyn on our trips that we went on. Here is a photo of precious Jaedyn which was taken only three weeks before the accident:

Our angel who has been traveling with us: Jaedyn

The little angel who has been traveling with us this past year: Jaedyn

Here are photos of the jar we made for her travel rocks and also photos from her gravesite where her mommy joined us to give the rocks to her a few days ago:

We put the rocks we collected for Jaedyn in little bags and wrote where there are each from and put them in this purple jar.

We put the rocks we collected for Jaedyn in little bags and wrote where they are each from and put them in this purple jar.

Jaedyn’s beautiful gravesite where we placed her jar of travel rocks a few days ago.

The jar of Travel Rocks for Jaedyn along with some other rocks that people have collected for her. She’s traveling the world!

I will end 2013 with this photo of my daughter Mia with one of her rocks she has collected and a quote that I love about when a child gives you a rock. I would also love to hear any of my fellow bloggers’ stories about their children and rocks as well as any special things that you do for those who have passed. Thank you all for following along. I wish you a very Happy 2014 and a new year of peace and many exciting adventures!