ToddlingAroundTheWorld

We got the call from Austin that this is really happening, and he will soon be home. It all feels a bit surreal, but such is the way of the world right now. We had a nice talk with him on the phone, which has been nice as they are allowing the missionaries to have more communication with their families during these uncertain times. He was talking with LeAnn about getting a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese. This was a last supper request of one of Elder Romero, who lives in his apartment. He had had an American companion make some for him before and loved it. So, he asked Austin if he could make him some before he left. It was fun listening to LeAnn give him the recipe and tell him how to make the rue and such. Sounds like he made a great batch of it and everyone loved it. We will have to have him make some for us when he is home! He sent a funny video of Elder Romero, who doesnt speak much English, saying: 'I am happy!' after eating it.

After much deliberation, Autumn has decided to come home from college during all of the lockdowns and quarantines that are going on. Most of her roommates had already left, and Autumns work (at the Print shop) was shut down as all of campus activities were closed for the quarantine/ social distancing that was required. Though this was a terribly hard decision for her as the biggest challenge would be leaving Clay for this undetermined amount of time. I cant imaging being engaged and not being able to interact daily with your fiance. Since Clay needed to stay and work, and Autumn didnt have work and was feeling pretty sick for the past few days, she thought it would be best to come be with family and recover here. We decided to drive and meet her half way. This would be around Kellogg, ID, if we left about the same time. We thought this would be safer for Autumn as she hadnt been sleeping well and was sick. We left around 8:00 in the morning and arrived in Kellogg around 2:00, we called...

I was able to take a long walk before PT this morning. It was cold out, but decided to head out on the BPA trail from Celebration park. I ended up doing about 6 miles before heading over to Physical Therapy. At least my muscles were all warmed up before going in for the torture session! ;). 

Continuing with the walking, even while not knowing exactly when Austin will come home, or whether he will be going back to Argentina, or continuing his mission somewhere in the United States. I finished 6.5 on the treadmill, 8.3 on the road, where I saw this beautiful sunset on the way back home. There is still much beauty out there while there is such chaos going on around the world. 

Rain in the morning so I didnt do my early morning walk. I did have a PT appointment, which I moved to Federal way since it is much closer than Tukwila. I went to Weyerhaeuser before the appointment and Hylebos wetlands after.

Flurry of activity today. We heard from Austin that they are planning on trying to get the missionaries out of the country. He is having a crazy emotional journey of trying to prepare for his while still being on lockdown in their apartment. They cant go out and see anyone or say goodbye. Luckily, he has been able to call us from his cell phone using some random number that is routed through Canada. Not quite sure how that works. He is so sad to have to leave. He is starting to really feel good with the language and the teaching and learning and loving so many people down there. To have all o that pulled away from him because of the virus is pretty heart-breaking. We feel so sad for him, but sure are happy that we will hopefully be able to see him much sooner than we thought! At this point, we dont know exactly when it will happen. In my walk today, I was walking on the Jovita trail and about halfway along, looked down and found a Drivers License lying there on the rail. I looked at ...

We had a plan today to try and get outside and enjoy the spring in the midst of the Corona Virus lockdown. We ordered Cafe Rio for dinner and went and picked it up curbside. Then we went out for a picnic at Steel Lake Park. Not tons of people out and about, but a few small groups. were there. It was nice to be out in the sun with LeAnn and Jaylin. Sign of the Times

Another Sunday of quarantine. Had a nice church service at home. LeAnn gave an excellent lesson on Jacob 5 . So much that is so pertinent for us in these times. How important is it for us to help take care of the vineyard. I shared a modern day parable of the Front Lawn that ties into those principles. After a few months of winter and fall, where the lawn was not taken care of, we had a beautiful sunny spring day. I went out to take care of the first spring mowing. There was a ton of moss and crabgrass, that while it still looked green, it definitely needed some maintenance.  I took out the electric lawn rake and pulled out a ton of moss crabgrass and weeds. Then raked a bit and mowed the lawn afterward. It looks a bit scarred and broken, but is in much better shape now to grow and prosper going forward. I will fertilize and edge next week. All of these things will make for a much healthier lawn through the rest of spring and summer. Just as with life, we need to nurture things for...

With all of the chaos going on in the world with the Corona Virus, we have been concerned with how Austin is doing so far away from us. While the situation in Argentina seems to be in much better shape than in the US, I almost feel more comfort knowing he is there. We did get a message from his mission presidents wife concerning the situation down there. She assured us that all the missionaries were safe and had food. The President of Argentina issued an order of quarantine for the next couple of weeks, so the missionaries need to stay in their apartments for except when needing food or a walk to avoid cabin fever. Here is what she wrote.   Then, shortly after that, I received this thoughtful message from my friend Gustavo, who Austin had spoken to and asked if Gustavo could contact us and let us know he is doing fine. I am thankful for the kindness of Gustavo and helping us to be comforted during these uncertain times:

I started going to Physical Therapy for my knee at a place up in Tukwila. It is a bit of a drive up there. The PT went pretty well, andsince I was in the area, I then went to Seahurst Park for my walk. It is a beautiful place on the Puget Sound with fantastic views of the Olympics and the Water. They have a nice trail along the beach and then it continues up into a hill with woods. 

Took a different route then up to five mile lake. It is so cool to see some of the different views and neighborhoods. These houses are pretty magnificent and I can just imagine what their waterfront is like (though you can see them from the other side of the lake) The other highlight of the day was that we got to talk with Austin! Here is what Austin wrote in his letter today: Donald Trump has the virus? MARCH 16, 2020 / ELDER AUSTIN MILLER / 0 COMMENTS So my taxi driver told me that Donald Trump got the corona virus and passed away… I don’t think that happened but we’ll see haha. I hope everyone is doing well! I know that the whole world is going crazy over everything that is happening. There aren’t very many cases in Argentina, but they are still very worried. We have all been told to go buy food and to be prepared to stay in our houses for a couple weeks. For right now we still go out and work; but we aren’t able to talk with anyone in the street or knock on any doors… So we can o...

Austin Hit a milestone today! He has now been a missionary for 9 months! Amazing to think of all the growth he has seen, learned a language, immersed himself in a new culture, and grown so much to love the Argentine people. What a blessing it is to serve as a missionary! In other news, I was gunning for this milestone in the walking journey as Austin hit his 9 month mark. I have been able to complete 1000 miles over the past three months - so 333.33 miles per month!  

After Physical Therapy this morning I decided to head down to the Des Moines Creek Trail. This is one I walked A LOT on when walking from Seattle To Prague during Autumn's mission. At that time, I was working at Boeing, so it was more closely aligned with my commute and I would often go there before or after work. Though there are often planes flying over and it gets quite noisy because it is so close to the SeaTac airport, it is a beautiful trail with a creek running adjacent to it. Love this place. Along the way, Hit this Dropped the feet treats at BBC

Amazing experience at Home while being instructed that there was no formal church services today because of Corona Virus. Everyone was to conduct their own meetings in their own homes. What a blessing that we can do this and perform the Sacrament ordinance with a priesthood holder in the home. I conducted and prepared, blessed and passed the sacrament. As I was stating the blessing, it was very emotional to me that we could do this together in our home. It was a very spiritual occasion for our family. Though missing Autumn and Austin, I felt a closeness to all of them while having our own family service. We then watched the message of Hope from President Nelson. What a wonderful thing to hear from our prophet that 'this (Corona Virus) will pass in time' The Bishop had still arranged for interviews at the church, so I walked up there to help with the 'Two Deep ' leadership, and while walking, took some of my 'Feet Treats' to some members of the ward. I visited t...

I was having some popcorn last night and had a kernel get stuck between my back teeth. I went to use some floss and get it out when I popped a bit of tooth out. So had a nice little gap open there. I called the dentist and they were able to get me in. Lucky for me, they were able to fix it before they planned on shutting down for two weeks to help with quarantine for the Corona virus outbreak. Turned out that the tooth broke where there had been a cavity before, so they cleaned the cavity and filled it back up. After that, I went and walked the Gateway mall for about four miles. It was a bit cold outside, so decided to head in for that. Saw Coach Matthews when I was there and had a nice chat. She asked how Austin was and mentioned that she likes reading his weekly letters.

Another #ThanksCoronaVirus day...Aquarium and zoo shut down. Its been almost a year now since I started volunteering at the Zoo and Aquarium. It has been a nice part of my routine to go and work at the aquarium on Saturday mornings. We got the notification that only essential staff would be needed as the Zoo was shutting down to help prevent the spread of Corona Virus. I will miss hanging out with the sharks, but even moreso, hanging out with the people there. They are what makes volunteering there so special. I often find that people who have a true love for animals are some of the most genuine and kind people that you will ever know. The Zoo and Aquarium will be shut down until the end of the month. Sad.  So on this Saturday, stayed closer to home and walked Jovita trail. Then later in the afternoon, walked up to Trout Lake with LeAnn. It was a bit chilly, but so nice to walk together with my beautiful and amazing wife.

While chatting with Gustavo and Austin a bit through WhatsApp, Austin told me he was trying to teach Gustavo’s family how to say my name. Todd. It’s easy enough for Americans, but a different story for Argentines. They were practicing saying it, but the closest they could pronounce was Tor..  Then as they continued to sound it out, they said THOR! ‘we can call him Thor! what a cool name your dad has! ‘ I told Austin they might as well call me that since I am as powerful as a Superhero! I have the muscles and everything. ;). If I just grew my hair and beard out, I’m pretty sure I could pass as a stunt double for this guy!

iPhone to T-Mobile 

I figured I would have lost 40 pounds after walking over 11,000 miles. Nope. From the time I started in 2016, When I was pretty sick, I was close to 244 pounds. I had lost a bunch of weight after the initial rectopexy surgery in 2015. After that, with the inactivity and sendentary lifestyle, I wasn’t doing to well health-wise. I thought I would drop weight like crazy while walking 10 miles a day. While I have dropped 20 pounds since that time, I have definitely leveled off and hover between 215 and 225. I suppose I could change my diet a bitmore drastically, but still enjoy occasional treats and such.  Thats why they call me #toddzillathewalkinggorilla

So, my left knee has been killing me for a couple of months. Ironically, it often feels better when I am out walking than when I am sitting or lying down. It was swelling up a bit after walks and would be really sore and tender after sitting at work for a while. I had seen the Dr. about it a few weeks ago and he had me go get x-rays. I heard back on the results today. Seems I have Osteoarthritis in my left knee. I thought I was too young for this. Shouldnt I at least be a grandpa before getting arthritis?! Some days are better than others, but mostly it just hurts. This is something I will have to learn to deal with. I started taking turmeric to hopefully help with the inflammation, and sister Call recommended I try out Bone Broth. So now I make a mad-scientist type of drink in the morning with fiber (for my gastro issues), Turmeric for Inflammation of the joints and Bone Broth for helping the cartilage. Hopefully, these types of supplements will improve my case.

I went on a walk down to Lake Killarney before church. There are some nice trails and it is pretty and peaceful. Of course, it was a bit cold. I walked up toward the north trail when I was hit with a bout of Super nausea. This happens occasionally, and Im not sure if it is a remnant of my intestinal surgery from years ago, but I needed to try and get back to a bathroom as soon as possible. Luckily, I wasnt too far into the walk and was able to hobble back to the church before it got much worse. This was right before my bishopric meeting, but I didnt feel good enough to go, so I headed back home to resuscitate myself and try and sleep it off. Not a fun morning. This picture was taken before the sickness set in. 

Today was a very special day. Today, March 7, 2020 was the day that Luz was baptized. Austin has been working with this beautiful 12 year old girl from Bahia Blanca.  Austin has had the great privilege of becoming friends with Gustavo and Paola and their family since arriving in their city 4 months ago. Gustavo has been a special friend and has sent me a number of videos and pictures of Austin with their family and has connected with me over Whats App. I love hearing from Gustavo as he has made some special memories with Austin that become all the more special as we can see him in his element working as a missionary.  Gustavo has sent me videos of Austin helping to build a brick wall at their home and making empanadas with their family. This weekend we were able to see some pictures of Austin and Luz after the baptism. Austin told us how special the baptism was for Luz. Here is what he wrote about it: I had the opportunity to baptize Luz this week! I have been teaching this fa...

Some days are sure harder than others to get up and get out and keep on walking. Today I was determined to get my 10 miles in, where usually Sundays are my low mileage days. I decided instead of walking around the lake before my bishopric meeting, that I would hit the Treadmill before church. I finished a 5K there and then got ready for church. It was a bit of a different atmosphere at church with the Corona virus precautionary measures being taken. It seems a lot of people just decided to stay home. We probably had about 2/3rds the regular number. But we had a nice meeting and then after getting home, took an afternoon walk with LeAnn down the Hylebos Creek trail. We even saw Summer, June and her boyfriend out there enjoying the afternoon. Then I walked another 3 miles on the Treadmill in the evening. 11.6 miles for the day. Mission accomplished!

Don’t go into work today as T-Mobile has joined the other large IT companies in the NorthWest in supporting Work From Home options for employees as we try and work in more preventative measures in helping the Corona Virus to not spread as readily. I ended up taking LeAnn to work in the morning and then went down to the Supermall to walk. I hit about 5 miles there. Didnt get out again during the day, but then after LeAnn finished work, I picked her up and we went to Des Moines Beach Park, where we are looking at holding Autumns Seattle area wedding reception. We did decide that that would be a good place to do it. It has a special connection for us, as we used to take Autumn there when she was a toddler and she loved to throw rocks into the Puget Sound. It will be neat to hold her reception there and bring things full-circle.

Tonight, took this one in the face.I was walking a bit later and was listening to the Mike Rowe podcast called 'The Way I heard it'. its entertaining and he talks of different people in history and elaborates on background that we might not otherwise have heard. I was looking down at my phone to check on the next episode, when 'WHACK'! I walked right into this tree branch! That knocked some sense into me! 

State of the #toddlingaroundtheworld: I have made it to Mazatlan! I have always wanted to go there, just didnt think it would ever be 'virtually'. :) For the #SeattleToBahiaBlanca leg of the journey, I have now completed 2,668 Miles and have 4,352 remaining. Over 1/3 of the way there! For the #ToddlingAroundTheWorld goal that I am working toward, I have just passed through North Korea and entered the Sea of Japan! Next Stop is Japan, the land of where I served on my mission 30 years ago! For this journey, I have now completed 11,408 miles since starting and have just 5,302 remaining!

Today’s #Toddlingaroundtheworld selfie shows a Japanese candy machine (Representing Japan), a Prague sweatshirt (From Czech Republic) and the Argentina Flag bracelet (Representing Argentina). All of these items cover the three missions where our Miller family has served, in one shot!

LeAnn and I are taking a Personal Finance course through church. After our class yesterday, I was so excited to not spend any money today.  I always shower before leaving home at 5 am and then I put on a workout shirt and sweatshirt for my morning walk in in the mall. I take a shirt and undershirt separately to change into after my walk. Then after I finished my walk I realized I forgot my shirt and undershirt. I was so concerned about getting my lunch in my bag I forgot that stuff. I couldn’t wear my sweaty old sweatshirt to work so had to go to target. Sad face since I was trying not to spend any money today. Lemonade moment was found a shirt for $7

LeAnn came! Lunch and Costco

Went to the movie with LeAnn. Robins wood. Mobica