Wednesday Hodgepodge....

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce, who blogs at From This Side of The Pond.  Each week she'll pose some questions for us to answer. What a great way to journal life.

1. What do you wish you'd done more of last year? Taking my camera out and getting out in nature. Spending time with friends Less of? Being weighed down by the opinions of particular people. Letting all the "stuff" surrounding "C...." to keep me from wanting to get out and go places more. 

2. What's the tallest building you've ever been in? Wow...I'm not entirely sure. I've been to the top of the space needle, and I believe it is called Columbia Tower in Seattle. its observatory is on the 73rd floor at 9o2 feet. The views are stunning. I also walked on the Schilthorn Thrill Walk when we visited Switzerland in 2019. You can read more about it in my trips tab.  Do you have a fear of heights? Yes, I do have a fear of heights. I don't feel as though it's as bad as it used to be, but I'm still very wary especially if I'm not fully enclosed in something. 

3. Do you have a word for the year? Elaborate if you'd like to elaborate. My word of the year is going to be "unfold" though I haven't thought it completely through but perhaps it means to unfold from self consciousness to confidence, from fear to bravery. I'm not really sure. 

4. January 11 is National Milk Day...are you a milk drinker? Yes I do drink milk occasionally...but typically only a glass once in a while.What kind? I like regular milk in my cereal but use alternative milks (Almond, Oat or Hemp) in my coffees and smoothies Your favorite recipe that calls for milk (cereal doesn't count)? Probably my clam chowder (it calls for whipping cream and half and half)...does that count as milk. Lol. Or maybe curry with coconut milk. 

5. What excites you most about the future? Finishing our addition and having people over, watching our grandchildren grow up, enjoying family. What do you miss about the past? I don't really spend a lot of time dwelling on the past. I do sometimes miss the days when our girls were little. I definitely miss pre-2020 and all the freedoms we had. I'll leave it at that because I know feelings are strong on this subject and I don't care to ruffle feathers. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I hope everyone had awesome holidays. I took a few breaks from blogging because we babysat grandkids for 5 days (3 1/2 year old and 10 month old), and that was the week before Christmas so I just knew I wouldn't have time even though I really wanted to partake in the fun link parties I've grown to love. We had a great Christmas, New Years was mellow and we got snow dumped on us starting Christmas Eve. I loved it. I'm looking forward to a new year and what it will bring. 

The snow at our house. Stunning.

I also did a cold plunge to kick the New Year off. I mean, why not start the year off doing something that I would NOT do otherwise...I don't like being cold so this was a stretch, but I just knew this was a great way to start the year. So I did. It was a quick in and out of the water but I went in to my chin. Here's to a year of stretching and like my word "unfolding".

Us with our girls at Christmas Eve service. Missing son in law and granddaughter who were in another part of the church at the time.

On New Years Day we went to my in-laws and had Raclette (not sure if I spelled that right). It's a popular Swiss meal that they enjoy mostly in fall and winter. Melted cheese over potatoes with a variety of toppings.  So good!

Also our daughter and son in law got a new puppy, named Ginger. She's an Australian Labradoodle. She's now about 11 or 12 weeks old and the cutest thing! 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin