Weekend Coffee Share.....Come Sit with Me

It's another week of Weekend Coffee Share. I always love everyone's posts. Are you like me and try to visit everyone? It doesn't always happen but I try. I have loved getting to know different bloggers and I figure if they take the time to write a post, I'll find the time to visit, even if it's a week later. I truly enjoy what you all share and I often learn so much. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare.

First I will once again apologize for not getting around to everyone last week. I'm going to try to catch up before I comment on this weeks. It seems commenting has been a struggle on anything I link to lately. I need to figure out a way to stay on top of it because I feel like it's important to at least visit a few, if not all contributors. Anyways.....I'll work on that. 

If we were having coffee or tea we'd probably talk about: 

The weather: Summer is trying to hang on. This week our temps have been in the mid 80's, low 90's. Next week looks a bit cooler with temps in 60's and 70's.

What we're thinking about: One of my favorite IG Accounts to follow, Grateful and Grey, was sharing a thought the other day that captured my attention and that I really related to...she was mentioning how she was recently in a grocery store and spotted a crossword puzzle book, which reminded her of her mama who passed away a few years ago. She decided to buy it and has been enjoying doing puzzles. She said "it's like I'm including her in my daily life". She encouraged those who have lost loved ones to do things that they maybe loved, or buy the thing that reminds us of them. Bake something that they enjoyed or taught you to make, or that they would enjoy if they were here. Include them in your life. That has stuck with me this past week. I know that I try and do this. Often I'll make something that reminds me of my mom or dad, or I see something in a store that I think they might like. I know some people don't like constant reminders, but for me, it's healing, it keeps them alive in my heart and mind. 

What we're thankful for: Well, I'm not thankful for my ability to remember to do things..lol. Awhile back I was supposed to write down all the names/numbers associated with the paint colors in our house. I onlly partically did it. I didn't write. numbers, just the names and the one I didn't write down was the name for the door paint and of course that's a number we're needing right now. Uggh. I guess I'm thankful that I have more grace for myself when I fall short. 

Around the house: We are having a wall bed made for our guest bed/bath. The guy is starting it this month. I'm not sure how long it takes, but I can't wait. He is a local maker that we found at one of the home shows. 

Our heat pump quit working the other day, but thankfully the techs were able to come out within a few days and got us back up and running. 

What we're reading or wanting to read: I'm still reading the books I mentioned last week. I've also just started the book Look me in the Eye, by John Elder Robison, written by a man who discovered later in life that he had Aspbergers. It's one of the books on my 12 challenge. We're about ready to pick our next book club book. I think it will be "The Maid" by Nita Prose. I had it in my cart on Amazon and on hold at the library, then realized a friend had recently loaned it to me! Yay, I don't have to buy it. 

What we've watched or listened to: I have been watching a few episodes of Master Chef, and of course When Calls the Heart. I am just finished the book The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the remarkable American Life of a 109 year old Man by David Von Drehle. It was good. He lived to be 109. One thing I've been doing with audio books, is bookmarking spots and then when I'm done I go back and type out those thoughts I liked in a page on my one note app on my computer. 

For the love of food: Meals were pretty basic last week. We had been gone, and when we got back, I was trying to just use up what we had in the fridge and freezer. We enjoyed Thai Peanut Noodles. They are pretty easy and really good. I did make some sausage and potatoes that we had gotten from the farmers market. 

I did make this yummy chocolate cake to take to work. One of the Amazon drivers that delivers to our work always comments on the cake, however, he doesn't always deliver to us. I saw him Monday and told him I'd be making the cake and bringing it Thursday so even if he didn't deliver to us, he should swing by and get some. However, he didn't deliver to us Thursday or Friday. I did save him a piece so if he comes on Monday I'll give it to him...otherwise I'll have to make it another time. Our other drivers sure enjoyed it though. 

Moist Chocolate Cake

2 c. granulated sugar

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. baking cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs 

1 c. strong brewed coffee

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. confectioners sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine first six ingredients. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour into greased and floured 10" fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners sugar.

I'm making my grocery list for next week. The grandkids are staying with us from Tuesday through Saturday. I asked Indiana what he wanted for dinners...his answers: Steak, fish. Ha!!  That kid. 

Favorite quote: This quote isn't from our #WQ, though you can see my post from that here. I heard a quote recently that I thought was really good. I don't remember where I heard it...either a podcast or an audio book. 

"Friendships should strengthen your family, not weaken it". 

I thought that was so good. Whether it's our own friendships or our children's friends, I believe this is true. Perhaps if we were having coffee, we'd discuss our thoughts on this. 

Random or not so random things: I'm combining my favorite photos with random things....Last Wednesday through Saturday we spent time in Seabrook, Wa. with our grandkids helping out while our daughter and son in law were running a retreat for a ministry leadership school they're starting. We had such a great time. It is a quaint boutique community on the Washington coast. I will admit, I don't care for the Washington Coastline as much as I do the Oregon coast but I would totally go back there again. Forgive all the pictures...

When we arrived, the kids so badly wanted to go see the ocean so we took them down to check it out before it got dark. 

Indy got ahold of my phone and took some pictures. Peppers face cracked me up. 

Above and below are glimpses of the small town area. There are only 3 streets that have shops on them. They are quaint and not really your typical "beachy touristy" shops. I loved browsing them. There was an arcade that the kids loved, but I didn't get pictures of that, just video. 

I love the building that is their town hall. The majority of homes here are vacation rentals...I think over 90% of them are rentals and only a handful or two are actually full time residences.

I made sure I planned some fun things for the kids. We went on a couple treasure hunts. They brought some ziploc bags along so they could collect treasures. 

I loved how the houses were set up . I wish I would've taken more photos. 

Of course I had to stop and browse the local bookstore. 

We were about a block away from the coffee shop so we made sure to visit each morning. 

I bought some fun coloring and craft supplies. This one was neat. I found it at Walmart. You fill the pens with water and "paint" on the pages. They are a harder material and when you paint on them, color comes through and reveals hidden objects. When it dries, you can do it all over again. 

Aren't these houses neat. There is certain way they have to be built and it adds so much to the look of the area. 

One of the kids' favorite spots was the gnome trail. It was a wide area of trails and partially cleared out woods where people can build gnome houses, leave painted rocks or other unique things. It was so much fun exploring this area. Enjoy some of the photos. I added some to a collage since I had so many. I know some have a harder time seeing so I apologize...hopefully you can enlarge the collages. 

It was so fun to see the creativity of visitors to the forest. I wished we had brought some things with us to make a house. Maybe next time if we go back. 

Top and bottom are some of the fun things we found. The big stump had a cute area inside for kids to play. I couldn't find information on how old it was. In the bottom photo, the top left photo says Pay the Troll Toll. 

If you visit my IG page Kirsteemarie you'll see a video and some other photos I shared. I added more pics/videos to my story highlights under the kids names, but you'd have to scroll through a lot of pics/videos to get to them.

On the way home, we took a detour and visited Mt. St. Helens. It's about 30 miles northeast of our town. It's been a few years since I drove up there. My husband was walking to church when the mountain blew and remembers that day. I lived 2 1/2 hours North east and we simply got the ash from it, but that was weird too. 

Also in other news, Indy started Kindergarten. He was pretty excited. 

We've also been looking pretty hard at new vehicles. We rented a Honda Pilot for our trip up north just to see how we'd like it. It was good but not what we want. We are leaning heavily toward the Subaru Ascent or Forester. Well, I'm off now, to go look at vehicles. Wish us luck.

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin