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.

If we were having coffee we might talk about:

The weather: We are back from our trip to col and wet. We had a few dry days, but back to more rain. No snow in sight for Christmas. We had a few days of heavy fog. Where we sit in Washington, it's more of a maritime climate since we sit on the Columbia River and we are so close to the ocean...we are also at a VERY low elevation. We often will see snow in February, but rarely December. 

What we're thinking about: I've been thinking a lot about how it really is okay to pivot and do things differently in regards to the holidays. Some years, circumstances just require us to let go of tradition or what we thought something should be for the sake of our and/or our family's wellbeing. Shifting gears isn't a sign of failure or weakness, but a sign of intentionally being aware of ours and other's needs. Learning to say know, learning to let go, learning to keep things simple. It's all okay. One example:

My girls, and I thought (well, I thought of it for us, but both girls at done it recently at parties) it would be fun to do the saran wrap game with everyone on Christmas (you know, the one where you wrap layers of small gifts between saran wrap and it has to be unwrapped wearing gloves). My oldest said she would get the stuff, I'd pay her back, and they'd put it together. Well, she woke up Friday with a virus in her eye. It was puffy, goopy, no bueno! I said "you know what...we're the only ones who knew we were going to do this, so let's just not this year. Let's save it and do it for sure next year and we can plan it even better." No one else, and really, including her, had time at the last minute to go buy a bunch of gifts for this and she was under the weather. Would it have been fun...totally, but I think it would've been more stressful than enjoyable putting it together. 
Maybe someones just having a hard year. It's okay to not be as engaged as one normally might.

I started the Advent Journal I shared a few weeks back, but honestly, I stopped. It's good, but it was just too deep for what I was wanting. I put it on the shelf, and said "not this year". Maybe next year. 

What we're thankful for: I am thankful for the friends and family in my life, especially this time of year. I'm thankful for the acquaintances I see weekly at work who are so kind and generous. I'm thankful for the opportunities to just be present in a moment. 

Around the house: A friend of our re-sealed our granite counters. The granite guy recommended doing it once a year. He did it while we were gone on vacation which worked great since they have to set to dry.  I'm loving my Christmas decor and the feeling it brings. I found myself thinking. I wish I could keep it up all year, though I think if I did that, it would lose the "magic". 

For the love of food: Oh my! I've consumed so much food this last week when we were on vacation. I'll be cracking down after the holidays. I certainly didn't beat myself up and we did a lot of walking, but still, there was so much food at our disposal. Once home, I kept things fairly light/low key. I'm finishing this on Christmas Eve and I have my sourdough starter fed for rolls, I'll start my clam chowder in a few hours, and I purchased my bread bowls yesterday. One of these years I'll make my own. I also need to make my veggie dip and cut up veggies for tomorrow. 

Pavlova was on the menu one night, and boy was this good. I only ate one, but I bet I could've eaten two easily. 

The night we went to the marina to eat, hubby had fajitas and I had fish tacos. So good. 

Sitting at the coffee shop/cupcake cafe was nice. They had lots of yummy choices...like this apple tart and a lemon one too that was my favorite. 

One of our drivers recommended we go to this coffee shop when we walked around town. It was really good. 

Most of the desserts had dairy which the kids can't have. There were a few times they had some little bites of things, but they both know how they feel with it so they didn't have much of a problem not having it. However I told them when we got home I'd make them something. They wanted brownies, with ice cream and strawberries. They were so happy. 

What we're reading or wanting to read: While on our trip I started and finished the book The Push" by Ashley Audrain. Wow...that was a disturbing book. I also started and finished two Kindle books, Secret Santa by Kay Lyons (which I couldn't find on Good Reads to add to my list), and A Bramble House Christmas by C.J. Carmichael. Both of those were easy holiday reads. I also started the book Plain Faith: A True Story of Tragedy, Loss and Leaving the Amish  by Irene Eash. I found that one back in June when we were on a trip and at the back of the food market were shelves of used books for sale. I spent .50 on it. I don't think I'll get that one done by the end of the year. Another one I just started Kindle is A Special Kind of Advent by S.J. Crabb

That brings my books read for 2023 up to 58 so far. I need to decide what my goal for next year will be. Next week I'll share what all of my books for 2o23 were. I've also filled all the slots for my 2024 12 books from 12 friends. It should be good. 

What we're listening to or watching: While in Mexico we enjoyed watching the nightly shows at the resort. Last night we watched Eloise at Christmastime...one of my fave movies. I haven't watched too much else on TV. I'm listening to the audiobook Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. It's really good...so many good principles for life whether you're in the hospitality industry or not. 

Favorite Quote: I've not participated in #WQ for a few weeks. When I do, I really like to put the time into it and I just haven't felt like I've had the time. This was a great thought from the book Unreasonable Hospitality.

"Black and White" (service) means your doing your job with competence and efficiency ; "color" (hospitality) means you make people feel great about the job you're doing for them. Getting the right plate to the right person at the right table is service. But genuinely engaging with the person you're serving, so you can make an authentic connection-that's hospitality" 

Will Guidara

Favorite photo(s): Oh my! We just got back from vacation and I probably have TOO many favorite photos. I'll pick just a couple. 

Family pic in Cabo outside the mall. 

My people. So glad we were able to go on a vacation together. I was brave and climbed to the front of the boat to watch for whales. 

We saw several jumping out of the water further away, but this one just kept surfacing and eventually we were able to see his tail come out of the water. 

Random or not so random things: We had an amazing time in Cabo. I need to do a post just on that. I took well over 200 photos and videos...haha, which if you're friends with me on FB you can see. It was the first time my hubby and I had ever been to an all inclusive resort and it didn't disappoint. We spent lots of time by the pool because the kids were hooked. I spent lots of time playing in the water, reading and walking around. We were at the cupcake cafe/coffee shop several times a day!! By the end of the trip the servers know who you are. Most of our time was spent at the resort. One day we got a private boat that was recommended and took a 2 hour ride to hopefully see whales (sadly no dolphins), and snorkel. One morning we walked 5 minutes to town and walked around a bit. Then went down later to eat dinner. The girls and I had fun one day doing water aerobics in the pool. We got a good laugh too. 

Walking on the marina....nope we didn't plan to match. Maybe that's what 31 years of marriage does. 

The view of the marina from our room. We felt like the marina view room was one of the best. A lot of the ocean view rooms had blocked views. At least the ones that were options for us. 

View of the pools and ocean from the lobby. There were 3 pools. The middle one was an adult only pool. 

Fun sunset shot! 

As we walked through town, I was so excited to see these electrical boxes painted. Natalie is always posting the ones she finds and I never see any. So enjoy!

We also played several games of Uno, none of which I won! 

I'll add some photos of the Christmas decor we spotted on our trip. 

Then it was back home to work and getting ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'll admit, it has seemed a bit overwhelming at times. Last night I finally finished wrapping presents...I actually have a few more to wrap but I'll do those soon. Once I get this post done, I'll get busy with the last minute things. 

I brought back a small ornament! 

Merry Christmas everyone. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin