Random Photos from November

November 2020

Every Autumn I look forward to seeing the leaves make their wondrous transformation. And every Autumn I am fascinated by the beautiful colors they display. It fills me with joy seeing the colors of Autumn so vibrant. There is no doubt that God is the ultimate artist. 

I am blessed for this awesome experience. I am aware that not everyone gets the opportunity to see  deciduous trees up close in autumn.

I love going on walks when the weather is cloudy. This was an after-dinner walk. We had just walked down our street when I looked back and saw how cool the evening sky looked. I had to take a picture. I love how it came out. Yes, the sky was that dark. I don't use filters on my pictures.

Walking on crisp fallen leaves and hearing the crunch is a joyful experience that brings comfort and a deep connection to nature. I love it all.

I read that having hobbies are very beneficial for our brains because they lower stress hormones and improve emotional wellbeing. Hobbies are also mental stimulating activities which create a defense system that delays memory decline and cognitive aging. 

One of my hobbies besides reading is journaling by longhand. It helps me to focus better and allows me to process my feelings in a deeper and calm way. 

I like to cozy up my space when I journal. I light candles, get a comforting (and sometimes healthy) snack and I have calm music playing in the background. It's important to be intentional about creating an environment that brings me peace. I tend to get so engrossed with journaling that often times I lose track of time. I LOVE that. This brings me joy. It makes me feel content and satisfied.

Energy flows as I busy myself with constructive activity. 

Sophie knows better than to sit on my bookcase. Look at her, she knows she's guilty. That's why she's looking back at me that way.

In our home we love to coddle our cats. Nathan is loving on Lila. Lila likes it even though she pretends to be a tough girl.

I haven't made an official blog post about us moving out of Washington. That will come at a later time. This October will be four years since we moved. We miss WA terribly. Aside from my two oldest children still living there, I miss the cloudy/rainy weather, parks/trails, the Puget Sound/ferry, and the North Oregon coast the most. 

Seeing our previous house brings back a lot of great memories. Even though change is inevitable, assimilating to a new environment can be tough in a new city; whether it's the climate, people, or the way of life.

Although it is constantly cloudy in Washington and there's light rain on most days, fog was something that we didn't get every single day. I like fog but after two days of it I noticed that my eyes would take a second to adjust to it whenever I began driving. Fog would put a heaviness on my eyes. Once home I was glad not to be out driving in it. Fog has its own beauty too though.

Virtual school was one of the lamest things we have experienced, especially for my son. For an adult, being in front of a monitor for hours is tedious tiring work now imagine how stressful it was for children during the pandemic. And don't get me started on whether or not they benefited from being taught via a monitor. My son fell back so much on learning during this time. The teachers didn't seem equipped to handle this rapid change either. Riley hated it and I don't blame him not one bit!

Driving past the Tacoma Dome on our way to a restaurant for dinner. I like to eat at different locations when it comes to restaurants. I like a change of scenery. I guess I like to go on car rides and take the long way to a location, at least most of the time I do. 

The ordinary days often become the memories we ache to return to. They matter because they tend to make up most of our lives. 

I've realized that the most important luxuries

in my life are family, slow mornings, home cooked

meals, spending time in nature, and expressing myself

though creativity.

Unscripted October Moments

October 2020

How quicky time pass us by. I wrote down in my agenda about, "how quickly October seem to come around". This is the reason why I try my best to live intentionally. To not live life with haste. To live in the present. To document life from the ordinary mundane moments to fun outings. And this is why I don't ever rush time by saying, "oh, I wish it was Friday, or I wish it was summer, or I wish it was Christmas break". Because I know better. When you think that way it prevents you from living in the present moment.

There's a pumpkin patch about five minutes from our house. Around early October is when you spot a tractor pulling a wagon filled with a huge load of pumpkins driving from their pumpkin patch to several blocks down the road toward their farm store. These were huge pumpkins.

For a few months I began to notice my eyes becoming a little blurry and burn when I read so, Jacob and I both went to see the optometrist. We got our eyes checked and we were both prescribed reading glasses, unfortunately. Fast forward six years to today and we still think having to rely on reading glasses to look at small print is a big inconvenience. I'm still not used to the idea of having reading glasses.

It is such a de-stresser to me to take the backroads whenever possible when I'm feeling overburdened. Driving along pine trees and seeing farm animals lifts my spirits, more so when it is cloudy. I'm keenly aware of my surroundings, observant, and I'm very detailed oriented so at times too much mental overload tends to cause overwhelm. Thankfully, I also know healthy ways on how to relax and decompress.  

This girl, wherever I go especially when I rest, she's sure to follow and lay next to me. I love her fur. She's got a very soft coat. I like to say she's my comfort animal because she feels so familiar to me. She's very patient when I'm holding her and loving on her. I wish she was just as loving towards other cats though.

For those of us that appreciate cloudy weather this scene never gets old. I get excited about cloudy weather as if this type of weather hardly happens, but we know that cloudy weather is a staple in the PNW, still it gets me every time. 

The above cloudy weather brought on a storm. It rained hard late at night which caused a power outage. Power came back on around 5:00 am. I'm glad it did because a cookie bake was planned on this Saturday. 

Riley enjoys helping his dad bake cookies. Sydna grabbing some lunch.

Now adding the icing. I failed to write down what type of cookies they made so I don't have a clue what they're called but I'm sure they were tasty.

This one I know. It was pumpkin cheesecake with crumble. It looks amazing! and I'm sure it was. 

Lila looking pretty.

I had a birthday in October. Riley had the day off for school. After a delicious breakfast we headed N to Redmond and Woodenville. We like taking the scenic route. 

The gorgeous colors of autumn leaves just beg to be displayed.

One of the coziest things to do when it's cloudy and cold is to curl up on the couch and watch a good movie.

After a while though I do feel the need to get up and move around, so we went on a long walk around a couple of neighborhoods.

Spotted these two pretty flowers.

Slow living isn't about doing less; it's about being present in everything you do. It's about connecting deeply with loved ones, nature, and the quiet beauty of daily life. 

This time it was Lila who wanted to sit near me. She's giving me side eye. I love her furry paws. 

Taking the back roads near our home just so I can look at these beauties. Such gorgeous trees.

Nathan dressed up as Bob Ross. So silly.

All ready to head out to a Halloween party.

The devotional book I was reading at the time. (I read it as a book not one devotion a day.) This devotion really caught my attention. We should all heed what it's talking about. We cannot do life on our own. At some point we have to realize that we cannot do life without God.

October was a fun month. It is my favorite month of the year. Anytime I can spend time by the water is always a relaxing enjoyable time for me.

Our lives are made up of time, and the quality of

our existence depends on our wise use of the moments we are given.

October Fun

October 2020

I'm glad I have this space where I can document pieces of our life. I hope my children will find it fun and comforting to come and read once they're old. I wish my mom would have documented parts of her life ... from her youth and young adult life. I would have loved to have seen things she was interested in back then, homelife and everyday outfits.

Carving a pumpkin can be such hard work but the end result is usually worth it (as long as one doesn't mess it up, lol).

My daughter's cat Lila was curious about the pumpkin smell, so she jumped on the table and began sniffing.

She gave the pumpkin a few licks and she was done with it. 

So, Riley hollowed out the pumpkin and Jacob carved it for him. Dad's are the best!

I like to make Halloween fun and special for my children. One of our favorite treats is a cookie cake. I make sure to buy one every time. 

And another family favorite for Halloween is ordering pizza and wings for dinner.

We had an early dinner so we could go back to a local pumpkin patch and do the corn maze. 

It was nice that it wasn't too busy. We started out quite sure of ourselves thinking that we would know which direction to take but .....

.... we soon realized that we were lost. We let Riley lead, so he thought it was hilarious that we didn't know which way to go.

So, dad had to take over leading. 

I on the other hand like to hang back a bit to take in the moment, look for bugs on the corn stalks, birds in the sky when they do happen to fly by, and as I rounded a corner I looked up and spotted Mt. Rainier. She's a giant!

Still lost by the looks of it. Ha ha!!

Eventually we found our way out. That was a fun time. It was now time to get home to get Riley ready to go trick or treating.

I don't recall what his costume was called but it was an ugly scary one. He was obviously happy with it. 

Oh, the jack o'lantern on the right was the one Jacob carved for Riley. It turned out looking good. Good job dad!

We walked about four blocks. Not many people were giving out candy because of the pandemic, but he got enough to be satisfied.

After we checked his candy and he ate a few we settled down on the couch and watched "It's a great pumpkin, Charlie Brown". A family favorite!

Memories, one of the few things that can never be taken away from us. Make lots of them (and document them).

They chose me from my brothers: "that's the nicest one", they said. And they

carved me out a face and put a candle in my head. And they set me on the doorstep,

and the night was dark and wild; and when they lit the candle then I smiled and smiled and smiled.

Mundane Moments Are Where the Magic Happens

September 2020

So, if you remember correctly, 2020 was the first year of living life differently than previous years because of covid. 

Most people had to work from home and Riley had virtual school. Still, I had Riley stand outside our front door to get the traditional back to school picture taken.

Parents were sent emails from the school to inform us about the time and date that we needed to drive up to the school to pick up a laptop and school supplies. We knew that this school year would be a struggle.

However, remote learning was no cake walk. I think the teachers had a difficult time teaching via the computer camera and the students, at least my son Riley struggled to stay engaged therefore making it extremely difficult to retain any information that was taught. It was a ridiculous horrible time. I'm just going to say that because of covid and Washington state school system, Riley got about a year and half behind in his studies especially in math. His teachers weren't getting their point across in an effective way, so Riley was left having to try to figure things out on his own. We tried to help but half of the work as still unclear. A lot of back and forth emailing between his teachers and us was going on. 

You can see the frustration in his face. 

The good thing was that his karate class continued. They used to practice at a middle school gym but because schools were closed the Sensei was able to get his students to practice outside at an elementary school. I'm just very thankful to Sensei for not being a stickler and making masks mandatory. Those who chose to wear one did but there were a few that didn't.  

Getting to do karate during this stressful time especially for children was a great distraction and Riley looked forward to it twice a week. 

He was promoted to yellow belt. Here he is participating in his kyu grade belt promotion ceremony. He was so happy about it and so proud of himself for having done all the exercises right.

I like to buy stationary, notepads, post it notes (big and small) and college ruled paper so I can journal. Whenever I see a journal that fits my style I buy it. I have enough of them to last me for several years, but you know, I'll probably get more.

It was a cloudy and sprinkling Saturday. Always the ideal weather to eat something comforting so I made pozole. I am so happy that I learned how to make pozole because this is one of my favorite dishes and now, I can make it whenever I'm craving it and don't have to go to a restaurant to eat some anymore. Such a wonderful thing!

Lila aka peanut probably annoyed to have everyone home all the time when it would just be me and the two cats. 

Sophie encroaching on Jacob's personal space while he helped Riley with his homework. She does love body contact. 

I read this book five years ago and I honestly don't remember how it went so here's the Goodreads summary on it:

When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect caretaker for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite and devoted woman who sings to their children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint and is able to host enviable birthday parties.

The couple and nanny become more dependent on each other. But as jealousy, resentment and suspicions increase, Myriam and Paul's idyllic tableau is shattered..

I must have thought it was decent because I gave it four stars.

Do you know what Apologetics stands for? Apologetics is a defense of Christian belief that helps to explain and clarify the gospel message.

Christians must be trained and equipped to share the gospel like a love letter. We must not start out arguing. We must start by sharing the story of the gospel persuasively and powerfully. I must admit that at times it is difficult to come up with the right answer quickly when one is unexpectedly confronted by a hostile person demanding answers. But we must get better at being knowledgeable in the Christian faith and being courageous to give a prompt answer.

Equipping kids with an understanding of apologetics is important. It enables kids to confidently deal with the intellectual challenges to Christianity, helping them understand how their faith is grounded in reason. This will help them to stand bold and confident in dealing with their non-Christian peers or anyone for that matter. 

As 1 Peter 3:15 states: But honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. We, parents, have to do something to protect our kid's faith. Scripture places a high value on teaching God's truths every day (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Back in 2020 these were the only Apologetics books in my collection. I've since added more. I strongly believe that the Bible and Apologetics should go hand in hand. 

The Little Pilgrim's Progress is both a simple adventure story and a profound allegory of the Christian journey through life. I do remember this book and most of all I remember that when I finished reading it to Riley that he was sad that it was over. I have yet to read the Pilgrim's Progress for myself.

All these day-to-day moments are what makes family life more meaningful. When we love, nourish, motivate, encourage, guide, teach, discipline, and be present with our children and spouse has got to be the best way to love and serve them. As mother's that's what we are called to do by God.

When we face choices, it is wise to consider the words of 

Micah 6:8. "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the 

Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?