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.

Kansas Trip Part 3

November 27, 2020

After a six-day visit with the in-laws it was time to head back home. We were on the road by 10:50 am. It was a sunny cold day, 44 degrees. 

We drove all the way home this time. I didn't want to fly plus we do enjoy road trips. We made stops at rest areas to stretch our legs and use the restroom. 

Driving on long stretches of road definitely gives you time to think. One of our conversations was about coming up with male cat names for a possible cat in the near future. We wanted to stick with traditional regular men names. This is what we came up with: Virgil, Wyatt, Franklin, Atticus and Donald. Fast forward six years, and the name we picked was Franklin (after Benjamin Franklin).

Jacob always begins driving on our road trips and most of the time he'll drive the entire time but sometimes when he gets too tired that's when I end up taking over.

We stopped for the night in Loveland Colorado, had dinner and headed to the hotel to call it a night. I didn't get good sleep. Had a restless night.

November 28, 2020, Saturday

I can see snow-capped mountains, pretty. We were on the road by 8:22 am. We drove past Fort Collins. It's a cute town. We saw lots of cows. I find cows so cute.

By 9:17 am we crossed into Wyoming. We stopped in Rawlins for lunch. Pizza is always a fun choice. We love pizza. Pizza Hut used to be our favorite. I loved their buttery crust on their pan pizzas but while we ate, we noticed that the pizza crust didn't quite taste the same, so we googled it and read that Pizza Hut had changed their recipe the year before in 2019 after 40 years with the original recipe. So after we discovered this we no longer eat Pizza Hut pizza. I wonder why they even had to change it. I don't know if they have gone back to the original recipe.

It was sunny and quite cold, 33 degrees.

We stopped in Evanston for some coffee and to swap. We then got gas and here's where I saw a couple of dead deer on the back of a truck. It was my first time seeing this. It was hunting season. I don't agree with killing for sport but if it's to feed your family then it's fine. It still doesn't make it less sad though. I hated seeing that. 

We crossed into Utah at 4:37 pm. 

Driving on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Hwy. I like how the side of the hills look.

The sunset drive paints the landscape with vibrant orange hues turning our drive into an awesome experience. It definitely looked a lot cooler in person. 

We stopped at Brigham City for the night. Got Mexican take out, took it back to our hotel and ate. Afterwards we walked over to a Christmas village that was near the hotel. 

It was cute. It was very nostalgic, of long-ago times. Seeing all that reminded me of my childhood. I remember my mom would have us get dressed in our Christmas clothes and head over to one of the malls to see Christmas decorations that contained moving figurines. It is unfortunate that malls don't decorate with nostalgic Christmas animatronics anymore. I'm sure people would enjoy seeing them.

I liked this display of books by the window ... obviously.

Another very cold night. 

November 29, 2020, Sunday

Our goal is to make it home today. We were on the road by 8:10 am, sunny and 25 degrees. When I got my water to take a drink I noticed tiny pieces of ice in it. 

We saw sheep on the side of the hills. They blended in so well that you wouldn't be able to spot them in a picture. 

We stopped at the Bliss rest area. It was windy, we were freezing. We saw several people wearing shorts and t-shirts though. Crazy! 

We stopped in Boise Idaho for lunch at Bittercreek Ale House. We enjoyed our meals. The burger was very tasty. But now, it was time get back on the road. We couldn't wait to get home!

Snake River ... it borders between Oregon and Idaho.

These hills remind me of the way suede feels. I love these colors.

We came across a bit of snow on the side of the road. We saw that an SUV had hit a deer and it lay dead on the side of the road. That's very sad. 

We stopped at Arrowhead Travel Plaza so I can take over driving. It was already dark and cold, 36 degrees. 

We crossed over into Washington at 5:40 pm.

GPS took us on a back road and that's when fog became extremely thick. I could not see but one car in front of me. That stretch of the drive seem to have taken an eternity. I finally came across the freeway. Semi drivers were passing me up like if it wasn't foggy. It was SO nerve-wracking driving through that. It felt like I was going to hit a wall. 

We finally made it home by 10:12 pm. What a relief. Driving through that thick fog really wore me out!

We were so thankful we made it home safely and happy to see our older children and our cats. 

There is nothing better than being home after being gone on vacation. Looking forward to getting back into my daily routines especially to have home cooked meals is one of the best feelings. I also couldn't wait to enjoy some time alone visiting a bookstore and going thrifting. These are some of the ways I destress.

Homemaking is surely in reality the most important work in the world. -C.S. Lewis

The best things in life are the people you love, the 

places you've been and the memories you've made along the way.

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.