A Fresh Cup of Coffee: July 2023

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Scripture and a Snapshot - Rooted and Established

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I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge―that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

~Ephesians 3:16-21~

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Saturday, July 29, 2023

Share Four Somethings - July 2023

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As July comes to a close, it's time to share Something I Loved, Something I Read, Something I Learned and Something I Ate. I'm surprised at how quickly the summer is going by! And in a way, I'm glad, because I kind of want the time to go quickly between visits with the family. I'm busier too, which also helps me feel less like the days are dragging monotonously. Here goes!

Something Loved

We bought a new (to us!) vehicle last weekend, which has made my days a lot easier! I started a part-time job about three weeks ago, but at the time we still had just one vehicle so every day I would have to go along with my husband to work so that I could bring the car back home and have a way to get to my job a little later in the morning. Then I had to go pick my husband up from work at the end of the day, and if I had to leave straight from my job to do that, the drive was so stressful and long! So last weekend we headed to the used car dealership that we'd scouted at least two used RAV4s that we were interested in and proceeded to test drive and compare them. I really wanted a red one. So bad. Not sure why, but I kind of had my heart set on red this time. However, we decided on the blue one mostly because it had fewer miles on it. So for those keeping score at home, this is now the fourth blue RAV4 we've owned. The first one was totaled in an accident and we replaced it with another one, slightly older (2013) and a lighter blue. Then last year we bought another blue RAV4, a different model year. When we moved we left the 2013 for our daughter to use and brought the 2011 to Ohio. The one we just added to our fleet? A blue 2013, exactly the same as the one left in Maryland except this one is all-wheel drive. It sure felt very familiar when I started driving it!

Something Read

Here are the books I'm currently reading:

Rebecca (Daughters of the Lost Colony Book 3) by Shannon McNear

Composition As Conversation by Heather M. Hoover

Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright

Since the last SFS I've only written two reviews―Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep, and

A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber. I'm hoping to get reviews for the first two above written pretty soon! My monthly link-up for review posts launched a month ago (Book Review Bulletin for July), and a new link-up for August will open on August 1st. I'd love for you to drop by and share a review or two, and comment on someone else's review. The hope is that we can comment on actual reviews and share them. And of course, all the rest of my reading news is at Just A Second if you're interested.

Something Learned

I've been learning the accounting and record-keeping programs for my new job and it's a lot! But I like it. I started learning the phones, which is still overwhelming and is the one part I don't care for, but I keep telling myself I'll bet more comfortable with it once I start doing it. Oh, and I realized that the double deck on my desk is one of those height-adjustable ones, so I figured out how to lift it and I prefer standing at my desk! I'm also learning which routes to drive to and from work, and although I still put the GPS on, I can get there and back on my favorite route on my own.

Something On My Plate

I did better at remembering to take some food photos this month, but I don't think any of them did the dishes justice. We started July with a big Canada Day feast that included maple-glazed bacon-wrapped carrots, poutine, grilled salmon, tourtiere, and bannock. Desserts were beavertails, butterscotch confetti, butter tarts, and Nanaimo Bars.

I had picked up some Irish bacon at a market, just because I was curious how Irish bacon was different from back bacon (or what Americans call Canadian bacon). It's not all that different, to be honest. But it made for a very good brunch one day, as I made Eggs Benedict for the first time ever.

We've been back to Dirty Dawgs barbecue and loved it again. I had the smoked mac and cheese with brisket this time.

We've been back to Bubbly Hall again, and this time we tried Just Chicken. I had the loaded fries, which were definitely loaded and were very good! Two whole meals for me!

Another first for me―I made chicken salad. I've never made chicken salad before! It was really good, even though the picture doesn't look all that appetizing.

And one of our very good dinners was a cheesy baked chicken with gravy. So good!

What's Been On My Calendar? #WBOYC

A successful job interview (despite this traffic jam at the driveway threatening to make me late!) and then starting work on July 10th.

Canada Day and Independence Day - On July 4th we visted the Dawes Arboretum during the day, and attended the church cookout party in the evening and watched the fireworks.

Church every Sunday, and I was on the worship team for three of the past weeks. Pool dates almost every weekend!

We went to the free showing of Top Gun in the town's amphitheater and got dinner from the food trucks there.

We bought a car. We walked in the parks.

And we went to a baseball game.

Share something in the comments, or share four somethings with the rest of us in the link party!

This post will be linked at Overflowing With Thankfulness in the Share Four Somethings link party.

This post will also be linked at What's Been On Your Calendar #WBOYC hosted by Deb's World.

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Friday, July 28, 2023

Five MInute Friday - Milestone

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

milestone birthday

the next milestone

milestone achievements

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Our family will be celebrating a milestone birthday soon, as our granddaughter will be turning one. She's already passed milestones like rolling over, sitting up, standing up; and there will be many more firsts and milestones to come for her.

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments. ~Rose Kennedy

We regularly celebrate milestones like birthdays and anniversaries and holidays. In the past several years we've marked milestones of weddings, graduations, new jobs, and others. An engagement, a wedding, and an anniversary, are mile markers on the journey of a relationship. A graduation ceremony is a celebration of the significant progress made on the journey towards career and life goals. None of these milestones are stopping points, but reminders of how far we've come and how much we've already achieved.

Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead. ~Nelson Mandela

In the Bible, we read about important milestone events that were marked by the building of an altar or the setting up of a stone. Monuments that were reminders of what God had done and what had happened at that place. Jacob set up a stone at the place where God spoke to him through his dream of an angelic ladder. Israel took twelve stones from the Jordan and set them up as a monument that God had brought them safely across. And there are many more examples. In our day, we consider reaching another birthday or anniversary our milestones, but it's easy to think of the achievements as our own. Maybe we also need to remind ourselves of the milestone moments when God brought us through a difficulty or crisis, and when we heard from him in a special way.

In the future, when your children ask you, "What do these stones mean?" tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.

~Joshua 4:6-7~

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, "The LORD has helped us to this point."

~I Samuel 7:12~

Write it down. Put it on the calendar. Journal it. Take a picture. The Lord has helped us to this point. He got us this far. He'll get us to the next milestone too, and the next one after that, until we reach our heavenly home.

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Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these. ~Susan B. Anthony

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This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Milestone".

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Thursday, July 27, 2023

WQ - July Photo Album

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I'm participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This week there's no prompt―instead it's Writer's Choice. It's been a busy week and I considered just skipping this week's post, but I decided that since I could choose my own theme, I would share my monthly photo album along with some quotes about taking pictures.

We kicked off July by celebrating Canada Day with guests from the USA, Brazil, and Zambia.

Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies. ~Diane Arbus

On Independence Day, we visited the Dawes Arboretum during the day and went to a church cookout in the evening. And of course we watched the fireworks in town.

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. ~Dorothea Lange

I'm not going to say I know a ton about what I'm looking at, but I enjoy capturing the photos and the artistry of it. I'm getting better at it, and I'll keep getting better. ~Jimmy Walker

Not every day was perfect summer weather though. We've had several cloudy or hazy (smoky?) days and some thunderstorms too.

After several months, a squirrel finally solved the dilemma of how to get to our suet feeder and there was no stopping him. It was amusing the first day, but he's so greedy! I eventually found another spot for the feeder that he can't get to, but that is not ideal at all. I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead and buy a squirrel proof feeder, because I'll almost certainly have to buy another hook to hang it from as well.

The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don't have to explain things with words. ~Elliott Erwitt

We've been enjoying the neighborhood pool with our granddaughter.

One of the best ways to make yourself happy in the present is to recall happy times from the past. Photos are a great memory-prompt, and because we tend to take photos of happy occasions, they weight our memories to the good. ~Gretchen Rubin

I started a part time job. My office needs some personalization, I think.

The town has a free summer movie series at the amphitheater. My husband and I attended the showing of Top Gun and it was a fun night out. We're hoping to get to one or two of the family movies coming up as well.

We bought a new-to-us car so of course I had to take some pictures. Yes, it's the same model and color as our other car but a different year, and not only that, but it's exactly the same car as we left in Maryland. When we find a car we like, I guess we stick with it!

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment. ~Ansel Adams

The biggest cliche in photography is sunrise and sunset. ~Catherine Opie

That may be true, but most of us are still compelled to take those photos. I know I can't help myself; when I see a pretty sunset I want to try to capture a little bit of it with a photo.

Wednesday Quotes is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This post will be linked at #WQ #30: Writer's Choice/Double Dips

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