Five Minute Friday - Copy

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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.

copy and paste

carbon copy

copycat

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Talk about mixed messages in today's world! We're told not to copy others, to be ourselves, and yet it seems that so many people are focused on 'getting the look' of their favorite influencer or celebrity. We say we believe in individualism and yet we want to look and act like we fit in.

I guess we need to be careful about how much we copy others, and what types of things we copy. Trying to be like those we admire and are worthy is fine, but trying to become more like Jesus is so much better. Living out what God has planned for us is far better than trying to copy someone else's life.

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

~Romans 12:2~

 

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I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes. ~Jimi Hendrix

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

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Monthly Musings - A Little Bit of Fall Fun

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Monthly Musings questions again! Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good Better Best co-host this monthly sharing of tips, tricks, and conversation starters. Honestly, I don't know what I'm thinking writing this post, because I have a ton of stuff to do before we leave on vacation. I guess I'm thinking I will give short answers and skip some of the questions?! 

1. Favorite fall traditions - The best fall tradition is Thanksgiving! On both the Canadian and American dates. For the past several years I've said that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, ranking above Christmas, because it's just one day (or maybe weekend) and it's all about family and friends and food. Spending time together, and without the pressure to attend all the parties and events or to buy gifts for everyone. 

2. How do you celebrate Halloween? We really don't celebrate it, and honestly don't pay much attention. Our church in Maryland has had a huge Trunk or Treat event for many years and we made a point of decking out our vehicles and dressing up to participate in that every year that we could. I suppose I'll need to find out what happens for trick or treating in the community here so we know what to expect. A few years ago, I went with my daughter to a Twenty One Pilots concert on October 31st, which was pretty wild, but that is definitely not an annual Halloween event! 

3. Favorite fall recipes - please share links - I had to step away and think about this one for a minute because I don't have recipes handy for sharing. Fall foods I think of are soups, chili, roasted root vegetables, and all things apple and pumpkin. Also bread. Homemade bread is probably the best in fall. One of my favorites is Challah and here's the link to an old post on my homeschool blog where I shared my recipe: From the High School Lesson Book: Rosh Hashanah

In another post from the Homeschool blog archives, I shared a couple of Thanksgiving feast recipes that we like, Pineapple Casserole (a cheesy but sweet side dish) and Cranberry Crumble (perfect dessert to use up the extra cranberry sauce): 52 Lists #46 - Thanksgiving Menu

4. Favorite fall fashion pieces. I haven't got anything in particular that's a favorite, but I do like flannels and cardigans. I love boots too, but to be honest I havent worn boots in several years!

5. How do you decorate for fall? I'm not sure how much decorating I'll do here. I didn't bring much seasonal decor with me and don't want to spend much money. I picked up a Thanksgiving type table runner and will get a fall wreath or planter for the door, but other than that I haven't got any definite plans. Lots I'd like to do, but I don't have the time to put into it. I did more decorating in Maryland - candles, harvest themed items and some Halloween items. My daughter really likes Halloween so she covered that angle!

6. Pumpkin spice? Oh yes or over it? Okay, I do not care for pumpkin spice lattes. Just don't. Now a pumpkin spice chai is a different story. But in general, pumpkin spice is for pumpkin pie and for candle scents, in my opinion.

7. Thoughts on candy corn? It's not the grossest candy out there but it's just not good.

8. Favorite fall/ Halloween movie? Hmmm. Disney's Haunted Mansion, I guess? The one with Eddie Murphy. That's the only Halloween movie I can think of that's not a horror film and I absolutely do not do horror films.

9. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, or cider donuts? Bring me all the pumpkin pie! I love it!

10. Bonfire, hayride, or haunted house? Bonfires! I don't mind hayrides, but I wouldn't choose that unless it was to take my granddaughter.

I'm linking up with Monthly Musings hosted by Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good Better Best.

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 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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What's Up Wednesday - September 2023

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On the last Wednesday of each month, Shaeffer & Shay host a link-up to talk a bit about what's going on in our worlds - food, entertainment, plans, fashion, work, whatever - in the What's Up Wednesday linky party. I almost forgot entirely this month! Hey, it's a busy week - what can I say?

What We're Eating This Week . . . We had pesto chicken on Monday and Italian sub wraps on Tuesday. Tonight was Dinner + Discipleship at church, with Johnny Marzetti on the menu so it was our carb cheat night! Tomorrow will be leftovers so that hopefully I can leave the fridge relatively empty and not come home next week to nasty stuff.

What I'm Reminiscing About . . . I had a conversation a few days ago with a new friend at church and we both shared sort of an abridged version of how we wound up attending this church. So that got me reminiscing a bit about the churches we've attended in the past and all the experiences we've had. Mostly very positive, but there were some truly awful things that happened many years ago, and I think that in both of those situations, we came out better and wiser and with a stronger faith. It's been a long time, but I hope that remembering how God led us through those things helps me be more sensitive to the possibility that others carry those kinds of hidden scars too. 

What I'm Loving . . . The leaves are changing color. The nights are cooler. All the fall things. 

What We've Been Up To . . . We went to Ontario for a few days earlier this month. Sadly, my father-in-law had been hospitalized and the outlook was not good, so we made a quick trip up so my husband and his sister could visit their dad. He passed away the day after we got home so our trip was well-timed and we're grateful. 

This past weekend we finally got ourselves together to visit Franklin Park Convservatory again. It was free for Dawes Arboretum members during September so we had to make sure to take advantage of that! It was a beautiful day and we so enjoyed seeing the conservatory with autumn colors for the first time. 

What I'm Dreading . . . I'm so not looking forward to that little window of time when traveling in which I worry about packing everything, and checking in with the airline, and hoping that everything is in order with my tickets, and that we don't have any issues going through customs, and just all the things that can be fretted about. I'm not really a worrier, but I do have those pockets of stress leading up to a trip. Especially since we haven't done much traveling the last several years!

What I'm Working On . . . getting packed and prepared for the Alberta trip in just a couple of days! And gathering stuff and information so I can also prepare for the Sweet Adelines trip in about a month.

What I'm Excited About . . . seeing my family again! Connecting with a few friends from way back when I was teenager! Visiting Calgary and Banff again!

What I'm Watching/Reading . . . Not watching anything recently, other than the occasional few minutes of video on Rumble or YouTube. I'm still in a bit of a reading slump but I'm pretty invested in the one book that I'm working on right now. I'm trying to stick to just one book at a time for a little while and see if that helps me get motivated.

For all the details on what I'm reading, see my book blog at Just A Second.

I'm currently working on:

The Starlet Spy by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Recently completed:

Composition As Conversation by Heather M. Hoover

Up next:

A Louisiana Christmas To Remember - novella collection

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright

What I'm Listening To . . . right now I can hear Only Murders In The Building which my husband is watching in the other room. It's such a clever show I wish I'd sat down to watch the whole thing. 

What I'm Wearing . . . it's not quite sweater weather yet, so I'm sticking with t-shirts and jeans. I suspect it will be considerably cooler, at least in the evenings, in Calgary, so I suppose I'd better pack a sweater or two! I just earned my Columbus Coffee Trail t-shirt and it's pretty nice. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend . . . I'm leaving . . . on a jet plane . . ! This weekend my husband and I are headed to Calgary for a long-overdue visit to my family. We will be having a small party for my parents on Saturday, to celebrate their 60th anniversary!

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month . . . Most of the vacation falls during next month, so definitely I'm looking forward to that! Some of the things I'm looking forward to when we get back include attending a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game, celebrating our son's birthday, and celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving.

What Else Is New . . . I've taught a couple of weeks at co-op class (virtually!) and I think it's going well. I enjoy doing it but I'm still not into the routine of prepping for the class and have to remind myself to get it done. In fact, I'm going to do a little bit of that right now, as we have class in the morning!

What's up in your world this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

This post is linked at What's Up Wednesday for September, with Sheaffer & Shay.

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 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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Wednesday Hodgepodge - Thoughts As We Welcome Fall

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A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. It's officially fall y'all. In the northern hemisphere anyway. Any signs of it where you are? What's your favorite thing about this time of year?

Yes, we're starting to see the leaves turn here, and the weather is cooling. Even when the days are warm and sunny, it's considerably cooler at night. And if you missed those signals outdoors, every store you walk into is full of fall and Halloween themed stuff, and everything is pumpkin spice or apple cider flavored! I'm obviously a coffee lover, and stop at Starbucks on the regular, but I don't like pumpkin spice latte, just for the record. 

My favorite aspect of fall is the colorful leaves. Especially against a beautiful blue sky. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the skies are so incredibly blue on clear days in September and October.  

2. Have you visited any 'falls' in person? Tell us about one of your favorites. Of the following top ten famous falls, which would you most like to see in person -

Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia), Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Niagara Falls (US/Canada), Angel Falls (Venezuela), Yosemite Falls (California), Dettifoss (Iceland), Kaieteur Falls (Guyana), Plitvice Waterfalls (Croatia), Gullfoss-Golden Falls (Iceland), or Sutherland Falls (New Zealand)

I've visited a lot of waterfalls and love them all. Picking favorites is almost impossible! Anywhere in the mountains there are waterfalls big and small. What the smaller ones have going for them is that there are fewer people around, because as much as I love Niagara Falls, for example, you always have to compete with thousands of others to see them and especially to take photos. Same at Bow Falls in Banff, Alberta to a lesser degree. So many tourists. Other memorable falls I can remember visiting (and can remember the names!) are Great Falls of the Potomac, Cunningham Falls (near Thurmont, MD, and very close to where we lived), Blackwater Falls in WV, and Puhlapanzak Falls in Honduras.  

Great Falls of the Potomac

Blackwater Falls, WV

Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

Otter Lake Waterfalls on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Crabtree Falls
on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I've visited Niagara Falls many times (photo dump follows!), but haven't seen any of the others on the top ten list. I have long wanted to visit Iguazu Falls, but I think I'd pick the falls in Iceland from the list as my most wanted. Yes, it's kind of cheating since there's two on the list! But I really want to visit Iceland anyway, because there's so much to see there, and I think it would be the best bang for my buck!

3. What's something you'll miss about summer?

 The color green. And not ever having to worry about taking a jacket along when we went out for the day.

4. A favorite fall recipe?

 Nothing is coming to mind as far as a recipe, and I'm pretty much out of time for this morning. Fall is a good time to make hearty chili and soup, and we usually do deep fried turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving so those are the foods I associate with the season.

5. Something you enjoy but lately have allowed it to 'fall by the wayside'?

 

I know I've mentioned this a few times in blog posts recently―reading. I've been in a bit of a slump where I don't feel like I have time to devote to reading or I'm just not that motivated to read. I've got lots of good books and they're interesting, so it's not that the material isn't capturing my attention. I'm not really sure what to blame other than being busy and distracted.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are just a couple of days away from our first trip to Alberta in ten years! We'll be celebrating my parents' 60th anniversary, and will get to visit family members and friends we haven't seen in many years. And I'm absolutely planning a day at Banff, which will include Bow Falls, in keeping with the theme of the Hodgepodge questions!

Which waterfalls have you visited or would you like to visit? Or what do you love most about fall?Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.