A Fresh Cup of Coffee: July 2025

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

WQ - Choosing Adventure

No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time. ~Lewis Carroll

It simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons. ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Not long ago, one of the questions in a Wednesday Hodgepodge was about how we define adventure. This is how I answered:

Doing something new that involves stepping out of a comfort zone or taking a risk. It's the things you see in wilderness survival stories, but I think that anything that stretches you or challenges you can be viewed as an adventure too. Going away to college, getting married, becoming a parent, launching a new career or venture, moving to a new place . . . all of these are adventures I've been on, and I think retirement is one of the adventures still awaiting me.

Also, it's much more positive to frame a big or scary change in your life as an "adventure" instead of a "crisis".

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure. ~William Feather

We often compare life to a journey, so it follows that we can choose to find adventure as we travel. While it's probably not a good idea to constantly go from one dangerous or threatening situation to another, it's also boring and unhealthy to never try anything new. We must sometimes take risks in order to learn new things, meet the challenges of life, and achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore. ~Andre Gide

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The great achievements of the past were the adventures of the past. Only the adventurous can understand the greatness of the past. ~Alfred North Whitehead

I don't want an uneventful and safe life, I prefer an adventurous one. ~Isabel Allende

My idea of what constitutes an adventure has changed over the years. When I was a kid, adventure seemed like something in storybooks or movies, and the adventures I actually went on were only epic in my imagination. Still, it was an adventure to explore interesting new places when my family went on vacation, to go to camp by myself for the first time, and even to learn new things at school. Even if I didn't recognize it at the time. As a teen and young adult the adventures included learning to drive, getting first jobs, making new friends, going away to college, and more. Not all of my adventures were wise choices, unfortunately, but they were learning experiences!

While at college, I began the adventure of a relationship with a young man that I eventually married. I went to live with his family for several months, and then once we were engaged, he moved with me back to my hometown and we planned our wedding. Getting married and striking out on our own was an adventure! Starting a family was definitely an adventure!

When we decided to put our names into the green card lottery, we were taking a chance on an adventure. My husband's name was drawn and thus began the adventure of finding a job in the USA and jumping through all the hoops of immigration. We moved across most of the continent and to a new country - that was an adventure! And more adventures followed as we added to our family, changed jobs, moved to a new state, homeschooled, traveled, found a new church, planted a church, and more. Many of the adventures we've had might not seem worthy of showing on a big screen or telling as a suspenseful novel that keeps you turning the pages. But they are adventures nonetheless.

Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle. ~Annie Besant

Life after 50 or 60 is itself another country, as different as adolescence is from childhood, or as adulthood is from adolescence - and just as adventurous. ~Gloria Steinem

What adventures have you been on in life? What adventures are you planning for the future? Leave a comment and let me know!

Life was a lot more adventurous before caller I.D. ~Mark Hart

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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me.

And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking.

~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2025 Themes

January 8 - Planning Ahead/Setting Goals

January 22 - Winter Sleep

February 5 - Love Inspires Us

February 19 - Staying Balanced

March 5 - First Impressions

March 19 - Looking After Yourself

April 2 - Competition

April 16 - Spring Colours

April 30 - Morning Routines

May 14 - Memorable Vacations

May 28 - Telling Your Stories

June 11 - Summer Fun

June 25 - Patriotism

July 9 - Hobbies

July 23 - Being Adventurous

August 6 - Spirituality

August 20 - Writing Letters

September 3 - Chocolate

September 17 - Making and Keeping Promises

October 1 - Autumn/Another Spring

October 15 - Daily Bread

October 29 - Night Skies/Stargazing

November 12 - Good Manners

November 26 - Celebrating Holidays

December 10 - Winter Wonderland

December 24 - Holiday Memories

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©2006-2025 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. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/

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Sunday, July 20, 2025

Scripture and a Snapshot - Our Refuge and Strength

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the LORD has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire.

He says, "Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

~Psalm 46~

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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Thursday, July 17, 2025

Everyday Images #66

Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week.

July Prompts - Everyday Images #66

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doorway (quarterly)

on my plate (quarterly)

on the road

glowing

hills

community

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doorway (quarterly)

on my plate (quarterly) - not the best photo, but my daughter requested za'atar bread when we visited in Maryland, so I took along some bread dough and baked it for her.

on the road - even though we went on a long weekend road trip, I failed to take any decent photos while traveling. So here's a low quality photo of the fireworks our Maryland neighbors had on the Fourth. We literally stood on the road to watch.

glowing - we were in a pet shop with the kids and Aubrey wanted to look at the fish. Aren't these neon colored fish cool?

hills - there was a really pretty hazy sunset on the Fourth, but I just couldn't get a good photo. The Catoctin Mountains are silhouetted in the distance though, so I'm counting those as hills.

community - we went to the free family movie night at the New Albany amphitheater. Great turnout from the community! I included a couple of extra photos here so they'd be in context.

And a few bonus photos:

I wondered if the fireflies would show up in a photo - they don't really.

Another beautiful night for baseball.

On Sunday we went for a drive, starting to scout out which nearby town or neighborhood looks like a good possibility for us to move to next summer. We stopped at this cute little pub for our dinner and played with AI while we waited for our food.

We had a couple of beautiful evenings for walking at Taylor Farm Park.

I am sharing my photos every other Thursday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

Everyday Images will continue in 2025, every other Thursday, and the link-up is open for two weeks.

August Prompts - Everyday Images #67

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at home (monthly)

station

selfie (quarterly)

beginning and/or end

pebbles

scenery

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Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Destination: Wednesday Hodgepodge

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. What's a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate.

Wow, there are so many to choose from. Hmm. One characteristic I admire and wish I was better at is being a sensitive and attentive listener. Those people that put others at ease; who are able to ask just the right questions, listen well, and graciously balance a conversation with just the right amount of give and take. I try to learn from the people I meet that have this ability, because although I *think* I listen well, I'm also a talker and I worry that I talk too much once I get started.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let's see it. Why is this one your favorite?

Do I have a favorite mug. 😆😆😆 I love coffee mugs. They are all my favorites. My favorite changes regularly so they all get a turn. My current favorite . . . I've been reaching for this one quite often recently. It's a Starbucks mug from the destinations series. I'm not sure at the moment whether I got this one when I went to Winnipeg in 2020 or on our more recent trip to Calgary in 2023. I like it because it reminds me of iconic things I like about Canada, and it's a nice big size so I can have one satisfying full mug of coffee instead of going back for seconds.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day . . . will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so, what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to 'accumulate'?

I'm writing this very late on the 15th and I did not give anything away today. I guess I should have planned better! I usually intend to give things away regularly, but I have trouble actually getting it done so things do accumulate. I'm overdue to list a collection of things in the Buy Nothing group but with this reminder, maybe I'll be able to give some things away on the weekend. I'll let you know!

4. You're planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 'off the grid' towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why.

Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Middlebury, Vermont; New Hope, Pennsylvania; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; Brevard, North Carolina; Saugatuck, Michigan; Medora, North Dakota; Ouray, Colorado; Lamoille, Nevada; Neah Bay, Washington; Hood River, Oregon; or Cambria, California.

I am actually planning a trip, so I can confidently say that I prefer smaller towns. Our upcoming trip will take us to the Deep Creek area of Maryland - fairly off the grid! Of the places listed . . . I've been to Rehoboth Beach and it is a nice place, much more peaceful and relaxed than Ocean City, but still a bit on the touristy side. We stayed in nearby Bethany Beach which is more homey in my opinion. I'm pretty sure I've driven through New Hope, probably a few times, but it was years ago when we lived in NJ so I don't remember anything about it. We've also driven through Brevard on vacation, though it wasn't a place we stayed overnight. I think I'd love a visit to any of these places, but if I won a vacation to my choice of these, I think Ouray would be my top pick. It's got hiking, mountains, hot springs, and interesting places to eat. Great combination!

5. Have you ever . . . ridden a motorcycle? been to a Disney park? met a celebrity? won a contest? Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list.

I have ridden a motorcycle, but not recently. I've been to Disney World a half dozen times or so. Depending on how you define celebrity, I've met a couple, though no one really big-name-famous. I think any contests I've won were pretty small beans too, so it looks like I will be elaborating a bit on our trips to Disney. The first time I went was with my hubby for our second anniversary. It was a big trip for us because we lived in Calgary at the time. After we moved to Maryland, we went to Florida with our kids several times, and Disney was the highlight. We went a couple times right at the beginning of December, when the parks had Christmas decorations but it was early enough that it wasn't busy. The Christmas parades were so fun! The most recent trip to Disney was just me and my husband and our daughter, who was just starting her senior year. It was so fun to go on rides and basically experience the parks as three adults who could act a bit childlike.

Disney World - December 2006

got our hot chocolates and we're ready for the parade

teacups in 2006

teacups in 2018

Rock n Roller Coaster in 2006

Rock n Roller Coaster in 2018

Disney World - September 2018

hubby (in blue shirt) got to be in the Indiana Jones stunt show!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Since I shared so many photos for #5, I'll keep my random thought really short - just my usual invitation to take part in one of the link-ups I host. Everyday Images is a place to share photos - the next link-up and set of prompts will open tomorrow (Thursday). And the current Wednesday Quotes link-up is here: WQ - Hobbies