A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Everyday Images #23

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Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I went through past photo challenges and came up with a list of prompts at the beginning of the year and am trying to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week. These were the prompts I assigned myself for the past couple weeks:

November/December Prompts - Everyday Images #23

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same spot (monthly)

sunrise and/or sunset

window view (quarterly)

food

silver

sweet

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same spot (monthly) - in transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas theme

sunrise and/or sunset - Believe it or not, on any day that I was outside and would have been able to take a photo of either sunrise or sunset, it was cloudy and there really wasn't much to see. Or I was driving. Actually, I was in the car when I took this one (hubby was driving!) and it is the only sunset or sunrise photo I've taken in the past two weeks. Crazy, right?

window view (quarterly) - I decided to get a view of the window itself this time around. Partly because the view outside doesn't change much, to be honest, and the inside did change when we moved furniture around a little to make room for the Christmas tree. If you look closely, you can even see my reflection.

food - Also, my photo for this prompt is pretty much the window view! I never took a photo of our Thanksgiving dinner, but I finally remembered to feed the birds, so I hope they haven't given up on me.

silver - personally, I like the glitter added to the poinsettias!

sweet - This face is about the sweetest one I know!

And a few bonus photos:

Thanksgiving weekend fun with the family . . .

A hockey game to celebrate a birthday . . .

Scioto Valley Chorus sang Christmas music at Franklin Park Conservatory . . .

. . . and at a Cookie Walk . . .

Barbershop! (📷cred: Gretchen)

(📷cred: Gretchen)

and sorting out the cookie haul!

The tree is up but not completely decorated yet - I'm working on it!

I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, 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.

December Prompts - Everyday Images #24

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house (quarterly)

lights

tree

sparkle

plant (quarterly)

workspace (quarterly)

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This post will be linked at Pictorial Tuesday, hosted by Peabea Scribbles.

Pictorial Tuesday

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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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Monday, December 4, 2023

WQ - Getting Creative

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It's Monday of the following week, but I've got a little something to add to last week's Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write.

I wasn't sure I was going to come up with something creative to share for this week's prompt, at least not in time! But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share some holiday themed creativity, and then one of the quotes I found took me down a slightly different memory lane.

Creativity is intelligence having fun. ~Albert Einstein

This graphic about your brain on piano will likely not show up large enough for you to read that tiny font, so I'll summarize. When you play piano, your brain is managing all the following functions: visually reading two lines of music on different clefs; listening and adjusting playing as needed; both hands playing different notes and rhythms, and often using all ten fingers; synthesizing motor activity to "keep time"; spatial awareness to be able to play without looking at where hands are on the keyboard; one or both feet using the pedals as needed; and of course, the creative artistic interpretation. As the graphic states, it's a total brain workout, using up to nine areas of the brain! Creative intelligence for sure.

I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning . . . Every day I find something creative to do with my life. ~Miles Davis

My daughter's creative use of an old record

I often think of creativity in terms of visual art like drawing or painting, but there are many ways to express creativity. I do play piano, and I sing. I don't write stories or poetry, but I have really enjoyed teaching creative writing at a homeschool co-op. Even writing for a personal blog is an expression of creativity. I can follow directions to create visual art, and I also think there's creativity involved in decorating for the holidays! After all, there are so many color combinations and themes and styles, and we all have our own ideas of how the tree should be trimmed or how the lights should be set up.

Singing creative barbershop arrangements of
Christmas carols this past weekend

The above is my latest "follow directions" creative work! Amazing what an artistically challenged person can do when given stencils and good instructions!

The holiday paint projects below are all the result of "paint parties" where someone with actual artistic skill teaches an art class for a couple hours. We could choose the colors we wanted to use and we each had different interpretations, as you can see in the two Santas, which show how my daughter and I followed the same directions but created slightly different paintings.

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. ~Erich Fromm

To stimulate creativity one must develop childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition. ~Albert Einstein

Here's the quote that took me that different direction:

Creative without strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.' ~Jef I. Richards

I thought about some of the most memorable ad campaigns and commercial jingles I've seen and heard over the years, and had to agree! Those creative slogans, songs, and visuals are the ones that stick in our minds and are easy to associate with the product or idea being promoted. I decided to show a few photos from our visit to the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati a couple years ago, because there was definitely some creativity at work in the visuals used to advertise places and products!

Wednesday Quotes is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This post will be linked at #WQ #48: Creative

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Sunday, December 3, 2023

Scripture and a Snapshot - A Living Hope (Advent I)

"Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD. "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you."

~Zechariah 2:10-11~

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of great worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

~I Peter 1:3-9~

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, and at Selah hosted by A Spirit of Simplicity.

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Friday, December 1, 2023

Five Minute Friday - Left

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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.

all that's left

left behind

leftovers

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Some people love eating leftovers and others don't. My kids were never big fans of leftovers, at least not when they were young, so it the extra servings of dinner sometimes sat in the fridge until they weren't fit to eat any more. My husband gladly took leftovers for his lunch at work. I'm kind of in the middle, not caring for some foods when they're reheated but other foods are actually better on the second day in my opinion.

I've gotten better at planning how many servings of a meal to make, so that's there's plenty to satisfy us when we sit down to dinner, and only enough left over for a lunch or two. I've also learned to properly label the leftovers that I put in the fridge so we know what's in the container and how long it's been there! But I still don't like clearing up after a meal and dealing with the food that's left, and the cleanup of the dishes and mess.

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving, and I think most in our family actually looked forward to eating the leftover turkey dinner over the next couple of days. We prepared plenty of food in anticipation of enjoying what was left! I suspect the same will happen during the Christmas holiday season, for our family and for others. And while we could turn up our noses at reheated mashed potatoes or turkey sandwiches, perhaps the fact that we have leftovers should remind us how blessed we are to have plenty.

Bein' rich is having leftovers. Good leftovers make yo' tongue fly outta yo' mouth and smack yo' brains out. ~Paula Deen

It's not leftovers that are wasteful, but those who either don't know what to do with them or can't be bothered. ~Julian Baggini

We celebrate abundance and generosity all the through the holiday season, and maybe our attitude towards how we use our abundance needs an adjustment. Mine does. Why would I complain about having leftover food when others don't have enough? What about all the spending and gift giving during the holidays? Are we spending on ourselves and having little left to share with others? Are we overspending so that all we have left is debt? Are we throwing all our time and energy into what we want and have little left to give to our loved ones? And are we giving God only a little sliver of whatever we have left instead of offering him the first and best in gratitude? After all, God is the Provider of all our resources and the Giver of all our blessings and abundance.

God doesn't want your leftovers. God wants your love overtures, your first-overs, because He is your first love. ~Ann Voskamp

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

~John 6:11-13~

After miraculously providing a satisfying meal for many thousands out of one boy's leftover lunch, there was abundant provision left over for the days ahead! Jesus didn't want them to waste what was left. He provides plenty and wants us to wisely steward what we have been given.

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

~II Corinthians 9:7-8~

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Leftovers make you feel good twice. First, when you put it away, you feel thrifty and intelligent: 'I'm saving food!' Then a month later when blue hair is growing out of the ham, and you throw it away, you feel really intelligent: 'I'm saving my life!' ~George Carlin

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

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