Share Four Somethings - November 2023

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 Hard to believe it's already time to share Something I Loved, Something I Read, Something I Learned and Something I Ate for the month of November. I guess it is a little earlier than usual, but still. It seems like the month has gone by quickly, and perhaps the fact that it's already been a year since we moved to Ohio adds to that impression. Thanksgiving is a good time to look back on the past year, and the past month, and remember how much we have to be thankful for. 

Something Loved

I loved attending and participating in the Sweet Adelines International Convention and Competition in Louisville, Kentucky to kick off the month! This was my first Sweet Adelines event, and it was a ton of fun! And my chorus, Scioto Valley, finished seventh in the world!

When I got back home, I loved being able to celebrate our granddaughter's birthday!

And this weekend, I'm loving the time with our Maryland family and celebrating Thanksgiving together! 

Something Read

I've been trying to read more lately, but I don't think I've picked up the pace very much. It's nearing the end of the year and although I didn't expect to be able to check all 52 books off The 52 Book Club's 2023 Challenge, but I hoped to do a little better. Looks like I'll end the year with 30 or so books, which isn't bad. all things considered. I most recently finished and reviewed Garden of the Midnights by Hannah Linder, which was book number 28 for the year.

Here are the books I'm currently reading:

Kingdom of Love by Tracie Peterson

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright

A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli

      

   

I've been hosting a monthly link-up for review posts which you can find here: The Book Review Bulletin. I don't think I'll continue in the New Year but in the meantime, 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

Well, let's see . . . I learned a lot of inside info at the Sweet Adelines Convention! All the ins and outs of the preparations and what happens backstage, a little about how the competitions are scored, and how much fun these events are. And very practically speaking, I learned how to wear false eyelashes for our performances! I had only worn them for Halloween costumes a couple times before so I had to learn how to put on nice ones for all-day wear and it was fine. Not that I have any plans to wear them on any kind of regular basis!

Something On My Plate

While in Louisville, I visited the restaurant at The Brown Hotel and tried their famous Kentucky Hot Brown. Delicious!

We found ready to cook shawarma chicken at a local supermarket and had to try it. It was very good and I'm still planning to make my own shawarma too.

One new recipe I tried this month was salmon baked with a brown sugar glaze and that was pretty good too.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with a deep fried turkey, corn pudding, glazed carrots, and all the other trimmings.

What's Been On My Calendar? #WBOYC

At the beginning of this month, I spent almost a week in Louisville at the Sweet Adelines Convention and Competition.

The last couple weeks we haven't had any big events on our calendar, just the usual work and church and chorus events, but we did have time to visit a couple more Metro parks.

The weather has been quite pleasant and not particularly cold yet, although we've had frost a few mornings. There were some rainy days but not many.

Last weekend was the tree lighting ceremony in our town, and we're celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, so now the holiday season has officially begun!

What's Coming Up Soon?

Obviously Christmas is coming and there are plenty of related events on the calendar. We haven't got the exact dates planned out for our Christmas vacation days, but we'll be planning the holiday with our family in Maryland. Before that though, I have three Scioto Valley Chorus Christmas performance events coming up, and I'm sure we'll do some other fun things in preparation for the big day. 

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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 ©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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WQ - Happy Thanksgiving!

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Every day is a day to be thankful. Life's abundance has no limit, and gratitude is what keeps that abundance flowing. In every circumstance there is something for which to be thankful. Even when there seems to be nothing else, there is hope. ~Ralph Marston

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth - Jennie Augusta Brownscombe [Public domain]

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, or that will be - That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks - for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country . . . - for the degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed - for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness . . . - for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for the great and various favors which h hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions . . . - To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science . . . and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. ~from President George Washington's proclomation of Thanksgiving

See more at: Happy Thanksgiving! (A History Lesson) on Homeschool Coffee Break

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. . . But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

~Deuteronomy 8:10-11, 18~

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ~William Arthur Ward

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

~II Corinthians 9:10-12

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John F. Kennedy

A Psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksigiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

~Psalm 100~

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

~Grandpa Jones

Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. ~Kevin James

Wednesday Quotes is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. Marsha is taking a break from hosting for a couple weeks, so although there's no link-up, this post is for #WQ #47: Thanksgiving/Gratitude

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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.

Everyday Images #22

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation.

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 Prompts - Everyday Images #22

~~~~~

spot in town (quarterly)

remember

scenery

books

selfie (quarterly)

far and/or near

~~~~~

spot in town (quarterly) - I made sure to take my Spot In Town photo on a sunny day this month! And I'm also including a bonus this time, because we attended the holiday tree lighting event on the weekend.

remember - There are a lot of memories associated with my quilts and pillow tops. For example, these were made by my aunts for my wedding.

scenery - 

books - You might be able to tell that I have some favorite authors.

selfie (quarterly) - I forgot about this and had to try to get a decent selfie when I was getting ready to go to work, thus the expression. Haha. I'm not particularly happy with it, but this is how I look!

far and/or near - This was harder than I thought it would be! How about two views of a leaf-covered path through the woods? Looking "far" down the path, and then looking at the leaves right "near" my feet.

And a few bonus photos:

At Homestead Metro Park

A rainy day in the neighborhood, but the autumn colors were still pretty.

We explored Three Creeks Metro Park on a sunny Saturday.

At the pond, we noticed that some unlucky fishermen had left some interesting holiday ornaments on the trees!

I guess it's time for Christmas. We went to our town's tree lighting so we've officially kicked off the season. 

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

November/December Prompts - Everyday Images #23

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same spot (monthly)

sunrise and/or sunset

window view (quarterly)

food

silver

sweet

~~~~~

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

Pictorial Tuesday

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

©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.