Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Colorful Hodgepodge

January is rolling right along, which means it's time for another edition of the Hodgepodge. Please only link here on Wednesdays if you've answered the questions. Thanks! Also, there are not a lot of rules associated with this meme, but I do ask if you link your answers that you take a minute to visit the blogger who linked before you. Everybody needs somebody, right? Here we go-


1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

I ran into my daughter2 in the grocery store on Sunday afternoon, and couldn't stop smiling. Quite often it really is the little things. 

2.  Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colorful places on earth are:

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, india~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.

Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or traveled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colorful?

If you didn't click on the link to see the pretty pictures you should! So many colorful little towns and villages around the world. When I read questions like this one, where I have to choose a single fabulous destination, I'm always torn between re-visiting a country I know and love (Italy! France!) or opting for a new and different locale. In this case I'm going with Vernazza because Italy. 

In thinking about colorful spots I've been fortunate to see in my life and travels, several places came to mind.  Three off the top of my head would be:

 Rapeseed in bloom, as far as the eye can see-UK

The Christmas Market in Strasbourg France


 Shanghai, China...definitely one of the most interesting and colorful cities on planet Earth

3. "Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

I think there's some truth in the saying, but hesitate to use the word everything. Sometimes what I want is on the other side of laziness. ahem. 

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

I hope there's a perfectly torched creme brulee headed my way. The kind where you very gently tap the topping with a spoon, and it just barely crackles. 

Regarding desert and dessert-I don't struggle with that particular pair of words because I fall back on an old childhood trick known as sweet sugar. A sure way to remember the double s belongs in dessert. 

5.  What song almost always makes you cry?

The Star Spangled Banner, when sung well, can easily make me cry. The same is true of a beautiful rendition of How Great Thou Art. And if Garth Brooks song The Dance comes on the radio I almost always change the station. Cannot.handle.it. 

6.  January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup, thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain.

We're building a house from start to finish so 'from soup to nuts' seems fitting. 
Especially the nuts part! 

7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say.

Be brave. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

If you've never listened to Shane and Shane's Psalm2 I highly recommend. I might be wrong in saying this, but I don't think it's available in CD format, strictly a download via iTunes. Maybe I'm the only one out there still buying actual CD's-ha! Everything is downloaded or streamed or some such nonsense now. I'm not quite there. 

Anyway...about the 'CD'... I'm obsessed. If you're looking for soul-soothing music, uplifting, encouraging, and beautifully written lyrics check it out. There are 12 songs on the playlist? and I wanted to link to my favorite, but couldn't decide which one that would be. Here's one of my favorites~Better Than Life-



Enjoy your Wednesday all! 



33 comments:

  1. Love the song...
    I use to tell my 8th grade English class-dessert is something sweet-a little tidbit to remember. Hope to travel to Italy one day.

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  2. Good Morning, Joyce..as usual, I enjoyed your questions and your answers. Have a beautiful day.

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  3. I do agree on the laziness part, when it comes to me. Love the song! Hope your house is coming along well. Have a great week!

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  4. Beautiful travel pictures! I am not well traveled, but hope when I retire I can fix that problem. I am with you on the little things. My kids are too far away to see in the store, so a call or text has to work for me. I will have to check out Shane and Shane- My random thought was about the song "Out of my Mind" by Anthem Lights. Have a toad-ally awesome week. Thanks for some great questions!

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  5. Good crying songs! Great Is Thy Faithfulness is a good one too!
    That's funny you ran into your daughter at the store! We had a similar experience over the holidays, Honey pulled into a parking spot and said he was parking right next to the Mousey car and it WAS her car! We did see her in the store but probably because I texted her that we were there too!!
    Soup to nuts is very fitting for you at this juncture!

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  6. I always remember desserts as an anagram of stressed. Can't think why I link the two ;) Couldn't get your video to play. :(

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    1. It seems to be working if you want to try again : )

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  7. The photos are amazing. Shanghai must be among the most colorful. Wow! How Great Thou Art was my second pick. After years, I'm finally to the point where I can sing the third verse without crying. Have a wonderful week, Joyce. Thanks for hosting.

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  8. Yes, building a house definitely qualifies as everything from soup to nuts! I almost selected "be brave" myself. I then supposed that it might frighten the younger set. I also enjoy running into my daughter at the grocery store and my husband enjoys running into her at the transfer station. I will happily be visiting a number of the participants. I enjoy reading The Hodge Podge.

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  9. You have been so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to such interesting and colorful places. I'm with you on the Star-Spangled Banner and The Dance...definitely tear-jerkers!

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  10. First of all, thanks for hosting another great Hodgepodge! I forgot to say that in my post :)
    I love your colorful pictures. What a blessed life you've led!
    I agree, the song, The Dance, is a sad one, but I think "When I'm Gone" is the saddest song/video I've ever heard.
    I hope the house building is steadily progressing :)
    Kathy (from Reflections)

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  11. That is a beautiful song! I went to Amazon to see if there is a CD and there is not. Fiddlesticks - yes, I still buy CDs. Thank you for this week's Hodgepodge, Joyce. Always fun.

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  12. That is so sweet running into you daughter. I did click and I want to see all of them! Yes the Star Spangled Banner brings tears to my eyes too and also young children in school/church up on stage singing. The song is beautiful, thank you for sharing. I still like to buy CD's. I do buy songs on my phone from Amazon, I can stream things but still like the old fashioned way.

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  13. I can see how bumping into your daughter in the grocery store would make your day :) Those little tricks for remembering different spelling and grammar rules really work. I remember quite a few! Thanks for another week of Hodgepodge.

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  14. I love your pictures. I could stare at all the red for hours.

    I hope your home journey is at least going at a constant pace.

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  15. Thanks for hosting again this week! The Star Spangled Banner is so beautiful when sang well.

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  16. Yes, I picked the Star Spangled Banner as well. One time at a ball game a young girl sang it. I have no idea why, but when a young person sings it, I seem to cry even more.

    I love that you bumped into your daughter in the grocery.
    Thank you for another Hodgepodge :-)
    Carla

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  17. Yes to Creme Brulee - always order it if it's on the menu! My song is Amy Grant singing Breath of Heaven. Good questions :-)

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  18. Running into my daughter at the grocery store would thrill me but I think I can count on that never happening, lol. Your right though, it's very often the simple things. I finally jumped back on the hodgepodge today. I enjoyed it as always! Thank you for hosting this fun, fun pastime Enjoy your day!

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  19. How funny that you said building a house as your "from soup to nuts." For sure!!! Love this song and don't think I've heard it and I can't believe that but will go and add it to my music stream. Happy Wednesday!

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  20. Such beautiful pictures you posted!! Love all the red.

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  21. Oh yes, crème brulee, I agree!! I plan to come back and listen to Psalma 63...right after lunch!!

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  22. I can imagine the delight in running into your daughter unexpectedly. After all those years of being apart, how special is it to live so close that that can happen. I am listening to the music as I type. I've never heard it, but am enjoying it. Thanks for sharing. Read where you will be going to San Fran this year. You will enjoy it and make sure to take Hwy 1 along the coast and all the little stops along the way.

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  23. I agree with your answer for #3. Along with fear, laziness can keep us from a good bit of what we want. We just have to want it enough to set aside the fear or laziness.

    I like your memory helper for "dessert"!

    Have a great evening. :)

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  24. PS Have you heard "How Great Thou Art" by Jim "Big Chief" Wetherington? He was the bass singer for The Statesmen Quartet for about 24 years. He died the year that I turned 8 years old. We discovered the Statesmen's music about a month, maybe 2 months, ago. They are great! He is an awesome bass. One of their tenors, Denver Crumpler, is awesome, too! They changed people over the years. Their best line up in our opinion was: Denver Crumpler (lyric tenor), Jake Hess (lead), Doy Ott (baritone), and Big Chief Wetherington (bass). Sorry to go on like that. I just had to share them with you. :)

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  25. How weird is it that we have the same 2 words? I never read anyone's answers before I write mine, which makes it more weird!

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  26. Loved your photographs... beautiful! When my mom was ill last year my sister bought my sisters and daughter and mom bracelets that said "be brave". I've worn mine every day since.

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  27. What a blessing to live where you can occasionally run into one of your children at the grocery store. Very special.

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  28. Carrie Underwood sang a great rendition of How Great Thou Are with her Dad recently. I saw it on-line. Facebook I think. She's got an amazing voice! (Just some of her songs are...worldly for lack of a better word. LOL) China looks amazingly colorful, but it's never been a place I long to see. Too many people! I'm not a city girl! LOL

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  29. You and I picked the same two words to note to our younger self.
    Thank you for hosting. Happy New Year.

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  30. I still purchase CD's. I'm replacing my cassette tapes with their CD counterpart. I recently got three "Boston" and two "Kansas" CD's. They are now in my iTunes library. Have a great weekend!

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  31. I still buy CDs. I get confused with the whole streaming and download thing. I do have an iPad that I should utilize more.

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