Life at a "Swell's" pace

Five Simple Things (December 30)

Hello.

Here are five things this week.

1. These Cookies.

2. These Guys.

They are always a lot of fun!

3. This Wind.

The weather here has been pretty rough here lately. This week, three nights in a row, we've had some intense winds and rain. These are pictures over those three days. Today the streets aren't as flooded and things seem to be calming down. We've had such unusual weather here in the Willamette Valley.

4. This Box.

Always love receiving my monthly Kiwi Eco Box and this month was no different. Such great earth-friendly items that help with making our house more sustainable. We absolutely loved the Murphy's Mellows Smore's in a Jar dessert. They are based in Austin, Texas, and we have already placed another order with them to try their other desserts.

5. This Sunset.

Love the west coast sunsets. While the rest of the nation has already been in the dark, we are still watching the sun go down here and it's lovely.

One last thing:

Where we live we've had someone hit one of our cars at least eight times. This last one was the neighbor's brother backing out of their driveway and backing right into our Compass. It was about $1,600 worth of damage and his dad settled with us without involving insurance. Skylar working at AutoZone, he was able to order the parts and he and Jeff did all the work themselves. I think they did a fine job and overall, it was a lot better than waiting six months to get into a car repair shop, too. Hopefully, we'll get a bit of a break before someone else hits one of our vehicles again.

Positive affirmations this week:

Going into the new year remember it's okay to let go, but wanting what's best for that person you let go is not only best for them, but good for you, too. You can do this!

Have a nice weekend and Happy New Year, from our little corner of the world to yours!

Salem Holiday Lights

Riverfront Park in Salem puts on, yet another great holiday lights display this year. City of Salem Parks Operations personnel place random holiday displays around the park with more than 4,000 individual LED lights. We missed the previous ones, but this year we decided to make time for them. There was quite a lot this year and the displays were placed all along the river side and along Riverfront Park. We spent a couple of hours walking through all of the lights and had a great time enjoying the park alone. There were a few people leaving when we arrived, and when the rain started most of them had left. Even though it was raining, we had a great time.

Christmas (2022)

Our Christmas this year was great, especially since we got a few things that Skylar has been wanting. We drove up to Salem in the pouring rain, while Skylar was at work and got him the drone he has been eyeing for awhile. We also created quite a great meal and had a really nice, quiet holiday at home. I enjoy the holidays more when they are calm and quiet and not a lot of people coming and going. Christmas night we spent laying in the front room watching some Christmas classics and talking about what the holidays mean to us. It was perfect.

This plate has always been our Santa cookie plate. I received it as a gift from my Nana in 2003, the year that Skylar was born. I've used it ever since. It's a small piece of her that helps keep her memory alive during the holidays. There are other items that she gave me that I still use to this day. I hope she's looking down on us and proud of the people we've become.

Our house during the day...

Our house during the night...

This year's Christmas tree ornaments we've added to our collection. All four of these ornaments are from Macy's and I just love how their collection changes every year. I get to add some really amazing ones to the tree each December.