Hey, You Guys!

Hello!  And, Happy August (what's left of it)!

My boyfriend and I got to spend some time together in a romantic get-a-away back in July and beat the Colorado heat.  We stayed at an Air B&B in Sunnyside, Portland Oregon.  We packed in SO much in the 5 days we were in Oregon that it seemed like 2 weeks.  One of the most memorable parts of the trip was our day trip to the coast to spend the day in Astoria Oregon.  I've waited my whole life to visit the Oregon coast, so bucket list checked!

Astoria, Oregon was the setting for where a lot of my favorite childhood movies were filmed!  Such as, Goonies (hence the title of this blog), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kindergarten Cop, Short Circuit, The Ring, Stand By Me, and Free Willy.  Which leads me into some theme music for this post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMydOQEqhqE (such an epic MJ song).

Is this not the most adorable retired Merchant Marine??

Angora bunny wabbit!

When we first arrived in Astoria we took a walk to the piers and the trollytrack along the water before deciding to walk through the local farmer's market.  This is one of the best farmer's markets I have attended, and living in Colorado, I've been to the greatest!  I bought an Astoria, Oregon ringer shirt in the font of the Goonies movie.  It's the softest and I've already worn it 100 times.  We bought some farm fresh eggs, which would later make some of the best omelets we've ever had.  And, we met the cutest retired merchant sailor/author and bought one of his many books for 25% off his Amazon pricing.  My boyfriend was enthralled with the book on the flight home so it was one of the best $10 I've spent!  And, we got a bag of cinnamon glazed cashews that were out of this world!  We ended our shopping excursion at a hotel on the pier that had some Adirondack chairs and we rested and took in some salty ocean air.  Here are a few pics of our market adventures.

Ukuleles made of cigar boxes

Last known siting of my water bottle, a very expensive hydro flask!

We took a short hike to the top of a cliff which overlooked the naughtiest view of the Oregon coast.  We saw one of many lovely lighthouses located 1.2 miles offshore and nicknamed "Terrible Tilly" due to its exposure to the merciless ocean.  The lighthouse is since been retired and closed off to the public since it's now privately owned.  Terrible Tilly now serves as a columbarium, which is a storage house for the ashes of the deceased!

Next we mozied down to the beach which did not disappoint.  The weather was perrrrfect - a light jacket was nice.  Kids were flying kites, and I grounded my feet in the sand and felt immediate peace.  There were these huge rocks that looked like islands.  A local seabird called Puffins inhabitated these large rocks.  The Tufted Puffins feed their ravenous chicks with a beak full of anchovies.  We sat and watched the Puffins and the tide roll in and out.  We made some sand art and played soccer.  I found the bluest shell and tucked it away in my pocket to make a necklace to always remember this day.  Playing on the beach makes one very hungry.  As my boyfriend and I got up from the towel I had laid down, we realized the wet sand had soaked through to his shorts and my denim mini skirt, so we looked like we were the Soggy Bottom Boys.  

The Puffins!

Next, we found this awesome restaurant called Wayfarer and sat on the back deck overlooking the beach and the ocean.  Seagulls flew all around us as we enjoyed great conversation, THE best clam chowder I've ever put in my mouth with fresh sour dough bread.  And, we washed it all down with a local refreshing blackberry cider.  My boyfriend and I BOTH left our water bottles at the restaurant.  Seriously we were that distracted by a wonderful time.  Also, check out the cool car of my dreams out front!

While driving down the coast, we pulled over on the side of the road to grab some more pictures of the ocean, and our friend flew his drone over the area and captured some really breathtaking videos.  It really makes me wanna invest in a drone for our camping ventures!

I was a wee bit disappointed I never saw a sea lion, and I suppose they were out fishing during the day and you either have to catch them at sunrise and sunset, perhaps.  All the more reason to visit this quaint lovely town again!  Astoria, you have my heart.  FYI, in the winter and Spring you can catch a glimpse the migrating gray whales!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and are enjoying a few adventures this summer yourself!

Love, 

Kimmie

Dealing with Difficult People

Dealing with Difficult People - 

They're everywhere!  You simply can't avoid them.  Don't try to change them, speaking from experience.  It'll be a huge waste of your time. 

Instead practice self-awareness and emotional intelligence daily to help you deal with difficult people.  There are mainly three things that affect your feelings about others:

• Temperament
• Personality
• Style

For me, it's mostly personality types that affect my feelings towards others, particularly difficult people.  So that’s what this article will mainly address.

There are mainly four personality types of Difficult People:

Dominant/Controlling Types - Act bold and assertive and can be bullies, often.

Analytical/Obsessive Types - Act very methodical and logical.  Are very detail oriented and often times "perfectionists"

Expressive/Impulsive Types - Act enthusiastic, optimistic, and social.  Can make very rash decisions without thinking things through or considering how their actions affect others.

Skeptical/Negative Types - Act like victims and seem to present a problem for every solution.  Complain and wine about everything and often times pull people down.

Dealing with difficult people takes practice, just like an other skill set!

1) Work on your own Perspective:

First acknowledge and accept that shitty people exist.  Also, realize that the way you are currently viewing or looking at a shitty person isn't the only way.  Stay calm and manage your emotions by maintaining an emotional distance and setting boundaries.  Examine your own temperament.  In other words, focus on solutions and how you can handle the difficult person better.

2) Manage Yourself and Know Your Triggers:

The opposite of managing yourself and your triggers are: INITMIDATION, ANNOYED, FRUSTRATED!

So, slowww down and take notes of self.  Ask yourself, "Why am I responding this way to this person?"  Examine those feelings without judgement.  Now, you can create a space to move from reactive to a more thoughtful reasonable response.  Unmanaged emotions can cause negative self-talk, can be defeating, and worse yet, cause stress.  Stress kills!

Self-awareness:

Emotional fitness includes self awareness of how you respond to difficult people.  Time your day for reflection and meditation.  Transform negative and toxic reactions into productive outcomes.  Name the emotion you are feeling without any reacting to it or judging yoruself.  Stay in the present and in control.  These skills can cleanse you to become more creative, positive, productive, and successful!

3) Work on your Meditative Approach -

Self management skills are everything!  Work on calming and meditative techniques.  It's easier to guide feelings towards a relaxed state than come down from an emotional breakdown.  How can you quickly recover when you realize you've allowed yourself to be emotionally hijacked?  Calm breathing is key.  Practice muscle relaxation.  And, work on visualitzation.

4) Self Management:

Practicing your thinking techniques will strengthen your emotional intelligence.  Mainly, you avoid acting on raw emotion.  First, change your self-talk.  Self talk happens 24/7, even when you don't even realize it.  How can you correct negative self talk?  First, become aware of the negative self talk, and then talk BACK to your negative self talk.

In order to practice self managmeent, work on goal intentions every single day.  Set goals while using intentions.

Use logic to reframe, recalibrate, and neutralize negative emotions.

Rememeber practice makes perfect.  These are skills well worth investing in.  I hope these tips helped!

Have a lovely weekend!

Kimmie