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The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist

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The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist

  • ABOUT
  • TRAVEL

We’re Really Doing This!!! An Update on Our Epic European Adventure

So much of my mental bandwidth lately has been going into planning for Europe. While all the regular rhythms of daily life continue as usual, I feel like my brain is also subdivided—one part…

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  • Euro Adventure, Family, Planning
  • Jan, 26, 2026
  • 52 Comments

Five FIGs At the End of a Heavy Week

A quick reminder that one week from today—next Sunday, February 1—we’ll start tracking FIGs. For more information, here are all the details about our online gratitude crew.

The world has felt especially heavy…

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  • FIG Collective, Gratitude
  • Jan, 25, 2026
  • 46 Comments

Happy Things Friday: 23 January

Winter has arrived!

We had snow, snow, and more snow. (And then some rain!) The kids had a day off school on Monday and a delayed start on Tuesday. I got my cardio and…

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  • Happy Things Friday
  • Jan, 23, 2026
  • 48 Comments

Two Questions for Your Thursday (Inspired by James Clear)

Happy Thursday! Here are a few questions/thoughts I’ve been mulling over after a recent edition of James Clear’s newsletter.

A reader mentioned that she often feels overwhelmed because his newsletter always seems to leave…

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  • Personality Insights, Quotes, Reading
  • Jan, 22, 2026
  • 23 Comments

Christmas 2025 Debrief: What Worked and What I Want to Change for Next Year

Is it too late to post about Christmas? This is clearly a rhetorical question, since this is my blog and I get to choose what I post and I AM going to post about…

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  • Christmas, Holidays
  • Jan, 21, 2026
  • 25 Comments

Frugal Things Lately: 20 January 2026 Edition

Every few weeks, I scroll through my pictures (and my brain) to come up with some frugal wins. Here’s what I came up with this time:

Before my sister arrived, I needed to stock up…

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  • Frugality, Money
  • Jan, 20, 2026
  • 38 Comments

A Four-Day Family Visit to Nova Scotia: What We Did (and What We Ate)!

Every day I keep reaching for my phone to scroll through the photos of my sister’s visit! There’s something unique about hosting family that feels both wonderfully full and fleeting—especially when the visit is…

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  • Family, Nova Scotia, Travel
  • Jan, 19, 2026
  • 32 Comments
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Hi! I'm Elisabeth...

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