Hello Monday and a perfect winter day

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for this blog post. Before I get started, know that nothing life changing happened here over the weekend. Rather than bore you with details of a couple of days in which I didn't do all that much except for read books and binge watch shows, I thought I'd do something different. 

When I woke up Sunday morning, our world here was blanketed in white snow. It's always so beautiful! I love when it snows in small increments. Last year we had the giant snowmageddon of the year that lasted for days and made me feel claustrophobic, but this snow didn't last long. It snowed all morning, but it wasn't cold enough for it to freeze over. I thought I'd share what my perfect winter day looks like and then I want to flip it around to ask you the same thing at the end of this post. 

I actually had a perfect winter day a couple of weeks ago. It was the week after New Year's day and everyone had returned to work and I think it was an ordinary Tuesday. The house was quiet and I had all the time in the world in that one day, to do whatever I wanted. I had been to the grocery store for the week already, so I had nowhere to be and nothing to do other than the mundane things I wanted to do that day. It was really cold outside that day, I remember and though I did go back upstairs to wash my face and brush my teeth, I just put on clean comfy clothes and lounged around in them all day.

I lit a candle on my kitchen table and sat down to linger in my quiet time that morning, because it seems like I may have gotten behind from the weekend. I love to read slowly and to take my time making notes. This is the only thing I'm doing in 2022. In other years I've added Scripture writing in my quiet time and though I may do that in bits and pieces this year as I write, I'm not making it a daily habit. I am 90% likely to change my mind, though, because I love doing that so much. It's only January and I know at least for this month, I'm not doing that. I remember pausing often to pray as I read that day and for a good while, I just sat and prayed. All too often, that is something I don't spend enough time doing and after a few days, it starts to get to me. 

For the rest of the day, it was a normal day, but I loved being home all day to enjoy every minute. I did things around the house, but I also took time to do things that I wanted to do. I read for longer than usual that day and finished a book, I took time to make myself a really good lunch and I watched a movie while I ate. The weather was cold, so I felt cozy inside all bundled up and all the dogs were the same. They snoozed on blankets all day, I kept music playing quietly and I made a good dinner that night. I do some of these things a lot of the time, but I also don't usually sit for too long in the day. Don't ask me what I do to fill the time, but I somehow always manage to do just that. I know that when our house is orderly and somewhat clean, I am able to enjoy being at home more, so I am sure that at some point I did a few things to accomplish that. 

I've been trying to clean out certain areas here and I am trying to keep them clutter free—cabinets in the kitchen and in the bathrooms and drawers in our bathroom. I usually take the time to straighten up and do that kind of thing as I am getting ready for the day, or as I'm putting away laundry and making the bed. (Do you make your bed everyday? I at least neaten the bed everyday, but my preference is to have it fully made each day. It just depends on what I'm doing that day and who is out of the room last.) 

So that was my perfectly cozy winter day at home. The weather was cold, music was playing, candles were lit and the smell of pine was in the air. All of those things make my heart feel happy and peaceful. I do remember talking to my mom, my mom-in-love and my dad that day as well, which isn't always the case. The only thing that would have made it even better was if I'd thought to have a fire going in the fireplace, but I honestly didn't even think about that. My husband did make one later in the week.

So now I'm asking you—what would your idea be of a wonderful winter day? You don't necessarily have to love the season like I do to have a day like this. I'd love to hear your ideas for this! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all. ❤