The Cozy Chronicles: the morning routine

 

Happy Saturday, friends! I was reading a book this week and was inspired to start a new series here on my blog—I'm calling it The Cozy Chronicles, because being cozy isn't just in one particular season. We can do little things everyday to make our homes into the havens that we desire—and this month I'm talking about my morning routine.

Most of you have been reading about how I'm on a month long streak of waking up during the four o'clock hour every morning. This started the week of May 1st, when we had a huge event at our church that brought about 1,000 people into our church for three days straight. For two of those days, I had to be at our church at six a.m. to start making coffee. Also, on the second morning that this event occurred, it was my first night of sleeping on the new Sealy mattress that we had just bought from Costco. I had the best night of sleep that first night, and friends, I am here to tell you that each night has gotten progressively better since then. 

I do think that sleeping well and being tired are things that affect every area of our lives; and both make a huge difference depending on how well or how poorly we slept the night before. That being said, if you aren't sleeping well, think about your mattress and how long you've been using the one you're currently sleeping on. It's definitely worth a thought if you're waking up a lot in the night or if you're waking up tired or aching each morning. 

Anyway, I love my mornings; here are a few things I do each day to ensure that it gets started off in a way that I love. 

1. I wake up early enough to ensure that I don't have to rush on the mornings that I work. I mentioned the new mattress already and getting enough sleep; I also go to bed at a reasonable hour. If I know that I wake up that early, I'm tired by ten o'clock, sometimes even nine! Regardless of when I go to bed, my body has an internal alarm clock that goes off around four every single morning. If you want to start waking up earlier, set an alarm until it's habit. You will start waking up without it before long! 

2. I wake up to a house that is not a mess. I love waking up to a clean house! I ensure this by making steps toward that each night before I go to bed. I clean off the kitchen counters, put things away, load and start the dishwasher, and anything else that I see that needs to be done before heading to bed.

3. I do things I love doing! I love reading blogs in the morning, so I always do that at some point in the morning. Here lately I've been reading first thing each day, and I love that too. I have my quiet time pretty early, usually around six, and I like doing that early so that I can linger in the Bible if I want to dig deeper that day. Sometimes I turn on music, or I'll watch a show in the background; some mornings I even light a candle while I'm sitting at the kitchen table. 

4. I get my house ready to come home each morning before I leave for work. Lately I've been putting out the dinner ingredients before I leave home, but I also unload the dishwasher, fold laundry, and do anything else that needs to be done to make my afternoon easier when I get home that day. Sometimes I start dinner that morning in the Crock-Pot, but I at least have a game plan for dinner that night, especially on Thursdays, when I work all day. 

5. I make my bed, or I at least pull the covers up to neaten it each day. I used to make the bed everyday, but now that Todd has a different job with odd hours, he's always the last one to leave it; when it's just me using it, it gets made. He is great about neatening it and pulling up the covers at least, so it doesn't bother me when it's unmade, so long as it's at least straight. I've read many an article that talks about the benefits of making your bed everyday; is this something that you do? It really does start the day off in a great way! 

Other things you can do to add ambiance to your morning:

• play one of the beautiful YouTube screensavers on your TV while you do whatever you enjoy (go to the YouTube app on your smart TV, and search for "summer screensavers" and then just hit "play)
• play cozy (quiet) music while you're doing your morning things
• light a candle
• sit outside if that's your thing
• turn on some lamps
• consider adding some ambient lighting in your home, whether in lamps or string lights 

Here's a picture of my cozy string lights; I got them from Lowe's.

• drink something warm to start your day, and use your favorite mug or cup to put it in (or do this with something cold if that's your thing)
• treat yourself by watching an episode or a movie that you love on the mornings when you have more time to lounge around
• treat yourself by sleeping in at least one morning each week

(Today I slept in until 5:15!)

What do you do to make your mornings better? Even if you're not a morning person like me, we all have them everyday of our lives! If you'd like to read the first installment in this series, just click here. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!