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As cold as it’s been, I’m a little sad to see January go. It’s a chilly one, but a restful one, too. For me, January is like taking a deep breath after running through the holidays. It’s quiet, cold and the perfect time to relax, catch up on shows and read a book. All of which are conveniently my favorite things. There’s just something about having very little to do, and a lot more time to do it.

Here are a few of my favorite things from January.

Harry Potter movie nights.

In the fall, my family started having monthly Harry Potter movie nights. We decided to restart from the very beginning this month, since there isn’t much else to do. This month, we hosted for the Sorcerer’s Stone, and it was lovely. I love to host, especially when it’s a fun, low-key evening. I HIGHLY recommend.

sour cream coffee cake.

Ooooh friends, I have been on a baking ROLL. Honestly, with this cold weather and time on my hands, I am a machine. I mean, sure I’ve baked some cupcakes and banana muffins, but that is nothing compared to the coffee cake. Earlier I shared that I was looking forward to baking some of my mom’s recipes, and her sour cream coffee cake was one of them. What I didn’t plan on was it being even better than I remembered. Oh it was good. I made two, because I liked them so much! Here’s the recipe!

pomodoro ambience.

I love playing an ambience video when I work. Just having something soft playing in the background helps me focus so much. Recently, I’ve found some pomodoro videos (ones with timers for short, regular breaks) that have been game-changers for my productivity. Here’s one of my favorites.

snow.

It’s been a few years since we’ve gotten a good amount of snow. This past weekend, it dumped on us, and I was positively thrilled. It was thick and fluffy and soft, and there was a LOT of it. Ya girl was a happy camper to have such a beautiful snow. On the other hand, Will was largely unimpressed by the whole ordeal, but oh well. You can’t win them all.

downtime.

I know I’m a broken record, but I really can’t tell you how nice it’s been to just slow down a bit. We’ve taken naps, watched movies together, binged some shows, cooked homemade meals, redid our office to make it work for us, and read some books. When many of our seasons don’t allow for slowing down, I’m taking advantage of this one and all the rest it brings.

“It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter.” Psalm 74:17

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know His work, He stops all people from their labor.” Job 37:5-6