Apparently February 1st is the halfway point through winter and a typical time for the winter doldrums to hit. Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy has an annual tradition to combat this winter sadness, by sharing a list of things big and small that are “saving her life right now” – taking a moment to focus on the GOOD even when it can be hard, especially when it can be hard. And like the good little blogger that I am, I’m joining in. You know I love a good list. Here’s mine:

1. Last month I completed a month on the KETO diet and although dieting is the pits, I have to be honest, I reaped some real benefits. I’m not even talking about pounds lost. I mean that by cutting down on my carb intake, I had less cravings, was able to eat a lot less calories each day without being starving, and I have had ZERO sugar crashes since I started. I am planning to try adding back in things like sweet potatoes, beans, and healthy grains this month – but I’m continuing to kick added sugars and basic bitch bread and pasta to the curb for the time being. VIPS for making KETO work for me include unsweetened almond milk, almond flour, and this amazing no bake cheesecake recipe.
2. We finally cleared room for my new car to park in the garage and now that winter is here I am reaping the rewards like a reward reaping rock star. I do not miss brushing my car off or scraping frost off the windshield every morning, or the bitter bitter cold that was my car first thing in the morning. Other things contributing the winter being less of a hellish wonderland: Having a teen and tween who do most of the snow removal now; and that awesome homeschool life that means no more early morning commute anyway.
3. Having the hubby working from home each day means that nine times out of ten, he’s making me eggs and bacon for lunch, there’s always a pot of coffee on, and sometimes he even cooks dinner. Basically, I’m a spoiled rotten pretty pretty princess. But seriously, it’s been much easier sticking to a diet when lunch is an issue I don’t have to worry about.
4. The library has been closed to the public for most of the pandemic but their curbside pickup program has been easy and life saving. The kids and I have been checking out piles of books for homeschool or bedtime reading and roughly once a week I make an appointment online to go pick up new books and drop off old ones. Added bonus is that late fees are a thing of the past because sometimes I’m a really slow reader and sometimes the library gives me five books to read at once. I’m not proud.
5. One of the cons of this pandemic life is grocery shopping. A lot of people are rocking that curbside pickup life but I typically prefer to go in and nit pick about exactly which head of cabbage I want, etc. But if the store is too busy, I can’t bring myself to pull into the lot and lately this scenario has been more frequent as people begin to tire of social distancing (or I’m imagining things and extrapolating where there is no data to support it). I recently had the bad assed idea to start shopping at night after dinner, hoping the stores would be less crowded in the hour or two before closing and you guys I was right! I not so secretly love having the store to myself and it’s kind of nice getting out of the house after a long day of schooling.
6. The close quarters of staying at home so much can make for cranky family members but for the most part my kiddos have been rock stars. I’m especially thankful that they are at an age where they still like hanging out with us (I hope) and they are getting old enough to watch better tv shows with us. We’ve been introducing them to some favorite comedies like Brooklyn 99, Big Bang Theory and the IT Crowd and it’s awesome revisiting old favorite shows and them finally understanding why we keep yelling “Bazinga!” or “Noice!” or “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
7. Lastly, I am so thankful that I’ve found such a great friend group. Obviously I’d love to see them more in person and to be honest, I kind of loathe online social interactions but I count myself grateful that I’ve made such good friendships here that I allow group chats to exist where sometimes I log in to 181 unread messages and keeping up with these friendships virtually has definitely been valuable to my sanity. We’re each others cheerleaders and therapists and partners in crime and there’s no one else I’d endure hour long group zoom chats with just to talk about books, boobs, and Bridgerton.

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What would be on your list right now? Tell me yours in the comments section!

I don’t think I need to tell you that winter is HARD some days but, guys, winter is hard some days. I’ve had pretty much exactly enough cold days, icy sidewalks, sick kids, grey skies and nothing on tv. But I’m linking up with Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy to share a list of things that make these hard winter days a little bit better – the things that are “saving my life right now” – what would be on your list? Here’s mine:

• Silk brand coffee creamer has been the best solution I’ve found to making quick, easy lactose free cups of joe that I actually want to drink. I know this is a really small thing but really small things are the name of the game on weekday mornings.
• Water aerobic classes make me feel kind of like a super hero for an hour. I love the fact that I can kick ridiculously high underwater and jump around for an hour without needing aspirin immediately afterwards and being underwater has the added benefit that nobody can really see how poorly I’m doing the moves. Bonus life saver: A gym buddy who keeps encouraging me when I want to cop out.
• Game nights with the best people keep me from wanting to scream into my phone at Facebook every day. This world can be an exhausting place between sports, politics, Starbucks cups and whatever other ridiculous thing we’re told to be furious about today. Having friends over to play dumb card games and drink cheap wine definitely helps.
• The balance ball desk chair that my husband got me for Christmas is surprisingly comfortable and way better for my back than my old office chair. You know that feeling you get from sitting too long looking at Pinterest? I don’t seem to get that with this chair and it’s fun to bounce around every so often when Pinterest isn’t being interesting enough.
• Raising awesome little humans is hard work but it gives me hope for humanity when they say something kind or clever or just awesome. Motherhood definitely isn’t all sunshine and rainbows – trust me I could write a whole post on all the ways that my kids annoy and frustrate me. But they also delight me and make me seriously proud and they are definitely the best thing I’ve ever made.