Week-in-Review: January 16

Another week for the books. I've been spending the last week and this week trying to get back to a routine. The holidays always throw me off for a bit till I can get my feet wet. Also, it's tough as a family to get back into a routine. G had a really hard week his first week back. Getting up, focusing at school, back to swimming and other after-school activities were a chore.

I'm trying to get a good schedule down I can stick to. I'm going to take one class online and do a little transcription from home as well and it's been hard to find a set schedule. I try and fail then try again! It's all about finding that sweet spot. 

I'm also doing a meditation challenge with 10% Happier. It's an online meditation app that helps the fidgety skeptics like me get going on this truly beneficial practice. It's a three-week challenge for free that allows me access to a free meditation exercise each day. It's been so helpful to recharge me and get me motivated in the mornings. And I've been doing some journal prompts as well to get my mind adjusted to mind dumping and thinking in the mornings as well. So I'll see how this all plays out in the next few weeks as I work on getting everything into a schedule! Wish me luck.

This last weekend we got out of our house and into the mountains! As a family gift we each got snow shoes and decided to finally use them this weekend. We needed to get out of the inversion northern Utah gets during the winter months. It's terrible and we just don't get enough storms to clear it out frequently. So cabin fever is a thing and the only way to avoid the awful air pollution is to get above it--to the mountains!!!!

I also took my dear friend out to brunch for her birthday!

Books Finished: 

• Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Books I'm Currently Reading:

• Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
• And I Darken by Kiersten White
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
• The Truth As Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor (reading aloud before bed with G)

Listening to: 

• The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty (on Audible)
• RadioLab

Watching: 

TV:

• Netflix's: Tidying Up With Marie Kondo (2019). I definitely want rewatch with DH and get going on some of these organizing ideas and junk overhaul in our house! I can't do this alone.
• Netflix's: You (2018). This is one twisted but binge-worthy TV show. I think it originally aired on Lifetime.
• Amazon Prime's: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017). I just finished up the second season. I enjoyed it but the first season was better. This season was very uneven and hard to follow. But it was light and fun and always needed during the winter.
• Amazon Prime's: A Very English Scandal (2018): I made it through the first episode. It's short but it's a lot darker than I was expecting...

Movies:

• Roma (2018). A beautiful and well-shot story.
• Escape Room (2019). Not great but not terrible.
• Hotel Artemis (2018). Interesting and fun.
• First Reformed (2017): I liked this little Indie with Ethan Hawke

(Actual reviews to come...)

Making: 

Last week I made a couple of dinners from my instant pot that were a success! This week will be some good old standbys to get us through like tacos and peanut Thai chicken.

I'm still working on finishing my crocheted blanket. Hopefully this weekend and then I can send it one and its sister to my niece and her two littles. 

Looking Forward to:

G has a little ballroom performance Saturday. It's a minor competition and he's a little nervous about it but he'll be great and it's giving him experience.

We also have friends coming down on Friday night for some drinks and games. It'll be good to relax and talk.

How do you get out of the winter blues? I always have a really hard time in January even with all the focus on cleaning up and starting new resolutions and goals and habits. I get so depressed after the holidays are over.