What is saving my life right now?

I’m linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy about what is saving my life right now.  The winter months can be tough, especially once the festivities of Christmas are over and the winter gloom sets in.  It has been a remarkably dry and warm winter in Portland, for which I’m grateful, but I’m looking out my window right now and it is mostly gray.   Here are the things that keep my heart full and my spirits up on gray days.

Tea in my London mug from Anthropologie 

 I’m on a weight loss program that is fairly restrictive: no sugar, carbs, alcohol, chocolate, pretty much all of my favorites.  This licorice spice tea from Stash keeps my sweet tooth satisfied. (Let’s be honest, it’s not chocolate, but it does have a sweet flavor).   I look forward to it as my treat at the end of the day.  Loving all things British like I do, the London mug was a must have for me.  The shape and sizes of mugs are important to me when drinking hot beverages, and this one is just right on both counts.

Run DMC, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. 

We have finally joined the 21^st century fifteen years in.  We got our first High Definition TV this weekend, and with it a sound bar that allows us to blue tooth our music.  I’m fairly certain most everyone else has been doing this for years, but for the Putnas, it is new and it is literally rockin’ our world.  I introduced Hannah to Run DMC this weekend and she now loves to dance to It’s Tricky with me.  We try to educate our girls right around here!  We’ve had Katy and Taylor on a continuous loop, too.  I’m not ashamed to say that Blank Space and Style are two of my favorite songs right now.  We pretty much adore Katy, and I love to belt out Unconditionally to my girls, much to their chagrin.  (On a side note, I loved her Super Bowl performance.  She is so talented and so much fun.  She was the game day picker for the Ole Miss and Alabama game and chose Ole Miss to win, and win we did.  She has gone on to say that she is an Ole Miss fan for life, which if I wasn’t already, I’m now a Katy Perry fan for life.  I saw some Ole Miss folks posting about how the sharks during the performance were Ole Miss Landsharks.  Love!)

Books

I’ve had a Kindle for years, so I buy fewer actual books than I used to, which makes my husband happy, since we were in danger of books taking over our home.  I could have lived with that…  Anyway, lately I’ve been enjoying reading from actual books again.  I will most likely continue to download novels I don’t plan to re-read, but for non-fiction and books to treasure, I like the real thing.  Seeing a stack of books waiting to be read, gives me something to anticipate.  Winter reading is probably the number one thing that makes my spirits soar besides family and friends.

Travel Plans

Right now it is cold, welt, and grey, and I need the hope that sunshine and warmth are in my future.  In Portland it can be cold until mid-July, so this southern girl needs something to look forward to besides months and months of cold and damp.  Planning trips big and small give me comfort and hope that this too shall pass.  Granted, our big trip of the year is to Whistler for a skiing trip, but the change of scenery will still be good for the soul.  Planning a trip with a friend to a sunny locale in April definitely gives me hope.  I will need to bottle up the sunshine when there.  May and June are often more difficult than the winter months for me here in Portland because by then I’m longing for warm, sunny days.  I’m taking the girls and a friend to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend.  Like Portland, you never can tell what the weather may be like in May in Seattle. It could be cold and wet or warm and dry.  Either way, again it’s a change of scenery in a city we love.  Our family has several camping trips planned this summer with other families.  It is always a fun time but it is a must to pack sweatshirts, coats, and rain gear, even in August.  I look forward to it, but not like I do a trip to Mississippi in the summer to see my family.  Besides enjoying time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, it will certainly be hot and I for one will bask in the knowledge that shorts and flip flops are required. 

Downton Abbey

It’s hard to wait a year for each season of Downton Abbey, but it is the one thing that actually makes me look forward to January.  Sunday nights at 9:00 are a great way to end the weekend and start the week.  Listening to the Dowager Countess and Lady Crawley  banter is always entertaining.  Each week it is like inviting friends into your home: posh, stylish, titled friends.  I would love to live in a time and place where we spoke English so artfully and formally.  For an hour on Sundays in January and February I get to.

What keeps your heart full and your spirits up in this winter months? 

With a warm heart,

Rebecca