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Hi Reader,

This week I had booked a few days for us at the Oregon coast (the first of the monthly trips/activities in my goals) and after weeks of dry, sunny (though cold) weather, we timed it to rain a lot of the time we were there.😂 We did manage to have some dry morning beach walks (one with zero wind!), though:

The rest of the time we worked with a view, read, visited some thrift shops (always our go-to activity!), and ate out at a couple of fun places.

With a nice view, it was easy to just embrace the cozy vibes of our cute little motel (Agate Beach for any interested) - and find out just how waterproof my jacket is before our May trip to England.😀

Happenings

There have been many sad things in the news lately and as a believer in Jesus, I only know to turn to Him in times like this. Awhile ago I shared a link to a Sunday prayer email and in the spirit of keeping this space as positive as possible, I'm sharing a bit of the prayer that has helped me:

I'm praying this for us all.💜

We still need to shop, eat, work, laugh, and most of all love each other, and I want to keep this a place where we can always do that, even while acknowledging what's happening in the world. Thankful for YOU.

My Favorite Cold Weather Meal

You may have already guessed, since I haven't made it a secret, that it's soups and stews - in fact, I brought a jar of homemade tomato soup to heat up for a meal at the motel.😀 While I enjoy them all, here are some of my top favs (besides the tomato):

• ​The Best Sausage and Lentil Stew Recipe (I literally crave this - make the whole recipe and freeze it in Souper Cubes and you won't be sorry)
• ​Easy Flavorful Curried Turkey and Rice Soup (or Chicken)​
• ​Slow Cooker Pork Stew with Vegetables​
• ​Amazing Cauliflower Cheese Soup – in 30 Minutes!​

You can see all the soups and stews on the website here.

Are you a soup fan, too?

From The Blog

​January Dinner Menu Updated!​ A month of cozy, veggie filled meals with more recipes added, clearer formatting AND the option to download the entire meal plan as a PDF!! (I'm going to be updating every month over the year, too!) RECIPES HERE!

​Quick Taco Rice Bowls​ Another easy pantry recipe! These bowls are made with rice, beans, and taco seasoning that you can keep vegetarian or add cooked meat. An easy, healthy pantry meal with lots of flexible toppings. RECIPE HERE!

A few more things

#1 - Candle Warmer UPDATE: So. I've discovered that just warming candle wax doesn't evaporate it so the candles we use in warmers will always stay fairly full. What doesn't stay, though, is the scent.😳 I totally noticed this the past few weeks (admittedly, after using the same candle for months) and looked it up. Here are the things you can do:

• Pour off the top, melted wax. If you see a line of more solid wax with the melted on top, simply pour off that melted part which removes the wax with evaporated scent, leaving the wax below with scent to melt. You'll need to trim the wick if it's still visible. (My plan is to pour it off into silicone muffin cups that I've filled with paper or dryer lint to make little fire starters for the outside burning of debris.)
• Stir it while the candle is melted. This is what I did, since it was almost all melted except for a few tablespoon-sized soft wax at the bottom. I could immediately tell that more scent was available, so I'll probably get another week or so out of it.
• Burn it after awhile. Another suggestion was to use the candle warmer for awhile and then light the wick to burn the top wax lower (not in the warmer, obviously, ha) and then use the warmer on the lower portion of the candle.

And now I have my answer to how long the candles in warmers will last - not until the wax is gone like a regular burned candle, but until the scent is no longer discernible. If you don't need fire starters, you can freeze the candle and pop out the wax to dispose of it, or pour it off into silicone molds to then pop out and dispose. I'll still take the safer, melting candle on a timer over a burn any day - and it's actually better for our lungs and health to not have wax burning, so it's still a yay for melting for me.💜

#2 - I discovered this sweet farm and website a few months ago (I ordered some tubers from her) and they've just opened up their spring seed sale. The seeds are all grown by them and it's just their favorites, but the flowers are in wonderful pastel shades I love so I ordered 4 varieties as well as a cucumber I haven't grown before that's supposed to be prolific (I've been having trouble with cukes). All are gorgeous and many sell out quickly so if you're at all interested check them out asap.

#3 - I fell into a You Tube hole this last week after someone shared this schoolhouse homestead video - I was hooked before I saw the 1.5 hour running time! So I left it open on my computer and would just come back to it whenever I had some time. It took me a week, but I finished it and it's an amazing story, for sure! I loved their vision and dedication, but was completely overwhelmed with the work that was involved - yikes, and I thought our farmhouse remodel was hard.

Thank you again for reading all the way to the end.💚 Here's to a better week ahead!

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