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Hi Reader,

I'm writing this with low clouds obscuring the hills out our windows and rain continuing to come down (hour 6 so far...). A typical Oregon winter day - oh wait, it's still fall... (I was laughing with Brian about this because the app showed rain all day long, but the precipitation amount was only forecasted to be .3! For an entire day of rain. This is why Oregon has such a rainy reputation - it doesn't always amount to much but it takes a long time to get there.😂)

Anyway, I think my point was you may remember that warm days and sunshine are my favorite, so I honestly struggle on these types of days - especially at the beginning of the season when I know there are months more of this. The lighted Christmas tree and decorations are helping right now but I've found that I need to do some specific things in order to keep a better attitude and don't sink into a funk. You, too?

Here's a few things that help:

1. Every night I write in my One Line a Day journal. In the warmer months it's mainly things I want to remember, but on dreary days when not much happened I actively make a point to think about something I'm grateful for. (Right now I'm super grateful to not live in the midwest or east with their negative temps and snow/ice!!)
2. When January hits, I'll pull out my Happy Light and work at my desk for a time with it in the mornings on gray days.
3. I drink more hot tea - in addition to my every day Trader Joes Irish Breakfast (such a good black tea), I alternate between Stash Licorice Spice and Harney & Son's Hot Cinnamon Spice (this cinnamon tea is SO good on cold days - the smell and the flavor. I only do the loose leaf, though because their bags contain plastic).
4. I make big pots of soup - we have it one night for dinner and then lunches are super easy to just heat and eat. If we get tired of it, I freeze them in 1-cup portions for future lunches with Souper Cubes.
5. I bake (surprise!). Right now it's cookies for Christmas goodie bags and through the winter it's usually bread, mostly sourdough because once my starter is active I want to bake all the things.😀

A few weeks ago we added one more thing - more on that in the More Things section below!

I would love to know what you do if gray days make you sad - little or big, I'm always looking for more ways to help!

Christmas Cookie Ideas (Swap?)

• ​Cut Out Sugar Cookies Recipe with Whole Wheat and Oats (why not up the nutrition on the classic cut-out cookie?)
• ​Peanut Butter Brownie Sandwich Cookies Recipe (a popular flavor combo in a special cookie)
• ​Crisp & Chewy Multigrain Snickerdoodle Cookies (roll the cookies in a Christmas colored sugar or sprinkles)
• Easy truffle bar ideas: Fudgy Espresso Truffle Bars or Grain Free Almond Chocolate Truffle Bars or Quick & Rich Mini Chocolate Truffle Cakes (my personal favorite, plus they keep and transport well)

Want to swap cookies? Hit reply with your favorite holiday cookie and where I can find it - I'd love to know what you're making!

🌟Stay tuned next week for Christmas candy/goodies that don't fit the cookie mold!

Your Holiday Checklist Week 7

​The Holiday Planner (click for immediate download) can help anytime you start. Here is week seven's checklist to help keep us on track.😀

👉 The highlighted sentence in the list above is about this gift wrapping system that reduces time, waste, and can fit into any decor. There's even a video and everything! I love it.

From The Blog

​Good Things No.91​ Here's where I'm sharing the gold themed Christmas decor I mentioned last week along with more on the amazing candle warmer, some handmade 2026 calendars, six books reviewed and what we've watched.😀 READ IT HERE!

​Easy Brownie 7 Layer Bars Recipe (From Scratch)​ One of two NEW cookie recipes up this week, this one is the chewy-gooey variety that's so popular on holiday cookie plates: a mash up of a brownie and a 7-layer bar topping. Everyone LOVES these. RECIPE HERE!

​Quick Layered S’mores Rice Krispie Treats​ The other new cookie also combines two loved flavors: s'mores and rice krispie treats! These feature a graham cracker base topped with a chocolate layer and then the crispy layer is mixed with more crackers and some unmelted marshmallows. FUN. RECIPE HERE!

A Few More Things

Here's the new thing we've been using for about three weeks now: a Sunrise Alarm Clock. We don't use the sound alarm because we wake up pretty much the same time every morning (and we work for ourselves), but apparently you can choose soothing sounds like birds chirping. What we use it for is the gradual lighting of the room we have set to occur 30 minutes before our usual wake up time. It's supposed to mimic sunrise to help set our circadian rhythm for the day. Since using it we've found we like is how gentle the wake up is and how nice it is to wake up to light instead of complete darkness. Especially Brian who was a skeptic and just went along for me. He told me he really likes waking up to it!

Do you use one? How do you like it if you do?

The book Brian and I are listening to right now is SUPER fascinating!! It's called The Spy and The Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre and it's a TRUE story that sounds like a thrilling novel or movie plot. It mostly happens through the 70s into the mid 1980s and it's wild to hear about all the things going on in the background of all the headlines we've heard about that time.

Thanks for reading this far - remember if you have a cookie to share or something you doing for sad, gray days, hit reply to let me know! Have a wonderful weekend.💜

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