What in the world is a winter vortex? Until the last few days, I have never heard that term referring to a winter storm before in my life. The term strikes fear in my heart and images fill my mind of the 2004 Dennis Quaid movie, The Day After Tomorrow. In the movie there is a scene where the wind comes to a stop, the flag drops down to the pole and Dennis Quaid starts running because he knows that everything and everyone is about to be flash frozen. It’s terrifying!!!!
The new agenda for the day: turn off the weather channel, (aka the world is coming to an end and everyone better run for cover channel) and find things to do that bring me peace and happiness.
To calm my fears and bring some fun into my world I have created this small list of things to do to remove ‘winter vortex’ images from my brain.
This Little Light of Mine
When it’s cold we tend to do a few things. Binge watch movies and read books. Those things bring me great happiness but after a few days, it just reminds me that it’s cold outside. Turn on tons of lights and take some Vitamin D to bring a little fake sunshine to your soul! Be sure to add a good multivitamin to your diet in the winter. Bright lights offer a different perspective.
Sunscreen and Cleaning Supplies
Yes, it’s freezing dang cold outside and I am not leaving the warmth of my house. But, the smell of amazing sunscreen takes me to a beach. Have you tried the Method brand of cleaning supplies? I love all their smells but Ocean is my favorite. Covering my body in sunscreen and filling my home with amazing clean smells keeps me from wanting to bake ANOTHER batch of brownies. Well, sometimes.
Genealogy
Extra minutes sometimes tempts me to stray to Amazon on my computer. Heaven knows I do not need to purchase anything and I certainly do not need to bake anything else. Family Search is a FREE program online where you put in your family history and find your ancestors. It’s addictive and very much like working a jigsaw puzzle. You can scan in family photos, put in dates of those family members you already have and you can even share with other family members working on their ancestry. My husband put in our family, his parents and one set of grandparents and hit a line that went back to Mary the mother of Jesus. He now thinks he is a professional genealogist. LOL
Gardening
Spring is only a few months away and every year I think I am going to be better at growing food. That starts with a good plan. Lucky for my family, this great idea came to my mind. What if we plan this amazing gigantic garden that will feed our family for the year? We would not be worried about recalls on our veggies and we could save a ton of money. They are so lucky to have me to come up with these great ideas. It’s a two-year plan and we will blog and vlog and post about all the details along the way. They are completely in on this idea. Join us on our Going Home Facebook page to keep up with our Vortex Garden.
Hydrate
Cold weather dehydrates you fast and soda and alcohol just add to the dehydration. Here are my two favorite winter drinks.
C-Pack
EmergenC and grape juice. Use two vitamin C packets and fill a cup 3/4 of the way to the top with water. Add grape juice to top it off. I LOVE this crazy drink. Not a ton of sugar and it offers a health boost.
Apple Concoction
My special drink to replace hot chocolate (which I adore but has too much sugar to drink every day) is the best apple concoction ever! One jug of apple juice, 8 cinnamon sticks and 15 cloves boiled on the stove for as long as you wish. Slice an orange and add that for another great flavor and to add beauty. The spices have tons of natural healing properties and bonus, your house smells like heaven.
Lotions
Grab lotions that are easy to use and leave them by the sink. I have a face lotion with a pump and a spray lotion for my arms. Whenever I wash my hands I take 10 seconds to add lotion to my skin. Seeing the lotion by the sink is a great reminder to pay attention to my wrinkles.
Winter months are hard and finding a way to live through the cabin fever and lack of sunshine are critical this time of year. Maybe you pull out old vacation photos, start planning a vacation or even put on ocean sounds while you stay in the tub until the water goes cold. Share with us what you do to help live through the freezing dang cold weather and still be a good person who has not throttled anyone.
Vortex seems to be one of those new words that we will be hearing a lot about. Heaven help us all if this turns into that word. You know what I am talking about. The one never said out loud in any public setting by our generation and now toddlers say it on social media. Shiplap!
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