Currently // January Edition

Starting the day in my usual way: breakfast and a book. Lately, I've been trying to savor my mornings by having a deliberate morning ritual. Before I worked from home, my mornings consisted of the usual busyness of getting out the door in time. In college, however, I had always woken up early to read and enjoy a decent breakfast. When real life began, that ritual went out the window. Lately, I've been trying to restore that ritual: waking up a little earlier, fixing French press coffee, and reading for a few minutes. A slow, deliberate start to the day rather than a hustle-bustle rush. 
Loving that winter seems to have finally arrived. I'll always be a Georgia girl who's afraid to drive around in too much snow, but I've lived in Maryland long enough to start appreciating the fluffy white stuff. They're calling for several inches this weekend, and I have to say I'm actually excited!
Watching the infamous crime documentary Making a Murderer on Netflix. I know you've heard of it-- and if you haven't go watch it. There are so many things about this series that blew my mind. I think this story has surfaced in a time when America is questioning its legal justice system-- and perhaps with good reason. I just can't decide how I feel... guilty or not. Sometimes I lean toward not guilty, sometimes toward guilty. What about you? 
Reading a book Mark recommended: The Magicians by Lev Grossman. As George R.R. Martin said, this book is to Harry Potter as whiskey is to hot tea. I have been shamelessly griped by this story so far. 
Listening to Spotify's Acoustic Winter playlist, which has all your essential acoustic goodness: Ben Howard, Bon Iver, Damien Rice, Iron & Wine. It's the perfect playlist to write to, in my opinion. And the winter-y weather has finally arrived to accompany it.
Eating home-cooked meals more often. One of our goals for the new year is to live according to a reasonable budget. In order to achieve that goal, we decided to designate that each week we can have one dinner out and one lunch out. We don't always do both, but its nice to know the option is there. So, I've been fixing more suppers and lunches at home. And I have to say-- I actually enjoy it! Not so much the grocery shopping part, though. 
Cooking a recipe or two from my Julia Child cookbook. So far I've experimented with boeuf bourguignon and sauteed chicken in an herb-and-butter sauce. I can see why the woman revolutionized cooking. 
Working on repainting our living room. Thank goodness for random 50 degree weather that allowed me to open the windows and escape the paint fumes. Stay tuned for the new look's reveal! 
Anticipating getting a piano! Mark's parents are giving us their old piano, which happily is rather small and so should fit into our tiny house. We plan to recreate the upstairs work-space into a lounge space so that the piano (rather than the TV) can be our living room's focal point. 
Exercising more often. Over the holidays, Mark had planned on entering a strong man competition so he and I focused our workouts on heavy lifting. Now, we're transitioning more to HIIT type workouts to shed the fluff on top of these muscles we've built. 

Trying out more sustainable living practices. We've been trying to recycle more often and reduce our food waste. I've even gone so far as to start using reusable grocery totes and reusable mesh produce bags. Not that we're going to single-handedly save the earth, but I can tell a definite reduction in our trash volume. 
Understanding that our outlook each day greatly affects how that day turns out. I've been trying to make an effort to have a more positive attitude everyday, even going so far as to pep-talk myself when things go wrong. "Don't get frustrated, it's just a little thing." Or "Don't get angry at that driver who just cut you off, maybe they left the oven on or something." It may sound silly but I have to say that it helps! 
What have you been up to lately?