I love this quote by Laura in her book The Long Winter. We're still hanging out well below 0° here, but our warm (ish) house is making it easy not to be afraid of this bitter cold. And bonus- the cold keeps everything looking so clean, beautiful, and sparkling hard. Truly, if I don't have to get out in it, I seriously love this. Tomorrow they're promising warmer temperatures and fresh snow!

Even though the cold isn't bothering me, I wonder if it is getting to me today. It's one of those days where I feel slow and time feels fast. I can't seem to get much done or think very straight. I have a bunch of Safari windows cluttering up our computer screen and I'm not sure why. I have a grocery list started but I don't know what else to put on it. Hmm. I'm thinking I should probably go remedy this brain freeze (pregnancy brain fog?) with some hot chocolate. Which, by the way, I've been making lately with a splash of this amazingly yummy coconut milk nog (found at Whole Foods):


In the past few days it's also been poured into banana bread batter, breakfast blueberry quinoa, and used to make french toast. So, so yummy. It's too thick and sweet for me to drink on its own, but it's just right when mixed into a mug of creamy hot chocolate. Here's how I usually do it.
This hot chocolate is creamy, rich, and subtly sweet. The coconut Nog adds enough sugar for my taste, but feel free to add a spoonful of maple syrup, honey, or coconut sugar if yours needs more. Some other things I've been enjoying lately:
The streets of our teeny town, frozen, but beautiful. | Burning some Mrs. Meyer's candles in Orange Clove and Iowa Pine. mmmm. | Being cozy at Grandma and Grandpa's house after Sunday Dinner. Relaxing with a full belly and watching some snowy football games. Plenty of strong baby kicks to keep me company, too.

P.S. In the middle of writing this post, our power went out. Scary! It's too c-c-c-cold for that to happen! But, praise Jesus, it's back on, and the heat is running. Feeling so, so thankful for a heated house today. Stay warm, my friends!