January 19th

I quit drinking pop about 3.5 months ago. Forever. Maybe.

It's probably the longest I've gone without pop since I was a teenager.

I feel good about quitting, I feel a lot healthier. I don't even really crave it too much anymore. Unless I see it at the store, then I salivate a little bit.

Over Christmas, at my parents' house, I lost my voice so I drank tea every night.

I've always been a moderate tea drinker. I like tea, I'll have some every now and then, but I've never been a "regular."

I prefer coffee. And pop. I don't know if it's related to the pop thing, but ever since Christmas I have had hot tea 1-3 times a day.

If I need a warm-up in the afternoon, I'll have some. And then usually after the kids are in bed, I'll make myself a cup. It's kind of like my "night cap." I occasionally like a glass of wine after the kids are in bed, but for some reason I suddenly really prefer tea.

Yesterday was a hard day. I had 2 sick kids, one who's having a rough week in general, and two whiny toddlers who aren't talking yet, just whining. It's possible they also weren't feeling well. It was super draining. So I put the 4 little ones to bed a little earlier than usual, made popcorn, and my hot raspberry tea. And my big girl made some microwave-baked apples with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. And we watched a chick flick together. It was called "Love's Unfolding Dream," I think. There's a whole series of movies based on the books by Jeannette Oke. I was never into the books, but I LOVE the movies. They're SUPER cheesy, feel-good movies. The first one is called "Love Comes Softly," and it's about a young couple named Clark and Marty. Throughout the stories, they grow, have a family, eventually have grand kids, who grow up... Clark and Marty are the epitome of wisdom. Whenever anybody is struggling, they go to Clark or Marty, and they always have amazing, simple words of wisdom. I want to be like them. Last night's quote of the night for me was "It's still that simple." Sometimes you just need a feel-good movie where everything works out with no complications. And a good cup of tea.