I am always so grateful for the Ultimate Blog Challenge! And I am particularly glad to have done so this month. Thanks to all of you other UBC bloggers who have come to see me here and welcomed me at your own blogs.

I hope to see all of you again in April when the next blog challenge begins.

Meanwhile, I loved sharing the hygge-your-winter experience with you guys. Did you find it helpful?

I'd love to know your thoughts!

But also tell me if I left anything out. What else would be helpful to you at this time of year?

Blessings to you as winter continues!

Love, Jeanine

Aren't the little ballerinas adorable? Ballet, tap dancing, jazz ~ there are lots of different hygge ways to dance your way through winter.

I took dance lessons, starting at about 6 or 7 years old, and kept going all the way through high school. I loved it so much that I took several years of dance lessons as an adult, too.

My favorite is jazz dance and I would love to take lessons again someday!

Did you ever take lessons? And do you still love to dance, if you did?

During this 21 days of hygge extravaganza, I have encouraged you to stop what you're doing and dance for a few minutes as a way of dancing with winter. I offer videos here for inspiration, but what I want most is that you dance, even if your favorite is something else, entirely.

I think of dancing as a fun way to exercise and a hygge winter strategy because the best choice of exercise is the one you keep doing. So if it feels fun to do, maybe you'll keep dancing all the way 'til the end of winter. :)

Do you remember dances coming out when you were in school, and then everyone would try to learn them? I remember the hustle, the freak, the rock, the charlie brown and several others.

Was there one that was your favorite? Or one that was hard to learn?

I remember having a hard time with the rock, believe it or not. It seems so easy now, but I just couldn't figure it out, and had to get my friend, Jacci, to help me. She put on a song called "Shake Your Groove Thing" (remember that one?) and I mimicked her until I got it.

I think it eventually became one of the most fun ones I learned to do! What was your most fun dance?

Well today, I want to offer a pop culture dance that I suspect has made the rounds at every school. In fact, I think of its basic steps as the kind you can do with any song even if you don't think of yourself as a good dancer.

When people tell me they can't dance, this is what I teach them to do.

In it's latest incarnation, it's called The Carlton, named for the Carlton Banks character on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Here's another version of this dance ...

 
You know you want to get out of your seat and do it, too! :)

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

I have always loved Christmas but I remember one from childhood that was particularly special. My mom and some other ladies had organized a neighborhood Christmas party to be held at our house. It would start with going caroling (and I loved and still love to sing) and then we'd end up back at my house to hang out and eat.

Well, one memory stands out from the time between getting back and going to bed. I was standing near the food (you have no idea how common that is) so I could be near the doughnuts, and was drinking hot apple cider that also had cinnamon in it. It's the first time I remember loving that combination of tastes.

And ever since then, it's one of my favorites. I drink apple cinnamon tea, put my apple cider candle right next to my cinnamon one and often burn them at the same time. And, of course, I love cinnamon rolls (Cinnabon, anyone?) & other cinnamon treats.

Do I think my apple cinnamon love goes back to that memory? I actually do. So that's why I chose it for this post.

What's your earliest comfort food memory? One that is unsullied in any way. If you can still eat that food without getting sick, then it could be a good ally in your winter blues arsenal.

And it doesn't have to hurt. I rarely eat cinnamon rolls but can have cinnamon or apple cinnamon or gingerbread tea (which has cinnamon in it) every day. And sipping delicious tea - savoring it - is very hygge!

What would that be for you? Try it this winter. Maybe go all out with it once (I'm looking at you, Cinnabon!) and then find a kinder version for the rest of your winter experience.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine