❄️ January Wrap Up

🌨️ Slow Starts, Snow Storms & Story Escapes

✨ Welcome to a New Chapter

January always feels like a deep breath after the festive chaos — a reset, a hibernation mode. I didn’t set wild intentions this time around, just wanted to ease into the year. Between icy mornings, slow cups of tea, and a new book boyfriend stealing my heart, it was a quiet month in the best kind of way.

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📖 What Books Kept Me Company

Title	Author	Rating	Vibes	Link to Review
Birthday Girl	Penelope Douglas	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	forbidden age-gap, yearning, angsty spice 🔥	Read review →
The Wolf King	Lauren Palphreyman	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Scottish wolf alpha, medieval fantasy, mates & danger 🌙	Read review →

🕒 Total time this month: 21 hrs 2 mins

💘 This Month’s Fave: The Wolf King cinched it away from Birthday Girl very quickly! Callum has me in a chokehold.

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💭 Vibe Check: How I’m Really Feeling

Reflective. That’s the word. I went into January with no big “new year, new me” pressure. Just slow mornings, being present, and letting things unfold as they needed to. I’m learning that slow isn’t lazy — it’s sometimes necessary.

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📜 Quote of the Month

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.

A perfect reminder that steady steps still count. 💛

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✅ Hits & ❌ Misses: Monthly Goal Recap

Goal	Status	Notes
Finish 2 audiobooks	✅	Completed with ease thanks to Birthday Girl, The Wolf King + good headphones!
Plan & write up February posts	✅	Oooh besties, you’re not ready for February’s romance content!
Finish countries scrapbook	✅	Stuck everything in with a glue stick, double sided tape and hope. ✔️
Host a theme dinner	❌	On pause while I responsibly pay off my slightly impulsive NYE holiday booking 😅

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🍪 Snack & Sip of the Month

🥜 Snack: Hot nuts (obsessed with the warmth and crunch combo)
🍵 Drink that got me through: Endless cups of tea — classic, milky, comforting

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🧠 Something I Learned

That planning out posts in advance (with zero guilt if I reshuffle later) gives me so much breathing room. Also: grief doesn’t disappear with time — it reshapes itself, and that’s okay. 💔

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🎉 Little Wins & Life Bits

• Took care of myself after a tough anniversary week
• I survived January
• I survived the horrible cold & snow weather
• I survived without turning into a grumpy goblin… most days
  Tiny wins are still wins.

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🎈 Kids’ Corner

📷 My eldest has decided he wants to learn basic photography — like his grandad! We’ve been doing little practice walks with his camera and it’s been so special.
🏆 My youngest won a Patience Award at school — he was super understanding and calm when a few incidents happened in his class. Little star 🌟

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📸 Monthly Gallery

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🔮 Looking Ahead

🧁 A big baking project is on the horizon — equal parts nervous and excited
💌 February = full of romance themed posts
🎒 Half-term lands mid-month, so I’m mentally prepping for the chaos already

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💌 Wrap It Up

January may not have been the flashiest of months, but it was comforting — like a weighted blanket and a slow burn book. And sometimes that’s the best way to begin.

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📣 Come Chat

How was your January? Did you discover a new favourite book or snack? Come say hi in the comments — or add me over on Snapchat @Kims-SweetLife 💬📚