Well, the snow is falling, windows are freezing, and energy bills across the country are shooting up. It’s winter in Montana, and it actually is my favorite time of year. I know it sounds crazy, but being hot-blooded as I am, I can’t stand the heat of the summer. I really prefer the weather to have a nice chill. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll be complaining with the rest of you when there’s 3 feet of snow and your eyelids are freezing shut, but for those of you who get depressed and down-hearted at this time of year, let me offer a few tips that will hopefully help you to enjoy the next few months.
1. Ladies! Start baking for your man!
The absolute best part of getting married is the fact that I now have a loving companion to share my life with and pursue God together. The second best part is the food…Every year starting in about November, women seem to have a genetic instinct to start making delicious baked goods of all sorts and varieties. From cookies and brownies to cakes and pies, the three month smorgasbord usually accounts for me going up a pant size or two every winter. My wife especially likes to make pies, which is just fine with me. She even has friends that she’ll get together with and make food with them and bring that home too for me to eat. Talk about a good problem to have. Added bonus, baking will not only make your house smell great for days, but it heats up your home as well!
2. Guys! Get your wife a Snuggie…
I know that the Snuggie is probably the most unattractive, strangest, cheesiest TV informercial product since spray-on hair, but the truth is…your wife probably wants one. The first time that commercial came on, Stacy’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and ever since then regular blankets have just seemed inadequate. So I bought her a cute pink one and gave it to her on the first snowy day of this season. It is now regular house apparel, and honestly, it’s not unattractive, she looks cute in it! And it made her incredibly happy and warm. Plus, she was so happy and grateful that she started to bake even more! Well worth it. A couple warnings though: DO NOT wear the Snuggie outside of the house!! You do not want to be the people in the commercial who are wearing it out to football games and public events! The Snuggie is a privilege, not a right.
3. Assemble your Winter Movie Collection
A couple of suggestions for what to watch on those cold, wintery nights when all you want to do is curl up on the couch (possibly in a Snuggie) and enjoy some old classics: (your personal preferences may vary, but this is what I would have)
- Definitely want to have some good action flicks to get the adrenaline pumping (this is a legitimate substitute for exercise since you 
can’t get out jogging like you talked about doing during the summer). Some good choices might include Predator, any of the Die Hard movies, Armageddon, Terminator, and anything starring Steven Seagal. It’s also a good time because the big summer block-busters come out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the early winter (i.e. – Transformers 2, Star Trek, Terminator 4).
- Comedies keep the laughter flowing, which is important to fight off the gloom and depression of months like January. This is when I would turn to some old classics rather than the newer Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen junk. You definitely need to have at least one Adam Sandler movie (Big Daddy, Happy Gilmore, or Mr. Deeds would be great), perhaps you’d like a little Bill Murray thrown in there (Ghostbusters never fails to satisfy), and you”ll never go wrong with the 90’s cast of SNL like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy or Mike Myers in Austin Powers or Wayne’s World.
- I always like to spend some of the winter break picking up or catching up on some TV series on DVD. Last winter, I took on one of my new favorite shows, House. Other great shows that you can easily catch on DVD would include the recently cancelled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, or if you’re in the mood for something lighter, you could catch the 30 Rock craze, and if you really want to commit to something (and have no life for the next few months) you could always embark on all 8 seasons of Smallville. The best way to get your hands on these is through Netflix or at your local Hastings.
- Finally, be sure to sprinkle in some of the heartwarming junk that you can only get away with watching around the holidays. There 
are some romantic comedies like Love Actually or Sleepless in Seattle that you can enjoy as a couple and have it be ok because , well hey it’s the holidays. As well, around Christmas time, everyone has some movies that are a tradition, it’s just not Christmas until you watch… The Christmas Story or Ernest Saves Christmas or whatever. My personal favorite, one that I absolutely HAVE to watch at least once per holiday season, is A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. Don’t judge me, the Muppets are awesome.
4. Books…Huh?
Ah yes, that ancient medium of the written word that hasn’t yet been transcribed to the digital format. All jokes aside, I always do the most reading of the year during the winter months. I’ve got a huge stack to get through in the next few months, everything from 
novels to text books to theleogical studies and so on. I’ve also recently started listening to the audiobook while I’m reading along with it. It allows me to read faster than I normally would, and I seem to process more of the material. There are a lot of great websites to get cheap audiobooks to download, I personally use Audible.com (if you’re interested, I can tell you how to get your first book free), and there is also a site out there that works like Netflix for audiobooks. Some books in particular that I’m reading currently or am planning on reading are Desiring God by John Piper, Sticky Church by Larry Osborne, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Prophet by Frank Perretti, and The Pleasures of God by John Piper. Also, Mark Driscoll has a new book coming out in January called Doctrine, but I’ll post more about that when it comes out.
Anyways, I hope that this season will turn out to be a happy one for you. As for Stacy and I, we’re both very much looking forward to a nice long winter. Obviously, there are lots of other great things that you can do to pass the time away. I didn’t even get to things like hot chocolate and tea, snow sports, and long drives with friends and loved ones, but feel free to leave some comments on the blog or on Facebook and let me know what you like to do during the winter. Take care everybody!
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