Back to Coloring in My Devotional Coloring Book: Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart

Well, it is winter once again so I am back to my winter devotional coloring book.  In the spring and summer months I am reading and coloring through the Book of Psalms, but in the winter I switch back to the book "Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart".

Here are the pages I colored along with the title and corresponding scripture verse.

A Cozy Place

"When the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit in us:  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."

Galations 5:22

I think the key word in the verse from Galations is "When".  "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives".  It is so easy to let our flesh get in the way instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to take control.

Practical and Purposeful

"Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer"

Psalm 94:19

My heart has been in so much turmoil lately that this verse really hit me deep.  My husband and I have been so deeply hurt and betrayed by a family member, and not just any family member, but a man who is a minister.  I mean, what do you with that?  It causes me to have a crisis of faith because I can't understand how a man can stand behind a pulpit week after week and preach the word of God when he has committed such a horrible sin.  I've been struggling keeping my thought life under control because my flesh is just so enraged over the situation.  We don't know what to do, and we're just seeking God for wisdom, and praying for this relative to repent and make restitution, and for God to just "fix the situation" because it's beyond our control.  So "doubts have filled my mind" and "my heart is in turmoil" and I need Jesus to "quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer".

The Comfort of Companionship

"Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts"

II Timothy 2:22

Definitely spending time with like-minded people, people who love God and have pure hearts is ministering to me during these difficult times.

All We Will Ever Need

"He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!"

Isaiah 26:3

Ugh! All these verses are just hitting home with me this month.  "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him".  Well, I want to trust in Him, but I just don't understand how this could ever have happened...by a man who is a minister!  Oh, I need God's peace over this situation so badly!

God's Hand in Motion

"Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace"

Ephesians 4:3

The words "Make every effort" are so perfect, because when we have conflict with others, we can "Make every effort" but it is still beyond our control if the other party is sinning and refuses to repent.

Endless Comfort

"Christ will richly bless our time together"

Romans 15:29

Spending time with other believers is always so refreshing.  I know I always feel better after spending time with a Christian friend.

Kind Beyond Measure

"Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ"

Ephesians 4:32

Oh, I wish there were more kindness in the world.  People are so unkind to each other, not just on social media, but in-person, in texts, in emails, etc.  It is so sad.  It is especially sad and hurtful when it comes from a family member...who is a minister.  Can you tell I am really struggling with that yet? 😢

Snuggling In With The Truth

"There was warm fellowship among all the believers"

Acts 4:33

It is hard to find a church these days where there is warm fellowship among all the believers.  And if you do find one, something always eventually happens to cause discord.  

The Best Line of Defense

"I'll refresh tired bodies;  I'll restore tired souls"

Jeremiah 31:25

Oh, my soul is tired...and I definitely need a refreshing.  Please pray for us and this awful situation.  Pray that God will give us wisdom about what to do.  Pray that He will restore this relationship.  Pray that this minister humbles, repents, and makes restitution.

I'm sorry if you came here today looking for inspiration from me and I unloaded on you.  But this is blogging life...especially from a lifestyle blogger.  I don't have the perfect life and I definitely do not have the perfect family.  I hope the Bible Verses and beautifully colored pages inspired you and helped you with anything you're going through in your life.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more "Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart" Coloring Pages, check out these posts:

"Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart" Devotional Coloring Book

More Coloring Pages from "Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart"

Coloring Pages from "Cozy Moments to Calm Your Heart"

Stillwater Minnesota World Snow Sculpture Festival

Winter can be long, boring, and very painful in Wisconsin if you shut yourself indoors and wait for spring to arrive.  Many years ago, a wise friend told me that the key to not getting depressed in the winter was to "get out and play in it" and he is so right.  The problem is, most winter play is quite expensive or too adventurous for me.  I do not own any snowmobiles and skiing scares me to death.  But the past few years, we discovered a love of hiking in the winter (check out some fun winter hikes we've done in the past at the end of this post).  The forest in winter brings a new depth of beauty that is so different than during the warmer months.  But I also started keeping my eyes out for winter festivals, so when I saw a town only about two hours from my house had a "Snow Sculpture Festival" I decided that would be a fun, new winter experience for us.  We had never been to a snow sculpture festival before. 

Even though the town was only two hours away, we did book a hotel for a romantic weekend and also because a lot of the festival activities were at night and we didn't want to miss them.

The snow sculptors  came from all over the world.  A flag representing their country was positioned at each snow sculpture.  They all started with the same size block of snow and they had four days to complete their sculpture.  When we arrived Saturday morning. many were putting the finishing touches on their snow sculptures.

We went to view the sculptures twice:  once during daylight hours to watch the sculptors do their artistry, and then again after dark to view them all complete and lit up.

My husband and I know absolutely nothing about snow sculpting but would you believe we picked the top two winners right away?  That's right, we picked Canada's "The Inosculation of Souls" sculpture and Mongolia's "Legend" sculpture as the best of them all, and we were right! They won #1 and #2 respectively.  I'm standing in front of Canada's snow sculpture in the photo below.  What blew me away about this sculpture was the holes in the birds head and beak.  How did the snow not cave in during that process?

Taiwan's sweet sculpture "Lover's Tear".

After viewing the sculptures we decided to go grab some lunch and do some shopping. Stillwater is famous for its gorgeous historic downtown with fabulous shops and restaurants.

While shopping, we received a message that our room was ready and since we were nearby we decided to check in.  We picked a posh, trendy hotel right downtown so we could walk to all the festivities at night.  It was pricey, but it was an unusual experience.  I don't think I got my money's worth as it was twice the amount I'd normally pay for a hotel and our room wasn't that great plus we had to pay $30 for parking.

The Lora Hotel used to be a steam-powered brewery in 1868.  It was refurbished into a hotel in 2018.  It is built right into a hill and it preserves the original limestone walls and caves from the original brewery.  You can see the caves right behind the reception desk when you walk into the lobby of the hotel, but they are not open to the public.

The room was nice, but unfortunately we didn't get a room with limestone walls as advertised on their website.  Our favorite part of the room was the rain shower!  The price for the room was probably so high because of the snow sculpture festival that weekend.  

Our room seemed kinda small, but it was nicely decorated.  However, for the price I paid, I've stayed in nicer hotels with more amenities.  

The lobby's Christmas Tree was decorated with all the flags of the nations participating in the snow sculpture festival.  We were told at check-in that they had several teams staying at the hotel;  that was a fun fact.

Stillwater has so many amazing, gorgeous historic buildings, like this old mill now turned antique shop.

For lunch we went to "Nacho Mamas" and we both ordered a stuffed burrito.  I just about died when I saw the amount of food on our plates and I instantly regretted that we didn't just order one and split it.  I've never seen such a big burrito in my life.  I ended up making three meals out of mine it was so huge.

I love the black and red design of this old building.

We went back to our hotel for a two hour nap before heading back out after dark for the night time snow sculpture festivities.  It was so much colder at night, but the festivals had fire pits everywhere plus an indoor warming tent.  We were also very appropriately dressed for the occasion.

The town of Stillwater looked so pretty all lit up at night.

Stillwater still had all their Christmas decorations up, so I took advantage of them!

We walked across their famous lift bridge in spite of the cold to get some views of the city lit up at night.

The colorful snow sculptures really stood out in the darkness.

And here is the beautiful lift bridge all lit up at night.

And finally, here are some of the completed snow sculptures.  First up is USA's "Call to Arms".  My first thought when seeing this sculpture was "Well of course the USA would be the one country to do something woke". 😆They didn't win anything. 

Edited to Add on 1/30/26

The USA sculpture was recently removed from where it was displayed over a rules violation that was noticed after judging was completed in the World Snow Celebration. The hands spelled out a political message in sign language.  Political messages are not allowed in the Snow Sculpture Festival.  Read more about it HERE!

There were several modern art sculptures.  None of them won any awards.  I think people like to see more realistic sculptures representing something tangible and not just artistic.  However, I really liked Switzerland's modern art sculpture because I was so impressed with the interlocking rings.  How in the world did they do that?

Lithuania's "Let's Play".

Another one of my favs:  India's "Nature Cradle".

I'm sure the children enjoyed viewing Britain's "For Fast Acting Relief, Slow Down",

My husband's favorite modern art one was Peru's "Tupana" which was also a "People's Choice" winner.

Some people thought Mexico's "Tripping" should have placed but I don't see it.

Canada's "The Inosculation of Souls" won both First Place and "Artists Choice".  I don't usually have a lot of good things to say about Canada, but go Canada!  This was very well deserved.  And did you know, they had an all woman team?  Wow! 

2nd Place went to Mongolia's "Legend".  We loved this sculpture,  And frankly, this is what the USA team should have sculpted imo.  Something, that represents our great country and not just a woke statement.

And the award to the worst sculpture in the festival imo goes to Turkey's "Dialogue",  I mean, what in the world is this?  😆  It looks like they hardly sculpted anything from their box of snow.  

It's really cool to walk through the aisle of flags representing all the countries participating in the snow sculpture festival.

Here is Canada's amazing all women team:

Most all the other teams were all men, so to see women do so well at the festival was awesome.

Here is the 2nd place Mongolian team.

And third place went to Thailand for "Life in Frame".

After viewing the sculptures we went inside the warming tent where they had a super fun and exciting closing ceremony, then we decided to go grab some dinner.  Most of the restaurants were pretty crowded at this time, but we managed to find a vintage burger shop that squeezed us in after a short wait.

I liked the decor and ambiance of this place, but the burgers were just ok.  I think most people go here for ice cream.  I did appreciate that the burgers were small, which I know sounds funny to say, as most people want a big, juicy burger.  I just grow tired of the huge portions at most restaurants.  I usually have to cut my burger in half and take the other half home.  The burgers at Leo's Grill and Malt Shop were the perfect size for me.  However, they used canned mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms on their Swiss and Mushroom Burger which was a big no-no to me.

The next morning we went out for breakfast at The Main Cafe.  I ordered a four berry French toast and then we split two eggs and hash browns.  This was a very good breakfast.  I loved the French toast!  I couldn't finish it, as once again it was too large, so hubby ate my other half.

I hope you enjoyed my winter weekend getaway.  And would you believe I am officially out of travel posts?  Well, I am.  So unless I take another winter trip, I won't have anymore travel posts to share for a while. 😢

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more ideas on how to have fun this winter, check out these posts!

 A Candlelight Walk in Interstate Park

Visiting Como Park Zoo in Winter

The Snow Shoe Trail in the Black River Forest

Hiking Parfrey's Glen in Winter

A Fall Hike In Irvine Park and Hoffman Hills

The past few weeks I've been sharing about our fall adventures.  We spent a few weekends away visiting small towns and attending fall festivals.  

This will be my final fall post, and then I will move onto winter adventures! I've learned a long time ago if you want to survive a Wisconsin winter, you have to get out and play in it.

Today's fall hike is different than my usual fall adventures because I went with a friend and not my husband.  My friend lives about an hour from me so we don't get together often.  She suggested we go for a fall hike then have lunch and shopping in the sweet little town of Chippewa Falls.  I was all up for that as it involved all my favorite activities: hiking, food, and shopping!

Irvine Park

My friend took me to Irvine Park which unbeknownst to me is filled with a lot of gorgeous hiking trails! I have been to this park so many times, but I have never hiked.  We always went to the zoo, the play ground, the pool, or enjoyed the Rotary Club's Christmas Light Show. 

I was truly shocked at how incredible the trails were and all the gorgeous fall color.  I said to my "And to think we always drive hours away to hike and see color, and I could just hike in my own backyard?"

The park has an old cave which is now sealed off.  It use to be a storage area to keep beer cold.  I've also heard stories how it use to house the zoos bears, but I'm not sure if that's true.

I always love trails that have a water view.  Our trail today took us all along the river.

They added some new attractions to the park like this gorgeous curved, metal and wood bridge!

The Glen Loch Dam was built in 1875 by a lumber company to power a sawmill and later a flour mill.  Today it is just a picturesque waterfall.

At the end of our trail we reached Glen Loch Lake which had lots of beautiful private homes on it's shoreline.

On our return trip we saw and heard a beautiful blue heron swoop down from the sky to get some water.

Another view of the dam.

I loved how we were able to walk alongside a creek for most of the trail.

Getting the timing right for a fall hike can be tricky.  And I always find those "Peak Fall Color Maps" to be highly inaccurate.  This was my second to last fall hike for the year, and although there was a lot of color left on the trees, a lot of leaves had already fallen to the ground.  But I love that too! I think a trail looks so pretty covered in leaves, and I love the crunchy sound when I step on them.

Hoffman Hills

The following weekend my husband and I went to Hoffman Hills after church.  We go there every year as they have a nice viewing tower to see the fall foliage. 

It was a beautiful sunny day and the trail was covered with fallen leaves. 

The colors were past peak by the time we arrived.  I mentioned in previous fall posts from this year, that we didn't get a lot of fall color.  The colors were late and very muted.

Even though it was past peak, it is always a beautiful view from this tower no matter what time of year. 

And that concludes all my fall travel posts.  Next week I'll be back with some winter fun!

 Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

See These Posts for More on Irvine Park and Hoffman Hills:

Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area and Maiden Rock Bluff

Hiking in Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area, Dunn County, Wisconsin

Having Fun Locally: Irvine Park