YOUR FAVOURITE POSTS FROM 2014
Happy New Year friends!!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and NYE. I'm baaaaaaaack! The past two weeks have been on crazy whirlwind. We're completely moved into our new house and gave back the keys to our old apartment yesterday. HELLO TO A NEW CHAPTER OF LIFE!
I am SO pumped about 2015!...including stuff for here! I have an editorial meeting with the SSHEART team tomorrow (team = one encouraging friend, Courtney and Coco of course!) But before we look forward can we take a minute to look back on 2014! 2014 was incredible, and I want to soak it in. The next couple days I'll be sharing my personal highlights from 2014 and of course my reflection on my one word for 2014. But first, let's take a look at YOUR FAVOURITE POSTS FROM 2014!!!!
10. THE ONE THING I WON'T DO AT ALT SUMMIT
As I got ready for ALT Summit (which was an incredible time of learning and growth for me as a blogger), I made a determination: I was not going to let comparison grab hold of me. Comparison will get you NO WHERE. I decided to not compare myself to other bloggers and instead celebrate others. CLICK TO READ THE POST.
9. WARDROBE // 8
This post featured James and I all dressed up for a friend's wedding. CLICK TO READ THE POST.
8. HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE // STOCKING STUFFERS
This post received a lot of hits because Ban.Do pinned it (THAAAAANKS BANDO GIRL GANG!) It pretty much sums up my style...pastels and gold and cats all the time please and thank you. CLICK TO READ THE POST.
7. THAI PEANUT CHICKEN RICE BOWL
My favourite thing about this post is how many of you actually made it and loved it!!!!! Seriously, that gets my heart sparkling at turbo sparkle speed. This year I want to step up my cooking game so look out for loads of recipes! CLICK TO READ THE POST.
6. WARDROBE // 4
This was a fun little shoot on a crisp spring day at Beacon Hill Park. Man I'm gonna miss being one minute away from that park. CLICK TO READ THE POST.
5. 5 THINGS I'D TELL MY HIGH SCHOOL SELF
Oh high school. Thank goodness that chapter of my life is long gone. But if I could go back and chat to Laura circa 2001 here is what I would tell her. CLICK TO READ THIS POST.
4. ONE WORD 2014 // GUEST POSTS
These were my favourite posts from 2014. I looooooved hearing so many different fantastic people share about their one word for 2014. It's so amazing to see how God speaks uniquely to His children. Count on more of these for 2015!! If you want to share your one word for 2015 email me at laura at ssheart dot com xo CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST.
3. TIME TO CELEBRATE & OTHER HOUSE RELATED NEWS
The biggest thing to happen in 2014 for us was BUYING A HOME!!!! It was a crazy adventure. Thank you for all your kind congrats and support. So thankful! And yes, this will bring a plethora of future posts...just you wait!!! CLICK TO READ THE POST.
2. WHY YOU SHOULD WEAR CLOTHES THIS HALLOWEEN
This one was my second most viewed post this year!! In it I shared a few reasons why people should wear clothes on Halloween...scandalous costumes are so overrated.... CLICK TO READ THE POST.
1. ON BIKINI BRIDGES AND KICKING SELF LOATHING TO THE CURB
And THE MOST READ POST OF 2014 was talking about my journey of overcoming self loathing. God took me on a wild journey this year and I experienced COMPLETE FREEDOM from body image issues...it has been INCREDIBLE and I am so thankful for His grace and freedom. CLICK TO READ THE POST.
Thank you for reading and sharing these posts. It means so much to me that words that I or others write in this space can encourage and inspire you. Let's keep making the internet a better place.
xo,
s.s.♥︎.
HELLO + HOUSE UPDATE
Hiiiiiiiiiii. Excuse me if I sound crazy in this post at all. I'm currently sick and it's making me cray cray. I think some of that dry wall dust creeped into my lungs (and maybe my brain too?) and caused some sorta irritation/cold season. But I'm slowly on the mend... PTL!
Now onto what you probably came here for...HOUSE UPDATE!!!
AH. This week has been INSANE. One week ago we got the keys and then James had a Christmas gig and then I turned on the kitchen tap and it wouldn't turn off and then my mom, sister and nephew came over and we couldn't turn the tap off and then my dad came over and we found the water shut off in the crawlspace and then we noticed that the old owners left us a ton of Christmas presents aka old junk (but a few gems, like those lovely cat magnets on the fridge, cat wearing a sunhat? sign me up.)
James started renos the next morning (and they got a new kitchen faucet, hallelujah!! And the seller's realtor removed all the junk left behind) James has been working non-stop, like 16 hour days...I miss him. I took a bunch of photos this weekend but didn't get in before the work started. Thank goodness I took some when we first viewed the place. SO many posts to come.
We've had soooo many family and friends help out. THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!! Seriously, we feel so blessed. Everyday I'm just like THANK YOU JESUS FOR MY AMAZING FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!
Since I've been sick, I haven't been able to do any work on the new house...it sucks but I'm packing up the old house and eating copious amounts of chocolate.
Love you to the moon & back,
s.s.♥︎.
LET'S NOT LET CHRISTMAS PASS US BY
8 sleeps until Christmas. Eiiggggghhhhttttttt!!!! Our apartment is in shambles. Half packed boxes, messy kitchen, don't even get me started on the bedroom....We got possession of OUR HOME on Monday and now James is working crazy hard to get the walls and floors done before we move in at the end of the month. I'm freaking out a little bit.
And if I'm not careful, Christmas may pass me by.
Can anyone else relate to this? Swamped with exams....Christmas party after Christmas party...insane work season...never ending shopping list... Isn't it ironic that perhaps all the activities that are supposed to make you enjoy the season, are actually doing the opposite? Does it seem like Christmas is passing you by?
Almost every Christmas, I've had a real tree. Not some little Charlie Brown excuse of a tree, but a big, bustling, at least 7 foot tall sucker. This year because of the move, we didn't get one. It would have been crazy to take out our Christmas box and move a tree two days after Christmas.
But on Saturday, I couldn't take it anymore. I knew our home needed something. I couldn't stand not having any decorations up. So I grabbed some washi tape and made a makeshift Christmas tree, wrapped some presents and placed them on a sheepskin. I was determined to not let Christmas pass me by.
Christmas is not meant to merely pass by us. Christmas is meant to be soaked in. To be pondered. To be reflected upon. To be sipped slowly like a steaming hot peppermint mocha on a cold day.
I can't help but think of Mary in this season. Mary, the brave young woman who birthed God's gift to us, Jesus Christ. Things were craaazy for her. Visited by an Angel, travelling on a donkey at 9 months pregnant, birthing Christ in a barn, shepherds coming to see baby Jesus full of glorious stories of chorus' of angels telling them of the Messiah's birth. Now that is a lot to handle. But I love what it says about Mary in Luke 2:19...
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
She took it all in. Among the bustle, she let all the beauty, the thrill, the magnificence sink deep into her heart.
I'm so inspired by Mary. I'm determined to not let Christmas pass me by. Amidst the insanity, I'm challenged to be still. To ponder and reflect on the beauty, thrill, magnificence of Christmas... Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Let's soak it in this Christmas.
Who's with me?
Love you to the moon & back,
s.s.♥︎.
P.S. HUGE thank you to all of you who filled out the Reader Survey from Monday. I love hearing your feedback! If you haven't had time to do it, I'll still be receiving responses. It means so much to me that you would take the time out of your hectic day to help improve this site, thank you xo
S.S. HEART READER SURVEY // I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK
Hello friends! First of all, I want to thank you so much for following along on the S.S. Heart journey. I've been blogging at S.S.Heart since 2009 (2009-2013 were sporadic posts on my old tumblr blog) but stepped up my game (moved to squarespace, re-launched ssheart) and actually started blogging seriously this past January.
I love blogging. I love writing about the beautiful (and sometimes, not so beautiful) parts of life. I love designing. I love being challenged to improve my photography. I love being inspired to create new recipes. I love it all! And it absolutely makes my heart sparkle that you take time out of your busy life to come to this space.
So it would thrill me if you would take a couple more minutes out of your day to fill out the survey below. I want to improve this space and I would love your feedback on what you want to read! The survey is completely anonymous, so please be honest! (Constructive criticism welcome...but please no unnecessary negativity!)
Thank you so much guys :)
Thank you for helping improve S.S.Heart!
xoxo,
s.s.♥︎.
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE // STOCKING STUFFERS
1. Cat Hand Mirror // 2. Heart Water Bottle // 3. Glitter Confetti iPhone Case // 4. Mega Babe Keychain // 5. Nest Rollerball // 6. Gold Dot Back Up Battery // 7. Nail Polish
Past Holiday Gift Guides:
Finished your Christmas shopping yet? I, surprisingly, am almost done! Usually I finish mine on Christmas Eve but this year I got a bit of a head start. Just have to find a couple stocking stuffers for James and a few gifts for family members but other than that I am done!
Got any fun weekend plans? My sisters and sister-in-law are having a baking date Saturday afternoon and then it's a good friend's 30th birthday..yahoo!..Other than that, I'll be PACKING PACKING PACKING!!!
Happy Friday!
s.s.♥︎.