SSHEART SUMMER BOOK CLUB RE-CAP

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So remember when we were reading 10 books this summer? Today is the last day of summer...or is it the first day of fall? Well anyways, summer is GONZO and fall is here and we're supposed to be finished 10 books! 

Incase you forgot...here is what was on my list!

I wish I could tell you I finished 10 books....I finished 9.2. I'm still working away on Simplify (and have about 30 pages left of Fashioned to Reign!) and I'll get to that below!

I reviewed some of the books I read here and here but to save you some time I'll put a quick review of the books below...

SUMMER READING RECAP

1. Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand....I thought it was ok. A little drawn out but hey it's a summer chick lit and got me dreaming of Nantucket!

2. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion....Definitely gobbled up this one. If you haven't read The Rosie Project, do that right away! The sequel was cute but not as good as the first one. It was enjoyable enough to recommend though. The main character is just hilarious...love that Don Tillman.

3. One plus One by Jojo Moyes...I don't know why I keep reading her books. I find them all just mediocre. This one had a cute ending but I don't think getting there was worth it.

4. Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan...This one was a non-fiction story about a young journalist who seems to go crazy. It was very intense. A lot of medical stuff, which I may have skimmed through but it was very riveting and I would highly recommend it!

5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving...OH MY GOODNESS, SO GOOD. I fell in love with the character of Owen Meany...he's just so fascinating. I don't even know how to describe this book, you just have to read it. 

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern...I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I definitely got sucked into the magical world of the Night Circus and loved the characters. I didn't loooove the ending but I don't know how I would do it differently so I better not complain.

7. The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland....I was very excited to read this book as I absolutely loved the Josephine B trilogy but oh my goodness, I was so disappointed. I would not recommend this one as there was some weird dark spiritual stuff in it that was rather disturbing...but not only that, the characters weren't developed and it was just blah. 

8. Fashioned to Reign by Kris Vallotton...This is a great book to read if you're passionate about seeing women empowered. It's an easy to read theologically enriched book about how it is God's plan to see men and women serving alongside each other in leadership roles! I wish I could meet Kris to give him a big hug.

9. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee....Ok so technically I was supposed to read Where'd You Go Bernadette BUT I had already read it and I really wanted to read this one by the amazing Harper Lee. I ended up listening to this one on audiobooks through a lot of my runs this summer. It was soooo good. The audiobook was narrated by Reese Witherspoon and she did such a fantastic job. It's the sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird and it was so good. Reading it made me think of the post I wrote just awhile back on what a tragedy it is to idolize people instead of realizing that they are people and they make mistakes.

10. Simplify by Bill Hybels...ok to be completely honest, I've been avoiding this book....ha. I've been avoiding it because I know I'm going to get convicted and need to change my life. HA. I know that's not a good reason to not read the book but it's #realtalk. BUT I'm determined to finish this one this fall, so I'll get back to you on it!

So there you go, 9.2 books I finished this summer! Now it's fall and I'm working on my birthday goal of completing 25 books before I'm 30! Would love to hear some of your reading recommendations! What book must I read before I turn 30??!!

-laura

HELLO WEEKEND

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Hello WEEKEND! Mine started a bit early as I took today off because RIFFLANDIA! Rifflandia is a local music festival happening in my city and it's my first year attending. It's a multi-site festival with music in a billion venues all across town. Last night James and I checked out Boreal Sons at the Wood Hall (a cute chapel esque venue) and we loved them. Afterwards we headed to some night shows in an industrial-ish part of town.

My goodness, it felt like we were transported to another city! The whole block had music coming out of multiple venues and there was a DJ stage in the middle of one giant parking lot. So many good vibes...but I was getting beyond tired at 10pm and had to go home..LOL. Tonight I will prep myself with lots of caffeine so I can last till at least 1am..

• James' band is playing tonight at 9:30pm at Alix Goolden (which is a stunning venue!). If you can't see them there you can catch them Sunday in the park at 2:30pm and if you're a real night owl, they're playing at 3AM on Sunday morning at CMCT studio!
   
• Now onto the real important things: What to wear...It's supposed to rain :( So I'll probably wear this hat, (which btw I've been LOVING especially because it gives me an excuse to not wash my hair) a long skirt (because technically it's still summer), and a leather jacket (faux) (dream jacket). 
   
• Oh and I signed up at the gym and start with a personal trainer...TODAY. I'm a little bit afraid because I know I'm going to have to change my eating habits but I'm a whole lot EXCITED because I'm going to get in shape for our fall vacation! And now all I want to do is buy cute gym clothes (like this and this and this!)
  
  Hope you enjoy the final weekend of SUMMER! And if you want to catch some of RIFF be sure to follow me on social media!  

XO, laura

 INSTAGRAM // FACEBOOK // SNAPCHAT: lauraliira
TWITTER // PINTEREST

A FREE PRINTABLE AND A LITTLE KICK IN THE BUTT FOR ALL OF US

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I have the above statement on my wall at work.

It's there because sometimes I need the reminder...who am I kidding? Everyday I need the reminder.  

We human beings can be terribly selfish at times....but on the flip side, we can be incredibly compassionate too. We were created to love and when we do, it's a beautiful thing.

I once heard someone say (and I think I've quoted this at least twice before on here!) that you can't always change someone's outcome in life but you can change their experience. We have the power to love others, to go the extra mile and spend sometime listening, praying and serving. You can actually help change someone's experience of life...that's pretty incredible when you think about it.

So maybe you're like me and need the reminder too....I got you covered. You can download and then print this baby up. Let's keep making this world a more beautiful place!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD EXTRA MILE BLACK
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD EXTRA MILE PINK
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD EXTRA MILE BLUE

Love you to the moon & back,
laura

OUR HOME // ENTRANCE WAY UPDATE

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Happy Monday everybody! Hope you all had an awesome weekend. We added another homestay student to our family...so now I'm cooking for FOUR...I guess I'm just getting some good mom training for the future then? 

Well it's been awhile since I've shown you some house updates! We haven't done any crazy reno's but we're pretty much settled into every room so I can start showing you what we're up to and some plans for the future.

So let's have a look at what our entryway used to look like....

The entry way is on the far left. I don't have an original photo of it but you can see it had some nasty linoleum. In January we decided to get rid of it and replace it with tiles.

Scraping off the linoleum was some treacherous work!!! And PS how good do our floors look? (James refinished them and hopefully soon I'll get my stuff together and do a post on that!) So after we scraped off the old floor, James laid down the tiles. Oh and he also painted the door a nice dark grey!

What a difference those tiles make! Oh and James also added baseboard which made a huge difference! We also installed a cute light from Ikea. But it's a small space and I want to jazz it up. I don't want to do anything huge because it really is such a small space but I want it to be a bit more exciting. 

What I really want to do is wallpaper/wall decal/paint the wall on the right.

Because it's such a small wall, I really want to do something fun! Here's what I'm thinking...

1. Gold Dots 2. Cactus 3. Blue Triangles 4. Florals

Now how cute are those selections!!! It makes me really excited about finishing this space. I looove the cacti but I think they may be a little bit too trendy and go out of style in a few years. The gold dots are totally me but totally predictable. Now those triangles and those blooms...#swoon. Which one is your favourite?

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Stay gold,
laura

HELLO WEEKEND

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So Summer decided to reappear this week! I'm not complaining but man, I was convinced fall was here and walked to work wearing a jacket, leggings and long sleeves..big mistake. I was sweeeeaaaating up a storm. It's crazy to think we had our heat on last week! It's supposed to stay sunny this weekend so I am one happy girl...scarves can wait a week or two :)

• Tomorrow we become a family of four. (No I did not hide being pregnant with twins from the world incase you were wondering!) Our second homestay student arrives! It's going to be a bit crazy cooking for four people, but it's preparing us for when we have kids one day...rrriiiight? Now I'm on the hunt for good crockpot meals, please send me your suggestions!
   
• The church is being the church and stepping up to the Syrian refugee crisis. It can be so overwhelming to think of but everyone can do one thing. This website is a great resource to help you figure out how you can practically help.
   
• Rifflandia is happening next weekend! I'm excited to see my man play with Towers & Trees of course but ohmgeee I'm also sooo pumped to see Chromeo again! Last time I saw them was at Coachella in 2011 and it was the best dance party of my life. I'm hoping the sunny weather will stay so we can have a good ol music festival.
   
• Earlier this week, I shared with you some beauty products that I'm currently loving but ahhh I have more to add to that list...like this eyeliner and this mascara. I didn't think I'd love that mascara but I DO and I'm going to buy it when I run out of my current one.

Hope you enjoy the second to last weekend of Summer! 

Love you lots,
laura