HELLO WEEKEND

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Hi hi hiiiiiiii. Oh m gee, I am soo sorry I haven't posted in forever! I'm still alive! Just have been unbelievably busy! Last weekend we were in Vancouver at James' cousin's wedding. It was at the most beautiful old mansion just off Granville and 16th. From the picture above you could see the water!! 

19 days until we go away (!!!!!!!) and TWO WEEKS TILL CONFERENCE! I kinda feel like my brain is going to explode but ITS ALL GOOD because God gives us all that we need every year and He won't let us down this year. 

It all of a sudden got sooo cold here and I just want to live in a sweater like this one.

I watched this video and bawled last night. So beautiful to see organizations on the ground, helping refugees in an unfathomable time.

On Saturday we're taking our students to a pumpkin patch! And I'm really hoping to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

Next week I will be back to regular programming (3 posts per week!). Thank you for being such amazing readers. 

Love you to the moon & back!

-laura

Oh and I got a new phone so follow along....
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PRINTABLE OCTOBER CALENDAR

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OH MY GOODNESS. HOW IS IT OCTOBER TOMORROW! October is one of my favourite months but eeeee with conference, our holidays and a billion other things in between I'm slightly freaking out....(cue deep breath in) But it's all going to be okay because in these times I can lean into Jesus. He will give me the strength I need. I won't be overwhelmed.

So as always, I made you a monthly calendar so you can get organized this October! How about scheduling some time to bake some yummy pumpkin cream cheese muffins? OR a PSL date with a friend? OR a pumpkin carving party?

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE OCTOBER CALENDAR

Happy last day of September!

XO, laura

(Wreath and leaf graphics from Angie Makes!)

GETTING FIT THIS FALL

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image via

It's time for me to get my fitness on. There are two times of the year where I am motivated to get fit...fall and January (of course). I don't know why but I've never been motivated in the summer...(must be from dying on super hot runs or my love for ice cream.) But I always have been motivated to get fit in the fall time. I was just chatting with my friend Chenoah yesterday how fall is the PERFECT running weather. Cool air but sunshine...ahhh it's the best.

But this fall I'm extra motivated. Mainly because part of my 20 goals for my last year as a 20 something included: 5. Eat healthier, 6. Join a gym and 4. Go on a fancy vacation somewhere hot !

Let's consider two of those goals being accomplished :) James and I have booked a fall vaycay (conveniently right after conference)!!! We're flying down to Austin to see Joy & Ryan (!!!!) and hopefully some Friday Nights Lights pleeeeease and then we'll fly to Florida and embark on a 7 day Caribbean cruise because we're senior citizens and my bedtime is 9:30pm. #SOEXCITED and now I have a reason for a couple fitness goals!

So I signed up at Good Life and have been loving it. I hired a trainer for 3 sessions to teach me how to not kill myself with a barbell and man, I wish I could do their one year program but OHMYGOSH it costs a billion dollars. So I will be my own trainer after my final session today but I'm okay with that. They have some great classes which I'm hoping to try out this week.

So here's my gameplan (or at least the start of it):

• Exercise 4x per week. This could include a run or going to the gym (which I hope to be at least 2 of the 4). Sadly, my half hour walks to work will not count.
   
• Drink at least 2L water everyday. Before I started my training, my trainer made me step onto this magical machine that measured my weight, my body fat %, how much of my weight is muscle, how much calories I normally burn in a day, a bunch of other things AND how much water I drink!!! It was insane. She told me that I was very dehydrated which makes sense because I'm horrible at drinking water and really good at drinking coffee. So I'm gonna change that...not the coffee thing, because that is just crazy talk.
   
• Don't eat after 7:00pm. Now this is gonna be hard because I am a late night snacker. A bowl of cereal before I go to bed is one of my love languages!! But I'm going to try and also make sure I eat plenty of healthy & balanced meals in the day so I'm not starved at 7pm.
   
• Cut back on sweets. Sweets are my weakness. I didn't say never eat sweets because it's fall and I'm gonna bake pumpkin everything so I can't deprive myself!! But I need to cut back a lot...which will be hard, but so good.

So there's the start of the gameplan! I'll be back in a week or two with an update for you. I did take pictures and have measurements of waist and thighs and all that jazz. I don't think I'll ever share that with you BUT I'll definitely tell you if what I'm doing is working!

Happy Monday!

XO,
laura

HELLO WEEKEND

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HELLO WEEKEND!
So happy to have arrived at Friday. This week has been something....

First of all, I thought my mail was being stolen...then my faith was restored in humanity (this instagram post explains all) 
 

Then, I drop my already broken phone off my lap and it lands on carpet and BOOM the screen goes black..I can still use siri but that's about it. I need a new phone ASAP but my plan is so good that I need to buy a phone outright and OHMYGOSH iphone 6's are like $1000.
 

And then yesterday morning I decided to be hcore and run 4km to my 8am training session at my gym. Because I was headed to work after, I needed to run with a backpack on so I could get ready after my workout. First of all, running with a backpack full of stuff SUCKS and second of all make sure you backpack isn't junky because this may happen.... I'm crossing the Bay street bridge and am so happy that I'm almost at the gym when all of a sudden a guy in a white truck honks viciously at me...at first I was like REALLY? and then I turned around and saw my pink bra hanging from my backpack which had magically come open and no not just that, but my flannel, t-shirt, socks and NEON undies were littered 10 feet behind me. Oh and did I mention it's rush hour? ON THE BAY STREET BRIDGE???? Good thing my face was already red from running because MY GOODNESS morning commuters just saw all my undergarments.  But thanks to the guy who honked because I would've kept going and that would have been awkward losing all my clothes...
 

But I'm seeing blessings in disguise. No phone = I can get a lot of stuff done! And undergarments on the sidewalk = laugh for others and now me and future sermon illustration! Good thing God has a sense of humour.
 

So this weekend I just want to curl up in an overpriced HBC blanket and hide from the world...JK JK. I plan on hanging with my students, baking lots of fall things and hitting up the gym! And potentially working on a new logo for S.S.Heart.

 Hope you have a fabulous weekend! This is the time I'd say follow me on snapchat, instagram blah blah blah but obvs I'm MIA there because I have no phone and only will post the sporadic insta when I steal James' phone ;)

XO, 
laura

THREE PUMPKIN RECIPES YOU SHOULD MAKE THIS FALL

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Well it's officially fall and I'm very ecstatic round here. The weather has definitely cooled down and I am very happy I'm not sweating buckets on my walk to work...also fall weather for running is just the best.

This weekend I'm excited to get into my kitchen and try out some new pumpkin recipes. Having two students really encourages me to bake a lot which is not so great for my waistline but great for this blog.

But over the years, I've actually posted quite a few fall recipes (big surprise there!) Here's three pumpkin recipes you should make this fall...

1. PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS

These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are hands down the VERY BEST MUFFINS YOU WILL EVER HAVE. They're a labour of love because they take a little longer to make but they are SO WORTH IT. I'm seriously drooling over here.

2. PUMPKIN SPICE SNICKERDOODLES

These, Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles are the easiest thing to bake and they are ridiculously delicious!!!

3. HOMEMADE PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

If you want to save money this but still want to drink "fall in a cup" then you need to make Pumpkin Spice Lattes at home! They are super easy to make and will save you a lot of $$$!!!

A lot of these recipes call for Pumpkin Pie Spice...a spice that us Canadians don't really sell. Well I got you covered....click here for the recipe!

Have you gotten into the fall baking craze yet? What are your "must" make fall recipes? Please let me know in the comments!

XO,
laura