ILLUMINATE 2016

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Illuminate 2016. Oh you were so sweet. This was the 7th year we've done Illuminate...incase you're wondering what Illuminate is, it's a conference our church puts on for girls in grades 6-12. We put it on to inspire, encourage and equip girls to live the life God has called them to! Those teenage years were some of my darkest years and I know I would have so benefitted from an environment where I heard of Christ's love for me and that I was not alone in this thing called life. We also encourage the girls to be themselves, they are not objects, they do not need to compare themselves to others on instagram or be something that they're not....they are GOLD just as they are! We also like to PARTY...dance parties, lots of food and special productions (like James singing Bruno Mars- Treasure to the girls as confetti fell from the ceiling #heartmelt)

It's a little crazy doing something 7 years in a row but again I am amazed and in awe of what God did!  He always does something new. I've heard so many stories of so many girls meeting with Jesus. Even if He speaks to one girl, all the work is worth it. I've heard stories that for some girls, this is the highlight of their year...again I'm so humbled that we get to be a part of that.

I'm so thankful for our amazing team who volunteered countless hours to make this the best Illuminate yet! We were also so blessed to have guest speaker Nicole Reyes come to us from NYC...she's phenom.

Most Photos by Stephanie Christo Photography & Photos of Nicole Reyes & the Panel by Behind Elissa's Lens

I'm already looking forward to planning next year!!

XO!

-laura

PRINTABLE MARCH CALENDAR

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Well I'm back and all of a sudden it's MARCH! I took a bit of a break to do Illuminate (which I can't wait to tell you all about next week) and then recover from Illuminate but now I'M BAAAACK!

Three months to go until #babyliira makes his grand entrance so I'm all about getting things done this month!  On the blog, around the house, at work...I'm ready for a productive March!
And what better way to get organized than to make your plans on a pretty calendar? 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR MARCH CALENDAR

Happy Friday everyone!

XO,

ssheart

PREGNANCY POST // 6 MONTH BUMP UPDATE

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How far along are you?

I'm in my 24th week! Can't believe baby boy is supposed to come in 15 weeks! This trimester is flying by! In 3.5 weeks I'll be entering my THIRD trimester!

How big is baby?

Baby is about a foot in length and weighs just over a pound! I have a couple pregnancy apps and they compare him to a cob of corn, an eggplant and a zucchini!

Feeling:

The best yet. I am loving all this new found energy. I can stay up past 10pm and I don't die the next day if I wake up at 6am. Although, I am finding it hard to be productive at night if I worked all day. Illuminate is on Friday so I know this is going to be a CRAZY week but I know God will give me all the strength I need and all the help I need too :)

It's also been amazing to know the sex of the baby. I am a type A planner and I seriously would be having panic attacks if I didn't know the sex lols. We're going to be doing the nursery up in April so I'm having a ton of fun pinning all my inspiration on my NURSERY BOARD!

This month has been the one with the least worries which is kinda funny because after my ultrasound my doctor told me that I had a low lying placenta. She didn't put me on any restrictions and told me not to worry because in 90% of cases, it moves up as the baby moves up. It can get sketchy in cases where the placenta stays lows and then covers the cervix because that means baby can't get out naturally and you're most likely put on bed rest and will receive a c-section. God has given me so much peace about it and I'm really not worried. I know without a doubt that He is taking care of my baby. (And that's not saying I haven't had fears this pregnancy..I'm actually working on a post of all the crazy fears I've had lols)

I feel The Lion (our nickname for baby boy) move around all the time and it is the best feeling!! He's usually down low but sometimes I get big kicks around my belly button. It brings me so much joy that I get to feel my sweet baby. James has been feeling kicks as well! And funny story, one night James put his ear on my belly, trying to hear the Lion's heartbeat but apparently the Lion didn't like that because James received a huge kick to his ear...so sweet. 

Food love:

My appetite is definitely increasing!!! I can eat A LOT, which was not how I rolled pre-pregnancy. I'm trying to eat healthy things but man a pregnant girl sure needs her sweets.

Food hate:

Don't really hate anything but a homemade spinach salad isn't very appealing right now.

Exercise:

I'm so thankful for the energy I'm experiencing because it's really motivating me to keep going to the gym! I've been going about 2-3 per week and I'm still walking to work. I'm finding things are taking me a lot longer than before but I'm so thankful I can still do them.

Clothing:

I'm all about showing off the bump! For once in my life, I'm proud of having a belly lols so I'm wearing a lot of tight t-shirts and tanks over my maternity jeans. I tried wearing regular leggings the other day and they were sooo uncomfortable so I'm probably going to purchase a pair of maternity leggings. I feel right now my bump is HUGE and I'm still trying to imagine how it's going to get even bigger....the human body is an amazing thing!!

What I'm looking forward to:

Our doctor's appointment today! Also we have an ultrasound in March to see if my placenta has moved up (please pray it moves up!!) so I'm looking forward to another opportunity to see my sweet baby boy on that ultrasound screen.

Hope you have a great week!

XO,
laura

HELLO WEEKEND

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Happy Friday!! Wowza, this week flew by and now I'm in my 24th week of pregnancy!!! 4 more weeks and I officially enter the third trimester...ahhhhh!! June still feels like ages away so I'm not freaking out too much.

We have our girl's conference next weekend...ILLUMINATE! I'm so excited. It's going to be a crazy week but all the hard work will be so worth it.

This afternoon I'm heading to our church's Couples Retreat with my sweetheart! Looking forward to hearing from amazing speakers, spending a night in a wonderful hotel and hanging out with my love.

The cherry blossoms are blooming all over our city and spring is in the air....thank you LORD! Also driving home at 5:30pm and it's still light out...PTL! With Spring coming, I'm craving pastel lip colours...like this one and this one and ohhh I need a new one of this one as I'm almost totally out.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

XO,
Laura

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ONE WORD BREAKFAST 2016

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Last Saturday I had my annual One Word Breakfast (2015, 2014). It was a smaller crowd then usual but I was totally okay with that. I woke up early and actually managed to have everything ready before the girls came!!

I made these overnight waffles again and seriously, they were better than ever!!! They aren't sweet, which I love because I load my waffles with seriously sweet toppings. And the ones made near the end of the batch were perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside! (anyone know how to make the entire batch like that??)

I kept the decor pretty simple...craft paper wrapping paper as a table runner, blooms of course and one of my Valentine's prints on each plate.

Besides stuffing our faces with delicousness, we also shared about our One Words for 2016. Because of the smaller group, we were really able to open up and encourage one another. My heart was soo full after! 

Oh and this year we had the cutest of guests...little sweet Finnley Mae...

Isn't she the sweetest?? Oh my heart!!! 

I'll share my one word for 2016 in March (along with the recap from last year's, ha!) and hopefully some of the other ladies will share theirs as well! And if you have a word for 2016, I'd love for you to share it on here! Email me at laura at ssheart dot com !!

XO,
laura