SAN DIEGO

Last fall we went on our first (international) vacation as a family of three! Because of this unfortunate/fortunate experience we had some United air credit to spend. We wanted to go somewhere that was 1. not too expensive to get to 2. warmish 3. fun. San Diego fit the bill on all three of those!

We stayed in a super cute air bnb in the Hillcrest area. We paid a little more but it was so worth it to have a kitchen and living room instead of a one room hotel room. We stayed in the bedroom and Luca slept very well in the hallway closet...lols. I'm planning on doing a couple posts soon about travelling with a baby (we picked up lots of tips!!) 

I was surprised at how much we fit into our trip!

Here's what we did:
Day 1- Travel
Day 2- Explore Hillcrest on foot. Breakfast at Hash House A Go Go...walked to Trader Joes!

Day 3- DISNEYLAND! Call us crazy but we rented a car and left at the crack of dawn to do Disney. It was soooo much fun and very exhausting. Got IN&OUT for the drive home!! Luca was such a champ and I'll share tips soon on doing Disney with a baby!

Day 4- Coronado Beach....a must see!! Tacos Perla (best tacos I've ever had!!!)
 

Day 5- La Jolla...an overcast day but James went in the ocean...only guy without a wetsuit, ha. Church that night at C3 San Diego.

Day 6- Coffee at Communal Coffee (seriously so good, wish we got to it more than once!) Shopping at Fashion Valley, IN&OUT!

Day 7- Coffee at Cafe Bassam (wouldn't go again), San Diego Zoo (must see!), walk through the park, dinner at Hash House (wouldn't go there for dinner again, only for breakfast!)
 

Day 8- Travel

Luca was a complete champ on the trip! He was almost 5 months old and it was the perfect time to travel. He still napped on the go, hadn't started solids yet but could sit on our laps and be entertained pretty easily!

Ahhh looking through these pictures definitely has me longing for SUMMER...oh warm sun, I miss you.

XO,
laura

5 GOAL SETTING TIPS

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Is January going by slowly or is it just me??? Probably just me, and probably due to the fact that I've cut out sweets until the 21st....how is it only the 11th? It should be the 20th by now :p

I guess the good thing about January going by slowly is that I have lots of time to work on my goal setting! 

If you've been around here for a little while, you'll know that I usually do one word for the year. One word to sum up who you want to be or what you want to do. I do have my one word and I plan on posting more on that next week BUT because I'm an OCD type A planner, I also set goals!

I love New Year Resolutions/goals...even though sometimes I don't meet them all, it's a great time to reflect on the previous year and focus on what you want to achieve this year. 

Here are some tips that help me reach them goals!

1. BE SPECIFIC

Ahh I'm soo guilty of making these lofty goals like "be in the best shape ever" and then never reaching them. The problem is that the goal is to broad. Instead of making your goal to "be in the best shape ever", make it more specific like, "go to the gym 3x a week". A specific goal is way more attainable!

2. MAKE ACTION STEPS

My #1 strength according to Strengthsfinder (which I 100% recommend doing if you haven't yet!!) is activator. Therefore, I am ALL about action steps. Action steps are what you do to take your dream to reality! You want to run the TC 10km this year? Your first action step would be sign up for the race then find a running program on Runkeeper etc etc. You want to master contouring? An action step would be going to Sephora to find a colour that's good for your face. Action steps make the goal happen!

3. WRITE IT DOWN + TELL SOMEONE

Okay, so this step is actually two steps but it's one in the same! Writing it down makes it feel REAL. I love the fact that my agenda has a bucket list for 2017...I jotted down a bunch of things and I can easily flip to it to remind myself of what I want to achieve.
Telling someone is also a GREAT way to help you reach that goal. Your friend/sibling/spouse/etc can help keep you accountable and encourage you to not quit!

4. CHECK IN

Check in on your goals weekly, and monthly. Tracking your progress will help you get to that finish line!! When I ran that half marathon a few years back, I would always check at the end of the week to see how many kms I did because I needed to rack them up to reach my goal.

5. CELEBRATE THE SMALL STEPS FORWARD

Every step matters and deserves to be celebrated! It could be something like buying a new pair of jeans when you reach the halfway point to your fitness goal or going to your favourite restaurant when you finish that course. I'm all about rewarding, ha. 

I also want to touch on not shaming yourself if you don't reach a certain goal. DON'T DO IT! Shame is the worst motivator. Don't be discouraged if you aren't meeting your goal, instead take some time to look at your life/schedule and plan out some steps to move you forward!

YOU GOT THIS!

What are your goals for 2017?

XO,
laura

CARROT GINGER TURMERIC SLOW COOKER SOUP

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Well we're just over a week into the new year and I haven't had any cookies. That my friends is a big deal. I've been trying to cut out sweets and eat a bit healthier this month and it's going pretty well. Anyone else with me here?

The tricky thing for me is finding healthy recipes that are easy and not soo expensive and this soup hits both of those...oh and it's also delicious! I've made this soup multiple times in the past few months and it's always a hit.

The prep takes less than 15 minutes and your slow cooker does the rest of the work. When it's done cooking, all you need to do is blend and then you're good to go!

CARROT GINGER TURMERIC SLOW COOKER SOUP

serves 6

Ingredients:

• 8 Carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 Onion, chopped
• Juice of 1 Orange
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 1 carton Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Minced Ginger
• A bit of salt + pepper if desired

Directions:

1. Prep veggies then put all ingredients into slow cooker.
2. Cook for 8 hours.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Enjoy!
    

Happy Monday!

xo,
laura

WREATH MAKING CLASS

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A couple weeks before Christmas, my mother in law and I attended wreath making class put on by Eidwen of Cartref Gardens. I absolutely adore Eidwen and her work (she did my wedding bouquet!) 

We had so much fun creating our wreaths and centrepieces! The workshop took place in a cute barn-esque workspace and was well equipped with food and tea!

I'm not the best diy-er but I was pretty proud of my wreath! It smelled soooo amazing and is still hanging on our front door.

I'm know officially hooked on wreaths and can't wait to make one for spring!

xo,
laura

GOODBYE 2016

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A few days ago I shared your favourite posts from 2016 but I thought I should do a little personal reflection...

Oh twenty-sixteen, you were one wild ride.

I entered the year with an optimistic outlook as per usual (my #2 strength is positivity after all!) This was the year I was going to meet my baby...the one I was waiting for, the one I had dreamed about.

In January we found out we were having a boy. Now although, I had a feeling it was a boy, the news was hard for me to take in (I shared more about this in my post, "You're having a boy!") 
I remember thinking some pretty irrational aka CRAZY thoughts...What do I do with a boy? How do I talk to a boy? How am I going to be a good mom to a boy? All I ever knew was taking care of little girls! But boy, (no pun intended lols) did those thoughts fly right on out as soon as I met Luca. I honestly couldn't imagine anything different and am secretly wishing for 3 more boys (lols...honestly I'll be so grateful with any gender!)

The rest of the year kinda blended together...a lot of good stuff happened like...

• James and I enjoyed a little baby moon in Ucluelet. Love that rugged west coast
• At work, we held our 7th Illuminate conference! We also attended the couple's retreat that our church puts on and got so rocked by the speakers! Looking forward to this years...it will be our first night away from Luca!!!
•  Our bathroom reno got started and almost finished...except for the shower. From 38 weeks pregnant until 5 days postpartum, I had to kneel in the bath, turn the tap on with a screwdriver and then either have a bath or shower under the water coming out of the pipe...not ideal but it was so worth it. I still love that bathroom so much, James (Liira Developments) did such an amazing job.

 And then the biggest moment of my life came...my little lion arrived on his due date (making his type-A mama very happy.)

Oh man, birth in itself was one WILD experience (Read Luca's full birth story here) but nothing could prepare me for becoming a mother. There's that saying that you hear and hear and hear but I never truly understood it until I had Luca...

“Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ” 
― Elizabeth Stone

I know I talked about it on here before (like in this post!) but I experienced some intense anxiety after having Luca.

He was a bit jaundice & lost almost 10% of his birthweight. Those two things are VERY common but no one had ever talked to me about them before...or maybe I just never listened. So those first early days I was feeding him every two hours..aka at night I would sleep for 1.5 hours, feed him for 30 (ps. feeding a sleepy jaundiced baby is not for the weak) and then go back to sleep for another 1-1.5 hours. Life with a newborn is CRAZY...but thankfully I had a baby who would go to sleep.

He gained back steadily but my anxiety stayed with me. I remember going for walks with James and just crying and crying. I didn't want to leave the house because I was so afraid that something would happen to him and also the fact that I would have to nurse in public. Nursing was also a tough one for us...it took about TWO months until we got the hang of it.

I convinced myself that every grunt (and he grunted alot!) meant that something was wrong. I would watch him all the time to make sure he was breathing. And then he started crying and crying and crying. He turned out to have reflux which sorted itself out with some meds and time.

Those early days were so HARD. I was so emotional. I had no idea what I was doing. And I had no control. I think that last one was the hardest pill for me to swallow. I'm a control freak and for once in my life, I couldn't control the outcome. My only option was giving up control to God and asking the Holy Spirit to guide me as a new mom...and oh how God showed up. I also had mad support from friends and family...it's a rough time being a new mom, please reach out to someone!!

I also experienced a lot of loneliness in the summer. I'm crazy extroverted, talking to people all day at work and all of a sudden I was at home ALL day ALONE with a baby who isn't the greatest conversationalist.
James working a lot of jobs + people being away made for many moments of loneliness. Knowing it was only a season gave me comfort.
Once September hit, it got a lot better as people were back and Dream Women started back up at church (a weekly women's group with lots of moms!) 

Oh, I also turned 30 this year!! My friends threw me the greatest party and spoiled me rotten. I am soooo blessed. I also feel like a legit adult now, lols. 

My sister had my niece Amelia exactly one month after Luca and it has been so amazing to be on mat leave with my sister...my niece is the cutest...I love her to pieces!!!

October - December was a complete whirlwind! In October we went to San Diego as a family of three and it was the greatest. Luca was 4.5 months and it was the greatest age to travel. I have some travelling with a baby posts in the works, so look out for those soon!

Christmas was especially sweet this year. For once in 10 years, I wasn't working! I got to slow down and really savour the season.

I grew soooo much this year.
I feel more efficient than ever...which seems a bit odd but honestly I now feel what took me 2 hours to do takes me 30 minutes. I'm realizing how precious time is...especially nap time lols.
I feel like I was stretched more than ever before and I'm so surprised that I'm raising a tiny human! 

Every single day I look at him and still can't believe he is mine. I carried him, grew him, birthed him and now I raise him to one day release him into this world (!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Becoming a mother has been one of the most amazing things I have walked through but I want to be clear here, becoming a mother has not "completed me". I am only complete in Christ. Being his daughter is still my #1 calling and this year I'm looking forward to finding the balance between motherhood, being a wife + going back to work. It's going to be a challenge but I know God will guide me and give me the grace I need. Sorry for all the rambling...it was one heck of a year!!

Here's to 2017...the best is yet to come.

XO,
laura