October 12, 2014

SUNDAY STILL // 3

October 12, 2014/ Laura Liira

As I sit here and think of all that He has blessed me with, my heart overflows with thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for my incredible husband, for my family and my in laws, for my friends, for my amazing church and job....and for my cat (of course!)

I'm thankful for the adventures I've been on, the countries I've been blessed to go to, the people I've encountered who've left an imprint on my heart.

I'm thankful for my home, for food in the fridge, for clothes on my back, for a pillow under my head as I go to sleep.

I'm thankful for my beautiful city, for freshly fallen autumn leaves, for flowers still blooming.

And above it all, yes above everything, I am thankful for my God, my constant companion, for my comforter, for my Lord who has been there through every calm and every storm, who's held my hand through fear and smiled upon me through courage. He provides strength for each day and His goodness never ceases.

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. -Ephesians 1 MSG

Hope you have a marvellous thanksgiving.

xo,

s.s♥︎.

October 10, 2014

FRIDAY FAVES // COZY FALL ESSENTIALS

October 10, 2014/ Laura Liira

So I really want to spend this whole weekend curled up in pajamas, painting my nails and watching Veronica Mars.

But reality has hit and instead I will be working on a paper, studying for my final, working on Spark messages, conference prep, church and prepping my house for thanksgiving on Monday.

But let's pretend for a minute that we're having a cozy fall weekend watching netflix.....here would be my essentials for said scenario...

1. Vanilla Candle

2. Pajamas Set

3. Cashmere Sweatpants

4. Nail Polish

5. Crazy Cat Lady Mug

6. Chunky Knit Throw

So cozy hey? Hopefully I'll have one of those days in November... :)

Happy Friday!

xoxo,

s.s.♥︎.

P.S. Good luck to all of you who are running the marathon/half marathon this weekend! Sadly I will not be running it :( But much love to all of you...you'll rock it!!!

October 09, 2014

THANKSGIVING FOOD IDEAS

October 09, 2014/ Laura Liira

So remember when I told you I was hosting 12 people on Thanksgiving Monday? Well, we bumped the number up to 15 because THE MORE THE MERRIER!!! Part of me is freaking out, but the other part (and the one I'll encourage) is getting verrrrry excited!

Monday we chatted decor and today let's chat about FOOD. As most people, I looooove thanksgiving dinner. I love stuffing my face with amazing food alongside the ones I love. To make things realistic, everyone is bringing a big dish to share.

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My sweet mum will be bringing the turkey. I'm just not ready for that kinda responsibility yet.

I'm (along with James' help) planning on making pan roasted veggies (mmmm brussels sprouts!!), a yummy salad (someone has to bring the greens), some sort of cranberry punch and a meat & cheese spread for people to munch on as they arrive (thanks for the advice Amy!)

Here are some delicious looking recipes I found while cruising the net...

Sadly, I neglected brussels sprouts most of my life. Heartbreaking, I know! This recipe from the Pioneer Women looks pretty delish.

I've never made a cheese ball before but if I decide to go down that road, I'd make one like this one from how sweet eats.

A yam casserole is a MUST at thanksgiving. Thankfully my sister in law makes a killer one. This brown buttered topping one from Pinch of Yum looks pretty fabulous.

And let's not forget the best part of thanksgiving...DESSERT! I've made these pumpkin pie bars from Joy the Baker and they are incredible. I highly recommend them if you don't want to go crazy hardcore.

And if you want to go hardcore may I suggest this caramel apple pie from Sally's Baking Addiction? FYI- I've never made a pie from scratch but I'm determined to do it this fall/winter!

Hungry yet? Mmmmmmhmmmm, me too.

And hey, I'd love to know your favourite Thanksgiving recipes..maybe I'll steal them for Monday? :)

Hope you have a lovely day!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

October 06, 2014

THANKSGIVING DECOR IDEAS

October 06, 2014/ Laura Liira

So this year James & I are hosting thanksgiving. It's the first time we've hosted a massive family meal (other than my dad's birthday last May) and it's about time! We're having our dinner on Monday because we do church Sunday. Thankfully I have all of Monday to prep the house. (For all you americans out there, we celebrate our thanksgiving in October!)

Obviously I want to go all out because that's just how I roll. I want placement cards and centrepieces. Today we're talking decor and on Wednesday we'll be talking food.

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All gold all the time is one of my life mottos. I definitely will be spray painting some pumpkins and pine cones. Thank you Jesus for gold spray paint.

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For placement cards, I'm thinking something like this gold leaf. All I have to do is find a bunch of big leaves, spray paint them and then write names on them. Easy peasy. I'm away half this week and I have to finish a paper next weekend so I'm all about these quick & easy DIYS.