: Foundation Friday :: 52 weeks of blessing :

Along with my word of the year I've been thinking about what I can do outwardly to be used by God. Whether it be by acts of service, donations, gifts...

And I kept coming back to the same thing; blessing someone with a little gift to brighten their day.This is NOT an original idea in any way {See inspirations here & here}. But it was the idea that came back to my mind time and time again. I know how blessed I feel when someone goes out of their way to brighten my day by an email, text, note or just a hug..it's huge to me and it's connecting on a human level.

We're SO often caught up in "cyberland" that we forget the meaning of true connections face to face even the "I" movement has taken over the saying of "facetime" - blech. Humanity is such a little portion of our days and SO taken over with the internet & technology that I'm afraid it will be a lost art. Yes, humanity could be lost if we let technology replace it. Ok, stepping off the soap-box now.

So my goal {oy vey, makes me nervous writing that as it makes it real!} is to show a gesture of love to someone each week. That is ONLY 52 gestures of love...52! I can handle that!!!

I'm not planning on always reporting back here on these gestures as I've already accomplished one, so only 51 to go ;) -- BUT, let me know if you would like me to report them and I will, even just for ideas for your own 52 weeks of blessing.

This isn't a post to tell you what I am doing but to encourage you to look outward as to what you can do for others : Take it as a challenge, with little monetary value and just a little bit of time what kind of a difference can you make?

Here is a link to some free printable cards I found on Pinterest
{seriously love that site!} - click on the picture to print some off for yourself!
Now go have a great Friday and a fabulous weekend Lovelies I'm off to exercise! I'll see you back here on Monday!

{XoXo}

: My Boys Room :

Happy Thursday Lovelies!!! Only 2 more days and we'll be at the weekend, is it just me or are the days of the week just getting shorter and shorter!?!?

I love home decorating and love to see what everyone else is doing with their home so I thought I'd take you upstairs in our new 'lil home...

We're now at the stop of the stairs {our room is to the right of where I was standing to take this photo}. This room is quite large, like 9x15ft and yes, they share a room again in this house...really no need to separate them {yet}.

The bed you see first when you're looking in the room is Cole's - Jacobs is on the opposite wall.
Details from their dresser - super fun "name trains" that Grammy&Grampie got them for Christmas as well as their piggy banks cause they are saving up for Disneyland ;)
Here's Jacob's bed with his favorite stuffy -- I help them make their beds, it's a tough go in the morning to get the beds all made, but it makes this Mama feel SO much better when all the beds are made and pj's are put away.

Oh, and I got these British flag pillows from HomeSense the other day on the clearance shelf for $9! I had literally just been looking at some on Etsy for triple that price, I could NOT leave them on the shelf - they were all mine! And to boot, the boys think they are SO great - ahh! I love the splash of red we have throughout the room, and I have some old chairs that Paul's Mum is giving us that I think I'm going to paint red, just to add another little splash - so fresh, so nautical *Love!*
Here's a direct view from the foot of their beds. See it's a long and narrow room, no trick photography here!
Each of the boys have a small basket on the bedside table that keeps their most valuable items, here's Cole's:
And this is Jacob's; the items continually rotate through day by day, but I find it gives them a sacred place to store their treasures so they are not spread around the house and so that they don't end up fighting over them!

Here's Coles bed with his London Bear---they got these from my dad when he went to London during the Royal Wedding {lucky bum!} and both the boys ADORE their bears!
Artwork above JJ's bed
So as you can see there is TONS of work yet to be done. We have not touched this room since we moved in, so the color is original and quite yellow so I can't wait for it to be gone-zo!

I'm hoping to have it painted by the end of February as well as the play room {more on that later}

I have a few ideas mulling around in my head {insert Pinterest!}and can't wait to make them reality..but for now this is what it looks like.

Hope you all have a great day, Thursday is my home day and I can't wait to come back from dropping JJ off and get more organizing done, my linen closet is still lingering on my "to-do" list and it's driving me nuts!

Plus I have a new work-out DVD that I can't wait to break in! Have a good one!
{XoXo}

: What I love :

Here we are at another Wednesday :: Can you believe it!?!?! This morning Mr. L looked at me as we were getting ready and said "it's Wednesday already!?!". Yup, yup it is!

Had a great time in the Word this morning at church. Man I love my church!

Anyway...here's on to my list of favorite things for this week...enjoy and let me know if you have a recommendation of something that is your favorite. I would love to know so I can try it out!
{click on picture to get to the link}

: Earth friendly shopper by ReUseIt : This bag is genius! It hooks right onto your cart and then once your done it folds up...ahhhh, I'm in LOVE!

: Allan Roth Mirror : Saw this mirror the other day...thought I didn't have a place for it. But since then I have found a place for it! However it's no longer on sale - snap! : Nenavon Accent Pillow : been looking for some accent pillows that are a bit more bold than my normal neutral...and I came across these - and many more of her designs, I'm in LOVE! But might have to save up for this investment ;)

: Akira Wrap : Found this super cute wrap - for a super cute price...I like the red, although it comes in many different colors! No saving up needing to happen for this little "gift to self" ;)

: House of Fifty : Last but not least "House of Fifty" Spring 2012 {FREE} online magazine :: LOVE! ::
That's it for today -- I've been a blogging crazy these days! Truly it's only for my own personal health and wholeness. It's a release and gives me an outlet for all the crazy thoughts that go through my mind.

Happy Hump Day Lovelies!
{XoXo}

: the fridge :

Often times when people first come to our new place they ask the same question "what is your favorite thing about your new house" the answer for me could be many things, but I tend to stick to this answer "the fridge"
People then look at me like I have three heads and think I don't realize that I just said "the fridge" -- but I do realize it and although it's not the prettiest item in our home {all dinged up from the previous owner} it's SUCH an amazing fridge!

This is what the inside looks like, tons of space for all of our Costco sized items, multiple condiments, fruits&veggies, eggs & milk...just look at this sucker!
Huge fruit&veggie drawers that fully open - ahhh! That just tickles me pink {pathetic I know!}Super handy extra deep door --- before y'all preach that we're not supposed to keep the milk on the door, I know, I know...it's just we go through milk so frequently that it's not an issue keeping it there and it's much more accessible for the boys :)
My extra fruit&veggie containers, since I live with three boys I find that if items are not out in the open right as they open the cupboard or fridge they don't eat them...this solves that issue real quick - Mr. L came home to see these the other day and it put a smile on his face "wow - did you get new containers!!?? That's great" --- ahh, love that man! And look at this scookum bottom drawer! Pulls out fully and fits SO much extra stuff that is too tall, too awkward etc. I love this feature! A woman's fridge is like a man's car is to him. Every woman needs a good fridge that can stand the test of a family constantly messing with it!

Happy Tuesday Lovelies -- I would love to hear what your favorite feature is in your home!

{XoXo}

: Tangerine Tango :: Inspiration :

I've seen it around on a few blogs and more recently my friend Lyla {an incredible interior designer} loaded some inspirational interior photos with the color of the year "Tangerine Tango".

I actually had no idea there was such a thing as a color of the year..but I LOVED looking at her inspiration photos and thus was inspired myself to throw together a little inspiration board all about my favorite "Tangerine Tango" items!

Tangerine Tango 2012 by shawnalad featuring a hooded cardigan

Just enough time wasted on such things makes the "witching hour" in my house much more manageable especially since tonight is "choose your favorite left-over" for dinner - ha ha!

{XoXo}

: We Week Ended :

This weekend was FULL -- full of lots of work {as in cleaning, cleaning, organizing & cleaning} and lots of fun...here a photo collage of what we did for most of the weekend.

: Picture explanation starting from the top left :

1. skillet pancake my boys made on my new cast iron skillet {got that beauty for Christmas}
2. table set for our date-in-home on friday night along with the movie "The Beaver"
   
3. boys helping prepare breaky with daddy
4. robson street on Sunday night
5. new candle burning to try and rid the house of the garlic smell; we had friends over on Saturday night and all cooked together...our house {and us} smelled like garlic after - oy!
6. dessert from date night downtown @ milestones - SO good!
7. darth :: what I woke up to on Sunday morning
   
8. super cute orange chair from milestones downtown
9. my new coach purse from seester - love it!
   
10. mr.L & I on our date night downtown {thanks M&D for taking the kids swimming!}
11. the lander rover founders show on Saturday afternoon
12. cloverdale agriplex where we spent Saturday afternoon
13. italian kitchen for date night on Sunday night-- pretty much the best food I have ever had. no joke.
    

Happy 2nd day of the week ;)
Happy Monday!

{XoXo}

: Talk :: Sunday ::

{via}

Okay Okay, I know there is A LOT of "talk" going on on this blog the last few days...but I have t write this down cause if I don't, it will be lost in the deep black vault.

So this morning I woke up and one of the first thoughts from my mind was this song that Jacob learned from school you've probably heard it before. Goes like this "There are seven days in a week; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday" -- have you ever noticed that Sunday is the first day of the week?

I have never learned or known Sunday to be the first day of the week. It's always Monday. Which means that Sunday is the last.

I woke up this morning thinking; today is a new day, a new week even. I know some of you already consider Sunday as the first day of the week because you do your "weekend round-up" on Sunday.

I pondered this thought that Sunday could actually be the first day of the week instead of the last.

• We start off our day on Sunday's by going to church and being in His presence with other believers & our family
• We enjoy family time
• We take time to rest
• We organize our garbage {Monday is garbage day & for some reason it feels good to start with no garbage (physically&spiritually)}
  
• We visit with friends
• We cook together and take time to actually enjoy it
  
• We prepare emotionally/physically/spiritually for the 5 {or 6} work days ahead

What a great way to START the week, instead of END it!

So, I may be the only one on this great green earth who has thought that Sunday was the last day of the week and not the first, but oh I love the thought of it being the first day...makes my week feel all that more manageable!
{XoXo}