Happy Halloweenie!!

Keep Calm; Eat Chocolate

I had such a wonderful Birthday.  It feels good to be 28; be a mom, a wife, serving the Lord, having clarity, being strong. Right now I feel like Kevin and I are 'under attack' in every single way in our life. I guess, if we're pissing the devil off than we're doing something right? I get so fed up at the world sometimes and right now is one of those times. sigh. Oh well, I don't need to rant and rave on this peaceful place. Just know, I love you all dearly and am praying for each of you!!

Last Week.

Hello! What a week we've had up here! Thank you so much for all of the love & prayers on behalf of Kevin. It really made all the difference in the world. Having the support and encouragement from God's elect is incredible and gets the job done! Praise God.  I haven't had a chance to write much here lately although so much as been going on. There is so much I want to share with you and I'm keeping a running list of "things to post" in my head, so hopefully in the next few weeks I can find some time to share.  Thursday night I came down with a horrific cold and terrible sore throat, took the day off on Friday and am still feeling like poo. On the flip side- my Dad arrived on Saturday and this weekend we celebrated my Mom's birthday (which was Friday) and mine (which is Monday; 29th)!

 

I'm in a pretty wicked fog of Nyquil so here is a little peek into what our last week looked like..

 

(from left to right)

1. hot lemon tea made on Thursday at the start of my cold.

2. mason always crosses his feet when he sits- isn't it adorable?!

3. my new doTERRA hand lotion that arrived in the mail- love it.

4. me after an intense Crossfit Wod.

5. mid day coffee run.

6. hello sunshine!

7. new centerpiece 

8. relaxing after work with a big glass of ice cold water

9. kevin all gussied up for work in the morning

10. kevin after super intense Wod (see the difference of his and my after photos-maybe I should work harder?)

11. so, I have this butternut squash.... looking at a soup recipe

12. Boots. Chai Tea. Proseal. My typical work day.

13. stop sign that I allegedly did not stop at and got a ticket for!!! (more on this later!)

14. my big boy standing up! He's been climbing up on everything lately and doing a bit of free standing. AND today he is 10 months old!! wow. Cute. Big Boy!

Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all & miss you!

It's Friday, Yay!

Happy Friday Friends!

Wow. What an outpouring of love and encouragement of the Lord from each one of you. Thank you. Truly. You all such a blessing in my life.  We had a very busy/stressful week up here. I had one emergency after another at work and Kevin is dealing with some nasty spirits in his classroom. Please keep him in prayer. We need the Lord to do a work in his classroom and the spirit of the Lord needs to continue to rule.

This weekend we have loads of family time planned and cooking! My dad flies into town next Thursday- I can't wait to see him. I'll be turning 28 this month and even at this age I still just need my Dad sometimes, ya know? I hope you all are doing great and have fabulous weekends! Much Love.

An Apology + What the Lord Showed Me.

The Lord is so good.

 

These past two months the Lord has really shown me a lot and my walk with him has grown deeper and more clear. As many of you may have noticed, I had the desire to 'grow my blog' in the hopes of one day making a little income on the side. I'd seen tons of bloggy moms who were basically writing about their lives and making money doing it, I figured I certainly could do that too!

 

It all started out quite innocently and rather good. I started finding blogs, commenting and in return they started following me. And what do you know, my readers or 'followers' started to grow! I was on a roll and really involved in networking and communicating with other blogger. My standards went out the window as far as who I wanted to read my blog or who I wanted to be associated with. I figured, it's just another reader- who cares.

 

Oh how wrong I was!

 

I started really feeling distant from all of you. The absolute best part of having my blog is all the interaction I have with each of you. The comments I receive or e-mails or texts from you. It made me feel close to you. I started noting that the comments from my true friends-God's people had dwindled to slim to none, I really really felt a check in my spirit. I prayed about it and it wasn't but a a few minutes that Lord showed me SO much.

 

This is what he showed me:

 

If I want to water down my life and talk 'surface' stuff then of course my readership will grow and I'll have a ton of followers. But isn't that the same with our walks? If we compromise just a little and water down our walks with the Lord, we'd let any ol' spirit in our midst and have loads of friends! But that is NOT what the Lord has called us to. It says, to come out from among them and be ye separate.

 

In the blink of an eye it all became so clear.

 

Looking back I just think, how did I even go down this road? Was I really that stupid? But the Lord has been so gracious with me and so kind. Showing me the spirits behind different blogs and showing me to separate myself.

 

I've always wanted my space to be a place for you to come and find the true good things of the Lord. When I read Amanda's blog, I either end up saying 'YES YES YES' while reading a post because I love how she is nailing and calling out spirits or I end up in tears because what she has written is straight from the Lord and I can FEEL the spirit of the Lord in her writing. THAT is what I call a true mommy blog! And that is exactly what I want for my space here. The true word of the Lord to flow freely.

 

I owe each of you an open apology for having to come on my blog and see such BLAH from me these past two months.  Thank you for praying for me during this time. I love each of you so much and hope you know that. The Lord has taken me through an entire study starting with compromising in our walks, justify actions and being in tune with the Spirit of the Lord. It's been quite an amazing couple of weeks and I am so thankful to have the Lord and God's people in my life.

 

I love you all so much.

Our weekend.

Love this new blog!! So happy to have a fresh new start to capture all the moments I love so dearly.

Since it's a Monday, there is no better way to kick off the week than with a little weekend recap. We spent our weekend in Anchorage- shopping, watching the Crossfit Alaska Games and taking in the sweet smell of city life. Take a look:

Saturday afternoon on a Sunday.

Mason's napping, football is on and Mom is baking.. a recipe for a perfect Sunday.  Thought I'd hop on for a quick sec and give you a look book into our yesterday afternoon. The sun peeked its head out so we jumped on the opportunity to enjoy some fresh air. Packed our lunches, grabbed a bundle of wood and off to the beach we went. We live two minutes from the beach and it's by far one of my most favorite afternoon activities. Hope everyone is having the best of weekends! xo. laura

ps. don't forget to enter my favorites things giveaway!

Currently.

Working On: cutting out coffee! Until moving to Alaska I never drank coffee, ever. I didn't like it, need it or want it but after a few shorts months of living here, a daily cup of joe became a necessity. I really, really want to cut back and start drinking tea again. It is much easier on my stomach and equally as delicious. I just don't know why the coffee break-up is so hard, but it IS. Send me some encouraging vibes, k? I need them.

Reading: Hunger Games-Mockingjay. I'm just now getting around to reading this and I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. If you don't hear from me much, it's probably because I'm spending hours upon hours nestled in a corner with my nose buried in.. my kindle.

Loving: This clean eating way of life we have acquired in my house. Eating natural, whole foods makes all the difference in the world! I am energized, happy, motivated.. all the good things you should feel!

Excited for: An awesome giveaway tomorrow! Yes, you heard right! I am hosting a giveaway here and over at Not Your Average Baby Blog tomorrow. I am so excited to start the month out right by showing all my friends some October love! Check back tomorrow to enter!!

Anticipating: Our Anchorage trip coming up in two weeks! Not the shopping trip I wrote about on my last currently post, but this first trip is to go watch the Alaska CrossFit Competition and I am SO excited! We are not competing this year but our trainers are and it will be awesome to see them, along with so many other amazing athletes performing and doing crazy, intense WODS. oh and I'm also going to squeeze in a little shopping for my little guy. He needs a winter coat like ASAP!

Hoping: The snow stays away for at least another 4 weeks. We are waking up to frozen grounds and cool crisp air and I know snow is just around the corner. But please, o please, snow can you give us a few more weeks of dry ground? pretty please.

Grateful for: my true friends who believe, overcome and stand for righteousness. There is nothing in this world more precious than true friends.

What about you? Would love to see your currently post, be sure to comment so I can check them out!

Short Weekend Recap

Do you ever need a day after vacation to decompress and regroup? Sometimes Monday is that day for me, except I didn't go on vacation, I just had one busy weekend. I do prefer busy weekends though, especially like the one I just had- my dad was able to fly up for the weekend to see us and celebrate my brother's 30th birthday. It was the BEST spending the entire weekend with my whole family all in once place. We had a surprise dinner party for my brother on Saturday night..HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!

 

..and Mason got lots of snuggle time with Grandpa.

We miss you already Dad, but we will see you in just a few short weeks!



I hope you all had amazing weekends and great Monday's. Mine started at 5am and ended at 8pm when I finally got home. It was a none stop, busy busy day, so I'm off to decompress and take a breath. Goodnight!

Mason- 9 month update

I can't believe that 9 months ago this morning I was meeting my little boy for the first time and now.. he's scooting around, talking, laughing..wow!

Dear Mason Bear,
I wanted to write a big long letter to you for your 9 month birthday but lately I've spent more time just being with you then worrying about documenting every single thing.  Even though I could spend hours and hours taking your picture, posting it everywhere, printing, framing, hanging and writing but you are so much fun to hang out with all I want to do is sit and play with you! You have the most amazing personality. You are outgoing and friendly to everyone. When you laugh, it's from deep down in your belly like whatever you are laughing at is the most hilarious thing you've ever laughed at before. It's contagious. We all can't help but laugh with you. You like to scoot around and play a lot. Right now you're favorite toys are your comb and racket ball. You use your comb to hit the ball as if you were playing hockey. It's adorable and I may have one too many videos of you doing it. But hey, if you are ever play hockey I can prove it was in your blood from the beginning. And if you never play hockey that's ok too because it is a cold, expensive sport and you have such beautiful teeth:). Speaking of, you have 6 teeth! A big gab between the front two and ok.. I have to say it-  It is ADORABLE.  I can't say that any one time in the last 9 months has been my favorite because I've realized that whatever day we are in, THAT is my favorite. Every day with you is my best day. Today your Dad said, "Mason the Lord has truly blessed us the most perfect son" and I couldn't agree more. I love being your mama and thank God every day that YOU are my son. Hunny, I love you. Happy 9 months sweet boy! Here's a look at some of your most memorable shots this month:

Gluten Free Pizza

Paleo? Atkins? Weight Watchers? What the heck?

I have never been one to jump on the diet trend bandwagon but I've certainly always tried my best to eat as healthy as possible. A gluten free/clean eating/whole foods 'diet' is something I strive to live by, and very recently have really made this type of cooking a must in our house.
At my office, we have a traditional pizza/cake celebration anytime there is a birthday. Well, today we are celebrating for my brother's bday (which is actually on Sunday!) since I don't want to participate in the greasy pizza/cake galore luncheon I've opted to make my own pizza- Gluten Free. I made it last night and you guys, it is amazing! Seriously. It is SO good! It tastes fresh, flavorful and best of all you know you are eating all healthy ingredients! You can't beat that. Whether you are gluten free, paleo or just want a new recipe to try, I definitely recommend this. If you do try it, let me know what you think!
For the crust you will need:
2 cups almond meal
2 eggs
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
I chose to have Italian sausage, yellow squash and olives for my topping but like any pizza, you can choose whichever toppings you desire!



Step One: Mix all the ingredients for crust into bowl and stir until thick.

Step Two: Form dough into round ball

Step Three: On lightly greased pan, using your hands, push dough out to form a nice round pizza shape.

Step Four: Bake crust in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. While dough is baking, ready toppings (fry up sausage, cut veggies, etc)
Step Five: Top baked crust with organic pizza sauce and toppings.



Step Six: After all your toppings are on, bake pizza for 25 more minutes.
Step Seven: Cut, serve & enjoy your healthy gluten free pizza!!

Original Recipe from: Everyday Paleo Cook Book