I am thinking of doing some video posts here on Loving Dangerously and I need suggestions of what you might want to see! So, here’s your chance to have me either (a) educate you; (b) give you insight to my {fascinating} life; or (c) make a fool of myself.

So, what do you want to see?…

*Before you read this, I want you to understand that I do NOT think giving gifts for Christmas is bad by ANY means. I just wanted to write (with 100% honesty) what I have been feeling and what I am going to do about my own personal convictions. I am not trying to make anyone feel “guilty” about what they choose to do, but I do challenge you to rethink things if you are feeling any kind of “nudge” in reading/watching this.*

For the past 2 years (and now this year) our church has been doing the Advent Conspiracy which is really a way to rethink Christmas…or, more accurately, get back to thinking about Christmas for what it really is. I have had an interesting internal battle with this concept the past few years and it really comes down to my own selfishness. The first year I saw the video  I felt super convicted but really just avoided the whole concept and moved on.…

Well, another year of Disney is over…and a fun one it was!! This was Chris’ first year golfing the the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, a PGA Pro-Am. On Day 1 he golfed with Rod Pampling and on Day 2 he was with Chris DiMarco (Sorry, no pics were allowed to be taken…sad ). He had a great time being on the players side of the tournament versus the caddie side…quite a change! We also had the best time hanging out with Chris’ family as well as some of our best friends, Casey and Dan! We watched/walked LOTS of golf, hit the parks, ate way too much food and had a blast! We are so blessed to have amazing family and friends in our lives and treated with the opportunity to do such fun things. Next up…Thanksgiving in Vegas! It’s been a CRAZY season of travel (which is SO fun), but I will be glad to have a full month at home before we head out on our cruise!!…

*honest moment, I had to Google if the title should be “Writer’s Block” or “Writers Block”…ok, grammar police…have your way with me.*

Lately I have had nothing to write about but I really want to try and keep this blog regular…I have a bad habit of blogging consistently for awhile and then quitting…here is my attempt at keeping that from happening!

Our life lately has been non-stop. On the nights we don’t have commitments we are scheduling dinners with folks to talk about being part of Resonate. It has been amazing to cast vision with our close friends (and new friends) and deepen relationships, but…I am tired!!! This week we are at Disney with Chris’s family to be at the annual Children’s Miracle Network Golf Classic. This is his dad’s 28th year golfing in the tourney! What’s really fun is that this is Chris’s first year golfing in the ProAm! I am so excited to see him play on Thursday and Friday!…

For some reason people are under the impression that I work out hours and hours a day…not true! I think people believe this because I actually talk about my workouts and typically post a status or tweet about how great I feel when I am done. So, how much DO I actually work out?

1 – 1.5 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. The CDC recommends this amount of exercise per week for advanced health benefits in adults. My weekly routines usually look like this…(and this is an ideal week…often on the weight training days only 1 or the other happens due to my poor time management)

Monday – 60-75 minute jog or other cardio activity, 30-45 minutes weight training

Tuesday – Turbo Kick! (60 minutes of intense cardio conditioning)

Wednesday – 30-45 minutes of weight training, sometimes throw yoga or pilates in the mix for some recovery

Thursday – Turbo Fire HIIT  or 60-75 minute jog

Friday – 30-45 minutes of HIIT  and 30-45 minutes of weight training

Saturday – teach another turbo class or 60 minutes of other cardio

So, are you looking at this schedule thinking “this girl is nuts?!” If so, that’s ok, I would have thought the same thing when I was 50 lbs heavier and not working out…EVER!…

*disclaimer – this post is not intended to bring guilt, etc, this is just me writing out MY thoughts for myself!!*

I think a lot of times in our society we get sooooo caught up in consumer-ism, and I am the first to admit that this is HARD for me. I absolutely love fashion, shopping, purses, etc…I love stuff. Great. Lately I have found myself saying I need to scale back on my shopping (ok, I make it sound like I shop daily and spend thousands of dollars every time…this is not the case at all…hahaha!). Honestly, the other day I was thinking of challenging myself to no shopping in the month of November and I thought “awesome idea I just need to get this and this and this and this before I put myself on a spending freeze.” Ummm….really? Yeah, that’s a logical thought to have, Leah – buy a bunch of stuff to get you through a month of not buying things.…