The Weekend

It's cold and dark in Toronto this time of year, and since it's still two more months left until spring you gotta come up with fun things to do.

Getting all dressed up for our weekly Date Night with my husband is one of my favorite things to enjoy every week.

I've also enjoyed doing some decorating and shopping during the month of January. When all the Christmas decorations went back into the storage room our home felt very empty. I decided to replace the Christmas decorations with some new accessories. On Saturday I bought a new orchid and a candle for the breakfast table.

I also took the time to shop a pair of new winter boots from Steve Madden. During the month of December I spent all my weekends on Christmas shopping, so in January I'm enjoying having time to shop a few things for myself.

Healthy eating is one of my goals in January, but you gotta balance that up with a few macaroons every Saturday. Coffee and macaroons is my favorite sweet treat in January.

On Sunday evening I enjoyed a glass of red wine from Wayne Gretzky Estates and a new magazine.

Our Christmas in pictures

Two days before Christmas I finally finished wrapping the last Christmas presents. Wrapping presents always seem to take five times longer than I imagine it will take.

This year we were blessed with a beautiful white Christmas in Toronto. Our whole neighborhood transformed into a winter wonderland a couple of days before Christmas and on Christmas Eve we got another snow storm. Yey, I love snow! :)

Christmas at our house is a mix of three different cultures. We mix together Jamaican, Finnish and Canadian Christmas traditions. I'm the Finnish-Swedish person in the house so my contribution is ginger bread cookies. Home baked? Absolutely not! Ikea's gingerbread cookies taste great, which means I don't need to bake my own. :)

One of our family traditions is to have Jamaican Black Cake for dessert on Christmas Eve every year. It's super tasty!

We open all our Christmas gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve according to Finnish tradition. On Christmas Day morning we open whatever Santa got for us in our stockings.

Christmas Day afternoon is my favorite time of the season when you can enjoy your gifts and eat endless amounts of chocolate while you hang out with the family in your pyjamas.

On the second day of Christmas we went and got some hot chocolate and took a walk around the neighborhood.

It's always so much fun to look at all the different Christmas decorations in the neighborhood. Here we have Rudolf with his red nose at the front.

Intentional Parenting includes Having Fun

A happy childhood requires some serious fun that lead to positive memories. How can we make sure we have enough fun as a family in today's fast-paced and busy world? We can decide to schedule fun by prioritizing family vacations and by creating fun family traditions.

Have Fun in Your Marriage

One of the very important things that are needed to keep any marriage healthy is having fun together. There are three different types of fun we want to make sure that we prioritize and schedule into our busy lives to stay healthy relationally. Pastor Craig Groeschel from Life Church talks about the importance of having fun together face to face, side by side and bellybutton to bellybutton.

My Weekend

This time of year it's easy to start dreaming about spring and warmer days, but since spring won't be here for another month I like to come up with fun things to do in February. Sunday brunches are one of my favorite things to treat myself to during February, a big waffle with strawberries can make any grey Sunday special! This weekend I decided to go see a movie on Saturday, popcorn and a good movie that can make you laugh makes February fun.

On Saturday I also got to visit a beautiful newborn baby in the hospital which totally made my day. On Sunday I did some home décor shopping and was happy to find a painting that I loved. I'm very picky when I shop these days so I seldom find something I really like but this time I found the perfect new addition to our home.

Tomorrow we enter a new month which is exciting, the month of March means we get to celebrate Easter and my husband and I are also celebrating our wedding anniversary this month. Every new month brings something to look forward to.

The Workout

Biking along the waterfront of Lake Ontario, is there any workout more wonderful than that during the fall season? I absolutely love taking 45-60 minutes long bike rides along the lakefront a couple of times a week this time of year. My number one rule when it comes to exercise is: "It has to be fun!" I've tried numerous different sports and different types of fitness routines but if it isn't fun and enjoyable I won't last longer than max 4 weeks before I quit.

Let's just face it, working out takes a lot of time, and I'm not going to spend that much time on something that I don't enjoy doing. I like to do different types of workouts during different seasons of the year. Biking is my favorite workout this time of year and during the later part of fall I usually prefer going for a hike.

On a day when I can bike along the lakefront trail and stop at the pier and just enjoy the stillness for awhile, that's when working out becomes really fun! I get some exercise for my body and I get a moment to just stop and breathe in the fresh air and feel thankful for this day.

Home Sweet Home

After three wonderful weeks in Finland I'm now back at home in Canada. The weather was +29 degrees Celsius when I arrived in Toronto so I can't complain. My husband welcomed me home with a bouquet of red roses. I'm so excited for this fall and got so much new energy from my trip to Scandinavia. Spending a lot of time with friends and family is so good for the soul.

I will be enjoying reading some fashion magazines this fall since my shopping stop is almost over now. I also plan to take many morning walks in the park during the fall while the weather is still warm. This week we are celebrating Labor Day long weekend here in Canada which should be alot of fun! Summer is over but fall brings new fun things to enjoy.