could it get any better?

i mentioned last week that hubs got a new job working for earth fare.

this weekend he worked on his first video project for the online specials.

he had filmed some at the office, but then he wanted to get some additional shots on our farm table at home.

of course i was giddy with excitement to get to play with pretty foods.

the special this week is on grapes, so the video was showcasing fun things to do with grapes besides eating them all by themselves.

grapes are fabulous in lemonade.

i made fresh squeezed lemonade just for this.

and grapes make a lovely addition to salads. ;)

and of course i had to put some flowers in the mix. 

none other than a hydrangea would do.

any excuse to have them in my house works for me!

give me a vase of hydrangeas and peonies = heaven. 

pure, absolute, heaven.

so then of course i had to find the perfect place to display my pretty flower. 

this was SO much fun.

i will be so sad now if every single video isn't here. haha.

maybe i missed my calling....

i could be lauren thomas - food stylist extraordinaire.

bahahaha.

we'll add that to my never ending list of life goals. ha!

triggers.

i am always completely amazed at what triggers a memory.

the smell of grape jelly immediately takes me back to being a young child watching the disney channel while eating a pb&j or toast with grape jelly.

a song that can take you back to a specific time so much that you can smell what it smelt like and feel what it felt like.

the mind is fascinating.
and life is filled with so many special moments.
moments that we often take for granted and experience like a fluttering butterfly.
and probably most that we'll never really think on again until some random song or food or smell triggers it.

i often tell myself that i really need to live each day. really embrace and hold onto every single moment.
because all the while in my mundane day to day life, nothing really seems super special.
but it is. every single moment is.
every moment is a gift from god himself, no matter how insignificant our human eyes may perceive it.

and so i challenge you (and myself) to really embrace today.
it's monday.
it's a new week.
and that's a perfect time to start something new.

hold onto every moment of today, tonight, tomorrow....good or bad...happy or sad.
live the moments you're given.
feel them. remember them.
after all, they are gifted to you.

It's A Fab Friday!

happy friday lovelies! 

i couldn't be happier to see the weekend!

i've got goodness to share with you today friends.

i'm thankful for new adventures ~

so as you know, hubs and i moved to north carolina in april. we moved to be part of a church plant that we felt god was calling us to. and we love it. however, what i may not have shared is that chris was/is receiving no salary from our church. again, it was something we felt strongly about. the idea was that chris would do freelance work on the side to help out with additional income.we readjusted our budget so that we lived solely off of my pay - but in this economy, that's a scary burden. while on vacation a few weeks ago, we discussed this quite a bit, as the freelance work hadn't taken off quite like we hoped. and so, chris began looking online for creative job openings in our area. the only one he pursued was with earth fare - it's a health food supermarket like whole foods or fresh market. their corporate office is in our new town. an application and 2 interviews later, he got the job! he's the new visual media producer. he's in charge of filming and designing commercials/specials and anything else they might need. this week was his first week and he's so excited about it. yes, we're most definitely still at the church, but this allows us to build up some savings and i'm thrilled about that!

i'm thankful for provision!

in staying on topic with earth fare, we get an awesome discount on groceries. i can not begin to tell how excited that makes me! i get to buy all organic greatness for cheap! woohoo!

i'm excited for awesome opportunities

a few posts back i talked about doing more and talking less. well i'm so excited about an opportunity i have at the end of this month. each month, our church hosts a citywide women's event. it's ladies from all over the community and all other churches, where women can just be encouraged and refreshed. the event is called radiance. and this month, i get the awesome privilege to speak on my testimony regarding our struggle with infertility. my ultimate goal in doing this is to create a network of ladies struggling with the same and have an avenue to encourage them. it's so cool because i've already met two ladies in my church that have pcos. it's like i was meant to be here ;)

i'm thrilled for the weekend

there's a bbq festival this weekend y'all! we're planning on attending - it's in the next town over and apparently, it's a pretty big deal. and chris is all about a festival dedicated to meat! if we go, you better believe i'll post all about it next week!

It's good to feel wanted

the last few days have been quite the whirlwind experience, but honestly, i wouldn't have it any other way.
friday i flew out to texas to spend some much needed quality time with some of my favorites.
my precious cousin holli is getting married in just a couple of months, so we did her bridal portraits (i'm photographing her wedding).
i can NOT wait to share some of them with you, but it will be after the wedding of course!
i'm super proud of myself...i did her updo. wha???
i know!
we can now add updo hair styles to my resume!
she looked absolutely stunning.
and then we went shopping. holla.
old navy had a fabulous sale and i got some fabulous tops.
i think it needs it's own post.
i went crazy for all things striped.

saturday i headed out to my oldest brother's house and had a great time for my nephew's birthday party.
12 whole years old. yikes!
we had so much fun catchin up, talking about everything, and party prepping.
and let's not forget frog catching!

monday morning i spent some more time with holli. she got pretty sick over the weekend, so we just took it easy. we rented the life of pi.

ok let me just say....the movie is absolutely nothing like the previews.
it was soooo good. like i seriously loved it.
from the previews i thought it was all this randomly magical boat ride or jungle book like movie.
nope. not at all.
i mean it is on a boat, but the story is fabulous.
you should totally watch it.
totally.

as soon as i got home i headed to raleigh to train our interns for work.
so much fun.
you know i love any opp to get in front of people ;)

so all in all, it has been a great few days and it feels really good to be wanted at all of these places.
but then it's always good to get home too.

in other news, you can probably see we're creating a new blog design here. i've still got a few things to add and adjust, but it's heading in a beautifully right direction.
i changed it up a few months ago, but that was really just a starting point.
i wasn't crazy about it.
but this...this i love.
and it matches my new photography website so i'm all consistent.
we'll be launching that here very soon!
hubs did real real good on this one.
another reason why i love him (even though we typically fight hard core when he designs stuff for me).

so friends, fill me in on your life.