Friday Fives

Okie dokie kids, it's time for Friday Fives! This week: Five Favorite Movies

Not gonna lie, I'm loving this one!

Ok, here goes:

We're gonna do a countdown of my top faves!

5. The Hangover - so this movie came out last year and jumped right on my list! By far one of the funniest movies I've seen in a LONG time! Favorite thing from the movie: "retard" - pronounced 'rah-tard' not 'ree-tard'! Love it!

4. Forrest Gump - well this one is just a classic. Love, love, love it! I really never get tired of watching it, or quoting it! "Run Forrest Run" or "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get", or "Lieutenant Dan!"....I could go on and on!
3. Down to You - this movie came out in 2000 and wasn't a huge hit. But for whatever reason, I cried uncontrollably at this movie and the soundtrack is still one of my most favorite CDs. AND I just love Julia Stiles.

2. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Ah, classic. Just plain classic. I absolutely adore Audrey Hepburn and truly love all of her movies. So if I had to pick just one, it's this one. But I equally love Charade and Roman Holiday!

Drum roll please..........

1. Steel Magnolias - Can it get any better? I mean seriously, this has got to be one of the best movies ever made! It's a sure bet to be on any southern girl's movie list! I seriously could watch this over and over and over. I still cry every time I see it. Words cannot express my love for this!

Be sure to join in on the fun over at Beth's blog!

Lunchtime Dish

Happy Tuesday!
Well here we are, almost in the month of May! The months are just flying by! And this realization urged me to take a look back at all my new year's goals for the year.

Let me just say, I have failed miserably!

* Improve my prayer life and quiet time. (FAIL)

* 30 days of homemade meals only. No restaurant food! I really want to try longer, but I think a realistic goal is to try 30 days and then see where it takes us. (I managed to get about 15 days in there, and I must say, it went really well and I lost a few pounds. The trouble comes when I run out of groceries in between paydays and it's just easier to grab something quick and cheap)

* Get healthy. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not setting a weight loss goal, but rather a goal to become healthy and weight loss should happen as a result. (Umm, yeah - that would be a FAIL)

* Become a certified professional photographer. (Well I bought the study materials but haven't opened the book yet!)

* Join a few photography associations. (CHECK! Finally, I've got one!)

* Scrapbook all of my photos. (I AM making progress. Slowly but surely)

* De-clutter. (I'm not exactly sure what I was speaking of here. I think this situation may be a little better)

* Develop a new style. Reinventing myself of sorts. (Does painting my nails red count? This seemed a lot cooler when we thought we were moving to Oklahoma. I do want to pierce my nose though. Hmmm....we'll see where this goes)

Ok, so I realize that I have 7 more months to accomplish something. When I think back on some of my blogs, I really have set out, with good intentions, to change things and do things, yet at the end of the day, I'm really not getting anywhere.

Maybe it's just the busyness of life.

Either way, I definitely need to re-prioritize a few things.

How are you doing on all your new year's resolutions?

My Prayer for Always

Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love;

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee,

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing

Always, only, for my King;

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee,

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;

Not a mite would I withhold;

Take my intellect, and use

Every power as Thou shalt choose,

Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart; it is Thine own;

It shall be Thy royal throne,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure-store.

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee,

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Here am I, All of me.
Take my life, It's all for thee.

Show Us Your Life and Friday Fives

TGIF people! T.G.I.F.

And since it's Friday, it's time for Show Us Your Life over at Kelly's Blog and Friday Fives at Beth McC's Blog.

So let's start with Show Us Your Life - How You Met Your Husband:
It was Spring of 2004. I had just gotten out of a year long relationship. I loved my church and I used to intern in the student ministry there. However, my youth pastor moved up to be the college and singles pastor - and to be honest, I wasn't crazy about the people in that group. I just never fit in. But one day I decided to go anyway. During worship, I caught this guy looking at my legs (I was wearing a skirt). We exchanged a smile and that was that. So after service he came up to me and introduced himself as CBass and asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with the group. Well as I mentioned before, I wasn't crazy about that crowd, so I lied and said I had other plans. Little did I know, he wasn't planning on any other people being there! So a week went by and back at church the next Sunday I saw him again. This time I went up to him and said hello and he just stared at me. He totally shut me down (apparently the story goes that he couldn't get words to come out of his mouth)! Finally the college pastor stopped me and told me that CBass liked me and asked if he could give my number to him. So I said yes.
Well, he never called. He DID email me, but that was before I was completely addicted to my email, so I never checked it. But we had a couple mutual friends that all knew he had a crush on me, so they made it happen. I was at a friend's house one night and she called him and then handed me the phone. I was totally unprepared for that! But then he asked me on a date. Actually, the sentence went something like: "Would you like to go out with a bunch of people Saturday night, and uh, by people, I really mean just me?" How could I say no? :) The funniest thing is that I thought his last name was Bass (found out on our first date through dinner reservations that it was Thomas). And since his nick-name is C-Bass (I initially thought seabass) and so I cute little thing - have you ever seen the Friends episode where Phoebe is talking about how lobsters mate for life and then she says "he's her lobster"? Well my phrase was "he's my seabass". See, it made since when we were still talking about sea creatures. Just had to throw that in.
So we saw each other every day since. On day 5 we said the "L" word! 2 months into it we were engaged, and married 5 months after that! It was like we knew instantly!
And for 6 years, we've lived happily ever after ... for the most part! ;)

Now for Friday Fives: What are your 5 favorite restaurants?
1. Los Reyes - our favorite Mexican hang out. We've been going there for years and they know our orders by heart!

2. Provino's - Perfect yumminess right here! It's an Italian restaurant. You can eat free on your birthday! Their manicotti is to die for. And the rolls. Oh the rolls are heavenly!

3. Five Guys Burgers/Cheeseburger Bobby's - this is a tie but both have some super delicious burgers!

4. Taco Mac - a little bit of everything here. I usually always get boneless wings or a buffalo chicken wrap. Yummy!

5. Carolyn's - this is a little bar and cafe right across from my office. It is our favorite hang out for any after hours get together. Love the people here too - they know us! It has really become a part of my identity!

I Am In Love

Me and my friend Heather are quite the lovers of craft home decorating blogs. And today, she has introduced me to one and I must say, I am drooling.
I'm actually so in love with the floating frames idea I want to cry!
You must visit this site.
Click HERE!
Lemon Tree Creations.
My mind is overflowing with ideas, which is why we are frantically planning a trip to the antique store and flea markets!!!

That is all for now. Too good not to share!

New Favorites!

A few photos from last week's baby shoot!

An exciting week!

Well, it's Wednesday.....
...AND.....
I booked 3 weddings this week! Super super super excited.
One of them just so happens to be Sunday.
Yes this Sunday.
And another....well it just so happens to be one of my best friends!
Super excited for her!!!!!
We've been talking about her wedding for years....and now she finally has a fiance! hahahaha!

That is all.

Have a sunshiney day!

Mental Note to Self

A great friend offered me a fabulous snippet of wisdom/advice yesterday, and I am so grateful! It has really put things into perspective.
See, Chris and I have this opportunity of sorts at hand - which I will give more detail to once it's official.
But I was talking to my friend last night concerned about what others must think of us and our crazy life.
And here's what she said:
"No one can look down on you, judge you, or fault you for trying to better yourselves and your situation."

Brilliant.

I know to our friends and families sometimes our life looks like a big mess. Maybe I'm just overly self-conscious.
But at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. They aren't the ones paying our bills. Nor have we ever asked for their assistance. The only thing we have ever asked for is a little encouragement. So therefore, we know the reasons behind the decisions we make (whether others see them as good or bad) and sometimes that's not all evident from the outside looking in.

I really don't know why I'm rambling on about all this...I guess just to say that I don't have to worry about what others think because we're doing the best we can to provide a way to be the best we can be. And that's something to be proud of.

Oooh, that's a good one! ;) I like it when profound thoughts come out! So I'll say it again:
We're doing the best we can to provide a way to be the best we can be.

Well that's all for my Tuesday morning rant! Have a happy day!

Well Folks, ....

...it's Sunday! And that means my weekend is coming to an end. :(
However, I must say it's been a great one!

Saturday, Heather and I caught up on some much needed scrap booking! Sadly, I lost all creative juices about 2 hours in.
I know, pathetic.
AND then there was this lady next to us showing her very first scrapbook - and it was amazing.
Completely put all of mine to shame.
Heather and I totally felt like scrap book failures! AND so intimidated! But I may get some photo business out of her, so I guess it's ok! :)

Next on the Saturday agenda was a photo shoot at the Chick-Fil-A corporate office. The photos were of a family - the mom works there. Precious! I absolutely can NOT wait to edit those photos! I'm having to show some restraint and finish editing the wedding photos from a couple of weeks ago before I can get started, but can I say again, these baby photos are so freaking cute!

And now it's Sunday! I'm sitting at church watching rehearsal for the service this morning. I'm SUPPOSED to be editing photos, but we see how well that is working. So there will be church, a mixer with young married peeps, and hopefully a nap in my near future.

So friends, enjoy the last bit of your weekend!

Friday Favorites

Well friends, it's Friday and that means it's time for Hillary's (over at The Other Mama)weekly blog carnival! And can I just say, I am in love with her Friday Favorite today! Seriously, you should check it out. I've already sent the website to Chris and told him I need this stuff once we have babies!

Ok, so my favorite this week....a little cheesy, BUT I have to say it's the fabulous Spring weather! All I want to do is sit outside! It's awesome!

Another great favorite this week is sushi! Yep, sushi.
I have only tried one type of sushi roll and loved it.
So yesterday, me and my friend went to Shout for lunch and they had all you can eat sushi for $10! Sounds like a deal to me! So I tried a spicy chicken roll, Japanese bagel roll, and a crunche crunche roll. SOOOO fabulous! The spicy chicken was my favorite! This will be a lunch worth repeating!

Alright friends, I hope you enjoy this beautiful Friday and have a fabulous weekend!

Ten On Tuesday ... on Thursday, actually on Friday

So Sassin' Southern Style had a pretty cute blog post yesterday and I decided to copy it! I can never turn down a questionairre! So here goes it.

1. If you could travel back in time, would you? What decade would you visit? I think I'd mozy on back to the Victorian era. No, no, I don't think I could do corsets. I'd much rather let my fat be free. Maybe the 1940s. Yep I think so. The time of classy style and add a little swing music.

2. What was your best Halloween costume? (fun to make? most creative?) My best friend and I dressed up as Sonny and Cher. I was short, so I got to be Sonny. We even drew on some chest hair. She was Cher - tall and had long hair. This was also during that phase of middle school where hippie clothes were really in, so we definitely had the wardrobe.

3. Do you like your name? If you weren’t called by your name, what would you want to be called? I do like my name. When I was growing up there weren't a ton of people named Lauren. I liked have a slight bit of uniqeness. However, I always wanted a name that could be shortened. Like Abby for Abigail. But now my friends call me LT, so that works.

4. In the past year, what is the BEST recipe you made. Please share it! That would be my chicken and tortellini. I just made it up one night. I basically coated chicken in brown mustard, garlic, crushed croutons and parmesean cheese and crisped it up in a frying pan with olive oil. And then served with cheese tortellini and marinara sauce. It was yummy!

5. Look around – what is the nearest object or picture hanging on the wall? In my cube I have a framed picture hanging up that says "Keep Calm and Carry On"

6. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Would you recommend it? We saw Alice in Wonderland, and yes, it was great!

7. Did you go to summer camp? Will you/do you send your kids to camp?
I was in 4-H, so we went to camp every summer. I loved it! So much fun! And I'll send my kids only if they want to go to one. It would never be forced. Ok, maybe I'd force them at least once.

8. What kind of ringtone do you have?
I don't know - it's kind of jazzy I guess.

9. Where is the farthest away from home you have ever been?
That would have to be Zilena, Slovakia! A long way from Atlanta, Georgia!

10. Has anyone ever written a song or a poem for or about you?
I am pretty sure my 3rd grade boyfriend, Jeffery wrote a poem about me. I broke his heart. Don't you think it's sad that my husband, the musician, has yet to write a song about me? In 6 years, I would think he's got to have a some song love for me!

Good Things.

I love Martha Stewart.
Everytime she likes something she says "It's a good thing."
My mom loved Martha - she was part of our family.

That all has absolutely nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that I titled my blog good things.

Moving right along.

Yes, there are good things happening.
Chris is really gaining a lot of business through The Simple Beard. If you haven't clicked the beard on the sidebar, then you should do it. Especially if you know someone in need of a graphic artist.

Photography is going well. The wedding I did a couple weeks ago is my best photo session yet! Just fabulous! I'm not tooting my own horn, just super proud! I have soo many more to put up...patience please.

There will be scrapbooking this weekend. So.Excited!

There will also be a baby photo shoot this weekend that I'm stoked about! It's a sweet little baby named Shiloh. She was a premie and was in NICU for months. She's finally home and growing and it's picture time! In a tu-tu! I LOVE tu-tu babies!

Next weekend is a girls' spa day. My toes are so excited! They have been neglected since October!

AND THEN....dum dum dum.....there is New York next month.
See, my baby brother has decided it's time to get hitched to the cutest darn little redhead ever! And they are heading north for the big event.
Well, it's not really big...I mean literally there will be 5 people max there!
And who do you ask is the photog?
Why that would be me and I'm beyond excited!
We're going to take pictures all over the city.
It will be like a magazine shoot - a wedding couple in the subway, pier, central park, time square, etc......
Oh the possibilities! They're endless!
CAN.NOT.WAIT.
For realz.

Consider yourself officially caught up! I'm sure you really wanted to be updated. But now that you've read all the way through, you're updated whether you like it or not!
Ha!

Have a happy day!

Delish Dish!

Well it's Monday, and as usual the weekend flew by way too fast!
However, I must say it was a great weekend!
A couple of weeks ago was the show us your life - cleaning tips and it inspired me.
Inspired me with an itch for cleaning!
So what did I do?????
I went to Wal-Mart and spent $114 on cleaning supplies!!!!!!
WHAT?
It had to happen.
I already had cleaning supplies. But not all the fabulous ones everyone was writing about!
I bought a wall organizer for the mop and broom, bought a mop and broom, and all kinds of other goodies.
Can I just tell you how fabulous my apartment smells???

Now I've decided to rearrange the whole apartment. We started with the bedroom last night. I've got great plans for the dining room which will now be turned in to an office! Super excited!

And to top it all off, I made a fabulous pasta dish last night and thought the recipe was blogworthy. I made a marinara sauce from scratch, but meat could easily be incorporated if you like a meaty sauce.
Ok, here you go:
Your welcome!

Ingredients:
1 28oz can whole (peeled) tomatoes. I like these:

1/2 can tomato paste - any brand
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Italian seasoning
Salt - to taste
Olive oil

In a large saucepan, I lightly coated the bottom with olive oil. Once the oil was heated, I added the chopped onion and cooked the onions until almost clear. I then pushed the onions to the side of the pan and added the garlic to cook (about 3 minutes) - be careful not to burn. Next, I added the can of tomatoes and 1/2 can of tomato paste. I used potato mashers to mash up the tomatoes. Next I added a palmful of Italian seasoning - you can add more or less to your taste. Once everything was brought up to a simmer, I covered and turned on low heat for about 30 minutes, while occasionally stirring. Lastly, I added some parsley and let cook another 5-10 minutes.
I served this over a garden pasta (the pasta was tri-color and made from carrots and spinach).

Happy Easter!

I hope you all are having a fabulous Easter filled with Easter bunnies and baskets!

***side note: I've always wondered what the connection is with bunnies and eggs? Anybody?***

Ok, so I'm sure you read my Good Friday post.
But let me tell you, Easter Sunday is the single most important day that we as Christians celebrate! It's like the Superbowl for Christians!
Why?
Because it is the day that Jesus was resurrected.
His death would have meant nothing if he didn't come back to life!
BUT He did!
Jesus conquered sin and death.



This empty tomb is the basis of our faith.

And on this Easter Sunday, all I can say is Thank You.
Thank you Jesus for becoming all that God hated so that I may spend eternity with you.
Thank you Jesus that because of your death and resurrection, my eternal life is a promise to see my mother again.
Thank you Jesus for loving me enough, despite my unworthiness, to take upon my sin and shame.
Thank you Jesus for the promise of hope you offer.
Thank you for your love.

Saturday Fun...

Got a few photos from last week's wedding up on the photo blog:
Check it out HERE!

Have a happy weekend!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday to all! And....since it's Friday....that means Friday Favorites! I'm joining in with Hillary over at The Other Mama for her weekly blog carnival! You should join in too!

Now I know this is completely cliche for the "good Christian girl" to write about Jesus on Good Friday. But y'all, this is serious stuff! :)

I love Good Friday. I really really do.
You see it was on that dark, horrid Friday that my bondage was broken, I became free from "death", and someone died just for me.
Yes, it was over 2,000 years ago, but God tells us the He knew us before we were ever even a thought in our parents' mind.

Good Friday humbles me. And I should be humbled by this on a daily basis. I should remember this good Friday every Friday. Every day.

So this week's favorite - Jesus!

I realize that some people don't understand the whole deal with Jesus. I really do. But I can tell you that when everything in your life has been stripped away and He's all you have to turn to....then you get it. Trust me. You really really get it.

My goal for today is to really focus on what happened on the cross 2,000 years ago.
And be thankful that it happened.
And never to forget or take for granted, that it did indeed happen.

I'm a Bad Blogger

Happy Thursday everyone! Oh my goodness, I don't think I've ever been this busy in all my life! Today is the first time since last Friday that I've had a chance to log on to blogworld!

I photographed a wedding Saturday, out with friends Sunday, worked on a logo with Chris until midnight Monday, again on Tuesday, rehearsal yesterday, girls night out tonight, Good Friday service tomorrow, visit mom's grave on Saturday and Easter on Sunday! Not to mention my day job! Whew!

AND I've got deadlines to meet. Must have a sneak preview for the wedding couple done by Saturday (and I've got over 3,000 photos to go through to create that), make my mom's flowers for her grave, and for the love of Pete I HAVE to clean my apartment. It literally looks like a tornado has come through the whole thing!
And now I have anxiety because I haven't had time to catch up on all my blog reading!
I'm a week behind all of your lives!

Ok, deep breaths. No need for a panic attack here!

So, the wedding on Saturday went really well. I got some awesome pictures and can't wait to share them with you! She was a beautiful bride!

Alright, well all I had time for was to pop in and let you know I'm still here!
Hopefully next week will be better ;)