sand in tha toes!

i feel like lately that my posts have been lacking pictures.

that is completely unacceptable!

so today is a recap of our vacay....all in pictures!

this is the lighthouse at Harbour Town in Hilton Head.

Tourists at the top!

sittin' on the doc on the bay....

famous river street in savannah.....oh and me being a cheeseball!

magnolias. sweet, sweet magnolias!

the coastguard was giving a demonstration on the river...you know in honor of memorial day

random church in bluffton, sc. it's right on the bay. so pretty!

i love me some spanish moss.....instantly lets you know you're near the beach in the south!
me in a tree. dumb tourist.

just for fun.

ahhhhh......

Heeeelllloooo!!

Well, well, well.....it's been a while friends.

I wish I could say I had taken a break from the blogging world due to some spiritual journey.

Sadly, that's not the case.

I've just been really super busy.

Like for realz.

And quite honestly, I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.

May 18th to be exact.

And my sweetest cousin Holli took it upon her self to make sure I knew that I still had a blog and that it hadn't been updated!

So this one's for you Holli!

(You remember Holli right?)

So let's see, in the last couple of weeks I've shot two weddings and a maternity session. The pool at our apartment opened, and well no offense, but it was a little more intriguing than my bloggy here!

Oh and traveled to VA Beach and Hilton Head for work AND made a little mini vacay out of Hilton Head.

Whew!

So yes, the pool opened. And I am one of those fair skinned people who burst into flames when in the sun for more than about 20 minutes. And that's WITH sunscreen.

Somehow, my dear hubby convinced me that I did not need sunscreen for our first visit to the pool. And I'm the stupid one who believed such a story.

This literally resulted in me shoulders covered in blisters and lots of geometric shapes on my back from my bathing suit lines. Now that's hot.

Last time this happened, I had a tan line on my back from my bathing suit for about 2 years! This one will last a while I'm sure!

So for about 1 week exactly, I was quite miserable. In fact, today is the first time I've been able to move without pain!

With all that you can imagine that my travels through the airport on Tuesday were tons of fun. So. Much. Pain!

This past weekend Chris and I took a little mini vacay attached to my work trip in Hilton Head. It was lovely! This was my first visit to HH, and I have to say, it's definitely worth visiting again. It's one of those places to go if you truly intend on getting a little R&R. If the nightlife scene is what you're looking for, HH is not for you! It's also only about 30 minutes from Savannah, so we spent a day there as well. Savannah is by far one of my favorite places on earth. I have lots of childhood memories there. I don't want to make this post too long, so pics of that trip are scheduled to be posted tomorrow!

Now I've already posted a few photos from one wedding I shot this month, and I shot another wedding yesterday. It was beautiful. The two families that were joined together were from Jamaica and Trinidad. Can I just say that the reception was rocking! Those people know how to have a good time. No pics just yet...haven't even got them off the camera yet!

BUT....last weekend I did a maternity session. I have lots of pics to share, but for now, I'll leave you with one of my favorites from the batch:

And that's all for now.....but seriously, I'm making a true effort to get back on my blogging schedule! Love you all!

L.O.V.E.

Stayce and I have been friends for about 7 years. I love her. She's one special girly!

AND....

this past weekend she got married!

YAY!!!

The wedding was just perfect!

And I had the lovely privilege of photographing it!

Wahoo!

I've got tons and tons of photos to go through, but here are just a few:

Can We Be Friends?

.....like on Pinterest?

My obsession is getting worse by the minute. I'm seriously in love with Pinterest.
I don't know why it's talking to my heart like it is, but seriously....I'm giddy with excitement about it.

So I want to know if you're on there.....and if so....can we be friends! I need a lot more to look at and drool over.

It's like one place where all the happiness of my heart...all that describes me can be in one place. I'm in love.

I seriously just sent Heather an email to tell her that I'm sure my excitement over this website must be what it's like for those addicted to porn!
Hahaha!

So for real....get an account and lets be friends.

You can find me under Lauren Thomas or @laurenthomaspic

For real people....get on it!

Obsessing.

There are two things consuming my life at the moment:

1) All things teal/turquoise and red - words cannot express my love for this color combo.

and

2) Pinterest.
I. Can't. Stop. Looking. At. These. Fabulous. Things.

Seriously taking over my life. Thank you Heather!

That is all.

Happy Day Ahead

Hiya friends! Yesterday on of my sweetest friends got married and I was the priviledged photographer! Woohoo!

While I'm waiting for the pictures to download from my camera, I figured I'd take a minute to catch up with you all.

All that to say I don't have a wedding pic to share just yet! I have about 4,000 photos to look through, narrow down and edit! Whew!

Today I'm super excited. Me and my girlfriend Ashby are having a fun-filled afternoon! After church I'm taking her to Charming Charlies for her first experience. I heart that place SO much. Like seriously!

And then tomorrow, well Operation Bootylicious is revamping into full swing with a minimum of 5 days/week workout.

My total loss if 15 pounds in a little over a month and that's with a couple weeks off from the gym. I know once I get the gym routine back in swing I can say goodbye to quite a few more pounds.

See last Monday we tried a new class - Body Works plus Abs.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was ridiculous.

We of course thought it would be a breeze...just using light handweights? Oh we got this.

Ummm...NO. No we don't.

The workout kicked our behinds in the worst (good) way.

Seriously could barely move for 4 days. So needless to say we only had a 1-day gym visit.

This week we're determined to push through.

I'm in a wedding in November, which has been a big source of inspiration.

And while that's 6 months away, the time for trying on dresses is not!

SOOOO.....we've got to get this show on the road!

Ok enough about that.

Friday night I went to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding I shot on Saturday. Can I just tell you it was the cutest thing ever?!

Stayce's colors for the wedding were bright pink and bright yellow.

The rehearsal dinner was a cowboy theme using those colors.

And I DO have pictures of that...so....take a gander!

It's been a little busy....

...but I absolutely love it!

Super-dee-duper!

As you know, I've been on this weight loss kick.
Now....honestly, you can look back to some of my very first posts - weight issues have always been a part of the bloggy blog, well because...weight issues have always been a part of me!
Always.

But something has changed in me....as I've mentioned recently.
And I'm actually seeing major results!
So far, I've lost 14 pounds in about a month (and that's with a 2 week gym break too).
Woooo-hoooo!
AND a little over 7 inches!
Can I get a what what?

And do you know what that means? At this point, I officially have less than 50 pounds to hit my goal! 49.50 pounds to go to be exact! ;)
What?
How is that???
I'm so excited (and proud of myself)!
And that means that if I keep up at the rate I'm going, my goal should be reached within 6 months. AND that means that come 2012, a diet will not be on my new years resolution list!

And on this here Tuesday, that was something I just felt the need to share!

Happy week!

How Did This Happen?

This weekend my sister in law went to her first prom. She's finishing up her sophomore year.

She's grown up so fast. I just need to know....

How did she go from this:

to this???

Rolling In The Deep

So Sunday, my fabulous friend Ashby performed at our church. She did Adele's "Rolling In The Deep". I've attached the video from our message. It's a really awesome one on marriage. I encourage you to listen all the way through. But if you don't want to do that, at least watch the skit at the beginning. It's a good laugh. And the her performance is at about the 10:27 mark. I'm so proud of her!

AWANKENING:Marriage from xroadschurch on Vimeo.

Major Easter Recap

i've realized just how behind i am when i decided to give a recap on easter!

but it's so worth it.

this easter was absolutely amazing.

chris and i are completely in love with our new church.

i mean seriously.

and this year, our church had 5 easter services - 1 friday, 2 saturday and 2 sunday.

all were amazing.

chris and the team he's a part of worked tirelessly for 15 days straight getting everything in place to make it perfect.

i can't even describe what it was like to be a part of something so awesome, to be a part of a movement of God.

we had almost 3,000 people in attendance over the course of the 5 services and that's just adults!

but here's the amazing part -

91 people made a decision to follow christ!

we also held spontaneous baptisms to which 54 people got baptized.

how awesome is that???!?!!??!!

i mean crazy awesome stuff happening in the life of our church.

i'm so grateful to be a part of it.

there's more to this story that hits in a very personal way, but that's gonna be another blog post this week!

Catch Up Catch Up Everybody Everywhere

so moving right along.....

a couple months ago i relaunched my photo blog.

www.laurenthomasblog.com

you should visit.

on fridays i put up tips and tricks for the everyday person.

keep an eye out for it...you might find something of interest.

AND if you think of any topic that you want to know more about.....leave a comment and i'll add it to the list!

Back To Life

alrighty peeps, let's face it.

i've been MIA for a couple of months really.

i do apologize.

may day job has been ridiculously busy in a fierce way!

but, after tomorrow, i'm thinking things should slow down an bit!

however, as a result of my blogging absence, i have quite a bit to catch up on....

so i'm gonna do it over a series of posts!

i figure that's one way to get back in the swing of things! LOL!

so let's go back to april 16th.

i photographed a birthday party with a petting zoo. of course there are more photos to come, but this one was just too cute!

and then, i photographed one of my most favorite repeat clients, shiloh. she's heading into the modeling industry!

and THEN.....

a few of the ladies in my family all got together for an outing slash surprise birthday party for my cousin. we all met at the ok cafe for dinner.....

and then took a group shot...

and then we headed to Atlanta to see Menopause the Musical!
now granted, i was by far the youngest person in attendance at said musical, but i must say it was quite hysterical! so funny! i highly recommend that you see it if it's playing near you.

while waiting for the show to start they played all oldies music. i absolutely LOVED seeing my grandmother, aunts and cousins all reminiscing and singing along. i mean seriously, this could have been the most fun i've had in a long time. kind of makes me long for the kind of life lived 50 years ago.

it was truly a different world. life was simple, yet completely fulfilled.

in this day and time, you can never get enough.

sometimes i really feel i was born in the wrong era!

well that's all for back to life part 1!