Stabbing Sensation...

'That's so Dexter of you, Lauren'. Okay so the title of this post has nothing to do with serial killers that can't help themselves when it comes to bad guys...
It's just been a day.
And really I was referring to the knot in my back that decided to take up residence on some nerve.. pinching it to death and causing me extreme pain. A frequent stabbing sensation every time I tried to move.
This was resolved on Friday, but the ache is still there to remind me of how utterly useless I was most of the day on Friday. Love those things that're completely out of your control... and just happen to suck. Bad. And on my day off with perfect weather.
End complaining.

The day has been busy, but productive and I'm wishing I could go home and play guitar for a few hours tonight.
No, I don't play the guitar very well and no, I don't play it very often.
But I'd like to.. and I wish I did. :)
Would be a good evening for it...

In other news, I'm reading an interesting book called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Mum suggested I read it (she made me).
She isn't a weirdy (not completely..) so when she visited last week and kept mentioning this book and how it impacted her... "If I hadn't read this book I'd look around this place (full of old memories..) and feel angst and a little sadness... but now I can look around and remember what great, positive experiences I had and how funny, sweet life is" (Yes.. this continued for most of the weekend)  I thought, why not? I could use some positive reinforcement when it comes to my thoughts.
I used to really be into books like The Four Agreements, The Mastery of Love, etc.. this book is similar as it helps you look at life a little differently.

I've been going through a few rough spots the last year or so... and have watched family members go through some as well... and I find myself getting down quite frequently. But lately I've had this feeling that won't go away.. kind of like the stabbing sensation that was too strong to ignore... to re-evaluate my life and how I should go about living it.
The book is just kind of fun, interesting to read... I know I'm the one who really needs to let go of some things and choose not to let stress get me down. No book is going to magically make the stress disappear (oh how i wish).. but it's nice to have a reminder that it's up to me to change things. Or to change the way I'm interpretting things.
Anyways.. just wanted to share some words on this subject. Have a lovely week, okay?

xo Lauren

Graduation = Vacation!!!

Well.. my husband boy is growing up. :) He's graduating college on Saturday and I'm SO proud of him.. and SO relieved that at least one of us did it right.

(Reeeeeeeeeeeeally hope we see one of these. Not up close.. of course. But don't you kind of want to hug him?) 

After five years of rugged scholastic-ness, we've decided to celebrate by heading up the Pacific to ALASKA.

Pretty ding dang excited! I'm not even sure if the reality of the gorgeousness we'll be seeing has even set in yet, actually. We're taking off in about 6 weeks- flying up to Seattle and cruising out of the Seattle port. I've never been to Seattle and we'll be spending a day there... so that in itself ROCKS.

So ya.. just had to share the awesomeness with you. Hope everyone is having a great Monday.  {um.. is that even possible?!}

My Love

Have I ever shown you this photo of Jake? Have I ever told you how much I love it? Rarely are his hair and beard ever this short at the same time... hehe.





i love us.

Earth Day!

So most of you probably DON'T know that I'm a hippy at heart... I am... I'm sorry, but I really am.

Today being Earth Day and all, I thought I'd share a little post with you all from a favorite photographer, Tara Whitney. She shares some great ideas on what we can do to make even the smallest difference. GO HERE.

Now, I honestly am quite sick of the expression GO GREEN, but the intention behind it is something that everyone really should be aware of. Why not help out the other living, breathing creatures residing on this earth with us?

I bet it'd make you feel better to at least try..

xo  Lauren

{ FREE Mini Session! }

Hey friends!

So it's warming up here in Las Vegas.. and to celebrate the time between cold/windy weather and hot/miserable weather, I'm giving away a FREE mini photo session over on Facebook! 


Become a fan on Facebook and then refer me to your friends to become a fan and be entered for a chance to WIN the session with a $60 print credit!
Go check out the complete details on my facebook fan page.


Hope to see you all over there! (Better hurry! I'll be drawing the winner's name next Friday, April 16th!)


xo Lauren

{ photography website LAUNCHED }

Yay! It's finished and all live to the internet!

Please visit www.laurencastophotography.com to see my little piece of the photography world.

Okay...

I'm going to try really hard now to focus on the day job...

And not just walk around with a perma-grin.

=D

two years down...

and 60 some odd more to go!

remember when it was jake's birthday last month (last post) and i was like "ya.. i'm not gonna get all sappy and do the '26 things i love about jake' thing". well.. today's our second anniversary and guess what? i'm not gonna do the two greatest things about our marriage post either! so ha! just kidding. :) no really, i'm serious. i'm not. there's way more than just two great things about marriage. especially our marriage. it rocks. i wouldn't trade it for the world. in fact, jake rocks my world. and so does our little furry child we've been raising named bug. life is great and i'm happy to be living it.

for the sappy anniversary post i decided i'd overwhelm you with a bunch of photos from our wedding because it's always fun to reminisce and such.


we were married in the saint george lds temple. it was an incredible experience and such a beautiful day. we had a great time at the reception.. filled everyone's bellies with a nice pasta dinner and danced the night away. drank mini cartons of milk to wash down the delicious chocolate cake. i even sang to my beloved... in front. of. everyone. but you know what? i'd do it again if it meant i could publicly profess my love for him. :)

happy second anniversary rj, snake, jakers, babes, my love...