things I'm loving {holiday}

I love this song sung by Pentatonix (a capella style!) It reminds me of the simplicity of the pleasure of Jesus in what we have to offer Him! Take a listen and catch the joy and simplicity of our Savior's birth! 

• This blog  by Kelly Oribine on how to celebrate Christmas with a minimalist view! I wouldn't say that I am here yet, but I would love to implement several of her ideas into our life!

Stove-top potpourri has been such a great "i'mobsessedwithmyhousesmellinglikeChristmas" fix. Literally, add anything you think smells good to water and let it simmer on the stove top! Some examples I've been using are oranges, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon, allspice, and rosemary.

hope you are enjoying the cold, the holiday spirit, and {hopefully} a little more time to relax! 

Love.

L.

{not so} serious updates

So, just as in the title of this post, I have some serious updating to do, but the updates themselves are not serious...

 * the highlights *

{in order from the top left}
Moving out of our first apartment
cruising with the Robbins clan
the newest member of our family - Pippin!
 Justin surprised me for our anniversary with a photo shoot {THANKS SARAH!} 
celebrating 1 year of marriage!
 becoming Texans' fans - Justin is so pumped he can't keep his eyes open!
 posing at Northgate Vintage First Thursday
the Eventelligent crew {plus Ben...?}
I have fun reading whilst Justin plows through writing papers! 

Celebrating Justin getting his Aggie Ring on the left, and celebrating my birthday with my besties on the right! 

Whew,  I feel relieved to get this first post out of my system. One day I might actually have a camera and take some quality photos. But until then, my iPhone has that job!


I hope you are enjoying the cold and are drinking a cup of coffee as you read! I plan  hope to be posting more in the near future! Maybe a few house pics if I can get the place clean......



Love.
L.

a life really lived

This post I wrote a while back, in typical Lauren fashion, here I am posting it 3 months later!


I had a moment, last week when Justin and I made a quick stop at the park for a walk before lifegroup, a moment where I thought, "life can be really full, and really lived." It was then that I realized how much my life really did need to slow down. While I am only working part time now, and it feels like I'm way less busy than "normal," I still find pointless time fillers to take up the hours in my day. Looking back over my goals for the past month and the ways my life has changed for the better, I realize these are the moments I felt the most full and alive:

• Walking in the park with Justin after dinner, before lifegroup
• Spending a morning on the couch watching the news, just because we got up 2 hours early
• napping in a hammock on a Tuesday afternnon
• eating cereal for dinner, just because
• spontaneously driving to Dallas to run the Color Run with my best friends!

So, I need a few more of these moments in my life. Moments of not freaking out when I haven't planned anything for dinner, or because the house is a disaster! Moments of {sometimes planned} spontaneity. So, here's to living a not-so-perfect-full-of-life life!


love.
L.

Goals

I am finding that the task of living a more full and enjoyed life is just that, a task. I thought that opening my eyes and being more thankful and being less busy would make me happier. But I'm realizing that being happy is more than just realizing that I need to enjoy my life more, but the act of taking practical steps to living a life more filled with GOOD things : )


So, I've crafted a few practical steps (in the form of goals) to set me up to live a full life. I realize that my perfectionist side has potential to obess a little alot over meeting everysinglegoalperfectlyalldayeveryday. So, I'm reminding myself to love the process. To enjoy the journey of life as just that, a journey. Viewing these steps as a tool to live more freely and full, and not as the end all-be all of my worth as a person.


Goals for the month of April:

• Finish the book 1000 Gifts and then re-read all the underlines from the whole book.
• Clean out the guest closet and get rid of....most of it.....(cough cough, all of it)
• Rewrite all of my "floating" recipies printed from the internet onto index cards for my recipie box
• Work out for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week (the former athlete in me is distainful at how puny this goal is, this is a huge step for me at this point)
• Write Justin an encouraging note once a week (that's 5 times in the month of April!!!)
• Go for a walk with Justin at least 1 night a week

So, there it is. Accomplishable (not a word), productive, and life-giving goals. Cheers to living a fuller life!



Love.
L.

Spring it is!

I may be old fashioned, but I still refuse to wear sandels, shorts, or white until after Easter. Although, these warmer days lately have tempted me to break my "fashion rule." Either way, I'm thankful and excited for a new season in the weather, and in our lives! Justin and I are going on 9 months of marriage (eeek!) and excited about our lives more than ever!! We started (and have stuck to!!) a budget this past month, which I realize alleviated my worry-filled "checking of our account 5 times a day!" God is good! Here are just a few little "goodnesses of God" in our lives lately...



We just got back from Raleigh, NC for our last Spring Break as college kids!! We had fun with 100 other college students from our church, sharing the love of God on NC State's campus. Here are couple of pictures from our beach outing on the last day!

I revamped our Christmas wreath recently, those are PAPER flowers!

Justin and I have been able to enjoy a few afternoon dates lately! Froyo and walks!

This is a picture from the FCA Spring Banquet in February that I worked to put on. I have a very supportive husband!

So, if you read this and want to pray for our little family, you could pray that Justin gets an internship soon!! (in College Station!!), pray we find a new place to live for next year, and that our hearts are more hungry than ever to follow Jesus!





Love.
L.

7 mos.

Justin and I have officially been married 7 months (next week : ) And I thought I'd post some pictures from the holidays! I love being married to my best friend!

 

 

 

 

 

fully live. live fully.

Of course, I am a bit behind in discovering this book. And I can't express what depth of a miracle it was that this book came to me at this time! In the midst of the new year, I felt a little guilty about not hoping for something new. Admittedly, I didn't even know what to hope for. I truly was happy in my life. Being married was an adventure, I'd made it through college {sigh of relief}, I love my job, and I was looking forward to a new, slower pace of life.

So, though things were going "smoothly," reading this book awakened my senses to my lack of FULL LIFE. I began praying at the beginning of this year to experience the "fullness of joy in his presence," and the pieces began to come together. I began to understand when I read the words, "I would never experience the fullness of my salvation until I expressed the fullness of my thanks every day."

I came to the understanding that fullness of joy {life} is a delicate combination of experiencing the Presence of the Father, living a life of thankfulness, and choosing to do things I love! Walking into moments with JOY by setting myself up for anticipation and excitement with things I love to do!

So, I made a list of priorities in my life. It was a bit different than my past lists, but I think I might have caught on to something new...

• Journaling, reading the Word, time with the Father
• reading for fun at coffee shops
• waking up early just to have a slow morning
• blogging
• working out
• cleaning our house a little at a time
• going for walks with Justin
• memorizing the Word
• laughing 
• surprising my friends with sweet gifts or notes

So, I'll give these a try. Stay tuned for updates of my new, full life. 

love.

L.