my favorite freelance job so far...

The annual Girl Scouts "Favorite Guy" dance.

Check it out here

So cute it'll make you go "awww....."


oh, and my new, more "professional" website is now live :)

www.laurenthornphotography.com

super bowls, birthdays and lots of traveling

so it's been a crazy past few weeks, though they have also been tons of fun :)

we had a superbowl party at our house, where my "birthday" cake looked suspiciously like a football...
and though the girls had a great time playing guitar hero in the game room, our house was one of the many that experienced crazy outages in the coverage from the local fox station.

as promised, some pictures up from the concert that i went to with mom back in fayetteville a couple of weeks ago.

we celebrated my birthday here in greenville on saturday night with a nice dinner out and some quality time together at home. we've continued home improvements by buying and putting up new curtains in the living room and bedroom, and i spent an evening last night painting our living room furniture a nice, simple black that looks awesome and MUCH better than the fake yellow wood grain that it was before.

monday night, we headed back to fayetteville for a birthday celebration with my dad. we met him after work for dinner and then headed out to see "the producers" with the touring broadway show. it was hilarious--such a great performance--and worth the drive back to work in the morning :)

to finish this up, i've posted some of my personal photos. i've had a couple of slide shows up at reflector.com now, with two more shoots lined up for this weekend. but i'm trying to remember to take some fun photos, too.


and.... go UNC! beat duke!

quick post from fayetteville...

we're in fayetteville this weekend, celebrating my birthday a few days early with my mom and grandma. notes from this trip so far:

-fourth fridays make me proud to be from fayetteville. everyone there enjoys the downtown area, there are so many new shops and restaurants popping up all over the place, and you can simply enjoy the atmosphere as you browse, wine-taste, listen to music and have little snacks.

-as much as i love my nikon d-slr, i quickly came to the realization that it is not practical for all situations. hence, i am now a new owner of a sony cybershot w80, a tiny little 7 mp camera that easily fits in a pocket and does the job that my big, honkin' camera cannot. like...

-going to a concert tonight! mom's co-workers gave her tickets to the biggest concert fayetteville has seen in a long time: reba and kelly clarkson. she figured i would most enjoy attending the concert with her, so that's the plan for this evening following my birthday dinner at grandma's.

and it's a bye week for football, which makes me happy. i see the light at the end of the tunnel (justin also sees the light, but has a totally different perspective on it. what can i say? i'm just footballed out.)

that's all for now. later, y'all :)

school social worker by day...

and now, a freelance photographer by night.

the past two weeks have been busy, with lots of developments in various areas. i set myself a lot of goals for the new year, and it feels like i'm finally really getting into it.

the biggest change has been a new side job with the local newspaper, the daily reflector. i've been a member of the "greenville" group on flickr for a while now, and the group boasts both amateur and professional photographers. one of the professionals, a photographer for the paper, e-mailed us to ask if anyone was interested in taking on some freelance work to further develop the paper's website content. several of us met one night at the paper's office, got our press passes and have been sent to work. my first job was last night at the ECU basketball game where they also recognized the football team during halftime and showed off the hawaii bowl trophy. i spent about 3 hours at the game (about an hour and a half before and another hour into the game to halftime) and took pictures of fans in the stands, getting personal information to go with each shot. once i got home, it was another 2 hours to get all of the photos uploaded with captions. this is tough work, but i thoroughly enjoyed it and have another assignment next week for a chamber of commerce event. of course, if you want to check out the photos, go to www.reflector.com and click on the slideshow at the top of the page (or the photos/videos tab to find other slideshows).
also, i am getting more involved in groups at church, volunteering with the youth group for the first time this week. the teens meet on tuesday nights at the church, having an hour of "hang out" time where they can eat and play games in the loft area that is designated for the youth, and then an hour of worship and devotion. though i know it will take some time for me to develop relationships with the kids, i feel like i got off to a good start and look forward to becoming a regular. this is one area that i have wanted to help out with for quite some time, and now i finally have the opportunity :)

professionally, i've got a case study due by the end of the month and am collecting "continuing education" hours as often as possible. this week, i had the chance to attend an art therapy workshop where we learned about how art therapy is used in a clinical setting and then got to actually do several projects. that's the kind of conference i really enjoy, and i was more than happy to let my creative juices flow on the activities.

and finally, our brief sighting of snow flakes last night. they didn't last long and anything that accumulated was gone by morning, but it was still nice to finally see some snow after enduring lots of rain all day long. mike and debbie had been hopeful when putting this snowman yard stick out in the yard to measure the forecasted snow. though there wasn't enough to need a yard stick, it still made for a good picture.


and that's all for now. later, y'all :)

where has the time gone?

so i think it's easiest to describe the last couple of weeks by saying... it was our typical holiday.

and it's easiest to imagine everything we did by going and checking out my flickr photos. you won't be dissapointed.

but i'll try to add some details as well.

the UNC game--such a cool experience! going to visit my aunts and nieces, getting to walk along franklin street, shop at the shrunken head and chapel hill sportwear, and enjoying a walk on campus to visit the old well. and of course, the game itself. though it was a little too close for comfort, they still pulled out a win and we had a great time.



we had a great time during the days leading up to christmas and spent time in fayetteville, going to the christmas eve service at hay street and enjoying christmas morning with my family. we headed to greenville for a christmas dinner with justin's family here that afternoon and played games after eating (balderdash and the every-popular wii).
after relaxing for a few days, we went back to fayetteville for the FTS band alumni reunion. this is sure to become an annual event, as we had a great turnout and loved catching up with everyone--even washburn!
new year's was spent with neighborhood friends along with scott, melissa and the kids. it was a tough transition back to work, but atleast it was a short week and then we were off to the coast, stopping in beaufort for lunch and browsing, then at harker's island and cedar island to take engagement pictures for alan and rachel before we had dinner at my grandparents' in atlantic.

and now we're back to the grindstone. fill in any gaps :)

holiday season=haven't been able to post

so i realize it's been a few weeks since i made a real post, but it has been veeeeeery busy around here. i've had lots of plans going on, and it's just now starting to wind down before the big push to the end :)

the singing christmas tree was fabulous, as usual, and the concerts at school were also great. we've had events nearly every night during the weekends, but still managed to get some christmas shopping done as well. i cannot stand greenville traffic during the holidays, so i'm trying to take care of it on weekday afternoons, online, or have just put it off until i get out of school and can go during the day. it'll all get done in time...

i reprised my role as joann's surrogate daughter for the ecu economics department holiday party. i am a master at taking coats, putting out food and clearing out trash, and it is always appreciated. i also got to take pictures for my friend emily and her daughters for their christmas card. this was my first time using the new camera, and i'm definitely getting a better feel for it. i used it at both school concerts, which i consider to be difficult shooting environments because of lighting and movement. the first concert was a little rough, but i brought the tripod to the second concert and got some excellent shots. in the meantime, i'm watching the ebay auction for my old camera and hopefully will get a decent price for it.

justin and i went to a christmas party on saturday night for the "young adults without children" church small group that i've been going to for the past few months. though we weren't sure how many people we'd end up knowing, we had a great time and participated in another fun game of "yankee swap" or whatever you want to call it. this is a great group of young professionals who are newly married or just a few years out of college, and we're really making an effort to get to know everyone better. hopefully there will be many more parties and gatherings to come!

and yesterday, i spent about 7 hours total at church. that's when i'm really glad we live only two minutes away. the choir arrived at 8 am to perform at the 8:30 service, and then again at the 10:45 service. after leaving at 12ish, we were back again at 4:30 to get ready for the evening christmas program, which started at 6 and didn't end until after 7. i was exhausted by the end of it, but it was an awesome experience. marilyn and i sang a song together, and it was the first time hearing myself over that large of a sound system with monitors projecting back and everything. i also had the opportunity to talk to the youth ministry leader yesterday about volunteering and getting involved with that program as well. they have some great events coming up that sound like something i could definitely help out with. every week i get more excited about this church and the programs going on--it is such a energy boost, and i can't wait to see what i'm led to do.

and coming up--oakwood faculty christmas party tomorrow afternoon AND...

UNC mens basketball game vs. nicholls state on wednesday night! woo hoo! go heels :) and definitely keep your eyes out for those pictures--sure to be great!

that's all for now. happy holidays! and fts band folk, don't forget to rsvp for the alumni reunion!

elf fun :)

and some photo booth pics to help out

holidays are here...

it's that time of year that i love love love...

we've finished our whirlwind tour of thanksgiving, with dinners in fayetteville and greenville, as well as a barbeque lunch with dad in goldsboro. it was nice to have a few days off after some very busy days at work for both of us. we know it'll be a while until the traveling ends, though--we've been down to new bern, all the visits during thanksgiving, and we're heading back to fayetteville for the singing christmas tree at snyder next weekend. it'll just all part of the holiday season :)

i'm still very much tied to the traditions in fayetteville, and we got to experience a wonderful one the friday after thanksgiving. the dickens christmas is an annual downtown event where they have the official lighting of the downtown area by candlelight. i had a fantastic time taking pictures with my camera, and of course, there are more up on flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/laurenm83) below are just some of my favorites...



and now i can't wait for the rest of the christmas season to enjoy my new camera that came in the mail today. we found a fabulous deal on amazon thanksgiving day for a nikon d40 with two lenses. i'm so excited to use it and get comfortable with the settings. in the meantime, we'll also be selling my other two cameras, one online and the other in person, since it has already received a couple of offers from friends and family.

i'm staying busy at work with all of the holiday events and transitions with administration, as well as visits from the new headmaster we'll have next year. this week is spirit week, and tomorrow is pajama day (my favorite day of all time!)

in other news, i'm getting involved with the choir at the church justin and i have been attending recently. i love singing again and being a part of this new group. we've got a music program coming up right before christmas, so we've been working on some new music. i'm also excited about going to the carolina basketball game right after school gets out with my family--there are sure to be some awesome pictures from that one!

that's it for now. later, y'all...

chilly november

it's hard to believe we're already in the second week of november. these past few days have flown by, and it's hard to remember where it all went...

of course, there was trick or treating, where we got to see the brights, the mcanallys, and the britners. other than that, we actually only had a few others. the rest apparently stayed towards the front of the neighborhood. oh well--we have leftover candy that will last us until christmas!

then there was the surprise lunch that i organized for our two mommies-to-be at school on halloween. and my intern, elizabeth, has since welcomed a new bundle of joy into the world...


lilly claire! so cute. i can't wait to see her in person :)finally, i've been getting lots of use out of my camera lately, including some action shots with the soccer team. it was fun seeing what i could capture, and it only makes me want to upgrade to the D-SLR even more. i've been checking out the nikon d40 and am hoping i will be able to get my hands on one by christmas.

and then there are our road trips we've been taking the past couple of weeks, one to fayetteville for the night and another to durham to visit my grandma at duke hospital and do some shopping at streets at southpoint. i think we're ready to have a weekend at home before all of the holiday weekends coming up!

that's all for now. later, y'all

it's almost halloween...

and fall has officially come to g-vegas. my feet are consistently cold, i get to pull out the sweaters and sweatshirts, and we have stopped using the air conditioning. yay :)

among many of the fall traditions that we have had these past few years, the school halloween dance is one of my favorites. i lead the student government for the middle school, which means i plan lots of dances and social events. i LOVE the halloween dance because it's easy to decorate (you can be tacky and that's totally acceptable), the costumes are fun to see, and it's our first big event of the year. this year, my intern elizabeth and i decided to have fun with a couple of wizard of oz costumes. i was glenda the good witch, and she had a blast being the wicked witch of the west. she also managed to convince her husband time to be one of the munchkins. lots of fun, and we had an awesome time.

i also had to pleasure of watching east carteret perform last week here at rose high school. it's the first time i've been to a marching band competition in a while, and i got to hang out with alan and his other band people before the performance. i also took some fun shots during the show (also on flickr)
and school field trips abound. i got to accompany the kindergarten classes to briley's farm the other day to pick pumpkins and go to the petting zoo. always a welcome change of pace during the day.

not to mention the homecoming game where ecu stomped all over uab, our fun experience of planting trees during a drought with hard-as-concrete dirt, and plans i've been working on to help us celebrate halloween at school (and recognize a couple of our soon-to-be mommies).

that's about it for now. trick or treat :)

by the way, i'm back :)

from camp cheerio, where i led a group of 28 7th graders with two other faculty members for four days. we canoed, we caved, we hiked, we made s'mores. it was your typical camp experience.

and fall was in full force up there. i miss fall. i'm waiting for greenville to remember that it's supposed to be fall.
we're also back from busch gardens, where i led a group of 23 high schoolers along with justin and four other parents. we rode all the roller coasters, went through crazy scary haunted houses, and circled the park more times that i'd care to count.
i also had fun with shutter speeds and the new dive coaster, the griffen. awesome ride, but makes a pretty cool picture as well.
and when i returned to work this week, i opened my door to a desk full of flowers in appropriately recyclable cans and bottles. my friends at work had been ribbing me about my recycling habits and decided they would decorate my office while i was gone. the flowers are still beautifully displayed in my office, but the bottles and cans are in the recycling bin. of course :)
and now i'm gearing up for halloween, football games, homecoming and school events. should keep me plenty busy, but i'm looking forward to some relaxing times as well for me and justin to celebrate our six month-iversary on sunday.

that's all for now :) later, y'all

back from the highlands...

so after an exciting weekend at the buckwheat festival, we're getting back in to the swing of things here at home. i just got the pictures up on flickr for the festival, and it's easiest to look at them in the set on the right side of the page.

i've added a few of my favorites one here, like the buckwheat cakes...the great festival food...
the parades...
the livestock...
and the fair displays...
it was great seeing all of the sights around preston county and spending time with justin's family. we had an awesome visit, except for an awful drive back down i-95 with a big accident and several detours. we ended up not getting home until 11:45 that night, about more than two hours after we were expected home. we're already looking at new routes to take up next time.

now that the wv trip is done, i'm focusing on my next two trips--the busch gardens day trip this weekend with my older students and faculty friends, and camp cheerio next tuesday with my 7th graders. these trips have taken a lot of time and effort over the past few weeks, and i'm ready for them to be here! between collecting permission forms, lining up buses and telling everyone what to pack, it's been a busy planning time and have caused some stress around school. now that they're almost here, i'm just hoping they go off well.

also this friday is our fall festival, and i'm excited about face painting all night long. this is one of my favorite things to do during the school year, and i've already got the supplies ready to go.

mom and grandma are getting ready for their big trip to new england and canada, and alan's getting in the middle of marching band season. i'm so excited for fall to get here, especially after getting a taste of cooler weather up in wv this past weekend. camp cheerio should definitely do that for me, but it's still a little too warm around here to feel like it's really autumn.

that's about it for right now--check out the new pics on flickr :)

so it's been a while...

things have been busy around our house lately. between work, school events, spending time with family and football, we've stayed quite occupied the past couple of weeks.

highlights are as follows:

-ecu vs. southern miss game last weekend: we had tickets for the highest row in the upper deck. great view of the game and the town. long walk up the stairs, and long game with a dissapointing end. sigh...

-lunch with dad in goldsboro that same day. always good barbeque and good conversation :)

-teacher appreciation dinner this week: fun times with my coworkers while we felt quite appreciated and quite stuffed!

-getting ready for our trip up to WV for the annual preston county buckwheat festival. we'll be leaving on thursday and enjoying all of the festivities on friday and saturday. i can't wait to take pictures and enjoy the fresh mountain air.

-enjoying the sounds and the heat of the river rock festival last saturday at the town commons. i'm becoming a big fan of live music around town.

-of course, the very live sounds of the dave matthews band in raleigh last tuesday. i won tickets on the radio the week before and justin and i headed over to walnut creek right after work that night. we grabbed a couple of subs, ate them in the parking lot and headed in to stake out our spots. i will say that the fans at a DMB concert are more mellow than some of the other concerts i've attended. no fighting over spaces, everyone being nice to everyone else, and lots of sharing... at any rate, once the haze cleared, it was an awesome concert with one of the best bands out there. and one of our cheapest dates ever :)

-and the promise of fall. we got a taste of it last week and i'm ready for it for good. there's something about being able to pull on jeans and a comfy sweatshirt to go out and enjoy the season.

that's all for now. new pics up on flickr--check 'em out!

it's a football saturday

fun notes as i take a moment to post in between social outings today:

*we are now the proud owners of a 42' HDTV that is sitting happily above our fireplace. check out justin's website for more details and my photos to see the newest member of the family. though it has proven quite popular for football games and movies, this week i used it for something i knew i would love to see in high defintion--DCI finals on ESPN2. awesome, awesome, awesome. congrats to carolina crown for placing in the top 6 for the first time!

*to ECU for a fabulous showing at virginia tech last week--a highly publicized game that gave our school some wonderful positive publicity. and today, as we take on carolina at home for a sold out crowd, i will unfortunately have to watch it on tv somewhere around town. i'll be cheering on my pirates, though! (heels, wait til basketball season. then i'll put on my carolina blue.)

*to seeing my lovely linda and having a great lunch at mcalister's where we sat a couple of feet away from dave mirra and his wife. he was at the table next to us on the patio, and it was after a couple of fans came up to say hello that we realized we were sitting next to one of the most famous bmx bikers in the world. so cool.

*i am three weeks into the school year and taking on so many new projects. getting student government started up, planning camp cheerio, organizing a trip to busch gardens for the upper schoolers, trying to figure out what is and is not my responsibility, and getting to know our new teachers better. fall festival is coming up soon, as well, and i cannot wait for it to start to feel like autumn.

*finding the live music scene in greenville. something justin and i have tried to get into over the past couple of weeks. we took the opportunity to check out courtyard tavern's live music on the patio last sunday night for labor day weekend, and then last night we had an early dinner at wimpie's where a band was playing and then went to the patio at moe's for some more live music. there are some great bands playing around greenville if you take the effort to go find them.

that's it for now. go pirates! arrrrrrgh!

in the groove...

so we've almost completed our first full week of school. schedule glitches have been ironed out, responsibilities have been correctly delegated, and i'm getting used to having an intern around for half the week. a big plus--my computer got an upgrade! i went from an iBook g4 to a MacBook, complete with built-in iSight camera and a bunch of new applications. i lost about half an hour the other afternoon exploring google earth and putting down little push-pins around the globe :)

mom's birthday party was quite a success, with lots of family there to visit and some wonderful home-cooked food. we had a great visit there, but headed back on saturday night to celebrate justin's birthday here at home. it was a quiet evening with take-out chinese and a movie, but the perfect way to celebrate after two weekends full of big parties.

we also have gotten started back up with fantasy football and are preparing for the beginning of real football season (both college and NFL.) justin's trying desperately to sell the mustang in order to fund the purchase of a new HDTV in time for the season opener, and i'm hoping to make it to as many pirate games as possible this year, even though tickets are supposedly sold out. there's something about this time of year that makes me miss the friday night football games terribly. i think i should adopt a local high school and go to all of the games for fun :)

finally, we're getting ready for a couple of trips during the next couple of months. the end of september, we're planning on heading up to WV for the annual "buckwheat festival" in justin's hometown, where you can eat buckwheat pancakes and sausage 24/7 and watch livestock shows, parades, and play bingo to your heart's content. then a couple of weeks later, i'll go on up to camp cheerio for the third time with my 7th graders. this annual trip has become one of my favorite activities, and i'm especially looking forward to it this year. we're trying to make this year a great one despite of all the changes around school.

that's about it for now. later, y'all :)

back to the grindstone

so it's been a crazy few days... let me enumerate:

1) after 170 questions, about 2 and a half hours, and a couple months of studying--i passed the clinical social work exam. quite exciting, though everyone's asking, "so, you're a fully licensed clinical social worker now?" no... still have about 2,100 clinical hours to log, which will take me about 2 years in my current setting. so, in a little over two years, i'll be fully licensed. this is just sorta a big hoop that i had to jump through. i'm very happy to have it over with, though.

2) i had planned to go out and purchase the new harry potter the moment i got back in greenville as my reward for passing the exam. fate was working for me, though, and i ended up getting it before then. i passed one of my coworkers on the highway as i was driving back home and called her up to chat while we were both on the road, following one another. i was telling her how excited i was to get back and buying the book, and she said, "don't do that! i have it in my trunk. pull over at the next exit." we pulled off at a little country gas station, she gave me the book, and i went straight home and started reading. the next afternoon, i was done :) soooooo good. so good, so good, so good.

3) we're back at school, and kids are coming in four days. this has become a comfortable routine now, but with new staff members and some changes around the school, it's not "same old, same old." i really like the new teachers we've hired, and i'm excited to see how the year starts out.

4) students are coming back to the university. i drove by college hill this week and saw colorguard auditions going on down at the field--made me miss it just a little bit (but not enough to be out there in the almost 100 degree heat). traffic is crazy, all of the stores are crowded, and parents are moving students in and stocking up on dorm/apartment supplies. as easy as it is to feel like a college kid still living in a college town, i realized today that i am getting past that point. i saw a girl today who was in the middle of shopping with her mom after moving in to the dorms. it was the middle of the afternoon, at least 95 outside, with a heat index of somewhere over a hundred. she was in target with a hooded ECU sweatshirt on. SWEATSHIRT. obviously an effort to wear something ECU for the move-in even though that was the only thing she had. i just had to shake my head and keep going.

5) we're celebrating justin's birthday tomorrow with family. it isn't until next friday, but this weekend worked better for everyone. we're grilling out, showing off the house, and having ice cream cake. doesn't get much better than that :)

alright, that's it for now. welcome back to school, everyone! bouquets of sharpened pencils and what-not... later, y'all :)

it's a little steamy out there...

so it's hard to believe that i have only a week left to enjoy the freedom of summer. i'd love to have just a couple more weeks... sigh...

but at any rate, here it goes:

i had the pleasure to take dinner to katie and nathan and seeing adorable rory (and got to hold her while they ate!) forgive me for the sideways photo, but i forgot to rotate it and blogger won't do it for me.

also got to enjoy john mayer/ben folds/james morrison. the first photo is john mayer (you can tell more by the screens, i guess) and the second is ben folds (big grand piano gives him away). awesome concert, and i had such a good time going there with my coworker kelly. the pictures aren't great, but i didn't bring the big zoom lens camera cause i thought they might not let me take it in.

and the other big event in the last two weeks...linda and brandon's wedding. this is only one of many photos that are up on flickr, so please hop over there and check them out. i have to say i'm quite proud of this girl and how calmly she handled the whole weekend. she was gorgeous, the ceremony was beautiful, and we had a rockin' time at the reception. it was also great to catch up with some old EC scholars friends--ashley and mark were there, as well as john and his new girl sarah. i can't wait to hear how their honeymoon went in st. lucia in a couple weeks...

and the day is finally set--i'll be heading to fayetteville on sunday night to take the LCSW exam on monday morning. i've gotten into heavy duty study mode this week, studying for a couple of hours each afternoon and reviewing lots of material. i'm feeling pretty good about it, but i don't want to be overly confident cause there's a possibility that i'll have to take it again in another few months... nope, nope, positive thinking. and when i pass it, i will run right out and buy the new harry potter because i've been holding off until studying time is done. then, it'll be two awesome days of reading for hours until i go back to work :)

i've been trying out a gym that's close to the new house and i'm really liking it. it feels good to get back into that routine, because even though i've been walking and doing light weight-lifting, it's nice to have access to all of the big weight machines and classes.

and i think that's about it...later, y'all.

where has the summer gone?

it's quite hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of july. i'm really not quite sure where all of the days have gone, but i'm slowly facing the fact that i will return to work in a little over two weeks. sigh...

in the meantime, i'm getting back into the swing of things here in greenville after spending a week at oak island last week and atlantic beach two weeks ago. the week in between was somewhat random--mainly getting stuff settled for my P-LCSW stuff and studying for my upcoming clinical exam (ugh!). it'll be 170 questions over four hours, and i hope to take it right before school starts. it's been a while since i've really had to study, and let's face it--unless you're doing psychoanalysis all the time, you really aren't familiar with the 20 some defense mechanisms that freud listed. theories, vocabulary, treatment methods, medication symptoms...i'm cramming it all back in after finishing grad school a couple of years ago. luckily, most of it is coming back quickly.

i'll take a break from studying when i head to raleigh tomorrow for the john mayer/ben folds/james morrison concert at walnut creek. so exited about this...the last time i saw john mayer in person was three years ago, when i was the corrupting older sister and took alan to see him and maroon five the night before classes started. it was one of the best live performances i'd ever seen, and i have no doubt that tomorrow will be just as good. i'm riding with a friend from work, and we're going to picnic in the parking lot beforehand and just hang out and people-watch. perfect :)

recent fun/exciting events:
the arrival of rory to proud parents katie and nathan last thursday. yay!

linda's bachelorette party this past saturday night and her upcoming wedding weekend beginning friday with a bridesmaids luncheon and rehearsal, and the wedding on saturday. it'll be a busy time, but she and brandon make such a happy couple and i'm looking forward to being a part of the big day. i had a great time hosting her and the rest of the bridesmaids this weekend, and i must admit--i love actually having the space to do that!

and of course, ashley and mark's engagement and the beginning of the planning for their may 2008 wedding in duke chapel. also looking forward to being a part of their wedding when the time comes.

and justin and i are working on the plans for a house warming party sometime in august. keep your eyes out for a date and an evite. we want to celebrate with everyone who has been so helpful during this long process. we just haven't gotten around to actually planning it :)

continuing summertime goal: toilet training the cats. it can be done (google it, seriously--there are videos) and we're in the middle of the process. today, i went from litter box on top of the toilet to litter box in the toilet. i made the switch this morning... and there's no evidence yet that they've actually used it. this is the step in the process that actually concerns me cause it's the biggest change for them. i'll keep ya updated...

alright, that's it for now. check out flickr for new photos from the beach soon--i'm working on getting them up in the next couple of days. later, y'all :)

hot time in july...

so we're having a blast in july--with fourth of july fireworks, grilling out in the evenings, and lots and lots of yardwork.

i'm currently posting from the beach, where we're wrapping up the end of a week-long vacation with my family. it's been days of sun, surf, swimming and visiting with family around here. hard to believe that the week is almost over, but we have another vacation coming up with justin's family, so i still have that to look forward to :)

grass is coming, thankfully, after a veeeeeeeeery long day of tilling, raking and seeding our yard. i'm not a big one for yard work, but justin says it's making progress back at home.

that's about it for now. beach pictures should be up soon, but in the meantime, check out my photos on flickr and our updated house tour video on justin's website.

summertime...

and the living is easy...well, getting easier.

we're quite settled in. the returns have gone back (almost). the boxes are unpacked (well, most of them). and the decorations are falling into place (except for those empty picture frames). the one thing that seems to be a common theme is that the moving is never done.

the most difficult part of the whole "new house" process? the new yard. we gave up on the seeding that the builders did and decided to do our own. so three hours on sunday afternoon, another $50 in mulch and grass seed, and our new lawn was set and ready to grow. until...

a half-hour thunderstorm on monday afternoon washed it all out. i mean, torrents of water down the lawn, washing all of our hard work and seed going down the drain--quite literally. i think we're coming up with plan B for this weekend. in the meantime... hey, we don't have to cut the non-existant grass!

i'm still making it out to school a couple of times a week, particularly with all of the commotion that has gone on recently. let's just say i hope oakwood is as wonderful an environment for me and all of my friends next year as it has been for the past two years--but there are a lot of changes going on.

i have been relaxing, watching some new movies (finally got to see "dreamgirls"!), and keeping up with the always varied options of summertime TV. a couple of things i'm looking forward to--the return of "the world series of pop culture" on VH1, and TBS's "my boys". i've also enjoyed watching samantha brown's new series, "passport to latin america", and she continues to have my ideal job. anytime she wants a break, i'm ready and willing to fill in.

i've kept a steady schedule of working out three times a week with a coworker, keeping busy with my other out-of-school teacher friends (katie's about to pop! anytime now, anytime...) and had a wonderful trip to benson for a DCI show last week. pics should be up soon, along with updated photos of the house. i'm still taking care of photos from the bar mitzvah, but i should have time to get things up in a day or two.

alright, that's about it for now. later, y'all :)