It is finally SPRING so bring on the BLING!

Check out who is engaged!

Becca and Kingsley!

Becca and Matt are going to get married at Seaside Chapel and have their reception at either Rosemary Beach or Alys Beach. Kingsley and Paulie are going to get married in Puerto Rico in May of 2011! It is going to be such a fun and special time as they plan and party their way down the aisle.

Mrs. Walt Bowie

What can I say? One of my nearest and dearest had the most amazing wedding a few weekends ago. I was honored to be one of her maid of honors. I am usually so proud of the fact that I RARELY ever cry. Not sure why I consider it to be a talent, but I do. However, as Lauren walked down the longest aisle EVER (which she so deserved) I lost it. I cried and cried during at least half of her wedding. I was really close to going into the ugly cry in front of 800 people. There was just something about seeing someone you love getting everything they want...everything they want in life...everything they want in a man...everything! I am so thrilled for Lauren and Walt! The entire weekend was a fabulous time, and we all got to celebrate how God brought these two together. Here's to the bride and groom!

A year in review...

Isabella on a quick break from Italia...look at that face!

not sure why I have 3 stockings...they were on sale...
Our annual Christmas dessert-fest...
Ella Grace showing off her new bangs and her peppermint...
Back to NYC with my parents before Christmas...

I have the cutest & most fun mother on EARTH!
My very first vegetable garden actually yielded some vegetables... (squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and 1 eggplant)
Fall hikes in Oak Mountain...I took this with my iPhone!

Snow!
NYC for the 4th of July...

Dragged Trey to this, and he secretly loved it.
Pastis with Kingsley and Paulie
Rooftop before the Macy's Fireworks...
Biking in Central Park
Trey considered taking it...
view from the roof of the Met

Gotta love some Katz's

Beach Trip

Isabella sums it all up with a "Roll Tide"...can you hear it?

Obsessed with the Musings of Two Lovely Ladies...

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,

which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which

kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

I have too many flaws to count...but one of them regularly hits me in the face: inconsistency. I am a dreamer by nature...always coming up with adventures and ideas in my head but rarely ever making them happen. (prime example this "blog") I can honestly say that establishing a new habit is nearly impossible for me. However, there is ONE thing that I do every single day. That is I check on Katherine Wolf. I have never met her and probably never will... She suffered a massive brain bleed in April of 2008, and I happened to be studying for my last set of final exams in law school at Samford. I was procrastinating in the law library and noticed some rumblings on facebook about this beautiful girl about my age who was in surgery. Of course, that grabs your attention so I read about it. At first, the updates were gripping like something out of a movie, and I honestly felt a little guilty about reading them. However, when the reality of her neurological injury set in the updates became nothing short of divinely inspired. She went from looking like Christie Brinkley's twin, being a wife and mother of a 6 month old to fighting for her life and having more health hurdles to overcome than most 70 year olds. The long and short of it is that she is a miracle, and I have been challenged and encouraged more than I could ever imagine by reading about her journey. For months when she couldn't swallow, I would intercede in the shower and swallow on her behalf. I am no prayer warrior, but God has put her on my heart in a way that makes me want to fight with her. On my birthday this year, I decided to ask God for a gift. I wanted to see him obviously move in some way. There hadn't been an update on Katherine in a while so I decided to ask Him for a good update...some new accomplishment on her journey back. Because God must have a sense of humor and wanted to remind me that He gives beyond measure, there was an update on my birthday and it started like this: "My dear friend Lauren..." Of course, it wasn't about me but God and I had a good laugh about it.

I invite you to pray for her on this slow path to restoration. Her site where you can hear her speak on your identity in Christ, get updates, etc is: www.katherinewolf.info

Her mom's blog which is unbelievably moving, honest, encouraging and challenging is www.katherineawolf.blogspot.com

Cabo, Mexico

Back in April, Elyse and Brooks got married in Los Cabos, Mexico.  It was a wonderful trip and a gorgeous wedding.  Elyse looked stunning every time she she stepped out of her hotel room. It was such a nice get-away.  Their rehearsal dinner was on a dinner cruise out on the water.  It was a blast!  We have almost 1 billion pictures from the week...but they take forever to upload.  Elyse planned an amazing holiday for all of us to enjoy!  Trey and I especially loved being able to spend so much time with Ella Grace...as you all know, she is my obsession!