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Update
June 24, 2008 – 10:48 am
Whew! Can I just go on the record and say that this has been one CRAZY week? Over the past several months, my business has grown tremendously in leaps and bounds, and I have been so blessed to have so many of you reading email me and give me words of love and encouragement. Your support is the reason that I am finally beginning to make my dream of owning a business a reality, and for that I am so grateful and will continue to be. 
So just to give you a quick update on all the things going on, I am looking at booking a few weddings into next year already and that is amazing! I am so excited for my couples and brides who have put their confidence in me to create stunning imagery for them, and I look forward to it. I also have a few weddings that I will be photographing in the next few months!!
Also, the lifestyle side of my business is also booming, as I have been running around like crazy photographing children, babies, and everything in between. This makes my heart so happy because lifestyle photogaphy is where I got my start, and then the progression into weddings made for a more natural transition for me.
On TOP of all that- I have some exciting changes to the site coming that have been in the works over the past couple months, so between that and shooting, I am staying extremely busy!
Tonight, I have a Trash the Dress session which shoot be a blast- I am going to be shooting my wonderful friend Kylene, and she knows how to “work it out”!!
I have several meetings next week with couples and brides, so I may not be able to blog as much as I would like, but stay with me, there are lots of new and exciting things coming your way
Lauren
The Daily Grind
May 27, 2008 – 3:26 pm
Hey everyone! Wow, so much has been going on the past few days that I have barely had a chance to even catch my breath!
This past weekend (Happy Belated Memorial Day to everyone, by the way- I hope it was fabulous and restful! God Bless America and all our troops!!!) was a crazy one. Michael (my fiance) and I traveled to my hometown of Destin, Florida, to meet with our pastor about our premarital counseling. We went out to dinner at Nick’s, this little “hole in the wall” restaurant that has been in Choctaw Beach for a hundred years. And can I tell you that the food was fantastic!!! Oh my gosh, seriously the only place that can cook a steak right (well, except for my daddy of course! ). Anyway’s, we had dinner and both got some cool t-shirts that say’s “I got my crabs at Nick’s” on the back!
Our pastor is wonderful. Reverand Doug Newton will be marrying us this year. We have a whole family history with him and it is super special to me that he will be marrying Michael and me this year. Rev. Doug married my parents, baptised me as a baby, and now will be performing my marriage ceremony. He has the kindest heart and always the right words to say. He is also one of the most generous people I know. This year, in June, he will be taking his wife and the church’s choir to Jamaica where they will minister to the poverty stricken neighborhoods and homeless children. They will also be constructing homes for those that have lost everything in Hurricane Dean. The way that he spoke of this trip, you could really see the love in his eyes and compassion for the people of Jamaica. But even more, you can see his love for the Lord in his generosity of spirit. God Bless you Reverend Doug, I will be praying for you and everyone’s safe return!
Some things I have coming up in the next few days: my friend Maranda is having a baby! We are so excited and can’t wait for baby Brayden to be here! If everything goes as planned, I will be there to capture the birth and Brayden’s newborn portraits! I love babies, and Brayden is super special because Maranda is one of my “best good” friends and I am so happy for her!
On another note, my friend Kylene and I will be trashing her wedding dress in the next couple weeks! Kylene is a great friend and amazing photographer, and I was thrilled when she said that we were going to go out and play! I am so excited!
Lots of cool stuff coming up too! I have a new album company and am waiting on my album to arrive- so I will be posting some new images from that when it gets here!
Somewhere in the middle of all this, I hope to catch a few zzz’s But I am loving my life and am so thankful for every day. I have the most amazing friends and readers, and I am excited at all the opportunities God has coming for me!
Thanks for stopping by and catching up with me, I promise I haven’t abandoned ya’ll!
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
May 22, 2008 – 4:56 pm
Many of you know that I am trying to get in the “best shape of my life”, i.e. my “wedding body” So recently I have embarked on probably the strictest diet of my life (well, the diet itself is not really “strict” per se, it’s just that I am being super strict).
And today, I came upon something that I thought was very interesting. Our society is so obsessed with beauty, and that to be “beautiful” is to be thin. Unfortunately, so many people, even myself, buy into this idea and we forget about what is innately beautiful about ourselves.
In regards to this, I found a website that does retouching of images for major manufacturers, like fashion magazine, clothing lines, etc. And it just goes to show that celebrities, the ones we idolize and wish we could look like, have flaws too. Some of these retouches are pretty extensive, to the point where they almost don’t even look like themselves anymore.
To see the site, click here and then click Portfolio at the top of the page. Roll over each image to see the before/after.
Until next time!
Ode to Dog
May 21, 2008 – 10:10 pm
I really love my puppies. If you know me, you know that I have 2 “babies”. They are my pride and joy!
This weekend I realized that I don’t have many recent pictures of them, so I decided to do a little impromptu photo shoot in my living room. So without further ado, I give you
Peaches the bulldog
and Renegade the Westie!
The many faces of Renegade and Peaches
My puppies are wonderful. They are always glad to see me after a long day, always want to be loved on, and they give 100% of their love and faithfulness to me and Michael all the time. I don’t know what I do without my dogs!
I couldn’t resist!
May 16, 2008 – 9:30 am
My nickname is “Sugarpop”! HAHA I love it! So fitting.
Click here to find out yours!
Happy Friday!!
PS- My Maid of Honor Cherie is coming in town this weekend, check back because we’re going to do a little impromptu shoot and there may be some teasers… Just maybe!
my mother
May 9, 2008 – 8:40 am
Mother’s Day is coming up, and I am reminded that my mother is seriously the most amazing woman I have ever met. I am so proud to call her “mom”.
Last night, I was so exhausted after a long evening of post processing. It was late and as I was getting ready to go to bed, she called and told me that she had posted a comment on Natalie Norton’s blog on the image of mine that Natalie had featured.
I got up this morning, and this is the wondeful, encouraging comment my mom left:
“When you were little you didn’t crawl very long and as a young photographer your work is truly a testament to your ability of staying focused and commited with your insight of shots caught at the blink of the eye. Stay the course and all your dreams of photgraphy work are only “baby steps away” and always believe in yourself. Love, Mom”
Mom, I love you very much and I couldn’t have been blessed with a better mother than you. I know we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, but you will always be the number 1 mom in my heart.
Your daughter, XOXO
Lauren
Featured on Natalie Norton AND Wedding Portal Launch!
May 7, 2008 – 2:49 pm
Hey everyone!
I am so excited to annouce the launch of my new wedding portal! It launched late last night after I made the final tweaks to it.
I was also featured on the lovely and talented Ms. Natalie Norton’s site today, which was truly an honor. Natalie has readers from all over the country (probably all over the world!) and I was so happy that she found my work beautiful. To visit Natalie’s site and see my feature, please click here!
You know, throughout the whole process of building my website and my business, I realized something about myself. I realized that, too often, I “hold onto” things that make me doubt myself and my ability to be a creative professional. I was “holding onto” launching the site because I was so obsessed with making it 100% perfect that I lost sight of what makes me and my work unique. I was telling a friend of mine the other day that I was worried about my business and the launch of the new website, in that I wouldn’t know what kind of reception I would get from others. She told me something that I knew but had forgotten-and now is resonating with me more each day- God has a time and a plan for everything. His timing is always perfect.
When the site launched last night, I knew His timing truly was perfect. At that instant, I gained a totally new perspective on my work. Truly, it all seemed to come together and fall into place. When things get hard and we doubt ourselves, we have to remember that God’s love for us is perfect and He has a plan for our life. We get caught up in the trivial little things and forget that ultimately we have little control over what is going to happen in the grand scheme of things.
I am so blessed to be able to say that I finally believe that I have found the path He is directing me on.
Vote!
May 6, 2008 – 10:01 am
It’s time for BluDomain’s (my lovely hosting site) Photographer of the Year contest! Two of my favorite photographers in the whole wide world, Amelia and Justin Lyon, have been nominated to take home the crown! Please go and vote for them, as they have been a HUGE inspiration in my life and my work as an artist.
Last year’s Photographer of the Year is the amazingly talented and wonderful Ms. Jasmine Star!
So hurry on over there and vote please! Maybe one day i’ll see my name up there in the nominations!
things that go bump in the night
May 5, 2008 – 4:41 pm
So last night, Michael and I cleaned up our yard. We got finished around dusk, and we let the dogs out to run in the backyard after we were through. I was in the house cooking, when Michael knocked on the deck door and motioned for me to come outside.
Well, the porch lights were on- we live behind a wooded area and it gets DARK out there- and we could see the glimmer of some animals’ eye from the porch light about 15 yards off the corner of our house.
I kind of got scared, but we both saw a tuft of tan and white. So then we got excited, like we were about to see a herd of deer! The noise coming from the woods was crunching, like paws or hooves on dried leaves. The noise kept getting further away, down towards our neighbors house.
*us expecting deer to come out*
Something emerges from the woods…
dogs are going NUTS at this point…
Michael and I in unison: “OH MY GOSH!!!”
Me: “GET THE DOGS INSIDE!!!!”
Michael: “I’m going to the front to get a better look at it!”
Me: “GET THE DOGS INSIDE NOW!!!!!”
It was none other than…
Oh.my.gosh.
We have a real, BIG, Florida Panther living behind our house. This cat weighed 150 pounds, EASY. It. was. HUGE.
So I called Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation this morning. Really, by law, we can have it relocated, but unless it poses a threat, which at this point, i’m not REALLY worried about it (FWC says they don’t really attack unless provoked, and dogs bark so they really don’t like to have to put up a fight with their prey) unless it attacks my dogs or another person. I mean, this cat was there probably LONG before any of the houses in our subdivision was built. Our little corner of the world also happens to be his.
I could not believe what I saw last night. Isn’t God wonderful? He created something so beautiful and I was so blessed to see it. Something like that doesn’t happen everyday!