103-87

Hi everyone!

Hope y'all had a fantastic weekend!!

Started my Monday with a nail in the tire and having to make a pit stop to the tire place. Fun Fun! But life could be a whole lot worse :)

As I shared Friday, I attended my first Orlando Magic basketball game this weekend!

It was so much stinkin fun!

My first time at the brand new arena in downtown Orlando!

Lets move on to more important things. Words cannot even express!!

Oh, and then there was the game!! :)

Don't even ask me what's going on here, old ladies dancing on the court!

Then the players had a game to play, so they kicked the ladies off the court, ha!

My friend Sarah!

Happy girl!

The blimp flying around the arena!

Walking around at halftime and had someone take our picture!

So many stories in this arena and I'm not afraid of heights but looking down was kind of scary, ha! The lights in the arena were so pretty!

Third quarter and were crushing Cleveland!

The real (young) dancers of the Orlando Magic.

The sketches of basketball players on the wall of the arena and then Beyonce. Just thought it was funny, ha!

The arena is so pretty at night!

I would have to say the best part of the whole evening though was when a guy got down on his knees and proposed to his woman on the kiss cam for all the arena to see!! As you can imagine, it was the sweetest thing EVER!!! Wish I had gotten a picture of it, they were on the camera for the longest time.

Hope I get to go to another game. The energy is just amazing. It was such a fun time!!

Final score, 103-87. Goooooooooooooo Magic!!! So proud of my home team :)

Magical weekend!

This weekend I get to go to my first ever Orlando Magic basketball game.

In fact, my first basketball game ever.

Can you believe that?

I'm pretty stoked.

Yep, I believe in Magic! :)

And they better give me a win.

Should be so fun!!!!

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!!

God is doing a new thing!

Wanted to thank you for your prayers for my Granny yesterday (Read post below).

Her doctor's appt. went really well. In fact, it went amazing!!

I'm happy to report that my Granny was declared CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Jesus. We could not be more thrilled.

God is doing a new thing in her life and given her a new lease on life. This is her second battle with cancer. Someone up above really loves her and is not done with her yet!!

Also, God is really stirring up my life right now and doing a new thing as well and alot of change about to happen up in here!

It's exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time.

So I'm going to step out in faith and know he is fully in control.

It's all good stuff though!

Yesterday was such a great day for our family. God is SO good!!

Praise report and Prayer Request.

I believe I’ve mentioned on the blog before about my friend Sarah who was battling Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer.

Sarah has become such a dear friend of mine.

This is Sarah the evening that a few of us girls went over to her house to hang out with her and we made up a care package for her.

I say “was” battling lymphoma cancer because she has finished up treatment and had a scan and I’m so happy to say she has now been declared CANCER FREE!!!!!

Praise the Lord!

This has been such a long road for Sarah but she never ever once complained and her faith never wavered. She is a true testament to praising God through the storm!

So I could not be more thrilled that this cancer journey is behind her, and praying that it will remain behind her!

Also, if you would please be lifting up my Granny today, I would so appreciate it. She is battling cancer herself and has had 4 rounds of treatment I believe so far. She had a PET scan done and goes back to the doctor today to get the results as to what’s going on with the cancer. The ultimate thing to hear would be that the cancer is gone from her body. But just praying that the chemo is doing its job in getting rid of this cancer.

My Granny with my sister and I.

With her wig on.

She has never looked more beautiful to me. Thank you in advance for the prayers!

Matthew 18:20- For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Confidence

I have no idea where I’m heading with this post.

But what I do know is I’ve had this scripture that I’ve come across a few times within the last couple of weeks, and don’t think it’s by coincidence. Ever have a particular scripture that God keeps bringing to your attention and then it almost gets comical and you’re like okay Lord, I get it? Ha!

Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to preserve so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10: 35-36.

I have this scripture in my car and at my desk at work. I’ve heard it in other instances lately as well, except mine goes a little like this.

Do not throw away your confidence, Lauren; it will be richly rewarded. You need to preserve so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10: 35-36.

I personalized it for myself.

Confidence is something I’ve always had to work on as long as I can remember.

At times I have a problem with slouching when I walk. My Mom I’m ashamed to say still has to remind me sometimes to stand up straight. She’ll then go on to say “It shows confidence, Lauren.”

I have to intentionally work at being confident. I think us a women, deal with this issue the most.

Confidence is a firm handshake when you’re meeting someone for the first time.

Confidence is looking someone straight in the eyes in a situation where you have to stand up for what you believe and defend yourself in a situation where you are not being treated fairly. And I think we can all say we’ve been in that kind of situation at one time or another.

Confidence is the backbone to everyone. Some just have to work at it a little bit harder than others.

When you’re looking at a picture of a swimsuit model who is a size 00, confidence should allow you to still feel okay, because you know you are comfortable in your own skin.

Confidence should allow you to look in that mirror and like that person staring back at you.

You should be able to say, I am beautiful, and say it with confidence.

Confidence gives you the chance to say, I can achieve anything.

With confidence you can say, I deserve to be loved. I am a good catch. Some guy out there is really going to be lucky to have me.

No one can take confidence away from you.

I read this quote yesterday. “The greatest accessory a woman can own is confidence.”

So daily, I have to choose to put on that accessory.

It’s okay to be confident. The scripture tells us to put on that confidence.

In fact, I’m pretty confident of that :)

Monday randoms!

Happy Monday everyone!!

And with Monday comes some randoms :)

Last weekend I was over at my brother and SIL’s house and was trying to get some pictures of my niece!! Not so easy as these pictures will prove.

Added one more on my list of shows to watch and that’s Harry’s Law. Any of y’all catch the first episode? SO good!

I didn’t watch the big games to see who’d make it into the Super Bowl. Does that make me un-american? If it’s not college football, then it doesn’t interest me.

My sister was at the Ringling Brother’s Circus over the weekend and texted me this picture. Kind of makes me want to join the circus, ha!

Anyone else find this combo kind of odd???

I think I'm the only one on the planet who doesn’t keep up with all the Real Housewives shows? I haven’t watched a single one!

Finished up Tori Spelling’s first book sTORI Telling. Oh my word, the 90210 drama. I’ve read 4 books so far this year.

Here’s a picture of my cute dog snuggled up last night with me in bed. You couldn’t even see his face, ha!

I'm dying to know what Oprah's big secret is?? They've really hyped this up!

Has anyone seen the previews for the next episode of "My Strange Addictions" on TLC? This is disturbing on SO many levels.

I can't do this justice, this guy addicted to this doll, you just had to have seen the previews.....

Fa-reeaaaaaaky!!!

And I'll leave you with that!!

So Us Your Singles - My friend Whitney

Kelly over at Kelly’s Korner is hosting “Show Us Your Singles” day.

Honestly, does anyone find it easy to talk about themselves?

No? My thoughts exactly.

So I'm linking up and I wanted to introduce you to my friend Whitney.

Whitney is from Memphis, TN. Gotta love a girl from the south!! :)

I am one who doesn’t have any problem with words, but when it comes to describing Whitney, no word seems adequate enough to describe her.

The wonderful thing about the blog world is the people you meet and the friendships that are formed through this crazy but oh so wonderful avenue and that’s how I know Whitney and consider her such a dear friend.

Whitney is witty and has a since of humor that can’t be matched. She loves God, loves her family and friends, great work ethic, and has such a passion for the things in her life that anyone one would hope to have.

I really know that God has someone special hand-picked just for her. She is going to make an amazing wife and mother someday. She is a true gem in every since of the word.

So if you are someone or know of someone who would be perfect for Whitney then visit her blog, or email her at Thatgirlwhitney{at}gmail{dot}com.

Extreme Blog Makeover!

Soooooooooooo, what do you think???

I'm in love. It's clean, simple, peaceful, and so me!!

A change to this good ole' blog was long overdue! And Danielle did not disappoint. She did my last design and is fabulous and easy to work with. She has become such a dear friend of mine! And she's incredibly good at what she does. So if your blog needs a makeover, she is the woman for the job!!

I'm really loving my corner of the world!

It's a new year, and a new blog. So keep walking with me as we continue the journey.

I miss the white stuff.

Today is a high of 76 in the Sunshine State. In January. Typical Florida for you!

I was looking through the rest of my NC photos and frankly I don't have the energy to upload the rest of them all, because it's in my nature to want to not leave a single one out and share them ALL.

But there is one more picture I wanted to share with you.



Clearly, this is not the case for me today!

But, I sure do miss it!!!

((SIGH))

I think it was last week I heard on the news that there was snow on the ground in EVERY state except Florida.

Jipped I tell you, totally jipped!

But, we always want what we can’t have! Ha!

And totally random, but have you ever seen a Cracker Barrel sign look so pretty???

Grove Park Inn

When we were in Asheville, North Carolina, we had a chance to visit the Grove Park Inn. It’s a pretty popular spot in that area and it’s very well-known around Christmas time for their National Gingerbread House Competition. People from all over the country participate in this.

This is the inn.


It’s a VERY neat place, if you’re ever in this area you should definitely check it out. It’s a beautiful inn.

Enjoy the pictures and in between you’ll see all the different creative gingerbread houses.





There was a winner from Winter Springs, Florida :)


The winnner from Winter Springs is on the right!


View looking out from the Inn.


My step-sister Christy and her kids!


Me and Emma.








Wall showing the President's that have stayed there.




Beautiful fireplace in the lobby of the hotel.


Pretty decorations.


Umm, how amazing is this peacock Christmas tree???


They had this set up where you could take pictures, ha! :)




Cute shops that I could have spent forever in!




And of course, everything gingerbread!!




One last picture of the view.


Really was an amazing place!!