St. Louis with the Davis Girls

In Wine there is Truth!

Sarah Davis and I drove into St. Louis to meet our friend Katie Davis (no they are not sisters) for a weekend of prayer, vino, relaxation, and friendship. We have been trying for a few years to take a trip to St. Louis to visit and pray in the many beautiful churches. So our weekend consisted on traveling around the Lou, stopping into several churches, and then having a day at the wineries. We highly recommend that you check out Sugar Creek Winery in Defiance and Montelle Winery in Augusta!

Sugar Creek Winery, Defiance

Our spread, provided by Trader Joes and Sugar Creek.

Sarah, Katie, and Me

The view from Montelle Winery, Augusta

Anne Marie's Wedding

Today, Anne Marie, my former froommate, married her best friend Mark!

It was a beautiful ceremony followed by the best dance party!

Anne Marie and Mark I am excited for you and I know God has blessed you and will continue to bless you through your marriage! Thanks for letting me participate in your special day!

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Wertin

Their chauffeur service!

Small Group

Bama Girls Unite!

Mother's Day

I surprised my mom by coming home on Mother's Day! I walked in with my sister's boyfriend's family, and my mom kind of overlooked my presence for a few seconds! Then BAM! She saw me and was surprised! Unfortunately I don't have any pics from that day, but HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM! I am blessed to have you!

Happy Mother's Day Francine!

Robyn and Joe's Visit to KC!

Robyn and Joe came over for the weekend to KC! We spent time going around KC, particularly around the Plaza and eating at the best BBQ in KC, Joe's BBQ (located in a gas station!) We also enjoyed the company of some of my friends for dinner and game of wiffle ball!

Robyn and Joe, welcome to the city of fountains!

No big deal, just a man dancing in the streets of the Plaza...

Dinner at Joe's BBQ!

And an evening game of wiffle ball!

sibling rivalry once again!

Thanks for coming to visit!

Jenni's Graduation

Jenni Graduated!!!

Jenni is always a top-notch competitor when it comes to supporting friends in style. Whether it's picking up friends from the airport, attending a gymnastics event, or bachelorette parties, Jenni is always best dressed. So when it came to her graduation, we knew that we too had to give her our best, but how can one top Jenni Bence?

Thanks Spee for Shamu (aka Free Willy) and stylish hats!

Jenni and I have a running passion for MJ's song, Will You Be There, from the motion picture Free Willy. One summer when my mom was in town, Jenni and my mom found Shamu at a garage sell. Shamu ended up going out to the lake with us.

So the night before Jenni's graduation, my friends and I were stumped as to how to let Jenni know how proud we were of her! The result....I remembered that Shamu was in my basement! So we blew him up and attached him to the top of my car....the end result...a surprised Jenni!!!

This is Jenni before and after seeing Free Willy awaiting her arrival!

And what could be better than having Free Willy waiting? Well a dance party of course!

Congrats Jenni we are so proud of you and know that you will be an awesome teacher in an awesome apple jumper!

Anne Marie's Bachelorette Party

My roommate from college and post college is soon to be married! To honor her special day, we of course needed to host a bachelorette party...but this was not your typical bachelorette party...in fact...it was the best one I ever attended!

To recognized the person Anne Marie is...we wanted to have an outdoor event...such as camping...but we figured that may be too much of an ordeal. So instead, we just told her to arrive at Loose Park for an outdoor celebration. Little did she know she was about to enter upon "Anne Marie's Field Day"! We told all of the invitees (participants) to come dressed to play!

The day included The Surprise, Field Events (all relative to Anne Marie's life), a Picnic, followed up by the gifts, and then we just hung out for a few hours in her new gifted Tent!

Here are just a few pics of the awesome day!

Dress relay in Mark's clothes!

The Award Ceremony

The Picnic

The gifts

A great time had by all!

Easter 2009

For Easter I went home to St. Louis to spend time with the family. We did something we haven't done in a long time....we had an Easter Egg Hunt! Dad and Francine hid around 30 eggs for Robyn, Joe and I to find...let me tell you, the competition was on! I don't have any pics from that...but there was an egg hunt later in the day with my mom's side of the family....lots of eggs to be found, so we all 25 grandkids hunted!

Ready...Set...Go!

The Loot!

Long Time, No Blog!

Hello family and friends, it has been quite some time since I have last sent out an update/posting...since before Thanksgiving in fact...so of course, things have happened...

I have taken some time over the past few weeks trying to play catch up...So if you want to, have fun and browse, otherwise, I just want you all to know that I hope you are well!

Just for a quick update, I am having the best semester of my career. My students are respectful, honorable, enjoyable, and best of all, quiet! Although, I did have to threaten today to my last block class that they did not want to meet Ms. D from the fall semester. They got quiet pretty quickly, I guess I built a reputation for myself last semester...the teacher who yelled a lot! :)

Since school is going well, I find that I am much more at ease and at peace this semester. I am staying busy as always with school, Collaborators, apostolate, sports leagues, catching up with friends, visits home, trying to consistently run, and working on spiritual resolutions.

To my family, I miss you dearly. To my friends across the country, I hope all is going well!

Love to you all,

Lauren

My Godsons

God is good not only because He has blessed me with two handsome Godsons, but also because their birthdays are close together, so I can't forget them! (Just kidding!)

Happy Birthday to Ben, my eldest! (March 7th)

Happy 1st Birthday to Issac, my youngest! (March 10th)

I love you two!

Lenten Reflections

Here are just a few [random] passages that have struck me this Lenten Season. I find myself often reflecting on how much God loves us, and yet how much I fail to recognize His Love (or take it for granted), and His will in my life, and how much Joy I can have knowing that He is mine and I am His. This is true for all of us. Remember, let yourself be loved and known by Him who died so that we may live.

"Nothing is ever quite what we anticipated. There is the interplay of circumstances on our desires. It makes known to us what is God's will for us; and so we give up in our desires what does not fit in with God's plan for us, content to do as He wishes."

~Father Bede Jarrett, O.P.

"With my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and passion, I was constantly away from the place where God had chosen to make home. Coming home and staying there where God dwells, listening to the voice of truth and love, that was, indeed, the journey I most feared because I knew that God was a jealous lover who wanted every part of me and all the time. When would I be ready to accept that kind of love?...God showed me the way...to return home and to look for God where God can be found--in my own inner sanctuary."

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son

"

To those who turn to him today, Jesus continues to offer healing and strength. I encourage all of you to place your trust in him, and to bring before him your hopes and your needs, for yourselves and for your loved ones. May the Lord grant your prayers and pour out upon all of you his abundant blessings."

~Pope Benedict, following Angelus on 2.15.09

“For now I just want you to be with me and discover that…I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I love you.”

~The Shack

"The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. ... Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about...when infinite joy is offered us... We are far too easily pleased."

~The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis