Precious Tori

This past Tuesday I was lucky enough to get to finally meet sweet Tori and her mother Penny. Tori is an 8 year old beautiful little girl who is currently undergoing treatment for brain cancer. I met them at the mall with Leighton and we ate at the American Girl Doll Bistro. The place was so adorable and we had so much fun. We sat there asking questions and laughing about funny times. Lunch was a blast! After lunch, we went shopping for a little bit where we got some games for Hunter, and some clothes for Tori. Throughout this whole experience, I have never felt God's presence more than I have this past week. For example, we were sitting at lunch and Tori said she wanted the shirt she had on in grey... well sure enough, someone had mailed me that exact shirt in grey just a week earlier. The American Girl look-alike doll she picked out just happened to be the doll Mrs. Bennett had bought for Tori. Out of all 20 look-alike dolls, somehow we picked the right one before she ever even picked one out! While in Buckle shopping for Hunter, Penny picked up a shirt and a hat that Hunter had specifically wanted. It was the EXACT hat and shirt my brother had bought for him. How did this happen? I can only assume it was God's way of helping! I have felt God more in the past week than ever before and it feels AMAZING! Leighton and I spent so much time wrapping, collecting, and shopping we were so excited to take all of the gifts to Columbus. We made our trip on Thursday and dropped off all the presents at the Svenson's house. My car was EXTREMELY packed and there was no way we could have fit four more gifts! It felt awesome to have filled up my entire car with gifts for this family who was so deserving. While in Columbus we played Price is Right with Tori and Hunter and also had dance parties! We had so much fun! I didn't want to say goodbye but we had to get back since the weather was suppose to get bad. I am wishing the Svenson's the merriest Christmas of all! This family is so close to my heart and I plan on staying in touch and visiting even after I head back to school! I am so blessed to have met such amazing people. The Svenson's were the best gift I could have asked for this Christmas! Everyone please continue to pray for Tori and her family! Although I wish I could be there with them on Christmas morning I know they will have an amazing Christmas!

Christmas is about giving!

For those of you who know, I have decided to help out a family in need this Christmas. The Svenson family is a family who displays love, passion, hope, and faith. Tori Svenson who is only eight years old was diagnosed with a very malignant form of brain cancer earlier this year. She has undergone over 30 radiation treatments and is currently receiving chemo treatments. She will be receiving chemotherapy until June or July of 2012. This little girl is so strong and has had to give up so much in her life. She is a little girl and her soul is having to fight for her life. Hunter Svenson is thirteen and an amazing big brother from what I hear. He cares for Tori and tries to soothe and comfort her in anyway possible. He has never resented his sister... just this awful disease affecting her! Their father, Todd, is currently in the military who was actually away on duty during the time Tori was born. Penny has had to spend every day caring for Tori and shuttling her to and from treatments. As you can imagine, finances are more than tight for this family this Christmas. Their story spoke to me and inspired me to help them out. They don't deserve to not wake up Christmas morning without anything. It isn't just Tori fighting this awful disease, its the whole family. They DESERVE a day filled with love, joy, excitement, and happiness. I have rallied up as many people as possible to help me give this family the Christmas deserve. I feel so blessed to have such caring people in my life. Everyone is coming together to help this family out without even knowing them, and it truly warms my soul. I am so thankful to know such amazing people with such amazing hearts! I cannot wait to see everything we get for the Svenson family, and I especially can't wait to hear about their Christmas morning experience. I pray each night that Tori can win this evil battle, and her family can have relief. I am hoping each and everyone of you reading this blog post in someway or somehow helps someone in need this Christmas season. Christmas is about giving NOT receiving. If anyone is interested in providing gifts or donations to this family you can email me at laurenmc820@yahoo.com I hope everyone has a blessed day!

XOXO,
Lauren

I am Thankful For.

I am thankful for so many things in my life, and can't even manage to get them all written down before time to post this. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Always count your blessings and give thanks. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love each and every one of you!

1: I am thankful for my faith with God. He helps me through my toughest times and gives me strength each day.
2: I am thankful for my my family because without them, I don't know where'd I be.
3: I am thankful for Blake. My best friend, my soul mate, and my everything. Thankful he always understands everything I am going through.
4: I am thankful for my health for letting me live a beautiful life and experience the joys God brings.
5: I am thankful for my Grandmother. I am thankful for God giving her the strength to fight cancer.
6: I am thankful for each one of my friends. I am at a point in life where I have determined who my true friends are and I am thankful for each and every one of them.
7: I am thankful for my education that will one day improve my chances of getting a job while in the process of pursuing my dreams.
8: I am thankful ALL of the sunsets I see. It reminds me of my grandmother who I miss dearly. Each of the little sunsets she brings, reminds me that she hasn't forgotten about me.
9: I am thankful for my mistakes because they have made me become a better person.
10: I am thankful for shelter and my home.
11: I am thankful for my sight, for letting me see the true beauty of life.
12: I am thankful for my freedom and for those risking their lives to fight for me- and our country.
13: I am thankful for clean water- to drink, to bathe, to play in.
14: I am thankful for the kindness of strangers- their "thank you's, greetings, hellos, goodbye's, and smiles."
15: I am thankful for my mother- my best friend, my support group, and my anger management counselor. To get me through the toughest times, to listen to me cry, to support me, to make me laugh, and to not judge me.
16: I am thankful for my father- my role model, my support group, my life counselor. To support me in each decision I make, to guide my through life, to help me financially, and to always be there for me no matter what.
17: I am thankful for my brother- my close friend, my advice counselor, and my "vent" person. To give me school advice, to teach me everything I need to know about UGA and growing up, and to be the  "big brother"
18: I am thankful for my maltese, Emma. To make me laugh when I am sad, to keep me from boredom, and to always be there to cuddle with me when no one else is.
19: I am thankful for Dr. Molock for saving my life.
20: I am thankful for penguins- unique animals who have made the bond between my father and I even stronger.
21: I am thankful for food- for nourishing my body
22: I am thankful for the experience I have had in the fashion world- hoping one day it helps me discover an amazing career.
23: I am thankful for hot bubble baths- always an easy way to wind down and relax. Not having a bathtub while at college, has made me miss mine!
24: I am thankful I am able to appreciate others. I am thankful I can say thank you, sorry, compliment strangers, and help anyone in need.
25: I am thankful for coupons... the simple joy I get from saving money.
26: I am thankful for peace
27: I am thankful for all of my vacations to Disney World. Thankful for all of the memories I made with my family.
28: I am thankful for the Dalton family for treating me as their own.
29: I am thankful for my growing strength with God
30: I am thankful for the growth I have experienced personally in the past year.
31: I am thankful for the ability to help others and put others first
32: I am thankful for people who pay attention and listen to me
33: I am thankful for Dr. Green for preaching and teaching me about our Lord.
34: I am thankful for being able to write down the things I am thankful for and sharing them with others.
35: Lastly, I am thankful for you... my readers. Thank you for letting me express my feelings and share my daily life experiences.

Georgia Florida 2011

Hello all! Hope everyone is having a good week so far. This past week has been kinda hard to get back into considering I was in Florida for 4 days... and might I add I am still giddy over the Georgia win. It has always been on my "bucket" list to go to the Georgia Florida game where Georgia wins. As most of you know, we have only won 4 of the last 21 meetings before this past weekend. Well guess what... WE WON!!!! 24-20 and I was there :) I finally got to cross something off my bucket list and it felt great!! I had so much fun and was so glad I actually bought tickets for the big game. When we won, I mean it was crazy. I have never heard so many people chanting, barking, and screaming. The Bulldog Nation was ECSTATIC! I mean when all these people travel to Jacksonville and we lose, they get kinda upset. This year we won, meaning our money was not wasted! I had the best time ever. Blake and I are officially 1-1 for Georgia Florida. We are excited to see what the rest of the season holds. "I said it's great to be... a GATOR HATER!" Hope everyone has a good weekend... we're getting close to Thanksgiving! Oh.. and Roll Tide ;) Beat LSU!

The road ahead...

Today starts the epic journey that my grandmother will travel on for 5 months. Today marks the first chemo treatment for her. She will be receiving chemo treatments every other Monday for five months... During these next 5 months we are gonna need a lot of prayers and a lot of love. For those of you who have already been praying, I can't thank you enough. Prayers are all I am asking for at this moment and I am so grateful for each and every person who has said a prayer for her each night at bedtime. I have the best family and friends and yall are the one's that get us through our struggles and I can't explain how much each of you mean to my family and I. Granny has the best attitude towards her battle with cancer and that makes me feel so much better. We will win this fight with the help of our friends without a doubt. It is all in God's hands now and I know he will get us through it. Thanks again for all of your prayers! I love each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart!

Hunt's Home!!!!

So as most of you know, Blake's dog has been gone since JUNE... yes, june. He has been at obedience school as well as hunting school. I can now say after 5 long months, Hunt is finally home! We are all so excited to have him back. He has grown so much and has turned out to be such a beautiful dog. Blake brought him by the house on Saturday after picking him up to show us what he had learned. He LOVES retrieving. We had so much fun playing with Hunt, Emma, and Tucker. It sure looked like puppy school in the backyard haha. We were so glad to have him back, and we all enjoyed our time outside with all the dogs.

Alex and Amanda's Engagement Party

This past weekend Blake and I headed home to Habersham to spend time with his family as well as celebrate Alex and Amanda's engagement with friends and family. We had a family dinner Friday night which was nice and relaxing. We enjoyed it because we got to spend time with Austin who we haven't seen in a month. Austin is getting so smart and it is so funny to hear him talk. He has a mind of his own and is saying so many new words. He knows almost all of his colors and knows Blake as "Bake" and calls me "La-La." He says truck, tractor, Hunt-Runt, night night, and many other words. It is so amazing watching him learn. On Saturday we went to Blake's family reunion where we enjoyed some of the best food we have had in a REALLY long time. It was literally like Thanksgiving for us since were typical college students who don't typically get good southern cooking for dinner every night. We definitely enjoyed ourselves. That night we headed up to Alex's for their engagement party. The place was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the night was filled with love and happiness. Everyone had such a good time. Amanda asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and I am so honored. I am blessed that she chose me to stand next to her on her wedding day. We have gotten extremely close and I am so excited that she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I know she will be standing next to me one day! Happy wedding planning to Amanda! This weekend we are celebrating my dad's birthday....and HUNT FINALLY COMES HOME!!!! I can't wait to post pictures :) Hope everyone has a great week. Stay dry!

Luke Bryan Farm Tour 2011

For those of you unaware of my obsession with Luke Bryan... I can't even begin to describe it to you. :) Well every year Luke Bryan does a farm tour at farms around the state of Georgia. This year he just happened to have a farm in Colbert on the tour. It's only about 15-20 minutes from my house so I got tickets the second they went on sale. On Friday, my friends and I left around 1:30 because we wanted to make sure we got there super early. Instead of tailgating like most people did, we decided to sit at the gate and wait... we wanted to ensure a good spot since it was general admission. What do you know... we landed ourselves a standing position RIGHT on the front row. I literally was so excited I could barely could contain myself. I didn't even want to leave to go to the bathroom, because I was not losing my spot. I was able to get some amazing pictures and have Luke look me right in the eyes ;) Literally felt like he was serenading just me.. haha I know, I am a bit obsessive. It was such an amazing night and I was able to make a lot of memories. For those of you who haven't purchased Luke's new album "Tailgates and Tanlines" I suggest you go out and buy it today! It is seriously the best song I have heard in a while. I hope everyone has had a great week, and I am wishing each and every reader an even better weekend! As for me, Blake and I are headed to Habersham for Amanda's engagement party which we are super excited about. Have a blessed weekend everyone!

Yum!

So I am not a fan of regular lettuce with dressing... I love salad's but only if they are different. I have recently made up my own little salad and eat it twice a day usually for lunch and dinner. I cannot get enough!! So here it is:

Romaine Lettuce
Blue Cheese Crumbles
Sunflower Seeds
Craisens
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mix it all up and enjoy :) Hope this turns your lunch around!

Monday, September 26th

This past weekend was a weekend to remember. I can't tell you the last time I went and spent the weekend at home so it was actually nice to be at home for once. I headed home Friday morning and was able to meet my Mom, Grandmother, and Mary for lunch. Friday was my mom's birthday and the day they got my Grandmother's pathology reports back. We prayed and prayed for good reports and God helped us out. She will still have to go through chemo and radiation but only 2 out of the 13 lymph nodes were cancerous. All of the cancer is out of her body but chemo is needed since cancer lives in the cells and the tumor could grow back. Although it will be a long road, these were great results. I know the next couple of years will be hard for her but she will beat this horrible disease! Granny was able to come to lunch and we were all thankful for that. It was her first time out since the surgery and it was so nice to spend time with her. We all had so much fun. After lunch, mom and I ran some errands before it was time to celebrate. Blake came into town and the two of us and my parents headed to dinner. William and Amanda met us at Adam's in downtown Buford to celebrate Mom's birthday. It had a great atmosphere because each lady received a rose and there was a person playing a grand piano the entire time we were there. Very relaxing dinner I must say!

On Saturday, Mom and I planned to do some needed shopping. We shopped till we literally dropped. Our legs were hurting so bad we could barely walk anymore so we treated that with a starbucks. We found some great deals and cute clothes! It was a successful shopping day! We headed to bed early because we had to get up early on Sunday. On Sunday, my Mom, Amanda, and I ran the Duluth 5K for cancer. We ran in spite of Granny! It was mine and my mom's first 5k and I am so glad we accomplished one. Our goal was to do it in less than 45 minutes and we did. Out of over 400 people we came in 141 and 142. I was so glad we did it because it felt good to run and especially because we were running in honor of Granny. After the run, we headed to breakfast and then decided to walk around the fall festival afterwards. It was a nice day but after running 3.2 miles we finally headed home around 12:00 for some rest. I had a wonderful weekend with my family an can't wait to see them again!

One Year Anniversary

 Blake's and I celebrated our one (official) year anniversary last Wednesday. It has gone by so fast I cannot believe it! I spent my day studying while Blake was in class for most of the day, but we planned to start our celebrating around 5. During my studying, I received the prettiest bouquet of flowers from Blake which really brightened up my day! Once we were ready, we headed to dinner at PorterHouse (yummy)! We actually had the entire restaurant to ourselves which was kinda neat. We joked about how awkward it would be if it was our first day haha. We both got our usual dishes and split some marble chocolate cheesecake which was phenomenal. Once we made it back to the car, we saw a familiar orange slip on my windshield... yep a parking ticket! We always have a story... nothing is ever simple with us :) Once we got in the car, Blake saw a George Gibson's bag in my back seat which I was hoping he wouldn't see until later. I told him it was nothing but he insisted on opening it. He liked the shirt and visor I picked up for him, but told me he was mad for getting me a gift because he felt bad cause we had agreed on no gifts. Flowers and dinner was more than enough and that stuff adds up! I told him to enjoy it and to quit being so stubborn. We made it back home and decided just for a nice relaxing night. Sometimes, with all the studying we do it is nice just to be able to watch some t.v. for a little bit. Blake insisted on watching Dragon Ball Z and I let him have his way until I was bored of pinterest (sad I know haha). Blake was actually pretty sneaky cause he told me to go get his computer at one point in the night and right next to it was the neatest gift. It was a rustic wood Georgia frame that is so "me." He picked it out all by himself and did amazing!! It was so nice just to relax for the night... It was the perfect way to wind down from our hectic two weeks.

What a year it has been...

If someone would have told me I would fall in love with Blake the first day I met him, I would have laughed in their face and disagreed. Now, I would have loved for someone to tell me that so I could have started our relationship sooner. It wasn't love at first sight, but it's love and thats all that matters. This week is mine and Blake's one year anniversary (although really we have been together for about 2 years minus some time apart in between). This past year has been one of the best years of my life. To have someone in my life like Blake is truly something special. Throughout the past year, I have laughed like never before, smiled like never before, loved like never before, and found my best friend and soul mate. Blake is the most driven, dedicated, caring, loving, and intellectual person I have ever met. He makes me want to be a better person, to work harder, to strive in the beauty of my dreams, and to always be myself. No matter what happens throughout my life, I know that I will always have Blake at the end of the day. He cares for me like no other person I have met before. Each day I thank God for blessing me with such an amazing person in my life. I couldn't have hand-picked a better person for me. He is my everything and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.

Thanks for always being there for me, loving me, talking to me, sharing with me, and most of all... thanks for being you. I love you Blake!