Lauren Michele

I just finished reading the most recent post on a blog that belongs to a person that I do not know. Well, I keep up with her blog and actually feel like I know her pretty well (disturbing, I know), so I guess I should say she doesn't know me. When tears began running down my face as I scrolled through the words, I began to wonder exactly what it was about her blog that made it so good. And I realized something- she has good characters. She talks about the people she loves and is around so much that you begin to care about them, too! So, I've decided to start "introducing" some of the key players in my life (other than Laney, of course, because you already know all about that little sweetie!).

SIDE NOTE: I kicked Marshall off the "contributors" list for this blog. Because he never asked to be a "contributor" anyways and only posted one time when I begged him to. Ha!

Back on track. I want to introduce you to my sister, Lauren. If I had to rank the most important people in my life, she'd be one of a select few tying for first place. She's my only sibling and has become one of my best friends as we've grown into adults. Here are some things about her:

-She makes one great aunt. From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, she loved Laney almost as much as I did. She was in the hospital room with us when I gave birth to Laney and was the first one to actually "see" her. I needed her in there with me because she puts me at ease with her confidence and laughter. And laugh we did, even as I entered into labor.

-She's pretty stinking funny. Her wonderful sense of humor blossomed when she was about 12 years old and she's had us in stitches ever since. She's so witty at the most unexpected times. She'll make fun of anyone...and it ends up being hilarious and not mean. Well, maybe a little mean, but she can get away with it for some reason!

-She loves fashion and make-up. And she's a VERY talented make-up artist. I actually ended up canceling my make-up appointment the day of my wedding because I got nervous and knew that Lauren would make it look just how I wanted. I can't remember the last time I went shopping without her. A lot of times I feel like she's my older sister even though she's younger because I'm always wanting her approval on anything I wear. And ANY time she's home from college, I have her come do my make-up- even if I'm not going anywhere special. It's one of my favorite things. :)

-She's a natural athlete. I found this picture on Facebook (she's gonna kill me). It's from when she played youth basketball and was (as you can see) a BEAST compared to all her peers. Unlike me, Lauren excelled in soccer, basketball, track, and volleyball. I've always admired her muscular legs and athleticism. We can only hope that Laney might inherit some of those genes of Lauren's that are oh-so-absent in me!

-She looks a lot like me. I guess I should say "we look a lot alike," but I'm sticking with "she looks a lot like me" because I'm older! When people get us confused and call me Lauren, I take it as such a compliment because I think she's so beautiful. I want to look like her when I grow up.

Those are my favorite things about Lauren. Now you'll REALLY know who I'm talking about when I mention her in my posts. She's pretty special. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's the reason I want to have another girl- so that Laney can experience having a sister the way I have gotten to. There's nothing like sisterhood. Lauren is the only person I can really trust on certain things. Simple things. Like how I look in an outfit. Or what I should do in a certain situation. She's just so special to me. And now you know why.

Back to School

I'm not even going to try to write about ALL the things that have happened in the past month. I'll get stressed out and end up not posting anything at all! Ha! So, in short, school has begun, Marshall is back in the swing of his busy season at work, and Laney is STILL growing up too fast.

School started on August 23rd, and has already been much less stressful this year than last. Staring down the beginning of this school year was a piece of cake compared to last year. Then, I was pregnant, in the middle of a move, starting a new job, and unsure if my husband was going to be able to move to Abilene in time for Laney's birth. This year, I know the ropes at school, I'm not a "first-year teacher," and I have a little more pep in my un-pregnant step. I'm finally being able to get ahead, plan, and stay ahead at work. I can already tell I'm a better teacher and I hope my students reap all the benefits! Also, with lots of help from my loving mother, I finally got my classroom decorated like I want it. Since I spend a lot of time there, its important to me for it to be a homey place. Though I miss Laney a lot while I'm there, I sure do love having a place to go everyday! Being home all summer made me appreciate and miss my wonderful work environment.

School isn't all I've been doing. My 8 good high school friends and I took our 5th annual Girls' Weekend trip this past Labor Day weekend to Horseshoe Bay and it was another success! Kate made the plans this year and Natalie, well, she made the "pink" plans, as always. I know many people have "Girls' Weekends," but we take ours pretty seriously! I mean, we even have matching pink swimsuits and sunglasses. If you'd like to have a Girls' Weekend that's as official as ours, you should contact Natalie McCarty, professional party planner. You'll have to plan ahead, though, because she's already booked for this entire fiscal year! Ha! Seriously, though, it was an amazing weekend. Being with those girls that I know oh so well but see oh so little is always good for the soul. We're all growing up, changing, and learning how to stay friends even though our life stages differ greatly, our ambitions just aren't the same, and our schedules never quite line up for us to talk as much as we'd like. They're my best friends, though, and always will be. They know me. Really KNOW me. I hope the 9 of us keep up until we're old ladies. And  hopefully we'll all be rich old ladies so we can "upgrade" our trips to Turks and Caicos or somewhere fabulous like we've always said we would! I'm kicking myself that I didn't even get a picture of all 9 of us, but let's be honest, I'm never good at getting pictures taken. Here's the best one I have with the majority of us.

That concludes my random update. You may shocked that I did not even talk about Laney ONCE in this post! Well, you can rest assured that I have an update all about Laney, complete with videos, coming very soon! Keep checking!