Up and Running

Well, I'm not literally running. Running out of breath, maybe. In fact, I think I have whooping cough. (Can I ever go like...a month without getting some 24 hour bug or having some part of my body crap out on me?) Sheesh. So one day I get a scratchy throat or something and cough a couple times an hour. Then a couple days later I'm coughing like thirty times an hour! I look up whooping cough on Wikipedia because I had a friend who had it a few years back. It says you may have whooping cough if you cough til you faint or cough til you vomit. Oh, that's not me, I thought. I exited the page and moved on with my life as normal. NEXT DAY- I'm driving to work and I cough until I dry heave! Sick! I almost vomited in my car! And I've coughed until I was dizzy twice. Eeho stupid viruses. Who gave me this worthless cough?! Today I have coughed until I almost threw up about 15 times. Bleh. Ok moving on.

I have been the worst blogger ever lately. Sorry. I never know how many people actually read my blog and enjoy it so I figure if I miss a couple of days- no biggie! But my lovely sister has stated she enjoys the read, so here I am!

We went to Snowflake, AZ for Christmas and it was a blast. The drive stinks, as always. But when we're living in Fort Benning, GA we'll be wishing we lived 6 hours from family. We spent New Years here in our little apartment, just the three of us. Titan was sick for about 7 weeks and is barely getting over a cough. (Little booger probably gave me mine.) A week later, Titan turned 1! Derek baked him a funfetti cake and mom, dad and Sher joined us for a mini-celebration. We didn't do anything crazy for him (seeing as he was still sick) but we let him smash cake in his face and I'm thinking so far that was the best day of his entire life. And it was surprisingly easy to clean up!

Derek has been dreaming of an X-Box for who knows how long. I was always afraid to buy one because for some reason, guys get so sucked into those things. It was the last thing he ever thought I'd buy him and then voila! He was so happy he was almost in tears : )


I learned to play guitar when I was about 15 but I always sort of played by ear. In college, I started writing my own music to the guitar and then as I got married and had a baby, life got busier and I had less and less time for hobbies. The only thing I wanted for Christmas was a guitar and Derek got it for me. I am in love with it.


Titan's friend got him a present for Christmas and while I was trying to teach him to open it, he got so frustrated because he didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it...so he got a little Scrooge-ish on us there for a minute. It was too hilarious.


He was loving all the toys he got from grandmas and grandpas and mom, dad and Santa.


Also, last week I was promoted! It was a promotion I had not at all expected and was very much grateful for. I received many much-appreciated compliments from my bosses. It made me feel like working hard, being honest and having good work ethic DOES pay off!

I'm not sure how many of you knew, but I love to take pictures. Since I was about 10 I've had my own camera. My first one was purple and I had to load film into it myself. It probably looked similar to this (but purple, of course.)

The others that followed consisted of disposable cameras but looking back- I bought so many of them that between the cost of the cameras and the cost of developing the film- I could have easily bought a digital camera! I got my first digital camera in 2007 and I still use it ALL THE TIME. Last year, Derek bought me a fancy DSLR. I got my first request to be a photographer. I'm photographing a wedding reception tonight so wish me luck! I am going to send out a mass email to friends and family in the El Paso area but I'll put it on here as well. I want to start building a portfolio so I'm going to need some models! I'm going to be available on Saturdays and I'd like to do some photo shoots. Here's what I was thinking:

Family shots (3+ people): One hour session to include location of your choice or location choice of photographer (whichever you choose), photo editing and pictures on a disc- $75
Couple shots: $55
Single shots: (Good for graduation or other milestones) $30

I'll be doing this for about 3 months or so until I build up a good portfolio and charge normal prices! Call me or comment on this post to make an appointment with me. If you haven't seen pictures that I've taken where I've edited them and stuff- let me know and I'll show you. Most pictures I post on my blog are just quick snapshots that aren't super impressive haha.

I promise I won't wait another month to blog again.

Love, Lauren