YOU KNOW YOU WANNA.....

It has been a long time since I last posted...

 

A really long time.

 

And as with all long times - there is a ton of info to cover. Knowing I will most likely forget things here and there I will just have to add those later if and when I think of them.

 

So as of September 30th 2012, James and I have been MARRIED for ONE year! I honestly can't believe it. I heard from quite a few peeps that the first year is the absolute hardest to adjust to. I think James and I bypassed that first year situation by living together for a good two or three years before the big day so  I'm thinking the whole "first year hell" happened a while ago. I think I actually have a blog about it?

Ok - anyway...because I LOVE looking at our wedding photos here are few from the big day!

It was everything a wedding should be. Gorgeous weather, wonderful family and friends, a great party. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, I kind of wish we could have another one just to invite some new friends we've made over the year that would have had a blast with us. I'm sure of it ;) It really was THAT wonderful.

 I find myself extremely jealous now of  other people getting married and their weddings. Like that oh my gosh I'm turning 10 shades of green jealous. I want another one. No changes, just an exact replica of our night.Yes, it was that good. Yes, I'm saying it again

Ok, here ya go!

Our wedding in a handfull of photos :)

 

Pretty exciting stuff, right?! I have about 400 more but I didn't want to get excessive

You're welcome ;)

Another surprise that came with our  wedding photos was an amazing DVD that our photographer Mindy put together for us. Actual footage.

I can relive our day anytime I want to. James watches too - and he tears up. Honest.

 

Ok sooo moving on! HONEYMOON!

As you know, we went to Antigua. It was at first super scary but turned out to be an absolute paradise. As we flew into Antigua we were so so amazed at the beauty of the water, the green hills, the sun....oh my gosh get me to beach again.

As we landed I could barely wait to get off the plane. Like legit going to push some old people out of my way. Then we got to exit the plane OUTSIDE. I felt kind of cool. I know that's not that different but it just added to the tropical feel. So walked into get our bags and  I was immediately reminded of why I freak out in not so affluent areas. Modern it was not. The "airport" was a hectic unairconditioned crazy town. James of course took the lead and waved down a taxi (mini van) the man packed as many people as he could into this mini van and threw our luggage here, there and everywhere. I did feel a little better that our fellow cab riders looked like older experienced travelers. Reminded me of my parents so I could breathe easy..for like 2 min. They got to their resort mega early. Apparently we chose the most hidden, most remote resort on the island. Ok - to wrap this up - this guy took us through a ton of scary back ways where the streets were so narrow people walking down the streets could have kissed me through the open taxi window. Not exaggerating. Sad. Depressing. I was in tears and wanted to go home. The driver was going off on some rant about money, politics, etc. it was damn scary. THEN he turns off to another road slams on the breaks and jumps out. I know immediately we are going to be the next missing honeymoon couple on CNN. Praying at this point. He adjusts the poorly placed baggage and jumps back in and drives on. All this - no words, no explanation..then begins ranting again. Another 10 minutes and we start to see beautiful hills, hints of ocean peeking out, flowers....I was calming down. We pulled to our resort and it was crazy how fast I went from having a legit meltdown to feeling like I was in tropical heaven. Cocobay Beach Resort is amazing and I WILL go back.

Here are few pics! Wish I could describe in detail our days there but that would take way too long. WAY. Hopefully the pictures do our honeymoon a little bit of justice.

 

 

 

There you have it. One of the best vacations to date. Can't believe this all happened ONE whole YEAR ago! We have had so much fun and I think, well I know, there is nobody on this planet that could make me as happy as this silly boy..the one right up there. Love his hat.

 

So next blog topic:

JAMES AND I OPENED A SMALL BUSINESS!

(and other bits of info)

 

Details to come. Well you probably already know about it but humor me ;)

 

XOXO

Lauren E. Stell

 

(yep, took me a year to LOVE my new last name)

I now think it looks a bit fancy.

Agree?

 

 

 

 

It's been a YEAR?!

So it has been over a YEAR since my last post. A YEAR!

Think anything has happened in a year?

Um, so much!

Starters - our engagement photos!

Take a peek!

Mindy Fuller with Ree Photography did our session.

We went to Galveston and shot on the strand and had an absolute blast!

After that day I knew we had made the best decision when we chose to have Mindy not only shoot our engagement photos but our WEDDING!

NEXT UP:

MY BRIDAL SHOWER

So my shower was amazing. It was such a fun afternoon! After a few glasses of champagne my butterflies went away and I let myself let loose, laugh, and open up some gifts! James and I were so blessed by everyone. We were spoiled and our house stocked! My super sweet friend Sandy offered to help out by letting us use her home. Has anyone ever looked into hosting a large shower at a restaurant?! Outrageous! With the help of Sandy - my mom, sister, and bff Steph threw me a shower that I will remember forever. It was beautiful, the food was delicious, and of course my girls looked gorgeous ;)

and now........

BRITNEY SPEARS CONCERT!

So we couldn't possibly miss my girl's big Houston concert so me, James, Sister, and Jen dressed up and got down! Started out at the flying saucer and after that I forgot my camera in the car :( So no Britney is awesome photography. With that being said: The concert was amazing! Nicki Minaj was the opening act and I can't wait for her to come solo. We are so there! We met up with some friends once we were there and all got into the VIP section with a candy bar, super close seats, and even better a super close bar! We ended up at South Beach and danced the night way Britney style. I was a happy girl! BEST NIGHT!

Onto the San Antonio Hair Show.

It was incredible! 

Steph and I made it a short weekend and drove up.

Not too many pictures to show but we took home tons of memories! 

The best part of the Hair Show was seeing Beth Minardi the most bad ass hair colorist EVER. We learned so much and felt absolutely revived and excited about our jobs! Of course, we had to goof off a bit. Ripley's was just around the corner and I'm not one to pass up on something silly. There was a haunted house area that almost killed us. Seriously. I almost had a heart attack. Sweating occured. 

Also, little tid bit of info. Steph booked us in one of San Antonio's most haunted hotels. Now I talk a big game about loving all things haunted...not so much. I had worked myself up so much I could barely go into the bathroom alone. I seriously asked Steph if I could keep the door open. It was bad. BAD. So then after I had gotten over my nerves my wonderful roomie for the night kept making the creepiest noises. At one point she grabbed my toes as I was leaning off the bed to grab my phone. Near heart attack number 2. Needless to say I didn't sleep that night. At all. Thanks, Steph. Love you.

BACHELORETTE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

So for my bachelorette weekend I decided that I wanted to just relax with some of my favs downtown. We booked at the Omni and had a super fun weekend! Started of Friday night at Max's Wine Dive and then went out on Washington. Danced, drank, talked, did those girly things :) The next day we decided to have an afternoon by the pool. The Omni pool is beautiful. I actually could have spend all day out there! They had a little cabana with a bar and grill. The sun was shining, the water was perfect and I had my girls. How could it be better?! Well - that night we all met up at Cyclone Anaya's and started the evening with their dangerously delicious margaritas. Always the beginning to a memorable night! After dinner we went to Pete's Piano Bar. SO MUCH FUN! I had a blast, gained a stalker, and took my fair share of shots. So onto the next club. Not sure of the name of it but it was on Montrose. Boys, boys in thongs and baseball socks, and a shower were involved. That's all I'm saying. Lastly we ended up at South Beach. My FAVORITE place to go dance. The music is amazing! The energy is the best! The cool mist comes just at the right time!

LOVE THIS PLACE!

So after everyone had plenty to drink, plenty of dancing - we went back to the Omni and crashed.

What an amazing bachelorette weekend!

Wouldn't have changed a thing!

XOXO

Ok so - I'm sure I forgot some events from the past year but that was a bit of a wrap up. Awesome year! Actually I can count that as the best year to date. 2011 was everything I dreamed and more. 

I am one very lucky girl! 

Ok, no post would be complete without a few pics of my handsome man and my sweet Heidi girl! 

Here ya go!

 The Blink 182 concert a few days before our wedding.

Ok! Kind of caught up! Next blog: Our Honeymoon & Our Wedding! Yay!

LOVE,

me

I'm thinkin' I'm beyond bratty.....

Sooo I know my last blog was a little bit whiny, but no worries - i'm over it!

Because..........

WE BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON!

After tons of research, mind changes, and endless amounts of doubting our ideas & choices - we came back to the little place we decided on the very beginning of this crazy honeymoon finding journey. So, where is it?!

ANTIGUA!

Here are few pictures:

 here is a little hint on where it is located....i had no idea until we started booking flights ;)

 Cocobay Beach Resort

That is a representation of me & James. lol of course, we look a little bit better ;) can't wait for that to be us!

So anyway - this little place Cocobay is not fancy by any means. Which kind of threw me off a bit at first. I was thinking ok on my honeymoon i want to be waited on hand and foot not have to do one thing and for everything to be perfect! who doesn't want that?! well - the more we looked for that the more we were seeing all of the huge resorts with thousands of people, reviews saying you cant ever find chairs by the pool, crowded beach - you get my point. not exactly my idea of romantic...so we were like ok smaller but with all of that. can you we say like $800-1000 a night?! not for 5 nights sisters! James would die. So that got nixed. Moving on. we found this little place online through trip advisor. It only has around 30-40 little cabins on the hillside and beach. So its very private and not crazy busy and loud. The resort isnt super modern and chic - it kinda said basic shabby chic. whatever give me a drink and im money ;) Anyway we book a beach front little cottage hut thing with its own plunge pool. So neat! I am so looking forward to james and i sitting on the porch (like the above picture exactly but with a  beer) and just breathe and say This is our HONEYMOON! Hurry up October 2?! Please?!

So in spite of my long list of  gripes in the past post - I have thought about it and talked to a few friends. One said she and her husband have some days where they just need to be alone to do what they want - like read a book, watch a movie...I guess J and I don't have to be on top of each other all of the time..life will go on. I did talk to him though about how I felt and he said he felt so bad and that yes, life is sooo busy right now that we do need to make time of US. Love him. So we will see if I can kick this obsessive wedding behavior and he can give up sports center. Not likely but hopefully we can make a conscience effort ;)

So yesterday my parents came over for lunch! It was such a great day..another reminder of how great I have it. Someone slap me for being so moody and ungrateful ;) Anyway - mom went on a shopping spree for her wedding outfit last Thursday so she brought it all over to have a little fashion show for us.

Let me just say. My mom is trying to show everyone up at the wedding....and I love it. She looked so beautiful and honestly her smiling from ear to ear almost made me cry. Eeek! about to cry writing this! Honestly in the beginning mom wasn't too into this whole wedding thing - but I am so excited that she is putting so much thought and time into making our day special. Even if she is trying to look better than everyone there! LOL! Anyway we chose a pretty green dress from her choices and she looks great. Dad ws floored! So dang cute! He said, "Wow! Well that's impressive!" I think coming from dad that is a killer awesome compliment! So mom is set. Dad is our next project. That should be interesting...eh. 

Anyway - just rambling so I will quit boring everyone and go to my Jillian Michaels DVD. That damn dvd set needs a blog on its own. It is abuse. Straight abuse. But it hurts so good ;)

Everyone have a fabulous Monday!!!

xoxo

Lauren