nailed it!

please ignore our disgusting living room.. as we both can't wait to move out.

but luke ROCKED valentines day (for the second year in a row.)

i woke up around 8 pm to him saying, "can i show you what i did??"

hehe, so cute.

i walked into the living room to see he'd brought our cute little breakfast table

to the middle of the room.

he had made chicken parmesan, and had some delicious drinks set up for us.

he also got me a SUNFLOWER GROW KIT! i am so excited about this!

he knows me very well.. my favorite flower will always be the sunflower & i am so excited

 to grow some indoors this spring!

of course he gave me chocolate too, because what would v day be without chocolate?

it was perfect. hope your love day was amazing!

happy valentines day!

 

happy valentines day everyone!

i hope it's filled with love & happiness for each & every one of you.

unfortunately i have class, work, homework & more to do today

(seriously, why don't they recognize today as a holiday!?)

however, luke asked me on a date this weekend, so we're celebrating then.

enjoy the day! i love celebrating love. 

i espeically love this boy. in fact, i love him 

to the moon & back.

i've been stuck all day on what to get him, but i think i've finally

figured it out.

not that matters he treats me like an angel, & is the first boy i've

ever dated that my dad approved of! (true story! my dad texted me after general

conference one day & said "he treats you well?" i said "like a princess" to which he responded "you make sure you tell him you know how lucky you are"

so, yeah. dad-approved status = perfect.

christmas.

 

we spent christmas eve at luke's parent's house.. where we ate a delicious dinner, wore christmas crowns, read stories & opened PJs.

 

me & marti wore matching PJs.. leggings that are probably the most comfy EVER. i was sad i had to work the next day (christmas) & didn't get to hang out in my pajamas all day, so i wore them under my jeans. hehe.

 

 

luke with his sisters.. i love this pic!

 

me, luke, luke's mom teri, & our niece kaylee.

 

kaylee reading a story with some help from "pop."

 

kaylee told us to be "lions." luke gave up, as you can see.

 

& here's a fun one of yesterday when luke got his christmas package from our nephew preston! he loves his new chelsea FC hat!

i hope everyone's christmas was merry! i had to work but after work on xmas we went to my parent's house & flew their new helicopter, played just dance, & ray & ky showed us all their cute new clothes.

i love my family! even though most of them are in texas right now visiting my brothers without me.. lame! 

merry christmas!

 

at last weekend's "gardner game day," a favorite christmas tradition!

ps, this isn't even half of my family ^ we're humongous.

hope your holidays are merry & bright! 

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.

most people who know me know i'm kind of a scrooge. i've never had a christmas tree outside of my parent's house, & i'm not one to decorate my home with lots of christmas cheer. but i must say these additions to the studio at my work have been quite lovely:

pretty aren't they?

so i decided to be just a little festive this year, & leave something for my "child" 

nesta doesn't even care one bit that it's put up by her... that i hung out, by the chimney, with care.

i think santa is bringing her a very large lump of coal, & cat perfume, since she loves being outside in the snow & comes in smelling horribly like wet yucky.

turkey day!

 

me with luke's cousins & sister.

this turkey day was more of a turkey week, as we've had lots of family parties all on different days.

wednesday we got together with my side of the fam.. which only consisted of my 2 littlest sisters & my grandparents on my dad's first wife's side.

the biddulphs are adorable, except my grandma is crazy. it makes for fun holiday dinner conversation.

thursday we went to morgan to go to luke's aunt's dinner. there was easily 100 people there. i thought i knew what a big family was but.. luke's family easily defeats us gardner's. i had a headache by the end of the day trying to know everyone's names.

all in all it was lots of good food & family... i have been so stuffed the past 2 days but been saving room all day as luke is taking me to sushi tonight for my birthday.

tomorrow is my birthday party at slackwater...pizza yay! it's going to be a fun weekend. 

 

the drive home from morgan was gorgeous.

 

luke captured a photo of me mid-food coma.. glasses still on, feet dangling off the coach.. i was so full & SO TIRED. successful, i daresay.

 

turkey cookies.

 

my grandpa carving the turkey, like a boss.

hope everyone's holiday was fantastic! i missed my texas family but it was nice to see both sides. happy thanksgiving! 

labor day weekend.

 

this was probably the highlight of my labor day weekend: the massive amounts of produce from my landlord's garden (don't worry! she gave us permission to pick stuff from it!). can't wait for fried zucchini, breaded squash, salsa, & fresh strawberries. mmmm.

hope your labor day was lovely. while mine was mostly somber (see post below), it was also relaxing. & even though yesterday was labor day, some of us still had to labor, as you see here: 

 

the four (of six) people in the newsroom on labor day. def not very many of us.

other highlights: 

 

picking from our herb garden to add to our meals. yum.

 

records & fall brew....my favorite.

the fourth.

the fourth of july was, as always, a lovely time. this happens to be my FAVORITE holiday ever. the warm weather, swimming, parades, fireworks, on top of hanging out with my family equals lauren is a pretty happy camper. this year was no exception & i spent the week prior to the fourth telling luke how very excited i was for a day off so i could squeeze the crap out of my nephew, preston. he didn't really get it until he saw what a cute little chunk that baby is turning into. he's so sweet! it was nice to see the rest of my family as well, although preston was my favorite ;)

hope everyone had a safe & happy holiday! i can't believe it's july already, but i'm SO EXCITED because this month is going to be awesome! seattle is in less than two weeks! 

1. a pretty flower in kaysville. 2. my niece, kaylee, chasing my parent's "fancy" chickens. 3. my sisters before the parade..they are so cute together. 4. sir timothy, looking festive. 5. my favorite part of the kaysville parade. 6. my cute chunky nephew. 7. someone's swim shorts were a little too big... 8. holding preston as we watch the parade. 9. swim time at my parent's house.

st patrick's is one of my fave holidays...it's cuz i'm a redhead.

 i gotta say st patty's was the best this year. ally, luke & i went to a party at my friend's house, where they had set up a photo booth full of st patty's stuff! there were mustaches, hats, balloons, huge glasses, etc.. it was so much fun!!! after the party we went to a reggae concert in downtown ogden...love me some reggae! & i also love my friendlies in ogden. moving here was an excellent choice, i must say!
hope your st patrick's was fabulous & fun-filled!

me, kristen & mikki!

love this one. love this holiday, too!

march is my favorite month.

WHY MARCH IS MY FAVORITE MONTH

(or at least a close second to july):

1. mustache march!!!

for those who know me well, facial hair is kind of my favorite.
as you can see above, where i painted one on myself.

when i lived in SLC we even gave our house a mustache for the festive occasion!!!
let the creeper staches grow boys...luke, that means you too.

2. FESTIVAL OF COLORS!

this will be my 4th year of going to the hare krishna temple to celebrate spring. my dad always likes to give me a hard time about it, but seriously, celebrating spring by throwing chalk at each other? & seeing the beautiful krishna temple? pretty sure there is nothing better!

3. LUKE TURNS 25!!

us at the festival of colors last year.

luke becomes an old man this month, hitting the ripe old age of 25.

what an old fart! but really, i'm excited. last year i took him to see of montreal for his birthday, but this year the concert we're going to is on the 31st of this month! another reason i love march:

4. WE ARE SEEING FUN. IN CONCERT!

i absolutely love this band...the lead singer is originally from the format, but hey, fun. is good too. give them a listen! luke & i are going to meet & greet in sandy before their concert in SLC. we're gonna try to get them to sign our vinyl!

so there you have it. march is the best month ever... and also, SPRING BREAK! jeez, i just keep comin' up with reasons as i go... i love march!

Valentines Day.

I've never really been a fan of Love Day. Mostly I feel like it's a corporate holiday, and plus I've never really had a good V Day.
This year was different.


I have the greatest man in my life. It still hits me sometimes how lucky I am. V Day was one of those days. It started when I awoke to a note on the door from our bedroom to the living room/kitchen that said "DO NOT COME IN UNTIL I GET YOU!" I was like... Oh jeez.
So he finally let me in to find a delicious breakfast (hash browns, a gigantic pancake w/ homemade maple syrup, and my favorite, an overeasy egg) as well as a rustic, red lantern.
I have an obsession with awesome vintage pieces, and this lantern was so so perfect. AND it was filled with candy! Bonus!


Unfortunately I had school ALL DAY. Such a bummer. But I came home to yet another surprise... A beautiful painting for above our bed, along with a new vase filled with beads and a fake sunflower (my fave). He then topped it off with a sock monkey, red and black. I love things like that, esp sock monkeys!! It was so cute, an unique, and creative I almost cried. I made him a wall hanging and got him a sculpture of a Hindu god but it felt totally lame in comparison.
On top of all this, he made me chicken parmesan and bought a bottle of Chardonnay. Thank you, my love.
I am so blessed to have Luke in my life. He is so supportive of me and my craziness. He loves me despite how irritable I can be and supports me 100% in my goals and dreams.
Happy Love Day also to my family an close friends. You all are amazing! Now for some V Day photos:

the lantern he got me, the sunflower/vase, the ADORABLE sock monkey, & my present to him! love.

the presents waiting with the picture hung. luke says my expression was priceless. i was so surprised, & so glad it wasn't just a box of chocolates. this boy thinks outside the box!

this boy also cooks....and he cooks WELL! this was the best chicken parmesan i have ever had. it was so delicious! i'll snag the recipe from him, if he'll share his secret, & post it on here someday.

his cute note.

(not that i would have gone in anyway. he let me sleep in until 9 o-freaking-clock. 

so there was my holiday. i hope everyone had a good one, single or taken. you all are truly loved!