I am so glad I finally wore these! They have been hanging in my closet for nearly TWO years now - isn't that terrible?! These babies deserved to be put to use. Thanks to you all who encouraged me to wear them! I was amazed by how often my outfit was brought up in conversation during the day. People in the mall were so kind when they would specifically come over to me to tell me how cute the overalls are and that they want a pair of them too! These overalls that I am wearing are from Madewell, but I added a little bit of character to them! :) Turns out girl scouts in 2nd grade paid off for something - of course the one thing I remember from arts and crafts time is how to sew! I bought these overalls for $20ish and decided to add the white stitching to the tops of the pockets for fun. I also added denim material to the flare in order to make the pant part long enough for my height! Would you guys like a how-to for DIY clothing embroidery/stitching? Let me know! Also I will link some options to shop pieces from this post down below! Keep scrolling for photos and 10 things you may not know about me!
Thing #1: I am an extrovert, but I get overwhelmed by social interaction sometimes!
I love people. I can hardly stand time alone actually, but I do get worn out from too much conversation and feeling over stimulated. It's definitely a fine balance, but I have found that I love close knit groups. I can be around people who I know without being overwhelmed, but I get very over-stimulated by large groups or small talk with people I don't know well. Anyone else feel kind of like an introverted extrovert?! For reference I am an ENFP on the Meyers-Briggs test. If you don't know what you are, maybe try taking the test - it could help you understand yourself/personality a little better!
Thing #2: I want short hair or bangs. Maybe both!
Over the summer I started feeling like changing up my hair. I recently started loving the idea of bangs! I'm getting married this coming May, so now is probably not the time to go crazy with my hair cut! (lol my hairdresser said she refuses to cut bangs on my hair till after the wedding. My married self will likely be thanking her for the wise advice to delay hair cut spontaneity. Who knows though, maybe next June I'll have a fun new trendy short cut with bangs! Okay.. maybe just the bangs. Baby steps, right?
Thing #3: I became a Christian just 2 years ago!
...If you don't have time to read the entire book I wrote below about this, please at least read the second paragraph! It's the best part.
I used to be a moralist..(who claimed to be a Christian)! I grew up really into the idea of doing good and loving others. Although that doesn't seem like the worst idea, it was actually a lot of selfishness in me. I wanted to do good and love people so that people, and God, would love me back and have a good impression of me! (I found out later that this is not how God loves his people!) Fast forward to sophomore year of college, I met a good friend named Alex. (Keep reading - God uses her to change my life!) Alex started hanging out with me after running into each other at a youth group meeting. She told me she was a Christian, however her life looked way different from mine. I slowly started to see what was different in her life and it was that she was living her life to glorify God and chase His will/call for her life, and I was living my life for myself while hoping that if I was a good enough person, I would earn my way to heaven.
Alex eventually asked me to grab coffee with her in January of 2016. She shared with me Romans 6:23 which says, "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." This verse showed me: what I have earned by any and every "good" deed I have done is spiritual death which is hell. THANK THE LORD THE VERSE FOLLOWS THAT NEWS WITH THE WORD "BUT"! It then says, although you earned nothing short of hell because your good deeds are never purely good or perfect, God has made a way for you because he loves you! Alex explained to me that He offers saving grace through His son Jesus, you just have to accept his gift and trust fully in Him. Trusting fully in the Lord looks like living your life for Him and doing good things only for His glory because you love Him so much and are filled with fullness and gratitude for the new life in Christ that He has offered you! My eyes were opened, my heart was softened, and the holy spirit filled me up from that day on! (Thank you Lord for using Alex! And thank you Alex for being brave and loving me enough to take time to share what good news it is that we can be saved by grace alone.)
Thing#3.5 Coming to faith and dating Drew!
Drew became a Christian 2 days before me, while we were dating! The Lord worked so much, so quickly in our lives. Thankfully we had months of growth in Christ individually. We were not broken up, but we had time with distance from each other. We went to a three month program in Florida, two summers ago, after becoming Christians. The program's purpose is to help college students, who are new to their faith, grow deeper in knowing Jesus and how to share Him, and what He has done in our lives, with others! In that summer we didn't have much time to hangout or be absorbed by our relationship. Instead we were able, for the first time, to be more focused on the individual relationships we each were developing and growing with our Lord and Savior, Jesus. The dynamic of our relationship changed so much and definitely for the better! I could talk more about this, let me know if you want to know more :)
Thing #4: I am recently engaged! #warnerwedding
Many of you probably know that I am engaged to Drew, so I'll share more that you may not know. Drew and I met and started dating in high school! He was a junior, and I was a sophomore. The first time I met him he asked me, at a Friday night football game, in front of the entire student section, to go to the homecoming dance with him! (I had literally just met him 30 minutes prior to him asking me lol love at first sight?) Drew is the only boyfriend I ever had and we started officially dating when he dropped me off from the homecoming dance. He asked me in a cheesy way and later told me it was how his 3rd grade teacher asked his wife to marry him, so Drew thought he would have luck with asking me that way since it had worked for his teacher. (Is that foreshadowing or just ironic?) I have to admit though, it was cute. On that same topic, I thought he would use that cheesy pick up line when he would propose to me. Thankfully he didn't!
Other things about us:
We went apartment hunting last month and decided on our first place to live together next year as a married couple! (It is located right next to Barnes and Noble!! ...keep reading you'll understand if you don't already :)
We have a dream of living in Portland, Oregon one day.
We love to cook together!
Barnes and Noble is often a place we go to for date nights after dinner. (We both love to read.)
We are both certified white water rafting guides (We got our certs from working over the past summer at a Christian, high adventure camp in California. The camp is called Kidder Creek, it is an amazing place to say the least.)
Thing #5: I am the oldest of 3 sisters! (And also gaining an older sister!)
I have two younger sisters - Kennedy and Carlie. Kennedy is about to turn 18 in January and she is a senior in high school. Carlie is 13, and she is in 8th grade. I am so excited to be home from school for winter break so I can spend time with them and the rest of my family! Drew has a sister as well! Her name is Allie and she is married with two cute little boys :) I'm so excited to officially have an older sister!
Thing #6: Coffee or tea person?
I LOVE tea! I am not a coffee person at all, but matcha and chai tea all day! I currently writing this while drinking a grande chai tea latte... I love getting tea lattes from Starbucks because the foam on top of the tea is basically just as good as the tea itself. I know the world is obsessed with coffee, but I promise tea is good too!
Thing #7: I have plans to travel soonish!
This summer after Drew and I are married, we plan to visit a few places together! The first place we hope to go visit is Europe. I traveled there about ten years ago and Drew has not yet been! We have Paris at the top of our list and would love to visit the museums and cafes there. Since my family and I were far south in Nice when we visited, I was not able to make it to Paris. Drew and I have wanted to go for as long as I can remember. We get so excited talking about the city together, and we always say that when we go we will have a flexible itinerary so we can take it all in and not be stressed about getting to the next place. Is it crazy to say that I don't know if even a month would be long enough to do all the things I want to do in Paris.
A brief list of things I would love to do, see, experience:
See Tour de Eiffel, the Louvre, Museé d'Orsay, the Luxembourg Gardens and more.
Take a cooking class with Drew.
Go to a Parisian farmers market.
Spend an evening in a hole in the wall cafe in or near the heart of Paris.
Eat macaroons.
Shopping (and window shopping lol)
Thing #8: I love eating healthy, but I also love chocolate.
I would love to have a schedule where I could make all my food at home because I really eat healthy if I have the time to cook my own food. A lot of my days are too busy to make every meal at home so I will often eat out more than I'd like to. My favorite meals are filled with veggies, but I am also a girl who loves carbs. If you have any tips on balanced eating or fitting clean eating and exercise into a busy schedule, please let me know! Maybe when school isn't so time consuming I'll be be able to cut out the on-the-go junk and the chocolate incentives I allow myself for get things done on my to do lists.
Thing #9: I am on the hunt for a good moisturizer!
I would love to find a tinted moisturizer that feels goes on like lotion. I am considering trying Jergens facial bronzing moisturizer. Any thoughts on Jergens? Or have you had a good experience with any other specific skin care line or product? I have dry skin so I love facial lotions that are not too oily but also help replenish my skin with nutrients.
Thing #10: A growing area of mine is organization and time management!
I am busy and all over the place most of the time. Planners help, but I forget to use them when I get super busy! HELP - any advice on managing time? I need to make a plan so I can effectively get things done without high stress, procrastination, or distractions.
Stay tuned for exciting things coming up! (An Advent devotional for December, a gift guide, more hair styles with Christina and outfit posts!)
Thanks for reading! - especially if you have made it this far :)
Xo, Lauren
Reminder of Truth: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."