hotlanta

We are spending the weekend in Hotlanta with our dear friends, Emily and Rob.I'll have lots of photos to post next week :)

Also next week - a story on how we rescued a poor little china cabinet from a trailer park in Charlotte, and gave it a facelift and a new name.

Happy Labor Day!

say what you need to say

Yesterday, the weather was horrible in NC. Rain, hail, thunder, lightning, wind, flooding, a TORNADO or two... it was nothing less than miserable. Despite the unsafe conditions, my friends and I thought that making a pilgrimage to Raleigh was still a great idea. We were right. When we arrived in Raleigh, the sky didn't clear, but it did stop raining just in time for us to park, turn in our tickets, and get "front lawn" seats to hear...

...can't tell who the cutie is? Is this picture better?

yup. OneRepublic. My guilty pleasure. So cute, and you know what? Better in concert than on cd. mm-hmm. And after they performed, we danced to...

So now is where I say what I need to say. His new haircut makes him look more like a geek. Every time I see the guy I am surprised at how tall and lanky he is. He looked like he should be playing computer games and watching anime. (And I'm not at all bitter about him dumping Jennifer. That's right, she and I are on a first name basis. We're pretty much BFF.)

It was a fun night with girlfriends. As soon as we got in the car to leave, it started to rain again. Today I'm tired, but content.

Oh yeah. Today is my 2-year dating anniversary with Jus, 100 days until my wedding, and I'm going to pick up a china cabinet/hutch that I bought off craigslist ($75) tonight. There will be some decorating posts coming soon!

It's on like donkey kong...

I told you so. Wedding planning is in FULL FORCE starting today. That means I need all of you to pack your bags, come to NC, and start helping me out. I need my house painted, cleaned, organized, and then you can start addressing envelopes for invitations or tying bows on favors. Anyone up for the challenge? C'mon, you know you want to :)

So, I have a florist. I heart her times a million. She does florist-y stuff as a side job for fun, so she is an absolute pleasure to work with. It also makes her ALOT easier on the budget. We agree that the flowers for our wedding should scream "vintage winter elegance" (sounds swanky, eh?) ((I sound Canadian, eh?)) We are putting alot of textures together, as well as many shades of white, green and brown. Here are just a FEW photos of some possible flowers we might use. Let me know your opinions!

I am excited to see what it all looks like together!

And for those who were wondering - the weekend at the lake was so fun! Lots of sleeping, eating, and relaxing. We all watched a few movies too - Drillbit Taylor and Hairspray. Justin starts his first day of school tomorrow. Wish him luck!

Nothing to do but relax...

I have alot to do this weekend.

I have to drive here...

and I have to watch this...

I have to eat this...

I have to read this...

I'll probably need to take this...
and I get to see this...

well, the cute one on the left... the other 2 won't be there :)

Have a great weekend, y'all! Wedding planning goes into full force next week - you better be ready!

The New Mr. and Mrs. B

This weekend we celebrated the wedding of two great friends - Katie and Adam. I forgot to take pictures, except for while we were waiting around for the ceremony to begin. It was a sweet little ceremony. I am jealous that they are off on a beach in Jamaica for a week. Do you all have recommendations for OUR honeymoon? We still haven't booked anything...

Katie and her sis...

Katie, her sis, and her mom...World's most awkward photo of me and Emily...Bridesmaids peeking to see who is waiting in line :)

I hate naming posts.

I wish that I were more creative in my titles for you all. I need to hire June just to come up with titles. Speaking of June, I got to meet her and her sweet little Tallulah on Saturday morning. It was fun to get to chat with her for a little while and for Tallulah and Phoebe to meet. Tallulah was very cordial to the Phoesbster and did not bother her one bit. Phoebe just stood there, as usual. She is so high maintenance. It was my first time meeting up with a blog world friend, and it was fun.

Two weekends ago, Justin and I went to Asheville for friends' weddings. (Notice the plural form of wedding) On the way there and on the way back we passed 2 of my favorite landmarks. They have been my faves since the summer after 12th grade. My friend, Kate, and I took our first roadtrip sans parents. We went to Nashville, TN, for her college orientation at Vanderbilt University. We had lots of fun, and managed to come home all in one piece. These landmarks are neighbors, and are located on I-40 in NC, somewhere between Greensboro and... Asheville.

Yes, it is Meal Barn, and Deal Barn. So classy.

And here's the stereotypical token in-the-car picture of us. We just needed to record ourselves on the day we finally pulled the car over to take pics of MealBarnDealBarn. We look exhausted, probably from the horrid smell of our rental car (it smelled like old cheap lotion and butter biscuits)
Next post: Katie's wedding!!

The Man

So, since Justin's name is in the title of this blog, I figure I should finally introduce him to you. He DID post yesterday, right? So here are the stats:

His family is from Iowa, but he grew up in Raleigh, NC.

He has 2 wonderful parents, an older brother, an older sister, a sister in law and a brother in law.

He was a teaching fellow at Appalachian State University (Go 'Neers!) and now is an elementary school teacher. Last year he taught a 4th and 5th grade combo class at a Montessori School. This year he will be teaching 2nd grade at a traditional school.

He is an Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker, which means that he walked all 2,174 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. He carried everything in a pack on his back, and did it in 4.5 months (the average thru-hike takes around 6 months). He is pretty amazing :) Also, he is a earth-friendly tree hugger at heart.

He is so funny, sweet, and he really knows EVERYTHING. Great to have on your Trivial Pursuit team! He plays a billion instruments, and loves apples when it comes to fruit or electronics. He loves people, is a great listener, and is very good at rolling with the punches of life. I could keep going and going and going, but why do that when I could show you pictures?

Here he is at the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail (you can see how skinny he is - he lost about 30-40 lbs on his hike!)

Here he is with a baby chick at the State Fair (we both LOVE the state fair)...

Us with my parents...

Him asking me to marry him... his hair looks extra fluffy in this pic. And Phoebe says Hi, too :)
and again...I have limited photos of him on this computer, but hopefully he can post more often and show you a little more of his life. You all will love him, he's great.

The Man's First Post

Justin Needs...
1. a partner
2. a clever display name with pictures
3. to know, and he needs to hear it from someone who cares
4. an attitude adjustment
5. close supervision
6. to hook up with Jessica Simpson
7. a refill
8. to stop being gay
9. to tie his shoes
10. to learn to stop getting embarrassing pictures of himself taken

(in response to this)

the play by play

this past weekend:
-drove to asheville
-planned a friend's wedding - seriously, the whole thing in one night
-went to another friend's wedding
-taught dance (i'll post videos later)

this week:
-work every day
-teach every day
-get internet at home (yayyyyyyyyyyyy! i can post on weekends!)
-watch olympics
-awaken stuff
-get ready for katie's wedding this weekend
-get passport
-plan honeymoon
-decide on reception band
-schedule dress fittings
-katie's wedding festivities (rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, bridal lunch, get ready, ceremony, reception)
-paint our other hallway?
-lose 5 lbs or 2 inches from my hips?

i need a personal assistant.

I'm not posting enough this week.

I hope I'm not starting to slack off.

Justin and I are hopefully going to hire a band to play at our wedding reception. They are called "soul central", and they are fun. Here is their myspace page. Go listen to them and let us know if you think they would be fun to have at our big party :)

I've been working every night this week at the dance studio. For our competitive team, we have 2 weeks of intensive summer classes at the beginning of summer, and 2 weeks at the end of summer. This week started the second half of "summer dance". On top of teaching class each night, I've been working on solos, duets, trios and small group dances AFTER regular class. It's exhausting to everyone involved, but I really like to get choreography set on the dancers as early in the year as possible. I have to brag on one of our kids - Maddie. I started teaching her 8 years ago, when she was 9 years old. This year she'll be a senior in high school, and I have to say, I dread her graduating! I know that she needs to go to college, and I know that soon I'll be buying tickets to watch her dance in a professional company, but I really don't want her to leave. Last night, we started working on 1 of her 2 solos for this year. We were supposed to have a 1.5 hour lesson, but we decided to change the music, so we really only worked for about 25 minutes. She learns so quickly, and can do anything you tell her to do. Plus, she has a weird ability to read my mind... anyways, here's what we accomplished in 25 minutes yesterday. You better keep an eye out for her on SYTYCD.

Last, another survey inspired by Jennifer P. So you type "*your name* needs" in google, and see what comes up. so here's mine...
Lauren Needs...
1. attention
2. someone with her when she is outdoors (AMEN, I'm scared of everything!)
3. to grow up
4. a myspace (have one already - facebook is better)
5. a hotel room ( i DO need one - for my honeymoon!!!!)
6. to get over it already (get over what?)
7. an acoustic drum kit (hahaha - I'd rather have Rock Band for Wii)
8. to chill out and stay out of other people's business (i think alot of these refer to Lauren Conrad from the Hills)
9. to work on her self esteem (isn't that the truth?)
10. water.

Allow Me to Introduce You...

I'd like for you to meet some new people in my life.

First, there is Hannah Elizabeth, that I've told you about before...what a cutie - all 5 lbs, 15 oz of her :)

And here is my free iron bird themed coat rack thingy.... don't know what I'm going to do with it, but it was free, so I couldn't resist.oops, sorry I didn't rotate this for you...

And lastly, the newest addition to the Almost-Stagner family...isn't she a cutie? Her little sister iTouch iPod is really cute, too.

I am so busy this week with work, teaching, and new choreography. I'll maybe post some videos on here soon :)

one quick list

So, with this one, you post photos of the answers - i'm going to try to find most/some of them on google images to spice it up a bit...
1. Your age on your next birthday.

2. A place you'd like to travel. 3. Your favorite place. 4. Your favorite object. 5. Your favorite food.6. Your favorite animal. 7. Your favorite color.8. The town where you were born.
9. The town where you live. See #8.
10. Name of a past pet.
11. Name of a past love.
12. Best friend's nickname.
13. Your screen name. N/A
14. Your first name.
15. Your middle name.
16. Your last name.
17. Bad habit.
18. Your first job.
19. Name of your grandmother. See #15
20. College major.

and.....
this took forever.... but it was fun - comment to tell me if you did it and i'll go read yours!