LoveLauren

The end of an Era

2013-07-18T08:45:00.001-07:00

Now, you may be curious about what it is I actually do. Until recently I have spent the past two years building a strong bond with someone else's kids. That's right. I was/still am for 6 more working days, a nanny. I am with these children 50 hours a week, loving them, cherishing them, and ~~hopefully~~ helping them become better people. For two years I have kissed boo-boos, given piggy back rides, taught countless lessons, and rocked them into peaceful slumber more then one time. It breaks my heart to leave them, but I know it's my time to go. The end of an era has finally come, and I am now, a real live teacher. With a classroom, and students, and a lot of responsibilities. AND IT'S REALLY SCARY. But also very exciting :). The children that I will be teaching are pretty much the opposite of the children I care for now (It's safe to say they don't have a nanny), and I couldn't be more happy to help make their lives a little bit happier.

p90x!

2013-04-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

This week has been super busy! I have been waking up at 5:30 to get my p90x workout in, and then most of the time doing something in the evening. On Monday, Tom and I went to the gym and I ran a few miles. Tuesday I rode our recombinant bike for an hour (I went 14 miles), and today it is likely we will go to the gym so I can run again. Tom and I are signed up for a 5k on April 20, so that should be fun! And it gives me some motivation to keep running. My endurance is getting a lot better thanks to my handy dandy ankle brace! It supports my entire ankle, so I can't roll it again. Next week I start up grad school classes again, so life is going to get a whole lot busier. I have been pretty good at managing it in the past, so time management will be a very important skill going into the next 15 weeks or so.

This past Easter weekend we got to spend a lot of quality time with our families, which is always nice. Friday we had dinner with Tom's parents, his sister, her husband, and two of our cute nephews, Connor(4) and Zennon (almost 2!!) After dinner we headed to my sister Rachel's house, to see her, her husband, and our other cute little nephew, Max (almost 5 months!). Saturday was a busy day at Tom's sister Melissa's house. The whole Schneider side of the family was there to visit, which is always a good time! :) Sunday we were up and off to church with Melissa, Eric, & the boys. After we hung out, then went to my mom's house for Easter dinner with my family! Busy, busy, busy.

I got to try Shakeology for the first time this morning. I ordered the Vegan Chocolate Shakeology, and boy was it yummy! A little bit of a chalky texture at first, but once the ice melted down it was better. I think it could have used more blending. I knew that the vegan version was going to be like that, but I still wanted to try it. I mixed mine with some peanut butter, coffee, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and water. Also shaved some ice in there with out awesome Margaritaville Margarita Maker. I feel energized, and full! I was not expecting the shake to be so filling!! If you're interested in ordering some, email me at laurentonesitup@gmail.com, or checkout my beachbody page. Fun stuff, right?!

My little bicep is growing! You could barely see it before!

Day one of p90x!

Day Two p90x!

Not the greatest pic, but it's there!

mmmm Shakeology!

Big one for me, little one for hubby :)

Love,
Lauren

Beachbody

2013-03-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Why Hello!
Fancy seeing you here! I know, it's been.... a while. I've been away, and a lot has changed. But not too too much. Last January (2012) I started Grad school, working on my master's in Software Engineering Management. It's hard, but I really love it ~~so far~~. Also, Tom and I got married (Whoot Whoot!) Locked one of the good ones down for myself! Nanana Boo Boo! We went on an AMAZING honeymoon to the beautiful island of Hawaii ( I know Hawaii is a chain of islands, but we actually went to the big island, which is actually named Hawaii!). We spent two blissful, loving, beautiful, relaxing, ~~thought about moving there~~, weeks there. Seriously, if you ever get the chance, GO!

Beyond that, life's been hectic, busy, and very overwhelming at times, but nothing I can't handle. Right? On top of everything else in my life, I have decided to become a Beachbody Coach. What is a Beachbody Coach you ask? Well, it's pure awesomeness. Not only do I get to have more motivation, and more of a reason to workout, eat healthy, and be overall more awesome, but I get to help all of you! And make a little extra cash. :) :) Why did I decide to become a Coach? Well! I love the whole fitness world, I love exercising, helping others exercise, cooking, and eating healthy.

On top of all of that, I get to learn about, and use all of the Beachbody awesomeness that there is and share it with all of you. My first product that I am trying is Shakeology. From what I have heard and read, it is the most nutritious thing that I could possibly eat or drink in a day. I can't wait to get started with it! I am also going to begin the p90x program, but I am still waiting on my door stopper!

If anyone is interested in any Beachbody products, or would just like some tips and motivation, please email me at laurengetsfit@gmail.com, or visit my website, www.beachbodycoach.com/LDURIS

Love,

Lauren

Our 2011 Health Journey

2012-01-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

So last December (2010) Tom and I looked at each other and thought, "Wow, we need to do something about this!" We were overweight and feeling down on ourselves, so on January 3, 2011 we started our weight loss journey. At first that's what it was all about, losing weight. I lost about 15 pounds in a month and Tom lost over 20. We cut out all the junk, all of the processed, boxed, frozen, JUNK. I instantly started to feel better, not just in my appearance, but I was sleeping better, Tom stopped snoring, I didn't get tired as quickly, and I didn't feel lethargic all the time. I could run longer, I could lift more, and I was excited about how my body was feeling. Tom's acid re-flux went away completely, and he was re-energized. As I become more engrossed with losing weight I learned about all of the health benefits of cutting all the junk out. Diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, glaucoma, all those things run in my family, and by changing my diet and exercising, I was preventing all those things from happening to my body. That gave me even more of a drive to change my lifestyle.

I did become obsessed for a while, weighing myself everyday and scrutinizing myself over each inch, and each pound. Instead of celebrating how far I came I was tearing myself down for what I hadn't done. Luckily, I am marrying and amazing man, and he reminded me of what I have done for myself, my future, and my body. He is so encouraging, and I couldn't have done this without him.

Of course we had our moments of weakness. When we would go home we would splurge, or when we had family come visit us, or to celebrate something. But we always went back. We maintained really well, and at the end of 2011 I had lost 30 pounds, and Tom had lost 35 pounds. As we entered 2012, we reevaluated our health goals and decided that Tom wanted to lose 10 more pounds, and I wanted to lose 15 more. We switched back to a whole food diet (I think I made this up! To me this means veggies, fruit, lean meat {chicken, turkey, certain fishes, Heart Healthy pork loin} and yogurt.) It's always hard at first, giving up the pizza, the margaritas, the Mexican food, the JUNK, but already, after six days I feel so much better. I am back to having a full night's sleep without waking up, I have more energy, and I am getting so much more out of my workouts because I have natural food supporting my body. The food you're meant to eat, the food God intended us to eat. I have lost 4 pounds, and tom has lost 4 as well. Yes, we will splurge, but we know that it only takes a few days on the whole food diet lifestyle and we will feel so much better. And honestly, this is a lifestyle that we have taken charge of and intend to live our lives this way. We want our future children to understand what healthy food does for them, and how it will make their bodies feel amazing. We are thinking long term! So to those of you who have made it a goal to get healthy, help your family get healthy, and change your lifestyle, you can do it! Get up, and do something, you will feel so much better about yourself.

I have a simple rule that I follow if I'm not sure about what to eat, "If it has roots, or a mother, and looks like it did when it was grown, then it's good!"

Good luck with all your New Years resolutions, and if you need a work out buddy or some yummy healthy recipes, just let me know! :)
Love,
Lauren

Tom and I in December 2010. (several pounds heavier!)

Us in September 2011

Rachel and I on New Years!

See, MAJOR difference!

Home Sweet Home!

2011-10-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Why Hello :]

As many (should be all!) of you know, Tom and I moved just north of Cincinnati last December. We are now nearing our one year anniversary of moving here (Time sure flies when you're having fun), and I FINALLY got to putting things up in our bedroom. Heck, we didn't even have curtains until about a month ago. Well, I have pretty much ~~cluttered up~~ decorated all of the other rooms in our house. So now it was the bedrooms turn! We got our engagement pictures done about a month ago, and I finally found some frames I like to put them in! Now keep in mind, we do not have children, so we have a lot of pictures of ourselves. haha.

So oddly enough, this dresser belonged to my parents, they bought the whole bedroom set when they got married, so it has been around for quite a while! I have three Ball mason jars on the left with candles in them, and a candlestick that I got at an antique mall with a candle on it. We just hung the pictures above today!

Here is a close up of the pictures. I bought the two thicker frames at Michaels today, the little one for $3.99 and the big one was $6.99. The three smaller frames were actually orange and I spray painted them brown!

This is the collage photo frame I got today at Michaels for $14.99! What a steal! I have been looking for one I liked for cheap, so perfect!

Here's a close up!

I know, I didn't center these the best, but I'm not that worried! I grabbed these shelves up a few weeks ago from target for 6 bucks! The bouquet is from my sister Lisa's wedding, and the other things are stuff I had around the house!

This is a piece of metal art that my sister Lisa got me for my birthday, and it's perfect because it's big enough to not look small on this huge wall (at least in person) and the tone of the colors matches perfect with our ~~ugly~~ yellow walls.

Now this isn't in the bedroom, but I spray painted this frame brown. It was white, but it was kind of scratched up when I bought it (it was $3 at TJ Maxx), and I knew I could fix it right up with some spray paint!

Here's a close up! :)

Please forgive my ~~awful~~ yellow walls. They're not my favorite! But we're renting, so we can live with it!

Hope you enjoyed a peak into our home!

Love,
Lauren

Wedding Madness!

2011-10-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

Hellllllloooooo!
Yes, I am one of those annoying people who use too many letters in my words. It's the best! So, as we near our wedding deadline (EIGHT MONTHS FROM TODAY!) we actually have to do things for our wedding, not just talk about it. We now have invitations picked out, engagement pictures done, save the dates sent out, and are beginning to gather things for the reception. My's family is also beginning to plan my shower! Exciting I know. This transition is very strange though. We went from only talking and discussing, and dreaming, and now we are doing. Next, we will begin picking out cakes, flowers, food, and music! In the next few months I also get to go with my wonderful bridesmaids and help them pick out their dresses! We also get to discuss our ceremony with our awesome officiant, Jason Mims, who became an officiant just for us! How awesome! I am getting more and more excited as our day is rapidly approaching, and we cannot wait to celebrate with everyone!
Love,
Lauren
PS- Here are some of our engagement pictures, all courtesy of Blue Martini Photography

Sisterly love

2011-10-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

As many people know, I have two amazing, wonderful, intelligent, inspiring, caring and all things wonderful, sisters. Since we were little, we have loved, hated, admired, and supported each other. Growing up with Rachel and Lisa was more then I could have ever asked for, at least for the most part (haha). I'm the youngest, so when we would play, I got the grunt jobs. At our old house we had a huge sandbox in the very back of our back yard. We always liked to make tunnels and rivers and little towns with our sand. Our town needed water to go in the river, makes sense right? Well, it was always my job to go get the water, which was all the way at the house. So instead of building tunnels, I would end up spending my afternoon running from the sandbox to the faucet, filling up a 16 oz cup with water, running back to the sandbox, and then back again. Over, and over, and over. At least that's the way I remember it happening. I just wanted to play with them. I am six years younger than Rachel, and four years younger than Lisa, so there was a big age gap, and didn't always understand what they were playing, or how to do the things they were doing. But they included me, which is all I wanted. And then we got a little older, and were in totally different places in our lives. I wasn't all that much fun to hang out with because I was in elementary school and Rachel was graduating from high school, and then eventually Lisa went to college, and I was in high school, and then I was in college, and they were both graduated and married, and had homes, and careers. It's really interesting how no matter where we were in our lives, we knew that we could count on each other. Having sisters is like having built in best friends. You get mad at each other, disagree, but then you get over it, you apologize, and you move on. There is no fight to end the friendship. Even if there was, we would just call mom and have her fix it. Now here we are, all three of us grown adults, with our lives, jobs, homes, and husbands (yes, I know I'm not married yet, but soon enough), and we still make time for each other, because we're built in best friends. We're each others biggest cheerleaders and supporters. I couldn't imagine not having my sisters. I couldn't imagine not having that bond and that go to best friend. I am so happy I have them in my life.
Love,
Lauren

Browns Game

Lisa's bachelorette party

Lions game

Christmas

Rachel's Wedding

Lisa's Wedding (I'm next!)

L is for the way you look at me... :)

2011-09-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Come on, you all know the song! At the beginning of this journey (the living together and in a totally different city), we had no idea what would happen. We had never lived together before, and little did we know that we didn't really know what to expect. Up until that point in our lives we had obviously spent most of our time living with our parents. Sooo... no grocery shopping, no decorating, and no question as to our lifestyle choices. As you start this process of living together you learn those weird things about people. For example, Tom's family puts the syrup in the fridge. My family keeps it in the pantry. Every time I go to grab the syrup, it's not there. Sure enough I find it in the fridge. Then I have to put cold syrup on my pancakes. Who wants cold syrup on their pancakes? My family would always go out for ice cream, whether it was after softball games, or just because mom & I had a hankering for some yummy coldness. This is something Tom was unfamiliar with (or at least not thrilled and thought of it as a waste of money), but this summer I have turned him onto ice cream parlors and now we are lovers of ice cream parlors. Aren't they ah-mazing? haha. Anyways, this is not about ice cream. This is about how Nine-ish months ago I thought I was as satisfied with our relationship as I was going to get. I did not think I could have been happier. I was soooooo happy. Now here we are... nine-ish months later and I can say that I am utterly amazed that I get to spend the rest of my life with Tom. He is truly a great man, and will be an amazing husband, and will one day be a great father. God could not have blessed me with a greater man. And this realization makes me so thrilled because I am so looking forward to the next time I have this realization. I hope every person gets to feel this way, at least once, and hopefully always.
Who knew you could learn so much about someone just from living with them. :)
Love,
Lauren

The last of the summer weekends...

2011-09-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Tom and I really started to wrap up our end of summer-ness. We were fortunate enought to be able to have all of Tom's family down for the weekend (Pat, Sandy, Melissa, Eric, Connor, Zennon, and Nana), and what a great weekend did we have! Mind you it was very busy, but yet a lot of fun (and we didn't even drive three hours with a toddler and a baby!). We played at the park, had some tasty margaritas, took a paddle boat ride, ate some yummy crab dip (and cakes!), played Zoo Legos, watched some fireworks, and watched a lot of football! Busy I know! But this weekend taught me a lot. It showed me that kids grow up so fast, and you only get so much time with them before they don't want to be your friend anymore. Connor just turned three, and that completely boggled my mind! I remember when he was a baby and getting to hold him, and now he is a toddler, and soon he will be heading off to school! So Uncle Tom and Aunt Lauren spent a lot of time playing with Connor this weekend. We got to play a lot! Tom also managed to pick up a few "Connor-isms." Like, Connor wanted to watch the fire works RIGHT NOW! So now Tom is saying he wants to watch football RIGHT NOW! If only you could hear the way he says it! Connor just gets so excited about what's coming up, and Tom just does it to be silly :) Uncle Tom also learned how to build a zoo out of legos, and Grandma just can't quite do it the same way. We also got to spend a lot of time with Zennon, who is rolling over and almost sitting up on his own, already! It was so great to get to see the boys and spend time with everyone. They're growing up right before our eyes and we just can't believe it!

Looking at the big paddle on the boat!

Living out of town has taught me to appreciate the time I have with my family, because I dont get to see them all the time anymore. Differences need to be put aside, and you just need to relax and let yourself have fun and enjoy each other's company, that's why you're there in the first place! You only have so many memories, so they should be good ones. :)

What does living out of town teach you?

Love,

Lauren

Playing with Uncle Tom

Yikes!

2011-09-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hiiiiiii!

I know it's been a while, but I have been a busy lady! Between work, visiting friends, and general life thrown together it gets busy. We had an awesome weekend (last weekend), but it was very quick and very busy! On Friday Tom had his first football draft, so I spent my evening at the gym (glamorous I know!). Then on Saturday Tom worked in the morning, and after work we headed up north for Tom to draft in his second league. He got to play a few games of horseshoes with family and spend some time with our adorable nephews. After the draft we headed over to Katy and Jason's (Check out my uber talented cousin Katy here: South Paw Studios) for a beer tasting (Jason and my brother in law Matt are super into Craft beer, check out Jason's page, Everything Brewed). They got all sorts of ~~yucky~~ different cheeses for us to try with the beer, it was a lot of fun and good to see Matt, Lisa, Katy, and Jason! On Sunday morning we headed back down to the Cinci area and made our way out to our friend's family farm and spent the evening visiting our friend Ben who was in town from Augusta, SC. So good to see him and meet his new-ish lady Anna. On Monday (after work that is) we headed down into cinci to watch our Redlegs lose to the Phillies, but hey, at least the game was good! As far as this weekend goes we are home bodies. Tom is on call so leaving the house can become a pain. But football is on now, so it makes our Saturdays spent at home much more enjoyable! (And I got to put my Buckeye's jersey on again, FINALLY!) As far as the future goes we will have lots of visitors next weekend when Tom's parents, sister (& fam) and Nana come to visit us! We're going on a Riverboat ride and I cannot wait to see the excitement on Connor's face!

Till Later!

Love,
Lauren

decisions decisions...

2011-08-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

So Tom and I have been facing a lot of grown up choices that I dont know if we're ready to make. We were looking at houses and then chose a house and were getting ready to decide to make an offer, and then we changed our minds. I think more then anything it scared us. We wouldn't have the freedom to do things as we please (financial freedom), and that's not exciting to us. I know owning a home is an investment, but at this point it's not something we NEED to do. But going back to pre-not buying a house, I was getting really excited. I was going to be able to pick out paint, and tile, and flooring and learn how to frame (we want a finished basement), and all of these things would have given me something to do. I am a very project focused person. If I am given a project to work on, I really focus on it. So, I was getting very excited about the idea of picking out patio furniture, planting a garden, and being able to have people over! But! We changed our minds, and it broke my heart. I know deep down this was a choice we needed to make though. Waiting until after the wedding will free up a lot of cash (we're currently saving over half of my income each month to pay for it), and will also give us a chance to adjust to paying our student loans and all the randomness that comes up. Once this choice was made I was in a bit of a funk. I was just like, "what now? What am I going to spend all my time thinking about and planning and gathering ideas for? Because it's not a house anymore..." And then Tom kindly reminded me that I WE have a wedding to plan, and that apparently I am lacking... I had no idea. So there we are. Confused, overwhelmed, anxious, and excited all at the same time. We will continue our home search in the spring, but at that point will be able to afford a much larger (Nicer) home. Confusing I know....

Day One... Right?

2011-08-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know... I'm Lauren, 22 years old, engaged to the wonderful Tom Duris (I get to become his wife next June =] ). We recently made the bold choice to move to Cincinnati (Hamilton actually) to begin our adult lives together. Why Cinci you ask? Well, it's a long story with a lot of decision making and discussions. BUT, the short version is that Tom was offered an awesome opportunity down here to work with a Funeral Home that will offer of great long term opportunities down the road. As for me, I have my teaching degree and know that there are few to NO jobs in Toledo, so moving down here would hopefully lead to a teaching job. As for now I am a Nanny for a wonderful family in Mason, OH. They have two children (three and two months!) and I couldnt be more thrilled that they chose me =].

So that's enough about me... The point of this here is to let my family and friends in on what is going on in our lives. Tom and I are not the best at communicating and need to start doing a much better job! This is one way to start for sure. It is also going to be about our journey. We are starting to make very adult decisions that we haven't had to make before and it's really intimidating. Things like buying a house, making wedding plans, and planning for our future are here, and I want to share the process. =]