2019 was Quite the Year

Hey, it’s ya girl, Lauren. Apologies for neglecting this blog for months on months. Honestly, I haven’t felt the inspiration. I lost touch with a lot of my hobbies, but what better time to revisit them than quarantine??

Let me preface this post by addressing the obvious topic- COVID-19. The state of our world, and particularly our country, is almost unbelievable. Just 3 weeks ago I was laughing at memes about the virus, thinking it was being blown out of proportion. Now, 3 weeks later, I am still laughing at all the memes, but mostly to try to cope with the overwhelming fear and uncertainty that I and many others are currently experiencing. I am thankful to be working remotely from the safety of my home and that I and my loved ones are healthy.

ANYWAY- I’m not going to write an entire post about this horrible virus. I intend to use my blog as an escape and a creative outlet, which is why I started it in the first place. I got lost along the way took a lot of time off and put this on the back burner. But I am absolutely passionate about writing and also really really really need to relive some of the amazing moments I’ve had in the 7 FUCKING MONTHS that I haven’t written.

  1. I GOT MARRIED TO MY BEST FRIEND!!!

After 5 years of dating, my then-boyfriend Austin proposed to me on April Fools Day 2018. We were engaged for over a year and got married on November 2nd, 2019. We chose to have our wedding at Toccoa Falls waterfall in the North Georgia mountains. We were both raised in Georgia and most of our loved ones still live there. On top of that, we are outdoors people and I especially LOVE fall. Our wedding day was incredible. We felt so blessed and loved and got to spend time with everyone we cherished all at the same time. That, in my opinion, is such an amazing part of weddings. It’s truly one of the only times you will have everyone together in one place. I got to walk down the aisle to my best friend in the whole world stand before him and everyone we know and pledge my love to him forever. We had hand-written vows and the noise of the waterfall ensured our vows were private despite 80 guests sitting nearby. Even just thinking about that day, I cannot help but smile. I am so lucky to have this incredible man in my life that loves me, all of me- my failures, my flaws, the fucked up parts of me that I try to hide.

Photo by Teia Whaley Photography. She is so insanely talented and was a ton of fun to work with!

2. WE LEFT THE USA FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WENT TO THAILAND FOR OUR HONEYMOON!

Getting married was a huge moment in my life and our wedding day was spectacular. The only thing better than our actual wedding day was our honeymoon!

We waited a few weeks post-wedding for our honeymoon (10/10 would recommend doing this, we were completely exhausted from the wedding itself). Mid-November, we traveled internationally for the first time and went to Thailand!

Thailand exceeded every expectation I had. The people were incredibly kind, the beauty was jaw-dropping, and the FOOD. THE FOOD. We ate a shit ton of delicious Thai meals.

We flew into Chiang Mai and stayed in the old city for 3 days. I am so glad we chose to spend the “city portion” of our trip here rather than Phuket or Bangkok (while I’m sure they’re awesome too, I am absolutely in love with Chiang Mai). Next, we went to an elephant sanctuary in the mountains surrounding the city. I have never felt more connected to a place in my entire life. After our time at the sanctuary, we took a short flight down to the islands and visited Krabi, Ao Nang, Phi Phi, and Railey. The beauty of Thailand is truly a force to be reckoned with. I miss it so much.

3. Obviously, a wedding and honeymoon kind of dominate a year. But 2019 was filled with so many amazing memories- my best friends threw me an unforgettable (aside from the blackout drunk moments) bachelorette weekend in Atlanta, I got to spend a lot of time with family during numerous trips back home, I grew even closer with my mom, went to some epic concerts (including flying across the country so I wouldn’t miss seeing my girl Ariana Grande with my girls), and grew professionally in my career.

2019 was incredible and it’s hard to summarize it all into one post. So maybe this year, I can put more effort into my passion for writing and in doing so, record the precious memories that 2020 will hold!

And if you’ve read this far- thank you. Thank you for caring and for sharing my journey with me!

Best,

Lauren

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