lauren laughs

i have so many pictures from this weekend, it’s hard to know what to post. the following pics are from dinner saturday night at the johnston’s casa. i may add more later once i see the pics uncle ben took. he’s much better at this than i am! this is me with my great aunt betty doris. she’s my “friend in faith” and checks my blog regularly. she’ll make you laugh till your sides hurt. (love you, betty doris!) here we have cousin bev, her friend zac, cousin blake and little bro pierce. pierce is actually making fun of the cheerleading pose i did in high school. dufus. this is lily… the youngest cuz. she’s a broncos fan, but also loves her mickey mouse ears. uncle danny also loves lily’s mickey mouse ears. and last, but not least… this is me with my granddaddy. not only is he handsome, but he also has perfect attendance at rotary for a ridiculous number of years (46.5 to be exact).

though dorie’s birthday was thursday, the whole famn damily congregated saturday for the big celebration. here you see all 33 of us… kids, grandkids, and great grandkids together. over 100 people shared in the festivities, and dorie talked to every one of them… she kept saying, “i didn’t intend to get this old!”

i love this pic of dorie with me, stephen, mom and pierce. clearly, we were having a good time. (this may be pierce’s first appearance on the blog… he’s also my little bro… and also not so little.) poor dorie was tuckered out by the end of the party!

after two trips to the doctor and lots of medicine, i finally got off my death bed and onto an airplane thursday morning for a very special trip. i am sooo blessed to have great relationships with all four of my grandparents and my great grandmother, dorie. this trip was extra special… dorie celebrated her 100th birthday on march 23! amazing. can you imagine what life was like in 1906? here is a picture of dorie blowing out her candles. lots more pics from tx to come in the next few days!

i promised karaoke pics about 2 weeks ago, and here they are. (thanks for the files, cousin bev!) “nevins” is a little bar on cross street that serves up karaoke every single night… oh, good times. here we have eva and my brother stephen rockin’ out… i think to garth brooks. next we have stephen and me singing a little bonnie raitt. note the country theme… we are all from tx, you know. here’s me and my bro doing a little jig.

some of my friends coach inner city basketball on the weekends. their team is comprised of 6-8 year old boys and girls. watching this game was soooo much fun. i laughed and cheered a lot. the kids were behind most of the game, but tied it up at the very end. everyone was a winner… for real. ably coached by colin, dawn, george (ben?), and mike… these kids (the young and old) are surely a gift to each other.

so as i’ve mentioned before, one of baltimore’s greatest is about to leave us for the clearer skies of colorado. (at least she’s going someplace we all want to visit!) saturday night we celebrated 3 years of mollie, complete with some hilarious video footage put together by michael. i’m pretty sure mollie got the point she’s going to be missed.here’s a pic of my first girlfriend in charm city. good luck in your new digs, molls!after leaving the farewell gathering in fells point, i caught up with a bunch of girlfriends back in federal hill. i’m not even going to try to name everyone pictured. just know they’re all fabulous.

there are a lot of really wonderful things about my neighborhood… cross street market is definitely one of them. on any given day, one can find fresh flowers, fresh produce, fresh fish, and lots of (fresh?) poeple. friday happy hours are especially crowded, but you’re always sure to run into someone you haven’t seen in a while. it’s a great place to catch up with other locals. pictured are anna, laurel and me.

dad came up this weekend to help mom paint her house… which looks great. the three of us had a great meal at sasha’s in mt. vernon friday night. sadly, the pic we took at the restaurant didn’t come out… so here’s one of just dad and me. we’ll get mom up on the blog soon enough 🙂

red brick row houses and snow laden trees. makes for a peaceful winter morning in the city.

after four years without a camera, my dad decided it was high time i went digital (thanks, dad!) … and pictures are more fun when you share. thus, a blog is born. and, it just so happens that my mouth is open in most pics… i’m not out of control, i’m just laughing.

friends… beware. you’re likely to show up on here from time to time. no one wants to pics of the same girl over and over again! plus, you’re likely the reason i laugh. consider this a tribute to your friendship.

ha!