Our Love Story

I thought it was about dang time to write out our love story! I get questions all the time about how long Danny and I have been together and how we met and so I thought I would just write it alllllll out. It’s pretty juicy if I do say so myself…

It all started on a lake at summer camp. We were going into our senior year of highschool when we met in the middle of Hume Lake. I was kayaking with my best friend, Gracie, and Danny was on paddle boards with his best friend. I knew the friend he was with and so we waved to each other out on the lake and met up! We ended up sitting out on our kayaks and paddle boards for a couple hours out on the lake just chatting about life and school and everything that was important to a 17 year old. I’m not exactly sure how, but I ended up sitting on Danny’s paddle board and he paddled me back to shore. (Truly, I can’t remember what happened to my kayak- HAHA!)

That was the start to a beautiful friendship. We spent every waking moment of the rest of camp together and once we got home, we hung out every single day for ten days straight. Danny intrigued me. He was so sweet and kind, yet I could tell there was so much to uncover. We came from the most opposite of families and up-bringings and had so much to learn from each other. All our friends thought we were into each other but, truly, it was just a friendship! Maybe there were some buried feelings towards each other from the beginning but we had both gotten out of long relationships that had messy endings and so dating was the last thing on our minds. Actually, during this time, Danny thought he would never date again, and often would tell me that he was convinced he would never marry. ha-ha.

Months passed, we got busy, and we stopped hanging out as much. I worked a lot and dated some other guys casually and Danny was busy and in football season. We had joked and made a pact that if we weren’t dating anyone, we would goto Danny’s Winter formal together, as friends. After the football season ended, we began hanging out more again, and then, my great grandma passed away. It’s kinda crazy looking back but my great grandma Winnie passing started it all for us…

Since Danny was my best friend, he was the first person I called when my grandma died. I was VERY close to my grandma. She raised me in a lot of ways and I had never experienced loss like that before. I was wrecked. When I told Danny, I expected for him to be my knight and shining armor and come running to my rescue to be there for me in my time of need. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Danny had never experienced loss before either and his 18 year old immature self didn’t know how to process it, never mind help me process it. He ended up ignoring me for two weeks! I was sooooo mad at him and I told everyone that we were DONE being friends. I couldn’t believe he would abandon me in my time of need!

Apparently during those two weeks, he was doing a lot of reflecting. He realized that we were starting to get really close and that scared him. He was still adamant about NOT dating and so he wasn’t sure what to do. He hung out with one of his best friends and his friend helped him realize that either two things were going to come out of our relationship: either we would start dating and see if we worked out good as a couple, or one of us would start dating someone else and our friendship would fade… When he told me what his friend had said a couple weeks later, I was still mad at him and so I replied, “Well, I guess we won’t be friends anymore then!”

After those two weeks of ignoring me, Danny asked me to come to his house. I reluctantly obliged and said “we have ALOT to talk about.” I was going to make sure he knew I was not happy with how he handled my grandma’s passing. When I pulled up to his house, I saw he had covered his garage in huge posters that said “Will You Goto Winter Formal With Me?” I stayed mad at him for about two seconds and the rest is history. I said yes to Winter Formal, and unbeknownst to me, I said yes to the rest of forever.

I’ll spare the nitty gritty details but a couple weeks later, we finally admitted that we had feelings for each other and we started dating.

The rest is history. From then on it was always “Danny and Lauren”. Things got serious pretty quickly. Since Danny was so set on NOT dating, it was a BIG deal that he was dating me. I knew he must really like me! He was so serious about not dating just to date and he told me that the next person he kissed would be the last one. It took him about five months after we starting dating to actually kiss me because of it!

We went to the same college and Danny was accepted into the ROTC program at Cal State Fullerton. Because of this, we knew that we had the next eight years of our lives planned out for us. We knew we would be in school for four years and then Danny would be active duty in the Army for four years. This is what led us to get married in college. My only perception of the military was war, deployment, and uncertainty. I thought that if we got married while we were college, we would have at least a year of ‘normalcy’ before we jumped into military life. Now that I look back on it, it was definitely MY idea to get married in college, Danny just loved me and was in the for ride! haha

Danny proposed at Hume Lake (where we met) the summer going into our Junior year of college. Here’s the video…

and four months after that we got married!! Here’s the video…

Wow- it’s crazy looking back on all of this and realizing that we’ve been married five years already! So much life has happened. I look back on these videos and realize how young we were. We knew NOTHING and yet were making such huge life decisions! It’s truly by God’s grace that we are here today with our beautiful baby girl and happier than ever. I’m so thankful.

If you have stuck around this long to read our love story- you deserve a prize! I hope you enjoyed getting a little glimpse into our life. <3

xo

Lo

2018

I've been reading so many "2018" blog posts recently talking about "new year, new me" and the "10 things to do in 2018" and I have found it all completely uninspiring. We are halfway through the first month of the year and I have spent more time reflecting than ever before on the direction my life is going in and if I'm happy with it. What I've found is that I'm more than happy with it. I'm thrilled. I'm ecstatic. Of course I have goals and intentions for the new year but this year it just feels different. My goals are less concrete and are based more on the way I feel. Am I doing something I am passionate about? Am I loving others? Am I doing work I'm proud of? Is the direction my brand inspiring and uplifting? Those are the things that matter to me this year.

It seems like for so long I was been searching for "my thing" to do in life. What I've found, though, is that "my thing" isn't out there for me to find. I am supposed to create it. I am creating it. I love health & wellness & helping people feel confident in their skin & encouraging other entrepreneurs. I also love taking pretty photographs, riding my bike at sunset, dropping all responsibilities for the day to be present, & the occasional glass of wine. My personal & professional life are completely interwoven. There is no balance. There was never meant to be balance. Somedays I work 10 hours. Somedays I leave my phone on airplane mode. I just decided to stop focusing on reaching this unreachable expectation I had put on myself for so long and start focusing on LIVING. It's been working out much better for me. 

I want to encourage you to stop trying to fit in a mold. Create your mold. Just do what you love & keep doing it! Don't stop. It will lead you to where you need to be eventually. 

Here's some photos from last weekend, on a beautiful boat, with beautiful friends, exploring our beautiful home. Some were taken on my iPhone and others were taken by my incredibly talented friend, Heather. 

So here's to 2018! May you live & love well! 

Weekends

Weekends have always been a time for relaxation & rejuvenation. but recently, weekends have taken on a new meaning for me. Weekends are a time to reconnect with my husband after a long week of barely seeing each other. The army life is not for the faint of heart, I'll tell you that. During the week while Danny is working, I spend my time working from home and connecting with friends, but our weekends are sacred. Over the weekend, we get to put our distractions aside, unwind, and get out into nature. I love our simple days of going to the farmers market, surfing or riding our bikes around the neighborhood. We love eating Thai food, playing with our cat, and having game nights with friends. This weekend, Danny had to work on Saturday but we still made the most of our Sunday! Danny surfed, we went to our favorite coffee spot, checked out the view at Kaena Point, and hiked Ehukai pillbox. It was simple & perfect & just so "us".  I treasure these weekends and any time we get to spend together. I never want to take It for granted. The nature of military life is hard & unstable & ever-changing and so I will hold onto these weekends and be thankful. I am so thankful. 

-Lo

City Lights & Pretty Jewelry

This weekend was pretty gloomy and rainy here in Hawaii but I was craving some adventure and so we went to town! Normally, we like our little section of the island and we really don't veer off very much but every once in awhile I crave more stimulation! ha

Chinatown is our favorite neighborhood to goto in Honolulu because of the cute boutiques, hip restaurants, and artsy vibe. There are so many good restaurants down there, I want to try them all!  Since this date was super last minute, I put together an outfit super quick. These rag + bone flared jeans are super fun and comfy and I just paired them with a loose Free People crop top. What I really loved about this look was my colorful jewelry! I collaborated with my friend Megan, who happens to be a Stella & Dot stylist, and she sent me some really fun jewelry to style! I am IN LOVE with Stella & Dot's summer collection and want to buy EVERYTHING. I already placed a pretty big order for jewelry this month and I am already eyeing some more pieces I want. ;) I am hosting an online Trunk Show for my friend Megan and it is going on now! Click this link to shop all of these goodies!

Have a great week, everyone!! 

xoxo

A Letter from Danny: Life lessons in the Army

Note from Lauren: Today's blog post is a little different and a little more deep than most. My husband is an officer in the US Army and he wrote this to summarize his experience in the Army thus far. Sometimes our careers impact us so much more than just professionally and I love how Danny has related his experiences in his job with his every day life. Enjoy!

For those of you who don’t know me, I am in the Army. Specifically, I am a medical operations officer (MEDO as I am called) for a light Infantry Battalion based in Hawaii. Even though my work environment can be harsh at times, I choose to be positive. I didn’t always used to be positive, but I recognized a few things during my first few months being in the Army that has deeply impact my life. Here are the three things I have learned:

1)    Life: “this is life man” my battalion commander said in reference to being in the Army. When I work 16 hour days, I internalize that statement and ask myself if this is what I want. I am proud to serve my country and I genuinely want to serve and make the Army better. I see many Leaders that focus on their evaluations and the career aspect of the Army and that it makes the serving miserable. Rather than catering my life to trying to be number one, I have changed my focus to making my Soldiers better, making my organization more effective, and serving the people to the best of my ability. If I happen to love this life and be competent at it then great, but I recognize that “this is life” and I have to LOVE what I do because how you spend your days is how you spend your life.

2)    Perspective: If it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it. PERIOD. I have to stop myself all the time and ask this exact question, it proves to be so true time and again.

3)    Positivity: I have found a love for surfing since moving to the North Shore of Oahu. I go out surfing with Lauren and my good friend Tom, a MEDO for another battalion, all the time. Every time we go out it is about positivity, fun, and a shared love for catching the best wave. I went out the other day and ran into an Officer from my battalion and he kept complaining about getting cut off by other surfers, in experienced surfers getting in the way, and how crowded the beach was. As I was sitting there, I couldn’t help but think of the positivity of the moment and how this guy was missing out because he was so fixated on a little spec negativity. In everything you do, positivity is a choice. Choose to be positive, choose to hang out with positive people, and choose a life that you love. 

-Danny