How we spent our Summer vacation...

For our Family/Summer vacation we went to Northern Utah. I say Northern Utah, because there are sooooo many towns up there I can't keep track of all the one's we went to! I had a Designer Blogs Conference and we thought we could kill two birds with one stone and make it a family trip too.

I think I should've titled this post, the post of many pictures... but I digress...
Enjoy!

Driving 6+ hours with the kids wasn't too big of a headache. The kids had movies, candy and quiet books to keep them busy.



Plus we stopped in Cedar at the park with the river running through it! Not sure the real name but that one works for us.


The kids had a blast. They stretched, got wet, ate and then were ready to hit the road again.

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Friday, was a our first full day in Utah.

Our agenda for the day was Thanksgiving Point.
First we hit the Museum of Ancient Life.


"Look Mom, its the dinosaur from Night at the Museum!"


The first part of the museum was called Notion of Motion. It had lots of crazy, cool hands on learning thingers...




Then it was on to the Ancient Life..

























Next stop, the Thanksgiving point Farm.
What? Why would we traveled 6+ hours to go to a farm, when we live on one?
Yes we did, but it came with the all day pass. And it was fun.









Last stop, the gardens!

Saturday, I went to DBC and played on the computer all day with these girls.

While the rest of my family visited Temple Square and Cabela's.









That night, we all got back together.. tried to find a pizza place for dinner, ended up going to KFC and then swam and swam and swam!!

It was a great trip.. but Allie's face says it all!

I'm Kind of A Big Deal...

Have you guys heard of Ana White, formally "Knock of Wood"?
Well if you haven't, go check her site and then come back and finish reading this post.

She is am.az.ing.
I love to look at her galleries and dream of building things that she does.

Like this bed.

It screams "Lauren!"
Get in my room!!!

Any way.. back to the point.
As I was browsing her site, I decided to check out her about page.

Among some of her photos I see this one...

Kay... hold the phone. Let's take a closer look... yes Ana is quite the babe..
but see that logo right by her foot...
I DESIGNED IT!

Yup, little ol' me. {blushes}

I created the watermark/logo for Exposures Studio Photography last year.
And Ana had her photos taken by them!!

How cool is that?
SO FLIPPIN' COOL!!!

Ahh... feels good to see my work around the 'net.

So, if you were wondering.. yeah, I'm kind of a big deal.
You can find me a designerblogs.com.

Don't be afraid to drop my name... maybe I'll design you a little something for free. ;)

Weekend Update x2

The weekend of the the 9th I traveled to Utah to meet all the Designer Blogs girls! Friday afternoon Lara and I hit the road. It was so great to see her, catch up on life and reminisce about the good ol' days! That night we arrived at Erin's house and had some fun girl time. Saturday, Amy and her super duper cute baby, Addi joined us for a day of bid-NASS!

Lauren, Lara, Erin and Amy

We worked all day on new design skills and technique, talked about the future for Designer Blogs, ate yummy food and just had fun getting to know each other in person! I love these girls and I'm so glad to have finally met them. Big things are coming to DB, so keep an eye on the bloggity blog.
Saturday night we stayed with Lara's sister in law, Lindsay, who I lived next door to at college in Reno! It was awesome to see her again and meet her beautiful family. Thanks for a great weekend girls, I can't wait to get together again!!

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This weekend was full of fun too! We spent Saturday morning out at Meadow Valley wash with Brian and Jill and Josh Jensen (missed you Wendy). We roasted hot dogs and the kids played and played. I did take the camera, but for some reason I never got it out of the truck.. hmmm... I guess we'll just have to go out again!

Saturday afternoon my mom, sister Heather and I threw a baby shower for my sister Ashley. Ashley got soooooo spoiled with lots of great stuff for her little man.

Jess I added this picture just for you!! Love ya. ;)

Some of Ashley's friends playing a game.

Me at 25 weeks -- Ashley at 35 weeks!

Me - Mom - Ashley

After the party my brother Justin and Dad were just coming home from deer hunting and we snapped this silly pic.

Quick kid update:
Estefan is doing well in school and loving boy scouts.
Allie is continuing to learn her ABC's at preschool, then has music and dance class.
Mark loves to play in the dirt and help Papa Stan on the tractor.
Baby is growing and moving like crazy.

And that's all for now.. October is flying right on by! I'm ready to bust out the Christmas movies and sweaters. How about you?!

Logo Design Contest

I've entered a logo design contest at Somewhat Simple.

This is my entry!!
I'm #5

Go vote for me!!! PA-LEEZ!!!

Thanks, Love ya!! :)

Learning...Designing...Sharing

I've been working for Designer Blogs for just over six months now. In that time I've learned a lot.

I've learned how to work with people, I've learned how to deal with people and I've learned A LOT about customizing blogs. 

I really love what I do.

Its fun. Its a creative outlet and I can do my work at home {in my jammies}.

I try not to blog too much about DB. I don't want my family blog to become a commercial but I just really really really wanted to share of few of my new premades with you!

1. Silhouette

Funny story.. I had to look up how to spell "silhouette"! Is it French? It still looks weird to me. But dictionary.com assures me that it is the correct spelling. Anyway, I love this premade. I love the pretty girl in the header and next to the signature. I love the double lines on the post and sidebar titles and I LOVE aqua!

2. Ivy

Ivy is a really fun, bright blog. I love the how the plain jane post, sidebar and header areas balance out the vibrant background. I also love the separated sidebars!

3. Happy Girl

Happy girl is so named, because this was the first blog I designed after discovering how to create separated sidebars. Thus, I was a "happy girl"! I love the mellow sherbet colors and the retro garden going on in the header. I don't know why but I also really love the dashed underlined post and sidebar titles. I'm a nerd, but I love tricky, fun bloggy accessories.

4. Dreamer

Once upon a time I dreamed of becoming an author. It just so happens that the font I used in this design is called Jane Austen and I love Jane Austen. If you weren't aware Jane Austen is an author {Pride and Prejudice ring a bell}. So this is me designing a blog, dreaming about writing and pretending I'm Jane Austen.

I have lots more designs up on the premade page at DB, if you want to check em out. 

Thanks for reading my little commercial. 

Now, back to work.. I'm not in my jammies by the way. :)

Give Away Day

GIVE AWAY CLOSED!

The winner is

Ashley Comeau said...
holy shmoly sign me up! I'm in love with the Rock On layout and totally want to win that one!

Email me at lauren@designerblogs.com to claim your prize!!

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Us girls over at Designer Blogs are giving the premade section of our site a hot make over!
So to make room for some new designs I decided to have a

GIVEAWAY!

Here's what you do:

Leave a comment saying which premade layout you'd like.

Want another chance to win?

Follow Designer Blogs on Twitter and leave a comment saying you do.

Want another chance to win?!

Become a Designer Blogs fan on Facebook and leave a comment saying you are.

That's three chances to win one of these fun layouts!

Images are linked. Click a preview to see the whole design :)

AAAAANNNDD

if you read THIS blog, you get 10% of a custom design or any premade design!

The give away ends on Tuesday the 6th and the winner will be announced Wednesday morning!

Good luck and check out Designer Blogs for more bloggy goodness :)