A new hobby!

Well, I love to cook.

Didn't see that one coming.

Here are some photos of Bruschetta Chicken I made today!

november 7th, 2010

photos by Stephen DeVries

yes, that's me standing under that gorgeous ginkgo tree marrying the love of my life.
taylor and i got married on a beautiful fall sunday in november.
it was perfect.
my name is now laurie anne gonzalez :)
we love being married. so fun!
in our 5 months of marriage we have moved twice and added a sweet baby girl pup to our family!
meet hazel:

hazel is a wire haired fox terrier.
we adore her.
she has been such a great addition to our little family!
hazel's personality is hilarious and she keeps us laughing constantly.
she is the perfect puppy!
and obviously she is ridiculously cute:)

taylor and i are still working at Sweet Pea Designs and hazel gets to go to work with us everyday. she is an excellent office dog!
life is wonderful. we are blessed beyond measure.

that's all for right now but stay tuned!
i have some fun ideas up my sleeve.
until then, adios from the gonzalez's!


*to see more of our wedding photos click here!

death in a mini-van in the K-mart parking lot.......

you know when you are super dehydrated and you feel as though you might actually die of thirst???

i had one of these moments that i remember very vividly when i was about 6 years old.....

let me set the scene for you......

it was a hot summer day... me, my two older brothers and mom in her mini-van. it is scorching. this is alabama. it gets really hot. we are running errands with mom... and we are ridiculously thirsty.... i mean, like cotton mouth thirsty...

so, the search to quench our thirst begins...

we go into k-mart.... somehow all of their drink machines were broken.... the vending machines outside were also broken..... AND the surrounding areas drink providers seemed to all be broken as well.......... how this happened, is still a mystery to me....

so by this time, i was in tears.... i'm not sure if my brothers had cracked and spilled some tears at this point, but i know they were just as miserable as i was.

it was then that the knowledge of not being able to get anything to drink suddenly made me even more thirsty... of course i was like 6, so all of this seemed like a life or death situation... i even remember thinking... that if the car breaks down, i will literally die of thirst.... a little over dramatic, i know.

so, at this point, i feel as though i am ending my days on this earth in this hot mini-van in the k-mart parking lot and that i might as well be crawling in the desert eating dust and sand.... somehow through my imagination of dying in the desert i see an oasis... i see water... and it is coming to me in the form of a mcdonald's cup filled with water.... HALLELUJAH! death is not approaching me just yet!!! i still have life to live!!!!

to say the least that was an incredible cup of water... i felt as if i were a dry sponge that had been submerged in water... it was awesome.

that day easily goes into one of the most miserable days in my life history.... but in the end, oh how satisfying was that drink of water? amazing.

i do have a point to this glimpse of my life as a child....

lately, i have felt as though i am back in the k-mart parking lot stuck in that hot mini-van..... but this time its my heart and my spirit that is dying of thirst...

tonight, i opened my bible and read a couple verses that i had underlined at some point.... nothing really heart shaking happened.... no big revelations, no little revelations... i didn't hear God tell me what my next step in life is.....

but

i did feel as if i were walking in the desert and all the sudden, i saw a real life, incredibly refreshing and beautiful pool awaiting me... stocked with any beverage of my choice... everything necessary to hydrate this dry and weary soul of mine....

the word of God continues to amaze me. it is freakishly alive. i mean, how can my dry and weary soul all the sudden feel rehydrated after literally reading like 4 lines of scripture???

ummm, because it is the word of God... His breath is on the pages and He is powerful and He created all of existence with His words.... that is how.

His words are pretty powerful.

Jesus, Your word quenches my thirsty soul.

for this, my heart sings!

"my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water...." psalm 63:1

"I (the LORD) will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.... for i give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert....." isaiah 43:19&20

talented man alert!

well...

i know this guy....

he has the bluest eyes i have ever seen...

he also has some pretty great artwork...

you should totally check it out :)

and if you happen to know of anyone hiring a graphic designer in birmingham, al please let us know!

http://taylorgonzalez.wordpress.com/

:)

the skies proclaim the work of His hands....

the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands... psalm 19:1

i miss my King...

everytime i read anything about Jesus or hear anything that has to do with Him or anything my heart longs for Him... it absolutely aches for Him... i love Him so much

it drives me to tears of joy and peace

i love my King and my Savior

He is my life and my love

He makes me feel like no matter what ever happens in this world i am safe in His loving arms

i am his and he is mine

He has my heart

but i am such an unfaithful lover.. every single part of me absolutely 100 % longs and thirst for Him but i still somehow fill my day with other things other than sitting and being still and reading His words that He has written to me..

it is so weird

but He makes me happier than anyone ever could.. i want to take time every single day and just read His word

so i can just bask in His love and in His word

oh my gosh i love Him

and i love this.. bc i never felt this in my heart when i was younger

i didnt really know Him then

but gosh i know Him now and He is gentle and so good

i miss my King

new york, new york:)

I had those most wonderful time in New York this past week.... I fell in love up there... Here is a little taste of my trip! :)

little taste of the old.... :)

on my old blog.... the one before the Great Merge, i had some pretty cool pictures of my stuff that i had taken..... SO i want to share them with you again!

also, i have a bunch of new sketchbook pages and a couple paintings i still need to add to my website.... so those should be coming soon!! :)

enjoy!

Hello pretty sky...

I have seen some insanely beautiful skies lately..... on top of that it has just felt glorious outside!! Spring is making her appearance!! Yay!

The beauty of creation never ceases to amaze me.... :)

Take a peek.












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

in His presence there is fullness of joy.....

this afternoon, i had time to just chill with Jesus with no distractions... just what i needed... i lit a lovely smelling candle, put on some music, wrote in my journal and read some in my bible....

as we were chillin, i came across a verse i have read and heard several times through out my life but it struck a chord deep in my heart today... Psalm 16:11

what struck me so deeply in this verse is the line that says, "in your presence there is fullness of joy".... i started to think about what that really means. to me it means that when we are in the presence of the Holy Spirit we have the fullness of joy... just like the verse says. but then i started thinking about those moments where i am the most joyful ever and it seems like just for a moment i don't live in a broken world... you know, those moments when it is a beautiful spring day and your listening to your favorite song and driving around with the windows down or whatever your joyful moment is:)... and it dawned on me that in those moments that is the Holy Spirit ministering to me.... and that just makes my heart sing... all those times, it's Him with me and Him making His presence known to me.

this is such a simple thought but today it spoke to my heart more than it ever has... i almost feel like i can trust my joy... not just happiness or laughter because you can be happy or laugh about things that are not really good for the soul.... but i mean, that supernatural joy. the joy of the Lord.... i can trust that He is with me and guiding me along that path and i can trust that He is going there with me... the joy is evidence of His presence with me....

i love this.

i love when He reveals these simple yet incredible truths to me.

its good for the heart. :)