And then we almost burned the place to the ground via sparklers.  Don’t try this at home. Seriously. Don’t.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Only a month late…

All photos taken by my friend Daniel Davis. Check out his work! He’s a talented fella. 

More like where haven’t I been?! This past month has been an absolute whirlwind!
Here it is in a nutshell-

-I got offered a job to do Girl’s Ministry at a church in Broken Arrow, OK and I jumped on it.  (More on that later.  There is a lot to share!)
-After five great years, I quit my job at Women of Faith a week before Christmas. 
-I spent the past month couch surfing across the country to some of my favorite places.
-I had a great deal of adventures that I’ll share in the next few days.
-I packed up and said goodbye to the life I’ve had in Texas for 30 years. 
-My wonderful family moved me to Oklahoma last weekend.
-I’ve been blown away with the kindness of the people here in my new town and I am beyond thrilled about it.  
-I start my new job on Sunday!!

So, I apologize for my disappearance but I blame it on being without internet for part of the time, packing and unpacking part of the time and having one of the best months of my entire life for the remainder of it.  The Lord has been gracious.  2012 has already proven to be fantastic.  Can’t wait to share it with you.

Merry Christmas!

I got bundled up with some good friends from Dallas, made mint hot cocoa and drove around looking at Christmas lights.  Talk about warm and fuzzy holiday feelings.

Isn’t Christmas time grand?
Hooray for traditions.

*photos taken by (& borrowed from) my good friend, Richard Muske 

{street art outside of Buffalo Exchange}

{sunset on the pier}

{pirate ship…aaaarrrrr!}

{markets on every corner}

{smitten kitten}

{chowder & pizza…slurp}

{can’t get enough}

{here we go again…i couldn’t stop}

{Union Square Christmas!!}

{hot cocoa & ice skating!}

{kyle planned ice skating & it was soooo much fun!}

{i didn’t fall one single time! be amazed.}

{more ice skaaaaaaaaaating!}

{there was a lot of Christmas spirit in the air}

{no, seriously.}
and i didn’t even get one photo of the hundreds of people we saw
dressed like santas, roaming the streets of san fran for santacon!
google it.  it’s hilarious.

{real life willy wonka factory – ghirardelli}

{you want to see more, you say?}

{straight from ghiradelli square}

probably one of my favorite photos because every.single.time we tried to leave
WE COULDN’T GET THE DOOR TO LOCK!
seriously,
we spent 45 minutes on day one trying to figure it out.
that will steal your pride away real fast.
crazy doors with crazy locks.

All of that to say-
I’m beyond thankful for the journeys I’m able to take and hope for many, many more.  Thanks for reading along!

{such a pretty bridge…}
Smiling because moments before this photo was taken, we were
almost taken out by a rogue army of segway scooters!!

{pier 23}

{my cheetah oxfords…meow}

{most epic Mumford & Sons show with 14,000 others!!!}

{because who doesn’t love a good bicycle photo? exactly.}

{i knew they were real…}

{exploring around the mission}

{life motto}

{pie for breakfast makes laura a happy girl}

{told ya…hooray for mission pie}

{this is kyle – trip planner, tour guide, travel buddy, bag carrier,
direction giver, picture taker, door opener, great guy…}

{so cold but so beautiful}

{favorite}

{the famous pier 39 & some extremely vocal sea lions}

{Merry Christmas time!!}

{best news ever}

We ate a lot of great food
Listened to a lot of pretty music.
Saw a lot of really strange (but awesome) people.
Took a whole lot of photos.
More photos that I’ll be sure to post tomorrow.

{just your average iPhone mirror shot}

I ::love:: being a girl.
I’m laughing that my bangs shadow makes it look like I only have makeup on one eye.
Silly shadows.
Sillier girl.