lions, tigers, and bears...oh my!

This week Bethy and I decided we should FINALLY do what we've been planning for ages and go on a double date! We thought it would be fun to go see the Zoo Lights before they ended because we had never been before! We bundled up in our winter gear and despite the frigid weather we had lots of fun! Here are some pictures...

Bethany and Max

Me and Chris

The lights were so cute! I would definitely recommend this as a date or with family! So fun!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and I also hope you have a Happy New Year!! Pictures and stories of tonight's events will go up shortly!

xo

lauren

hallelujah!

Finals are OVER! I can breathe again! YIPEE!!!

I'm going to celebrate and take a nap!

xo

lauren

'tis the season

Christmas is coming and so what does that mean?? PARTIES!! I love parties! They are probably the best thing ever! Last weekend Chris and I and a few friends took a trip up to Oakley for my single's ward Christmas party where we had yummy food, hot chocolate, Christmas stories, and sleigh rides! We even had a visit from the big man himself! Such a fun night!

This week is the last week of dance classes before the Christmas break so that means even more parties!! This year we had pajama parties so I took a couple pictures!

Jazz 1-2

Hip Hop 1

Hip Hop 2

Can I just say that being a dance teacher is totally awesome during the holiday season? I have received so many unexpected gifts! The little girls are so stinking cute and I love all the homemade cards I've gotten! You gotta love little kids!

And what is Christmas without a little dressing up?!

...yes those shorts have jingle bells on them. I know you are jealous.
Merry Christmas!!

xo
lauren

ps. it is also finals week...wish me luck!!

sugar fiends

In the Harris household, we have a taste for cookies, cakes, candy...pretty much any sugary substance. When such things are present, they have a tendency to disappear quite rapidly. One moment they are arriving from the store or appearing out of the oven and the next they have vanished! It is actually quite frustrating when one has a reeses she's been saving for later and cannot wait until the moment she arrives home to quickly devour such a delicacy just to walk/run to her room to eat it to find it has mysteriously gone missing!

Because of this fascination with sugar the Harris clan has acquired, special measures must be taken to ensure that our sweets are not swiped from right under our noses...

Thank you mom for protecting my cookies...they were delicious!

xo

lauren

another celebration...

Yesterday was Spencer's 16th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STRETCH! So I would like to take a little time to once again celebrate a birthday and tell you 16 little tidbits and reasons why I love Spencey...

1) He loves to sing...whether in the shower, doing chores, or just walking around
2) He has a great sense of humor and constantly surprises me with his clever comments
3) He has such a passion for music...especially the piano
4) He makes awesome chocolate shakes
5) He loves basketball and is a really talented player
6) He dominates at pretty much every video game
7) He is a good student...although sometimes a procrastinator
8) He is the social butterfly of the family and has a plethora of friends
9) He is an awesome wakeboarder and is always willing to push himself to try new things behind the boat
10) He loves lake powell and the beach and would spend every waking moment in those places if he could
11) He can put away food like it's nobody's business...I like to call him the human garbage disposal or vacuum cleaner
12) His height comes to be of great benefit when I cannot reach the top shelf
13) He comes and kills spiders for me in the middle of the night
14) He can quote movies better than anyone else and loves to throw those quotations into everyday conversation providing much comic relief on a daily basis
15) He doesn't mind my silly singing or dancing around the house
16) He is lots of fun to be around and is always concerned for those around him

I love you so much Spencey! You are great and you will always be my little brother no matter how many more inches you grow! Happy Birthday! ...yesterday

xo
lauren

a day to celebrate

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend Katie Fredrickson! I love her so much! Katie turned 19 today so I would like to take a moment to share 19 reasons why I love her...

1) She is a nerd just like me
2) She sings in the car at the top of her lungs with me
3) She is such a fun shopping partner
4) She loves her friends and is always supportive of them
5) She will eat like crazy with me...especially when it comes to junk food
6) She is such a beautiful girl inside and out
7) She and I can play video games for four straight hours
8) She can eat a Bob's Brainfreeze multiple times a day and never get sick of them
9) She and I can have fun at Dan's
10) She loves to take silly pictures with me
11) She knows every word to the Pokemon theme song
12) She dominates at Mario Kart
13) She has such a good work ethic and finds the time to juggle two jobs on top of school and homework
14) She is awesome at debate and has even won awards for being so awesome
15) She loves to connect with her inner child and watch cartoons and the disney channel
16) She always has awesome music
17) She is always there for me when I need her
18) She will dance around in a massive fish outfit on the corner with me
19) She is such a strong person no matter what difficulties she faces

I love you so much Katie!! I hope you had a wonderful birthday! MUAH

xo
lauren

good times and great people

Not too long ago Chris and I went to a Utah football game with our friends Abbie and Christian...the game was awesome! Here are some pictures...compliments of Abbie...

We killed the other team and so during the third quarter we decided to leave and get some grub! Of course we hit up Red Robin, (a) because that's pretty much where we always go and (b) their fries are absolutely delicious! We met up with another friend, David, and had an awesome time! After a super satisfying meal, we said goodbye to Abbie and headed to David's house for a movie...what did we choose? 17 Again... I love this movie...so cute, Zac Efron is amazing in it, and I can now see the resemblance between Matthew Perry and my uncle Doug*. After the movie had ended and we had played an absolutely awesome game on David's playstation, the boys started up another freakishly amazing and hilarious game...ninja destruction (or ninja assassin as Chris insists on calling it). This game is very similar to a hand clapping sort of game or like a big booty game where you have a group of people, but in this particular game you are only allowed one body movement at a time in the fashion of a ninja...sounds strange right? I thought so too, but no, this game is awesome! 1. it's SO funny to watch and 2. it's actually quite challenging! So...the next time we come into contact, I will teach you the ways of the ninja and we can battle...if you are willing to face destruction of course!

xo
lauren

ps. Chris and I have had an ongoing argument on the issue of whether the elliptical is running...what do you guys think??

*Doug aka "Dug" has apparently been known to look like Matthew Perry and I can see that after watching 17 Again, but I still think he looks more like Donny Osmond!

and i thought i could dance...

Pretty sure this is awesome. That is all.

xo

lauren

halloween fun

Halloween was awesome last week! I would like to brag a little bit and tell you that I got to dress up 4 TIMES! Awesome right? You jealous? I thought so!

Anyway...The reason why is because last week was halloween week at the dance studio so for every class that I teach or TA for, I got to dress up and have a halloween party! I took some pictures of the classes I teach for you all to see...

Tumbling

Tumbling

Jazz

Hip Hop 1

Hip Hop 2

These classes were so much fun and I absolutely LOVED seeing their cute costumes! We had awesome parties filled with spooky music, candy, games, and the oh so loveable THRILLER dancing! I left with quite the stash of goodies...all the benefits of trick-or-treating without walking in the cold and totally unpredictable Utah weather! BONUS!

Then came the actual Halloween night and as a tradition, the Sherwood cousins all go to Grandma and Papa's house to show off our costumes...yes I am a college student, but I still love this tradition! I couldn't miss it! The costume that pretty much trumped all costumes I have seen in my lifetime would have to be that of my little cousin Jack...

Jack aka Gene Simmons

Is that not just about the best thing you have ever seen in your life? He is the only 5 year old kid I know with the spunk to pull that off! Look, he's even got the tongue down! Ha!

Later in the evening, Chris and I got together with my old friend Jamie Harrison and her boyfriend Jake for a couples costume competition! We dressed up and went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner...but before dinner we had to ask people walking around Gateway whose costume was better and the winning couple received free dessert paid for by the losers! We were totally stoked and couldn't wait for the results...here is the picture...

Jamie and Jake aka WWE Wrestlers...Me and Chris aka Old Couple

Needless to say...we won. Victory has never tasted so sweet!

xo

lauren

when a little rapping goes awry...

Today in my communications class, the guy I sit next to was telling me about a news story he saw. A few teenage boys pulled up to a McDonald's drive-thru and rapped their order to the man at the window...well long story short, the boys ended up being cited for disorderly conduct and fined. They made up their own rendition of a McDonald's rap they saw on YouTube, so naturally I had to go check out this video! I thought it was actually really clever and decided I would share it with all of you!

It's a bummer those boys received a citation, but this video is pretty awesome regardless! I hope you enjoyed it!

xo

lauren

a little taste of paradise

Recently over fall break, my family and I went on a little trip down to one of my all time favorite places...lake powell! My cousins Mark and Nicole Lyman also came with us and we all had such a great time! The weather was wonderful (a little colder than I would prefer, but still great), the water was awesome (also a little cold for my liking, but still fabulous), and the scenery was as beautiful as ever! Here are some pictures for you all to enjoy...

The beautiful rocks of powell

Wakeboarding

Tubing

Awesome biffs

Breathtaking sunsets

Great company, great food, great location, great time! Gotta love lake powell!

xo

lauren

night owl

It is after 1:00 am and what am I doing? Reading my life if average? Why yes, how did you know?

This has been my favorite one of the week...enjoy!

"Today, my mom set her facebook status as: 'going to see my oldest daughter, WTF' My other sister and I are debating whether or not to tell her that WTF doesn't mean With The Family. MLIA"

xo
lauren

laughter is the best medicine

I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Caitlin who introduced me to www.mylifeisaverage.com ...this website is full of stories written by your average person, and the stories are hilarious. Caitlin told me about this website on monday so I decided to check it out...well I can now say that I have never spent so much time doing absolutely nothing but laughing my head off. I would like to share with you some of my favortie stories so far...

"A couple of days ago, my new step father (whom I haven't had the chance to get to know) was sent out to get groceries. What does he come back with? A Venus Fly Trap. We spent the rest of the afternoon hunting down flies while singing the Jaws theme song and feeding them to the Venus Fly Trap. I fully approve of my mother's decision to marry him. MLIA"

"Last night, I had a dream me and my dog got in a fight, and beat the heck out of each other. Today, I got a fortune cookie, with the fortune: 'Your strange dream will soon come true.' I've been hiding from my dog for the last couple hours. MLIA"

"Today, I bought a Roomba vacuum cleaner that vacuums while you're gone, because I wanted to save time. I spent an hour following it around the house, completely entertained. I feel this has been a great purchase. MLIA."

"The other day I realized I could change my cursor to a blue dinosaur that walks. Today I realized that moving it backwards makes it moonwalk. I've been entertaining myself for the past half hour by making it moonwalk to Michael Jackson. MLIA"

I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! Thank you Caitlin for introducing me to greatness!

xo
lauren

raindrops on roses

It's raining today (if you haven't noticed) and I love it! I don't know if anyone else heard the thunder last night, but I sure did and I was giddy! I love thunderstorms. Aren't they exciting? I love everything about this weather...the cozy feeling of a rainy day, the sound, the smell...it is all so good. I love it despite the fact that it's cold and wet and makes my hair frizzy! Now I just need cute rainboots...

xo
lauren

love at first sight

One of the things I love most besides shoes is shopping...if you did not know this refer to the list on the left! Today I went to the mall searching for one specific item...a black top...easy, right? Wrong. I needed the black top for dance pictures today so there was a list of needs that this shirt needed to fill...

1. all black
2. comfy
3. cute
4. easy to dance and move in
5. something I could wear more than once
6. cheap

I was looking for just the right top and decided to start my search at one of my favorite stores...Gadzooks! I looked and looked around the store, picking up a few things here and there, when my eyes beheld one of the cutest coats I have ever seen. It was love at first sight and I knew I had to try it on...well long story short...I fell in love all over again when I put it on and knew I couldn't leave the store without it. So I bought it.

Here it is...

Super cute right? And it was only $40 which is pretty good for a coat. AND it was the very last one...destiny? I think so!

I didn't end up finding a black shirt at Gadzooks, but I did find one in another store that was only $6...I feel like I accomplished all the things on my list...and I got a bonus buy! Ah...life is sweet. Now, I will go enjoy sporting my stylin' new coat!

xo

lauren

ps. Connor thinks it makes me look 10 years older...28? Really? Psh...it's dang cute and I will wear it anyway!

because i love shoes...

As many of you know, I am a shoe lover. I can't help this obsession! Ballet flats, stilettos, tennis shoes, boat shoes, sandals, boots...the list goes on and on! I love to go shoe shopping and cannot explain the excitement I feel when I get a great deal on an adorable pair of shoes! ahh...pure bliss. Because of this shoe fettish, I tend to notice the shoes people wear on a day to day basis...well...I was walking to one of my classes and naturally noticed the shoes someone was wearing. To my amazement (and maybe some of you will be shocked too) I had never EVER seen a pair of shoes quite like these. They looked like rock climbing toe socks...and maybe that is what they are intended for, but they were so different that they just stuck in my mind! I had to find a picture to show all of you! They are called toe shoes and here they are...

Have you ever seen shoes like these in your life?! I was super intruiged by these so called "toe shoes" and thought I would share them with you! I wonder how comfy they are? Hmm...

xo

lauren

elevator etiquette

Recently in my sociology class we were discussing the values, beliefs, and "norms" of society. My professor made a comment that life is a game or dance between people. Everyone knows the rules and must follow or suffer the consequences of being considered an outcast. I found this comment to be really interesting and realized that when he brought up the subject of the rules of riding an elevator that there are a whole set of rules out there that everyone somehow just knows?

The elevator for example...
Where do we stand? The back, facing the door.
Where do we look? The door, the changing floor numbers, or the elevator buttons.
What do we say? Nothing...or maybe a slight head nod towards the people who already occupy the elevator.

How is it that we ALL know these rules and follow them? There are no written rules of how to ride an elevator, correct?!
That is where we are mistaken my friends...yes, I took the initiative to search "elevator etiquette" and can you believe there are people who went out and wrote rules on how to ride an elevator?! There is even a webstie dedicated solely to these rules...www.elevatorrules.com...I was shocked.

Well, I have now decided to be a rebel...I am going to break the elevator rules! The next time I ride in an elevator, I'm going to stand right in front of the doors and face my fellow riders...haha can you imagine their reactions? I think we should all try it...just for fun, don't you agree?

I also looked up "funny things to do while riding in an elevator", so here are some suggestions we could all try...
1. Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.
2. On a long ride, sway side to side at the natural frequency of the elevator.
3. Offer name tags to everyone getting on the elevator.
4. Stand silent and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.
5. Greet everyone getting on with a warm handshake and ask them to call you Admiral.
6. Say "DING!" at each floor.
7. Start a sing-along.
8. Lean against the button panel.
9. Bring a chair along.
10. Sing "Mary has a little lamb" while continually pushing buttons.

Good luck!

xo
lauren

hello my name is lauren.

This is me...

Wowen (pronounced "woah-when") is a nickname my youngest brother gave me before he could say his l's and r's. Before I knew it, the whole family was calling me Wowen and the name stuck.

This blog is dedicated to the embarrassing, funny, interesting, and somewhat noteworthy events of my life. These are my adventures, my accomplishments, and my struggles that I share with you in the blogging world.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

xo
lauren

new kid on the block

Hello all! Yes, I have finally decided to join the blogging world...are you proud? When I first brought this idea up with a few friends, I was answered with mixed emotions...most were very supportive helping me come up with ideas for names (thanks mars bars), but there was one particular individual (we won't name names...you know who you are) who told me that I would most likely become a "geek" who spent all my time blogging and would replace them with a computer! How absurd, right?! Well, to this certain individual, I just want to say...you are crazy, I love you way more than my computer and I appreciate your support now that I have actually created your replacement! Ha! Just kidding! I do love you though! :) I'm super excited to share the embarrassing, funny, interesting, and somewhat noteworthy events of my life with you! I can't wait, and I hope you feel the same!

xo
lauren