Easter Vacation (Now Known as Spring Break)

Hey, Everyone!

Last week was "Spring Break" for most of my friends still in school. Which meant that I got to do some socializing! (Rare, I know).

My friend Elaine came over to visit us Tuesday night (4/19). It had been the first time we'd seen her since last November. She's doing well.

Then, on Thursday (4/21), Ramiro and I went to Descanso Gardens with Paris.

Paris was surprised that pine cones could get this big:And I was surprised at how fat I look in pictures:
I've gained 10 pounds since January. Sigh. I've gotta start exercising again. (Ramiro looks very handsome though, doesn't he?? :D ).

We went all over the garden. From looking at the flowers on the main walk......to climbing to the top of their highest mountain...We even saw a few animals...
...some beautiful ferns...
...and some giant mushrooms!Paris loved it. She had never been there before. In fact, she liked it so much that she built herself a hut and decided to live there:
Just kidding. She didn't build that hut.

Good times.

I also got a lot of work done last week. And I built a few more Squidoo lenses:

ARE YOU A WILLIAM CASTLE SUPER FAN?

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LAUREN R. THARP (this page was awarded a Purple Star!)

MY TOP 6 TEEN TRAGEDY SONGS (I'm going to be doing a sequel to this lens soon!)

Thanks for tuning in! See you next Monday!

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Photo Credit goes to Paris for all pictures except for the ones with her in them.

Steff & Paris

Hey, Everyone!

It's Monday again!

Robert has recovered nicely from his surgery last week. Thank you, Lord! He's doing really well. We're so relieved.

Also, I have more articles up at WP PRO BUSINESS.

I have some other things in the works, but nothing I can talk about just yet...

But, since you (my sweet, loyal, Blog reader) bothered to check in, it would be a darn shame if that's all I had to write. So, in an effort to keep you entertained, I'm going to turn the spotlight on a couple of my friends! The first is:

STEFF TURNER

It was Steff's birthday last Thursday (April 14th) and, for her birthday, I created a very fun Squidoo page/Lens for her! Click here to view HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW STEFF TURNER?

The other friend is:

PARIS MATIC
Those of you who frequent my Blog probably recognize Paris as the friend I went to the tea party with a while back.

I've gotten Paris hooked on Squidoo! She just started an account yesterday and she's already a Level 8 Squid and has two lenses. To view her account, CLICK HERE.


That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

IFS Press Conference & Tea Party

Hey, Everyone!

On Saturday (2/19) I was at a Press Conference for the International Fight Showdown. As a member of the Press!That's a picture of "The Home of the IFS" (where the Press Conference was being held) just before everyone showed up and things got crazy. I'll be going back there again on April 9 for the weighing and match-ups and then I'll be headed to Pico Rivera on April 10th to report on the actual fights. Speaking of which...

IF YOU WANT TICKETS TO WATCH THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT SHOWDOWN ON APRIL 10TH IN PICO RIVERA, CONTACT ME. I'M SELLING TICKETS AT THE PRE-SALE PRICE OF $30 (they'll be more at the door!--if there's even any left!!). E-mail me at littlezotz@gmail.com if you're interested!

I rode up with David Huey ("the voice of Muay Thai"), Gary Finnerty (WMC board of directors & ref), Jonathan Atkinson (pro photographer & motion capture guy), and Kenn Scott (Raphael in the first two TMNT movies). Great guys, all of them.

I also got to interview Baxter "One-Armed Bandit" Humby, William "The Bull" Sriyapai, the 2010 IFS champs, and several of the amateurs fighting for the 2011 championship. I don't want to talk TOO much about that though because then you'd have no reason to read my upcoming articles!

Then, yesterday, I was here:

Weatherwolde Castle. The home of my friends William & Tara. My other friend, Krista, decided to have a tea party there.
That's Krista on the left.

Anyway, I took my friend Paris with me!

That's Paris on the left.

There was a bunch of food (that I couldn't eat) that looked really pretty/good:

And the tables and place-settings were amazing too...

And lots of fabulous/fun ladies...

Mom, Me, Tara, Cynthia, and Lucia

Lauren, Lucia, and Paris: youngest ladies at the party!

It was a lot of fun. And the first day I wasn't working in over a week! (Ladies, if any of you are reading this: I have more pictures. E-mail me if you want them).

In other news, if you haven't been checking, I have more articles up at WordPress Pro Business!

That's all for now!

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Edit: The IFS website is both http://ifsshowdown.com and http://ifspro.com Sometimes one works better than the other!

Clark Chronicle

Hey, Everyone!

Those of you who are avid readers of this Blog (or follow me on Twitter or have befriended me on Facebook) know that today was the day that I was going back to Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School to talk to the students in the Publications/Journalism class.

Take a look at this:

Proof I was there. I had wanted to show these pictures along with a picture of me from high school (I was part of the Class of 2003), but all of the pictures of me from high school are at my parents' house. I promise that I'll get one from their home the next time I'm over there and I'll post it here on my blog...

Everyone thought I was totally amazing. Probably. I don't really know.

I was talking for a long time. And then everyone kept asking questions for a while after. And then MORE of the kids wanted to ask questions, but Mr. Davis (the teacher in charge of the class) had to remind them that they still had actual WORK to do since they were cutting it close to their deadline for the next issue of the Clark Chronicle (the school newspaper).

I think it went pretty well. Hopefully I was helpful/informative and didn't poop on anyone's dreams.

And if there was anyone there who missed a chance to talk to me or wanted to talk to me longer: I'm sorry I had to go so soon! I have 2 articles due today, plus I had to get a few last minute (much needed!) items before Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday..............................................................



I'm going to be going to a Press Conference for the International Fight Showdown! As a member of the Press! I'm very excited.

See? I told you I had more stuff going on in the Combat Sports arena! :)

And then, I'm going to a tea party on Sunday. Not a political thing. An actual honest-to-goodness tea party. Basically, it's going to be a bunch of ladies sitting around in fancy hats, pretending to be British, while sipping different flavors of tea and eating cucumber sandwiches and scones and the like. And it's taking place in my friend's castle. I'm taking my good friend Paris with me. We'll be sure to get pictures.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

EDIT (2/18/11): Here's a picture of what I looked like in high school:I love this picture as it is the best representation of me in high school. I wore that outfit 3 out of 5 days a week for the full 4 years I went there. I also wore that expression. --L*