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Hello sweet little Bloggy readers.

I pray each and everyone of you is having a blessed and merry Christmas season.

I was driving home from school and stuck in the worst traffic of my life (accident on I-35, sad)

But as I was sitting there with a numb tushy and an unfortunate rumbling tummy this song came on the radio. I wanted to share it with everyone because it is so wonderful!

I will legit blog later tonight!

Until then, enjoy!

Beautiful

I have been cleaning all morning and listening to this song on repeat.

So beautiful.

The Day is FINALLY Here

Praise God

Finals are

finished!

I am SO thankful that this hour has finally arrived!

However, my last test... whew that was a bad time for me.

I sat down to take my test, and no sooner than when my test was handed to me did I start to feel ill. No, not the kind of ill that you feel just because you're taking a test... No, I mean ill, like get me out of here I'm about to vomit all over this test!

I pushed through though! I had to push through! I had 100 multiple choice questions and 25 short answers (thank the good Lord they didn't have to be complete sentences).

I got through all the m.c's and then came the short answers... this is when things got really bad. My handwriting was about this big on my paper, and was the sloppiest I think I've ever turned in, but by golly I got through it! I ran up to the front put my test on the pile and literally ran out of my class, left behind all my stuff and got to the bathroom, and yuk. I don't have a clue where it came from! It was HORRIBLE! I felt awful too, there were other girls in the bathroom with me, poor things. BUT I digress; since I feel 84021x's better already I can laugh about it and sum it up to I guess that's just how I felt about this semester.

I wish everyone the best of luck on their last couple of finals, and I HOPE no one else has to endure the discomfort of vomit on test day!

Love to all.

Prayer Request

While I have you here:

Please pray for my sweet friend Amy Urban,

She has to make a 100 on her psych final and she has an accounting exam which she would like prayer for.

Thank you oodles and oddles!

Christmas Time

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale
Ah, Christmas time, I thought I'd never see you.
Christmas is my favorite time of year, it seems everyone is happy, the world is more beautiful, FINALS ARE OVER, and I have one whole glorious month to spend at home with my family.

As I sit here on my couch studying for my one last final (7:45 am get at me! I can handle this!) I decided it was time to bust out some peppermint hot chocolate, get the clothes in the dryer, and change the blog to a more festive background. I'd have to say that I'm quite fond of the results myself! 

I also figured while I'm here I ought to blog, right?!

Christmas to me is a time to spend with the ones I love most. I love the traditions that my family has, and I'm beyond thrilled they're all waiting patiently for me to come home to decorate the tree (sorry you're so nekked right now little tree). However, there is always that thought that comes creeping up every year, and don't worry; it isn't a bad thing, just something that has become too much of the focus for the season--> gifts. I know, I know, it's hard not to make that list (Mom-- if you're reading this, Crock Pot and new tabbed Bible! That's it please!) But that isn't the reason for the season!

It is also an awesome time of year to get out of your comfort zone a little and do some service. Your time is one of the most precious gifts you can give a person. There are so many ways to get involved too! Contact your home church and ask if they know anyone in the congregation that is in need, often times the answer will be YES! And how cool is that to give back to someone you sit in church with every week? Personally, I think it's one of the coolest things... ever.

I hope everyone finishes finals STRONG and has a safe drive home to your families!

Love to all.

my life according to ornaments, baby's first christmas, my high school, and college!

Finals

Finals, oh how I loathe you.
But I understand you're unfortunately necessary (I guess).

Here I am, stuck in Evan's library... I've re-read the same information 6 million times it seems like, and each time I am faced with the unfortunate fact that this stuff isn't sticking like it should. Naturally that means I need to take a 'study break'.

So amid the facebook creeping, twitter updates, and shabbyapple.com browsing, I am spending a great deal of time reflecting upon this morning’s message in church. Today, we talked about 1Peter 5:1-12.

For those unfamiliar with the verse, it is all about humility. Be humble in all that you do. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1Peter 5:5)

It speaks of the Lord rewarding those who don't give into the temptations of the devil, for the devil prowls like a lion. He searches for those who are weak and weary. We are all subject to it; it just comes down to who can stand in the faith. Be the Salt and the Light to the world that everyone should be.

I think this was an awesome subject to cover 1. During finals! Don't give in and say 'no, I'm not going to study, I'm just going to fail anyways.' I struggle with this with one class in particular (funny, the one I’m currently in the library studying for!) It's hard to read fact after fact knowing that you're never going to use this information a day in your life after you hand in that final, BUT you are responsible for knowing that information for the time being! BE BIGGER THAN YOUR TEST! This is something that I constantly have to remind myself of. I am so thankful my professor is a man of God and I can say to him 'this class is causing me struggles not only with my grades, but with giving into temptation by the devil... and he understands! Such a blessing to me this semester! And 2. Right before we all return home for a month where you may be subject to slip into habits of being home, friends, pressures, problems of all kinds. I know when I go home things are easier, I may not be in prayer as constant as I am at home, or I feel more tempted to slip-up in other areas of your life. Put your foot down and say no, stay rooted in Christ and although it may not be as easy, and you may suffer, it is worth it, stay humble and bear that name with honor. (1 Peter 4:16-17)

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for YOU." (1Peter 5:6-7)

I wish everyone luck on your finals, and I hope you finish the semester with all A's!

Photo cred: onwardstate.com

List's

Well, y'all... I'm sorry... I was a horrible failure last month, things just got so busy with school I didn't have time hardly to sleep, let alone blog.

I am currently sitting in the 'cyber lounge' of the dorm I lived in last year with every hope that I would concentrate better here, rather than in my current Apartment. It was successful for about the first 4 hours, but the last hour I've had nothing but a wandering brain, so I felt this was an appropriate time to clear my head and take a break. Why was my mind wandering? I could not have been making more lists in my head if I tried. Everything from trying to remember every single thing I had in my pantry, to what kinds of things are on my 'bucket list' of things to accomplish before I die. Well, since I had all these lists buzzing around in my brain I figured I would write them down, writing them down turned into me blogging about them. The way I see it is if my goals are out there for the world to see, that will hold me accountable to complete said goals.

Oh me oh my, here goes nothing!

What do I want to do this week?
1. Rock the socks off of all my classmates who are (unfortunately) forced to listen to me present my extra credit project over the New Madrid Fault Line (whoa! Earthquakes! AWESOME...)
2. Learn something new in all of my classes.
3. Study my little rear end off for finals.
4. Bake some sugar and spice nuts because they smell so yummy :)
5. Do well on my Geography test!
6. Call my family and grandparents.
7. Be in prayer often about my little's that I will have as campers this summer.
8. Sleep at night! No more all nighters please... I just wasn't made to study all night long!

Well, if you read this: Say a prayer for me that I am able to tackle all said things! Sheesh, Lord knows I'll need it!

Good Luck to EVERYONE who has finals this week! I'll be praying for you all. Seek the Lord and He will give you peace.

November 10

Today I am thankful for:

Girl dates, new friends and Mexican food!

Well, today Tara, Kristi and I all met for a little girl date and went to dinner at Los Cuscos! I met Kristi this past Thursday and was real excited to get to meet up with her again! Turns out... She's a blogaholic too!! Haha she let Tara and me in on some precious new blogs to follow! I love meeting people who have the same obsession with blogs as I do! I am thankful for all the lovely women that have been put in my life recently. I am thankful that the path in life I’m on is full of new friends, and I'm thankful for the time spends bonding with new people!

Now... Kristi, get to bloggin yourself! (I know you'll be reading this :) haha)

I hope everyone had a truckin' Thursday (Sky Ranch jokes... oh I'm just so excited to be there!)

"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."
-Psalm 27:4

Just cause I'm hungry for pancakes right now :)

November 9

Today, I am thankful for:

Aggie Sisters for Christ

Photocred: ASC Facebook page!

Okay, so technically this was more last night, but I have been thinking about it in constant prayer since then. Every Monday night we have our all ASC meetings and last night Ryan (our Chaplain) had us stack up all the chairs we normally sit in... and she hung posters up around the room, we all went to the category of the struggle that we identified most with, once we were at our category we broke into pairs with a girl we had never met before and just told them start to finish what the biggest burden in our hearts were. Once we were finished spilling our hearts out to a stranger, laughing, crying, and praying for each other we washed each others hands to represent washing away that sin/burden. It is so awesome how the Lord works. The girl I ended up with happened to have an almost identical story to mine. We were able to be there for each other and reassure each other that 'it's okay' and connect through our troubles. I am thankful that I am apart of such an awesome group of girls. I am thankful that I was able to whole heartedly open up to a complete stranger and break down my walls and share such a personal thing to me. I'm thankful that I was paired up with Sydney. And my continual prayer this week is for her!


I hope everyone had terrific Tuesday!

November 8

Today I am thankful for:
Miniature sized fruit!

Haha! Okay for real, these little tiny baby apples absolutely made my day! the picture really doesn't do it justice! It is like the size of a bouncy ball! I am thankful that while I was making a list in my head of the 483200 things I need to I happened to look down and see these apples. As I was laughing to myself, and of course… taking pictures of the bite sized apples, I couldn't help but think that this was just a nice reminder to appreciate the small things in life, don't always focus on the millions of things at hand. It's okay to stop and enjoy life.

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

-Psalm 118:24

November 7

Today I am thankful for:

Francine Rivers

Oh... my goodness, if you are ever in need of some good reading Mrs. Rivers is your woman! She is such a wonderful author. All of her books become addictions for me; I can't put it down until I finish the whole thing! I made the mistake of starting one last week at work and whew, this morning I was layin in bed and ended up reading 300 pages and finishing the whole book in an hour and a half! It was so good! It is called Scarlet Thread. Francine Rivers is a Christian author, writing fictional tales but ones that you can so relate to and has some awesome prayers written into the text that I find myself praying to myself after reading them. I love when that kind of thing happens! :) Mrs. Rivers writes the very well known novel Redeeming Love, which is my all time favorite book. But everyone needs to give her other works a try! They're just as awesome! I have read Leota's Garden also and I laughed, I cried, I hurt, I felt love, and above all I could feel the characters love for the Lord just as I do! It is so awesome!

Photo credit: christianfictionbookclub.com

P.S: How about this awesome weather?! Nothing makes me happier than walking out my door to be greeted by a cool breeze and a beautiful sky with a beaming sunshine. How lucky are we that all this was created for us to just enjoy?! So awesome!

Also... in 159 days I leave for Sky Ranch training! I am so excited! Please be praying for my heart, I know I'm taking on a giant task, but my goodness I'm so excited to grow and expirence everything this summer! Also for my girls to come! I can't wait to meet them!

Saturday

On Saturday I was thankful for:

Texas A&M Football!

We played OU this week and WOW! What an AWESOME game!!! We won!! And we are officially a ranked team ;) hello #25 spot! Plus, Texas lost, and Baylor lost (who we play next week!) Things are looking awesome! I'm so thankful I go to school in a town with so much team spirit, and really do support the Aggie's whether we win or lose... But it is so awesome to finally be winning!

Photo cred: Aggie Athletics

I hope everyone had a scrumptious Saturday!

TGIF

Now... Let's pretend it's still Friday, November 5, 2010!
Today I am just plain thankful that it is Friday in addition to that I am thankful for you, AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

I am also thankful that you haven't gotten a hold of some of the family pictures my family has taken... Oh the horror some of those outfits were... (Really, Mom?? All 5 of us HAD to wear matching denim button up and pleated khaki ensembles???)

AKF.com--> You supply me with true belly laughs when I'm at my wits end with absolutely everything, and for that I am so thankful!

I hope everyone had a FANTASTIC FRIDAY!

Let's pretend it's Thursday....

November 4, 2010<<--- let's start there!

Today, I am thankful for:

My W.I.L group!

I am in an on campus organization at Texas A&M called Aggie Sisters for Christ!

It's an awesome group of Godly women who love and fear our Lord and Savior! I have met some incredible women and am SO thankful I pledged this semester! We are assigned to WIL groups at the beginning of the Fall semester and we stay and grow with them through the year. I have been BEYOND blessed with the small group I have been knit into. Such a strong group of loving, caring, special girls and I love them all dearly! Everyone has had their own struggles that have made them so much stronger and I'm so glad to be apart of this group and get to spend time with them every Thursday! Look how beautiful all these girls are!

Heaven Song

I want to run on greener pastures
I want to dance on higher hills
I want to drink from sweeter waters
In the misty morning chill
And my soul is getting restless
For the place where I belong.
-Heaven Song- Phil Wickham.

My heart has been making huge changes in recent months. It creates a need for change in all areas of my life. I understand that it isn't easy, but that is something I can handle. I know I have a greater purpose in life than what is here in College Station, Texas. I don't regret for a minute coming here. Coming to c-stat took my heart on a crazy emotional road trip turning in crazy directions; but, ultimately led me to the Lord like I've never known him before. He has given me the strength to stand on my own, and has made my heart more curious than ever. He has placed road bumps in my path and I'm thankful for every last one of them. The trials He has placed before me have ultimately leaded to becoming the woman the Lord has created me to be. Everything in this life is a lesson that he is trying to teach us, and I'm so ready and willing to be taught.

Lord, continue to call my heart closer to you. Grant me strength to continue on this journey, I know it isn't always simple, but I'm so grateful for everything that has been and everything to come.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

November 3

Today I am thankful for...


My Sister.


My sister is THE most wonderful, smart, beautiful, sweet, funny girl in the world. Friends come and go, but your family is the people who will be there for you forever. I truly believe that I have been blessed with the BEST sister in the whole wide world, we can laugh ourselves sick or talk about the most serious things in the world, Jen is hands down my best friend in the world and means everything to me! Thank you for always being there for me, and for loving me no matter what Jen!


I LOVE YOU!


In honor of the cold weather I decided a cold weather picture was in order!

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 13:34-35

I hope everyone had a wordy Wednesday... (blog jokes haha...)

November 2

Today, I am thankful for...

Starbucks.

Oh me oh my, Starbucks... you keep me awake when nothing else can. You fill my belly with pumpkin spice goodness and all other holiday drinks that delight my taste buds. I am especially thankful for you today as I sit here reading chapter after chapter of information that I will probably never use. Hmph, oh well...

I hope everyone had a tasty Tuesday!

P.s: Looks like the post on my bloggy yesterday got some attention with the big man upstairs... 20 degree temperature drop overnight? Welcome, Fall 2010.

Photocred: wordsaboutthings.files.wordpress.com

November!

Oh my goodness! Time is absolutely flying by, it is already NOVEMBER!
Now, to all those who don't know me-- October is one of my very favorite months, I love when the pumpkin spiced latte's begin to adorn all menu's and the brisk weather comes creeping into the weather forecast and I get to pull out my big, comfy jackets...
Okay, scratch that, October 2010, you failed me in the weather department... This is why I look to you, November, to provide me with the chilly mornings and cool evenings that October did not.

Not to by any means my love for November in previous years, I do love November as well. Of course it brings me one month closer to CHRISTMAS! (53, Days. 1, Hours. 11, Minutes but who is really counting??) But it is also the month of Thanksgiving! I LOVE Thanksgiving (I have a great love for all Holidays... can't ya tell??) and in honor of Thanksgiving I have decided to write a post a day about what I'm thankful for that day. Starting today! Since it is after all, November 1st!

Today I am thankful for my home.
This afternoon I volunteered at the Twin Cities Mission Shelter in Bryan, TX and it just about broke my heart. We were serving food for men, women, children, and elderly; some without a home to go to after they received their meal. It is something you don't often think about if you have a home to go back to at night- I know I don't think about it as often as I should; it was incredible to see how happy, appreciative and thankful they were though to get a smile from 4 sweet girls and a plate of hot food. I challenge everyone who reads this post to get involved in your community. It took about 2 hours of my time on a Monday afternoon to help out a neighbor in need. Instead of watching a movie one day, get out and help! :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..."
James 1:17

It's Official...

It's Official…
My contract has been signed...
I, Laura Catherine Waters, will be a Counselor at Sky Ranch this summer!
I am so incredibly excited for this adventure.
I know it won't be easy, but it's something I've been praying about for a LONG time.

I have wanted to return to Sky as a counselor ever since I was a camper 6 years ago.


If you're reading this:
Please be praying for Sky Ranch, our future campers, and all the counselors!


I can't wait for this summer, and to meet my precious girls!
I know I am going to see the Lord working in ways I’ve never witnessed before and that at times I will be too exhausted to function but all I have to say is: BRING IT ON!

Oh, and something else that's cool is my little brother will be a Sky 4 camper this year! How cool would that be if I get to see him growing in the Lord while having the time of his life at camp?!

Life

My oh my, I have lost touch with my blog once again...

I promise myself every time that 'Okay, I am going to keep up with this, I have so many things I want to write about' yet, every single time I sit down to write my mind goes 57298 different directions and I never know what to start with. However, I think 'life' is where I should start.

I love my life. I love the direction it is heading, and I am anxious and excited about my future.

The things I am most thankful for right now are:

My faith--> On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!

My family-->Mommy and Grandma, I can't wait for you to get here this weekend!
My friends-->Things in my life are changing, but I'm so thankful you are there!

My job-->You came at the right time, and that is the best gift in the world.

My job this summer--> You deserve your own post, so after I make a fax tomorrow I will write about you!

My car--> Oh Hyundai, I loathed you when you first arrived in my garage, but now I'm beginning to be quite fond of ya lil' guy!

Things I'm struggling with:

MATH--> Oh my, math... I pray so often you become easier for me

My future job--> I know I am supposed to be a teacher, but taking all these 'basics' I am taking right now are sure making you seem like you're so far off and unattainable.

My future husband-->I am praying for you, I know you are a good man and one that will lead me and our family on a wonderful walk with Christ and our marriage will be exactly what the Lord has planned for us, but wow, it is hard not knowing who you are yet. But just know that I love you already.

My future children--> Well babies, once I meet your Daddy you will be much easier to pray for, but know that I am praying for your sweet lives already. I can't wait to meet you all some day and help to raise you to become incredible men and women of God.

And once again, MATH--> I have a test in you tomorrow Business Calculus, and I am NOT looking forward to you, but I have studied for you... so please try to not destroy me, please?

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week, don't worry about your tests, you are all going to get A+++'s.

'My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.' - Colossians 2:2-3

I have to memorize this verse so I figured I would type it onto my blog :)

Changes

I know I haven't been good at updating this blog at all, it makes me kind of sad actually because I have so many things I could be writing about, but I have been just so darn busy lately it's ridiculous. But I can't sleep and decided now is as good time as ever to just kinda write about my 'feelings'... After all, that is what my blog is for... right?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am without a doubt a very happy person. Today however has just been a day for the books though. I don't think I've truly been sad in a long, long time. My family though is currently facing challenges we have never had to endure before, and hopefully, God providing we never will again. But for now it's just tough, on everyone. We have to make changes that aren't comfortable. But, dispite sitting in my bed and crying most of the day, I decided to revaluate and look at things from a different angle, clear my head a bit. So, in order to do this I went to my friend's house tonight and while it was fun I just still wasn't feeling being in a room surrounded by people who were laughing and having a great time while I felt like the whole world was crashing down on me. I was just sitting there on the couch, sippin on my Dr. Pepper thinking about what to do, what to do, what to do, I'm listening to my friends laugh, listening to my heart cry, and listening to my brain yell at myself for everything in the book, but amongst all that I just happen to look over and see a little tiny funny lookin book so I decided to flip through it, well, it was a little book about how to get through life, and I was reminded of some very valuable things.

The Lord chooses to remind us to love the things we do have, and to appreciate all we have been blessed with. There is no use in dwelling on things we can not control, that is a useless waste of time, the time you spend wallowing can be spent being productive towards things that are much more worth your time. Never forget that it doesn't matter WHAT you have, it's WHO you have. And I have been blessed with THE most incredible family in the entire world. I know a lot of you think you have the best, but trust me, I have the best! We LOVE each other through thick and thin, we SUPPORT each other in everything, and we just have FUN together. I miss my family SO much while I'm away at school. My little sister and brother are my whole world, they are my best friends, and of course I pick on them from time to time but I wouldn't trade either of them for 734927492 million dollars each. My parents are the two people I respect more than anyone else in the world and I appreciate every single thing they have taught me. I am SO thankful for them and for my life.

In the event that you are reading this Daddy, Mommy, Jen or John:

I love you.

Lord, grant me strength to resist temptation...

Yesterday, I discovered Etsy.com.

Ah! It is fabulous!

I am going to have the cutest darn apartment you have ever seen!

CAN'T WAIT!

I hope everyone has a blessed and beautiful day! Taking the little ones to a place called Going Bonkers!

Lord Have Mercy, My Little Green Bean has Turned NINETEEN!

Haha, I’m sorry Tara, but I needed to call you something that rhymed with 19!

Today is Miss Tara Meisner’s 19th birthday, and I am so glad you’ve finally joined the rest of us as we endure this last year of being a ‘teen’ as we wait with anticipation to begin our TWENTIES! So crazy… Anyways, Tara is one of my best friends and I love her to death. She is the sweetest, caring, yet craziest girl I know and I wouldn’t trade her for the world. I am SO excited that she made the decision to leave OU and come join the rest of us down in AGGIELAND! I know this upcoming year will be absolutely incredible and being neighbors is going to be phenomenal, practicing to be the best wifey’s ever someday (cooking and Carmen Electra workout video’s), watching all things bachelor related, ALL the country concerts our hearts desire, and participating in all things AGGIE! Haha!

I hope that this year is 19 times better than your last and that you enjoy everything you are blessed with this year, Lovely!

Birthday girl and I at 2010 Southlake Carroll High School Graduation!

Tara’s birthday has OFFICIALLY started the countdown till move in! 24 DAYS! I can hardly stand it; it is going to be such a wonderful year. There is so much to do to get ready still… Textbooks need to be ordered, school supplies bought (oh how I love new school supplies!), apartment decorations and kitchen supplies purchased, roomie gifts finished… Oh well, I think I can handle it!

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this coming year; I know it will be nothing but great things.

My Little Munchkins, Cooking, and My Family:

Well, to start things off I feel like a huge apology is necessary… It has been WELL over a month since I last was able to sit down at the computer for more than 2 minutes because I have been so stinkin busy. But now that I have a couple minutes I’ll bring y’all up to speed.

My Little Munchkins:

This summer as I said in my previous post; I am a full-time nanny. I absolutely adore it and it definitely confirms the fact that I love kids and want to be a Mommy someday. Back to the goobies though, they are some of the most fun, energetic, loud, sassiest, loving, precious, polite babies I have ever met. I have had the huge privilege of being their ‘babysitter’ for the past four and a half years. I started watching them when Mad was a little over one years old, and Ryan still needed a bottle and to be rocked to sleep. Now, they are crazy 6 and 4 year olds. I am with them from morning to night just about everyday during the work week, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else with my time this summer. It is a BLAST to be with them all the time, and has made me appreciate my own mother so much more now (she was a stay-at-home mommy while we were growing up, and something I hope I am fortunate enough to be when I have my own family). We go to the movies, the museum, the park, build-a-bear, the mall, we have takes many rides on the train that goes around the mall, we’ve been ‘those’ people screaming and laughing inside the hurricane simulator in the middle of the mall that everyone crowds around and watches you make an absolute fool of themselves, we’ve played glow in the dark mini golf, we have been to just about every kid friendly restaurant, and many more things. While we’re in the car Madison and I sing along to just about every song that comes on the radio while little Ryan sits in his booster mouths what he thinks are the words, it is the cutest thing in the world, never have a seen someone mouth lyrics with as much passion as that little man does. Haha! And of course we’ve played every game known to preschool/1st grade kids, and of course swam for hours upon hours. I LOVE it. I can’t believe I get paid to do this ‘work’ haha! And I’m not saying it isn’t work, I am absolutely exhausted by the time I get home in the evening, but I love it and I’m going to miss those babies so much when I go back to school!

Cooking/The Lofts:

Well, it is no secret to anyone who has spent more than a couple minutes with me… I LOVE to cook. Haha, it just makes me so darn happy when I prepare a meal for others to eat, and talk, and enjoy while spending time with people they care about. THANK GOODNESS I will finally have my very first kitchen next year at school! (Watch out College Station… we’ll all be back in 35 days!) Which brings me to the Lofts part; that is the apartment complex I will be living in next year with Haley Walker, Sally Johnsen and Katie Mason, I could not be more excited to be living with them and I know it is going to be such a blast, we’ve been looking forward to it for quite some time now, and I am so excited because two of my roommates (Sally and Haley) are going to be pledging ASC (Aggie Sisters for Christ) with me too! It’s going to be so much fun to go through ‘new girl’ with them! But back to cooking, once I get home from nannying in the evening I usually like to bake something or cook something for my family and I to enjoy throughout the week, and I have perfected the perfect fruit crisp, my own mother likes it so much that she prefers me to make it for her to bring to dinner parties than anything she would bake.

Here’s the recipe it is absolutely delicious! And you can use just about any fruit you want too so that’s fun, I usually use blueberries/blackberries, or strawberries/peaches/apricots:

Berry Crisp:

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh berries (you can use more fruit if you want; I usually use enough to cover the bottom of the pan with no holes!)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (don’t leave this out!)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1 ¼-1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted (please, use regular butter, no margarine used here!)

Directions:

Set oven to 350 degrees F Prepare an 11 x 7-inch baking dish Plop the blueberries down in the bottom of the pan. In a small saucepan over medium heat mix the sugar, cornstarch, water and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice; cook and stir until thick and clear, then add in the vanilla. Pour over, and then gently stir in the cooked mixture with the fruit of your choice! Topping: In a bowl combine the flour with oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add in the melted butter; mix until crumbly (I start mixing with a spoon then finish mixing with my hands). Sprinkle over the top of blueberries (there will be a couple of empty spots that is okay, there may seem like a lot of crumble but it will settle when baking). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until blueberry mixture bubbles and the topping is brown.

My Family:

My family is one of the best families around and I feel so blessed to come from such a wonderful, loving family. This summer I have spent more time with them, and more time with my grandparents (who live locally) and I absolutely love it. When we’re younger we spend so much time running off and only worrying about our friends and things going on socially, this summer that stuff has kind of taken a back seat just because I have all year to do that.. I only have summer and little breaks throughout the year with my family. They drive me up the wall sometimes, but I love them all to death and respect each and every one of them, and the best thing is, no matter how many times I mess up or do something wrong, they’re always going to love me. That is just such an awesome thing.

Something in the works:

Mission trips! Ah! I am so unbelievably excited about this one. It is just proof that people are put in your life for a reason. I have really felt it in my heart lately that it is time for me to take another mission trip (I have been on two previously), and I had been doing some research one different ones and different locations when I remembered that Sarah, the girl I sat next to in Geology last fall had taken a trip last spring break to one of the places I’d always wanted to go serve at. I had been coming up short in my research about finding an orphan service trip to that location so I decided to go ahead and ask her what group she went with. Well, turns out she went with her home church out of Brenham, yes, the one place I’d like to live more than anywhere else in the world. AND to make it even better, her mother is Executive Director of an ORPHAN Ministry that has four orphan service trips a year!!! It just blows my mind how perfect things can turn out. So, I’m hoping to get to go with this group March 2011 to preach, teach, play with, sing with, and love on some babies for my spring break. Ah, I’m just so excited!

***Also, Sarah and a crew of people are heading to El Salvador in a couple weeks so if you would include them in your prayers that would be awesome!

And since no blog is complete without pictures… here are some pictures of the munchkins:

PS: I promise not to let another month and a half go by before I blog again, haha!

Our trip to the Ft. Worth Science Museum:

Nannying...

So this summer I am a full-time nanny for THE most precious 4 and 6 year old in the world.. I'll have a blog coming shortly about them! Haha but I just wanted to write one really fast before I forget about the funny moment I just shared with the 6 year old Madison, she and I were cuddled up on the couch, she and her brother Ryan just finished feasting on a delicious meal of scrambled eggs, biscuits, bacon, and fruit haha (oh the joys of breakfast for dinner!) But anyways, Madison and I were cuddled up on the couch, watching the classic movie The Wizard of Oz... well, we were on the scene when they are at the beauty salon area before they make the trek to the wizard, and the horse was changing colors, I was laughing to myself as they 'ooed and ahhed' at the horse changing colors, to them it was incredible and to

me it's just watching very bad special effects. WELL, I decided to enlighten them and ask if they knew that this was the very first color movie shown in the 'cinema' (in those days) and they're like "oh goodness no..." And then Madison turns and looks at me with her huge blue eyes and just says:

"Miss Laura.... were movies invented when you were a little girl?" Haha!!
Ahh this is the first time I truly feel old.

PS! Happy TWENTY FIRST wedding Anniversary to MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER AND WONDERFUL FATHER!!! I love you both very much and am SO happy you two are my parents and that you have shown the 3 of us what it is like to truly have a wonderful, happy, blessed MARRIAGE!!!!

Home Sweet Home!

First off I’d like to apologize (Tara Meisner) for not updating in almost two weeks, I started blogging… I should be better at keeping up with it!!!

Anyways... I’m officially finished with my freshman year of college!!! I am happy to report that it came with everything a first year should come with, haha! Fun classes, football, new friends, success, failure, happy times, sad times, sober, and not so sober times… love, heartbreak, and above all things, a lot of self discovery…. I can honestly say that I will miss it, but I am beyond excited for what this next year will bring!!

(Katie, Heather, Me, and Stacy! At the Halloween tailgate for Cambridge!)

One thing that won’t be present next year that I will miss is the little home that was 318, and I didn’t really realize how many memories I had made while living there until I was packing up all my belongings and taking everything off the walls, it was actually really sad! I lived with my best friend of 9 years (Katie), and two “pot luck” girls that I came to love and adore (Stacy and Heather). It was FULL of random things that only we would have thought were funny or entertaining, everyone had their quirks and habits, but overall I’d say we all worked pretty well together. We had our neighbors across the hall (Nick, Will, DENNIS, and Alfredo) who became some of our really good friends and through Nick we met Amy who is now going to be our neighbor next year and rooming with Tara, Jacks, and Courtney! (a.k.a our other four roommates!)

Now that I’m back to living at my parents house and unpacking everything that I somehow fit into that little dorm of mine, I’m finding all the little pictures that Stacy or Heather had drawn for me, reminding me of everything from my freshman year of school, and then looking around at all the high school ‘memorabilia’ I have accumulated over the years… homecoming mums… pictures… trophies… medals… swim stuff… all hanging in my room it’s funny to think about the fact that I feel old now… I feel like high school was such a long time ago.

This time last year I was getting ready for State for Choir, and getting ready to graduate, and as I see my friends who are seniors this year it is strange to me how excited they are about certain things and over obsess about what outfits they wear for what, it all seems like such a big deal to them right now.. But a year from now they too will be sitting in their beds, at their parents’ homes, thinking about this kind of stuff.

It’s crazy how much I’ve learned in a year, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. It was a crazy year, and I never knew time could fly by quite that fast… and apparently freshman year goes the slowest! I can’t wait to see what the next 3 years will bring, for now though I get to focus on my summer job (nannying Madison and Ryan, my favorite little kiddo’s on this planet!) and starting summer school (Biology…) in 2 weeks! Wish my luck! Haha!

I hope everyone is doing well, and will have a safe, happy, and blessed summer!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, more and more often lately I find myself wandering over to read blogs as opposed to facebook (who would have thought that day would ever come?!) and I have wanted one for a while but, I’ll be honest; I have never really felt like I had anything interesting to talk about, haha! But well, I have a lot of stuff coming up so I decided I’ll give this a try and start one now, and I figured hey, what better day to start than on Mother’s Day, a day honoring my Mommy, the woman I admire and respect more than anyone else in the world and the incredible person who gave me life!

(After my high school Graduation)

This is my first Mother’s Day away from my Mommy, and I would have loved to go home for the weekend, but unfortunately we started finals (yuck) last Thursday and I will not be finished until Wednesday so I’m here studying my little heart out in hopes of finishing out my Freshman year of college strong (it is crazy how fast this past year has gone! But I’ll write about that once I am all moved out)

Today I wanted to write about my fantastic Mommy, she has always been someone that I am the complete opposite of, yet, somehow exactly like… and being more and more like her everyday.

My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out. She would drop absolutely anything to care for her family and friends, and as the first born I’ve been able to watch what my Mommy does to teach Jen and John (my siblings) knowing how much of an impact that exact lesson had on my life. My Momma has always been my #1 protector, she would never let ANYTHING happen to Jen, John and I and I love her so much for that. She is someone I could laugh with for hours and talk about anything that came up, and someone who always knew when I was sad and needed to talk. A shopping partner who has taught me the love of finding great deals haha! She always let the 3 of us do whatever we wanted (within reason of course) and I can’t remember a time in my whole life that I was ever told “No, you can’t do that” If there was something that seemed like it would have a positive outcome for it, or we would learn something valuable from it, my parents would make it happen. My Mother has been the perfect example of what a phenomenal Wife is. She is the kind of Wife and Mother I aspire to someday be like, every night without fail there would be a delicious, hot, home cooked meal on the table, and everything would somehow manage to get completely cleaned and put away by the end of the evening (with kids help of course;))
She has been the most caring, loving Mommy in the entire world and lessons she has taught me are ones that have shaped me into the person I have become, and continue to grow into. I am my Mother’s daughter and I could not be more proud of that, without her love and her support I don’t think I’d be half of the person that I am today.

So, THANK YOU MOMMY FOR BEING THE MOST INCREDIBLE, BEAUTIFUL, AND LOVING MOMMY IN THE WORLD! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO COME HOME AND BE WITH THE FAMILY AGAIN FOR THE SUMMER!!