Where You Lead...

Kuddos (again) to Don't Conform, Transform Blog!

2011-10-03T10:38:00.002-05:00

A week ago, my roommate (a self described Halloween/Fall nut) decided to go to a local Halloween costume shop. We weren't looking for our own costumes, but were looking for a Dr. Seuss hat for the Dr. Seuss themed Wednesday night class for the teenagers. While we were in there, Allie mentioned that she had been to a place like this in college and was appalled at the prices and the selection of costumes.

She noticed that the only costumes that were available were sexual themed costumes. It was no different this time. Allie's fiance is a firefighter and we noticed that there were quite a few scantily clad "firefighter girl" costumes. Ugh.

We left the store annoyed- and without a Dr. Seuss hat. We are convinced that we can create our own costumes. Appropriate costumes.

Jennifer Shewmaker shares some great insight of a similar experience in her blog- which you can find in the sidebar of my blog under "Ministry Resources" or HERE.

If you haven't ever read Jennifer's blog, it's a great resource for families. Particularly families with girls. Check it out!

Details of the last month or so...

2011-09-19T10:46:00.002-05:00

Life has a way of getting in the way of blogging (in a good way of course!) and by the time I end up opening my "blogger page" at the end of the day, I end up with drooping eyelids and no desire to write. Which is SUCH a shame because I really love to write. So in a brief nutshell (because remember, I want to try and document this crazy blessed time of my life), here is what has happened in the past month!

-The Boy and I have a date for the wedding! March 15th- which is less than 6 months away!!!! I am seriously over the moon and can't wait to be married to this incredible, funny, encouraging man of God. Several times a week we'll be having a normal conversation and all of a sudden I'll squeal with delight.

-Just some quick deets about the wedding: it's going to be family and life-long friends only, it's going to be in San Antonio at the most precious church ever (The Little Church in La Villita), we are having a dinner in lieu of a reception to keep things casual and personal, and I have asked that the honeymoon is a secret, so I won't know where we are going until right before we leave!

-On the work front, things have been crazy busy, but crazy blessed. Between a garage sale fundraiser, new schedule for teens, curriculum planning, vision writing, retreat planning, budget writing, Girl's Gathering (more on that below), and all the other little things that go into being the only youth minister round these parts, it's been a fun new journey.

-Because of the craziness of my schedule lately, I haven't even started decorating my office. My first day solo my main goal was just to move everything from my previous closet... I mean office, and into my new office. Really I just wanted to be able to find my Bibles, curriculums, stapler, etc. So I have little piles of stuff all over my office of things that I need to hang, set out, put away. Maybe this week?

-One of the most exciting things that I have been working on lately has been a girl's conference in the DFW area. This has been a work-in-progress for several years now and something that my sweet friends and I have been in prayer about for a long time. There are 5 female youth ministers in the DFW area and we've been working on this dream of having a girl's conference here in our area. Well, that dream is becoming a God blessed reality! Coming March 30th and 31st (yes, a week after I get back from my honeymoon...): Girl's Gathering @ DFW!

-The entire second story of the Zone has been cleaned out. And all of its contents (that weren't thrown away) were sold in the garage sale. There was great rejoicing from Southwest Fort Worth. Seriously.

-Sometimes I find myself mesmerized by my ring and all the meanings behind it while I type during the work day. God is faithful to His promises- it's worth it to be patient.

So that's just a glimpse of what's been going on! Blessings!

Where You Lead

2011-08-18T09:12:00.002-05:00

Several years ago, when I re-vamped my blog, I was drawn to the phrase, "Where You Lead" because of (duh) Gilmore Girls and because I felt like that was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to go where God was leading me.

Since then, it's been a whirlwind of trying my hardest to listen to God's call for my life. And I have had some amazing and blessed adventures.

And I'm just now beginning some new ones.

I'm not going to change my blog's name again. I'm going to keep it as is because right now, I'm in the middle of the GREATEST adventure I could have ever imagined. And in the middle of it, my fiance and I are attempting to be obedient to Christ. Yes, you're reading that right. My fiance. :)

Over the next few months, I want to try and chronicle our engagement and marriage as I work solo as the only youth minister. Yes, you read that right. The only youth minister... (we're hiring someone else, I'm just flyin' solo right now).

I feel like the next few months are going to be chaotic and fun and nutty and overwhelming and that they are going to FLY by. And I don't want to miss a single moment of this time in my life. I want to cherish and reflect on it.

I hope you'll join me on this new journey I'm embarking on- it's sure to be full of laughter, tears, frustration, fun, and most of all, blessings.

-Lauren

Pine Springs Day 4!

2011-06-09T20:28:00.003-05:00

We are still having a blessed time at camp! It's been a great week and the sponsors and I keep talking about how we can't BELIEVE that tomorrow is our final day. If you are friends with Erin Lea or Keith Hollar on facebook, check out the awesome pictures that they've uploaded.

Today, Clint and I led the "Egg Olympics" and it was EPIC. I (and many of your children) got egged in the head. Good times, good times. We played an egg toss, a relay, and egg duck duck goose- egg duck duck goose was the reason many of your teens ended up with egg smashed in their hair.

Tomorrow we will have a "Concert of Prayer" with prayer stations all around camp and different ways your teens will experience Christ. Please be in prayer about this experience.

Everyone is still safe and sound. Some teens are sunburned (the air is quite thin and the sun has been very bright) and most of them are using chapstick like it's going out of style. :)

All in all, everyone has been having a great time! Keep us in your prayers!

Blessings,

Lauren

Day 1 of Camp Pine Springs!

2011-06-06T17:08:00.002-05:00

It has been a GREAT day so far (and there's still more to come!) and the kids are all having a great time so far.

Our day started out with Clint waking up all the campers with his daily radio show. You'll have to ask the teens about their favorite silly things he said... it's always a hoot. We went to classes where we talked about being intentional in our faith and the "One Way" that God has for us.

We played some silly water/mud games, ate lunch, had some solitude and as I type this, the campers are enjoying some canteen and free time (dodgeball, crafts, nuke-em, chilling out). Tonight will be another great worship time with Randal Senter and a lesson taught by Josh Haynes.

Our theme this week is "Road Signs" and the signs that God has given us on our walks of faith. Pray for the hearts and minds of the teenagers to be open to His call this week.

Hopefully I will have some pictures up soon! Michele Hollar has been doing a GRAND job of capturing camp this year.

Blessings from the mountains of New Mexico,

Lauren

Camp Pine Springs!

2011-06-05T23:40:00.002-05:00

To all my parents, we are safely in New Mexico!

We are all safe and sound and a little cold and wet (it rained on us while we were unpacking the bus). I'll be updating my blog periodically this week, so keep checking back for the fun activities at camp!

I'll also try and post pictures as I get them!

Prayers for a safe and blessed trip are most appreciated!

Blessed

2011-04-27T16:13:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days where you can't get over how incredibly blessed you are?

I'm having one of those weeks.

:-)

I sit down to pray and I can't think of enough ways to say thank you to my Lord and Savior for the things in my life. He is MIGHTY and POWERFUL and OUTPOURING.

It's been a lovely week. I praise HIM in the harvests and in the battles, fires, and deserts of life.

Blessings!

It's Friday but Sunday's Comin'

2011-04-22T11:49:00.000-05:00

INFINITELY THANKFUL FOR SUNDAY!

Allie and Lauren Attempt to make soap

2011-04-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

Yeah... if you've got 9 minutes to waste, you can watch Allie and I and our soap making adventure. It's some good times, let me tell you.

We plan on making LEGIT soap sometime soon. This was a kit I got for Christmas and it was basically just melting and then remolding then adding some color and fragrance. We want to try and make soap where you actually have to let it cure and you have to use lye and all that fun stuff...

Over and out.

In Honor of LTC* this weekend...

2011-04-20T23:42:00.000-05:00

Even though I've seen it HUNDREDS of times, even though I DIRECTED and WROTE it, I still cry almost every time I watch it. Seeing it live (and these guys have done it on 7 or 8 different occasions)... it's incredibly powerful every time.

They are a delight to direct, and I'm blessed every time we get to perform this skit.

We've got a little something different up our sleeves this year for LTC. 2 years later and I'm still pushing the bar just a little bit.

That's for YOU judges. ;-)

*LTC stands for Leadership Training for Christ. It's a "Church of Christ" convention where hundreds of teens and elementary kids share and train their spiritual gifts. Two years ago, my junior high drama group performed this skit. I was a little concerned that because we used instrumental music (CofC is traditionally accapella) that we might get disqualified. However, we got the exact OPPOSITE reaction.

I can dougie on water!

2011-04-19T19:07:00.002-05:00

Sunday in church, our preacher, Danny, was talking about Peter and about how he walked (and then fell) on the water during the storm. I was sitting next to my friend Ashley who leaned over to me and said, "I can dougie on water!"

Yeah... as in "Teach me how to dougie."

See, Ashley and I are in a hip hop class together. Well, us and our friends Lauren and Allie. It's at 24 Hour Fitness and it is the most legit class EVER. Seriously, our teacher is a true dancer. He should totally be on So You Think You Can Dance.

He's delightful.

And we dougie in the class.

And I thought about it... are we called to dougie on the water?

Absolutely.

Honestly, I think Jesus would be thrilled to see us jerk, tootsie-roll, disco, and yes, even dougie on the water.

He just wants us to get out of the boat.

I fail...

2011-04-18T14:42:00.002-05:00

So I didn't post anything the past two days. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I said I'd post every day for an entire week, but when push comes to shove...

I don't really want to write in my blog on the weekends. I've got a slew of other things I'm interested in doing. Like sleep in, help Patrick plant some flowers and do some yard work, watch makeup tutorials on YouTube, etc.

Plus, Sunday was (and is) a work day for me, so I was pretty strapped for time in general yesterday.

So I'm giving myself a break. Cause it's MY blog, and MY weekly challenges. So there.

*insert tongue sticking out*

But I'm back today. And I don't really have a WHOLE lot of time to be blogging, so I'm making this short. Here are my weekly challenges for the next month:

4/21-4/ 28: Bake homemade bread and eat a sandwich on it at least once
4/28-5/5: Make homemade salsa (Cinco de Mayo!) and attempt to make tortillas
5/5-5/12: Begin the 30 days of 30 Items of Clothes challenge (with photos)
5/12-5/19: Soap making (like LEGIT soap making)

So there they are. And they're for all the blog world to see. Keep me honest, folks!

Allie and Lauren's To Do List

2011-04-15T11:26:00.003-05:00

At the end of January I moved from my sweet little one bedroom apartment into a FABULOUS 2 bedroom apartment (I'll make sure and show pictures soon!). I acquired a roommate in that process! My friend Allie!

When we moved in together we knew that it would be very temporary- a year, year and a half, probably tops. With two boys (who also live together... how funny is that!) we figured that we wouldn't have too much time to live together. And sure enough, about a month and a half ago- Allie got engaged! Her wedding is next March 3rd!

We're both very crafty and like to cook and bake and while we were planning our move, we kept saying, "when we move in together, we should..." and so eventually, we made a list!

I've already crossed "learn to make tiramisu" off the list and last night we had a "crafty night" and made soap! I captured the process on video and Allie suggested that we video all of the items on our list! So look for those soon!

Weekly Challenges

2011-04-14T18:06:00.002-05:00

When I was in 3rd grade I was in a class called Tier 4. It was one of my favorite (and continued to be one of my favorites) classes in elementary school. There were only 6 (yes 6!) of us in a class. 5 girls and one boy (poor Joel...). We had these assignments once a week called "Weekly Challenges" and they were the DEVIL as far as I was concerned. They were assignments that we were meant to work on through the entire week and then turned in on Friday morning.

And they were homework assignments- so no help from the teacher essentially. We were supposed to work on them on our own.

But they were impossibly hard. I can remember EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT sitting down with my mom and Bob and working on these assignments while we watched Mad About You and Seinfeld.

I had a love hate relationship with my teacher Mrs. Shoop- I loved her when we were reading or writing in class or when we would get special privileges because of our small class size, but on Thursday nights during Must See TV, I HATED her.

I've always thought about those assignments and how challenging they were even to my mom and Bob and how my poor little 3rd grade brain was having a hard time keeping up... but they were good. I learned. I problem solved and I struggled and I had to look in dictionaries and encyclopedias and in newspapers. I learned so much during those assignments.

And it's time for me to learn some more. I mean, I'm growing in ways every day and I'm about to be seriously challenged in terms of my job, but I want to grow in more ways than that.

So I'm going to start my own form of Weekly Challenges. I want to challenge myself with something new or foreign or hard every week. Starting with TODAY.

My first Weekly Challenge is to write on my blog every day in the next week. That's completely doable.

And in one of those posts, I have to outline the next month of Weekly Challenges.

They will probably differ each week and won't always be something I have to do EVERY DAY, but it will be fun and hopefully I'll learn something from these like I did from the ones in 3rd Grade. :)

*By the way, Mrs. Shoop- you rocked during 3rd grade and I have AWESOME memories of Tier 4 with you!

I have SINGING SOCKS!

2011-02-03T12:25:00.005-06:00

The picture above is of my Grandpa Garcia- my mom's dad. He passed away on Saturday morning while I was in the middle of moving apartments. I got a call from my stepdad (that I missed) and a text from my mom (which I also missed) that said to call Bob- my stepdad. When I finally got around to checking my phone, I knew exactly what had happened.

Grandpa was on dialysis for 5 years. Cancer had taken both of his kidneys. The first one in the early nineties and then the second one in 2005- my junior year of college. He was able to pass on peacefully and for that I am immensely glad.

It's been a wild new year for me. Over the Christmas holiday, my mom called to tell me that there was a possibility that they would discontinue dialysis and put Grandpa in hospice. I was devastated and VERY emotional. His health had been poor for years, but the thought of losing him was painful. Since the beginning of the new year, his already poor health declined quickly until his passing on the 29th of January.

Of all my grandpas (and I have four!), I was easily closest to Grandpa Garcia. When I would go visit them in Beaumont, my Grandma would always send the Grandpa and I out and about. We would go bowling, see movies, eat fun and delicious foods, and always always ALWAYS talk about his travels.

He worked for the government and got to live and travel to all sorts of interesting places. And he always had a story to tell.

Some of my favorite things/stories/tales about Grandpa are:

-He once told my mom over dinner (when she asked about his government job), "If I told you, I would have to kill you." And he was completely serious!

-When my grandparents lived in Saudi Arabia, they had to buy their Christmas tree off the black market! And their Christmas tapes, too. They did so, willingly, because they would have a Christmas party, every year for the troops. This was during the gulf war.

-He always told me that if he could, he would love to take me to Europe. That of all the grandchildren, I would be the one that would love and appreciate it the most.

-The last time I saw him (about two weeks ago), he was laying in the hospital bed and wasn't very lucid. But at one point he looked up at me, recognized me, and then looked across the room at Patrick and (while pointing at Patrick) said, "He doesn't like you," with a silly/sarcastic grin on his face. Then he laughed at his little joke while I turned BRIGHT red.

-During that same visit as I was telling him goodbye, he said, "You look really happy."

-He's the one who taught me how to bowl.

-I could point at any picture and/or any artifact in his house and he could always tell me in detail what it was and where it was from and the story behind it.

-He loved COPS. Every time I hear the theme music from that show, I think of him.

-He was PURE Mexican. And would eat menudo whenever we would go out to eat authentic Mexican food. I have many memories of him sitting across from me and sucking on a pig's foot while I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

-Was SO photogenic- I mean look at that picture above! What a handsome man!

-Always nurtured my love of the arts and of theatre. He truly believed me to be a star and encouraged me to follow my passions. I loved to go to see plays with him at Beaumont's tiny little community theatre. It was always a pleasure.

-Because he retained so much of his hair (lucky guy never went bald!), I have always thought he looked a little like a Hispanic Dick Van Dyke.

-Speaking of Dick Van Dyke, I can remember watching countless episodes of The Dick Van Dyke show, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and All in the Family with him. It was because of my knowledge of All in the Family that I got (at least) one question right on my AP US History test in college.

-And one of my favorites (and the title of my post): when I was in high school, I woke up on Christmas morning to Grandpa- giddy as a school boy, dancing around in tall Christmas socks. He reached down to one of them, pushed a button and music started, "Lauren!" he said, laughing, "I have SINGING SOCKS!"

A Spark of Heaven's Guiding Light

2011-01-26T13:01:00.003-06:00

I get on these musical kicks every now and again- where I will listen to the same musical over and over and OVER again.

It's usually when things are a little haywire in my life, I'm going through some serious change or rediscovering something that I'd forgotten. When I first moved to Fort Worth it was "I Love You Because" almost a year ago it was, "Les Mis" and "Avenue Q." For about a year after I graduated college, it was Seussical (and then I was cast as Gerturde!).

And lately, things have been pretty crazy. As in, "I just kind of want to sleep for the next couple of weeks" kind of crazy. My life isn't in shambles or anything like that, but I've got a lot going on and my stress level is kind of through the roof.

So I've been listening to the same musical over and over and OVER again. Jane Eyre.

I was in Jane Eyre in college. I still love the music in it. It's romantic and dark and inspiring. And the lyrics of the songs are sometimes straight from the book. Which I love.

And I love the story and character of Jane Eyre. I pretty much love any character that is a strong and independent woman.

Lately my favorite lyrics have been, "As I lie down to sleep tonight, I pray I might be granted strength to see the spark of Heaven's guiding light."

As someone who is watching her grandfather pass away, that lyric in particular has spoken so much to me. We are not of this world. We have a home in Heaven that we should desire to see and LIVE to see. Christ guides us home to him- may we have the strength to do everything THROUGH Him and FOR Him. We should live every day greatly anticipating Heaven and Home. I pray that my Grandpa Garcia will see the Spark of Heaven and go Home to be with the Maker.

May we live each day to desire to be with our Maker. May we live each day to have the strength to see the spark of Heaven's guiding light.

Hi my name is Lauren and I watch YouTube Beauty Gurus (Part 1)...

2011-01-16T23:21:00.000-06:00

Hi Lauren...

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was to watch my mom put on her makeup. I would sit on the large chest at the end of her bed as she sat at her antique vanity and carefully and efficiently applied "her face."

I loved makeup.

Even at an early age.

I used to sit in church on my Mimi's lap and look through the makeup bag in her purse. I would even put some of it on. I can still remember the smell and taste (like sugar!) of her Mary Kay lipgloss. In fact, I bought some a few years ago from a friend and it STILL SMELLS THE SAME.

As I grew older, I began to enjoy makeup even more. I was only allowed to wear a TINY bit in junior high. In fact, in sixth grade I was allowed to wear (very pale) lipstick. Seventh grade, (very pale) lipstick and (skin toned) blush. Eighth grade, (very pale) lipstick, (skin toned) blush, and Cover Girl powder (in the green compact!). Once I got into high school, my mom let me wear pretty much whatever I wanted as long as it was deemed appropriate (and believe me, she ALWAYS had veto power...).

Now that I'm a grown up (sorta...) and on my own, I love to fiddle around with makeup. And about a year ago, I stumbled upon Blaire Fowler, a 17 year old YouTube Beauty Guru. She was young, entertaining, and (get this) she applied makeup on camera. Like tutorials! Instantly I was intrigued. I started to watch her, and then her sister, Elle, and eventually became a subscriber to like 7 different makeup "Gurus."

Because I'm a dork...

Really I just enjoy the art of it. I'm in NO WAY close to their expertise. Which to be honest isn't so much expertise as in that they are well educated and trained, but that they are self-taught and have become incredibly proficient... And I don't even use what I learn from them, for the most part. It's soothing to me.

I am instantly taken back to a time when I was (not that much) smaller and one of the things that made me content was the ability to watch my mom put on "her face."

Prayers for the Conce Team

2011-01-13T11:23:00.002-06:00

This is me and the BFF.

It was taken last night. The scarf I'm wearing? She made it for me! She's been knitting it for two years- I absolutely LOVE it. And the bracelet? I made it for her! I've been making knitted wire bracelets lately- so much fun and SO simple to make (Shannon M., if you're reading this- you TOTALLY need to learn how to make them! You would be a natural!).

Today the BFF leaves for Chile. She and her team (the Conce Team) are going to be missionaries in Concepcion, Chile for a minimum of five years.

They have been planning for this move for about five years now. After spending a summer doing an internship in Buenos Aires with her friend Wes, they decided they wanted to be full-time missionaries in South America. They weren't quite sure WHERE in South America, but they felt like God was calling them there.

A few years (and a few team members) later, they took a survey trip and were absolutely certain that Concepcion was where God needed them.

And today at 2pm, they fly out of DFW to Santiago. They will spend 6 months in Santiago doing Language School (they speak Spanish in Chile).

I've known the BFF for 13 years. We've been best friends for probably 12 of those 13. We were roommates all through college, have survived countless changes in our lives and the lives of those around us. We've been through a lot of really wonderful changes and and some pretty rough changes.

She is an absolute blessing to everyone that she meets and I have no doubt that she will be a light to God's glory to all that she encounters in Chile.

Pray for her team. Pray for safety and perseverance. The next year is going to be hard for them. And above all, pray that God uses them for HIS service and that they continue to keep him at the forefront of their minds.

Love you, Dee- I'm praying hard!

West Texas Girl's Conference: Part 1

2010-11-29T09:48:00.005-06:00

So a few weeks ago, I took a group of girls (4 teens and 1 adult sponsor) to Abilene for the West Texas Girl's Conference. We had a WONDERFUL (and I mean WONDERFUL) time together and I was completely humbled by what I learned there.

Saturday night, I got a text from my fellow Altamesa youth minister asking how things were going. Below is a picture of our conversation:

Aren't I hilarious? And isn't Clint's reaction priceless?

So I told the girls about our conversation and they decided to take picture of them acting it out. Enjoy!

Thankfulness

2010-11-24T11:00:00.002-06:00

I am blessed.

And here are some of the blessings in my life that I am thankful for:

-My Lord and my Jesus. I struggle and churn with doubt and flesh, but never turn away. I can't tell you how much joy and comfort I find in my relationship with Christ. Sometimes I just sit in awe at the grace that has been given to me because let me tell you, I DON'T DESERVE IT. Praise God for sending His One and Only for us.

-Relationships and Fellowship. Where would we be without the people who lead us and challenge us? I am so thankful for the people in my life that encourage me to "give it to God", to look beyond my comfort zones, to see people the way God sees them, and to love beyond what I am able to (but can because of Him).

-Worship. There is great joy in praising our God and Savior. Sunday night we had a Thanksgiving Community Worship with many MANY other churches in our area. It was incredible to see so many congregations (I work for a Church of Christ and there were Baptist, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Christian churches all there... and many more!) come together to worship. We have our differences, but the One thing we have in common is the MOST important thing. Worship is one of my absolute favorite things to take part in. I've said before that I would be perfectly content to sing on a praise team as my job for the rest of my life. I'm pretty sure that's my dream job.

-Gathering. I am praising God for the ability to gather with my family this week. And to see friends (MAGS!!!!) and just spend time with the people I love.

I pray that your Thanksgiving is blessed and you find joy in much this holiday weekend!

Ashley- My HP Buddy

2010-11-17T15:30:00.005-06:00

If you'll notice in my last post, there is a similar theme among most of the pictures. That would be my very lovely and fun friend, Ashley. See up there in that picture? She's the one on the right (obviously). She looks all pretty and clean and I look... well, I look like I've been standing in line in the Texas heat for several hours.

The picture was taken at the midnight premiere for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We (both) stood line waiting for the midnight premiere. For several hours. In the Texas summer. I can't remember exactly, but I think we were only in line for like 3 or 4 hours for this premiere.

Is that sounding like a lot to you?

Well it's not a lot for us.

See we're BIG Harry Potter fans. So much so, that we have stood in many MANY lines together for the series. Someone should calculate how many hours we've stood in line. It would be ridiculous.

The longest we've stood in line (I'm about to raise my NERD flag here) was for the book release of Deathly Hallows. 26 hours. At Barnes and Noble. For the biggest Harry Potter release in the Houston area. And we were the first to get our books. :-)

We were the winners.

(no snide comments, please)

Anyway, we've stood in lines for both the movies and the books. Lots and lots of Harry themed crafts (we made purses while in line for the DH book), consuming of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, reading our favorite passages from the books, making silly videos, asking each other trivia questions... the list goes on and ON!

She is ALWAYS up for some line waiting. And she's super creative about the things to do in line. And she even stood in line (dressed up...) for an entire day about a week before her wedding.

And I've known her for like a gillion years (Ash, I just calculate it, it's been like 18 years...). We've been through a lot together. We went to the same church from the time I was in 3rd grade up through high school. And though this isn't at all the thing that binds us together, it has certainly been a blessing to share these silly and ridiculous experiences with her. I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate her- and mostly for reasons OTHER than Harry Potter. But it's certainly added to the mix. ;-)

Tomorrow night marks the beginning of the end for Ash and I. The first part of Deathly Hallows will be released at midnight.

And we will be there for hours on end, waiting in line in the chilly fall weather that North Texas has been experiencing lately.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

Harry: Through the Years

2010-11-10T16:33:00.007-06:00

In less than 10 days, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 will be released.

I've spent 10 years with Harry. I have a very strong attachment to the series as a whole and this movie release will be the beginning of the end of an era. The open of the close. And I'm being completely honest and completely serious when I say that the night of November 18th will be an emotional night for me. Harry and I have been through a lot together: graduations, new starts, weddings, deaths... the list goes on and on.

10 years of line waiting and midnight releases. Butterbeer brewing and dressing up. Tv interviews and newspaper interviews, online videos, t-shirt making... the list goes on and on.

Here's a look of some pictures through the years (I wonder if anyone can guess at the chronological order they go in):

Give it to God

2010-10-18T08:59:00.003-05:00

I've never considered myself a worrier.

Oh every now and then I would fret. School, work, plays... the stresses of every day life would bum me out and I would worry a little. About the future, about the past, about the present... but it wasn't ever something CHRONIC. Just a passing and fleeting thought, then a strong focus on what needed to get done. That was it. Nothing more, really.

Instead I would analyze. And analyze and analyze. And plan. That's what would keep me up at night. Never really worries.

Lately, I feel like I've been worrying more and more.

And I've been encouraged to "give it to God."

It's been HARD.

The thing is, our earthly and fleshly bodies want to take care of everything. "I can handle it." "It's MY life, I can do what I want."

God gives us our own will. He allows us to make the decision. So we can and are able to hold onto the things that worry us. He's just watching us and shaking His head and trying desperately to tell us that if we give our worries to HIM, our life will be blessed.

Giving up control is something I struggle with. It's something that God and I go 'round and 'round about. But ultimately, giving up control is TRUSTING that He knows what's best. And in my struggles I greatly desire to trust God.

So right now, in my challenging times, you might be able to hear me mutter under my breath, "give it to God, give it to God, give it to God..."

Because He will take care of me. He will never forsake me. He will always be there to carry my burdens and love me in my struggles.

Calendars and Such

2010-10-13T15:48:00.003-05:00

Isn't the above picture fantastic? Okay... it probably doesn't make much sense to you, but to me, and many of the people involved in my ministry, this is FANtastic.

It is a picture of our Zone Teen Ministry calendar. This is obviously for October. At the end of the current month I will go and change out the dates, add the next month, and then add all of the events that are going on in our ministry for the next month. Then (and this is the best part!), the teens can come in and write down some of the events that are going on in THEIR lives for the month. Things like birthdays and choir concerts and football games.

Like Kristalyn! She put down that she has a swim meet on the 30th (btw, Kristalyn, I have NO idea where the swim meet is...). Now Clint and I know when some really exciting events are happening in the lives of our teenagers. And we don't forget about the things that our teens tell us in passing. I've forgotten a few choir concerts and plays that way...

What has now happened, is that our teens are really taking ownership of the calendar (which I LOVE!) and things like this have been popping up on the calendar:

And this:

Which at first, I'm not gonna lie, totally annoyed me and my blessed Type A personality.

But as I was over in the Zone earlier today, I realized that those silly little additions to our calendar really speaks to who the teens of Altamesa really are. It describes their collective personality very well.

Keep on adding them, Zone Teen Ministry, keep on adding them. :)

One Time in College...

2010-10-11T10:18:00.003-05:00

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this morning and am missing a few of my close friends, so I decided to tell you about a few funny and special memories from college.

One time in college...

-The BFF and I wrote a story. It's RIDICULOUS and HILARIOUS. I won't tell you much about it except that it involves the two of us, a blond-haired elf from several epic movies, a Ranger from the same films, Dr. Money (ACU's president in our day) being a wizard, and our friend Ruthie being a squib. It was an epic story. One night, after curfew, we decided to share our story with my very good friend Lauren. Well she wasn't in the mood and REJECTED our story. The BFF and I were devastated and insisted that she read it. She slammed the door in our face. What then ensued was an all out war. There was screaming, running, wands being pulled out, and of course the story being shoved under many doors in an effort to force Lauren to read it. Our RA Kelly finally stepped in, but got wrapped up in it all as well. The dorm director had to come tell us all (Kelly the RA included) to shut up and go to bed.

-My friend Ruthie came over to see my new apartment that I was sharing with the BFF. The BFF hadn't gotten there yet, and neither had all of our furniture (she was coming up the next weekend and so were my parents with all of our furniture). All I was able to bring with me was what would fit into my little red truck- Lola. So Ruthie comes over and we decide to watch Gilmore Girls on my tv. So we put it in, but then got distracted talking and catching up from the summer. The Gilmore Girls dvd menu played on repeat for TWO HOURS before one of us finally got a clue and muted it. To this day, I can still sing the Season One Gilmore Girls DVD menu. La la la la la la...

-My sweet friend Juliette and I were the stage manager and running crew for Last Night at Ballyhoo. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff going on backstage for us to do, so we would sit backstage and annoy our friend Ben by tearing gaff tape (it's surprisingly satisfying) into the headset. One of our jobs was to arrange a bunch of presents on stage in a blackout. Well, we had all of this unused gaff tape laying around (sorry Gary...) so we made beards, mustaches, and unibrows with the tape and put them on our faces. We ran into the blackout every time with those on our faces. And nobody ever knew. Cause it was a blackout.

-Several girls on our freshman hall decided to go stalk people (it was the BFF's idea). So we dressed up in all black and put smudges of eyeliner under our eyes and got in the BFF's gold Saturn. We drove around Abilene and would randomly follow people. We finally got bored and ended up at a coffee shop playing the Game of Life. We didn't go home and change first though.

Francis Chan - Balance Beam

2010-09-27T10:22:00.000-05:00

And now a post from 2005 Lauren...

2010-09-21T10:14:00.002-05:00

(as found in a long lost journal)

Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
-Audition for Phantom of the Opera
-Paint a painting
-Sing the National Anthem at a baseball game
-Play in a hockey game
-Record a CD
-Learn to play the guitar
-Be an extra in a movie
-Have a meal with George Lucas
-Be a part of something Star Wars
-Write a book and get it published
-Sing with Michael Crawford, Josh Groban, Michael Ball and Michael Miller
-Have a meal with Robin Williams and/or Jerry Seinfeld
-Perform at the Alley
-Work the business for 5 years
-Learn to swing dance
-Get my masters

Well, 2005 Lauren... you've at least done a couple of those! You got to sing "Think of Me" with Michael Miller at a voice recital and you're currently working on your masters. You've sorta learned to play the guitar, though you need to continue to work on it.

And just to add to the list:
-Climb all the 14-ers in Colorado
-Visit all the continents

Good luck!

Contentment

2010-09-16T08:40:00.004-05:00

Last night at VIEW, Raymond asked, "Are you content?"

Am I?

We split into small groups and asked the question, "What would it take for you to be content?"

What would it take?

I wasn't sure. Would getting married, surviving Grad school, buying a new Fall wardrobe, moving into a nicer apartment, etc make me completely content? Maybe for a moment...

I've been here before. In high school and college I would occasionally think, "If I only had a car, a cell phone, a boyfriend, a good grade in Chemistry, a part in this play... I'll be content." But it would be fleeting. Mere moments later I would be looking for the next accomplishment or STUFF. So what does it mean to be content? And what does Christ require of us?

He wants us to be content RIGHT where we are.

Paul says in Phillipians, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

He then explains WHY he can live in contentment, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

So how are you living? How am I living?

I'm currently working through this in my own personal life. It's something I've been trying to lift up to God. And it has been a hard couple of months trying to live in the moment of trust. Because that's what it's all about, right? Trusting God with your life. Living for HIM one day at a time. Not getting caught up in the world of "I want." Knowing that He is going to take care of you and being content in that.

Any circumstance you find yourself in, Christ is there with you. Whether you're hungry or not. Whether you're in need or not.

One of my teens said it perfectly last night, "I think true contentment would be if I let go of all of those things that I want that I believe will make me content."

Lean on Christ. True contentment is Him.

To my friend Mags...

2010-09-10T10:49:00.003-05:00

You rock.

And I just wanted to let you know that your tastes and my tastes pretty much ALWAYS line up. So when you recommend something or I recommend something, it's almost always going to be a slam dunk. Namely:

-LOST (I watched our videos that we made last spring yesterday... HILARIOUS)

-Harry Potter

-Firefly- aren't you SO GLAD you pushed through that first ep? How else would we have fallen completely in love with every character on the show? Or had Halloween costumes for this year?!

-Marc Broussard- I seriously thank you for introducing him to me

-The PioneerWoman- always good for a recipe and a laugh! And you can't beat her giveaways. Also, CentsationalGirl... so much DIY fabulousness!

-Castle- really anything with Nathan Fillion is bound to be fantastic. And hilarious.

And most recently, the new Sara Bareilles album and Buffy. Yes, I started watching Buffy this morning. I thought you would be proud. :)

So even though we haven't always listened to one another (are you EVER going to read the Host!? Yes I PROMISE I will watch My Boys at some point...), you are my recommendation guru. So far I don't believe either of us has been led astray.

So thanks for being awesome my shiny, nerd-fabulous, friend!

How am I supposed to study...

2010-09-09T14:32:00.001-05:00

When this is what I see out my window?!

God is SO good.

Rainy Thankful Tuesday

2010-09-07T09:01:00.003-05:00

Good morning! It's a rainy rainy morning here in the Fort. This morning when I took the Phoebe out I kept having to toss her back into the rainy grass so she wouldn't pee on the sidewalk.

She's done that a couple of times...

It's been a while since I've posted (almost two months, but whose counting?!), and so I thought I would post some blessings in my life lately!

-Grad school. Yes, I have started grad school. Yes, I'm freaking out. Yes, it is very challenging. But it's also good. I'm a little overwhelmed by the work load (SO. MUCH. READING.) and the fact that I'm all of a sudden studying theology and not theatre, but I can already tell how rewarding it is going to be.

-Preachers. The class I am taking this semester is on preaching Paul. Right now we're studying homiletics (last week we compared traditional homiletics with Buttrick's homiletics) and I'm in awe with how much thought goes into sermon design and study. So thank your preacher this week. They work and think HARD.

-Jack Johnson on rainy days. There is nothing better than a little Banana Pancakes on a rainy morning. Except maybe staying in bed and listening to Banana Pancakes... :)

-Breakfast for dinner. I had the most delicious breakfast for dinner last night. Complete with deer sausage (a first for me), biscuits, and cinnamon rolls.

-Answered prayers. This one is pretty self-explanatory.

-The Office. Did anyone else watch the marathon on TBS yesterday? FANTASTIC.

-My God. I am continually in awe with how much my God loves me. And takes care of me. And blesses me with things that I have been asking Him for. He deserves so much more from me and I strive to serve Him in the way that he calls me to. His grace and mercy are overwhelming. Please pray that I can follow His path for me. Even when things are tough.

Mission Trip: In Photos

2010-07-23T18:31:00.005-05:00

I've just now gotten internet access again at the church, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves! These were all taken with my iPhone because I don't have my cord to connect to my camera... Enjoy! More to come!

Torrential Downpours and Marathon Shopping Trips: Day Two of Mission Trip

2010-07-19T15:35:00.002-05:00

Yeah.

That's the food for this week.

We're feeding 19 teenagers and 3 adults! TEENAGERS EAT A LOT.

Particularly the boys.

When we left the store we had three shopping carts of food. And we still need to go get more bottles of water.

I took Taylor McDoogal with me this morning. We left at 7:30am to make the trek from Crystal Beach to Beaumont. Why Beaumont? Because it's cheaper than Galveston and the trip was a lot shorter without a ferry boat ride. According to the lady from the First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach at least.

So the two of us drove over an hour into Beaumont in TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS. Seriously. It was a little scary. We were a little damp after the shopping excursion.

While we went and got groceries, the rest of the teens and Clint and Randy went into Texas City to do some work that could be done inside since it's been raining.

Please pray for nicer weather the rest of the week. We want to be as helpful as possible and there is lots of outside work to be done. So far, it's been a great first day! Keep up the prayers!

Galveston Mission Trip

2010-07-18T22:07:00.003-05:00

Hey Blogger Friends,

I'm currently in Crystal Beach (an outskirt of Galveston) on a mission trip with the teens from Altamesa! So far, so good!

Everyone arrived here safe (even if we were all a little sick of the car...) and we are all anxious to begin working tomorrow morning!

I'll be updating semi-regularly here on my blog about how things are going and I'll be sure to post lots of pictures. Check out the BEAUTIFUL sunset we saw while riding the ferry over to Crystal Beach from Galveston this evening.

Please pray that God is glorified through our work this week and that the teens can grow and learn through serving Him.

WORDLE!

2010-07-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Pray by Kendall Payne

2010-06-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

Sabbath

2010-06-10T11:05:00.004-05:00

Well it's Thursday. Only one day of camp left.

And today's theme is Sabbath.

Tonight, my friend Kera and I are speaking. A few weeks ago when we got together to work on how we were going to divide the speaking time up and what we were actually going to say and do, we weren't exactly sure how we were going to tell the teens that they needed Sabbath.

Or WHY they needed Sabbath.

Which was a clear indication to both of us that God was going to speak to us through this lesson.

Sabbath is all about trust.

It's trusting that God is in control of you life. And when he says you need a time of rest and renewal to focus on Him, you give it to him.

The Israelites worked 7 days a week. They didn't have time for Sabbath (sound familiar?).

But God demanded it of them in the 10 Commandments.

And I'm sure that the Israelites pushed back on this law. They probably whined and complained that there wasn't time for the rest he commanded them to take, they would fall back on their work, they wouldn't complete the tasks that needed to be completed...

But God wants us to trust in his design of us. He created us with the need to rest and reflect on Him.

So today, on the 4th day of camp, where every teenager I have seen looks completely pooped, pray that our teens will use today as a way to start practicing Sabbath.

I'm sure that their/your reaction to this will be, "there's no time for the rest he commanded, we'll fall back on our work, we won't complete the tasks that need to be completed..."

But remember, God is our Holy Creator.

Do we trust Him enough to rest in Him?

Pictures from Pine Springs!

2010-06-09T10:59:00.002-05:00

A note from Alan McDaniel (about camp)!

2010-06-08T11:03:00.001-05:00

Hello out there! Speaking to you from Pines Springs Camp near Sacramento New Mexico. We have escaped the Texas heat! Well ... actually it's not exactly cool here, but we can't complain.

As we drove into camp, I began to have "Oh yeah!" flashbacks from last year. The camp excitement came back to me when I saw the familiar cabins appearing from behind the trees. There is a great feeling that comes with returning to a place you have not seen for a year, especially when you had a great experience at that place. I wanted to yell "Hello, old friend! What have you been doing all year?".

So, we didn't hesitate to get settled in, and while doing so, we began to see other campers roll in ... smiling and waving. It felt like one big happy family arriving for a reunion.

In what seemed like no time at all, we were lined-up waiting to eat dinner at the dinning hall and getting reacquainted, and acquainted. There are a lot of new faces this year ..... the more the merrier. Meal time is fun and is a great opportunity to get to know one another.

Then we gathered in the open-air chapel. What a great place to worship. One of my best memories of last year was of a night that it began to rain while we worshiped. The sound of rain all around us, as we sang, was awesome! I told a zillion people about it. I thought that was a one time experience that I would just have to carry with me as a memory. Well folks, it has rained during worship two nights in a row now (I'm writing this on the second night). What an experience! I loved it! It rained so hard that, a couple of times, we just stopped and listened. We prayed and listened to God's sounds around us.

Among many daily activities is our morning class session. Our study for the week of the Ten Commandments takes a look at God's rules as a confirmation of his unconditional love. We will also be discussing idols in the form of temptations in the world that pull us away from God. I hope the kids learn as much at camp as I do.

We have a new friend this year that is keeping us entertained. Bear, the puppy dog, roams the camp, making us laugh. I think he has quite a business going. He puts on a show for us and we feed him food.

And that's the news .... from Pine Springs Camp.

-Alan McDaniel

Hello From Pine Springs!

2010-06-07T00:12:00.002-05:00

Hello All!

We made it safely to camp and are eagerly anticipating our first full day of camp tomorrow!

Tonight we had a wonderful communion lesson where the teenagers shared some prayers that were on their heart about the upcoming week.

The theme this week is "10" and is about the 10 Commandments and how there was relationship before the rules.

Continue to pray that the teens will open their hearts and their minds to the Word of God and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.

Blessings!

It's that time of year again!

2010-06-06T05:48:00.002-05:00

Good morning!

It's almost 6am and in about an hour I will be loading up a bus full of teenagers and hitting the road to Pine Springs!

Pray for a safe trip and a blessed week, please.

We will be out of cell range, so I'm going to use this blog as a way to communicate with our parents about all the goings-on of camp. So please check back if you've got a teen going with us.

Or even if you just want to see how God is working in the Altamesa Teens!

Blessings,
Lauren

LOST According to Lauren: The Last of LOST

2010-05-27T09:30:00.002-05:00

I knew I would cry.

And I figured I would cry a LOT.

But the emotional journey that the final episode of LOST took me on was more than I had anticipated. I was exhausted afterwards.

And a little confused.

But after several days of letting everything sink in, discussing the finale with friends, and reading some articles online, I decided I not only liked the finale, I LOVED it.

They couldn't have ended it better.

Yes, there were PLENTY of questions left, but the finality with the characters was absolutely beautiful.

I would have been super annoyed if they had tied up all of the answers to the show in a neat little bow and left all of the relationships that we've had with all of the characters untouched.

Each time they flashed sideways and another character was reunited... good grief, my friends and I lost it (pun intended). The moment with Claire and Charlie... through her sobs my friend Ashley cried out, "I've been waiting for this for 3 seasons!!"

And the beauty of the sideways flashes being a place where they could all reunite and share together and be with the ones that shaped and loved them on the island... it gives me chills. And what I especially love about it is that they were able to meet each other in their own time. They didn't just all meet up, they had to figure it out on their own. And as each of them did... so moving.

And even in Jack's death (which I had already prepared myself for when in the previous episode Hurley had declared that he was glad Jack took the job because he didn't want to do it- way to foreshadow Damon and Carlton), there was such a sense of peace. The plane flew over him. He shut his eye. I cried like a small child.

And I feel like I got the ending I always wanted.

Everyone ended up happily ever after.

My Big Financial Purchase

2010-05-14T14:51:00.002-05:00

Meet Fred!!!! (in honor of the twin that died...)

Because I haven't posted in a while...

2010-05-13T23:20:00.002-05:00

And because I'm getting sick of seeing the same picture over and over again...

I'm writing a new blog post.

*insert trumpets playing*

It's just some thoughts and some things that are going on. :) Nice and random and brief, just the way I like blogs to be.

-First off, I go through periods where I want to blog all the time. And then I go through periods where I don't want to blog at all. And then I go through periods where there are lots of things I'd like to blog about but I don't want to actually BLOG about it. Does that make sense?

-I'm currently in the middle of the second of the above.

-Summer is quickly approaching and I'm so excited! Summer is such a blessing in my ministry. Teens aren't swamped with homework, there are camps to attend, and the weather is usually ideal for doing devos outside. SO GOOD!

-I think I am making a big financial purchase tomorrow. But I can walk away at any time. ;)

-If you haven't heard Needtobreathe, get yo life right and listen to them.

-A few months ago I was faced with some challenges. I drew near to God, and as I drew nearer to him, I fought with my emotions and mind and heart whether the pain of challenging situations was worth the connection and dependence on God. I'm in the middle of some new challenges, and I'm treasuring the moments (and trying to keep them in my memory) where I can tell Him that I trust Him. It's hard. And it's different. But God won't give me anything I can't handle. Colossians 1:17 says "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." He will hold me together.

-I really love my iphone.

-Robin Hood comes out tomorrow and I'm (of course!) going to see it. Over the past two nights I've watched Robin Hood: Prince of Theives to get me into the mood. No matter how cheesy people think it is, it will always remain one of those movies I can literally watch over and over again...

-You've Got Mail and WALL-E are included in that list as well.

-And probably Star Trek- the new one.

-I make no excuses for my Sci-Fi love. Or the fact that I'm rereading the Young Jedi Knights series. Yes, they were written for teens. But I work with teens, so that makes it less weird right? I mean as less weird as you can get for a 26 year old reading Star Wars teen fiction...

-My new office is so precious to me! I'm thankful I work in a place that will provide me with my own space. And that space is perfect!

-I'm literally dozing off as I continue to type. GO TO BED GRAGERT!

Ross the Boss

2010-04-20T10:59:00.011-05:00

When I was little, I was a brat.

I know, I'm sure it's hard to imagine.

But I really didn't like my little brother. He was a pest! I have vivid memories of him SITTING on me while I watched Care Bears on the Disney channel. He was about the same size as I was (despite being three years younger than me).

He also used to come into my room at night, with a tub of sugar, eat it in my closet, and then LEAVE IT IN THERE, trying to get me into trouble.

What a pest!

And I was a brat and had VERY little patience for this sort of thing. So I would tattle. Or do things to get him into trouble. Poor Ross.

I also used to torture HIM. Because he was younger and I was smarter (only because he was younger). My cousin Ryan and I used to play this game we called "The Claw." I grew up in Houston where we get lots of thunderstorms. And we lived on almost an acre of land that was COVERED in trees. So whenever a big thunderstorm came through, the yard would be littered with tree branches. BIG tree branches.

So Ryan and I would convince Ross to climb up onto the top of our jungle gym and we would try and knock him off the top of it.

With the giant tree branches. That looked like claws.

Ross was about 3 at the time. Ross, I'm so sorry.

Bless it.
We grew up though. And even though the teenage years were ROUGH, once I moved away to college and we both matured a little more, he became one of the FUNNIEST and FUNNEST people I know. We have a good time together.

And I'm super proud of him. He just got out of the Army and is now in college at SHSU getting a degree in Secondary Education. He wants to be a high school English teacher. SO PROUD!

And he's gotten involved with a home church in Hunstville. This totally blesses my heart because I continue to pray that he remain a Godly and Christ-centered man. That he will listen and act on the truths in the Word and will one day lead a family in that way. I can't tell you what a cool thing it is to hear him talk about his home church. It basically rocks.

One of the greatest things about Ross is his sense of humor. Boy do we feed off of each other. My family can testify to that. Our trip to Disney World over Christmas was awesome! And one of my favorite memories was when we were sitting and waiting for the Tower of Terror (aptly named) to start, he leaned over to me and said, "Look! You can hold this bar here!" knowing that I was looking for something to hold onto that would help ground me. And when the wretched ride was over he leaned over and said, "I'm not a huge fan of that ride..."

He's a good brother.

I love that we can quote Friends and Seinfeld and the Big Bang Theory together. I love that he does dumb things sometimes. I love that we've forgiven each other and moved past the times when we weren't really close. I love that he is studying English in college and when he texts me he uses the wrong You're/Your because he's too lazy to put in an apostrophe. I love that he loves Star Wars and has a lightsaber and a Yoda backpack. I love that he GRACIOUSLY let me use the Yoda backpack for a morning when we were at Disney World. I love that he has Disney Dice hanging from the mirror of his Explorer. And isn't ashamed. I love that he is an incredibly talented musician and always enjoys jamming out. I love that he once told me that he would love to audition for Phantom of the Opera and that he wants to play either Firmin or Andre. And I love that he puts up with his Know-it-All sister and just rolls his eyes when I'm right and he's wrong. Or laughs and says, "HA!!!!" when I'm wrong and he's right...

He's a good baby brother.

And I love him.

LOST According to Lauren: The Package

2010-03-31T16:44:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know I didn't do one for last weeks ep, but I've been crunched for time (I went on VACAY to Destin with the BFF- which I will blog about soon!). This will probably be a pretty short post. Mostly because my thoughts during this ep were centered around trying not to dwell on the fact that I was tired (the BFF and drove 12+ hours yesterday).

So, spoiler alert and here we go:

-Okay, KEAMY!!!!! I SO knew it was him that was knocking on the door and then when he appeared I "KEAMY"-ed with delight! Okay, so he might look like a chipmunk, but I think he's so good lookin'...

-YAY for a Sun/Jin centric episode! And is anyone else completely panicked that all will NOT end well for them? *sigh* Dan and Carlton: I WANT A HAPPY ENDING!!!

-Which brings me to my next question: what happens if someone dies in one timeline or the other? Is that significant? I think it should be... But I'm not sure in what way.

-Dee and I were talking yesterday about whether or not a candidate could become the keeper of the island if they didn't want to. For example, if Sun or Jin is unwilling to be a candidate, can they be one? Honestly, I see Jack or Hurley as the best contenders for the island protector. They are the most willing. And I think willingness is a big deal.

-I love that Mikhail was shot in the eyeball. Hilarious!

-Okay, the scene with Sayid and unLocke (MIB... whatever you want to call him) was bone chilling. He doesn't feel. It so reminds me of the book the Host by Stephenie Meyer. Because to be human is to FEEL. And that unLocke tells him it's for the best... no bueno.

-Okay, if Dharma was experimenting with subliminal messages, wasn't that what Ben was doing too? Why were they both experimenting with it? What is the need to brainwash people like Karl? It might be a moot point, but just wondering...

-Claire if you kill Kate so help me... (bum bum bum bum)

-So is Widmore good or bad? Is Ben good or bad? Is there even good or bad? My brain hurts...

-And why did unLocke leave Sun alone? What's up with that? Does tha mean she's not a candidate?

-I'm NOT pleased that Desmond is back. I mean, I am because I like the character, but the poor dude needs a break. HAPPY ENDINGS! Poor Desmond and Penny and baby Charlie.

That's all I've got for today! YAY LOST!

LOST According to Lauren: The Mystery Trip (Recon)

2010-03-23T18:40:00.003-05:00

Caution: This LatL has very little to do with the episode. But it was my thoughts during the entire show. You have been warned.

Last week I was on a Mystery Trip with the teens.

Which meant I wasn't able to watch LOST until Wednesday night. And it was viewed on my iPhone (LURVE!). With Taylor McDoogal sharing my earbuds.

So Tuesday morning I posted a status update on my Facebook that stated that I was going to be unable to view it that night and to please spare the spoilers.

Well the BFF decided to text me on Wednesday morning, "I just want to prepare you. Jack dies."

Now Logical Lauren would say, "Oh HAHA BFF. You're so funny. Jack isn't going to die. What a joker you are!"

But unLogical Lauren (the one who was "Spoiler Free till Episode III" and didn't check Facebook for a MONTH before HP7 was released") went, "Wait... is she joking? Surely she's joking. WHAT IF SHE ISN'T JOKING!!!"

So I texted her back. Nuthin.

Then I called her. The stinker didn't call me back! Now to be fair, she was SUPER busy that day, but my little LOST brain was in a tizzy!

And THEN to make matters more concerning, I saw a post from my friends Stephen and Julie on THEIR facebook that said, "Why LOST, why!?"

So literally, my thoughts during the entire "Recon" episode?

PLEASE DON'T LET JACK BE DEAD! Sawyer, don't kill Jack! If Jack is dead is it island Jack that is dead or is it LAX Jack? SURELY Dee is messing with me. But what if she isn't? Oh if Jack is dead I don't know what I'll do. Hey look at that strange locked room on the submarine, maybe DeadJack is in there. I love how Sawyer is a cop in the LAX timeline, do you think he'll kill Jack?

Spoiler alert: Jack didn't die.

And I breathed easy.

And the BFF laughed and shook her head in wonderment that I would ever be so foolish to listen to her lies.

LOST According to Lauren: The Snickering Ashley Files

2010-03-10T09:32:00.003-06:00

My sweet LOST friend, Ashley, literally snickered the entire time Ben was shoveling the dirt for his grave. Which just cracked me up! She really doesn't like Ben.

Or Juliet for that matter.

And her words last night were, "One down, one more to go."

I'm still holding out for Juliet to come back from the dead and get Island married to Sawyer.

So they can live happily ever after and leave Jack and Kate alone. I'm just a romantic that way.

Now onto the episode! As always, spoilers spoilers spoilers.

-I love funny Ben. His little snide remark about being "pretty sure" that Sayid killed Duggan and Lennon just makes me happy. And I love Michael Emerson. He really got to shine this week. The scene in the jungle with Ilana was SO good. More than anything, I love that he didn't listen to the enemy. He chose the better path. And the better path was offered to him (thank you Ilana!) which is equally as compelling.

-Miles! Even with the 11 lines he's given he still cracks me up. And he found the diamonds!!!

-Which equally cracked me up the way they confirmed that Nikki and Paolo are DEAD. I'm glad to have some closure with the stupidest subplot of season 3...

-Cheese curds!!!

-My friend Mags talked about how she loved that Jack is finding his faith. What a crazy ridiculous scene Jack and Richard had! More than Jack rediscovering his faith it was incredible to see him stepping out on a limb in faith. Which I guess is what faith is... being tested and following through.

-The scene on the beach when Jack and Sawyer and Richard come back to the beach made my heart sing! It reminded me of the first few seasons. Particularly the end of "S.O.S" (which I just watched yesterday) when it shows a montage of happy times on the island. Remember the "happy" times on the island? Remember when everyone was together? Can we go back to that? The people on the beach need to find Kate and Sawyer and bring them back to the beach cause I have a feeling some baaaaaad stuff is about to happen.

-I'm going to have to go back and look, but did Jacob touch Kate? Or just talk to her? And Ilana said 6 candidates knowing that Locke was now unLocke. Does that mean that there's another one? Could that be the person that Jacob is trying to get back to the island? Desmond? Kate? Could unLocke still be a candidate even as evil incarnate? And does that mean that if Jacob touches you you can live forever? But apparently not be immune to evilness? Like Sayid. Brain whirring. Lots and lots of whirring...

-Ben as a cut-throat teacher was interesting...

That's all I've got for now! Happy LOST-ing!

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version

2010-03-05T16:34:00.001-06:00

BRILLIANT!

LOST According to Lauren: Bartee Edition

2010-03-03T00:48:00.005-06:00

NUTTY NUTTY EPISODE!

And of course spent with two of my favorite people in the entire world: the Bartees.

Its been many a season since we've shared an episode of LOST together, but the entire third season was watched on their living room floor (and a few from the second and fourth season as well). It brought back a flood of LOST crew memories watching it with them tonight. You guys rock- on many levels! :)

Now on with the show. Spoilers for this weeks episode Sundown abound in plenty!

-Does anyone remember the "magic box" that Ben told Locke about in the third season (right?)? I feel like they are bringing that idea back...

-Okay, I had a thought tonight while driving away from the Bartees. It's fractured and half-thought-out, but bear with me... what if Jacob and unLocke are aware of the existence of the second timeline and are able to use it to bring people to the island from the other timeline?Does that make any sense? It's almost 1am, so it might not make sense.

-Claire is creepy. Carly said that they've done something to her eyes to make her look that whacked out, and I agree. Because she does look super scary and I don't think (so sorry Emilie di Ravin) she's good enough of an actress to play something that subtly...

-On the other side of things, Terry O'Quinn rocks my world out. Good gravy he's good at being unLocke.

-It's official, I'll never be able to listen to "Catch a Falling Star" again.

-Goodness Sayid kicked some major heinie tonight, didn't he? What was it that Duggan was afraid of? The evilness reaching his heart? I think it has.

-KEAMY!!!KEAMY!!!KEAMY!!!KEAMY!!!KEAMY!!!KEAMY!!! I LOVED Keamy. I thought he was so super creepy and so super good lookin'. I literally grinned like a crazy Claire when he turned around. And then he died (again) and I was sad...

-There was no recognition of things being "amiss" with Sayid this episode like we've seen in the other LAX flash-sideways'. Odd... does that mean that Sayid doesn't realize things are amiss because he's evil? And does this still mean he's a candidate? Even if he's evil?

-The most depressing things Dan Carlson wrote today on his Pajiba recap: Will Kate be able to do anything helpful? I’d thought last week that her role as an island protector was in play, but at the recent Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles, executive producer Carlton Cuse said that her name is indeed crossed out, but that they hadn’t shot a good close-up or edited in the proper footage they needed to show this. Maybe she’ll need that rifle after all.

-KATE!?!?! NO!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she's not really bad. But she did look like she was in some sort of trance at the end of the episode which will REALLY upset me. I love Kate... I don't want her to be evil. *sigh*

-OH! And they totally messed with my brain tonight. I was just SURE that this was going to be a Sun-Centric episode because they've BEEN following the same path of the first season's flashbacks (Kate-centric, Locke-centric, Jack-centric...) but they SHOOK THINGS UP! And I was all telling the Bartees how it was going to be Sun-centric and thinking I'm so smart and BLAM! A Sayid episode. Named "Sundown." Dan and Carlson... you're just trying to confuse us all...

That's all I got today, folks! Hopefully I'll post a video of Mags and I discussing our theories cause its pretty darn funny. :)

LOST According to Lauren: Lighthouse

2010-02-23T22:38:00.005-06:00

Look at me! Two in less than 24 hours! I rock. As soon as the episode was over I rushed to my comp to type these thoughts out in between getting ready for bed. And then I typed a little this morning.

Spoilers abound! Careful friends! And without further adieu...

-First of all I would like to say that I'm weak. I realize this. It's okay. Confession: I started rewatching Season 1 this weekend. It's actually been super helpful and not completely ridiculous in terms of me trying to keep up with 4 different timelines. And the last episode I watched before I watched tonight's episode? The one where Claire gets kidnapped. Um, how weird is that?

-Let's start (for real) with Claire. Good night, what a whirlwind tonight was! She's def evil. All sorts of evil. And the thought of that happening to Sayid? Right now I just want them back the way they are. And to tell Kate to RUN straight into the forest and set up camp far FAR away from Claire.

-And speaking of, what quick thinking on Jin's part to tell Claire he was lying. I literally had a pillow clutched in my hands in tension during that entire last scene. And how creepy was Claire when she told Jin that John was her "friend." No ma'am.

-Oh gosh, poor Jack. My absolute favorite part of tonight was seeing his very vulnerable side. When he told Hurley that he was back at the island because he was broken and he thought that the island could fix him... oh goodness. Powerful stuff. And seeing him with his son David (I'll get to that in a minute) was beautiful. If you're in my youth group or have kids in my youth group, get ready, I'll be using that scene in a lesson sometimes. "You don't have to worry about failing because I will always love you."

-Bless my neighbors. I'm quite loud (shocking I know) when I watch LOST (really I'm loud no matter what, but I'm ESPECIALLY loud when I watch LOST) and when Jack when and picked up David I literally yelled out, "BAH!!!!!!!!!"

-Literally every Jack and Kate moment is fueled with tension. How do they resist mackin' down (making out for those of you who did NOT grow up in the SWCC youth group) when they look at each other like that?!

-Okay, I LOVE Hurley. He makes everything good. And I love that Jacob knows him so well that hecan just tell him to do something and Hurley does it. Unlike Jack and Kate and pretty much every other Lostie. And you know why I love Hurley even more? I love that he has completely embraced his ability to talk to dead people.

-My big prediction of the night? Jacob is trying to get Walt back to the island *shudder* Creepy kid...

-How very Satan-like of Locke to call himself a "friend" to Claire.

-If you don't already go there, a great website for screenshots is: http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/

-And because of LostEasterEggs, I was able to see that Kate's name is on the spin-wheel thingy. So he's been watching her but she isn't a candidate. What makes you worthy of being on the spin-wheel thingy? Oh and Ben's on the list, but his name was crossed out. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN!?!?

I think that's all I've got for today! Happy LOSTing!

LOST According to Lauren (LAX, What Kate Does, and The Substitute)

2010-02-23T12:52:00.003-06:00

Because Mags asked me to (quite politely I might add), I've restarted my "LOST According to Lauren" posts!

So below are some of my thoughts about the new season. All three episodes we've seen so far at least. :) I'll refer to the two realities as the Island reality and the LAX reality. And I'll be referring to the Smoke Monster Locke as UnLocke. For the BFF.

Also, a warning. These are SUPER unorganized. I'm literally just typing as I think. So if things seem a little jumbled, don't worry. They are.

-So far, I've been very impressed. I like the idea of two realities. And I really like that each episode we see someone realize that things are amiss in the LAX reality (the scenes in the first ep with Jack are just SO good).

-Josh Holloway's acting has been WHOA crazy good lately. Good night. The scenes with him and Juliet or with him mourning Juliet are beautifully powerful. And have touched me so much. And Elizabeth Mitchell's second dying scene (why did they have to bring her back just to kill her... again!?) was also very well done.

-Poor Island Claire... I don't think her or Sayid stand much of a chance of surviving. Which is so unfortunate because I really like both of them. A lot.

-Did anyone else realize that it was Greg Grunberg's voice as the pilot in the first ep? Way to pay attention to details, Damon and Carlton! That's why I love you guys! :)

-DESMOND ON THE PLANE!!!!!! What does that mean?! Was he really there?! Was he just a figment of Jack's Island imagination? Is he time traveling?

-My thoughts about LAX Locke- I think he has a much better off-island reality. I mean, all I really want when it all comes down to it is everyone live happily ever after. And Locke deserves his happy ending. And Helen.

-Whereas I like Island Jack and Kate and Hurley, etc. so much more. Is that weird?

-And I really want to hope that LAX Sawyer and LAX Juliet meet and have a happy ending (that's why she said the weird thing about the coffee and going dutch and how she knows "it worked"). Then I'll like Sawyer's LAX timeline better.

-It's obviously all about what I want, right Damon and Carlton?

-Maybe not...

-The cave. Oi with the numbers and names already!! Claire and Charlie's names are both on the wall and crossed out. And why are the LOSTies numbers so low? And why isn't Kate on there? She was visited by Jacob as well. And it isn't cause she's a bad person because Sayid's killed/tortured way more people than she has. Maybe it's cause she always wants what she can't have...

-The new people make me crazy. The temple dudes. I mean, come on! We're really going to introduce new characters the LAST SEASON OF THE SHOW!? I do like the guy who plays Lennon though. He was on one of my favorite episodes of the X-Files (Milagro). He played a writer who writes about Psychic Surgery. And I'm really interested how it's all going to play out, but my poor little brain isn't sure how it's going to last.

-Mags thinks the bloody kid in the forest is Aaron. Yeah. Whoa.

-And speaking of the bloody kid in the forest, this was the first time that I got all so-scared-I'm-gonna-cry. It was an exciting time.

-What was up with Claire screaming "Aaron" when she was having the contractions!? *insert Twilight Zone music*

-So far the episode flash-sideways have been going in the order of the first season's flashbacks. So my guess is that tonight is going to be a Jack-centered ep.

That's all I've got. It's taken a lot for my little brain to remember this much! I'll try and have another one up tonight or early tomorrow. I'd like to get it up BEFORE I read the Pajiba recap. That's my goal. I at least won't READ the Pajiba recap until I've written this. Cross your fingers!

A Very Hurley Mood!

2010-02-16T11:23:00.001-06:00

I love Hurley. So SO much. He's one of my favorite characters on LOST. If not my number ONE favorite. But it's hard to choose. The BFF knows that.

He's kind and sweet and centered. He doesn't feel comfortable lying (he's like the ONLY character on that show who doesn't feel comfortable lying). He always ALWAYS puts me in a good mood.

And today I'm in a very Hurley mood. I got a good nights sleep last night; I'm feeling lighthearted and giddy and blessed.

So enjoy this Hurley clip! It's my gift to you on this LOST Tuesday!

Thankful Thursday!

2010-02-11T15:40:00.002-06:00

The BFF likes to write "Thankful Thursday" blogs, so I am hopping on that bandwagon because there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for, but I'm particularly thankful today! The list begins:

-SNOW! It has seriously snowed all day and has been absolutely LOVELY. It's been a winter wonderland here in Fort Worth and has made me super happy!

-Merrells. Seriously. My feet would have been SOAKED if I didn't have these wonderful all-weather shoes. Plus they're super comfy.

-An administrative minister who understands the perils of a Houston girl driving in the snow. I did go into work today, but as the day progressed and it just got colder, Richard knew that we probably shouldn't stay at work for long. Clint and I got some things done at the office and then left about noon. Thank you Richard!

-A funny little dog. Phoebe cracks me up. She is NOT thankful for the snow. In fact, she HATES it as far as I can tell. When I took her outside this morning, she wouldn't get in the snow-covered grass, so I kind of had to toss her out there. She bounded back to the (equally) snow-covered sidewalk. And then peed on the sidewalk. Remember not to eat yellow snow, peeps.

-My wood-burning fireplace. Even though I was skeptical of it actually snowing yesterday, I had to foresight to grab some wood and starter logs at the grocery store yesterday. Thank goodness I did! It's been awful cozy in my apartment this afternoon.

-Scones! And the ability to make them! The BFF made the PioneerWoman's scones earlier this week and raved about them. So I decided to make them today! Haven't tried them yet, but I'm excited to!

-Friends to share meals with. I'm making the Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti tonight for some friends. I love to cook and be able to share it with someone. And 4 or 5 someones is even better! I haven't made chicken spaghetti in a LOOOONG time, and I've never made this particular recipe before, but PDub has yet to lead me astray.

-My mom. She sent me a sweet Valentine's card and I displayed it! I miss her a lot and hope I can get a chance to go visit my family soon.

-The BFF. She sent me the most fantastic Valentine's package, and I can't wait to watch the movie she sent me!

-A Heavenly Father who has given me all of these blessings!

All good things...

2010-02-02T17:55:00.002-06:00

So I wracked and WRACKED my brain about what to write. In the past I've done questions that I have about the upcoming season and theories I've got. But the fact is, the brilliant writers of LOST have me utterly and fabulously confused.

I'm eagerly anticipating the upcoming season, and I'm SO sad that this story is coming to an end.

I've only got one real theory and that is this: the dead people Jack and Kate found in the caves in season 1? Bernard and Rose.

That's it. Nothing else.

And the questions I have? They all pale in comparison to my "Wait... WHAT?!" question.

I haven't watched any previews for this season. Deanna and I laughed about how last night she was on ABC.com and a preview clip started on the main page and she shrieked and closed her laptop immediately. And really there hasn't been much, but the little that there has been, I've gently avoided (which is something different for me: HERE is an example).

So I'm very excited because I have NO idea where this season is going. Which is totally exciting for me. And after 5 mind-blowing seasons, I am thrilled to see what's coming. What questions will be answered. What direction each character will take.

But more than anything else in this ridiculously, rambly blog-post, I wanted to reiterate that all good things...

They must end.

And I'm sure that LOST... it will end with a "duhn" (that's the ending sound effect).

Oh Pachelbel!

2010-01-18T14:38:00.001-06:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! It's a bit long, but worth every minute!

The Closet of Sin

2010-01-13T15:10:00.004-06:00

For those of you who know me, you know how much I appreciate order. Organization and neatness speak to my soul. In college, my roommate would come back to the dorm and everything would be cleaned and tidied up and the first question she would ask was, "Are you okay? Did you have a rough day?"

It's my way of destressing. I clean to be calm.

This ALSO being said, my apartment (to the naked eye) is always very clean. I make my bed every day. EVERY DAY. I literally can't get into bed if it hasn't been made. If I haven't had time to make it before I have to get back into it (a rarity), I always make it before turning around 5 minutes later and (neurotically) pulling it back again.

My dishes are always put in the dishwasher before I go to bed. I make sure there aren't piles of mail, magazines, papers with Bible verses for Small Group on Wednesday night, etc lying about. I wipe down my counters in my kitchen every night. I keep my bathroom counter neat and free of brushes and straighteners and stray ponies (pony tail holders).

But lurking beneath my obsessively straightened apartment lies an evil space that I dubbed the "Closet of Sin" a few months back.

Now, there isn't anything BAD in the Closet of Sin. It's the only storage I have in my apartment, so there are things like Christmas decorations in there. My chest of drawers was also in there (because of the weird layout of my room) and my television (because of the weird layout of my cable cords). However, there was A LOT of stuff that doesn't need to be in there.

During the summer, I would get back from a trip. Let's use Trek as an example. When I walked in the door after getting back from Trek, the FIRST THING I DO is throw all of my laundry into the wash. Because Trek laundry is gross. And even if there is something that didn't get worn, the rest of the Trek laundry has infected it. Everything smells like smoke and sweat and not showering for a week.

Wow... that was a digression. Back on track:

So everything that isn't laundry lays splayed out on my bed. I decide that I really don't want to deal with it. It's an entire bag of my gross boots (can I even wash those?), unused ziplock bags, beef jerky, my Trek journal and other such stray and sometimes gross things. So what do I do? I pitch it into the Closet of Sin.

Pretty much every trip I went on this summer had a bag (or half a bag) of stuff that I threw into the Closet of Sin.

And then throughout the rest of the year I continued to throw things that I just didn't want to deal with in there.

I came back from Christmas break and opened up the Closet of Sin and realized something: I had to deal with this junk. There wasn't any room left in the closet. It was time.

So I gutted it during my lunch break on Monday morning. I knew if I drug out all the stuff in there and laid it out over my nice and neatly made bed and all over my spotless floor, I would HAVE to organize.

So Monday after work, I went out and bought some things to help me aid my organization.

And then I went through everything. I pitched a LOT of stuff (why did I still have a thousand pieces of paper from Mpulse?!), donated a TON of stuff (I don't use those blankets, why was I holding onto them?), and reorganized. It was rough. And painful (I was so embarrassed by my slothenly living). And things broke (stupid desk!). But it felt SO GOOD when I was finally done. At 2:30am on Tuesday morning.

How many times do we do that with our Walk?

Pretend like everything is nice and orderly. We come to church with a closet of sin and pretend like everything is squeaky clean while Satan is lying to us. Telling us that we have to be perfect before the King. That Christ's sacrifice isn't enough. We're hiding behind the neatly made bed and dishes in the dishwasher, but in the closet are all the things that we don't want to deal with. The pain and the hurt and the sin in our lives.

Let me just tell you, it feels good to bring those things out in the open.

To deal with the "undealable."

And I've done that with my metaphor, but can I do it with my life?

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

2009-12-24T23:23:00.003-06:00

That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing

My FAVORITE moment so far...

2009-12-10T10:39:00.001-06:00

The best part is at the end. CAN'T. STOP. LAUGHING.

Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock!

2009-12-03T15:34:00.001-06:00

Mom has been telling me for years to watch this show and while most -HA!- I mean ALL of the science and math goes over my head, very few of the Geekdom references do.

Seriously one of the most quoteable shows ever.

"Yes... he 'tawt he taw' a Romulan."

CLASSIC!

Locks of Love

2009-11-30T21:35:00.003-06:00

So, I decided in January of 2008 that I would grow out my hair for Locks of Love. Lots of "Please, PLEASE only trim what you have to!" conversations at Fantastic Sams, annoyance when my hair REALLY started getting in my way (it's a bit of a pain when you're trying to work out in a hip hop class), frustration with how much hair products I was using (I was going through shampoo and conditioner like it was going out of style- not to MENTION the styling products), and 11 inches later I made it through to the other side!

Here are some pictures of before and after:

Countdowns and Randomness

2009-11-19T10:11:00.003-06:00

35- Days till Christmas
29- Days till my family goes to Disney World!
24- Days till Ross gets out of the Army. FOR GOOD!!!!! I am SO proud of him.
22- Days till the Chili Theater fundraiser with the Altamesa Teens! Come and support the ministry! Eat chili! Watch a fun show!
7- Days till Thanksgiving! This year I'm trying out the Pioneer Woman's recipe for acorn squash. Everyone pray.
4- Days till I go home. I know I just saw them, but BOY I miss my family.
26- HOURS till I'm on a plane headed to Atlanta, Georgia for the Youth Specialties conference!!! Mandy B, is it Friday yet?! ALMOST! I can't tell you how excited I am about this conference. I can't wait for worship with David Crowder, entertainment by the Skit Guys, and classes that make me want to sing with all the knowledge and encouragement they provide!
14- HOURS till I'm sitting with Mere and her boss watching New Moon. I'm so excited to do this with Mere. If it's bad, we'll just mock it mercilessly! Which is one of my most favorite things to do. :)

In other news, my car is falling apart. I took it in yesterday just to get it looked at and like 6 things are wrong with it. Please pray that the things that need to be fixed can be fixed SUPER cheaply. SUPER SUPER cheaply.

Also, I FINALLY bought a new camera. So far, I'm in love. So hopefully I'll post some pictures from GRG and our small group service project night soon!

Blessings,
Grags

and please don't fight these hands that are holding you...

2009-11-08T22:21:00.003-06:00

Things have been very exciting and busy in my life lately. God has been teaching me important lessons and I (think) I've been open to the learning process.

Through the learning, I've been doing a lot of thinking. Here are just a few (some ridiculous, some not) thoughts/things I've had/done lately:

-What does it truly mean to give your life COMPLETELY over to God?

-Why do I ever STOP watching Seinfeld? I'll tell you why: because it's even FUNNIER when you come back to it after taking a couple months sabbatical from it.

-My family is so refreshing and slightly nuts. It makes visiting them delightful and exhausting at the same time. I wouldn't trade that crazy bunch for ANYTHING!

-I'm a better dancer than I give myself credit for. Even if I do turn hip-hop into a Broadway show.

-My sisters have both hit the age where they are MORTIFIED by their mothers, me,etc. So when I was home the last time I danced in the car while listening to "Party in the USA" just to mortify them. HILARIOUS results!

-Criticism can hurt, but it can help you grow. And isn't it all about growing?

-It sometimes scares me how comfortable I get and how quickly I get there. In order to grow sometimes we have to go through change and pain. In those moments we completely rely on God. Is constant change and pain worth the delight I receive when I know that God has complete control in my life?

-Where is the internet? (this will always plague me...)

-The Pioneer Woman and Centsational Girl make me so happy. I told Lauren A the other day (ha! that rhymed!) that I was a housewife minus the wife. I've gotten so much joy in creating lately. Creating food (crock-pot meals and baking!), creating scarves (see a picture of one of the scarves I'm working on, above), and just using the tools God gave me to make my lovely apartment a place of creation and beauty.

-I'm more excited about Star Trek coming out on DVD than I am Half-Blood Prince. Whoa. Is something wrong here?

-Mere and I are going to see midnight showing of New Moon. I know, Mags. I caved. I have to be on a plane the morning of the 20th and will be in Atlanta for several days. If I don't go at midnight, then I won't see it until probably AFTER Thanksgiving. And that just won't do.

-Why must we rush over Thanksgiving? Stop putting up Christmas stuff and let me enjoy the colors, sights, and smells of Autumn!

-God has been pulling on my heart to be a better steward of the gifts he's given me. How do I know? I've been doing monologues and singing 16 bars of songs for Phoebe in my apartment for a couple of months now. That means it's about time I auditioned for something. Next up: 1776 the Musical. Bliss!

-"How He Loves" is one of the greatest worship songs of all time. And I am moved to tears almost every time I hear it.

-Love is what it's all about. Am I truly loving the way Christ did? Will I ever be able to get out of my comfort zone and love more? How can I love the people who I find most unloveable? How can I show others the amazing God we serve and the amazing and infinite love that He has given to us? How do you illustrate that?

-Will I ever stop fighting the hands that are holding me? Will I?

So... what's up?

2009-09-27T21:32:00.002-05:00

-I realize it's been like a month and a half since I've posted, but life gets busy and blogging falls to the back-burner. So, without further ado...

-I've been listening to a LOT of Les Mis lately. It's bringing back fabulous memories of high school. I had a ridiculous crush on Michael Ball (Marius). RIDICULOUS. His curly hair made my life SO happy! I've grown up a bit since then, and although I've still got a thing for curly hair, Michael Maguire's Enjolras' voice makes me swoon! And although I love the character of Cosette in every other version of Les Mis I've read/watched, I can't STAND her in the musical. I just don't like the way the music is written. She just sounds whiney. Blech.

-Do you have an igoogle page? If so, you TOTALLY have to get the "How-To Of the Day" gadget. It's the GREATEST thing invented. Except maybe indoor plumbing. Or air conditioning. Okay, so it isn't the GREATEST thing invented, but it's one of the greatest gadgets invented. It gives you 2 "How-To's" every day. And they're completely randomly selected. So it can be something incredibly useful (How to fix a clogged garbage disposal), or something CRAZY bizarre (How to draw a lizard in MS paint), or something that is bizarre and just a teeny bit dangerous (How to maintain an open fire in your home- which SOUNDS really dangerous and scary, but is really just fireplace safety). Every day is like a new surprise!

-I really like "Party in the USA". Pray for me.

-We've got a retreat in TWO WEEKS!!! I can't wait. We're going with Preston Road Church of Christ and it's going to be an amazing weekend!

-The BFF may or may not have put up one of the funniest movies that has ever been made up on her blog. Check it out for HORRIBLE videography and professionalism. SO FUNNY though. ;)

-I got a 24 Hour membership about two weeks ago and I love it. I took a Zumba class last week (where the lady kept encouraging us to swing our hips- something COMPLETELY foreign to a white, Church of Christ gal). My friend Ashley and I took a boot camp class today (I'm SORRY Ashley!!!) which completely kicked our bottoms and tomorrow we're going to take a hip-hop class. It's going to be AWESOME!

-I don't quite know HOW, but I've lost my camera. With LOTS of pictures on it. I don't have any clue where it is. So now I not only don't have pictures of the teens from the End of Summer Bash and Mere and I at the Botanical Gardens, I am going to HAVE to purchase a new camera soon. *sigh*

-Clinto and I took the teens to Six Flags yesterday and it was SO much fun! I haven't been to Six Flags since Bobby Moore was our youth minister in high school (WHOA!). The kids were shocked that I didn't grow up going, but we had Astroworld... why would we drive 4 and a half hours when we could drive 45 minutes? Anyways, I rode the Titan. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into until we were chugging up the GIGANTIC hill. I enjoy roller-coasters, so I figured it was just your regular old roller coaster. It was NOT. I actually blacked out at one point (didn't lose consciousness, just lost sight in my eyeballs). It was SO crazy and SO scary and COMPLETELY fun! We had a great time and I can't wait to go back!

-Crock-pot recipe of the week: Chicken and Rice (Ricky Ricardo's fav!)

-I'm still in awe of how blessed my life is! I pray I always recognize how God works in my life. What a mighty Lord we serve!

Summer 2009: In Pictures

2009-08-10T23:12:00.004-05:00

I've had an amazing, beautiful, and BLESSED Summer. Enjoy some pictures from some of the amazing places I got to visit. What an AWESOME God we serve. He created it all!

Humble me, Lord

2009-08-06T20:17:00.000-05:00

Gorgeous isn't it?

I just got back from Trek. This picture was taken while waiting to rappel.

This was my 5th time to go on Trek. I wasn't really excited about going this year. I wasn't in the greatest of shape, I was tired, I really just wanted to go home to Houston and sleep for like a week. But as I got closer and closer to it, I got more and more excited about it. Still not as excited as I've been in the past, but excited nonetheless. And my prayer through it all was that I would let God work in my life. That I would listen to Him and be open to His teachings.

I needed to be humbled.

See I get this idea fairly often that I can control my life. That I'm better at it than God is. That I can be His servant, but not give him full control. Which just isn't true. God truly humbled me this week.

It started on Saturday night (and I failed this test miserably). We were driving to Salida, Colorado and were about 4 miles away when we saw a HORRIBLE wreck in front of us. The road to Salida is only two lanes and there was no way to get around it. So we ended up sitting for about 6 hours waiting for the wreck to be cleared. I was tired; the kids were tired. We were all cranky and the LAST thing we wanted to do after sitting in the car for 15 hours was wait ANOTHER 6 hours in the car. I cried; the kids cried. It was awful. And I doubted. I just knew we were going to have to sleep in a car all night long the night before we started Trek which at the time sounded like the absolute LAST thing I wanted to do. Finally at about 2:30am we rolled into Salida. We were wiped out. And completely humbled.

A few days later, on our way to high camp, Hannah realized that her foot wasn't feeling well. After a few more steps, she realized that she wasn't able to continue. It was awful. We had to leave her on the side of the trail while we hiked ahead and our guide, David and Clinto stashed their packs so they could hike Hannah out. The girls and Elijah and I hiked down to say goodbye. We were all upset. And completely humbled.

Fast forward a couple more days. Summit day! The weather had been HORRIBLE all week and we were warned by David and Alex (our guides) that there was a possibility of not summiting. It rained all night long (literally). And when I woke up the next morning, it was bright out. Not a good sign since the guides get you up @ "Dark Thirty" on summit day (somewhere around 4am, I believe). Next thing I know, David is talking outside our tent telling us that there is another storm on it's way in. Nevertheless we weren't able to summit. We were all very bummed. And completely humbled.

God was in control the entire trip. Which was a lesson that I desperately needed to learn. That HE is always in control. I am not. I don't want to relinquish the tight hold that I have on my life into HIS much more able hands. It's a lesson I'm constantly learning. And something I'm constantly reminding myself during the course of any given day.

Thank you, Heavenly Father for an amazing week. A humbling week. And a week of learning. Please continue to guide me in Your ways. Help me to continue to learn that you are sovereign. You are in control. You are Lord.

Random (delirious) Musings!

2009-07-02T23:38:00.002-05:00

-Just got back from Galveston Mission Trip! It was amazing! And I (kinda) learned how to sheet rock. It was like one gigantic puzzle piece. It was hard, frustrating, and fun work! The teens rocked that sheet rockin'! Plus, every night we went to the beach and even though the Galveston beach is pretty far down on my list of favorite places, it was still amazing. And I totally flew a kite!

-We got home at like 1pm today and I literally dragged my stuff into my apartment, threw a load of laundry into the wash (EVERYTHING had sand in it!), and passed out on my couch with Phoebe in between my arms. I took a glorious nap and then went and got a pedicure where I promptly fell asleep again. In the pedicure chair. With my favorite pedi lady (Tu!) massaging my feet. I woke up when she started painting my toes.

-I leave for Mpulse on Sunday!

-I started Star Trek: Next Generation and love it! Next on my Geeky List is Firefly (for you, Moo-Moo!), Battlestar Galactica, and (maybe) Dr. Who (for Bekah).

-Watching sci-fi so reminds me of sitting by the river at Bandina. I know, bear with me, I promise I'll connect the seemingly random dots. Each year at Bandina (the camp I grew up at) we would all go down to the river and watch baptisms and sing until like 1am. Well, the stars are really defined out there in the middle of no-where. Certainly more defined than they are in Houston. So I would sing and just stare at them all. And I always felt like I was being called to the stars. I even wrote in my diary one year that I felt like God was calling me to them. So when I watch shows or movies where people are able to actually go visit all the unknown planets and stars and suns and moons of our galaxy it makes me almost ache with desire to see them. Who knows... maybe God is calling me there. Maybe that's what heaven is...

-I am continuing to pray for Jon and Kate and family, but I won't watch the show anymore. I've already watched my own family split apart, it will be horribly painful to watch that process again.

-I finally finished Half-Blood Prince! I read Time Traveler's Wife while in Galveston and then started Deathly Hallows. I had forgotten how heart-wrenching, humorous, and painful DH is. I've only read it once (2 years ago!) and so it's like reading it for the first time again. There was one part in particular that even as I type this out, just gives me horrible, scary chills and makes me just want to sob. And I did (though fairly quietly) in front of several high school girls.

-HBP with Ash and Lauren in 12 days! I can't wait to spend another HP event with Ash! And my first HP event with Lauren!

-I turn 26 in 18 days. Wow.

-That being said... I've realized that once again I've been getting too comfortable. And when I get comfortable, that means that I'm usually not stepping out in faith. So if I take you by surprise, know that I'm stepping out on a limb and trusting that God will either A) Provide more limbs or B) Catch me if I fall. Either way, I need to constantly be reminded that my life is in my Creator's hands and not my own. Please pray that I will be brave and will allow God full control of my life.

Prayers for Jon and Kate.

2009-06-20T22:43:00.004-05:00

I realize that they have chosen a life in the spotlight and I am not denying that they have made poor choices in their lives (um, btw, haven't we all?). But this article: RIGHT HERE angers me. Like WHOA angers me.

Because I feel like marriage is becoming a joke.

And that's what this article is doing- making a joke of their marriage. And that's not okay with me. The last thing they need is for people to tell them to "cut bait." Why? Because things got hard? Because our twisted world-views of life mean that everything revolves around ME and MY and I?

All I can do is pray. Pray that there are Godly men and women in their lives that are there to support and love and do all the things that I pray daily people would do for me if my marriage was in trouble. I pray for their children because I know first hand the pain that comes with divorce. It's something that doesn't go away. And it's something their children will deal with for the rest of their lives.

So, media people, please stop poking fun of a true family that is hurting. And instead pray. Turn the harsh "jokes" and flames into words of encouragement. Something I doubt the family is getting a lot of these days.

Lauren Goes to Camp: And Comes Back With Lots of Pictures!

2009-06-19T11:39:00.005-05:00

BRIDGE IS GETTING BAPTIZED! And telling Mr. Brad on the phone.

Windy!

Seriously don't know how I did this. Crysty is laughing at me in the background...

SO beautiful!

Our VERY popular boys!

Class!

Airhead Extremes! So tasty!

Happy to be @ camp!

Isn't it GORGEOUS!? Sorry, Bandina, you've been replaced...

Ashley and Colby think it's WAY too early.

Lauren Goes to Camp: Amazing Teens

2009-06-10T13:35:00.003-05:00

This week has continued to be a huge blessing! The speakers are incredible (Clinto did an AWESOME job on Monday night), the worship rocks, and all the teens have really bonded together.

Some really great things have been said BY our teens and ABOUT our teens. Bridget Glass asked me on Tuesday morning if we were planning on coming back to Pine Springs next year. I messed with her a little bit (I told her no, that Clint and I HATED this camp- I know, I'm mean...) and her face IMMEDIATELY fell. She looked so sad! I quickly took back my answer and said that of COURSE we were coming back next year! She was thrilled.

One of the sponsors from another church told me that three of our boys (Albert, Xavier, and Joel) were absolutely WONDERFUL. She talked about how polite and kind they were. About how they had such good attitudes about everything. She literally told me story after story about how awesome they were. How wonderful to hear!

Parents, you'll be glad to know that all of the Altamesa girls have taught the rest of the campers Kumcha. I watched as our girls and several other teens from various other churches play the rowdiest game of Kumcha EVER! It was hysterical! As I watched them all play, the head counselor of Pine Springs (Michelle), came up to me and couldn't tell me enough amazing things about our teens.

They are having the best time ever! Even in hardship (Clint and I made the whole camp play Egg Duck Duck Goose yesterday- Ashley B. was COVERED in raw egg), and even in not the best weather situations (it's been VERY cold all week- especially at night)- they have been positive. They are learning so much about the Kingdom of Christ and are growing in their own relationship with Him.

Continue to pray.

Blessings!

Lauren Goes to Camp: Attack of the Killer Bug

2009-06-08T14:47:00.002-05:00

For all my parental readers out there, your children made it safely to camp! Without TOO many issues on the way.

One of our issues was while we were driving into New Mexico. I noticed a fly in the van. Gerald was sitting next to me and noticed it too. We ignored it for a bit but then noticed that it was sitting right above my head and had a STINGER! I started to feel my heart begin to race and Gerald bravely tried to kill it. I got so paranoid we had to pull over the car so Gerald and Matthew could squish it. All the boys in both vans and most of the girls laughed at me. I don't believe I was being unreasonable... it had a STINGER!

All in all, the first 24 hours have been wonderful. The weather is quite cool (especially at night) and the trees and mountains are gorgeous.

Please continue to pray for safety. And pray especially that the teens' hearts and minds will be opened to Christ's love and passion this week.

Blessings!

Lauren Goes to Camp!

2009-06-07T04:40:00.002-05:00

Note the time (namely the fact that it's AM!). I am about to drive 9 hours to New Mexico with 12 teenagers, 2 adult volunteers, one RV, and one Darth Otnilc... I mean Clinto. I decided since I'll have some internet access at Camp Pine Springs, I would blog along the way!

I won't blog every night, but I'll try to do a couple this week. Let the camp fun ENSUE!

Dear Friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world...

2009-06-02T09:47:00.002-05:00

I didn't want to go into all the gory details on Sunday night, so I gave the very shortened version of the story to a group of teens and parents as to why I wrote "Alien" on my shirt for the summer.

So for those of you interested in the entire story, here it is:

Junior high is a hard time for anyone. About 7th grade, I was having a really hard time. My hormones were all weird, I was feeling very "attacked" by my fellow cheerleaders, and to top it all off, there were some rough times at home (my mom's house). Things got so bad at one point that I finally just told my dad that I wanted to live with him. I can vividly remember locking myself in my closet in hurt and pain.

And so I escaped (as I tend to do), to a world of books and movies. Star Wars had just re-released the special editions into the theaters and I had a stack of Star Wars books that I would read and re-read. I got lost in the magical world of a Galaxy Far Far Away. I became friends with the characters (Jacen and Jaina were my favorite) and at some point, I decided that I would rather be ANYWHERE but where I currently was. And if I could pick a place, it would be in the GFFA.

So I began to pray. Literally pray that God would take me out of the place I was currently, where I was hurting and sad, and whisk me away to the Star Wars universe. Where I could be friends with Jacen and Jaina and train with them at the Jedi Academy. Sure, I knew that it wasn't perfect there, but defeating Dark Jedi seemed much preferable than Junior High.

I prayed every night for this. For probably a year. Maybe two... I can't remember exactly. But by the time I was in high school, life had calmed and my perspectives (greatly influenced by key people in my life- Deanna, Ashley, Mandy, and Jason just to name a few) had changed dramatically. I was beginning to grow in my relationship with Christ, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere without Him. Even if it was in a Galaxy Far Far Away.

Later, when I was in college, I was reading through the Bible and I ran across the Bible verse you see in the title of this post. 1st Peter 2:11. We are all aliens of this world because our true citizenship lies in Heaven with our creator. It struck such a strong chord with me. I was an alien. I would be able to visit another galaxy, dimension, heaven one day because of what Christ has done for me. But on my current planet, I was an alien. Something that I had always wanted to be.

And I got so much peace from that one simple verse from Peter.

I love the planet I live on. It's fun to read and watch and escape sometimes, but I am always glad to come back to my temporary and fleshly home. One day, I will escape this flawed place for good and return to my true home. Where Christ will be welcoming with wonderful open arms. And I will be an alien no more.

So I didn't watch the premiere...

2009-05-26T22:14:00.001-05:00

But after watching that, I'm going to! Amazing!

Live Long and Prosper...

2009-05-22T00:14:00.000-05:00

Or if you were any of my friends in the youth group in high school, it was the Vulcan salute while saying "May the force be with you" or singing the Star Wars theme song.

Which annoyed me to no end. Because I loved Star WARS. Definitely not Star Trek.

My dad loved Star Trek, I can remember him watching the original series the night I got out of the hospital when I was 5. He was keeping an eye on me (making sure I was keeping down my fluids since I'd been put in the hospital for severe dehydration and pneumonia), and I remember thinking that any show OTHER than this stupid show would have been preferred.

Growing up I had several run-ins with Trekkies. My stepdad, a handful of aunts and uncles, several friends, all of whom couldn't understand why I didn't watch a movie, try out one of the new television shows ("Patrick Stewart is GREAT as Captain Picard!"). But I was loyal to my Star Wars. Happy in my niche of Princess Leia's and Luke Skywalkers. They were like family! How could I betray my family?

So I sat through three prequels. Midnight showings for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I was loyal, but I had harsh words for Lucas. It could have been so much MORE.

And this was proven while watching the new JJ Abrams directed Star Trek prequel. Because it had everything that the Star Wars prequels could have had, but lacked.

The writing was fantastic. I didn't know a single thing about Star Trek and though I didn't get a few jokes that the people around me were understanding, I was able to keep up with the characters. I was able to understand the story-line (thank you JJ Abrams for a season full of time-weirdness on LOST, I think it helped while watching this movie). The characters were entertaining. They were funny without being over the top. They reeled in a Non-Trekkie such as myself.

The direction (something I noticed on my third viewing with the youth group) is rock solid. It's interesting and you feel like a fly on a wall watching everything unfold. The acting moments are honest and beautifully portrayed. You can tell that JJ was very intentional in the way he filmed certain sequences. If I were to write a single word to describe the direction of the movie, it would be "stunning."

The music was so brilliant. Michael Giacchino is so fabulous. I love his scores on LOST and he delivers more beautiful and compelling music in Star Trek. He stays true to the score from the television show and original movies, but reinvents it in a beautiful way. It's modern and epic and EVERYTHING that I could ever want from a movie score. I bought it on itunes and have been playing it on repeat in my car for the past week. I find myself whistling it's notes in the office (something I'm sure Clint just LOVES) and thinking about the way it just seems to soar.

But what I noticed above everything (because I am an actress), was the acting. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are just wonderful. They are the kind of film actors that I can appreciate (because I don't appreciate most). They've got training behind them. Zachary is a Carnegie Mellon graduate! They're honest and sincere actors. They really helped me to fall in love with the characters which I feel is absolutely vital when trying to recreate such ridiculously classic and loved fictional heroes. Instead of the celebrity personalities that we've seen in film actors in the past, these guys have a method. There is reasoning behind what they are saying and why they are saying it. I can see why Spock defiantly and sarcastically says to the Vulcan council, "Live long and prosper."

So if you haven't seen this film yet, I urge you to go see it! It won't win any academy awards (or maybe it will... the visual effects are phenomenal!), but old and new Trekkies alike will enjoy it for what it is- an honest and fun-filled film!

LOST Season Finale Predictions!

2009-05-13T14:35:00.005-05:00

Me and Dee's Predictions:

-Jack and Kate will kiss

-The submarine won't get far

-Jacob is Locke and Locke is Jacob (This is my prediction. Dee already knows who Jacob is- stupid Entertainment Weekly spoiled her!)

-Jacob has superhuman powers

-Rose and Bernard will return

-Something will happen with Claire/Christian

-Juliet is pregnant (Dee's prediction)

-Kate is pregnant (my prediction and one I've been holding onto for like months now)

-Connection is made with the "What lies in the shadow of the statue?"

-Sawyer will call someone by a nickname

-We'll see Charlie again

-Something will happen with "4 8 15 16 23 42"

Mags' Predictions:

-Bomb will go off

-We will see Claire

-During a devastating moment, Sawyer will have to pick between Juliet and Kate

-We will see Bram and Iliana and get some answers on the statue (and hopefully find out who they work for)

-Hurley will make a dumb (but lovable) comment on time travel

-Ben will have to be vulnerable about something

-Someone major will die (maybe and O6er)

-Someone dead will appear, possibly as Smoky

And what are YOUR predictions?! YAY for 2 hours of LOST goodness tonight!

I LOVE Summer (too)

2009-05-12T12:23:00.003-05:00

The Bff just wrote a great post about how she LOVES Summer. You can find it HERE!

And I absolutely agree! Don't get me wrong, I truly love each and every one of the seasons because with each changing season, a new and exciting and often, beautiful change occurs, but for some reason, the change from Spring to Summer is probably my favorite.

I love finally FINALLY being able to wear shorts and skirts again. I love that my legs finally have a chance to BREATHE again! I love tank tops and sandals and flip-flops and bathing suits.

I love the sun! Sitting out by a pool or ocean is quickly turning into one of my most favorite things to do. Particularly when a good book is involved and/or some really great music. Or reading my favorite magazines (Lucky or Self or Entertainment Weekly). I love to swim in pools too. I prefer doing that with lots of friends and family, but it's fun on my own as well.

I love Summer movies. Lately one of my favorite things to do is go see a matinee movie by myself on Fridays. The most recent one was Star Trek. It's the first truly blockbuster film of the Summer and it was INCREDIBLE (more on my newfound Trekkiness in another post). So many exciting films are coming out this summer, and I can't wait to see them! Mere and I will certainly be hitting up the Movie Tavern and the Starplex this summer. There's something fabulous about going from the hot and dry Summer afternoon into a cool and dark movie theatre that just screams "It's SUMMER!" to me. Some movies I want to see this summer: UP, Angels and Demons, Night At the Museum, and (OF COURSE!) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I love camp! And Summer means lots and lots of camps! We leave for Pine Springs in 24 (!!!!!) days! And we've got mission trips and Trek and Mpulse... oh how I love my teenagers!

I love NO SCHOOL! True, I don't actually GO to school any more, but my teenagers do. So NO SCHOOL means more time to hang out, Tuesday Fun Days, His Hands (local outreach days), lunches, and various other fun activities that aren't planned. Sleepovers and swim parties... hanging out with my teenagers when they're not bombarded by homework and class and sports is wonderful!

I love my birthday! It's July 20th (for those that don't have facebook). Right smack in the middle of lots of activity! Which seems pretty fitting. This year I'm celebrating with Dee and Ash at the midnight showing of HP the Wednesday before my birthday, IMAX 3D viewing of HP with Ash, and a mystery celebration with Mere and other Ft. Worth friends!

So many WONDERFUL things going on during the Summer, who could NOT love it!?!?

2009-05-09T12:43:00.001-05:00

Dear George Lucas, The Star Trek prequel was a thousand times better than all of the Star Wars prequel movies put together. Maybe you should hire JJ Abrams next time.
Live long and prosper, Lauren

Random Monday Musings

2009-05-04T16:10:00.003-05:00

-Meredith and I watched "Raise Your Voice" this weekend. Judge away. We did it so that we could basically mock it. And it was quite mockable. Bless Hilary Duff's heart... she's just not a classical singer. She sure couldn't "Raise Her Voice." It was a horrible movie. That had a HORRIBLE moral: "It's okay to lie to your parents as long as you're getting what YOU want out of it." Um... Altamesa teens, not cool. After viewing this monstrosity of a movie, Mere and I had to watch the "Bomb Episode" of Grey's Anatomy to flush out the badness of "Raise Your Voice."

-After a very busy week/weekend, I came to work and SCOURED my desk. Paperwork is where it belongs, pictures are in the right place, post-it notes have been thrown away, files are in the right spot (the file cabinet), and everything has been wiped down with a clorox wipe. Life is good!

-Ash and I had a LOVELY time for her b-day! I love her so much. I'm so glad we've been friends for as long as we have. We've been through SO MUCH together. We were able to watch the final HP trailer for HBP together which was AWESOME on the big screen. HP will always be something that we share a great passion for. She's my HP Buddy! We've been to most of the movies, and all the books (starting with OotP) together. Love and Harry, Ash-er! Love you!

-Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, the Office, and 30 Rock on Thursday nights with Mere are some of the funniest and greatest moments of the week. Meredith is HILARIOUS. We laugh, cry, and discuss powerful creative processes. Seriously.

-Phoebe continues to be the cutest and funniest dog EVER. I'm pretty sure she thinks she's living with a crazy person. I tend to do silly things in my apartment. For instance, Friday I changed my HP calendar, and noticed that Lupin and Tonks were the picture this month, so I proceeded to yell "REEEEEEEMUS!" By the look she gave me, she thinks I'm nuts. But she loves me anyway! We have a good time. She's ridiculously spoiled. She's constantly given treats and chew toys. She lives quite the charmed life!

-A month and 2 days till the first camp of the summer: Pine Springs! I'm SO ready for Summer 2009!!!

-I've been playing my guitar every day for the past 3 weeks. I will have massive calluses! I will! Mere is coming over tonight for a little jam session. I'm still struggling with strumming. I'm too stiff. So we're going to work on that and some simple worship songs! Hooray!

-Frasier is one of the greatest shows of all time. Niles rocks.

-I've still got the greatest job in the world. No lies.

Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?

2009-04-21T10:08:00.002-05:00

First off (and the most EXCITING!), the new Half-Blood Prince trailer was released last Thursday night at 9pm! See it HERE. My thoughts? It's brilliant. I cannot wait to see the movie. Which leads me to my next point...

They've changed the date AGAIN! It will now be released on July 15th as opposed to July 17th. Which means Ash, Dee, and I won't be able to stand in line all day. Work and Tuesday Fun Days must take precedence over line-waiting. :) But we're still planning on going to the midnight showing. It will still be VERY fun because it's been a while since the three of us have done something HP together (Prisoner of Azkaban movie?). Shirts will be made! Fun will be had! Memories will ensue!

Also, filming has started on Deathly Hallows! Mugglenet has some GREAT pictures of the filming. I probably need to stop looking at them though. I've only read DH once (it's been hard to convince myself to read it a second time for some reason... it just makes my heart hurt to think that when I re-read it it will be all over... again) and I'm slowly (ask Mags) working my way through the series and I want DH to be a complete surprise again!

My re-read has taken forever! I just get sidetracked by other books. I know... that makes me a BAD HP fan. Ah well. I started my re-read of Order of the Phoenix months ago and just haven't had a chance to really start and dedicate myself to it. I read a small bit this weekend though. I'm going to try and finish it in the next two weeks. Mags, will you hold me to that?

And finally, a few fun HP quotes to end this blog:

"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes...of course...but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD!" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!
-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry learned quickly not to feel to sorry for the gnomes. He decided to just drop the first one just over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank his razor sharp teeth into Harry's finger and he had a hard job shaking it off until -
"Wow, Harry - that must have been fifty feet!"
-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths. "Well, that's good," said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, "just as long as it's not drawn out. I don't want to suffer."
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes, sir."
"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor."
-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

LOVE AND HARRY!

Dear God,

2009-04-13T23:36:00.003-05:00

Tonight I talked to a friend. A friend who is struggling with finding her purpose and how to serve You.

Lord, it seems like a lot of people are struggling with this. We are all trying to figure out how best to serve you. It's a very hard thing.

So, our Holy and Amazing Creator, I ask that we all trust.

Trust to make bold moves for you. Trust that your ultimate purpose will be fulfilled and that we will be able to be a part of it.

Trust that we will have strength to praise you when our lives don't go exactly the way we wanted them to. When jobs don't open up. When we're heartbroken. When we catch things on fire or mess up on our taxes. When we find that we're on the opposite side of the spectrum as someone we thought you were close to. When we feel completely lost, help us remember that you are King. And that you're worthy of praise BECAUSE of our hardships and not in spite of.

Help us to trust not in our own abilities, but instead offer our bodies as living sacrifices to you.

Help us to trust that you love us.

This is a hard one. People have disappointed us. We've disappointed people. But you love us and because of Christ's blood, we're redeemed. You know that I make too many mistakes. I doubt. I second guess. I stand proudly. I put my own needs and wants and desires above those around me. I falter, and I fail you. But you don't see that. Instead, because of the blood that was shed, you see a fresh and whole Lauren. Help my friends and I to remember that.

And finally, help us to trust that you are GOD. You are the ultimate Creator. You wove the universe (in it's crazy intricate ways) and named the stars. You made zebras and sunsets and iced tea. You composed the rain-showers and choreographed the flight of a hummingbird. Your glory is all around us. You created people like JRR Tolkien and JKR. Your thumbprints are on everything. And God you created me. And each of my precious friends. And you've got a purpose for us.

Help us trust in your purpose. Because above the teaching and the singing and the moving halfway across the world, your ultimate purpose is for us to love you and to love others. And that can be done anywhere at any time. Help us not to forget that.

Everything we do, Lord, let it be an act of worship to you.

Your Children,

Lauren

Fix You LTC Performance

2009-04-12T14:57:00.001-05:00

These are some of my teens performing for LTC. To God be the glory.

The Host

2009-04-08T02:56:00.000-05:00

I just re-read the Host (by the author who wrote the Twilight saga, Stephenie Meyer). This quote is the reason I can't stop thinking about this book. It asks the difficult questions. What is love? And why is love? And how is love? And how on earth do you love all the way Christ tells us to?

What was it that made this human love so much more desirable to me than the love of my own kind? Was it because it was exclusive and capricious? The souls offered love and acceptance to all. Did I crave a greater challenge? This love was tricky; it had no hard-and-fast rules-- it might be given for free, as with Jamie, or earned through time and hard work, as with Ian, or completely and heartbreakingly unattainable, as with Jared.

Or was it simply better somehow? Because these humans could hate with so much fury, was the other end of the spectrum that they could love with more heart and zeal and fire?

I didn't know why I had yearned after it so desperately. All I knew was that, now I that I had it, it was worth every ounce of risk and agony it had cost. It was better than I'd imagined.

It was everything.

Lost According to Lauren: The Past Three Episodes

2009-03-28T15:24:00.003-05:00

I'm slacking. I'm aware of it. Things have been fabulously busy the past few weeks, but Mags is gettin' antsy about a LOST update, so without further adieu...

-I'm SO glad that I'm not traveling back to the 70's and pretending like I'm actually FROM the 70's. I would probably say something dumb that would totally give it away. Like, "Darth Vader is Luke's father!"

-My sweet friend Juliette has a name for Sawyer/Juliet fans: LaFleuliet. So cute! And I'm totally on that ship!

-How crazy was it when Michelle from 24 turned up!? I had heard rumors that Reiko Aylesworth was cast, but it totally took me by surprise when she showed up! And she's the mother of Ethan!?

-So... my newest theory is that Ben is going to keep all of the people/children who were born on the island safe. As in they won't be a part of the "purge." Although, Ethan might be the only one.

-Let's take a vote on who is going to save Ben's life (after Sayid shot him). I'm thinking either Jacob or Richard. Any other thoughts?

-I love that Sawyer is in charge. And I really love that he put Jack in his place. And I really love that Sawyer told him that he was taking things carefully and planning them out. Go Sawyer! Jack, ya gotta just sit back and let Sawyer take charge. Clearly the just DOING wasn't working for ya.

-I really hope we see the giant statue with four toes again.

-Check out this picture HERE to really have your mind blown. Who is sitting behind Sun!? Claire? That gives me the heebie-jeebies!

-Television cracks me up. There is no WAY that baby Ethan is only a day old! He's HUGE!

-I'm really curious about what happened to Daniel. I miss him! Did he go nuts? Did he run away? Did he die? Answers in the next few episodes, please!

-And speaking of answers, I'd really REALLY like to know what happened to Aaron. Soon please.

Spring is in the Air!!

2009-03-09T18:01:00.002-05:00

-There is this tree right in front of the balcony of my apartment. When I moved in, it was almost barren. I was pretty sure it was going to bloom beautifully in the spring and I was right! A few weeks ago, I noticed small little sprouties on it and then one day it was covered in green leaves and pretty white blossoms! Now when I sit on my couch, I love to just look out at my tree. I can't wait to see how it will continue to change as the seasons do.

-The time change (as annoying as it might be) makes me happy once we've lost the hour. It reminds me of the summer. Which I can't wait for this year! We've got some really great camps this summer and great plans for Tuesday Fun Days and Service Project Days! Laying in the sun, swimming in the pool, going to see "blockbuster" movies with Mere, and Sonic blue coconut slushes are all things I'm very excited about!

-I was taking Phoebe for a walk this afternoon, and as I was walking alongside the lake next to my complex and I noticed like twenty baby ducks! I watched them for probably 15 minutes. They were so cute and fluffy! Believe me, it was all I could do not to scoop one up and bring it home with me.

-I want the current weather in Fort Worth to just stay like it is for a few weeks. It's that perfect temperature where you can roll down your windows while driving and keep your windows open in your house and be completely comfortable. Perfection!

-I've started saving for a car! I want a lime green slugbug. It's been my dream car since they came out when I was in 8th grade. I even had a 70's themed sweet 16 and had a slugbug cake and slugbug invitations! So I've started counting the slugbugs I see on the road. So far my count is up to 108. Whoa... I didn't realize until I typed that... but that's a LOST number!

-Speaking of LOST, a "LOST According to Lauren" is in order soon. Man, that show is just incredible. And it continues to get better and better.

-I had a lovely day on Saturday! I went shopping with some friends and just had the greatest time! We went to a couple of thrift stores in the area and I was thrilled!! Cute clothes for very little money makes for a VERY happy Grags. And, for those of you who haven't seen me in a while, I changed things up a little bit. :) Curious? You'll just have to wait and see!

Lost According to Lauren: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

2009-02-26T19:46:00.005-06:00

As always, spoilers abound!

-What I once believed to be a fight of Ben vs. Widmore seems to becoming a fight of Ben vs. Widmore vs. Locke. Who am I rooting for? Locke.

-Here's the deal with the above three (and the reason that I'm totally rooting for Locke). Ben wants the power on the island; Widmore wants power on the island. They are both in it for themselves. Neither truly cares about the island except for selfish reasons. Locke however has shown how willing he is to do whatever it takes to protect the island. His reasons are completely UNselfish. Which is why I'm rooting for him. And I don't trust Ben. Or Widmore. I've heard a few people say that they think Ben will come out of all of this looking like a hero. I don't care who you are, I don't think a hero kills as many people as Ben has.

-What was the deal with the plane landing NEATLY? I mean, it was supposed to be a crash, right?! Dee said something interesting though, she took Lapidus seriously when he said he always lands his vehicles.

-And apparently Dee and I got lost (pun inteneded) and didn't realize that the Ajira folks were on the OTHER island. The one that Jack and Kate and Sawyer were on when they were captured. And remember how Kate and Sawyer had to slave over the plane runway when they were in captivity? Could it be for the Ajira plane!?

-And here's a bit of a random question... do the "Others" call themselves the "Others?" Or do they just call themselves that because the Losties call them that? Just a question...

-I love that Locke went to see Walt. Which btw, someone mentioned that there is a theory out there that Walt grows up and becomes Abbadon. I'm so not sure how that would work. Particularly when wasn't Abbadon standing across the street when Locke went and said hello to Walt?

-And I think my favorite thing about the whole Walt exchange was that Locke didn't try and bring Walt back. Thank goodness. He's a Creepy (capital "C") kid. *shiver* I get tears in my eyes when I think about him to much.

-Hurley remains one of my most favorite characters of all time. And his reaction to Locke=PRICELESS!

-Kate has been just plain MEAN the past two episodes. I mean, honestly! What is the deal? I hate the way she talked to Locke. Not cool, Katherine. Not cool at all.

-Is anyone else crossing their fingers in hopes that somehow Helen is on the island?!

-I literally jumped and screamed when Abbadon got shot. OH. MY. STARS.*

-Jack and Locke have the most interesting relationship. It is so interesting how opposite they are and how tense most of their discussions are. And it's pretty amazing to know that Jack will finally give into the faith that Locke knows is within him. And I think that that is what makes it so interesting to watch. Locke totally knows how faithful Jack can be. He just needs to take the initial step. But Jack doesn't want to take that step. It scares him more than anything in the world. Man of Science, Man of Faith.

-The whole "Locke Death Scene" was almost unbearable to watch, but as I listened to the scene, I knew the moment that there was a knock on the door that it would be Ben and that Ben would end up killing Locke. And thus it came to pass. And it was awful. I can't believe that they showed as much as they did. And I really think it was highly unnecessary.

-I still think that Kate, Jack, and Hurley are in a different time period than everyone else. And I think it's because they didn't bring Aaron with them.

So many questions I have! So many theories out there! I can't wait for this week! It's gonna ROCK!

*"Oh my stars" is dedicated to Bridget who says that ALL the time. You are precious, and you make me giggle every time!

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince - Internation Featurette

2009-02-24T20:19:00.001-06:00

Every time I watch it, I get more and MORE excited!! Enjoy!

Books!

2009-02-20T12:43:00.001-06:00

Really, the part I'm referring to in this clip starts at about 3:50. It's the scene where Rory talks about all the books in the Harvard library. She talks about "frittering away her life" because she'll never be able to read all the books in the world.

I totally understand that. I love to read. And I sometimes waste WAY too much time watching tv or "frittering away my life" than reading a book.

And I want to be more diverse in my reading. Which is why I'm attempting to read something "old and Russian" this year. To get me out of my very old and contented rut of light reading. Last year I read like 10 romantic comedy type books! I need more diversity!

So my goal is to finish reading Goblet of Fire (which WOW I've been re-reading for a while!) and start my "old and Russian" novel which is...

*insert trumpet blare*

Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection!

I was at Barnes and Noble with Ashley a few weeks ago and was checking out Tolstoy with every intention of buying War and Peace. But then I LOOKED at War and Peace and decided that I needed to start with a Baby Tolstoy first. And I've already read Anna Karenina, so I went with a less-known Tolstoy. I also looked at Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov, but that looked big and scary too. So Resurrection it is!

Now I just have to finish it by December 2009... wish me luck!

Lost According to Lauren: 316

2009-02-19T10:28:00.005-06:00

As always, there are many MANY spoilers, friends. Proceed with caution!

-I totally thought the beginning was a dream. When Jack woke up and saw the trees. I was convinced that he was having one of those scary John-type dreams that was going to tell him what to do next. I was really annoyed when I realized they were actually back on the island. I can't believe it!!

-Where are Sayid, Ben, and Sun!?

-Why on EARTH was Hurley carrying a guitar? Does anyone else think that it might have something to do with Charlie? Maybe Charlie was the one who told Hurley what flight to take. I'm still hoping that Charlie will come back somehow...

-I'm SO annoyed with Sun. She left her child behind! Does she think she'll be able to come off of the island?

-And speaking of children, what the HECK did Kate do with Aaron. I think it is a perfectly valid question for Jack to ask, and how could he possibly promise to never ask her about it again? And then kiss her!?

-I believe that Kate gave Aaron to Cassidy Phillips. I think she took Claire seriously when she said to never bring Aaron back to the island. But what is Kate's motivation for going back? Did she have a dream? Is she really missing Sawyer? Does she just want to be with Jack?

-I think my favorite part of the show last night was the scene with Jack and Ben talking about Doubting Thomas. It really made me think about how much of this show is based around faith. And how John has always had faith, but Jack has really had to be taught faith. The scene when he's putting his dad's shoes onto Ben (and by Ben I mean John... thanks Dustin!) was HILARIOUS and so fitting.

-And speaking of creating things so that they're similar to the original crash? I think Kate is pregnant. Chew on that.

-I felt like the pacing of the show really sped up last night. I mean, we've been learning all this information and there has been a lot going on in the past 5 episodes, but last night it was like they put the fast-forward on. Everything happened quickly. Each moment was essential to the plot. There was very little time for anything like character development or even pausing for us as the viewers to catch our brains up to what we were watching. It was awesome. And definitely calls for another viewing. :)

-This is the fourth week in a row that I've shouted "NO!!!!!!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!" as soon as LOST appeared at the end of the episode.

-Another theory I have is that Jack, Kate, and Hurley are in a different time than Sun and Sayid. And I think Ben is somewhere in limbo... as punishment. He's not supposed to return to the island.

-If Ben killed Penny, I will be more than angry. If he did though, it looks like she put up a huge fight.

For more fun and LOST-ing, check out Allison's website!

Because Melissa Anelli Asked Me to...

2009-02-16T02:12:00.001-06:00

Melissa Anelli (author of the VERY good book Harry, A History) wrote these questions on her blog and asked those of us who read her blog, to answer them. So here are the questions and my answers:

1. "Dollhouse" is about girls who are frequently "imprinted" with new personalities (I'm not making the Twilight joke, I'm not); make up the personality/lifestyle you'd like to have and tell me about it.

I am so content with who I am now I would rather not change it. However, I do wish I was a little more spontaneous.

2. Favorite book that you hated in high school?

I hated Catcher in the Rye when I read it in high school. But I re-read it in college and absolutely loved it. It is now one of my favorite books. I couldn't see past what I felt was "useless chatter" when I was in high school. I so identified with the ending of the book in college.

3. Television show you would wipe off the face of the earth if you could?

Any and all soap operas. Blech.

4. Mangos or avocados?

Mmmm... avocados!

5. Edward Cullen (or for the sake of argument, Edwina Cullina) or your first boy/girlfriend?

Hands down my first boyfriend. Jimmy was a lot more interesting than Edward Cullen ever will be.

6. Ocean or lake?

Ocean.

7. Has the economic crisis affected you, and how?

It hasn't. At least not yet.

8. Are you done with your taxes?

No...

9. What's your dream job?

A youth minister and actress. Oh wait... that's what I do now! :)

10. Finish this sentence: "If I had a billion space bucks, I would...."

I would take the Altamesa teens on a mission trip to India. I would take Dee, Ash, Mags, and Ruthie to Englad to see where they film HP, and end the trip with the opening ceremonies of the Harry Potter theme park. I would support Dee and her missionary team to Chile (in full). I would buy the Altamesa youth group a set of vans so that we would never have to rent any ever again. I would pay for all the teens to go to all the camps, retreats, mission trips for the rest of the year. I would pay off my student loans and buy a lime green Volkswagon beetle. And I would get some really great and fun Harry Potter and Star Wars items. :)

Lost According to Lauren: This Place is Death

2009-02-13T17:37:00.005-06:00

Spoilers on this weeks episode, friends. Proceed with caution!

-Mrs. Hawking is Daniel's mum. DUH!

-I don't blame Kate at all for taking Aaron and getting the heck out of dodge. She's got every right to be angry at Jack. So for once in my life, I would run from Jack. But next weeks episode look like she's gonna run straight back to him. My theory? She needs something from him. *sigh* Remember the time on the island when they were flirting and happy and there wasn't so much junk in between them? I am hoping that they (and we) can all forgive and forget all that junk...

-Ben continues to elude me. What/why is he helping them? Does he think he can get back to the island with them? I thought Jacob told him he couldn't return... am I wrong in remembering it that way? And when he pulled the car over and yelled at Jack and Sun... SO FUNNY. I'm guessing he's sick of being the bad guy...

-Michele, you're right/have been right. John Locke is the man. This week when he turned the wheel, even with a BONE STICKING OUT OF HIS LEG, I was moved by his faith. He may be unconventional, but he's seen something nobody else can see. He knows why and how he's meant to be on the island and is willing to give his life for it. Jack is meant to do something as well, but he just doesn't have the faith (though it seems like he's growing). So many parallels here...

-The arm ripped off that guy? *large shiver* I screamed. Loudly. Phoebe was flipping out.

-The smoke monster guarding the temple? What!? That totally threw me a curve ball. The temple is where the others are, right? How do they get in there? Does the smoke monster like them? What is IN the temple!? So many questions...

-Is the smoke monster the reason for Rousseau's team going nuts? And could the smoke monster be controlling others (no pun intended) on the island as well? Is it the reason for John and Ben's unhaltling devotion to protect the island?

-Does anyone else wonder occasionally about the "Magic Box"?

-It was the most wonderful thing in the world when Jin finally encountered Sawyer and crew. I was telling Deanna when you think back to the first season when the Losties were new to one another, they weren't friends at all. But it's amazing what a little time on a scary island can do to change that! I love to see and watch camaraderie! It makes my heart happy! And I love it when Jin gets mad and starts speaking frantic Korean. It cracks me up!! He gets so frustrated and angry, you've got to laugh so that you don't cry...

-I was just waiting for Charlotte to die in this episode. Much as I so didn't WANT her to die, I knew it was going to happen. And good grief, how much time-traveling is/does/will Daniel do!? He talks to Charlotte as a little girl?! And bless his heart and hers, they didn't even share a kiss! My friend Allison said that it looked like he was going to, but then she said the weird thing about chocolate before dinner and died... so sad.

-John and the donkey wheel... did anyone else think that it looked very poorly crafted? The art department is usually phenomenal on this show, but there was no weight behind it this time. It looked very obviously like it was made of foam. So do we think that the flashes are going to stop now because John "unstuck" the wheel? How awful is it that John unstuck the wheel just AFTER Charlotte died.

-How the heck are they going to convince Sayid to go back with them? Are they? What will happen if they go back without him? Is Jacob gonna get mad?

-I can't wait to find out about Desmond and where he fits into all of this!

Lost According to Lauren: The Little Prince

2009-02-04T22:21:00.003-06:00

Spoilers for this week's episode, friends!

This episode ROCKED! I have been completely in love with this season so far. I mean, I know some great and interesting things have happened, but I'm not sure why I have been so enraptured by this season. Is it just the amazing reveals? Is it the crazy unpredictable time traveling? I don't know. But I think it has to do with all of those things. So great!

-First off, I just saw Walt in a Tyson "Anytizers" commercial. He's all like, grown up and a teenager and stuff. Weird.

-Will all of our friends on the island die of the hemorrhaging? I'm not a fan of the bloody nose getting in the way of the Juliet and Sawyer moment.

-Speaking of Juliet, I'm starting to warm up to her. I'm actually feeling ridiculously sorry for her. Both of the guys she's got warm and mushy feelings for are in love with Kate. And why do you think that Sawyer felt so melancholy about seeing Kate? My theory? He knows he lost her to Jack. It's time to move on James, and look at how pretty and interesting Juliet is! You guys can become Sawyer and Juliet Other!

-JIN HAS RETURNED!!!!!!!!!! Poor guy... he's all confused by the time traveling and he can barely speak English. And I love that he ran into Rousseau! Good grief, this season is SO GOOD!

-I totally called that Ben was the one trying to get Aaron. This is NOT going to help with the whole Jack/Kate situation...

-I actually yelled at the TV when Sun pulled out the gun. And then yelled at the TV, "Now she doesn't have to kill Ben!" when the French guys pulled Jin out of the water.

-Whenever Sayid gets all hard-core and stuff, I get really excited. I tend to jump up and down and punch the air. I get the same way when Jack Bauer gets all hard-core too. There are a lot of "YEAH"'s and "GET 'EM!"'s too...

-Is anyone else as nervous about the 72 hours as I am? And completely lost (pun intended) about when (as in at what time) they will find the island? Goodness...

A Reminder About Messiah's Muggles!

2009-02-03T21:20:00.002-06:00

Hello Blog Friends!

I would like to remind you about a project that my friend Mags and I have been working on: MESSIAH'S MUGGLES! It's a Christian Harry Potter website and podcast that Mags and I have been working on since the fall.

Please take time to visit our blog and listen to our podcasts (there are only 2)! I'm working on getting the podcast published on Itunes, so hopefully soon you'll just be able to subscribe to the podcast!

I've been working on our website and it's still pretty "elementary" but we're working on it slowly but surely!

We appreciate your support and please pray that this will be a blessing to those who seek it out!

Lost According to Lauren

2009-01-28T22:33:00.005-06:00

My friend Katie does this wonderful thing with Grey's Anatomy on her blog where she tells her feelings about each episode or (lately) every handful of episodes. And what she really focuses on is each character and/or situation on the show. So I thought I'd try that with Lost!

Friends who have not watched up to tonight (January 28th), please beware of spoilers! Big ones!

So without further adieu, (I'm starting with my favorites)

Desmond and Penelope: Oh how I LOVE them. I'm not real happy right now though because I'm absolutely SURE that if Desmond goes to Los Angeles to find Farraday's mum (who I think is the silver haired lady that sold Desmond the engagement ring and was at the end of "The Lie" last week), then Ben will find Penny and kill her. And then I'll be sad. And really mad. And them naming the baby Charlie? I welled up. Ridiculously sweet.

Jack: I hope he gets his life together when they inevitably get back onto the island. And "island marries" Kate and they live happily ever after. He needs to clean up his life. Did you notice last week when he was working on Sayid how much he was sweating!? He was totally going through detox. I thought to myself how awful it was for Charlie during the first season and what a rock Jack was during the whole thing. I miss Island Jack.

Kate: I think one of the funniest lines I've ever heard was when she asked Sun "What kind of a person do you think I am?" Um, you are the kind of person who has killed. Deanna said if she had to pick between Kate dying and Penelope dying, she'd probably pick Kate. Because Penny is at least a good person. Kate? Not so much. But she's still a rockin' character!

Sayid and Hurley: I think Sayid killing the guy with the knife in the dishwasher has GOT to be one of the most awful ways to die... And why can't every episode be Hurley-centric?! He's one of my favorites. If I was stuck on an awful island, I'd want Hurley to be with me. He's got the best heart out of all of the Losties. And the moment where he was telling his mom the truth... I love it. I agree with him, they never should have lied. And the way he was freaking out about Sayid getting hit with the dart was SO funny and priceless ("I Heart Shitzus" shirt!).

Juliet and Sawyer: Love is totally in the air. Juliet knows it's gonna happen. Sawyer's just a little clueless still. They can get "Island Married" and that way, when Jack and Kate come back, Kate won't feel guilty for loving Jack! I've got it all figured out.

The Scientists (and Miles): Miles is hysterical. I love his little sarcastic comments. And what a cliff-hanger with Charlotte collapsing into Daniel's arms! If he lets her die (because he knows what's wrong with her), I'm going to be very sad. Oh and Allison believes that there is a connection between Miles and Hurley somehow... isn't that awesome!?

Sun: I'm not a fan of angry/bitter/revengeful Sun. At all. You've got a baby to take care of!

Locke: I'm so interested in knowing why and how he is the Other's leader. Basically, I'm interested in knowing what's going on with Locke. Everything. And my favorite moment so far of the season:

Locke: What is it?
Richard: It's a compass.
Locke: What does it do?
Richard: It points north, John.

Time: Good grief. My little brain is going to enjoy being stretched this season.

Whidmore: OH MY WORD. I flipped OUT when the young guy on the island said his name was Whidmore. FLIPPED OUT!!!!!! (and tears came to my eyes, but I didn't cry!)

And finally, can I just say that it is absolutely AWESOME to know exactly where they film the show. In tonight's episode "Jughead", I recognized the valley that the Other's had their camp!! I've been there! I've seen the mountains that are on either side of the valley! With each episode I try to figure out "Where in Kualoa Ranch are they filming?"

That's all for tonight!

Random Musings on a Sunday Night

2009-01-25T22:44:00.002-06:00

-Everyone should run (not walk) and go see Slumdog Millionaire. It's one of the most incredible movies I've ever seen. The BFF did an AWESOME write-up on the amazing-ness of this movie, check it out HERE.

-LOST on Wednesday was SOOO good. Oh how I heart Lost Wednesdays.

-That being said, I HARDCORE miss Lost parties at the Bartees. Do you guys still do those? I miss you both and Shiloh and Baby Deacon a LOT! The next time in Houston, I'm going to need a Bartee fix.

-I spent an awesome weekend with the BFF. Her roommates are so fun and sweet, and Dee is so encouraging. We made a fun dinner and played an INTENSE game of Phase 10. We went and saw Slumdog Millionaire and hung out with her amazing team (she's on a missionary team that is going to Chile in a couple of years). What an AWESOME weekend!

-I also got to see the Roomie (otherwise known as Holly). I hadn't seen her since she had started her freshman year at the beginning of the fall semester last year. She's so good and so fun, and I really look at her more as a sister than anything else. Holly, I heart you!

-I bought an ACU sweatshirt with POLKA DOTS ON IT! So CUTE!

-Tonight at a surprise party for my friend Jennifer, the hostess of the evening (Wanda) gave me two little outfits for Phoebe. She totally hates them, but she looks SO cute in them!!

-My mom MADE me an apron for Christmas, and it is one of the BEST presents I've ever gotten! It is one of the most wonderful things in the world to put on my apron and make something. I love it!

-I still am absolutely in LOVE with my job.

Some Resolutions (of the New Year)

2009-01-06T22:58:00.002-06:00

I really only made three resolutions this year. Two are very personal (and won't be shared in this very public place). But there are severale things I'd like to accomplish in 2009. I hate to call the New Year's Resolutions though. Those seem to be made to be broken...

So without further adieu, some Resolutions for 2009:

1. To read something Russian and old. I'm thinking about War and Peace. I know, it would be a feat. But I like challenges. And I rarely stop reading books (I still uphold that I'm in the middle of Atlas Shrugged, even though I've been "in the middle" of it for 7 years now...). And that determination has gotten me through many a boring book. Moby Dick... urgh.

2. To read at least 20 books this year. My friend Juliette had this on her resolution list and I liked it. I would also like to add that I would like the books I read to be varied. I want to read books on ministry, books on life, a classic (War and Peace would count as that!)... I want to be more varied in my reading. Oh, maybe I'll try a Dickens...

3. Explore Fort Worth more. I know there are little hidden jewels of fun in this city and I'm going to find them! Anybody want to help?

4. Messiah's Muggles. Poor Mags hasn't had internet access in her home, so things have slowed just a bit from our very exciting inception. We've posted a few blogs to our website, but I want to be more active and I want more participation (and I'm counting myself in that!). There are SO many topics that we're super pumped to discuss we just need a way to discuss them! And I feel like I need to be more organized in that.

5. To continue to grow and be challenged in my faith. This is something that I feel never changes. I ALWAYS want to grow and be challenged by my faith. It isn't something I say at the beginning of the new year, it's something I am constantly working on and God is constantly working on me.

So here's to 2009! May it be a year where God is working in my life and I'm letting him!

Things I'm Learning from Watching Lost

2008-12-30T21:03:00.002-06:00

... for like the zillionth time.

I got season's one and four for Christmas. And even though I've watched season one several times, I can't just start re-watching season four, I have to star from the beginning. Mostly because the show is so completely complicated and fabulous I won't be able to understand as much if I don't re-watch everything.

So while I have my WONDERFUL week break, I'm trying to re-watch the entire series. I've watched three discs so far. And I could attempt to watch a few more episodes tonight but... well I will just get on with my list and that will explain why I might not watch a few more tonight.

So, things I'm learning (or relearning) from re-watching Lost:

-It completely freaks me out. ESPECIALLY when I watch it at night. And when I get freaked out, I cry. A lot. So last night, I was foolishly watching the episode when Jack sees his dad for the first time after he talks with Rose, and I started to cry... so even though I really would like to watch a few more tonight, I'm concerned about the getting freaked out and the crying.

-One of my favorite episodes (maybe my MOST favorite episode) is the Moth. IMDB describes the episode:

Trying to kick his drug habit with encouragement from Locke, Charlie starts to go through heroin withdrawl, struggling with his resolve. Jack is trapped in a cave-in, and Charlie becomes trapped with him when the first rescue tunnel collapses as well. Charlie has flashbacks of his rock band, and his descent into drug abuse.

The scene when Charlie asks Locke for his heroin the third time and Charlie throws it into the fire... absolutely wonderful. It just makes my heart happy. And it makes me realize how much I MISS Charlie.

-Rose is one of my favorite characters. I just watched the episode where Charlie comes to her and asks her for help and she tells him, "Baby, I'm not the one that can help you..." and then she goes onto pray, "Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for bringing us together tonight, and we ask that you show Charlie the path..." I love that faith is such a huge part of this show. I can't wait to find more parallels...

-Fort Lewis, which is where Kate's dad was stationed when she was growing up, is where Ross was stationed when he was in Washington State. Crazy!

-I would totally have followed Jack to the caves. Partly because I am a scaredy cat and would want to be by the person who seemed like they were in charge and partly because Jack is pretty to look at... :) Dee agreed with me. And we decided we would share a bedroll since we're both scaredy cats and would need each other.

-Every time I re-watch the show, I find something I missed and more that I appreciate!

Hi I'm Lauren, and I'm a Jacob Lover...

2008-12-29T19:06:00.002-06:00

"Hi Lauren!"

Contrary to popular belief, I do not do things to simply to "go against the grain." So just because I like...

-Jacob as opposed to Edward

-Florescent lighting (better for the environment AND cheaper... sign me up!)

-The play Doubt and therefore I want to see the movie Doubt (um, John Patrick Shanley ROCKS)

-Musicals, Christian, and Indie music

-Lost (and I've stuck through it for the past two seasons)

-Organic foods

-High School Musical 3 as opposed to the Twilight movie

-JKR as opposed to Stephenie Meyer

-The Host

-The play Frost Nixon and therefore I want to see the movie Frost/Nixon

...does NOT mean that I'm trying to "go against the grain just to go against the grain." I'm not going to like something simply because everyone else likes it. And I'm not going to NOT like something because nobody else likes it. I like what I like because that was how I was created.

*sigh*

Happy Christmas!

2008-12-24T23:32:00.004-06:00

For all my readers out there, I wish you all a VERY happy Christmas!

I'm currently sitting in bed with my little sister, Taylor. Well, she's actually laying in the trundle bed next to me... and we're watching the Suite Life of Zach and Cody. And listening to Bella's Lullaby all night long. I feel like I'm 13 again!

Tomorrow, in the crazy early present opening, the Santa-ing, the fun and fabulous family-ing, and the eating, remember WHY we celebrate this day.

"For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God, the Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Carol Injuries

2008-12-20T08:51:00.002-06:00

Even when I was in Midsummer Night's Dream as Hermia and I was literally being thrown all over the stage, I didn't have as many bruises as I do from being in a Christmas Carol.

So I thought I would document them. Some are pretty funny...

My hand- During the Fezziwig dance on Wednesday, (during one of the THREE performances that day- whew!) there is a part where Stephanie takes a beer mug and ends up having to dance with it throughout the rest of the scene. Well we do this kind of sweeping turn and somehow my hand got in the way and it got completely SMACKED by the beer mug. Bruise #1.

The side of my left leg- I do a lot of walking down stairs in the dark. The other night I was walking down stairs onstage in the dark and scraped the snot out of my leg. Bruise #2.

The front of my left leg- During the curtain call there is a LOT of dancing. And a LOT of boys doing some crazy kicking-type dancing. My leg got in the way of Zach's kicking and I now have a nice whelp and a giant ugly bruise. Bruise #3.

My left middle toe- I have almost no feeling in it... weird. Probably from wearing character shoes for two days straight... but it hasn't come back yet and I'm getting a little concerned.

My throat- Though not really an injury, my throat has been KILLING me. It just started last night after dinner with my parents and I am hoping to try and fend off any major illness until Christmas Eve... which would totally suck because it would mean being sick at Christmas, but at least I'll have gotten through the show!

I have to say, throughout all the injuries and the sleep deprivation and extreme exhaustion, it's been glorious! I've had the most wonderful experience with the show. It will be a joy to close this show because I will know that I've done a professional job. HOORAY!