Today I finally submitted the first part of my application for the Discipleship Training School in New Zealand that's to begin on February 23, 2008. It appears that a lot of people think I have decided to do this next semester after only a little time in prayer about it. That isn't so. I have been praying about doing a DTS since last October, ever since I learned of Youth With a Mission. Now the time has come to get all of my paperwork together and sumit the application. I've decided to do what I can online, so as not to lose the information before it's sent out., although I know there is still going to be a bit of physical paperwork to be done as well. I'm excited! I am also a little sad, because I absolutely love it here at Trinity, and there are so many things coming up in the spring semester that I know I will have to miss. (GCMF Missions Trip, Female Basketball Team, etc.) And I am seriously going to miss living just across the hall from my best friend. There are a few things back home that I'll miss as well, like my Uncle Clyde's wedding, and my dad's birthday. But I anticipate that the joy found in serving the Lord overseas will be beyond anything I can imagine, so I'm not terribly terribly upset about having to miss those activities. And it's not as though I will not have the opportunity to participate in some of the aforementioned activities at a later date.
I'm going home next weekend for fall break, so I'll get to be home for a little longer than in the past when I've gone home for the weekends. I don't have any real plans for while I'm at home other than visiting Emily (Ed's mom) and attending my home church, Cornerstone on Sunday morning. I'm also toying with the idea of visiting FUMC, the church that I used to babysit at on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.

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Wow. So I totally haven't written a new blog here on Nutang in quite some time. I think now is a great time to do so. What did I write in my last blog? I talked mainly about New Student Orientation and moving into my new room here at school...
Well, it's now halfway into the semester, and their is a lot more homework than I ever could have imagined! I love the classes, and the work is manageable, it's just a lot of [mostly] reading. My classes are as follows: Freshman Comp I, Old Testament Law & History on Weds. and Fri. I have World Missions & Religions, and Intro to Public Speaking on Tues. and Thurs. We don't have any classes on Mondays, which is awesome. Every weekend is a 3-Day weekend for us! Last night was our schools first pep rally from 10-12. It was so much fun! I got my whole face painted and even had the oportunity to play a tiny bit of basketball towards the end of the night. I love playing basketball, so I was really happy I got to play even if it was only for 20 mins or so. And my friends who also went had a hard time recognizing me with all of my face paint on! Cliff also got up a rapped during half-time, and he's actually pretty good. Who knew a white girl from Kissimmee would go from liking country-western to Christian rap and Hip-Hop?

Anyways, it's time for bed right now, but I promise I will post more soon! And I will definitely do my best at keeping this blog better updated for my readers. Also, for anyone who doesn't know what school I'm going to, it's Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey, FL.

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So this has been an awesomely busy week. I started school on Wednesday, but I moved into my dorm at Trinity last Saturday. I LOVE IT. The four days of new student orientation were awesome too. I loved getting to go out with a bunch of new people and having some fun. I don't remember everything we did, but I know it was all a lot of fun. I think Tuesday, the day at Clearwater beach was definitely the most fun. We went to the beach in the morning, and after going to Subway for lunch with Esther, Robert, and Ronnie (I think it was Ronnie..), we walked down a little farther and found an arcade where we played DDR and a few other games. Got the guys some stick on earrings with our tickets and some plastic rings...I managed to lose my ring about five minutes after we got back to Trinity... Monday night I went to my first volleyball practice..although I don't think I'm going to join the team. Not this semester/year anyway. I have to concentrate on my classes and make sure my time isn't filled up with a bunch of things to distract me (like volleyball!). I'm still going to work out though, you can be sure of that. We get free memberships to the Y and Esther says there's this great Taebo class on Monday nights we can do together. Sunday night was kind of fun, but a little depressing too. I had fun at miniature golf; that wasn't what I found depressing. But I hated those freaking bridges we had to walk over everywhere! No, it wasn't a huge amount of water or anything under them, but still. It freaked me out! And my hip was hurting like crazy that night..but I took some Aleve when we got back and it's been fine since. My hip is weird... So far all of my classes have been pretty easy, but it's only the first week. You know how that goes. We basically just went over the syllabus in each course, although I have already had to take some notes in two of the classes. And I wrote an essay in English on the second day of class! It was an easy essay though; one of my favorite topics. (Where I want to live-if you know me, you know the answer.) Now I'm home for the weekend, but I'll be returning later this afternoon with Esther. And in all honesty, I feel more at home at Trinity. It's hard to explain why, but I like the independance I have at school, and I like that there isn't as much secular entertainment to distract me from my relationship with Christ.

I picked up some more stuff for my dorm room yesterday. Got some washrags and things like that. My dad also did my laundry..and it was FREE. Not two dollars like at school. I love free laundry! We also went to Staples to pick up some jump drives for my sister and I, and we got to look at laptops-so I now know what kind of computer I'll be getting for school. I'm thinking I should have it by October 1st, if not before then. The laptop is going on sale this week, and I'm assuming my dad wants to get it at the sale price..but I don't know for sure. And it comes with a printer which is even more awesome!

So that is my update for the week. I don't know when I'll update again, but I'll try and update at least once a week, or every two weeks. Computer time is rare right now, and I don't have much time for MySpace if I'm going to stay ahead in my classes! Love, Laura

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It's a brand new month and the start of a brand new life, in a way. I start school in a few weeks and moving day isn't set in stone, but sometime next weekend. That is really soon! I'm excited, but scared at the same time. It's a good scared though. I'm glad Esther's going to be there with me-that means I've already got at least one friend I can count on, not to mention those I met back in May. That's definitely going to make it easier for me to relax, and not stress so much when I'm out there. My dad did pay the $50 tuition deposit and $150 for a dorm room, so all of that is taken care of. . I've just got to worry about what I'm taking with me and how it's getting there-I can't exactly go back and forth as easily as my sister can from her school. She's actually moving out TODAY. . It's kind of weird, but kind of cool at the same time.

I'm wondering what my schedule is going to end up looking like. I know I want to set some time aside to work on planning my wedding, and also some time to be able to go to the gym, but that I can probably squeeze in the mornings, even if it does mean getting up earlier. I started a new workout regime yesterday, it's a simple routine I found in an issue of Shape I had lying around that's only for twenty minutes and made for beginners. Perfect!! LOL. I think I'm going to stick with that for the next month or so, until it gets to be too easy.



I cannot wait until the summer is over for two reasons. 1-I'll have something (school) to keep me occupied until Christmas, and help the time go by faster. 2-I'm a klutz in the summer. No joke. I've already managed to burn myself twice in the same spot this morning..and yesterday I managed to get a cut on my finger dusting!! Dusting is suppose to be safe...not for Laura the Klutz. . I can't wait for my klutzy season to end!

Yeah, I'm not really in a blogging mood right now so I'm going to end this here, but I'll try and post later this week or next week.

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A few nights ago, my mom asked when I start school at Trinity..Orientation is August 18-21, so I'm guessing around the 22nd or so. And the residence hall opens on the 18th. That is just a little less than a month away-I'm excited, but I'm also scared. In a good way, though. It's like when you're first getting behind the wheel of car or something. I don't all of my anxiety I'm feeling has to do with college being a few weeks away though-I'm starting to anticipate Ed's homecoming even though it isn't for another couple of months.

I'm really stressing about school at the moment though. I have bills that haven't been paid, and they were due yesterday. My dad did attempt to pay them yesterday since we've the money and everything; he couldn't get through so he's going to call first thing Monday morning, but I won't have a guaranteed spot in one of the dorms. You have no idea how much the idea of not getting a dorm room freaks me out. Pray for that, please!! I've also got to go and get my transcripts from Valencia transferred, which I thought had been taken care of months ago, so I'm going to do that on Monday as well. (And hopefully stop by the post office to mail Ed's latest package which is filled with a ton of stuff!)

Anyways, today I'm going to try and not think about all of that since there isn't much I can do until Monday. I'm going to sleepover at the Schroeder's with Esther after we make some spaghetti ( ) at her house for her family and some people they have staying with them..I think I'll be making a sandwich or something. Yeah, I don't like spaghetti..and yes, I know that's weird. Especially when I love all kinds of Italian foods, lol.

I've also got some items put aside for the garage sale we're trying to have before school starts; I may leave a box or two at her house for that. Hopefully we'll be able to pull off this garage sale that we've been planning to have for awhile now-and that it will go off successfully. My hair is also starting to bug me, I think it's about time for a trim. TRIM. I am not cutting it all off or anything cause I love having long hair, but I don't want to look like...a monkey. . Inside joke, nobody but my bear is going to understand that..lol. It could be worse, there are uglier animals.

Wow. I'm going to stop here, cause this post is getting kind of long. I'll try and write more on Monday or Tuesday, since I'll be busy the next couple of days and probably won't have time to do so.

*Prayer Requests*
-Garage sale Esther and I are trying to have before the start of school on the 22nd.

-Unpaid bills and dorm room/roommate (since Esther and I have decided not to room together for the sake of our friendship.)

-Transcripts

-Esther and I are also going to need some form of transportation to hopefully drive back home some weekends, and to our jobs over there (although, I think she's working on campus..I won't be.) I'm also going to need a job as soon as I get out there, so pray for that as well.

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So it's been awhile since I've written an actual blog, but I think it's for the best. I've been incredibly busy this summer, which is surprising because when it first started I had no plans to do anything but VBS and chillin' out in front of the TV. (Which wouldn't make for a very interesting blog post, in my opinion.)

Back in June, I volunteered to do Vacation Bible School (VBS) at First United Methodist Church (FUMC). It was a lot of fun-moreso than I've had volunteering in the past for the event because I got to be an actual teacher this year instead of one of the teen helpers. There was music, arts & crafts, and a great message! It's a little bittersweet looking back since I know I won't be able to do it again next year since I'll be moving to be with my (future) husband. Anyways, I worked in the Kindergarten classroom, so my kids were aged 5-7. They're so cute at that age-especially when they do the hand movements to the words in the songs! Each day of the week, we had a new memory verse and throughout the day, whenever the kids heard one of the activity leaders say the memory voice, they raised their hand and (kind of) mimed cracking a whip or doing a lasso while saying "Yeehaw!". (The theme for VBS this year was Avalanche Ranch-so basically a wild west type theme.) It is seriously one of the coolest things ever to see 20 kindergarteners mime whip-cracking while saying "Yeehaw!"

The organization that FUMC decided to donate to this year was Give Kids the World (GKTW), which is really cool because it's local, whereas in previous years they've done fundraising for organizations that aren't so nearby. It was also really cool because they didn't just raise money to donate--they had each child bring in a teddy bear (or other stuffed animal) to give to the children at GKTW, and on Thursday in Arts & Crafts, they each got to make a card to tie around the bears necks. You know those kids are gonna smile when they receive those bears, and that really warms my heart. Volunteering can be so much fun!!

Okay..so that was from June 18-22. From then to now, I've really just been hanging out whilst working on a wedding registry, which is a lot harder than it seems. Gotta love checklists for this kind of stuff!! I've got about 1/4 of it done..and my half of the guest list is definitely finished, although I do need a few addresses and phone numbers from a few people, but I've got time for that since the invitations won't be out for another couple of months. Sigh. Can't we just fast forward to the honeymoon already?

Esther got back from her family roadtrip on the 25th, and we've been hanging out a lot since then. Interesting things always happen whenever we get together...there's the afternoon we spend 20 mins at the gas station trying to figure out how to pay for gas with cash instead of a car, the countless squirrels who've just barely survived getting run over, a homeless man knocking on the car window and making some sort of peace sign at us while getting directions from her dad, etc. The most recent event was when I went over to make a lemon pie dessert and then watching Chronicle of Narnia for the first time. (By the way, I'm totally hooked on that book series now..) I don't think I've ever been so into a movie since the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I was totally hinting for spoilers as what was to come next but Esther and her brother, Josiah were pretty good at keeping mum..and I'm just as involved in the book series too. I'm currently reading Prince Caspian, but I'm about done with it.

Last night, Esther and I did a little bit of scrapbooking which was really fun, and we discussed plans for her birthday next week. She's thought of maybe having a pool party or something where she can get all her different groups of friends together, but nothing is really planned at the moment. We also talked about the garage sale we've been planning all summer to have--now that summer is almost over, we figure we should probably pick out a time and date for it real soon. School starts August 17th!! I'm really looking forward to starting school for once--and moving out and living (sort of) on my own for awhile!! I'll have a roommate, but I'll still be pretty much on my own..

So that's what's been going on in my life lately..I'll try and update more in the coming weeks!!

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