Everything happens for a reason. Just remember that and we'll get through this.

We all make mistakes-we're all human. But every mistake we make, gets made for a reason. Only God knows what that reason is long before we ever do...or will. We just have to put all our trust in Him, and have faith that He will show us what that reason is in His perfect timing.

"Beauty from Pain": My whole world is the pain inside me/The best I can do is just get through the day/When life before is only a memory/I'll wonder why God let me walk through this place/And though I can't understand why this happened/I know that I will when I look back someday/And see how you've brought beauty from ashes/And made me as gold purified through these flames

After all this has passed, I still will remain/After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain/Though it won't be today/Someday I'll hope again/And there'll be beauty from pain/You will bring beauty from my pain

Life isn't always easy--nobody's ever said "Life is easy." But there is the saying, "Life is hard. Deal with it." It will suck sometimes, and feel like nothing is going right, but there will be days, weeks, months, years even that it will seem everything is going your way.

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Okay. That was directed towards a specific person, but I think everyone should read it because we've all been in that emotional state at one time or another. Anyways, remember how I said I was thinking of making website layouts to maybe earn some money? Well, I may start doing that over the summer..except I'm not going to start with layouts, I think I'll work my way up by my making some cute little icons/tags. And it'll be donation-only for awhile since I'm still just a novice at this stuff. I've already got some ideas, unfortunately most are for site layouts I want to make in the future, but it's better than starting without any ideas at all, right? (If you've got any ideas, please let me know what they are; I could use them!!)

In other news, Ed and I have been back together for a whole year now!! Yay!!

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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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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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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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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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These past couple of days have been interesting. Went home on Wednesday evening, after stopping at Chili's for some dinner, although I'd already eaten what the school served for dinner that night (individual pizzas and curly fries). I just got some fried cheese sticks, which are awesome! I love those things. I got home around 8-9 pm, and I wasn't even home five minutes before getting annoyed at Joseph. Sometimes I feel it is his goal and mission in life to annoy his older sisters...grr! His fall break from school isn't until next week, so I didn't see much of him after that, and I'm kind of thankful for that. I love my stupid brother, but he's more annoying than friendly. At least towards me.

I didn't really do much on Thursday and Friday, although I did get to play Sims 2 and download ALL of my music onto my MP3 player. 783 tracks...yes, I am a music addict. I'll admit it--I absolutely love music. I also got to go out to eat on Friday and Saturday to a couple of my favorite restaurants, Fazoli's and Olive Garden. I still say Fazoli's has better Italian cuisine than Olive Garden, and it's cheaper! Oh, and funny story about something that happened at Fazoli's--some guy tried to take my food. Off the tray. Seriously! The guy was confused and thought that my baked ziti was actually part of his order and took it off the tray and started to walk back to his table. HELLO. The guy realized his mistake not two steps back from the counter, and returned the dish, but still. I just stood there stunned as he tried to steal my food. I was offered a new plate, but he didn't actually do anything to the food (I had my eyes on him the entire time).

I saw the last half of Final Destination 2 on Saturday. It looks like an interesting movie, although I haven't gotten through more than the first half hour of Final Destination nor seen the first half of FD 2. I would like to see both of those movies in completion though. (Oh, and Kenan & Kel came on Friday night. I was so happy to get to see that again!) I figure I'll have an opportunity to rent both of those sometime in the near future, so I'm not too upset about having missed the ending of one, and the beginning of the other.

I decided to visit two different churches on Sunday. First United Methodist Church (FUMC) was the first one I attended. I used to work at that church as a babysitter in the nursery in high school, although I never actually attended the services on Sunday morning. It was a good service; they're actually one of the few churches back home that use hymnals. It reminded me a lot of Charlie's church, just a little bigger. I was mostly interested in possibly getting to see the kids I used to babysit, which I didn't realy get to do. I saw two, and third who looked a lot like Maddie, but I can't be certain that it was her. I also got to talk to Dwight for a few minutes, which was awesome.

The service at Cornerstone has changed so much since I last attended a service there. It's a good change though, I kind of like the new format that they are using now to spread the message. Speaking of which, Sunday mornings service was about sex..and the emotional/mental aftermath of having pre-marital sex. It was interesting to say the least. There's more I want to say on this particular topic, but I'll save it for the two people I trust most in this world.

I also saw the Ten Commandment with Esther and Charlie on Sunday night. It was pretty good, although it did leave a few things out. I enjoyed it all the same though. I've also come to realize that I'm starting to trust my new friends here at Trinity a lot quicker than I used to trust people I just met at school or work. I think that's good for me, though.

Come Monday morning, I find that my roommate, Jesse, is engaged to her boyfriend, WIll. And the wedding is set for someime in December. I have very mixed emotions about this, and again need to talk to the two I trust most in this world, Ed and Esther. I'm happy for Jesse, I really am, but I just got out of an engagement and am still trying to get over it. It also seems a bit rushed to be getting married in December when they just got back together. (They were broken up about two weeks ago...)

This is certainly a lot more than I bargained for when I decided to go to college...

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