lauren laughs

no phos posts until i return. God bless!

travel plans are a-okay. whew!

i’m all over the place today, so here’s a little update…

i got to see my brother pierce this weekend. he’s at camp for the summer as a counselor. i used to love being a camp counselor (though the washington post clearly thought this was a strike against me). it was great to be in the mountains, put my feet in the creek, and sit on an old southern porch while catching up with my little bro. he’s one of my favorite people. this pic is a year old, but you can tell there’s a lot of love.

travel update: there’s a slight snafu in my flight to pakistan. cross your fingers and say your prayers that the situation is resolved SOON!

birthday shout out: mollie has blessed the world with her presence for a quarter of a century. yay mollie!

new digs: i moved into a new office. it’s bigger, has more windows, and the lady in the office next to me yells things like “numb nuts!” for no apparent reason. good times.

“by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” john 13:35.

my prayer is to be known by my love and to be identified with Christ because of my love. what a fun responsibility.

i actually saw this movie on a blog belonging to someone else. i can’t take full credit. but i wanted to share it with you, so here’s my first shot at embedding video feed. i hope it works.

http://www.ifilm.com/efp

happy fourth of july weekend (even though the actual holiday is nearly a week away, we’re all taking off work until then, right?)

beach volleyball season is in full force. and despite torrential downpours yesterday, the “magnolia cupcakes” stepped up to the proverbial plate and scored their first big win. present were french fry, bri bri, curious george, general li, nicole (who needs a nickname) and me. the cupcakes dominated the lp strikers, likely because of the video which you too can access at the link above (click the 3 dots). scroll down to the chronicles of narnia clip. you’ll be glad you did. i’ll get a team pic soon so you too can share in cupcakes’ glory. well maybe you won’t be part of the glory, but you’ll feel it.

so i’ve been sick a lot this winter/spring. and for no apparent reason. i eat healthy (okay, except for the number of quesadillas i fix for dinner each week, but breakfast and lunch are much better), i take vitamins, i don’t party too hard (it’s relative, i know), i work out regularly. maybe i should sleep just a little more. but it’s not like i’m doing cartwheels at work… i don’t need that much rest!

anyway, i’m sick. again. and i finally caved and went to the doctor. i thought, ‘maybe she’ll figure out all my illness is connected and she’ll tell me how to fix it… maybe she’ll take a holistic approach this time.’ but deep down, i already knew the answer. i knew she’d ignore my previous symptoms. i knew she’d treat only what was right in front of her. i knew she’d send me home with a z-pac. and that’s exactly what happened. she said the average person gets sick 6 times a year. (since when am i average?) she said allergy season is much worse this year than ever before. whatever. that was a waste of a $15 copay for sure.

so tomorrow i’m trying a new approach. acupuncture. considering my fear of needles, it promises to be a good time.

i think it’s funny (perhaps interesting is a better word) how much we try to figure things out on our own. it’s so easy to get caught up in our thoughts, overanalyze our emotions, the emotions of others, potential scenarios… and for what? of course, it’s important to be thoughtful. i’m thinking as i write this. but there is such a thing as thinking too much, and for me it’s often evidence of relying on myself too much and on God not enough. think of all the valuable time i could spend doing instead of thinking! when i catch myself thinking in circles, it’s a pretty good indicator that i should take my concerns to God and leave them with Him. journaling helps me do this at the end of each day, but praying throughout the day is just as instrumental. paul tells us in philippians 4:6-7, “do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” i’m certainly not going to receive that kind of peace from myself… by just thinking. that kind of incomprehensible peace comes from God alone. i’m much better off talking to Him than talking to myself.

thirsty dog is a great pub for a number of reasons… yummy pizza, delicious salads, special brewskies, and the sheer brilliance of serving all drinks in two’s. even water. double fisting is not optional. pictured are stephen (not my brother), alicia, jill, allison, mike and adam. note alicia’s cute puppy. yes, this is a dog friendly bar… one more thing to love about this local watering hole. however, last night two ladies had two terriers that would not stop yapping at any and every pup or person that walked past. my ears are still ringing. and of course, the ladies were convinced that everyone else was the problem. *sigh* some dog owners are impossible. if your dog is friendly, cuddly and quiet… i’m happy to share bar space. leave the yippies at home though, please.