Prayer For a Friend

Lord, I lift my friend to You, I've done all that I know to do
I lift my friend to You
Complicated circumstances have clouded her view
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

I fear that I won't have the words that she needs to hear
I pray for Your wisdom, oh God, and a heart that's sincere
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

Lord, I lift my friend to You
My best friend in the world, I know she means much more to You
I want so much to help her, but this is something she has to do
And Lord, I lift my friend up to You

'cause there's a way that seems so right to her
But You know where that leads
She's becoming a puppet of the world, too blind to see the strings
Lord, I lift my friend up to You
My friend up to You

Lord, I lift my friend to You, I've done all that I know to do
I lift my friend to You

-- Prayer for a Friend (Casting Crowns)

My New Car!

Guess what?! I, Laura, feel quite "old." Why, you ask? It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that this past week I purchased my first car, could it? Well, it's not my first car to drive, but it's my first car to buy. :-) Last week I became the proud owner of a 2002 Honda Civic EX. Yep, I like it.
The inside of the car. Note the air conditioning button. That is something that was "mandatory" on whatever car I ended up getting, because the last car I drove (also an '02 Civic, interestingly enough) didn't have A/C. :-) Also note the cruise control. That's a pretty nifty feature! What you can't see is the controls for the power windows, and the buttons for the sunroof. :-)

See. . .it's a Civic! :-) (Honda's are pretty great!)

Do you like the color? I still haven't named her. I am looking for and open to suggestions. :-)

I'm pretty excited and I think I got a pretty nice car -- so I thought I would share her with you. Now if I only I could take you all for a ride. . .

Hide & Seek!

What happens when a moose and a mouse decide to play hide-and-seek? The mouse might just hide in the antlers of the moose, keeping the moose looking all over the place! That's just what happens to Mudgy Moose in a new children's book, Mudgy and Millie, written by Wee-Sing author and local resident, Susan Nipp. Mudgy looks all over Coeur d'Alene for Millie!

This book has created a lot of hype in town, for obvious reasons: first off, the author is well-known, and she lives here in town. Secondly, the hide-and-seek search in the book takes place right here in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Thirdly, a local artist has created some amazing sculptures of Mudgy and Millie which are placed all over town along the trail that Mudgy takes trying to find Millie.

The book came out just a couple weeks ago, and the author, illustrator and sculptor were all on hand to autograph copies. My mom, being a children's book connoisseur, just had to have an autographed copy. So, we headed downtown recently to meet the author, and to walk the Mudgy and Millie trail.

Author Susan Nipp (of Wee-Sing fame) signed our copy of Mudgy and Millie.

So did illustrator Charles Reasoner.

And, lastly, sculptor and local artist, Terry Lee.

Yes, my mother made me pose for a picture with Mudgy. I guess I can now say that I have hugged a (very soft) moose. :-)
We wanted to see all the moose, so we walked the trail. The trail begins at the bottom of Tubbs Hill. We didn't see the second moose on the trail because it is at the library, and we were going to drive there before we left, but we forgot. Ooops!

This is the third moose. He is placed on Sherman Ave. downtown.This is the fourth moose on the trail. Mudgy is tired and is resting in City Park. This is one of my favorites because Mudgy's face is so cute when he is sleeping. :-)

Mudgy finally finds Millie when he stops to get a drink from Lake Coeur d'Alene. He bends over and sees Millie in his reflection. I think this moose is my favorite because it overlooks the steps and I love how it is positioned with the flag pole right behind it. Congratulations, Mudgy -- you found Millie!

Sound like a cute story? Look for Mudgy and Millie at your local bookstore!

Food For Thought

I came across a quote in my Leadership textbook today during class and thought it provided some food for thought:

"The character that takes command in moments of critical choices has already been determined. It has been determined by a thousand of other choices made earlier in seemingly unimportant moments. It has been determined by all those 'little' choices of years past -- by all those times when the voice of conscience was at war with the voice of temptation -- whispering a lie that 'it doesn't really matter,' It has been determined by all the day-to-day decisions made when life seemed easy and crises seemed far away, the decisions that piece by piece, bit by bit, developed habits of discipline or of laziness, habits of self-sacrifice or self-indulgence; habits of duty and honor and integrity -- or dishonor and shame."

--President Ronald Reagan

Any thoughts?