Temporary Home

"Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood from her Play On album. Just listen to it. Once again Carrie Underwood has an album full of amazing songs. This is one of them. :) (Man, I hope it works out to go to her concert in the spring!)


Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone
Another new mom and dad,another school
Another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."

Young mom on her own
She needs a little help got nowhere to go
She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out
Because a half-way house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby girl
Someday we'll find a place here in this world

"This is our temporary home
It's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
He looks up and says "I can see God's face"

"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way To where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."

This is our temporary home 

Christmastime Has Come & Gone. . .

Greetings, Blog Visitors!

Did you forget about me?

I certainly did not forget about you, although it has been Christmastime, which means that it has been a busy time of year! But I am back, and I am going to *try* to be more consistent in my blog postings.
I had a greatly fun, but of course, busy, Christmastime this year. Thanksgiving came and went faster than I can say. On the day after Thanksgiving I went to the annual Coeur d'Alene Holiday Light Show, Parade & Fireworks. It was warmer this year than it has been during the past few years, so my toes and nose did not quite freeze off. I went with a group of friends this year and we had a blast watching the parade and then running to find the best spot for the fireworks. We ended up standing right behind the speakers so the amazing blend of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra that plays during the fireworks sounded (and felt!) particularly awesome.
This year some friends and I had a gingerbread house party and I hope this is something we can continue as an annual tradition. We decided to hot glue our houses together so we didn't have to wait so long before decorating them, and then we spent a few hours decorating them. Each house was unique and definitely fit the personality of the person making it.

I didn't have a lot of Christmas parties to go to this year, but I had other things to keep me busy. . .baking, decorating my room, wrapping presents, and all of the other activities that accompany this time of year. It was a fun, successful month. I made Springerles with my mom and learned how to make Stollen. On Thanksgiving I helped with the majority of our cooking and now that Christmas is over I can now say that I have made/majorly assisted with every aspect of a Turkey dinner.

Christmas day was yesterday. Only 364 days to go before it is Christmastime again. We had a nice relaxing Christmas day. Today I was feeling really exhausted so I relaxed and watched Sound of Music (one of my Christmas gifts) with my mom, including a lot of the special features. That was a nice way to spend the day.

Like I said, I will try to be more consistent with blog postings, and have a few more ideas for posts in my head that I will try to get up soon.

Have a great New Years!

-Me

P.S. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the bakery. I went to their Christmas party this year. We turned off all the lights and played hide & seek in the dark and decided at one point to see if I could actually fit to hide in a mixing bowl. Needless to say, I can. :) (Yes, we washed the bowl out afterwards!!!!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Thankful"

(Josh Groban)

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

Ode to Facebook

Oh Facebook, how I love you so.

Thanks to you I spend many a free moment perusing your pages.

Thanks to you I not only have a virtual farm, but now I, myself am a virtual person, leading a life of glam and adventure thanks to Sorority Life, and now I have not one, but two virtual aquariums, both of which require cleaning and maintenance, and cause me to feel guilty if I don't feed my virtual fish in time and they die a virtual death. :)

However, dear Facebook, you have also helped me to connect with old friends, and get better acquainted with new ones. So you see, Facebook, all of my time spent with you is not in vain.

Oh Facebook, whatever am I going to do with you?

A Day In My Life!

A blog that I frequently visit, the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship, is having a blog carnival today! Each of the five or six regular contributors to the blog has done a "Day In My Life" post, and they have encouraged their blog readers to do the same, and, ultimately, share their links on the blog so all the other readers can peek into their day. While I can't share my blog link on the website due to my privacy settings, I thought I might still do a similar post, just for you wonderful readers. So, here is a peek into my day this past Monday, October 26.

Morning always comes too early, but it seems that it especially does so on Monday mornings. This morning was no exception. It didn't help that I had trouble falling asleep the night before! At precisely 6:45am my radio turned on and the friendly voice of the DJ on 104.9 greeted me. I, being the polite listener that I am, promptly rolled over and hit the snooze button, hereby allowing myself another 7-minutes of blessed rest. 6:52 comes around, and I, once again, roll over and hit snooze, ignoring the fact that I really enjoy hearing the weather report as soon as I wake up, and it typically comes on about this time. Another 7-minutes to try to wake up. At 7:00am my cell phone alarm goes off (yes, I know that there is a chance I'll hit snooze subconsciously and sleep through my alarm, so I set two). It normally plays a song (the 7am alarm is set to Keith Urban's Days Go By), but lately I have purposely set it to vibrate, because a loud song isn't exactly the best thing to wake up to. Needless to say, I continue to have a hard time getting out of bed (a warm bed with a down comforter is hard to get out of!), but by 7:10 or so, I finally convince myself I had better get going, and climb out of bed. I have found that by taking a shower the night before, I can enjoy these precious few extra minutes in bed in the morning.

My first order of business every morning is to greet my two beloved furry friends, Cody & Reba. Both are so excited to see me every morning, that I almost wonder if they half-expect me to not get up in the morning, so they are excited that I decided to. After petting them, telling them goodmorning and also greeting my parents, it is time to quickly get ready for work. I rush around to pick out the perfect warm outfit (it's pouring rain!), which, today is some cute brown casual pants, a black long-sleeved t-shirt and a black fleece vest. I also decide to wear my rubber Crocs, but later decided that was a bad idea in the rain! I hurry to get dressed, put my contacts in, make my hair look decent, make my bed and put makeup on (not a lot!). Pretty soon it is time for breakfast, which Reba joins me for every morning. This morning it is a bowl of Cheerios, my typical quick morning feast. After a hasty breakfast I brush my teeth, grab my red winter coat for the first time this year, pull the hood up over my head, grab my coffee mug and some apple cider mix, and make a mad-dash to the car, getting quite wet in the process. One problem with working so close to my house, is that my car doesn't begin to warm up until I am turning into the parking lot. So my chances of drying off before I get to work are slim. :)

I arrive at work, exactly at 8am on my clock, a couple minutes after on the clock that matters. I'm still convinced that the clock at work is not synchronized properly - everyone at work agrees with me - but there is nothing we can do, and nobody cares if we show up a couple of minutes after 8. I clock in, and head into my cubicle, where I turn my computer on and get ready to start my work day. I am not a huge fan of Mondays. . .there's usually a lot of emails to be read - many of them junk - and you can just tell that everybody wishes the weekend was a bit longer. I check my email, decide what my game plan will be for the day, and then I decide to make myself some hot chocolate to try to wake myself up further, warm myself up, and because hot chocolate on a very wet, rainy Monday, sounds like a perfect idea. My cup of hot chocolate prepared, I set to work on my tasks for the day.

Around 12:50 I head home for lunch. Because I work about 5 minutes from my house, I often head home for lunch. My dogs run to greet me in the driveway (of course!) and then we all head in for lunch. Today I enjoy two cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches on white bread. They are delicious. I head to my bedroom where I proceed to eat lunch and check in with the Facebook world. I enjoy relaxing for about an hour, and then it's back to work to finish up my tasks for the day. Today also happens to be my friend Aley's birthday. Aley is one of my best friends from California, and since I can't say Happy Birthday in person, I decide to leave her a video message on Facebook (something I recently learned I can do) on her wall. After about 5 attempts, I finally get one I am okay with. And I post it to her wall for all to see. :) I return to work soon thereafter.

At precisely 4:58 I leave work. Normally I would stay until 5, or a few minutes after, but today my boss (the only person with keys who stayed till the end of the day) has to leave right at 5, so those of us who are still there quickly finish up and get ready to leave. I head home and again check in with my Facebook friends and take some time to relax some more. I am so tired, and it's so dreary outside, that I curl up under my down comforter until dinner time, and promptly fall asleep. I wake up in time for dinner and enjoy some BBQ chicken that my mom oven-baked. I thought it was very good, but I'm not sure the rest of my family shared the sentiment. Oh well.

After dinner I head to college group at a local church. I had attended a college group in the past at my church, but stopped going for various reasons. However, recently I have been feeling the need to spend time with more young people and to get involved with a college group again, so now I am going to this particular college group. We sing a few songs and the pull out our Bibles for our study. Eventually we're going to go through the book of Zechariah, but before we get there we've been doing some background. Tonight we are doing a chapter in Ezra, and then the book of Haggai. I can't say I've spent much time in those books before, so it is an interesting study. Afterwards we all chat over nacho cheese Mexican dip, and eventually I head home, ready for bed.

Before long it is truly time to get some sleep. I'm a night owl at heart, which means that even with my best intentions I usually get less sleep than I should, but I'm in bed before midnight (I think it was before 11:30!). I read a chapter in my Bible (tonight, because I'm eager to turn my light out to start preparing my brain for sleep, I use the Bible App on my iPod), double check both alarms to make sure they are ready for the "snooze routine" in the morning, and say goodnight to the world. I snuggle deep down in my covers, pull my comforter up tight, and quickly. fall. asleep.

A Peek Into My Week

I hereby declare that this past week was one of the best weeks I've had in awhile - although it was also one of the busiest. :) During the day I worked, but it was the activities in the evenings that created the busyness. Here's a peek into my busy week.

Monday

Obviously I began the work week at 8am. Because everyone was pretty tired, my co-worker and I made a Starbucks/Donut House run and picked up coffee for those who wanted it. I, of course, greatly enjoyed my tall caramel frappucinno. Yum! Monday evening was college group. I have been going to the college group at a local church on Monday nights for a few weeks now. I had gone to a college group a few years ago at my church, but when I had night classes for school I ended up not being able to go, and eventually, for various reasons, decided that wasn't where I was supposed to be. I was content with that, but lately have been feeling the need to get involved with a college group again, and hang out with young people outside of my tight circle of friends. So I am going to a college group at a different local church now. Yes, some of my circle of friends also attend the college group, but interacting with a larger group of people my age has been wonderful these past few weeks.

Tuesday

I'm going to assume it's a given that I had work Monday through Friday, and won't mention it anymore. :) Tuesday night was Awana. I am working with the 5th & 6th grade girls and am loving (almost) every minute of it. :) I have some of the sweetest girls. It's so cool to be involved in their lives in this small way. It makes me doubly appreciate the time that my Awana leaders spent investing in my life when I was a clubber. :)

Wednesday

For the past 3 years or so, my close friends and I have been meeting for Girl's Group. For the past couple of years we have been meeting on Wednesdays. Over the years our group has grown and changed. The girl who originally started the group, my friend Andrea, left us to attend school at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Other girls have joined us for awhile and then moved on. My friend Val is away at school in Boise. My friend Kristy moved back to California. So, now there are three of us: me, Michelle and Sarah, and we get together on Wednesday nights to talk about what's going on in our lives (and we usually laugh a lot, too!), and for about a year or so we have been going through some Bible study guides. Right now we are going through a Kay Arthur study of 1 & 2 Corinthians. We have only covered Week 1 so far, but I think it's going to be a good study.

Thursday

Normally Thursday nights don't contain any planned activity. This week, however, happened to be the opening night of the local college's production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, and I happened to know two of the actors. A group of friends and I went to see the production, and it was very well done. However, it started at 7:30pm and ran for about 3-hours, so it was a late night.

Friday

On Friday I went over to my friend Sarah's house with several other girls to help her finish up decorations and food items for her future sister-in-law's bridal shower the following day. We had a blast making brownies, decorating cookies, cutting out decorations, and dancing around the kitchen to a random blend of music. . .and eating sour gummy candies. :)

Saturday

On Saturday I slept in (finally!) and went to the aforementioned bridal shower. It was a really fun shower. :)

Yep, that's my week in a nutshell. It was busy, but super-fun. I enjoyed every minute of it, and look forward to the adventures of this upcoming week!

Current Playlist: Bublé & Groban

As you might have noticed, down at the bottom of my page is a music playlist. It doesn't start automatically, just because I know some people would rather not listen to music while visiting my blog. However, if you would like to listen to random blend of music, it's there. I do update or change this from time-to-time, depending on my mood or the season.

Current Playlist: Bublé & Groban - the music of (you guessed it!) Michael Bublé and Josh Groban.

Enjoy!

I'm In Love. . .

. . .with Michael Bublé (and, of course, his music!). (I had you for a second with the title, didn't I?!)

For those of you not familiar with the greatness that is Michael Bublé, let me introduce you.

Michael Bublé is a Canadian singer, but he actually took Italian citizenship in 2005. He takes a lot of older songs by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles, to who-knows-who-else, and a whole variety of others - songs such as "You Don't Know Me," "Feeling Good," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Save the Last Dance For Me," - and puts a fresh spin on them. Most of his songs have a jazzy/swing feel to them. He also writes some original songs, which are amazing as well.

Anyway, Michael Bublé just released a new album on October 9 entitled Crazy Love, and I am planning to make a trip to Target tomorrow, in the hopes that the album is still on sale so I can buy it. :) In the meantime I have contented myself with listening to the songs from the CD on YouTube. So far there are several that I can't stop singing in my head.

But instead of me trying to sell you on Michael Bublé, here are two of the songs from his newest album. If you like what you hear, look him up on YouTube. There's plenty more out there. :)

Enjoy!

The Title Song, "Crazy Love"


And an original composition, the first single from this album, "Haven't Met You Yet." (And I'm pretty sure he must have had a blast recording this promo video!)

The Older I Get. .

. . .the faster my friends start dropping like flies. By "dropping like flies" I mean getting engaged and, ultimately, married.

When I was 4 or 5 I got to be the flower girl in my dad's cousin's wedding. Someday I'll find some of those old pictures, scan them, and share them with you all. For now, close your eyes and just imagine a really cute, blonde angel (okay, maybe not so much on the angel part). Picture said angelic creature in a simple white dress with a pink satin ribbon pinned around as a sash. Imagine a wreath of flowers with two little pink roses, one opened, one still a bud. Picture said blonde hair curled really nice, and a basket of flowers in hand. Okay, you can open your eyes now. That was Laura as a flower girl that you were picturing. Yes, I still have the basket.

Anyway, that was the first and only wedding I went to until I was in college. And it's still the only wedding I've ever been in (I'm working on trying to get my close friends married off. . .so far I've not been successful). I would hear people talk about the weddings they had been to, and so on, and I couldn't honestly remember exactly what being at a wedding was like. The whole flower girl experience is kind of a daze (although that is the first airplane trip I remember vividly - I couldn't figure out how the pilot knew where we were going and where to land the plane!).

In my first year of college, someone who had been involved with the college group got married. My friend and I went, because we both wanted to go to a wedding. After that wedding is when going to weddings started getting weird. Why was it weird? Because those getting married were friends of mine - my age or younger!

My friend Joanna got married about 2 years ago. She was the first actual friend of mine to get married. It was weird. I caught the bouquet at that one. Some good that's done me. :) I'm pretty sure that "luck" wears off after a year, or something.

Last year my dear friend Britney married her sweetheart. It was a beautiful, elaborate wedding, enjoyed by all.

Last month my childhood best friend, Bethany, got married. The girl who swore-off boys with me in elementary school found the love of her life and married him. And I am so happy for her.

The reason for this whole post - the events that encouraged these thoughts in my head - is the fact that today my friend Heidi got married. . .and tomorrow, in Hawaii (and no, I won't be in attendance) my childhood friend and, later, pen-pal, Tamara, is tying the knot.

I know many others who have gotten married. I've been at most of their weddings (except for any friends who got married outside of the state of Idaho!). It's a stage of life, I know, but it's weird. Eventually all of these who have gotten, or are getting, married will have children (some of them already have!) and instead of buying wedding presents I'll be buying baby presents. . .but I guess that's just the way growing up is.

As for me? I don't have any plans of getting married in the near future. I've always said I'm going to end of being the last of my friends to get married (although they tell me that by saying that I'm setting myself up to be first. *grin*), but by going to all these weddings I am accumulating ideas in my head for that someday when I am the princess walking down the aisle to meet up with my Prince Charming. And then all those who are in attendance can think about how many weddings *they* have been to, and all the single girls can wonder when *their* turn will come. But until then, we can all dream, knowing that "someday my prince will come!" And until then (and after!) I will continue to encourage my friends who are at that stage, and I will continue to be a frequent wedding gift shopper at Bed, Bath & Beyond. :)

My Exciting Life. . .Or Lack Thereof. . .

So. . .let's see. . .what's interesting and exciting in Laura's life lately?

Not much.

Sorry, I'm sure you were hoping for something much more profound - I am sorry to disappoint!

I'm being completely honest, however. . .there hasn't been much of interest to occur lately. However, since you did stop by my blog in hopes of an update, and since I want to encourage people to keep reading my blog, I will share with you the uneventful and boring. You've been warned. :)

I keep busy between the hours of 8-5 with work, at least Monday through Friday. We're getting ready to exhibit at a tradeshow (I get to go - just to walk around and experience the whole thing) so we've been putting together brochures, and getting all the paperwork taken care of. I ordered a bunch of pens, bottle openers and these super-cool post-it books (called pocket flag buddies) and we're going to hand some of those things out. I'm also finishing up the company newsletter. It is going to be a quarterly publication.

On Sunday nights I've been going to a new college group. Well, it's not new new, but it's new to me. It meets at a church on the far side of Post Falls, but it's really not that bad of a drive. I've been several times and I'm enjoying it so far, and it's nice to meet some new people. You can visit the website for the group, here: Retro.

On Wednesday nights I am still getting together with two of my best friends for Girl's Group. We are getting ready to start a new Bible study guide, but we have to wait a few weeks to start it, just because some of us are not going to be able to meet this week and next.

Other than that, my nights are usually consumed by reading, or playing with the dogs, or listening to music on my iPod, and, of course, checking in on Facebook. :)

Fall is definitely here in North Idaho. Right now I'm *freezing* but that is only because it has been so warm and is now chilly. It was 37-degrees this morning! But never to worry, as they say, if you don't like the weather in North Idaho, wait 5 minutes - it will change. And change it will, because tomorrow is supposed to be 83 and Wednesday is supposed to be 90. Summer is hanging on by a thread. Although I have to say I love when the leaves fall down, and you can make ginger cookies and drink apple cider without being *completely* off-your-rocker. :) I also love jumping in leaf piles. . .what can I say?!

Anyway, yeah. . .that's a little peek into what I've been up to and what's going on in my world. . . :)

Till later,

Laura

The Rambling Thoughts in My Mind

Hello Faithful Readers!

It is I, just here with a little update on what's going on in the Life of Laura.
Let's see. . .I suppose I should start by introducing you to one of my new toys. Blog readers, meet my new Macbook Pro. :) Sorry it's such a dark picture.

No, it doesn't have a name yet. But I love it. :)

While I'm at it, I should probably introduce you to another one of my new toys.

Yep, it's an iPod Touch. It's pretty fun, as well. I can go on Facebook while listening to music, all on an iPod. Eventually I'm hoping to download some free Apps so I can play some games, too. I guess it's today's version of a PDA, or something.

I think that's probably enough new toys. . .at least for now, but I'm having fun with them.

I also found out that three of my favorite musical artists (Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood and Michael Buble) are coming out with new albums in October and November. So I'm pretty excited about that, too. I've been realizing more and more how much I love listening to music, lately. Especially country. Sorry, country-haters. I didn't like it either until I started listening to to it. Now I love it, and own more country CDs than any other genre. What can I say? :) Anyway, yeah. . .I'm trying to decide if I should get those CDs right when they come out, and are usually on sale at Target, or if I should wait for Christmastime. I'll probably wait, but we'll see!

What I really should do is get an adaptor so I can hook my iPod up to my car stereo. That would be just so cool. I think I'll try to find one.

I am on a four-day weekend from work. Yes, I get a paid holiday for Labor Day. Excited? You bet I am! I get to run errands during the week for once, and get some stuff done. I've got a whole list of things to accomplish. I also hope to go to the library - even though I don't really need to check out books because I have a bunch that I've borrowed from friends that I need to read. I borrowed Ted Dekker's circle trilogy from a friend. I started reading Black last summer, never had a chance to finish it, and hadn't been able to get it at the library since. My friend had it, so I am borrowing it and plan to read the whole trilogy - but haven't gotten to it yet. Plus I am borrowing another book from another friend, that apparently has a series connected to it, too.

As far as books go, mostly I tend to read historical fiction. They usually have a bit of sappiness, which the hopeless romantic in me enjoys, plus the historical part is really cool. I think the pioneer era would have been so cool to live in, although I can't decide if I would pick the pioneer era or the Pride & Prejudice regency era, if I could go back in time! :)

Work is going well. I am doing marketing at a software company, for anyone who didn't know yet. It's interesting and a chance to use my degree, but it's sometimes a challenge. I just finished our first issue of the in-house newsletter. It turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself. :)

Okay, this post has become a mumble-jumble of my rambling mind. Hopefully it caught you up a little bit, and hopefully it won't be too long before I do it again!

Till Next Time,

Laura

Never Fear. . I'm Still Here. . .

Hi Blog Readers (are there any??)!

This is just a note to let you know that yes, I still exist. :) I have just been super-busy enjoying summer, hanging out with friends, seeing movies, and working full-time at my new job. . .so that hasn't left much time for blogging. . .but I will hopefully be back on here soon.

Happy Summer!

Laura

God Bless the USA!

On Saturday we will be celebrating our nation's birthday. While perhaps our country is not doing as well as it has in the past, we should still be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America.

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my God above
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Seattle Trip Pictures: Thursday

Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil

The Lovely Sarah!

The Three Amigas. . .All in Purple!

Only Some of the Delicacies at The Queen Mary Tea Room!

Me. . .Dressed in Purple. . .Surrounded by Purple. . .

Seattle Trip Part 4: Thursday

One of the things we wanted to do on our trip was go all out by dressing up in our formal skirts/dresses and going out to eat. We were originally planning on going out to dinner, but ended up going instead to a really cute little tea room. We decided to go on Thursday and, for a couple of us, it was a "lazy morning" day. For the other two of us, it was up-and-at-it early in the morning.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 08:51

Sarah and I went out to run some errands in the morning. We left the other girls sleeping, and were on our way.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 09:23

We started off by going to a coffee shop in Issaquah for breakfast. We had an Entertainment Book for our trip with Buy-One-Get-One coupons in it, including a coupon for Cafe Ladro. We each got something to drink and a treat to eat, both of which were very good!

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 09:54

Of course a roadtrip is not complete without getting gas at Costco - especially when it happens to be the cheapest place around. Of course, we had to wait in a ridiculously long line. . .but it went pretty quickly, considering there were at least 20 cars waiting before us!

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 10:10

If there is one thing I miss from California, it's In-N-Out Burger. If there are two things I miss from California, the second is Trader Joe's. Since Spokane/Coeur d'Alene are not lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's - yet (someday???) - that was one place I wanted to go. Sarah and I had fun wandering the aisles and looking at different products. I got peanut butter filled pretzels for my mom (trust me, they are amazing!) and cheese puffs (much better than Cheetos!) for me, plus a few other things. Such a fun store!

We then headed to REI in downtown Seattle because I wanted to get a BPA-free water bottle. The REI in Seattle is quite impressive. We didn't spend much time there this time, but I've been there before, and even though I'm not a big "sporting goods store" girl, I still find REI Seattle impressive. :) Yes, that waterfall is at REI.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 11:26

We left REI and headed back to Val's aunt's house to get ready for tea! Val and Michelle had already started getting ready/doing hair, etc., so that left Val time to do my hair for me, and it didn't really take us long to all get dressed up!

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 13:40

We headed out so that we would make it to our 2:30pm tea reservation at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Bothell, Washington.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 14:23

We arrived at the Queen Mary Tea Room and enjoyed a delightful tea time. We each ordered Afternoon Tea which came with all sorts of yummy sandwiches and treats. We each tried a different type of tea and then sampled from each other's pots.

After tea we took some pictures in a local neighborhood.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 16:30

We left the tea room and headed back. However, however hard we tried, we seemed to hit traffic every time we tried to leave town on this trip. So even though we left tea at 4:30, we still managed to hit terrible traffic coming out of Bothell. As is evidenced from the above picture, Laura + Downtime While Stuck in Traffic = Random "Secret Agent" Pictures. :)

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 18:00

We decided to take a detour and visit the Chittenden Locks and Botanical Garden in Ballard. We got to watch several boats go through the locks, then we spent a good deal of time walking around the gardens. However, eventually our feet started to hurt, we were tired of getting funny looks, I was dangerously close to running out of memory on my camera, and Michelle's camera battery died. We were pretty tired by the time we left.

Thursday, May 28, 2009: 20:04

We finally got back to Val's aunt's house, fixed ourselves a tasty dinner of fruit-filled crepes, bacon and eggs, and quickly crashed. It was a long, but very fun, afternoon!

Seattle Trip Pictures: Wednesday

Yours Truly, "surfing" on the back of a whale at the aquarium.

Welcome to the Seattle Waterfront!

Michelle, Sarah & Val in the dome tank at the Seattle Aquarium.

All four of us downtown near Pike Market.

Seattle Trip Part 3: Wednesday

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 10:11

We departed Val's aunt's house after sleeping in and taking our time getting ready. We figured we would get to Seattle, park, explore, and all would be good.

We weren't quite right.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 10:42

We got off the Interstate. It took us about 30-minutes to drive between where we stayed and downtown. All things considered, not bad.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 11:30

Almost 1-hour later we finally found parking for less than $20/hour, within decent walking distance of where we wanted to be. We parked and prepared to enjoy the rest of the day.
Our first stop was the Seattle Aquarium. This was the one thing that every single one of us wanted to do while on our Seattle trip. The rest of it was an added bonus (*grin*). We enjoyed looking at all the fish and aquatic animals. We got to watch divers feed fish in the dome tank, we watched the octopus flirt with Val (well, it was following her as she walked around the tank, and changing colors as it did so!), and we watched jellyfish.

After lunch we went to Ivars to enjoy clam chowder, fish and fries, shrimp cocktail, and prawns and fries. I am not a big seafood fan, but I do love Ivars. I think it's the memories of eating there when I was little when we would visit Seattle that make it so fun.

After lunch it was time to head to Pike Market. We walked all over the market, looking at the beautiful flowers and fresh produce. We visited the Market Spice Tea store where I bought some delicious tea. We took our pictures with cardboard celebrities. We also spent a great deal of time in the Sur La Table store, dreaming about "someday" when we are rich, or have our own homes, and want to get fun stuff for our kitchens. We took pictures outside the world's first Starbucks. It was great fun.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 17:20

Eventually we were all tired and hungry and ready to go home.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 17:57

We decided to stop at Safeway in Seattle to get a few things for dinner. We found this particular Safeway interesting because it had a parking garage. . .something we definitely don't see back home!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009: 19:05

We finally arrived back "home," fixed ourselves some dinner, and then went for a walk with Val's aunt. She showed us a cute little lake near her house, and drove us around her town. Eventually we all crashed, ready for the next day of adventures!

While I'm Waiting (John Waller)

We interrupt the Seattle Trip posts to bring you this "rest stop" in our virtual road trip.

If you have seen the movie "Fireproof" you might recognize this song. . .and if you haven't seen the movie, drop everything and watch it now. It's that good. But anyway, I digress. . .

Last night (er. . .and early this morning) I was talking with a friend on the phone. She and I are, at this point, at completely different points in our lives. We are both waiting for answers for various (different) questions we have, and while our stories at the moment are different, somehow there is something similar between the two. I originally heard this song in the movie "Fireproof," as I mentioned, but I heard it again recently and it came to mind after my conversation with my friend last night. I thought I would share it with you all here.



While I'm Waiting
John Waller

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Seattle Trip Pictures: Tuesday

Sarah, Val and Michelle in Gig Harbor.

Me near the front of the ferry. My hair was going crazy!

Michelle, Sarah, me and Val at the Rainforest Cafe.

Seattle Trip Part 2: Tuesday

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 08:57

We departed my cousins' house and this time it was my turn to drive. At my aunt's suggestion we decided to drive around Puget Sound, crossing at the Narrows bridge in Tacoma. The bridge is HUGE. . .very tall, and it looks quite impressive. I didn't get a picture because I was driving. :)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 10:03

We decided to pull off in the town of Gig Harbor on the other side of the Sound. It was a cute little town with lots of sailboats, and some resident crabs living in the water near the shore. We were really glad that we decided to stop in this town because it was quite fun to explore.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 11:34

We arrived in Poulsbo, Washington, a little Norwegian town. It was cute - filled with lots of "gifty" and "cutesy" shops, and we enjoyed walking the streets. We also went down to the water, once again, to look at the resident aquatic life and inhale the sweet scent of the sea.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 13:07

To return to Seattle we boarded a ferry in Bainbridge. We parked the car on the ferry and went up on the top deck to watch the Seattle skyline come into view. It was amazing - I think it was, quite possibly, the best spot for looking at the Seattle skyline. Honestly, the pictures couldn't even begin to do it justice. The front of the ferry was quite windy, to the point that I was literally being blown across the deck and had to hang onto the outside wall of the cabin so that I didn't blow away!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 14:20

Visiting IKEA is something we planned to do on Monday, but since we were delayed by traffic we postponed it until Tuesday. We decided to do that after the ferry, and we ended up exploring the massive shopping space and the eating a late lunch at their little cafeteria. There were definitely some cool things at the store - but furniture, etc. was quite pricey. However, I did get some good ideas for how to decorate my home - kitchen, bedrooms, etc. "someday."

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 15:40

Before we left on our adventure, my friend Devin told me about the Rainforest Cafe in the Westfield SouthCenter Mall. It sounded like a lot of fun, and after having several other people tell me how cool it was, I knew it would be fun for us to go there. So, we decided to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We explored the mall first, and then headed in for dinner. Wow. I loved the jungle theme. Every 20-30 minutes the lights dimmed and "lightening" flashed across the sky. At this noise the monkeys and gorillas started to sing, and eventually the elephants joined in. It was quite the experience and, I think, totally worth it!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 19:34

Our goal on this trip was to try eating venues that we don't have here in North Idaho. We purchased Entertainment Books which gave us Buy-One-Get-One coupons for the major attractions, as well as coupons for restaurants, etc. We decided to use our coupons for the Marble Slab Creamery, which is very similar to Coldstone Creamery, but had some different, more unique ice cream flavors. I got raspberry ice cream with Sour Patch Kids candy mixed in. Yum!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009: 20:39

For the majority of the trip we stayed with Val's aunt who lives outside of Seattle. We finally arrived at her house, lugged all of our stuff inside, and began making plans for Day 3 of our Seattle Adventure. :)

Stay tuned for Day 3. . .

Seattle Trip Pictures: Monday

Me, with the beautiful Columbia River in the background.

Val, Sarah & Michelle on one of the horses at the Wild Horses Memorial.

The view from the car. . .this was taken at some point while we were "stuck" on I-90.

Seattle Trip Part 1: Monday

Hello! I'm Laura, and I'm here to tell you about my roadtrip to Seattle with three of my closest friends. My plan is to devote one or two blog posts to each day of our trip. I will share with you some pictures, as well as what we did each day. Are you ready to go on a virtual roadtrip? Fasten your virtual seatbelt, and let's go!

Monday, May 25, 2009: 08:42

We loaded up the car, and departed on our journey, excited for the adventures that were sure to lie ahead. We were armed with lots of snacks (thanks to Sarah) and were fairly well rested. We loaded the CD player with a VeggieTales CD, and began the drive across the great state of Washington.

Monday, May 25, 2009: 11:35

On the side of I-90, up on a hill, is a Wild Horses Memorial - a whole bunch of metal horses line the top of the hill in memory of the wild horses that used to roam the area. Visitors can hike to the top of the hill and even climb up on the horses, all the while overlooking the magnificent Columbia River. We decided to stop at this spot to eat our lunch, (Sarah made us some amazing Curry Chicken Salad!) and we spent over an hour eating, climbing on the horses and taking pictures. However, before long it was time to be on our way again.

Monday, May 25, 2009: 13:54

The journey westward was going well, with smooth sailing, until this point. However, lest we should get the early impression that this trip would be flawless, in the next 2+ hours we traversed a grand total of 30 miles - 6 of those miles were covered over a 45-minute period. Yes, traffic was bad. :) I tried to keep myself amused by taking random pictures, logging in our notebook about where we were, and we continued to listen to music. Once we got to the base of Snoqualmie Pass, it was, once again, smooth sailing. . .but by then we were tired, bored, and starting to get a bit frustrated with traffic.

Monday, May 25, 2009: 17:53

We arrived at my cousins' house, where we stayed for the first night of our adventure. We ate a tasty dinner of hamburgers and potato salad, went for a walk, and then enjoyed a mint ice cream dessert. We collapsed into bed later that night, tired, but excited about what the rest of the week would bring.

Stay Tuned For Part 2. . .

I'm Baaaack!!!!

Oh girls they wanna have fun

Oh girls just wanna have fun

- From the song, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I'm back! :) I am starting to work on some blog entries about my trip - it was absolutely amazing, totally awesome, and something I won't soon forget. :) We girls DID have fun. . .and I hope to soon share all that fun with you. I took over 500 pictures. . .but don't worry, I won't post them ALL. . .just enough to give you a sneak-peek. :)

Stay tuned. . .

Seattle Bound

In the morning I am leaving for a week in Seattle with three of my friends. I am taking my camera (of course!) and plan to share all the fun with all of you wonderful blog readers once we return. See you in a week! :)

Believe It Or Not. . .

I DID IT! :)

This is me with several of my fellow Communication Arts graduates- Dorian, Jason and Cheryl. A longer post and more pictures will be coming later - right now I am working a lot, organizing stuff, and getting ready for a trip to Seattle next week. Yay! :)

Soundtrack to Graduation: Feeling Good (Michael Buble')

I'm prefacing this by saying that yes, I set this post up and scheduled it, long ago, to post today. Since I did that, we were told we needed to find a new song for graduation, since this song was not upbeat enough at the beginning. I will post the new song once I know for certain what it is. . .but for now, enjoy this one, which we were supposed to walk out on. :)



Feeling Good
Michael Buble'

Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom in the tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when the day is done, that's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Fooor me

Stars when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Yeah freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
It's a new life
For me

And I'm feeling good

Graduation Soundtrack:

1. Feeling Good (Michael Buble')
2. My Wish (Rascal Flatts)
3. Time of My Life (David Cook)
4. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Israel K.)
5. Whenever You Remember (Carrie Underwood)
6. My! My! Time Flies! (Enya)

There you go. . .the Graduation Soundtrack 2009! :-) Hope you enjoyed it!

An Announcement. . .

The President, Faculty
and
Graduating Class
of
Lewis-Clark State College
announce the graduation of

Laura Anne Beyer

on
Sunday, the third of May
Two Thousand and Nine
with a

Bachelor of Science Degree
in Communication Arts

Commencement Exercises will be held
at
Schuler Auditorium
North Idaho College Campus

Two o'clock in the afternoon