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