A Week and A Half...

It's hard to believe it, but I've only got a week and a half left here in Virginia. My time here has been amazing! I've made so many friends, learned so much, had so much fun - I can't even begin to describe it all.

Currently I'm sitting at a table with 4 MacBooks. I just had to throw that in there. Macs are taking over the world.

Tomorrow a friend from A&M who lives outside of DC is going to come visit. I'm pretty stinking excited. Boo-ya.

Here are some of my new friends:Well...I tried to add more pictures but blogspot doesn't like me today, so this is the only one you get. As you can see, everybody is very excited in this picture. It was taken at a momentous occasion. The occasion was so momentous that one girl felt she had to talk to somebody about it immediately, and thus she was on the phone when we took the picture. No lie.

There are some ladies from various groups (one from Bryan, TX!!) who come each year to teach a quilting class. So, one night I decided to go. Little did I know that I was making a long-term commitment. I picked out fabric and picked a pattern and started cutting like crazy. Before I knew it, I was sewing like crazy. Yesterday, I was quilting like crazy. You may be thinking to yourself, "wasn't she quilting the whole time??" Surprisingly, no! People often think that to be making a quilt is to be quilting, but the actual act of quilting is far more specific than that. It requires using a sewing machine with a special "quilting foot," and it is the step in the process where you sew the top, middle, and bottom layers of the quilt together. All the rest is just cutting and sewing, but quilting...quilting is different. And now I am only one step away from having my very own home made quilt! I just have to do the binding (that is fabric that goes around the outside and keeps the edges together) and then my beautiful creation will be complete. Don't worry - I will most DEFINITELY be putting a picture on here. And sleeping under it. And taking it to Europe with me to sleep under there. I'm so stinkin' proud of it. =)

Have a great day!

LB

It's my birthday!

Today is my 23rd birthday and I must begin my telling everybody who has sent/given me cards, packages, emails, etc (even those I haven't recieved yet) THANK YOU!! I greatly appreciate all of them.

However, I must say that the greatest card of all is the one that sings "MMMBop" when you open it up. When I opened it this morning, I looked up at David and Kristen and said, "How did you know!?!?!" David said that he just figured I was "about that age." He was so right. I was all about Hanson during 7th grade. I remember one time they had a free concert at a nearby mall, but it was on a school day. I was so upset that my mom wouldn't let me skip school to go. ::sigh::

This morning I opened my door to a curtain of streamers and balloons, and Katie, Jen, and Elena had left a present and cards for me. In addition, Aunt Vicki and Uncle Darryll had given me a Starbucks gift card!! I LOVE coffee!!

Then at small group, I walked in the room and everybody yelled "Happy Birthday!" Max, like any 2 year old boy, was even more excited than I was and kept yelling over and over again, "Laura! It's your birthday! There's cake!" and sure enough, Linda had baked a VERY delicious coffee cake from scratch! I was bombarded by birthday cards (including the MMMBop card) and blew out the candles - all 23 in one breath! It was great!

Then at lunch, our new sister brought homemade tortillas (Honduran style!) and soup that was SOO good - way better than our normal cafeteria food.

The day just keeps getting better, and it's not even 2:00 yet! We're playing soccer at 3:00 (my new favorite activity!) and then tonight we have our weekly worship service, followed by pizza from Domino's! Tomorrow is Elena's and Darryll's birthday, so we're going to have a birthday party for the 3 of us tomorrow night. It's all muy fabuloso!!

And to make it even better, TRAPPER from MOOSEJAW wished me a happy birthday in today's daily remark! If you have any idea how obsessed I am with Moosejaw, you know this is a huge deal to me. I think I should buy another Moosejaw tshirt...

Alas, I must go study language before soccer! Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!!

-LB

I apologize for the recent lack of posting...

As the title says, I apologize for the recent lack of posting. However, in my defense, I've been very busy lately...

So, what's been going on, you might wonder?

Since I only have 10 minutes before I have to go somewhere, I'll make a short list:

- The Lord has been teaching me so much. I can't even begin to explain it all, but it's good. =)
- There is more than one "secret room" and we found a second one last night - it was good fun
- Sometimes those spaghetti strap shirts are so cute, but often, so immodest. Well, a lot of girls around here wear a cute solid tee underneath, and I tried it the other day and think I have found a new style I enjoy...
- We have a new sister in Christ!!

Well...that's not really ALL that's going on, but that's all I can comment on at the moment.

OH!! My BIRTHDAY is on Sunday!!! So if you haven't sent me a card or package yet, get busy!!

That is all.

LB