Hello Celebritys

I'm Still Here!

And hopefully I'll have another update for you all soon. I have some recipes to post, actually, just have to type them up first. But when I do, I think you'll like them. Maybe this weekend.

I've been pretty busy with work and my social activities. I'm actually glad that Awana is now over for a couple months because that means that I have one less commitment during the summer, so I have a little more time to breathe. :)

In exciting news, I am planning to go to Boise a week from today! My friend is graduating from Boise State, so my friends Michelle and Sarah and I are flying down to Boise next Thursday, spending a few days down there and then driving back with Val and her family (who is driving down for her graduation). I will try to take some pictures of the scenery on the drive back because I *think* we are going via the Montana route so we can stop at Craters of the Moon (in Idaho) on the way back. We are going armed with music on my iPod, and pens and paper so we can play games. :)

Anyway, that's a little update. Hopefully more later!

-Laura

It's really a surreal experience. I knew this time would come, but I can hardly believe that it is here, now. Well, in 3 weeks, that is.

Yes, that's right. 3-weeks from tomorrow I should be walking across the stage in the Schuler Auditorium on the North Idaho College campus, thereby becoming a graduate of Lewis-Clark State College. And yes, it's hard for me to believe.

There's still a lot left to do over the next few weeks. The list includes (but is not limited to). . .
. . .Analyzing data for my research project (which analyzed the effects of advertising on online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace)
. . .Putting together a PowerPoint for when I present my project at the LCSC-Cd'A Senior Symposium on April 30
. . .Interviewing one of my friends for 45-60 minutes to learn about her values for my Values: Wilderness class
. . .Working on my portfolio/resume and making sure they are in tip-top shape
. . .Random short papers and discussion postings for my online Values: Wilderness class
. . .Random other things I have to wrap up

Yes, it's scary, but it's also exciting. 3-weeks from tomorrow should be an exciting day. . .and I can hardly wait! :)

Happy March!

I don't know about all of you, but I am having a very hard time believing that it is mid-March already! It seems like it was just Christmas, and now we are almost 1/4 of the way to next Christmas! Where is the time going?

I am now 50-days (and counting!) away from graduating with a BS in Communication Arts from Lewis-Clark State College. Yes, I am totally excited, and yes, I am a bit scared about what comes after graduation.

I'm not going to lie. . .I am starting to think that I actually will miss school. Who knows, maybe I'll be adventurous and go back for a Master's someday. . .but not for awhile. I think school has just been a part of me for so long (since I was 5!) that it is going to be weird not having it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll have no trouble adjusting to the lack of homework. :-) More time for reading, right? Maybe.

But I am not scared about the lack of homework (trust me, that is not something I'm scared about in the least!). . .rather, I am scared about where life could take me after graduating. Maybe "scared" is a strong word. . .but I think there is a little fear there in the back of my mind. I mean, there is so much expected of a college graduate. . .you're supposed to get a job, start a career in your chosen field, and make something of yourself. And in this day and age it's a bit difficult to do that. So I guess we'll see where post-college life takes me. I would love to get a journalism job or something similar. . .but if I don't, oh well. :-) Who knows. . .maybe God has bigger and better plans for me. Only time will tell.

Yes, I, like most people, have dreams of where I would like to be 10 years from now, or 5 years from now, even 2 years from now. Will I meet all of those goals? Accomplish all of those dreams? Probably not. But a girl can dream, right? :-) And like I said. . .only time will tell. . .and 10, 5 or even 2 years from now I'll keep you posted and let you know how many of those dreams have come true. :-) Gosh, I am already about to meet one of my goals in, oh, 50 days! :-P

There are other adjustments that will have to be made in post-college life. For example, when aforementioned "dream job" comes along (or "not-so-dream-but-communications-related job") comes along, that will mean leaving my job at the bakery, where I have spent more hours than I care to calculate over the past almost-3 years. The memories I have made during my time at Great Harvest, as well as the friendships with my amazing co-workers, will forever be unforgettable and it is my deepest hope that the friendships I have with some of my co-workers-turned-friends will not die, but will rather grow even stronger. I suppose, again, time will tell. . .but that is my hope, and I will try my hardest to make sure that happens. :-)

As far as school now is concerned. . .I am excited to say that my senior research project is coming along nicely. Thanks to all of you who are on Facebook who took the online version of my survey (I don't know who you are, but you do!). I appreciate it. I am working on getting the data ready to analyze and then I will meet with someone who will help me analyze it and eventually I will finish my (rather long) research paper. For those who don't know, I have been accepted to present my senior research project at the Northwest Communication Associaton's 2009 Conference in early April. It's a bit nerve-wracking knowing that I will be presenting my paper alongside graduate students and a few professors of communication, but it is also an honor to be accepted and I am, in a way, looking forward to it. There are three others from my class who will be presenting as well, and I am sure we will have fun listening to each other's presentations and spending the weekend together. :-)

I also have to put together a powerpoint for when I have to present my senior project at the 2009 LCSC-Cd'A Senior Research Symposium at the end of April. It's a pretty formal all-day event with seniors from four different divisions presenting their projects, and I am nervous (although excited) about it as well.

Last (but not least!) I am in the process of putting together a portfolio that I will be able to use when I am done with school to, supposedly, persuade a potential employer that I am the best candidate. I have a beautiful portfolio binder (thanks to an amazing friend of mine -- you know who you are) in which I am including a variety of different things, such as papers from college, certificates, letters of recommendation, etc., and I am eager to see how it turns out. :-)

I also want to apologize for the lack of blog entries lately. I really do enjoy updating my blog, but with school and, well, hanging out with friends, the time to update the blog is lacking, as is the inspiration at times. :-) I am sure I'll have more inspiration soon, however, and definitely once I am done with school. :-)

So. . .until my next update. . .have a wonderful March. . .and Happy St. Patrick's Day! :-)

As promised, I am back to continue my update. I believe I left off with Christmas in the last post.

Christmas break has been amazing this year -- I have spent lots of time with friends and I haven't had to worry about homework. A couple days after Christmas some friends and I went to see The Tale of Despereaux, based off a children's book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. I have not read the book, but heard that it is not quite the same as the movie. The movie was cute, but had some strange parts. . .but Despereaux was the CUTEST little mouse, with the biggest ears! :-)

A couple days after seeing The Tale of Despereaux, I went to see Marley & Me with another friend. Wow. What a good movie. I read the book (by John Grogan) a couple of years ago, and LOVED it. Marley reminded me at times of Cody, and I love a good dog story. And the ending of the book made me cry (I wasn't expecting it to end the way it did). So, when I heard they were making a movie, I knew I had to see it. And wow, was it good. Now, some forewarning: there are parts of the movie that they probably could have left out, and there are some parts that if they had shown any more they would've had to raise the rating. . .but overall it was a good movie that even children could enjoy. And yes, when we first "met" Marley in the movie, I couldn't help but exclaim that I want another puppy. :-) However. . .just to prepare anyone who might decide to watch the movie: I was crying for what seemed like the last half-hour of the movie, but especially in the last 15 minutes or so (seeing affects more than reading, apparently). And I wasn't alone. I don't think there were very many dry eyes in the theater at the end (I could hear lots of sniffling!). And I had to give Cody and Reba extra-big hugs when I came home. But, with that in mind, go see the movie. . .it's #1 at the box office right now for a reason. . .and trust me, everyone, dog-lover or not, will find it to be a cute dog movie. :-) You'll laugh and cry all in one 2-hour movie -- and to me, that is a sign of a good movie!

New Year's Eve was spent at my friend Sarah's house. We had a blast playing Scattergories, Dance Dance Revolution, Uno, and Backseat Drawer. And, of course, at midnight we watched the ball drop on TV and then ran around the neighborhood banging on pots and pans with wooden spoons. We have to start the year off with exercise, right?! :-)

January has been off to a good start. My friend Joy is back in town for Christmas break, and we just had to do something together! Joy and Mary used to work with me and Devin, and the four of us have done quite a bit together (we all saw Mannheim Steamroller together in 2007, the three of them helped me celebrate my birthday, we have played intense games of Dutch Blitz together, etc.) so it made sense that we'd do something when Joy was in town for Christmas break. We got together and played Scattergories and looked at pictures -- and of course we just had to take a picture. That's me, Mary, Devin & Joy in the picture above.

Last night was lots of fun. I went to my friend Val's house, and, with a group of friends, watched Stardust, which was a strange movie, and I'm not sure I'd recommend watching it. It was a bit weird and, well, interesting. But, after the movie we played Apples to Apples, Bible Trivia, Backseat Drawer and the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader board game (fun, but WAY easier than the TV game show of the same name!). We also talked, of course, and just enjoyed hanging out together.

There is one week left in Christmas break and I am hopeful that it will be just as fun as the last few weeks have been. After this week the countdown is on for graduation!

I hope you enjoyed the updates. . .I'll try to update more frequently now, assuming I have something interesting to blog about!

Have a great week! :-)

Yes, I know, I haven't updated my blog in awhile. I've been on Christmas break and haven't really felt like coming up with a creative entry. Plus I've been working a lot, and spending every possible moment with friends -- along with trying to keep from getting snowed in with our record amounts of snow outside. But, now I am back with some pictures to show you some of the things I've been up to recently. . .


We had a Christmas party at my work on the Saturday before Christmas. We had a gift exchange, pizza and lots of fun! I ended up with a very sweet gift -- a bag of candy and cookies. I'm trying to space it out and not eat it all at once. :-)

The Christmas party happened to fall on the same night as my co-worker/friend Devin's 21st birthday, so a few of us got our creative brains together to come up with The Ultimate 21st Birthday Present. It consisted of 21 little gifts (we decided we love the Dollar Tree!) -- most of them being inside jokes between all of us at Great Harvest (a red high heel ornament, a Hannah Montana singing pen (gag!), etc.) and some being just plain funny -- like the little container we found with 21 gumballs -- for a 21 gumball salute! :-) It was a fun way to end the Christmas party. :-)

As I think I've mentioned before, I am the Activities Chairperson for the student council at my college. Our winter activity (which I organized) was a cruise to the North Pole on Lake Cd'A. Each year they take boats across the lake to the "North Pole" which is all decked out in lights, while Santa reads the names of all the kids on board. It's fun and pretty, although it was *freezing* (literally) that night. Our winter activity happened to occur on the same night as the Christmas party at work, so I went from the Christmas party to the North Pole, and I was able to convince Devin to come freeze with me (on his birthday, no less!). We were VERY cold (I have a new appreciation for those on the Titanic), but we were all bundled up and had a blast!

I had to work for a few hours in the morning on Christmas Eve, and after I clocked off I couldn't help but take some pictures of some of the icicles outside. The icicles on this gas can were my favorite -- I thought they looked like a walrus. :-) After I took some pictures of the icicles and snow (none of which turned out as good as I wanted them to), work had pretty much slowed down, so Devin was also able to clock off, and we went sledding (I didn't want to go by myself -- it's no fun that way!) and then we drove out by the lake to look at the Bald Eagles that are here this time of year. The Bald Eagles are SO impressive, let me tell you! I only saw about 3 or 4, but wow! They look so majestic when they fly!!!!!

Christmas came and went rather quickly. My mom and brother got home from California just a couple days before Christmas, so we didn't have much excitement leading up to the big day, but it was nice just the same. We spent the day at home, doing nothing too exciting. However, it was the whitest Christmas I can imagine (as in, feet of snow on the ground and more falling!) which was really nice.


. . .There has been more going on, but this entry is getting rather long, and I need to get ready to go -- I'm heading to a friend's house to watch a movie -- so I will continue this update later.