Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Sweetly Broken

Perhaps our eye's need to be worked by our tears
once in a while so that we can see life with a clearer view again.

If you saw a girl sobbing, curled up on some steps at the end of Greek row, you wouldn't think her tears were
because she is completely and utterly overwhelmed by God's love.
Because she is completely and utterly overwhelmed by the blessed life God has gifted her,
and because she has decided to surrender her life, and replace her idol with Jesus Christ.

No weeping, no hurt, or pain
No suffering. You hold me now,
You hold me now
No darkness, no sick, or lame
No hiding. You hold me now,
You hold me now
I began my day with Jesus, and ended it with Jesus.
That's the only way to do it :)

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Jesus is better than being surrounded by friends- Laurel Adami

The usual sightings on my way to Resonate Village.

I guess what I'd like to talk about today is an analogy I heard a couple weeks ago.
It was, of course, a Hot Rod analogy.
So you know the part when he's falling, and falling, and falling down that hill?
He makes it to the bottom, and "after suffering an extremely long and very painful fall" he came to a realization.
The light bulb turned on.
The analogy is that when we are going through a rough patch in our lives, that seems endless, and utterly terrible,
we don't always realize until we get to the end of it why it was worth the experience.
God shows us things about ourselves during hardships.
It sucks being in the pits, but when that sudden realization comes at the end of it all,
it makes it completely worth it.

2 Corinthians 1:3 TLB
What a wonderful God we have -- He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Take you to the forest...

...let you feel the raindrops falling down.
2 Corinthians 8:13-14
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed,
but that there might be equality.
At the present time your plenty will supply what they need,
so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.
Then there will be equality.

I read this verse and it pretty much summed up perfectly my experience with sponsoring a child.
I have known this concept as soon as I began the commitment of sponsoring Melvin,
but reading it in the bible, having it so clearly written out,
it's amazing.
I almost want to disagree.
I feel like it is not equal.
I feel like I have the better end of the deal.
Getting letters and hearing the sincerity in the thankfulness,
and simply being able to help someone who has so little
has been the greatest blessing.
Someone on the other side of the world prays for me.
Someone on the other side of the world thinks I should be a professional photographer :)
I love you, Melvin.
I love you very much.
God is going to do great things with that boy.
I just know it.

Monday, September 27, 2010

{The Fox went out on a Chilly Night}

[Not a Laurel.Elise original, I just appreciated the humor.]

Slept through my first college class this morning.
Oh crap you might think. Nay nay.
I went to the lecture at 3, and all was well :)
Grocery shoppin after that.
It'd almost been 2 weeks, I was in dire need of more CapriSuns and granola.
Headed over to Owen's for some coffee, chit chat, and homework sesh.
He made me a delicious something something Latte.
He thinks it was a fail, but I thought it was delicious.
We turned on the tunes, looked at pictures, I fed him chocolate covered coffee beans,
and we did homework.
I finished my second to last Chem problem with seconds of life to spare on my laptop.
I rock. The end.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

22-0. The Runs :)

Here Come The Runs had their 2nd victory tonight.
This picture was too perfect not to use.
Many things went well this time:

1. I put the mit on the right hand (my left).
2. I only put one elbow up.
 3. I hit the ball. Twice in fact.
4.  I ran to first base.
5. I ran to second base.
6. I ran to third.
 7. I crossed home plate.

I know.
Hard to believe.
But it happened.
And there are witnesses.
:)

Saturday, September 25, 2010

BRAVEHEART PARTY!!

The Game:

1. At least we scored.
2. Teea and I ate the most delicious caramel apples.
3. We were priveledged to sit by the one and only Reed Spencer once again.
That, my friends, has become our new tradition :)


Homemade Pizza:

1. This was not your standard homemade pizza. This is Paul Sisk we're cooking with don't forget.
2. Making dough from scratch is probably the tastiest. Me and Teea snacked a lot.
3. Sitting in the middle of the kitchen on a beanbag is super helpful ;)
4. Teea likes meat balls.
5. Hotrod break during the whole process made the pizza taste that much better :)


BRAVEHEART PARTY:

1. Knowing this wasn't a dress up party, Teea and I decided we would dress up and surprise everyone.
Mind you neither of us have ever seen the movie Braveheart. We spent 30 minutes watching trailers and google imaging what they looked like to come up with our final outfits.
2. Light Sabers may be equivalent to swords if no sword is available.
3. If someone wants an inverse mohawk, don't stop them lol.

Friday, September 24, 2010

{god. if this is the direction you want me to take. help me make it happen}

God did some amazing things today.
He clearly revealed himself to me.
Like it kind of blew me away.

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Quiet Time


...
I'm listening, God.
Tell me what I should do.
I'm patiently waiting.
...

2 Corinthians 6:3-10

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path,
so that our ministry will not be discredited.
 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:
 in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots;
 in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;
 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness;
in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
 7in truthful speech and in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report;
genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
 9known, yet regarded as unknown;
dying, and yet we live on;
beaten, and yet not killed;
10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
poor, yet making many rich;
having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Twinsies

Today me and Jessi matched.
182 miles away.
:D

Monday, September 20, 2010

{I know I still make mistakes}

But You have new mercies for me everyday.
Your love never fails
...
At growth group last week we talked about how
God is light in our world of darkness.
That means that anything good, is because of God.
Any bit of light in our corrupted world, is from him.
Every little thing.
I didn't lock myself out of my dorm today.
Blessing from God :)
...
[Got bored today during class, doodled on my coffee cup.]

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Scab-Pickin good time

Creepy part about the "Laurel slept here".
I didn't write it.
And I didn't see it before I chose my bed.
And perhaps the best one:
Written above my head, in large font, and clearly for me to see when I woke up this morning.
"I WET THE BED- DAN THE MAN"
Great. haha.
After morning prayer and worship, Teea and I went for a walk.
We found a beautiful little bench on a bridge looking out over a lovely little creek/pond/thing.
It was incredibly beautiful, and we had a really good talk.
I love that girl :)
A nice relaxed afternoon.
Had almost too much fun writing a special someone a letter.
After a delicious dinner we had more worship and then girls night.
The topic was Joy.
We talked about all the myths about joy.
Some of them hit home. Hard.
After that we went down to the bonfire down on the field.
It was ginormous.
People had mini trees practically with 5 or 6 marshmallows on the branches roasting.
Then they would walk their tree around the circle offering the marshmallows to people.
Hilariousness.
Someone drove their car down to the field, turned on their headlights, and blasted country music, and waited...
In no time we had a huge country swing dance going outside in the drizzling rain.
It was unbelievably awesome.
After we all moved back up to main camp, Teea and I did some major ownage to the ping pong table.
I don't really know how to describe it other than that it was super random and we were super hyper.
Yeah. haha.
Now it's bedtime.
Thank you for an awesome day of fellowship, God.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Fall.Retreat.2010


The day couldn't go any slower.
All I kept thinking about was RETREAT RETREAT RETREAT!
Finally the time came and we headed out for our awesome weekend adventure.
The adventure started only 15 minutes in when I relaized I had to pee.
No rest stops in sight.
We begin to look for large bushes, hay bales, anything.
There are wheat fields everywhere, which would be perfect, but of course they are all harvested. Fail.
So I popped a squat and Rachel and Teea held a blanket around me as I emptied the tank.
TMI? Deal with it haha.
Worship, message, then epic dance party.
Like no joke this was one of the most fun I've ever been to.
No one cared if they looked dumb, it was just crazy random dance moves all night long.
No one wanted it to end :D

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Overwhelmed

Too much homework.
When I read, my eyes droop, and the words threaten to
simply fall off the page.
As clearly demonstrated above.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Paul and Laurel Special Edition X Infiniti Wednesdays

After our weekly trip to the grocery store, Paul and I headed off to the car wash.
He let me drive the truck, and it's manual. Oh how I miss driving stick.
We waited in line and counted out $9 worth of quarters.
Water spray from the car ahead of us made for an entertaining feeding of the quarters.
We crept into the car washing tunnel, both of us car wash virgins.
We blasted some Jason DeRulo and were scared out of our minds as the truck was attacked by soap and water.
It was like a thunderstorm times a million. Not a huge fan. I'm not sure if we'll try that one again...
Resonate Village after that, then homework party in the pink lobby, then bed.
My laundry bag is bigger than me, and it's becoming a problem.
I have enough laundry to run 4, possibly 5, loads of laundry.
We only have 3 machines. And they're all currently being used.
Fail.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Everyone needs a 2 hour nap...

It improved my day by 100%
Classes, homework, volleyball game, night tennis, epic knee wounds.
Full day.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Even Jesus Bled Crimson

...
Classes were nothing special today.
The good stuff came in the afternoon.
Grant and I took a walk to Ferdinands for some ice cream. Much needed.
As soon as I got back Owen picked me up and we headed out to find us some rolling wheat fields.
It straight up just felt good to go driving again with the windows down and good music blasting.
We made stops along the way as we felt like it, and took lots of pictures.
I live in a beautiful place. Pictures don't give it justice.
...
Talked with J-Streck on the phone today.
She just moved in and has the same homesickness I had when I first started.
I quickly began to point out the good such as being able to name the huge crack by her bed,
and I'm praying she has a better day tomorrow. I love you Jess!
...
Late night of math homework.
Went over to Stimpson to join the study party.
Quite entertaining.
I now know what a panda's mating call sounds like,
and that gummy frogs contain beeswax.
Jared,"Can I eat those."
Ethan,"I checked the ingridients. You were fine until beeswax."
What? haha
...

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Here Come The Runs!


"What is your team name."
"Here Come the Runs!"
*blank stare*
So basicaly we rocked it out on that field.
I learned many things tonight about the game of Ballsoft.

1. Right handed people don't use right handed mitts.
2. When everyone is yelling at you when you're at bat to "Put your elbow up", that is singular. One elbow. Not both.
3. If you are not a strong thrower (me *cough*), a great play after you catch the ball involves a short throw backwards to someone who is.
4. Softball is extremely fun when you're with friends who don't mind a good laugh :)

Other exciting news of today:
-I had a RocketPower Marathon
-I gave the 'ol scooter some excercise today!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

And that's a Cougar First Down!

First game of the season, and wasn't it a doozy.
We sucked it up the first half, and Teea and I were about to leave when I remembered that Mr. Spencer was up here.
I texted him. So funny. And we headed over to the Alumni section.
Not gonna lie, I think I enjoyed it over there almost more than the student section.
Old people are just so dang cute.
And our luck changed as soon as we crossed sides.
Literally as soon as we went to sit with Spence, we started scoring touchdowns.
It was amazing haha.
Spence said he's going to buy the seats next to him so Teea and I sit there for every game.
We're the Alumni good luck charms :)
PBJ with raisins for dinner. The raisins make a HUGE difference. Try it.
After the game I got to spend some time with the Schlects and the Smiths.
I absolutely adore both of those famillies.
Teea can tell anyone, when Sami told me the Smiths were here over the phone, I slightly freaked out in excitement.
We made a Mickey D's stop, and chatted before they headed back out of town.
Once we got back to the dorm we went downstairs for a Country Swing Dance.
It was so much fun! Way more fun than any high school dance I've ever been to.
I'm still learning, so thank goodness the girl doesn't have to really know what they're doing ;)
Next, a walk down Greek row. That didn't look like fun at ALL. I now know I'm not missing out.
Overall, a fantastic night.
As Asher Roth once said...

I Love College.

Friday, September 10, 2010

{hard-working, jackhammer, merciless...}


After school, and work, I went back to the room to get ready for Sam's birthday dinner.
We all dressed up fancy, and went to a nice restaurant to celebrate.
It's fun to dress up with a big group every once in a while. We had a blast.
After dinner Tal let me drive his car back to Pullman.
I miss driving. An Alero is just not the same as a Camaro, even though they ryhme.
Late night tennis once we got back.
Blasted the iHome as usual, and battled against Kelly and Tyson.
Tal and I have figured it out.
I need to help him with his skill, and he needs to help me with my competitiveness.
Once we do that, we will be the Dream Team. And no one will be able to deny it.
Hotrod party after tennis. We cracked open the bag of jelly beans, and played the flavor guessing game.
I love that movie. I hadn't watched it in a while. I kept finding myself saying,"This is the best part" about literally every scene. If you haven't seen it, go rent it right now. It's worth it :)
This will go on the informational poster
about all the girls on our floor :)

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Choco-Coffee-Beans

are giving me the burst of energy I need to stay up and finish my Chem Lab.
Thank you Winco. What would I do without you?

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Monday, September 06, 2010

Winter Prep

Goodwill trip with Grandma.
I came out of it with a couple sweaters and a plate.
She got a turkey trot sweatshirt.
I love grandmas.
:)

Sunday, September 05, 2010

I'm Sippin on Some Sunshine

...
Mojave Mocha. Good.
Church. Good.
Berry Picking. Good.
Resonate. Good.
Magic trick...Good.
Movie with Kelly. Good.
Card games until 1am. Good.
52 card pick up at 1am. Great.
...

Saturday, September 04, 2010

My Best Friends are Coming Today :)

Meryn and Jessi took a journey from the good old Tri-Cities to spend the weekend with me.
And they brought gifts!
Jessi brought me VV silverware, and Mern brought me Mud Buds.
They're the greatest :)
Quick tour of Campus, then we hit up the Pita Pit.
Delicious as always.
Then we explored around town. Hit up a super cute bookshop.
Next was Reaney Park where we played on all the toys.
We were invited by some boys to join in their game of Ultimate Frisbee.
That was fun until I stepped in poop.
Then it was time to go haha.
Next was the bears.
They're one of my new favorite attractions.
A man was playing guitar making Chewbacca noises trying to make the bears "sing".
It was so entertaining. He webcamed the entire thing.
Went back to the room, watched some YouTube, then took naps.
Next was downstairs for dinner, then we hauled ourselves over to the tennis courts.
We brought my iHome and blasted tunes for everyone while we made fools of ourselves dancing as we played.
Our neighbor court was actually bummed that we were leaving because they enjoyed our music :)
Ferdinand's Ice Cream Grabbers, and Chai Teas made for the perfect movie watching foods.
We lined ourselves up on my bed and watched The Backup Plan.
It was super cute, and had us constantly laughing.
Finally we all headed to bed in exhaustion.
What a great day with lil sis and my best friend.
I have missed them.