And I'm off!... like a cricket in the night!

Packing is coming to an anticlimactic end... my northface and airplane bag are almost a "go" and then I'll be off! Like a cricket in the night! (hahahahaaaa that one's for you Liz...) ;)

excitements/reservations/fears:

*making the car trip down with dad safely:)

*getting to Redlands on time so dad makes his flight back up here, and I get to LJ's asap!

*saying goodbye to Jackie :( and making a quick stop to brockton (my future home!!)

*EXTREME FEAR: sitting next to an obese person on the plane

*well more than that, the plane crashing... but no fear, that's why God created prescription drugs.

*that mom lets me take Teddy in my backpack

*crossing my fingers that both of my suitcases make the journey with me!!

*getting settled, etc.

*hoping that the sheets provided are cozy and not scratchy because then I'll be whiney

*that my ankle brace is more of a fashion statement rather than an awkward ugly thing that people constantly inquire about... but I think my fuzzy sock is a cozy alternative to the velcro ;)

*jet lag? I heard it sucks, but only coming west, and we're headed east... so I'm golden?!?

*4 months + no texting = anxiety

*hoping my kings of leon obbsession will slightly subside so that I don't drive my roomies completely insane

*(along with my luggage) that my (1/2 a semester's) worth of LUNA bars make it a-okay....... they're my LIFE, seriously. love isn't even a strong enough word. The peanutbutter cookie one, ahhh mmmmmmmm, way to my heart

*missing my familllyyyyyy♥ (& puppy) and all the ones I constantly think about every day; those little things. the ones i miss, and love, and know without them I wouldn't be anywhere close to where/who I am today.

Where has the time gone? I'm not sure. But I do know this.

“We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lost sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.”-anonymous

Christmas surprise in August!

Surprise! On DEC 18th the family is packing up to come see me in Paris!!! And the trip does not end there... after a 2 night stay in a city people dream about we will board a flight to BARCELONA and from there board our 12 day Eastern Mediterranean Cruise where we will go to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, & Spain. Mom and Dad has this in the works for about a week before the kids were given manila envelopes at dinner and opened a fun collage of pictures of everywhere we will be going!! along with an itinerary of where exactly we will be and when:) Oh mom :) so organized (and very crafty!)

It is a...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

happy new year!

Happy 23rd Anniversary Mom and Dad! ♥

Congratulations Megan, Class of 2010!

(quite the) finale to my semester ABROAD!!

& what an experience for you, Austin :)

I am elated at the idea of spending Christmas and New Years, just our family, on such an incredible adventure. I just don't know how I'm going to be able to wait all semester knowing I have THIS waiting for me once I leave Salzburg.

This makes my stay out of the states officially longer than 4 months... and I've never been off this continent. Get ready for some crazy, beautiful, & hopefully once-in-a-lifetime stories. I have no doubt I will come home a slightly (ha) more worldly and independent gal :)

Water works...

Well I finally finished the book I've been working on, Firefly Lane by Krisitin Hannah. To anyone (caters more to the female psyche) I would say READ IT!!!. I had such a different experience with this novel than I have other books. It is centered around two girls who meet when they are thirteen in 1974 and become best friends. It spans over three decades of their friendship, each decade separated into a different "part" of the book. The first fifty pages or so I didn't know if I liked it .A lot of it talked about the seventies and the culture, etc. But it moved quickly and really progressed. I can't really say much more about it because I'm like the worst at giving things away (ha) but it's amazing.

My mom found me finishing the last pages bawling in the kitchen and I could not get ahold of myself! I have never gotten so emotional over a book before! And even though I finished it at noon, last night on the couch mom told me to tell her about it because of how shaken up I got and it started crying all over again... really?! SO, to who ever is looking for a good book, this is my one request: go buy it. To anyone who is/has a mother, sister, best friend, daughter, or all of the above, it will blow you away. (and I definitely do not say that about all books!)

Mountain Get-Away

Crystal Mountain in the summer is just as beautiful as those cold, winter months. Albeit the trees were without snow and the air lacked that familiar bite, but the mountains were full of life and the rolling clouds that reminded me of spun cotton candy looked more like the work of a paint brush, and the sky, more like a canvas.

My sister and I and two of our girlfriends packed up the Jetta and drove the hour and a half trek up to our condo, tucked at the main basin of one of the most picturesque views I've ever seen. Once we were up there, I wondered why we hadn't made this trip more often during the summer, I was imagining the drive to be stressful and/or strenuous but that was not the case.

However we ran into our first obstacle when we opened the door and (tried) to turn on the lights. Power status: "that would be a, no." Although this caused Liz's eyes to widen as she was carrying two bags of groceries full of pizza dough, fresh ingredients (& perishable cheeses) we gathered all the candles we could find and played Little House on the Prairie for the remainder of the night. We cooked the pizza's on the propane bbq's outside and ate over candle light. Liz works like a tornado in the kitchen; I just wanted to drink my wine and fashion her her very own wonder woman costume. The pizza's were to die for, I could have eaten the pear, gorgonzola, and balsamic one every day, at every meal, for a week straight. It was not the night we had planned (far from it) but it was hilarious, refreshing, and quite the adventure. (...the power did come on at ten thirty, so My Big Fat Greek Wedding was watched and the refrigerator kept our days worth of yummy food cold and happy!) :)

The next day we hit the outdoors, hiked up a pretty intense incline (at high altitude, it felt even steeper...) and explored various trails. We had a map! Megan and Liz took to titles as lead hikers and Bailey and I happily complied. (ha) Pretty waterfalls, some not so pretty construction areas, and meadow frolicking later, we were four tired, sweaty & ready for lunch girls.

That night we took two chairlifts up to the Lodge for dinner.

Fondue,

GOOD CONVERSATION,

& warm desserts

can make any girls night, and we left happy and full. The chairlift back down was a little different. Instead of flying through rolling fog and snapping shots of the sun break through the clouds, we were hurdling into the abyss. Literally. Megan's coat had no pockets, I was shivering, the blankets they provided reminded me of the ones you get at the Puyallup fair to go down the slides, and Liz's vertigo was kicking in. Needless to say, the cabin and a pj's sounded wonderful and we almost sprinted the walk back home.

This time I remembered my camera, so enjoy the pictures that fill in all that my words cannot.

It's the simple things

Sometimes it just takes a day away from home & schedules & constantly ringing phones to realize it's the simple things that make the day seem longer, the week seem less busy, and future plans to not seem so unattainable.

What did it for me was just a day and a night on Vashon, the lovely little rock that my bestie lives on, to take a breath and realize what I am in for these next four months. Liz prepared a delicious bbq-esque dinner, cedar plank salmon wrapped in bacon, corn on the cob, and collard greens (which I had never had, and loved!) We ate till our hearts content, sat around the outside patio with white wine and good conversation. I wish I had brought my camera along, the view from their house over the Puget Sound is insane. There were sailboats cruising around and this huge ship that looked like the size of two football fields that passed right in our view. Lizzie's mom, Pam made freshly picked blackberry pie and we ate while we played an epic game of hearts. Lizzie's brother came over from Seattle and brought his girlfriend, who I really liked, and the five of us had a blast.

The relaxed evening was just what the doctor ordered, and surprisingly such a breath of fresh air. Liz and I stayed up looking at old childhood pictures till well past midnight and I felt like I was in ninth grade again. I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard; little notes, hilarious memories, awkward phases... really priceless.

In the morning we drove into town to get coffees at Luna Bella and walked around the quaint farmers market that was swarming with people. We picked up some amazing looking heirloom tomatoes & fresh basil and next headed to the grocery store to pick up a few more things.

Inspired by a recent Julia Child youtube clipping, (compliments of Liz's websurfing) and Julie&Julia in general we were determined to break, shake, and flip the perfect omelet. Mmmmmmmmmm (again, me wishing I had my camera) our omelet maybe didn't perfectly resemble the finished product on youtube, but we came deliciously close. We even used some of the tomatoes to create a beautiful caprese salad, my fav:)

All in all, the mini-vaca was a success. I came home feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle all the current things on my plate...

• finishing my scrapbook (and cleaning the room I turned into a black hole, literally)
• creating detailed packing lists
• emailing friends and creating a master list of all address (for postcards!!)
• packing
• figuring out storage for my car for the semester
• saying goodbyes
• packing
• packing
• packing

~it truly is the simple things♥

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”- howard thurman

500 unsettling emotions

I walked out of the movie and could not for the life of me decide if I liked it or not. That was the first thing that came out of my mouth when my friend asked me, "so?" It did not follow a traditional time line, it is one of those movies that you know right from the start you'll pick up on ten times more things the second time around, it did not have a "happy ending" and I didn't find the lead all that endearing. I found myself irritated while the credits rolled.

On my drive home I thought I would stop thinking about it and find peace but it kept bugging me. It was not until this morning over oatmeal (the best part of my day by far...lol) that I figured out why this flick threw me for a loop. It was too realistic. It didn't pick out the good parts of the relationship and splash them across the screen right along side the honeymoon phase that always seems to last, no, not 4 months but from love-at-first-sight all the way to the altar! Rather than it being a fairytale, it was all of it; firsts, fights, fears, and falling outs...

Anyways, I just thought I'd share what kept me bugged for the past few days. What is more disturbing really is that fact that I was that shook up by something that too closely resembled reality. That doesn't sound too healthy does it? Ha.

On a different note, a happy birthday (yesterday) is in order and but I didn't post yesterday so it's only semi-belated :)

happy 21st birthday kaylee!!!♥

i hope it was everything you hoped for, you deserve the best! xoo.L

Nannying is...

fulfilling

never boring (ha)

HILARIOUS

a workout

often maddening

exhausting

birth control

&

the best job everr♥

Some days we're productive...

and make it to the park in one piece. (never without band-aids, extra napkins, faulty capri sun straws, untied shoes, & magic marker stains.)

Other days...

not so much.

You never walk out of Fireworks empty handed...

What I came in for?

Window shopping with girlfriends and possible a cute birthday card.

What I came out with?

1 small green bag of silver trinkets

3 black&white cards for no particular occasion

2 photos of letters. L & K.

& 1 floral carabiniere that I currently have no use for

Even though my inner shopping queen got the best of me, I have brainstormed the good uses for everything (minus the carabiniere.) I really do love the photos. I collect things with my initials, from piggy banks with LK to childhood picture frames. They are hard to explain so I took a picture:

Last summer I found this really cute wooden cursive "L" and a "H" to put on Hilary's and my walls in our room all year (like 1 1/2 ft tall.) I also have these small black wooden L & K that sit on my desk. and now I can frame these cool photos or put them in a scrapbook, we'll see!

These are two of the cards I bought. The one of the group of girls reminded me of all of my delta sisters :) Yay for impulse purchases!

ps: Welcome Home Lizzie!!! :)

I put my baking skills to use and made a family favorite, lemon bars, for her long-awaited return!

New layout! and I'm sticking!

I have been paying around with different layouts all summer and I finally found one I'm sticking to (I think!)! It's just what I was looking for and I think its fresh and something new to house my upcoming Austrian entries!! the official count down is now at 26 days... I cannot believe it!

My mom and I went to go see Julie&Julia yesterday and I loved it! Definitely do not go on an empty stomach because it is all about food and it makes everything look absolutely delicious! Amy Adams plays a woman who starts a blog and writes all about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook, and it was a true story, so interesting. Anyways I thought it was important to mention that since I am a blogger as well :) We have something in common. I give it a thumbs up!

I don't know if it was the movie, or the fact that Megan and I have gone through a small Sex&the City obsession this summer or what, but I got to thinking about relationships picking apart the saying, "actions speak louder than words." In almost all things in life, it is largely what you do (not what you say) that really makes a difference. If someone says they're going to call, but never get around to it; if someone's says they want to see you, but never make a plan; if someone says they care, but a phone call is always too much to ask; what they are DOING instantly becomes more important/indicative of their real feelings than what they are saying. Taking this seemingly simple concept and tying it to my upcoming endeavors, going to Europe is all about DOING.

Traveling.

Photographing.

EATING.

Learning.

Understanding.

EXPLORING.

And I couldn't be more excited for all of it. I want to take pictures and understand the culture. I want to explore Salzburg and feel (at least for a few months) comfortable with the small city and the in's and out's of all it has to offer.

I have been giving a lot of thought to how I want to write/blog in Europe and I think more so than writing out a brochure-like "this is where we went, this is what we saw, this is where we are going" I want to write about how everything I am doing is affecting me. How places make me feel. What I love about traveling. What the smells remind me of. I was given two really special journals for Christmas to take with me (one for writing and one for collecting ticket stubs, trains passes, odd's and end's that I want to remember) but I want my blog to really reflect Europe's impact on me. Insignificant, American, navigationally challenged, curious, me.

"There are other fish in the sea... and you, my dear, just haven't found your barracuda."

A twist on the cliche "there are other fish in the sea" is exactly why every girl needs a best friend. I found mine in 2nd grade & consider myself lucky :)
Still waiting for my barracuda... these trout and tadpoles make for the adventure that is college, but wooo! how exhausting! The texting, phone calls, (or lack there of) facebook poking, wall posts and messages, blackberry messaging.. I feel like Drew Barrymore in He's Just Not That Into You. The forms of communication are tiring to say the least. Bring back the time when there was one phone, one message machine, one number. Ahhhhhh.

I know we haven't met yet, but please come soon... this world of endless technology/waiting can wear a girl out.


Some people search forever to find that one friend and at 20 I am confident I have mine!

Dear Mr. Dentist, you are not my friend

My annual dentist apt. this morning went something like this...

X-ray's
Gum tissue check... "you have slightly receding gums, don't brush too hard"
Bottom row check... "you have the start of some build up, make sure your brushing in consecutive circles softly around your gum line as well." "Don't just brush side to side." (whatever that means?)
Top row check
Flossing... "you have inflamed gums, maybe we should try you on sensitivity toothpaste" nurse: "yes I can tell you don't floss day and night, it is quite apparent"
Fluoride
Doctor comes in
Cavity.
Cavity.
3 other "areas to watch" that could be filled "to be safe"
nurse: (chuckles) "you just cant expect to come in here and think everything is going to go well it you neglect your gums!"

after appointment, nurse gives receptionist my papers, who says I need to make three appointments.

her: cheery voice! "Oooookkkkk, wow. Ok, so lets see, I'm looking at september for your first appointment..."
me: "Oh I'm actually going to be abroad, I leave the end of the month."
(she just stares at me.)
me: "Yeah..."
her: not-so-cheery voice "Well I don't know who you like I am, some kind of miracle worker??"
me: "Oh, no I'm sorry..."
her: "We're booked out through all of August"
me: "Oookkkk...."
her: "Like we don't even have an hour to spare so I will contact you if a cancellation appears, I'd have your phone with you at all times" (raises her eyebrows) "So we really can't help you right now."

Dear Mr. Dentist & Staff,
No, I do not sit in my dorm room all year and floss my teeth. I have a life. I am running around a mile and minute and on most days, my metal check list does not include "flossing" in its top five. I am sorry. I do however care about my teeth. My teeth are not unhealthy, some weird color, or neglected. And I do floss. I'll admit, I do not study my back molars in the mirror every night or worry about abstaining from specific foods that might "upset" my gums.
I do not like feeling like a criminal at your office and I also do NOT like feeling as if I am inconveniencing you by trying to make an apt. within the next three weeks.
I did not have a good morning because of you all, and I just wanted to send this out to cyberspace so I might feel a little better about things.
Sincerely,
Lauren

I did however finish my book, and am starting Firefly Lane tonight! Hopefully that will put me in a better mood :)

I'm on a BOAT

LJ is here and these past few days have been a blast! We had our nautical party last night and it was so much fun! :) I made sure to take lots of pictures. Still on the horizon, trip to seattle! Enjoy!
PS: Cannot believe it is already august!!!


LJ and I... so excited for Austria together babe!!


The girls helping set up before the party! We even wrapped twinkly lights around the pillars that were so pretty when the sun went down :)




such a gorgeous sunset!


Isn't she just the cutest little sister ever??


"I'm a delta, delta, KAPPA PSI!"