Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama over at My Charming Kids. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not forget my amazing memory foam pillow at home... I'd never do that, because I can sleep without it!

Since I did not forget my pillow, I definitely did not lay in bed for several hours before falling asleep. Since I went right to sleep as soon as my head hit my amazing memory foam pillow, I certainly did not laugh out loud while laying in bed thinking about how silly I must have looked with ice wrapped around my head while riding around town with my mom to find a pharmacy with my pain medicine after getting my wisdom teeth removed.

I also did not stand in the standby line for the Carolina Duke game with these awesome girls.

And since I did not stand in line... neither did all these people. (all 600 and something!)

And we totally did not get THIS close to getting in... like 15 people?
And since we totally had tickets to the game and walked right in... we did not look sad at my apartment while watching the game.

And we did not have to watch the game on TV ...

I definitely did not have to go get a new cell today because my "old faithful" finally died. And if I did... it certainly would not look like this:

What did you not do this week?

Lil' bit of everything

Well, I just got back to Chapel Hill as Spring Break comes to a close. I'm trying to get stuff ready for the upcoming week and organize myself back into real life. I'm actually not too upset about it - it looks like I have a pretty easy-going week and I feel refreshed and uplifted - physically, emotionally, and spiritually! I do have to take the GRE on Thursday -- so please pray for that! Anyone have any advice for it?

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On a different note... CRANIUM is my new favorite game. I went to the beach with Parker this weekend. We got to hang out with his parents, his brother Jacob, and Candice, and we had so much fun. I played Cranium for the first time and it is so much fun. I have some awesome pictures/videos but alas, the "future-dad-in-law" says I can't put any of him up... and he was the best part! We played girls vs. boys which is always competitive! We yelled, we screamed, we laughed... and we learned that if "You put the bull in the pen, he's gonna win!" Words of wisdom from Jack. Haha

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Shoutout to my friend Lindsay who got her acceptance letter to the School of Nursing at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill!!! WHOOO!!! Yeah girl, get it! Congratulations Linds!

Isn't she beautiful? She's going to be the most awesome nurse in the world!

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This one's for Candice... Super-Soaker vs. Squirt Gun. Hahaha... boys & their analogies.

VS.

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Finally, some prayer requests:

1. My friend Erin who is Madagascar - the country raised their security level and UNC wants her out in less than a week. She also has amoebic dysentery. You can follow her blog here or see my side link on the right.

2. Cute baby Jonah - he seems to be eating better and in a little bit less pain, but keep praying for this sweet baby boy to keep eating, fight off infection, be pain free AND for his parents as his advocates! God is doing awesome things through Patrice!

3. My Aunt Debbie - she is in a lot of pain. I know I haven't said much about the situation, but it is always on my mind and heart, I just don't know what to say about it. She's not doing good.
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I haven't forgot about the Duke-UNC game pics... I'll upload them tomorrow... maybe.

God bless!

Recovering!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd let you know that I'm still alive! I've been doped up while recovering from my wisdom teeth removal... and so far everything has gone pretty good. I'm pretty sore, which is expected.

Sad note - We DID not get into the dook vs. Carolina game Sunday (FROWN), but we had a good time hanging out in line all day. I'll post pictures and such later.

I'm heading to the beach with Parker's family tomorrow night for his mom's bday! Yay!

Please continue to pray for my aunt and family during this tough time.

AND please pray that Jonah will steadily eat and continue to stay infection free. Pray for Matt (who is sick) and Patrice to have peace and guidance through this journey.

I'll post more later... now for some more (ugh) chicken & rice.

Home Sweet Home!

My Spring Break officially started today at 11:50 am! I am so pumped! It's going to be full of hanging out, spending time with family, and being knocked out on the couch recovering from my wisdow teeth removal. I have my wisdom teeth out on Monday and I'm a little bit nervous... but I'm trying not to think about it! I also have AWESOME plans with the girls to stand in the "Stand by" line for the UNC vs. dook game on Sunday! I'm looking forward to some quality hanging out and having fun!

Here are some pics of Weston just to prove to you that he's back to his usual self:
Playing playstation with Parker as I blog...

Playing basketball last weekend...

Future point guard for UNC??? Maybe so...

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Here's a silly one of my sweet cousin saying "CHEESE!" for about the 100th time... I think he was a bit annoyed with me taking pictures w/ my new camera! Haha!

And just to make you giggle...

So sweet! I love it! Have a wonderful Friday night y'all!

Love, Laura

A Friend's Love

So the Bible says that a friend loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17) and let me tell you what - my friends love me. They cry with me, they hold me, they lift me up. I had a rough night (again) last night. I'm emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained. That is an understatement. Yesterday I felt broken inside. BUT, my best friends are so good. Do you know they put their lives on pause last night just to help me?!? We sat in the living room and they listened to my heart, cried with me, and lifted me up. Then, they told me what to write helped me write a paper because I was in no shape to do it myself. I am SO blessed to have these girls in my life... I can't put into words how grateful I am for them and how wonderful they are. I'm having a MUCH better day today! Glory to God!

Here are the girls I couldn't live without...

Thank y'all for everything you do! I love you!

Also, I hope you blog folks are still praying for the Williams family! Jonah drink a lot of milk this morning by himself! Praise the Lord! He still had a feeding tube put in this morning, but hopefully that will just help until he gets the hang of the bottle. If you haven't you should check out Patrice's blog - he is so darn cute! You can also join his facebook prayer movement group! It amazes me how awesome the blogging community, especially the Christian blogging community, is when it comes to support, encouragement, and prayer!

You know how I feel about blogging - what better way to share the good news of Christ! You all should get a blog! Let me know when you do and I'll put you on my blog list! :)

God Bless! Thanks for the prayers!

I Will Yet Praise You My God!

"I will yet praise you my God... for my struggles are in your hands." (Carrie & Beaty Bass song lyrics that have totally been speaking to me today!)

Yesterday I hit the lowest point in my whole life - I couldn't even pray. I just didn't have the words. Amanda took such good care of me as I sobbed in her arms. She and Katherine cried with me. We made cookies and Meredith bought me a sweet "cheer me up"present and card. When I went to bed last night I could truly feel God's arms around me... it was so calming.

I didn't go to class this morning - partly because I have a horrible cold and didn't want to get out of bed and partly because I needed "me" time. It was totally what I needed. Class - my 3 exams and 2 papers due this week - school - none of it is important to me right now. What is important is taking care of myself and not letting myself get to the point I got yesterday afternoon - ever, ever again.

A funny thing (kinda) happened last night. I was laying on my bed thinking about school and life and family and stress and everything in my life that has happened in such a short time. I was thinking about how I was losing control. About how I had lost control. Of my life, of my emotions, of everything. Everything was out of control. And then God chuckled and said, "She thought she was in control."

Yesterday, I was standing in the snow (yes, it was snowing at 12 o'clock) and for the first time in my life I saw that the snowflakes actually look like snowflakes! Itty bitty, tiny, miniature snowflakes. (I wish I had a picture!) Some were clustered together and some were individual, but each of them were perfectly shaped and no two were alike. As I stood there looking at the snow falling on my coat and all around me I thought about how God created each and every snowflake - millions falling around me. He pays attention to the tiny, insignificant details. Surely he is in control of the big things if he can do that!

I had dinner tonight with a wonderful friend, Holli. As a sister in Christ, she was such a blessing and the Lord was so speaking to me tonight through her.

In this low time of my life, I can totally see God at work. He has masterfully put the right people in my life at the right moments and He knows my heart even when I don't have words to pray!

Praise the Lord for He is GOOD! "I will yet praise you my God...." !!!

God Bless! Thank you for the prayers for me and my family!

Prayer Requests

Hello there.

I have 2 major prayer requests. One for my family and one for my friend.

As you read on Friday, my Aunt Debbie is in the hospital. Things are not looking good. It is a sad situation for our family. In April of last year, my mom found out she was in remission for her cancer and our family was overjoyed. Then, my Granddad passed away unexpectedly. It was devastating for our family. We are a very close family - just my Grandma, my parents & Weston, my aunt, my uncle, 2 wonderful cousins that are both married - one with a son, the other expecting triplets. We've known for some time that something was wrong with my aunt's health and though we tried to reach out to her, she never told us what was wrong. We don't know if she knew what was going on or if she was in denial. Wednesday night she was taken to the hospital and on Friday, the doctors confirmed she has stage IV cancer in both breasts, her hips, and her spine. Her blood is septic. We are very sad and don't understand it at all. Please pray for us. My mom is trying to get over pneumonia and my other Grandma, now home, is on bed rest. Many of you have asked about Weston - he is doing very good and almost back to a full diet.
** Important: Weston doesn't know that my aunt has cancer. He knows that she is sick and in the hospital with an infection. With my mom's history, they prefer he not know about the cancer. Please honor my parents wishes and be careful what you say if you see him. Thank you. **

Also on Friday, I asked for prayers for my friend Patrice as she was delivering her second son. Her first son, Gabe, was still born last year. Jonah Alexander arrived into the world Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, he has been diagnosed with a genetic skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa. The doctors think that this is why Gabe died. As you can imagine, Patrice and Matt are devastated and Satan is taking advantage of their weaknesses during this terrible time. Jonah is in pain and the doctors are watching him closely. I put up a prayer tag on the right side of my blog. You can follow Patrice's blog for updates. Please pray for their family!

I am so sad tonight. It truly breaks my heart and I feel like I've prayed all I can. I know that even when we can't find the words to pray, God knows our hearts. He is not surprised by any of this. He didn't wake up Friday morning and realized that all of this had happened. No, he knew this before it happened. He knows my family's grief and the Williams' grief. He cries with us and He is holding us in His hands. Everything will be okay because God is in control. We are discouraged and broken, but God created the world - He is bigger than all of this.