Life...LAUGH...La

Some times I scare myself...

Last night a few of my friends and I were playing a game of pool, winner plays on. It was my turn and I was playing one of my good guy friends. He started telling me how i was going down and how good he is.

you know that whole deal.

Then i say to him, "well YOU are going down because my middle name is billboard."

He just kind of looks at me very confused and replies, "alright... i am not sure how that makes you better than me but..."

"you know, billboard? like my middle names is.... (i suddenly have an epiphany and the light in my brain turns back on).. Billiard i mean." I say real slowly with my face turning quite red.

we couldn't begin the game for about 3 minutes after that because he couldn't stop laughing.

I feel like a surgeon cut open my chest and broke off a piece of my heart and then stitched me back up, leaving me wih a gapping hole.

My best friend in the entire world just left to follow my footsteps and do a semster abroad in the one and only Jerusalem. I am SO excited for her! she is going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

But I, myself, am NOT going to love love love it.

because I am selfish and I want her all to myself

She is my other half, the one I can tell anything and everything to, the one who cheers me up when I am sad, makes me laugh, goes on stupid ridiculous crazy adventures with me and actually likes them. She asks me every single day, "how was your day today? what was the best part?" She camps out in the living room with me, lays out in the sun for hours doing nothing and then always braggs about how she got tanner than me. She goes on bike rides, paints, watches movies, makes brownies, eats ice cream, talks about which retirement center we want to be put in together when we are old and have out-lived our husbands, and stays up till the early hours of the morning just staring at the ceiling and talking with me. She is my buddy, my best friend. A friend like her is rare. She has my back, and I have hers. She is as good of a friend

as you could ever even dream of.

Summer with out her...

"sigh"

ugh

hmmph

blah

It is hard to breath without the whole right side of me.

Remember how I told you that I got a job? ok well the doctor who hired me is my neighbor, and such a great guy/family. Well I wanted to thank him for hiring me, so I wrote a thank you note and took their family a big batch of these delicious cookies (pizza factory chocolate chip cookie recipe)

A few hours later I got a call from my mom and she said to me, "Lauren, is there peanut butter in those cookies you gave to them?"

"yes?" i hesitantly answered because it sounded like I was in trouble.

"oh my word! Their mom just called and asked, because I guess their daughter is very ALLERGIC!"

...My heart just dropped...

My mom called me back about 10 minutes later and told me that the daughter had taken only two bites, and obviously reacted strongly, and they were on their way to the hospital to get her a shot!

ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

I FELT SO BAD/DUMB/OOPS/WAAH!/EMBARRASSED

She didn't die don't worry.

and i didn't get fired.

I almost killed my bosses daughter before my first day of work

IM GOING TO UGANDA, AFRICA THIS SUMMER FOR SIX WEEKS! I JUST GOT MY LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE TO THE HELP-INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM!

(June 9th- July 21st)

I walked outside today and our chickens were following my mom every step of the way while she was weeding. It looked like they were her ladies and they were all just chatting.

sooooooo funny!

(not to my mom though, she was about to kill and roast them)

I got a job!

WOO!!!!

working in a vein and artery surgical institute!

I am pumped! (pun).

It is going to be awesome!

The water comes around and i go to take a little white cup from the tray and it has a hole in the side of it! so it starts pouring out water all over me! I hurry and put it back before it could completely dump its contents all over my dress. Smiling, i go and grab a different cup. SAME THING! has a hole in the side! ok now things are getting pretty darn funny and i am taking deep breaths so i don't erupt in laughter. I dump that one back in the tray too, and reach for my THIRD cup... HOLE IN THE SIDE!!!! I am not kidding! I am soaked in holy water, The boy holding the tray just looked totally perplexed, and my two friends next to me had tears of contained laughter running down their cheeks. I hurry and grab a 4th, and it was good, so I quickly passed the tray along and two friends next to me were fine with their cups, but then the boy on the end takes his and hole in the cup, poured out all over him too.

Seriously, never in my life have i had to restrain a laughter that wanted to explode so loud in my life, but that would have been SO inappropriate at the time. We all three had our heads down between our knees, with tears running down our face. I had my nose plugged and my eyes closed as tight as they would go, absolutely trembling from head to toe with shaking laughter held inside of me, and thinking of the saddest think i could come up with so i would stop. took every inch of self-control i had to hold that laughter in.

We were talking about it after, and I decided that I think if that happened to one of the apostles in church, even they would probably have to strongly contain their laughter.

I had a full on conversation today

out my car window while I was driving down University Avenue :)

I pulled up along side one of my best friends who just happened to be cruisin' the Avenue at the same time as me, pumping Mormon Tabernacle Choir out our unrolled windows on a sunny sunday afternoon. We just paid attention to the road (had to add that because i know my parents read my blog), while yelling back and forth, for about a good mile. We could hear each other surprisingly well actually. think that has something to do with physics, motion, same speed sound waves... or something like that.

I don't know and I don't care- I am not thinking anymore because...

I AM DONE WITH FINALS!

and so now i can do cool things like have a conversation while in motion, in 2 separate cars, out a window, going 50mph.

eh, maybe not thinking anymore is not a good idea :)

It is 1:00am and I have to take more tests in the morning,

but I can't sleep

Because right now, I just want to be back here.

This is the Garden Tomb where Christ was laid to rest, and then resurrected 3 days later.

the spirit here is strong, things seemed clear and easy, and i didn't feel lost or confused.

I felt peace and love and pure joy.

And I miss life in Jerusalem very much.

But life goes on, and I know new adventures and discoveries await me.

I know I can feel that peace and joy everyday here as well, even though it is not Jerusalem.

one of my friends in Jeru said, "you know, you don't have to go and walk in the places where Christ actually walked, taught and lived to gain a testimony... but it sure does help!"

There is JOY in the JOURNEY.

I have been studying for finals

all day yesterday

and all day today.

With a 2 hour break to layout and work on my tan of course.

and to go on a scooter ride...

and maybe to the park for just a few minutes :)

Studying inside, while the weather outside is like it has been the past few days, is my definition of torture.

1 final down

4 to go.

I applied with a program called HELP International to go work in Uganda, Africa for 6 weeks this summer! I would be working in the Public Health field (my major), living in the village, promoting public health and sanitation, working in hospitals and assisting nurses and doctors, and working in orphanages!

HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE!!!!!!

On Saturday night, a few friends and I decided that we would try to go sledding behind our Rhino (4 wheeler) on the grass in the park :)

did not really work so well.

I have a sweet bruise on my shin though.

We are going to try next time when the sprinklers are on!

SWEET.

After attempted sledding in the park, we found this mask at my parents and we decided to drive around and scare people. We also went through the Mcdonalds drive thru.

I think WE thought we were WAY funnier than anyone else actually thought we were.

GREAT night.

All last night I had, and I am not exaggerating when I say this, the WORST cramp/charley horse/arm ache/ muscle spasm in my forearm! It was so hard it felt like a golf ball was under my skin.

Took Ibuprofen... did nothing. took it again after about 3 hours because the pain was excruciating- still nothing.

Had about 5 different people rub it out

drank practically my body weight in water

refused to force pickle juice down my throat however.

I have the best roommate in the whole entire world, and she let me lay in bed with her while she rubbed it for me pretty much all night.

but by 2:00am, I was trying to convince her to take me to the ER it hurt so bad.

she wouldn't. Told me I was a hypochondriac.

And so we decided to strap a huge hunk of packaged, frozen raw meat to my forearm.

(don't tell our other roommate... it was her's)

About an hour later, the meat was starting to thaw and my arm was pretty numb

and I fell asleep.

I absolutely LOVE Yoga.

For Easter my mom got me a yoga pass to "Its Yoga" in Riverwoods!

If you have never been to a class at "Its Yoga" before, you are missing out in the yoga world.

Its AMAZING.

And I cannot wait till school is out so I can go everyday!

Maybe soon I will be as strong as the 55 year old ladies in the classes who kick my trash.

Namaste

My tongue is covered in canker soars for some reason, I am pretty sure its because of all the candy I ate on Eater, and they KILL. Last night I couldn't take it anymore they hurt so bad, so I wanted to go get some medicine at the store. But Rachel and Christopher were being lame sauce and didn't want to go with me to get some (It was a blizzard outside).

So we decided to try some home remedies to cure my soars.

1st: baking soda and water mixed to make a paste. rubbed it onto my tongue.

burned and tasted horrible.

2nd: Rachel's Australian roommates told us that they use Vegemite on their "canker soars" (not called canker soars in Australia. In fact, they had never even heard the word before)

We had no idea what Vegemite was, but apparently they love the stuff (put it on toast).

So I put a smudge of Vegemite on my soars.

SCALDED my tongue

dropped me to the floor in back arching, fist clenching pain

tasted like soy sauce in a paste

felt like sea salt dumped into a knife wound.

However, Canker Soar... gone.

My sister Julia is coming into town this summer and she decided she would make me run this half marathon with her June 12th. My first one ever.

We are doing a training program we found online, and last week was the first week. I ran 12 miles last week! It was comparable to DEATH, but I did it. They say it gets easier every week so I can't wait for that to come because it is PAIN I do not so much enjoy right now :) the bad news is Julia lives in TEXAS so I have to train alone! but we call each other after every run and give a full report.

This week begins week 2 of the 12 weeks of training

and this morning I ran 3 miles, and do you know what?

It was about 27% less painful than last week.

BYU cross country team in my future? Olympics? Iron man?

perhaps.

If I could wear guys basketball shorts everyday all day!

But... my mother would never allow it.