I'm going to be home in approximately 2 days and 18 hours!!!!!  I haven't been home since Christmas, so I am more than ready to be there (and rather excited about it, in case you couldn't tell). Anyway... seeing as it's 11, and that I have to get up and work tomorrow, I shall just share a couple random links I like that I've been wanting to post and save a longer post (with plenty of pictures!) for another night or two or three :o)

http://beverlys.net/LJ/BuggingYou.swf

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Sense and Sendzibilidy *sniff, cough*

Last week I escaped the happy monotony of my office life as a layout designer and boldly rode in a 12 passenger van where I had never ridden before... on 9 hours of rather bumpy highway to beautiful Nashville, Tennessee for the regional ATI conference. I helped with booksales (which includes various aspects of setting up for the conference, answering questions behind the book table, selling books, restocking tables after people buy the books, and tearing down at the end of the week). I had a wonderful time working, getting to know friends better, helping serve ATI families, and even getting somewhat sleep deprived :o) As we bumped back to HQ this past Saturday, however, I felt like I was coming down with a cold. Sure enough, I sit here typing with a box of kleenex within easy reach.

As I started walking towards the Staff Center for lunch today, I noticed the sky was rather overcast, but being bound and determined to walk I paid the clouds little heed. Lunch went smoothly as I munched on my rabbit food (salad) and chili (what rabbits only dream about), listened to announcements, and deposited my then-empty tray on the table by the kitchen. However, thick ebony clouds loomed ominously before me as I stepped from the Staff Center and began walking back to the PC with an abandon not dissimilar to dear Marianne’s. I was not a third of the way to the PC when the floodgates of Heaven were loosed and a downpour as I have not seen in some time swept the earth and me on it. It began so suddenly that turning back would have helped me little. Alas, no Colonel Brandons or even Mr. Willoughbys appeared to rescue me from my soggy plight, so I continued on to the PC. With great squishings of sopping shoes and drippings of waterlogged clothes, I sloshed my way up the stairs to my office where I made no delay in retrieving my keys, splooshing back down the stairs, out again into the cats and dogs, into my car, back to my apartment, and into warm dry clothes. And there you have it, the rest of the story (Though where you could have heard any other part of it I know not...).

Wow, it's been two months since I last posted. I didn't realize it was that long ago... Alot can happen in that amount of time! Here's a brief overview of what's been happening in the life of Lauren:

Before Sarah left HQ, we took a glorious walk to Hinsdale, explored the shops, the alleys, and (of course) Starbucks :o)

Then, on the way back we decided to take a different route back that ended up turning into a bit more than a slight detour; but, fortunately we made our way back none-the-worse for wear, only slightly frozen by that time.

I got permission from her to post evidence of another one of the great times we had together: our Mug Shots.

Miss ya girl!

A few weeks ago, Melody, Chloe, and I dressed up and took ourselves out on a date at Macaroni Grill (we had to do something about all the times we've hit the ceiling going through yellow lights...).

We had a delightful time there and then at Chloe's apartment afterwards. 

And then, last week.... My Mama Visited!!! I had a wonderful time with her and am so glad she was able to come up. We did alot of good talking, shopping, and exploring the area: Hinsdale, Antiquing in LaGrange and Naperville, Schaumburg, and then on the Saturday before she left we went to downtown Chicago. It was the first time I'd done sightseeing dowtown in the year that I've been here. We walked from Union Station to the Sears Tower, went through the rig-a-ma-roll in there and went up to the top; it's quite a view.

Then we walked to Navy Pier, ate lunch there, walked around, and decided to ride a bus back to Union Station. 

We were just barely going to make it back in time to catch the 6:55 train back to Hinsdale as it was, and wouldn't you know, we accidentally got off the bus a couple stops too early, lol. So, we got to run the rest of the way back to the station, only to discover that I hadn't had my brain screwed on very well the night before when I looked up the train times... I had only looked up the times that the train was leaving Hinsdale, not the times that it was leaving Union Station. That being the case, a train wasn't leaving for Hinsdale until 8:40, so we got to sit around for a bit. Actually, it was a bit more than a bit as you can tell by the pictures I started taking as I got more and more bored... :o)

We had a great time together--I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful mom!

We took house pictures back in February, so I belive I'll end the post with a few of those pictures...

Last week I had the first snowball fight of my life--it was wonderful! :o) I must admit though, and I'm sure this statement would be well-backed by my comrades-in-arms, I need to practice my aim. But I did hit a few people (whether they were the ones I was actually aiming at or not...). Afterwards we all sledded for a while, and Nathan kindly offered to take pictures of the event with my camera...

I've been reading more in The Sovereignty of Grace by Arthur C. Custance, and this passage stood out to me. I'm starting kind of mid-chapter here where he's talking about the Common Grace of God...

     That this capacity for inspired activity in man should all too frequently be turned to frightful ends is not surprising. If this is a capacity divinely ordered for man at his creation and surviving the Fall, it can obviously be used by Satan, whose design is to counteract the Common Grace of God. The stimulation in both cases is supernatural. And there is this that can also be said of both kinds of inspiration: Satan does not always find his most effective servants among wicked men as we might suppose, nor God his most effective servants among the saints. It is sad, but true. There seems to be no apparent connection between the character of the individual and the degree and object of his inspiration. As with Election to salvation, God's choice is solely according to his good pleasure.
     God has often displayed his Common Grace without regard to the stature of the chosen vessel. Some of the most notably successful and sought-after evangelists, conference speakers, and Christian leaders, have been personally the most proud, unforgiving, self-centered individuals imaginable. It is sometimes better not to know too well those from whom one receives the greatest help and inspiration along the way. What a man can do under God's inspiration and what he can be under his own, are very different things. 

Lately at Staff Meeting every morning we've been breaking off into groups of 2-3 and praying for individual families enrolled in ATI. I've never felt very comfortable praying out loud, so when I returned from Christmas break and discovered this new practice in place, I wasn't exactly eccstatic. I am amazed though at the difference it has made in my life as well as hearing of the difference it has made in the lives of those we've prayed for. Since then I've come to love this time of bringing the families and also those I'm praying with before the Lord. I've always prayed, but this is a whole new level of prayer for me--a much more intimate time with God.

Something else that has opened my eyes even more to the power of prayer is another book I started recently called This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti. I'm not that far into it yet, but I'm really enjoying it.

Well, I think a fitting close would be last week's House Brunch. Last Saturday my house went out to Egg Harbor Cafe for brunch to celebrate our great times together and to mourn the departure of one of it's members, my roommate, Loriann. We had a wonderful time, and the waiter-dude, noticing our interest in taking pictures (serious and *ahem* otherwise, lol) graciously offered to take a group shot:

Love and miss you Loriann!

 Happy New Year Everybody! (albeit 4 days late :o)

The time with my Aunt and Uncle was wonderful. Saturday night we went out to eat Mexican food, and then afterwards we discovered that they'd never been to the Zilker Christmas Tree... which, one cannot visit Austin during the Christmas season without seeing the Zilker Tree. SO, we decided there was no time like the present and acted accordingly. I wish I'd gotten some pictures from more of a distance so you could see the pattern the lights make on the tree, but I didn't, so here's the close-ups :o)

Then, on Sunday we drove to Wimberley (about a 30 minute drive) and walked around and shopped at the antique stores there...

and that evening we saw the new year in with a couple of movies and plenty of wonderfully fattening snacks! Great times :o)

Well, I have a certain song stuck in my head at the moment, so I believe I shall bless y'all with the lyrics

A horse is a horse, of course of course,
and no one can talk to a horse (of course),
that is of course unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed!

People yackity-yack a streak and waste your time of day,
but Mr. Ed will never speak, unless he has something to say—

A horse is a horse, of course of course,
and this one will talk 'til his voice is hoarse;
he's always on a steady course, talk to Mr. Ed!

Here's a few links I found that give more info on the Zilker Christmas Tree and show pictures from a further distance :o)

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/tol/tree.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/josecastillo/70773621/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maddcovv/319242196/