Reverting Back To Childhood- Bueno!

It is week three being Laura the nanny. I feel like in my short existence I have worn a few different hats in life. Laura the accident prone youth (no lie, broke the same ankle three times in a year and a half). Laura the talkative (hehe, I still wear that hat from time to time). Laura the nerd (I used to be the biggest teacher's pet ever... sigh. Now I am just a nerd for no reason). Laura the college student. Laura the Young Life leader. Laura the food scientist.

Laura the nanny is very different. I get to be a kid again. No lie. I watch Noggin. I have snack time. I go to preschool

(well, just to pick up Caleb). I have nap time (well... Noah naps, I watch TV and do YL work). Life is much simpler.

I even get to do cool things like take Caleb to the aquarium. There is something so fascinating about how a kid can be captivated by the smallest thing. When we first got to the aquarium Caleb was immediately in awe of the fish. Okay, I can't lie, fish are really cool, but he though EVERY one was the most amazing thing. Even the not-as-cool fish were UHmazing in his eyes. It makes you wonder, what happens to us as we grow up? When did we stop seeing each new thing in front of us as something to be in awe of, and

instead just take things for granted? When did I start going through life carrying a million worries around with me, missing all of the beauty that I get to experience

every day? Heck, why didn't I realize how awesome nap time and snack time were? Okay, I have always loved snack time, nap time was the issue when I was a kid.

My challenge to myself in this next year is to fall in love with creation again. To try and see life through the eyes of a child and be captivated by what I see and do each day. I hope to see God in everything and in everyone. And maybe I am being too much of a dreamer in all this, but who cares. Kids get so much more than we do. It's like we grow up and forget to have fun, real fun, forget the joy in playing, forget to enjoy the little things. Well no more. Laura the nanny has some childlike tendencies that she thinks will be a good thing to bring back.

Changes

A friend recently gave me a sweet painting with a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on it. It said, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." That seems to be what I am attempting to do in my life. For the past year and some change I have worked at a great company, made great friends, worked on great projects, and felt less than great. It made no sense. Why would I, when working in an environment where I should flourish, not be doing just that.

Fortunately for me, I have a great friend and previously she was my mentor, who told me over a year ago, that what I was passionate about, was not what I was pursuing. She, in her wisdom, told me that I came to life when I was talking about Young Life. Young Life has been a part of my life since high school when I was a typical YL kid, then I became a leader in college, and even worked for YL part time as a senior in college on Student Staff. But full time? For a non-profit. Me? I have student loans. I can do it as a volunteer still. I don't want to move. Great reasons huh. Yeah, it only took me a year AFTER that to realize that she was right.

So what then. How do I not take the path? How do I make my own path? What does that even mean ?!

God has a funny way of showing you where to go. Sometimes going where there is no path can be hard. I have left a job where I loved all I worked with. A job where I had felt like I had found another family. To be honest, leaving felt a lot like breaking up with a boyfriend you like. And having done that before, I can attest to the fact that it sucks. It's bittersweet.

Hard does not mean bad though. The upside is that for the next year, I have the privilege of watching out for two of the cutest little boys. I get to laugh, I get to rock the little one to sleep, I get to watch Noggin, and I get to do it all in comfy clothes!! Woo hoo! I am taking a step back from projects, high heels, and a 9-5. Still hitting up 40 hours a week, but less stress is on the horizon.

This next year will bring dirty diapers, cooking dinners, playing with trucks, hanging with YL girls, Club, Camps, and applying for YL staff.

Do the changes scare me? Yes.

Do I miss my friends I worked with? Yes.

But do I feel like this is right? Heck yes.

My Visit to Columbus- Day 1

This past weekend I finally got to make the trip to visit Aubrey, Meredith, and Bryan in Columbus! Though the trip did not have an auspicious start-I drove an hour and a half in a rather fun thunderstorm amidst some of Georgia's worst drivers- people, please learn to make sure the brake lights on your trailer work, especially when the weather is bad- the rest of the trip was perfect.

Friday I arrived shortly before 5 (The Elders- Bryan and Meredith-live on 13th Street, I had typed in 13th Avenue on my gps, so I arrived a little later than I meant to). Once there, I got a brief tour of the newlywed's incredibly cute apartment, and then it was off to Wyld Life for Tye Dye Night!

Once we arrived I got to see my dear Aubrey! She was decked out in some "groovy" threads and she went over the evening to come. Aubs is heading up Columbus's Wyld Life and by the looks of it, she is doing an amazing job. This was my first time seeing Wyld Life in action. There are a couple of things I noticed- 1) Middle schoolers are strange little beings. And I do mean little. I promise you, I was NOT that short when I was in middle school, and I don't think I was that awkward either... 2)Middle schoolers could play games for hours. Four corners, knee to elbow, pull-n-switch, they could have kept going and going and going and NEVER have gotten bored. I felt like more so than anything, the Wyld Life leaders were there to maintain the chaos. Kids were running around everywhere, they were playing with the food, dancing, singing, it was beautiful chaos.

After the wild things left, we cleaned up and headed out for mexican. Chicken enchilada and queso? YES please. Note- Sweet Tea is NOT a good idea with mexican. I left the restaurant feeling more full than I had in a LONG time.. thanks sweet tea.

Back at the Elder residence we begin playing one game I am horrible at- Speed Uno. If you have never played this game- get ready- it moves fast, is super fun, and can make you feel like you aren't the quickest. After losing the game (by a hundred or so points), I voted on Apples to Apples as our next adventure. By 2am, the game had dwindled, people were fading, and the night had come to a close.

All in all, it was a fun night full of meeting lots of new people, trying to play new games, and attempting to exist in a world where I did not use sarcasm (lent, oh lent).

A Day in Pictures

Due to a recent post written by a friend, I was intrigued to see what a day in my life would look like if for each hour I was awake, I took a photo to capture that hour. Unfortunately, I had to bend the rule just a bit since I didn't have my camera for a few hours... but, here are the results:

Picture 1: Breakfast of Champions:

Coffee (yes, it has plenty of milk, cream, and a packet of splenda) and cereal. Yumola!


Picture 2: Mr. Squirrel
This handsome gentleman was fearlessly hanging out on the back porch.



Picture 3: New Shoes.
These are the boots I had been searching, and searching for! Thank you Dilliard's for having a sale and hooking me up!


Picture 4: Lunch.
While it looks as though I eat WAY too little, the truth is, this was around 3pm (day had a late start) and I was going to be eating dinner at 5. Didn't want to spoil my appetite!



Picture 5: Riley-cat!
Isn't he the cutest!

Picture 6: Ginger Snap.
Recent addition to the Keebler Cottage, Ginger, is fond of hiding. I took a photo of her too to document the fact that though you may never see her when you come visit, she does in fact, exist.

Pictures 7 & 8: Eating at Moe's pre-Drew Holcomb/Dave Barnes Concert
Lakeside Young Life decided to pile into some cars and drive down Smithe's Old Bar for an All Ages concert. Dinner beforehand was a must. The sunglasses, however, I cannot explain.


Picture 9: me, Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Ashley
This was between Drew and Dave's sets. Hard to believe, but the girls in the middle are freshmen in highschool. Ashley is a friend and fellow YL leader (we are beginning to share a brain as we finish each other's thoughts AND wear the same dress, just in different colors).


-TO END THE NIGHT I TOOK A FEW PHOTOS OF DAVE'S SET-

Picture 9: Dave Barnes photo 1
Picture 10: The band takes a ROCKER pose.
Unfortunately everyone else decided to put their cameras in the air as well to capture this planned shot.

Picture 11: Dave comes INTO the audience to play his final song!
We were all thrilled when he decided to do this, though there was a girl DIRECTLY to my left preventing me from taking photos as she was dominating the space with her camera. Note Laura- the girl cheesin' in the background- haha!

So, there you have it. Every day in my life looks completely different. Here is only one, but man, was it a good one.

Likes and Dislikes

Every person has an opinion about what is good and what isn't. Each person tends to think that the things they like truly are the right things. Sometimes, a person cannot comprehend how someone else is not just as in love with something as they are. Well, I will make my contribution as to what I deem as personal "likes" and "dislikes."

LIKES

• Sleeping in, not having an alarm that awakens me
• Hot coffee, the good kind-- not the cheap stuff
• Warm days perfect for naps outside
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Dressing up
• Make up- yes, make up, especially eye shadow-- it's like art
  
• Photography
• Hammocks
• Lakes, oceans, AND streams
  
• The mountains
• The beach--the sounds of the waves... the smell of the ocean.... light houses...
  
• Music
• Learning new things
• Feeling the presence of the Lord
• Spending time with friends
• My family
• Sweets-- pastries, cakes, cookies.. OH MY!
• Flowers
• Laughing
• Reading a good book
• Dogs AND cats
• Making people smile

DISLIKES

• Waking up early after going to bed late
• Being out of milk/creamer/cereal/poptarts (makes for a rough morning)
• Mean-spirited people
• Dirty kitchens
• Washing dishes
• Misplacing things
• Being late
• Not having hot water
• Being hungry
• BAD drivers- people who drive too slow, people who don't use blinkers!!
• The speed limit on 285-- why 55? why?
• Mushrooms-the texture....creeps me out
• Not knowing what I am supposed to do with my life...
  

Cody

This is a part of my big, beautiful family. The two adults are my cousins Mark and Genie with their three kids, Cody (bottom center), Taylor (top right), and Christian(bottom left). Cody is the oldest at 16 and he is such a special kid. He was born with a rare, genetic disease called A-T. He has been fighting his whole life to live. Through the way he lives his life, Cody has shown my family what true joy is. In the fall of 2008, Cody was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancer is not uncommon with kids who have A-T and even scarier, due to A-T they cannot receive radiation as a treatment to the cancer. So... with that being said, sweet Cody has been in St. Jude's hospital since being diagnosed. A team of wonderful doctors have been trying all they can to rid his body of the cancer, and it has been a long, tiring process for Cody and his parents. The recent treatments, however, did not give the results desired. Here is the latest update from his caringbridge website :

We spoke to Cody’s doctor today. The results of his test showed that he still has 20-30% leukemia in his bone marrow, down from 40-60% prior to the last treatment. While this seems like an improvement, the percentage should be somewhere very close to zero. We have discussed a new type of treatment that was just approved by the FDA, but since he has already received very strong chemo regimens, the medical prognosis does not look very good. We will be discussing the next steps later this week but we have now gone from life saving to quality of life therapies. While none of us know just how long any of us have to live, the doctor was using “months” to describe the length of time some of these therapies could help Cody.

We do know that God can heal Cody tonight without the need for any aid from doctors or drugs. We are not sure of what His plan is for Cody, but pray that it will become clear to us sooner rather than later. We do know that Cody is a blessing to us and seems to touch the lives of others wherever we go. Thank you all for continuing to hold our family up in prayer.

Love in Christ,

The Carrs

I cannot imagine what my cousins are going through. Cody has been so strong through it all, though not wanting to be in the hospital and wanting to go home. I'm hoping and praying for a miracle. That God will heal Cody. But, no matter the outcome, I will trust the Lord and what he does, for his plans are perfect.