Spanish Songs

In three weeks I will be on my way to Ecuador! The trip is coming up fast, and the preparations are going well. I was put in charge of creating poster boards for the songs and verse we will teach - in Spanish! I have been translating songs I sang growing up - Mi Dois es Grande, Yo Tengo Gozo, Gozo, Gozo en mi Corazon, and Padre Abraham. I can't wait to join the kids for these fun songs!

Another update on the trip - ALL of my money has been provided! Even more than I originally had asked for. At first we thought the trip was going to cost $1,500 each, but after thinking through our activities, we had to increase it to $1,700 or so. That additionally $200 has been covered, and I am so thankful for the many family and friends that have chosen to support me on this trip. I pray that I will be a blessing through their giving.

If you are interested in finding out more about the missionaries I am going to minister to, check out there website: www.maf.org/dicrasto

The End.

At the winter retreat this weekend, the speaker focused on stories in the Bible where the ending is unknown. His discussions led me to think about Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

I encouraged the girls that there was more to their story, and the Lord knows what He has planned for them. I assured them that it will be exciting as they continue to discover what that plan is!

I am at a point in my life where the next step is unknown. I have plans through June 4th, but after that is up in the air. I have dreams, desires, and thoughts, but the Lord is the one that will bring about what is best for me in His time. I must have peace knowing that He will continue to be at work in my life until it is complete - at The End.

Snow Camp

I just got back from a weekend at snow camp with the Jr. Highers at Browncroft! They needed a leader for the 7th grade girls and asked me to join them for a weekend of fun, games, worship, learning from the Bible, and tubing. Above are some of the 16 girls I was able to spend time with and get to know this weekend - I really enjoyed it!

This weekend brought back memories of my time at snow camp - the Braes, with snow football, long tube chains, studying the Word, singing, good food, games, and making memories with friends. It's great to just get away from daily life, enjoy time with each other, and spend time growing together.

I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to spend time with the youth from Browncroft this weekend. They really are a great group, and hopefully I will be able to spend more time with them in the future!

Cutting Back

Classes. Internship. Work. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. GAP Events. Bible Study. Sunday Mornings. Youth Group and Sunday School Involvement. Ecuador Preparations. SIFE. Intramurals. Friends. Game Nights. Reading. Job Searching. Working Out. Grocery Shopping. Sleeping. Homework.

All In 168 Hours a Week!

Oh! And I left something out of that list - Blogging! As much as I love doing it, I have had to cut back in some areas of my life so I can focus my efforts elsewhere this semester. While I want to keep up with my blog posts, they might not be as often as they have been. Just know that it means I am busy living life - and more than likely, having a great last semester! So keep checking back, I will be posting from time to time, I really do enjoy it!

A Book of Lists

My sister had to pre-order my birthday present, then it went on back-order, and it finally came today! After much anticipation I opened my gift to find a book of lists! I love making lists, and my sister knows this! She also knows that I enjoy thinking ahead to the potential in the future. This book is from the Listography series, and this particular "My Future" one is All I Hope To Do In Lists.

Looking through, each page has an illustration and a set of lines to create a list in a certain category. Some topics for the lists are:

-Unique Sights to Visit
-Parties You'd Enjoy Throwing
-Places You Could See Yourself Living
-Qualities You Want to Have as a Parent
-Future Halloween Costume Ideas
-Recipes You Want to Try

There must be around 80 lists! The book will definitely be a fun project to work on filling out as I hope and dream about future possibilities. Thanks, Amy - what a fun gift!

A Church to Call "Home"

About a year ago, I started attending Browncroft Community Church. I had been church hopping for an entire semester, and I was about ready to give up and go back to my old church. I had remembered a handful of people talk about Browncroft in the past, so I looked it up, gave it a try, and have been going ever since! Even though Browncroft is a very big church, I have gotten involved in several ways over the past year:

GAP - Graduates and Professionals - The young adult group that welcomed me in a year early! I have done service projects with them, played beach volleyball, got involved in a weekly Bible study, and have made so many great friends!

Ecuador - A missions trip in February to minister to missionaries and children in Ecuador. We will be building a house, doing Bible stories, songs, and verse memorization with the kids, and host a soccer tournament. I have been working on my Spanish, and only need $25 more to cover my costs!

Youth at Browncroft - I was approached by my small group leader about an opportunity to teach a session of high school Sunday School classes. These classes would emphasize preparing for college, so I would have the chance to share about my recent experiences. I met with two of the youth leaders, and we are planning those sessions for April. Because of my connection with the high school leaders, my name came up when the youth group was looking for a leader for the 7th grade girls for snow camp this weekend. When offered the opportunity, I thought about it and discussed it with some friends. As I did, I couldn't help but think back to all my fun memories from snow camp - I wanted to provide those same special times for another group of girls, so I said I would join them this weekend!

I am thankful for the way Browncroft has provided so many opportunities for service and spiritual growth. I have formed so many godly friendships and Ecuador and snow camp will be a chance to step outside the norm and allow the Lord to use me in new ways for His glory. It's such a blessing to have found a church home in Rochester - what a difference it has made in my life this past year!

Core Values

I had the day off from classes because of MLK Jr. Day, which worked out perfect, since I had orientation from 9-5 at Heritage for my internship. I got an overview of the organization and a tour a various facilities that they use.

What I found interesting were their core values. Core values are something we talk about a lot in business classes, so it was neat to see how Heritage implemented action behind their core values. Here is what Heritage values:

Christian Compassion - Serving others and ourselves with dignity, respect, and open hearts.

Courage - Fearless and steadfast strength, even in difficult situations.

Entrepreneurship - Gumption and initiative to serve people in new ways.

Excellence - Determination to always meet and surpass quality standards.

Honesty - Commitment to truth in intentions, actions, and words.

Humor - Lightheartedness and the ability and desire to share laughter with one another.

That last one might be my favorite just because you don't often hear that in the business world. A family-like setting was stressed, and I can see how humor would help foster that idea. I am very excited to begin my internship with this organization - today was a very positive starting experience with them!

Juan Tres Diecisies - John 3:16

"Porque de tal manera amo Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su hijo unigenito, para que todo aquel que en el cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna." -Juan 3:16

Who would have ever thought I would use something I learned in 7th grade homeroom?! Everyday, Mrs. Schlundt would make us recite John 3:16 in Spanish, and we never understood why. Well, tonight I was at a team meeting for my upcoming Ecuador trip, and we were discussing the Bible stories and songs we wanted to do with the kids. Then the idea came up to teach the kids a Bible verse. Of course, John 3:16 was the verse we chose to focus on, and partway through the night I remembered, "I know that verse in Spanish!"

I'm excited to use what I remember from almost 10 years ago to teach young Ecuadorian children about the love of God. Neat to see how every morning in homeroom will now pay off!

Green Angels

I spent all day replacing light bulbs! Our SIFE team is working with a restaurant to make their business more energy efficient. We were able to replace close to 100 light bulbs to the more efficient ones. The first home improvement store we went to didn't have enough light bulbs, so we continued to buy-out other stores! Our hope is to do the same with other businesses in the downtown 14621 area.

Sue is the co-owner of Keenan's, the restaurant we are working with, and was just thrilled to have us there! She has called us her Green Angels as we are helping her to Go Green with the proper light bulbs and new insulated ceiling tiles. She was grateful for our desire to help her out, and she cooked us a meal - such a treat after a busy day!

It was fun to serve alongside other SIFE friends today!

Just the Thing!

I just went to dinner with Honna at the family diner down the road. We really enjoyed our meals, then were asked if we wanted dessert. We debated as we looked at the menu, and then decided to go for it! Honna got the strawberry cheesecake, and I got the peanut butter pie - it was so delicious! I had been craving something rich or chocolate all day and found nothing to satisfy it...until I got this pie! It hit the spot and was just the thing I needed tonight!

One Last Night Class

I have had a couple of night classes during my time at Roberts, and of course, my last semester had to include a night class - Thursday nights from 6:30-9:15 for Introduction to Human Resources. Now, my other management major friends knew about this class while I was still an accounting major and not required to take HR. Since I jumped on the boat a little late they had already taken it! My class is a random mix of people, and I don't really know any of the students very well. However, when I saw Melody's name on the class list, I decided it would be fun to get to know her, so I asked if she would be my night class buddy! We decided that we will bring a snack to share each week. This week I made Apple Smiles, and we enjoyed them throughout our time in HR.

While I'm not thrilled about a night class, I am looking forward to weekly snacks with Melody!

Adams 3 - The Place to Be!

There's been lots of activity in Adams 3 this first week back! We have to plan all the fun stuff now before we all get swamped with homework. Here's what been/is going on this week:

Tuesday - RMW dinner in the crock pot with Jayce and Audrey

Wednesday - Game Night!

Thursday - Making breakfast with Honna (since our Thursday AM class got canceled!)

Friday - Post-Presentation Fiesta for after SIFE's presentation team practice

It's good to be back having fun with Rochester friends! Hopefully there will be many memorable moments in Adams 3 this semester!

Hello, My Name Is...

The first week of classes, professors always go through the class list, name by name. If it's a class with mixed majors, most likely, each student will have to go around and share their name and a little about themselves. Both typical back-to-school activities involving names.

My name is Laura, and I found it as a store sign during my high school senior trip to Toronto - that's me in the picture up there! One thing I don't like about my name is how it looks without a capital L - laura - a single line just looks silly in the front! A lot of times when people are texting or commenting on Facebook, they do not capitalize, so I'll get "laura" quite a bit. Additionally, in middle school, it was cool to get stuff with just your first initial on it - like key chains, notebooks, or jewelry - but a big L just looked like it stood for Loser, and a little l...well, we've discussed how silly that looks! Other than those two downsides, I like my name!

I always heared that my name meant crown of laurel leaves, and I was like, "That's great, what's that?" I looked into it further and found that leaves from the highly valued laurel tree were woven into wreaths and given as prizes at the ancient Olympic games. Laura can mean, "To wear the victorious crown." It also means, "Leader of the group" or "Beautiful heroic girl."

Of course, I always enjoyed watching or reading Little House on the Prairie when I was younger - the main character's name was Laura! It's not too common of a name, so I don't have to be called Laura T. very often, which is nice! Maybe I'll talk about my middle and last name another time...

From Freshmen to Seniors

It's the first day of our final semester at Roberts! My roommate, Michelle, and I had a class together first semester of freshman year - First Year Seminar, and now we have a class together for our last semester of senior year - Senior Seminar.

Of course, we don't remember much about each other from FYS, and we didn't hang out outside class. We met again through mutual friends at the end of sophomore year when we were both looking for a roommate. We roomed together junior year and enjoyed getting to know each other. We continued to be roommates for senior year and have been having a blast! We are looking forward to a great final semester together!

Last Christmas Break

It didn't snow much during Christmas Break, but I drove in snow on my way back to Rochester. My Christmas Break is coming to an end, but I was able to spend time with a lot of people and get a few projects done with my time off! Here's a quick recap of how I spent my time:

-Celebrating Christmas with family and friends
-Playing games - lots of games!
-Applying for post-graduation jobs
-Catching up with 16 friends at Applebees
-Celebrating New Years
-Traveling to Rochester for a wedding
-Trying to break 100 going bowling
-Spending birthday and Christmas money
-Sleeping-in
-Watching movies
-Trying some new recipes for dinner
-Working on 3 personal projects
-Getting bubble tea
-Thinking about starting my last and final semester!

Now it's off to finish unpacking...

Fashion Bug

I had lunch today with my friend, Amy. She is the store manager at Fashion Bug, and hired me to work there 6 years ago. It was my first real job as a 16 year old, and I learned a lot. I had to come out of my shell as I was told over and over, "You have to greet the customers!" Eventually, I was running around that store helping people find just the right outfit with the perfect jewelry!

I worked during the school year and throughout the summers. When it was nice, I would ride my bike on the railtrail to work and leave my bike in the back room. People picked on me, but I didn't have a car, and sometimes the family vehicles were both being used!

Eventually, I went away to college, but that didn't keep me away from Fashion Bug! I worked there on breaks and over the summer. I did this for my first two years of school. I last worked at Fashion Bug after sophomore year, in August 2009. Since then, I have kept in touch with Amy and have visited the store when I am home on breaks.

Amy is always a great person to talk to! She can tell when you are having a bad day or when something just isn't right. She is sympathetic and gives good advice. The day I met her, I was pleased to find out that she was a Christian as well - what a blessing to have that in common!

I am thankful for my time at Fashion Bug - it gave me real-world experience in things I have talked about in my business classes. It's been fun to keep in touch with the girls at the store over the years, and I hope Amy and I will continue our friendship for years to come!

Elephant Collection

This is Ellie. I have had this elephant for 22 years! My sister, Amy, gave her to my when I first came home from the hospital. I used to suck my thumb when I was little - I would do this and rub Ellie's ear. You can't quite see it in the picture, but her left ear has lost most of it's fur. I would play with her trunk too, and my mom had to sew that back up several times. Ellie is still resting on my shelf in my room at home.

I no longer carried Ellie around everywhere, but around middle school, I commonly got questions like, "What's your favorite color?" or "What's your favorite food?" or "What's your favorite animal?" Well, I didn't have a favorite animal, but I thought back to Ellie and decided that it should be elephants! Little did I know, that decision would turn into a collection of 80+ elephants from over the years! Elephant items are commonly given to me on my birthday, Christmas, or after a friend takes a trip somewhere - I have elephants from about 8 different countries! People even tag me in picutres of elephants on Facebook! I love looking over all my elephants and remembering how I got each one.

Part of my collection is at home and part of it is in my dorm at school. I ask for an elephant calendar every year, have several stuffed animals, figurines, key chains, Christmas ornaments, and more!

Who knows what this collection will grow to, but I love that my little green Ellie has turned into such a fun collection!

Willow Tree Angels

I have started a little collection of Willow Tree Angels. Each angel has a word that goes along with it. Above are the two that I have.

Courage: This is the one on the left. It was from my aunt Melissa last year after my hospitalization. She went in the ambulance with me and spent time at the hospital. The card that came with the angel says, "Bringing a triumphant spirit, inspiration, and courage." She knew I would need courage to continue to recover from my hospitalization, and I'm glad I now have that special reminder to continue to have courage.

Blessings: This is the one on the right. It was from my mom for my birthday this year. She was reminded of my blog title when she saw it. I have grown to appreciate the phrase, "I will choose to be a blessing for life." and that is what this angel reminds me of. The card that came with the angel says, "Each day, sharing our unexpected blessings." It's a reminder to be thankful for the blessings in my life and to strive to be a blessing to others.

Perhaps my collection will continue to grow in the years to come. The angels themselves are simple, but the words associated with them give them greater meaning.

Crock Pot

I asked for a crock pot for Christmas, and got the one pictured to the left. Tonight's dinner is being cooked as a type! The first meal I'm trying in it is chicken cacciatore - chicken with onions and red tomatoes served over noodles. I'm also making bread in the bread machine and looking forward to dinner tonight!

I asked for a crock pot picturing using it this coming semester. I have some time in the mornings before my internship to get food ready, then will be back on campus around 5:30, coming home to a ready meal!

My crock pot came with a few recipes, but I will be looking for more meals to try!

Under Armour

I was able to get out there running again this morning! I received a long sleeve under armour shirt for my birthday, and I used birthday money to buy the leggings last week. I went running this morning wearing both as well as earmuffs and gloves - I was nice and warm in the 28 degree morning!

I'm looking forward to a few more runs while I'm home on break, and hope to make time during the week once I'm back at school. I definitely wouldn't be able to run a half marathon any time soon, but I still want to do some longer (an hour+) runs here and there when I can.

Mr. and Mrs. Pietruch

My friend Jillian got married yesterday - 1/1/11. Honna, Rachel, and I went to her wedding to help celebrate. The ceremony was very nice - the words used were very fitting and a friend sung the hymn, Take My Life and Let it Be - a favorite of mine! Justin was beaming the whole time, and Jillian looked wonderful!

After the ceremony, we headed to the reception for food, fun, and dancing! In the words of the DJ at the end of the night, "Hey everyone, I just gotta point out to y'all that these two ladies [Honna and I] haven't left the dance floor all night!" We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with friends as we wished Justin and Jillian a wonderful new life together.

Justin has one semester left at Roberts, and Jillian is working at the Seminary on campus. I'm glad they will still be in the area - Jillian and I already have lunch plans for the first day of the semester!

Congratulations, Justin and Jillian!

Looking Forward to 2011

It's a new year with new events to look forward to! Right now, my calendar doesn't go past June 4th, not knowing what my job and living situation will be, but here's what I am looking forward to in 2011:

-Jillian's Wedding - a friend from Roberts
-Internship - fundraising and grant writing at Heritage Christian Services
-Ecuador - missions trip with my church
-Baby Shower - for my friend, Heather's, first baby!
-SIFE Competition - we have an awesome team this year
-Easter Break - I'm sure I'll make fun plans
-Graduation - the completion of 4 years at Roberts
-Cruise - to the Bahamas with my family, grandma, and 1 or 2 cousins
-Pam's Wedding - friend from high school
-Life After College - TBD

Prayerfully 2011 will be full of memorable times with family and friends, learning experiences, and new adventures!