I Was Warned

It's nights like this that I wish we were still roommates..I'm sad and have no one to talk to : (          

This was the text message I sent to my college roommate, Michelle, last night. Two minutes later we were on the phone with each other and had an hour-long conversation.

We were both missing good friends.

I had been warned about this, and it is just starting to hit me.

I was told that is one of the hardest parts about graduating - not being as connected to all of your friends. I don't see them in class every day. I don't have coffee and lunch dates on a regular basis. I don't make my friends dinner or host game nights at my townhouse. I don't talk to Michelle late at night about whatever is on our minds.

Sure, I've called my friends, and we share pictures on Facebook, but it's not the same. It's even hard to get together with my friends that are still in Binghamton as we are all on different schedules - school is no longer a common bond with me and my friends, and I miss that.

I have met a group of friends at church, but it takes time to really form meaningful relationships. I felt this same when when I started at Roberts, and it took three years for me to really form solid relationships. Three years! Prayerfully, I will make connections in Binghamton sooner than that.

I was warned, but that hasn't made it any easier.

Two of my Favorite Things

My friend, Jillian (she has a blog too!), gave me the coolest gift this weekend - a card organizer! Yes, two of my favorite things combined into one - cards and organization!

Now, this picture does not do this fabulous organizer justice. The cute cover is only the beginning! It opens up to several pockets to hold cards, organized by occasion. There are pockets for birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, new babies, encouragement, friendship, and many more! Each pocket has fitting Bible verses and ideas for what to write inside a card. There is also a place to record birthdays.

I recently moved back home and was stuck as to where to store my collection of cards. See, when I find a card I like, I buy multiples! I had five of the same wedding card at one point, and I've had a stock of the same birthday card for a year and a half now! When I like a card, I want to send it to as many people as I can, but I have to wait for the right occasion. I ended up just tossing all my cards haphazardly in my desk drawer. Not any more! They are now very well organized, waiting to bring a smile to someone's day!

The verse on the front of the organizer reads, "I will bless you...and you will be a blessing to others." How fitting for my blog and a reason I love to send cards - to be a blessing to others!

Thanks, Jillian, for this awesome gift - I love it!

Friends Across the Miles

I spent the weekend in Rochester. I am exhausted. There were so many people that I wanted to see and things I wanted to do, and I did it all!

I left Binghamton early Friday morning to make it to campus by 11am. I visited with staff members who had been my work supervisors throughout my time at Roberts, whom I now consider friends and mentors. I was able to grab lunch with Honna and hear about her latest adventures. A friend of mine had a BBQ that night, so I saw some friends from church and chatted with new friends. It was nice to be back in Rochester.

I met my cousin for a long run on Saturday morning. After running right into a large gate at the start of our run, we both survived and had a good time catching up. I met a roommate for lunch and grabbed ice cream with a professor. Then I joined Lindsey and Honna for dinner at the diner and heard more about their trip to India. We hung out at Lindsey's for a game night, and more friends stopped by. It was great to catch up with everyone, and the new game we played kept us laughing!

After church on Sunday, I joined some friends for a trip to Niagara Falls. We ventured over to the Canadian side and grabbed lunch at Tim Hortons. All my years in Rochester, and I never made it to the falls! The last time I was there was during my senior year of high school. We had a fun day exploring. To finish my visit to Rochester, I headed to Jillian's place for dinner. It was nice to hear the latest news in her life, and she gave me a sweet card organizer! (My friends know me too well!) I was exhausted from my full 3 days in Rochester, but I headed out for the drive home.

The picture above is from my drive back to Binghamton. There's many miles between the two places, but both still feel like home!

Time for a Visit

Laundry? Check.
Cleaning? Check.
Bags packed? Check.
Itinerary? Check.
Games? Check.
Alarm set for 6:30am? Check.
Rain coat? Check.

I am ready! For a fun weekend in Rochester!

I have been living and working in Binghamton for a month now, so it's time for a trip to Rochester to visit friends!

I'm heading out early in the morning (Did I mention, I have Fridays off? I love it!) and have a full weekend planned with friends from church and school. It will be fun to catch up and hear what everyone has been up to since graduation.

This is just the beginning of many travel adventures planned for this summer!

Laura's Favorites

My roommate, Michelle, got me a crock-pot cookbook for graduation. I was so excited and went through the book marking the recipes that I wanted to try. Of course, about half the book is marked up! My family and I have slowly been trying new recipes and have been pleased with the results.

I began cooking in the crock-pot after I got my own for Christmas this past year. I used it once a week at school to make meals for friends at my townhouse - I loved it! I tried new recipes and enjoyed some classics that I liked growing up.

My roommate enjoyed the meals that came from my crock-pot and knew I would be thrilled about a whole cookbook devoted to the crock-pot!

Recently, some friends have asked me for my favorite recipes. I ended up making a document with a handful of my favorites! Main dishes, an appetizer, a sweet bread, and a dessert - you can do a lot in the crock-pot!

I'm willing to share if you want to try some of my favorite recipes - let me know your e-mail address, and I'll send it to you!

Life After June 4th

Back in the spring, I had nothing on my calendar past June 4th. I had no clue what my life would look like with a new job and living back in Binghamton. My friend was getting married on June 4th. I would go to her wedding, and the rest was up in the air!

Well, it didn't take long to fill in that calendar! Since June 4th I have gotten involved with the young adult group at church, gone out for dinner, gone out for ice cream, stayed up until 2am talking with a friend, gone running and rollerblading, played mini golf, written to friends back in Rochester, played volleyball, watched the Stanley Cup, found out what a duck race really is, and planned a few trips!

I now have important dates on my calendar leading up to October - a trip to Rochester, a weekend in Maryland, a day trip to visit Pam (the June 4th bride) and her new home, a cross-country trip to Arizona with my sister, and another wedding - with more plans to come, I'm sure!

I love when my calendar fills up because it means I have so much to look forward to!

An Active Friendship

Hannah and I went rollerblading together today. Thinking about it more, we've done quite a few active activities together over the years. We played soccer together and did cheerleading. We have gone on long runs together and completed our first half marathon together! We sent each other pictures from our Turkey Trots and have played a ton of volleyball! I can remember riding bikes with Hannah on the railtrail, and we recently went mini golfing. She joined my team for a couple of kickball games in Rochester, and all those years of playing in gym class paid off!

It's always fun to find a friend that enjoys being active!

When Paths Cross

"Are we going to be in the blog?" Brittany eagerly asked as we snapped the picture above. Yes, Brittany, you made the blog!

This is Hannah's last week in town before she moves to Texas to teach 1st grade. We have spent lots of time together, and thought it would be fun to get together with Brittany one more time. We met her at Sonic and enjoyed some tasty food and yummy frozen drinks!

I have known both of these girls for the majority of my life. I knew Hannah through school and Brittany through church. Their paths crossed from time to time at birthday parties and Ross Corners basketball games. While they didn't see much of each other during their college years, a wedding and Brittany's bonfire skills reunited their friendship!

I was glad to spend an evening with two close friends, and I'm glad only one of them is moving to Texas!

Strawberry Festival

A town near me has a Strawberry Festival every year. In fact, this year was their 31st one, and I had never been! (Okay, after talking to my sister, apparently I went when I was really little. I do not remember a thing, so I'm not counting that!) This year, I decided to grab a few other friends, who had also never been to the Strawberry Fest after living in the area for their entire lives, and headed on over to Owego!

Now, I read a little about this festival, and I was pumped to check out the duck race I kept reading about. My friends and I made a point to be there by 4:00 to catch the ducks in action. We walked all along the river, looking for ducks and asking others if they knew where the duck race was. No one had a clue what we were talking about. It was nearing 4:00, and we finally spotted some ducks! Only to realize that the rubber ducks in the bin were what would be racing down the river. Yes. They dumped a bunch of rubber duckies off the bridge, let them ride with the current, and called it a duck race. Not exactly what we had in mind, but it made for an entertaining twenty minutes! Here are the racing ducks:

After the disappointing duck race, we browsed around to see what this Strawberry Fest was all about. We hardly saw any strawberries, but enjoyed some live music, lemonade, and a free funnel cake - it's all about who you know! We were about to catch the shuttle back to our cars when the guys spotted these monkeys! Jon and Mike, two friends from the young adult group at church, were so excited about these! Jon was the closet one to eating strawberries at the Strawberry Fest because he got the strawberry, cherry, kiwi drink inside his monkey. I think finding these at the end of the day made up for the lack of live ducks earlier - and now Jon and Mike have something to always remember their very first Strawberry Festival!

My Top 5

We had a staff training/enrichment day at work yesterday. Beforehand, we all took a self-assessment to determine our top strengths. I had taken a lot of these this past year at school, and it's kind of a fun way to learn more about yourself and others.

According to the Strengths Finder 2.0, my top 5 strengths are:

1. Communication - I can easily put my thoughts into words. I offer explanations, discuss ideas, give examples, and share stories. Seeing as I am the Communications Director, I'd say this is a good thing.

2. Discipline - I enjoy routine and structure and create order. I am described as being a self-starter and often see what needs to be done and do it without being told. The results also shared how I like things to remain clean and presentable.

3. Developer - I tend to recognize and cultivate the potential in others. I desire to establish close bonds with those I meet and acknowledge their accomplishments. I make sure people know they are appreciated.

4. Woo - I had to look into this one to understand what a Woo was! The results explained that I love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. I like to break the ice and make a connection with other people. I am open and transparent and devoted to the people in my life. I am lively and make events exciting for others. Woo stands for Winning Others Over.

5. Positivity - I have an enthusiasm that is contagious, getting others excited about what they are going to do. I have a practical, realistic, and straightforward thinking style. I inspire individuals to move into action and like to match tasks to people's talents.

It was interesting to hear the strengths of others and see how those were important in each of our roles at Life Choices Center.

Africa Night

My friend, Hannah, spent a semester in Tanzania, Africa. She came over tonight and cooked a meal for us and shared pictures and stories from her experiences. Above is my mom, myself, Hannah, and our friend, Ashlee. I'll let Hannah tell you about what we're wearing and what she cooked for us!

Thank you, Laura. With that introduction I feel like I should be hearing an applause and entering the stage on Oprah :D

In the photo above we are wearing a traditional African cloth called a "khanga." It is worn like a wrap skirt. At the bottom of the khangas there are sayings in Swahili, usually related to friendship and/or God. For example, Laura's says, "Ninakushukuru kwa wema wako" which means, "thank you for your goodness." I brought this back in particular for Laura as the woman who I bought it from said it would make a great gift for a friend. :)

For the meal I cooked chicken curry (with rice, pineapple, and peanuts), chapatis, chips-mi-ai, and chai. (For the curious George's, chapatis are like a tortilla but much thicker. I also added finely sliced onions, peppers, and shredded carrots into the batter). The chicken curry and chapatis are not native to Tanzania but are still commonly eaten, especially in Zanzibar which is an island off the coast of Tanzania and part of the country of Tanzania. The chips-mi-ai, which consists of potatoes and eggs, is eaten by most anyone in Tanzania whether in town or in the village. I also made chai after the meal with actual black tea from a tea plantation in Tanzania.

After the meal I shared pictures and stories from my trip and answered a lot of questions from my attentive audience. :) Sharing about Africa sure makes me miss it, but I am reminded every time what an incredible experience it was and how fortunate and blessed I was to be there.

Can you tell by the picture who cooked the meal? Hint: We are the African looking ones in the middle with the barefeet and distressed hair due to slaving over the meal!

Bruins Win!

Hockey. The Stanley Cup. I'd heard of it, but never watched any of the games. That all changed this past week, however! My friend, Hannah, got me hooked. Her boyfriend's dad is the assistant coach for the Boston Bruins. They were playing a seven-game series against the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup.

I started watching at Game 5. Both teams had won twice at their home rink. Vancouver won that game, and the Bruins won the next back in Boston. Tonight, the teams played their final game in Vancouver. Tonight, the Bruins won on their opponants' ice!

It was fun to follow the team and get into these hockey games!

Fun Facts: The Bruins have the tallest player in the NHL (6 foot 9) and the youngest playing in the NHL (19 years old)

Cooking Challenge: Pork Chops and Orange Cranberry-Nut Bread

I introduced my cooking challenge from a friend in a recent post, and tonight, my mom and I cooked dinner together for ourselves and my dad. We tried two new recipes and enjoyed a yummy meal!

1. Pork Chops with Herbed Cream Sauce - Delicious and so easy! We only made half the recipe, and I wish we had made it all because I definitely would have eaten more! We simply cooked the pork chops in a frying pan and drizzled the creamy sauce over them.

2. Orange Cranberry-Nut Bread - This was a crock pot recipe. Very easy and very good! We have been using the crock pot a lot lately, and I'm constantly washing it so we can use it again! I had never made bread in it before, and now I want to try the banana bread recipe!

What I Learned: Sometimes substitutes are necessary. We wanted to make the orange cranberry bread, but it called for dried orange peel. We didn't exactly know what that meant, and we didn't even have any oranges to grate an orange peel. So what did we do? Googled it, of course! We had some orange extract, so I found the substitute equivalent, and we were set.
While we didn't have to substitute anything in the pork chop recipe, there were options for one ingredient. For the cream sauce, I could have used dried basil, thyme, or tarragon. I grabbed the first one I saw and used thyme. I'll have to try a different herb the next time I make them! (I guess I technically did substitute with this recipe too when I used dried parsley instead of fresh. My mom estimated using 1 teaspoon of dried for each tablespoon of fresh the recipe called for.)

While I was at school, I cooked for groups of friends on occasion, but I mostly prepared meals for just myself, so it has been fun being able to cook for more. My parents are regularly home for dinner and are always up for a new dish!

Papers of the Past

I had a bonfire with friends last night. This was a much needed bonfire.

I called my friend, Brittany, the last week of school to see if I could have a bonfire at her place when I got back home. I had a few papers (okay, it was an entire binder full!) that I needed to get rid of - old memories that would have only made things worse if I looked through them again. I didn't want to just throw them in a recycling bin, but I knew I had to get rid of them soon! Thankfully, Brittany was up for a bonfire, so I brought this whole binder home with me, knowing I had to get rid of it once and for all!

After a some-what stressful afternoon of events, another friend, Hannah, and I made it down to Brittany's for this long-anticipated bonfire. Brittany prepped the logs and got the fire going. She eventually gave me the cue to start tossing my papers of the past into the fire. I started off slow, but then started placing in bigger and bigger groups of pages. The fire caused the white pages to curl, and the flames played along the edges. I didn't really think much about what was written on those papers, but I knew this was a big step in letting go of something that I had hung onto for way too long. I felt accomplished as I tossed the last pages into the fire, those words never to be read again.

I was glad to share that bonfire with two good friends last night. We had a relaxing evening together, and they confirmed that burning those papers was what I needed to do. They will now always remain papers of the past.

Another Collection

These coins are from the Bahamas. I have a foreign coin collection that has slowly grown since my freshman year of college. Coins have kind of always fascinated me - their different colors, sizes, pictures, even shapes for some!

I traveled to Guatemala the summer after my freshman year of college. While there, I made sure to collect one of each of their coins. At the end of the trip, while waiting in the airport, a team member and I found a tip jar - full of coins from a ton of different countries! We weren't sure of the exchange rates, so we just put some of our US money in and took the interesting coins that we could find - the sales associate didn't really seem to mind, and we were just overwhelmed by all the countries we were finding! We had coins from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Columbia, the Philippines, Panama, and Helvectica - ever heard of that one? We thought we were satisfied and went back to wait with our group, comparing the coins we had just collected. Of course, he had interesting ones that I hadn't seen, and I had some rare ones, so we headed back to the tip jar to look for more!

I think that's where my coin collecting started.

I now collect coins in a more appropriate manor than just scavenging through someone else's tip jar! I ask friends and family who travel outside of the country to bring back some coins for me. This has added Jamaica, England, Australia, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and countries in Africa to my collection. It's fun to look through them and think of all those different countries out there.

Besides the Bahamas, I was able to recently add coins from Ecuador to my collection! And of course, I have Canada and some rare US coins. It's always fun to collect something, and I'd say I have a little over 100 different coins!

Cooking Challenge: Chicken and Wild Rice

My friend, Audrey, from my time in Rochester, got to know me pretty well. For a graduation gift, she got me a large cookbook, a movie, and a challenge. The challenge? Watch the movie, Julie & Julia, try new recipes, invite new friends over to try the new meals, and blog about the experience.

I kind of cheated, because I haven't watched the movie recently, but I was too excited to cook for my friend, Hannah, on Friday! She was coming over, and there were a ton of new crock-pot recipes I wanted to try, so I made Chicken and Wild Rice. Paired with cooked carrots and brown 'n serve rolls, it was a tasty meal! The chicken was very moist, and those rolls are my new favorite! Hannah and I enjoyed our meal together, and I'm looking forward to another chance to cook for a friend.

What I learned: The recipe called for chicken broth, and I was unsure the best way to make this..or do you buy it? No one was home to ask, and my sister was not responding to a text, so I made up my own version of chicken broth from ramen noodles! My younger sister like to just each the noodles, leaving lots of left over chicken flavoring packets. I heated some water and added the ramen chicken flavoring to make chicken broth! Since then, I have learned that you can use bouillon cubes to make broth, or just use the box of chicken broth sitting front and center in the pantry!

Thanks, Audrey, for this fun challenge - I'll keep you posted on future new recipes!

And the Bride Wore White

My friend, Pam, got married today! She was a beautiful bride, Joe looked so spiffy, and it was a wonderful celebration and memorable day! She was smiling the entire day, and I'm just so happy for her! I cried as she walked down the isle. I cried as she was having pictures taken. I teared up at the reception every time I saw her in that white dress. I was with her on the dance floor, and the tears came again! I was able to share a special moment with her, just hugging her and saying I couldn't believe this was all really happening, but I was so happy for her! She has been a good friend for 22 years, and I'm excited for this new phase in her life.

I love how weddings are able to bring friends together! This group of girls have been to countless birthday parties, sleepovers, and cheerleading practices (Brittany, you are included in those - remember Heather's deck?!). Though the college years had us in many different directions - Philly, Buffalo, Rochester, Delhi (the reason for today's celebration!), Hawaii, Virginia, Africa, London, Ecuador - we all ended up back in Binghamton today to share in Pam's special day!

To end the night, I ended up with the bouquet! It will be a special reminder of this memorable day with a great friend!

Congratulations, Pam and Joe!!

Lifelong Friends

There are some friends that become lifelong friends, and these past two days have been filled with seeing some of those lifelong friends. Above is me with my friend, Kimberly. We were close friends growing up, and she moved to California in Jr. High. We kept in touch over the years through e-mails, phone calls, and letters. She came back to NY a couple of times, and I was able to visit her and her husband in CA a few summers ago. She is now Mom to an almost 2 year old, with another one on the way! Her family was traveling through Binghamton to visit relatives, so we had dinner at Panera and had a good time catching up. I'm glad our friendship has lasted all these years over all those miles!

I have known these girls since first grade or before, and we graduated from high school together - 4 years ago! Heather is now a Mommy and lives in Virginia. I graduated from college in Rochester and work at a not-for-profit in Binghamton. Hannah was in Africa for her final semester and will be teaching first grade at a school in Texas in the fall. Danielle is living in Binghamton and has started an intense one-year nursing program. It was great to get together tonight after being in so many different places recently, and I hope our paths continue to cross in the years to come!

I also got to meet this little guy tonight! This is Heather's 6 week old son, Colston - what a cutie!

I have friends in all different stages of life: one is getting married tomorrow, one is pregnant, some are engaged, going to school, or starting new jobs. I love that I have a handful of lifelong friends that I can share life with no matter what stage we are in at the time!

Align: The Binghamton Version of GAP

About a year ago now, I started going to GAP events up in Rochester. This was the young adult group at my church there. We did Bible studies, sang songs, did service projects, and played lots of volleyball! I knew I would miss those relationships and activities when I moved back to Binghamton. Tonight, however, my friend, Danielle, wanted to go check out Align, the young adult group at a church in the Binghamton area. I kept thinking of GAP the whole time I was there!

One of the guys talked with us about how we choose to use our time. He reminded me a lot of my friend, Jayce, from Browncroft, my church in Rochester. This same topic recently came up in our Bible study, and both guys used similar examples to explain how we determine our priorities. Wise use of our time is always an interesting topic as many of us love to be busy! I love the phrase in a verse in Colossians that encourages us to "make the most of every opportunity" and I was glad for that reminder tonight!

After our discussion and a time of prayer, we chatted for a bit, then headed outside to play ultimate frisbee - a favorite of mine! We even sqeezed in a little volleyball tonight, which was very fun! Danielle and I had a good time, met some new friends, and hope to join them again next week. I was glad to find a community that reminded me of home. Yes, I still catch myself calling Rochester home - that will take some time to switch in my mind!