What I have....in 2008

What I have learned in 2008:

*God may not answer quickly, but He does answer

* You must live your life how God is showing you, no matter what others think

* Discipline takes discipline to learn (ha!)

*I have to be '...in this world, but not of...'

*Dream big, but think logically

*God does work miracles, big and small

*"What are men to rocks and mountains." Pride and Prejudice vol. II chap. IV

*Trusting God is a moment by moment commitment

*Plans and dreams don't always happen, but keep planning and dreaming

*A job is for today, but a career is for tomorrow

*Running relieves stress

*Time flies

What I have experienced in 2008:

*Driving a standard

*Speech Class

*Growing pains (figuratively :)

*Michael Buble

*Miracles

*Waiting

*Voting in my first Presidential Election

*20 years of life

*Anticipation

What I have loved about 2008:

*Going to SoCal for Papa's 80th

*Seeing Phantom of the Opera

*Going back to Blond

*Going to Colorado twice

*High School Musical 3 and Dark Knight

*Work and my co-workers

*My family

*My last year of college

*Sarah Palin (I still think she rocks!)

Happy New Year!

L.s.R

Christmas 2008

Last week

I was able to go see one of my favorite groups in concert with Hannah and Amy.

It got me into the Christmas spirit, and they all had amazing voices.

We all had a great time together!

I got up at the unholy hour of 4:30 this morning, to get to work by 5:45. It was crazy, but I really enjoyed the drive into work. I was able to think back on all the Christmas memories I have had over the years. I owe them all to my parents. Without their willingness to be adventuress and follow the Lord's leading, I would be a different person.

So, follow me down memory lane.

* I was 3 years old when we moved to Hawaii. It was an odd Christmas since it was so warm and completely unChristmas-like.

Me, the one with the short bobbed hair, singing in the kids choir at church for Christmas.

*We owned our 'Christmas Cabin' in EP, CO when I was four and five years old. I remember Dad would leave us in the car to get the heat and fire started in the cabin, and then he would carry Hannah and I in blankets into the living room to keep warm while he and Mom unpacked the car.

Christmas Eve was spent at my Papa's church caroling and eating popcorn balls.

Me and Hannah out front the shed at our cabin

*My favorite Christmas memory of all time was the year that my family lived in Naples, Italy when I was 13 years old. My uncle and cousins visited us over Christmas and we took them throughout all of northern Italy, Austria and Germany. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was spent in Oberammergau, Germany. We went to a German, Lutheran church for their candle-light Christmas Eve service. That is something I will never forget. Christmas Day was spent cross-country skiing and then eating at a big hotel in town for dinner. It was an amazing trip.

This Christmas, as past Christmases, I am looking forward to celebrating Christ birth, knowing and believing the true meaning of Christmas. I also want to cherish this Christmas with my family. I have no idea what 2009 holds, and where I or we all will be next Christmas.
****

"I heard the bells on Christmas day.

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime

of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Merry Christmas!
L.s.R

I Have Been Very Busy!

Working 9-8 hours a day.

Working another hour when I get home.
But the nicest thing?

NO STUDYING!

*I have already finished a book....2 to go.


*Watched a lot of movies.


*Got to visit with my wonderful friend on Monday!


*Been doing a lot of research on my future career!


*Get to be with more friends this week!


*Going to an Avalon concert this Saturday!


*Listening to this right now:

I actually don't like BarlowGirl that much, but their Christmas CD is amazing!

Looking forward to the rest of the week, can't believe Christmas is only 9 days away.

L.s.R

!Christmas Break!

Today started my first day of vacation!

Yesterday, I took my last final for this year and it went really, really well!

Praise God! I woke up around 7 am and watched While You Were Sleeping ( I LOVE that movie!). Then left to spend the entire day shopping. I finished all my Christmas shopping and had a lot of fun. The lady that checked me out at Target was from England, so we were able to talk about our favorite places! My uber cute shoes :)

This is one of the outfits I got for myself. I love it!
My reading material for the next 2 weeks!

No textbooks!!

So, I am very happy!

I am happy about looking towards the future!

I am happy that the Lord is speaking to me about my future!

I am happy that it is Christmas!

I am happy that I go to work tomorrow!

I am happy that I finished my Christmas shopping!

I am happy!!

L.s.R

Christmas Decorating

Hannah, broke the foot off of my ornament I've had for 20 years....

....she thought it was funny....I did too before I found out it was my ornament:)

Christmas Tree '08

L.s.R

A Few of My Favorite Things....

I got this ring for $6 in Colorado at a flea market.

I love the design!

I think my new favorite store is Trendz.

I go there every time we are in EP.

They have the most fabulous stuff.

The clutch I got is amazingly, vibrant blue.

I think this is my find of 2008!

It is a primer that I read about in InStyle.

I decided to splurge and get it at Ulta.

Supposedly, it takes away shine

and gives your skin a matte finish for up to 12hrs.

I wasn't disappointed.

I wore it for 10 hours straight at work, 2 days in a row,

and my face looked great!

*********************************************

Okay, sorry for the sales-pitch, but smashbox is awesome! Anyway, I think a lot of girls read this blog, and I thought they would benefit from my product review :)

L.s.R

Thankfulness

I am thankful for Colorado. I am thankful for family.

I am thankful for school breaks.

I am thankful for friends that watch dogs.

I am thankful for God's protection.

I am thankful for the mountains. I am thankful for the ability to hike.

I am thankful for Starbucks. I am thankful for books.

I am thankful for grandparents.

I am thankful for pecan pie. I am thankful for travel.

L.s.R

"Girls just wanna have fun!"

I had a great time on Saturday. I was able to spend 5 hours with some of my favorite people in this world! Hannah, took Morgan's senior pictures, and Whitney and I were the assistants. Whitney and I held the reflectors, fixed hair and make-up, scared guys away, and acted like dorks to make Morgan laugh (I think we were laughing harder than she was).

Hannah, got awesome shots! My sister is wonderfully, talented and you have to check her blog out. The link is on the right.

In other matters, I am officially on Thanksgiving Break, and am very happy about it!

Chaos officially starts in 14 hours at the Bakery. We will be knee-deep in cookies, pies, breads, rolls and grumpy customers. Oh well, just two full days of it and then I will be in the mountains where the forecast is snow for 3 straight days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

L.s.R

My Day

I had a good day today.
I started Fundamentals of Counseling. Interesting.
Have only one more class and then Christmas Break!

Shopped at Target.

Got my Hair Done.

Last couple of weeks, I really wanted to do something drastic, like get a platinum bob (kidding!). But I did want something different. Well, I talked myself out of cutting it short and settled for only adding dark low lights. My hairstylist is uh-mazing! She did a new technique, and dyed the strip of hair around my face a dark brown, and then weaved it in through the rest of my hair. I really like it, even though it is not a HUGE change, I feel updated! And the head massage felt awesome!

Also, if you are looking for a new hair product, get Aveda's Hair Potion, it rocks my face off! It is a light powder that adds texture to hair. My hair is really thin, and it made it THICK! It is worth the price!

Okay, enough about hair!

L.s.R.

.Fascination X11.

.The Hebrew Language.

.Archeology.

.Anastasia and the Romanov Family.

.The Sinking of the Titanic.

.1940's Fashion.

.Jewish Weddings.

.World War II.

.Amelia Earhart's Disappearance.

.England's Royal Family.

.Lichtenstien.

.Gemology.

L.s.R

My Latest

Wedding cake I did from last month.
L.s.R.

If I Had a Time Machine....

Has this ever happened to you? You are driving, walking, or simply sitting still, and you are suddenly transported back into your past. Maybe it was something about the shadows on the wall, or a scent, or a voice.

This happened to me today. I was driving home from work. The sun was setting behind me, as I drove down a back-road towards home. I was driving past a field, and suddenly I wasn't on Anders Road, but was sitting behind Dad in our old Audi. I was 6 years old. Dad was driving, Mom was sitting beside him. Hannah was sitting next to me, the foam armrest laying down between us, the one we always fought over when we got sleepy. We were driving home from Salina, Colorado.
The first couple of years we lived in Colorado, we made it a tradition of going to Salina for a day, a couple weeks before Christmas. We would leave early and drive all morning until we came into town, and ate at Grandma's Kitchen for lunch. I remember the rotating refrigerator with slices of pie. After lunch, I don't remember what we would do, but we would end the day by shopping at Wal-mart. Just for the record, I don't like today's Wal-marts. But I liked the old Wal-marts, the 'un-super' Wal-marts. Mom and Dad would send us to another part of the store, and they would buy our Christmas presents. They wouldn't let us look at the cart as we walked to the car, and made us look straight-ahead in our seats as they loaded everything in the trunk. I remember the drive home, and I think we went by a field with the sun setting on it, just like the field I pasted today.

I think it is amazing how our minds can be triggered like that. Psychologists would say it is a stimuli that makes our minds recall something in our long-term memory, but I know God created deja-vu moments for a reason. He brings them to remembrance at the perfect moment, when we need it the most. Whether it was pleasant or hard, I think there is a reason for a resurfacing memory. Maybe to praise Him for wonderful memories, or thank Him for what He taught you in a difficult time. Either way, I am thankful for the trip down memory lane. To remember vividly, the excitment of being little and with my family and only caring about that hour, that minute was great!

Now I sit in reality. Twenty-years-old and a college senior. I have my whole life a head of me, even though it feels like it is passing me by sometimes, I am excited. I was reminded while I was driving today, that I have to seize this moment, now. I have to let each moment count, to never be afraid of the future and the unknown, and to not live in the past.

How are we suppose to make memories if we are always living in one?

My prayer for me, and you, is that we ask the Lord fearlessly to use us in every possible way that He can. Even in ways that we did not think possible.
Right now in my life, I feel that I am caught in limbo. Like I am on the verge of something new and great, at least for me.

But I must be patient and walk in the Lord. Not behind, in front, or beside.

But IN Him.

L.s.R

The Day After

To say that I am disappointed, is the understatement of the year.
I won't deny that I have felt fear.
Fear of how this will affect my future.
Fear of how this will affect my children, the generation after me.

In my mind I saw the next 4 years and was terrified
of everything that could 'change' so quickly.

I have seen the effects of socialism, fascism, and communism.
I have seen what the effects of 'spreading the wealth' will do to a nation and its people.

In Italy, the government is a corrupt bureaucracy. Italians respect the Mafia more than then their president.
In Russia, the people are oppressed, bitter, sad and hopeless.
Throughout the rest of socialist Europe, the economies are so bad that the governments are reinstating certain capitalistic standards to bring their economies up to par.

But we have to understand that throughout history's most oppressive and darkest hours,
God's light shined the brightest.
Nero, Hitler and Stalin, some of the world's worst dictators, never succeeded in taking the power out of God's might and love.
In fact, during such times, Christ's Church as never been so strong.

Why would I think it would be any different this time?
Why do I think God has changed?
Why do I think that God's love is any weaker?

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
I cannot fear what men can do to me.
My hope is not in the American people, but in God.

So I have decided, I will not look fearfully to the future.
I will take each day as it comes.
Below, is the Psalms that was for yesterday,
Election Day.

"Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have relieved me in my distress;

Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

How long, O you sons of men,

Will you turn my glory to shame?

How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?

But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself

him who is godly;

The LORD will hear when I call to Him.

Be angry, and do not sin.

Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And put your trust in the LORD.

There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?”

LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

You have put gladness in my heart,

More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."

Psalm 4

L.s.R

:A Good Day:

Today I took and passed my Psychology final.

I am done with psychoanalysis.
I am done with Freud.
I am done memorizing the parts of the brain.
I am done having to study abnormal psychology.
I am done!!

I had a Reese peanut-butter shake to celebrate on my way home!

I have a ritual every time I pass a test, as soon as I get home, I throw away all my study notes.
I had 22 pages of notes for Psychology, as well as 5 pages of diagrams that I had drawn.

I was able to read tonight. And it was a book that I wanted to read. Not a text-book.

While I am studying for a test, I have a tendency to let my bedroom fall to the way-side. My closet has been in a mess for the past 2 weeks, and I haven't dusted either. So tonight I watched the first season of Avonlea, and drank tea while I reorganized, reironed, restraighted, and redusted everything in my room.
I feel a lot better.

So, I start the cycle all over again tomorrow.
Except this time it is Human Growth and Development.

Ah, well, it is all worth it in the end.
This month marks 7 months until I have my
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Just writing that gives me goosebumps!

Vote McCain/Palin tomorrow!
L.s.R

Whitney's Party

Getting Ready:

Party!:

There was a lot more people than this, but we took these before they showed up!

We should have gotten a group pic!

Awwww! They make me laugh (in a good way! :)
Happy Birthday, Whitney!

L.s.R