Saturday, December 27, 2008

Irony

Oh how ironic my life has been, especially within this last week. First off, this is Sandi, the one who never seems to write on this blog... well, i couldn't figure out how to sign on but now it works :) I figure, now would be a good time to write something because I may never get the chance again to write as a Not So Love Bird. Here's the story. Since I've been at EBC my parents seem to have missed me or something cause they been trying to find ways to make me come home. I've always fought the idea. I just hate my home town. I've always just left it up to God to provide a way for me to stay in Simi cause if he didn't want me there, I wouldn't be able to survive there. Lately, that provision seems to be fading and my only way of survival appears to be moving back home for a semester. I hate it. Don't want to do it. Here's the irony. A few days before I traveled north to my parents for the holidays I was talking to some dear EBC brothers of mine and this issue popped up and I went on and on about how I will never move back unless God makes it clear that I am going against His will. The next morning is when the idea to move back home came into my brain and didn't scare me too bad. Perfect timing God, way to humble me. Now, this isn't a final decision. I still don't have clarity yet. But all in due time. Hopefully, God is just teaching me a tough lesson of humility and will provide for me to stay out in Simi once again, but if not, all of my bro's and sis's will be missed greatly. Until then, lets see what January reveals about my February fate. To the BLESS girls, i love you and can't wait for us to be reunited after the holiday season is over. From Delhi I say farewell and goodnight.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

something specail

Ahh, home for the holidays. Usually when I come home for Christmas I meet up with my high school friends at this little Mexican restaurant. Each year fewer and fewer of us show up. Yesterday there were only four of us. Its always good to catch up with the girls, because I am so bad at keeping in touch, and I never call them during the semester. Sarah has a man-friend, Laura is finishing up at Notre Dame, and Ashley is looking for a grad school. But hearing about their lives makes me appreciate what I have in EBC so much more. I may not be graduating from an Ivy League school, or working towards a second degree, but I must say, I would not trade my experience at EBC for anything.

So, this is a shout out to all of the people that make up what we know more formally as Eternity Bible College. Thank you all for loving God and others more than you love yourselves. When I look at the lives of my fellow students, I am encouraged beyond words.

My sisters in Christ model for me what it looks like to be a follower of Christ. I have never known such beautiful and amazing people. These girls are always thinking of ways to live a Gospel centered life: and then when they think of something they do it! It is so encouraging to see. From hearing about a random conversation with a stranger, to how they are encouraging other believers, to how they are being intentional with their co-workers, the Kingdom is coming to bear in our community. The servants hearts displayed in these girls encourages me to love others more. I love you girls.

And then there are the boys. These men of God are a rarity. Other than those times when they are being weird and Bible-collegey and making submission jokes (which is ok because Yvonne usually beats them up when that happens), they are alright. These are not the normal frat guys you usually associate with the college scene. These are guys that you call when your car is messed up, or you need someone to protect you when it is dark out. Thank you guys for letting us feel safe around you. Not only are they great brothers, but they are amazing examples of what the church should look like. I enjoy learning from them. We love you brothers.

I love you all!

Beth

Snowboarding

Hey everyone, Emily again!

Yesterday my brother Brice and I went snowboarding up at Dodge Ridge. It was a beautiful day with heaps of fresh powder and stunning blue skies. We had an absolute blast together and yes, my legs are KILLING me today. Here are some pictures from yesterday!






After boarding the entire day, Brice and I were absolutely exhausted, but still had to make the two and a half hour drive home. Needless to say there was lots of silly laughter and funny stories shared between us. My favorite was a story from a couple years ago when my brother, mom and I were up snowboarding at Dodge on an unusually powdery day [there was at least 4ft of fresh powder, and the grooming machines could not keep up with the snowfall, so there were NO groomed runs ANYWHERE. heaven.] For Brice, who was only about 4'5 at the time, this posed some problems, and it took him a full two hours to get down the first run, poor guy. For those of you who dont know, when you fall in deep powder, getting up and going again is a bit like trying to swim through air. It just dosn't happen. Well, getting frustrated, Brice decided that he was done riding his board properly, and thought that using it like a sled would allow him to avoid the teadous process of digging, unstrapping, re-strapping... you get the idea. So, he said, "I sat my board down, aimed my board downhill, [having lost his goggles] covered my face with my arms, and hoped for the best." HAHA! My mom and I remember ridding up the lift and seeing a huge storm of snow flying up from the ground as something very small went very fast down the hill. It was by far one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Anyway, later that night, Brice and I stopped in at Panera and got some food [ah... memories of finals...] and got a bit silly. At one point Brice said both 'thank you' and 'you're welcome' and I fell over in our booth laughing. Brice said that his mental was asleep, and I laughed hystarically when he [sincerely] asked why the booths had flowery fabric, when it was a bread restaurant [I asked him if he thought the pattern should have included loavs of bread?!]. We spent the rest of the ride home singing [without music] Paramore and that Handlebars song, which neither of us really knew all the words to.

We arrived home to find we were locked out of the house, and after a few unsuccessful attempts at breaking in, my sister arrived to let us in.

Miss you all...

Bethany, I passed Wacko Packo and laughed and thought of you!
Lor, I thought of you as I was taking all the pictures!
Sarah and Sandi, You both would have thought me crazy that night!

love, em

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Pictures, swimming phones, and vowels.

Hey everyone, Emily again.

Today my siblings and I all got together and took Christmas pictures to give to my dad as his Christmas gift. While it is not really a surprise that he is getting them again this year (because he has reminded me and checked on me a million times to make sure I was doing it), he will still cry on Christmas morning... guaranteed. Here are a few snapshots of the photos. Props to my sisters friend [emily t.] for taking the group ones!







e

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful aside from a not-so-welcomed arrival of dear old aunt flo. [watch out girls... she came and told me she is arriving to you all soon. yay..... ]


Brice decided to wash his phone in our new washer. Not the most brilliant idea ever. He realized his 'mistake' thanks to the windows on the front-load door. I must say it was pretty hilarious though. Brice walked in, threw his arms up in the air and said,' NO, NO NO.... Oh no... no ...NO...MAKE IT STOP.... MOM... no no no no." My mom was unaware of the situation and became concerned and assured him that the washer machine was 'suposto spin the clothes like that.' After Brice's frantic gesturing, she realized he was looking at his phone, flashing in the water, right next to the clear window. After an exciting couple of moments trying to figure out how to stop this new contraption and unlock the door [trust me, this is no small feat... i almost lost a sock to a locked washed door in Korea. Dont underestimate self-locking machinery] they pulled the phone out. The verdict is still out on whether or not the phone will assume its previous place in life, or if it will need to move on to a less.... active lifestyle.

Leasa arrived home and apparently had a similar situation involving a bathtub, hot water, and little children. Her phone has been deemed 'alive' after the situation though, and continues to perform its normal duties.

On a smaller note. I just figured out how to spell suposto. For as much of my life as I can remember I always spelled it 'soposto' and was haunted by that menacing red squiggly line. I always just resolved to myself that it must be some slang word that was not proper enough to be included in the 'official dictionary.' I had problems with this resolve however, for I never could figure out another word to take its place, and found myself utterly confused and hopeless... for, how could I avoid using such a useful word? Alas, as I was typing it in the above [ok... so its 2 above... whatever] paragraph, the ever familar red squiggle immediatly appeared. I thought through the same thing I normally do... confusion, frusteration... and so on, but then it hit me! What if I had simply been spelling it wrong. I always do have a difficult time using the correct vowels in words... and perhaps this was just another of such occations. A quick flip of an o to a u remedied my situation and left me speechless. Litterally. [ok so... i am laying in bed, and everyone else is asleep... and its not like i was talking before.. ] but I am sure that had I been in the middle of a very intense conversation that required lots of talking on my part, I would have been stunned and left completely silent. Maybe not. Maybe a little. Who knows.

Anyway. My life really has been changed. I use that word so stinking much and.... CANT BELEIVE ITS REAL!

yay vowels.

huuked on foneks wurked fur mi


peace.
em.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Hailing from the Bathroom

Hey everyone, its Emily again.

I am sitting at home in good ole Los Banos, thinking about my friends back in Simi. Ah, I miss you all so much! But, all is good here too. Mom and dad are busy working away on the house they just got... Brice is scoring big in school, and Leasa is just being herself. Uhhhh... what else? Not much is new here. I can't wait to see people at church tomorrow, and help out with the house. I am looking forward to Christmas of course, and enjoying the beautiul decorations my mom has set up.

Well. To all of you who i miss... lots of love!!

em

Monday, December 15, 2008

bethany bethany bethany...

it's the ever sick lor here...

well well well bethany.
what are we going to do with you???
i was happy for you, but didn't do the whole FREAK OUT thing like emily. 
i seriously thought something horrible had happened when em flew off the couch and was dialing your number while opening the door and hyperventilating. (no joke.) so funny. well my week has been pretty nasty. i got sick last saturday and was on the couch till tuesday. felt awesome by the time sunday rolled around, but sunday night my body revolted. i literally was feeling 90% on minute and -45% the next. went to the doc today and i have the full-blown viral flu and perhaps a touch of strep throat. the test is still in the lab...i'm waiting for a result. 

my mom picked me up from the apt sunday at midnight, which i am thankful for. seriously though, my health insurance got cancelled. go figure. for some stupid reason my coverage for just doctor's visits and prescriptions got cancelled two days ago.  so we had to pay full pop for doctor visit and all three of my drugs. so stupid. no one has any clue as to why his happened, but the insurance company will only talk to me about it, but seeing as though i have been doing most of my talking with a toilet bowl on the bathroom  floor he last few days, i doubt they'll give my dad a pass. 

emily: i miss you and i hope traffic school is everything it is cracked up to be - pointless
bethany: i love you no matter what you lie about and i am going to wash your car for you
sandi: hope you had fun shopping and found some good stuff for work
sarah: slow down and breathe. i love you.

well that's all for this little update from casa de lauren's familia

goodnight everyone.

hoe all is well in one form or another.
 

Husbands and other Quackery

Hey there, its Emily.
In response to my beloved Bethany... BAGH! I totally thought you were telling the truth. I was so excited for you, and sad that I would have to share you. But, not to worry, I was PRAYING about it. Hahaha... you are so funny hunny. Goodness me.

Well, here is a little update on what is going on here in Simi. Lor is sick again, poor thing.... and is living at home for a bit to get better. Sandi and Sarah are spending the day together shopping and running other errands, and I, well.... I am going to attempt some of the things I put off the last two weeks because of finals. Meh. Nothing like traffic school to get your excitement up for the day.

All the out-of-staters from EBC have either left already or are leaving this week. Tis very sad. Oh well, they will all be back in January for the BLACK AND WHITE MASCARADE. Oops. I said it. Ha! Now it really has to happen!

Bethany: go marry your imaginary friend. I dont care. I will get a new substitute husband.
Sandi and Sarah: I love you both, have fun today!
Lor: Goodness sakes girlfriend! Get better soon!

I know this post was somewhat boring. I'm sorry. Kinda. Ha

Love to you all

PEACE

Sunday, December 14, 2008

i miss them!

i am in arkansas. boo.

yesterday i was in kentucky for a wedding. afterwards i was talking to lor and emily on facebook. i miss them like crazy, so i decided to make our time away from each other memorable...

first, a little bit of background information on me: i am probably the least likely person ever to get married. i just dont know if i want to. keep that in mind.

so, emily and i were facebook chatting (or whatever its called), and after a while the convo. went a little something like this:

B: ok, so, i am at a wedding, you know, and, well......

E: what?

B: well, i think i met a boy

E: YOU ARE JOKING ME!

B: emily, listen

E: YOU ARE JOKING ME!

B: i don't know...

E: YOU ARE JOKING ME!

then she called me on the ole telly phone. she began asking questions and i went on to tell her about this guy that i met and how awesome he was and how i didnt think that it would work out because he was about to leave the country for africa.

emily said,"bethany, this is your husband we are talking about here!" she is totally convinced that i am in love or something.

HAHA! sucker!!!

she got all excited and told Lor, and they still do not know that it was all a lie. i wonder what they are going to do when they read this blog... maybe they will blog their response...

breaking and entering

finals.

at EBC we have two weeks worth of hard core paper writing and test taking. needless to say, late nights are the norm at the end of the semester. however, simi valley is having a study-environment famine.

if we stay home, we fall asleep
we have been kicked out of the donut shop
dennys is grose
starbucks is closed
red motorcycle
power outlets are necessary
danny needs to sleep, so we leave

one night, emily and i (beth) were working on our teaching cirruculums for Theo I at danny parkers house, but since all of the guys needed to sleep, we felt like it was appropriate for us to leave. we really needed to keep working , but we had nowhere to go. i suggested that we go to my sister's house in chatsworth. so we got a bit of gas and headed over to the valley..

we pulled up to the house and realized that we had forgotten to call and ask to come over :/ I used emily's phone to call my sister, but she did not know the number so she didnt answer. i then walked up to the front door and jiggled the latch to see if it was open. nope.

i decided to go around to the back door, which is usually unlocked, and carefully walk in, gently wake my sister up and tell her that we were going to use her kitchen table to study.

so far so good: i walked through the back gate and peeked in the back window. there was a computer with a you tube video going, a cup next to it, and a blanket still shaped like the butt that had just gotten up off of it. whoever was there must have gone to the bathroom, so i walked in....

as i roll the sliding glass door closed behind me, i hear emily g. (sister's roomate) yell "GET OUT!" she comes around the corner with a shoe raised high above her head, ready for action. two seconds later, once she realizes what is going on, she falls to the ground and we all start laughing...

when i shook the front door latch, they heard it and went and looked out the front door. when the did not see anyone, they moved thier attention to the back yard where they saw me (dressed in dark colors) moving carefully past the glass door to peek in the window. they were for sure startled, but relieved to find out that it was just me.

we all got a kick out of it, woke my sister up with our screams, and then got to work on that teaching cirriculum

haha, the next night we caved in and went to dennys to finish our papers

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

just to let you all in on a little secret...

emily can't keep food in her mouth and chopsticks in her hands when she is eating and talking at the same time.

i swear she spit food at me tonight like four times and 'threw' her chopsticks twice in 30 minutes time.

watch out.

she'll get you.

i'm just saying.

-lor :)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

whelp, here we go!

lor here! 

well, bethany started us off, but here are the full introductions:

there are five of us girls who live in a tiny simi valley two bedroom apartment and we are kinda crazy. we are the definition of a five-way opposite, if that is even possible...

we have bethany, lor (me), emily, sandi, and sarah!

we decided, as bethany said, that our lives should be documented in some way, so here we are.

hope you enjoy, we sure do.

grace in your face (thanks mike), 

lor :)

our first blog!!

B here!

welcome to our blog!

our life is sitcom worthy, so we thought that we would create a blog in order to share our lives with y'all! keep an eye out for funny stories and videos from all of us!

God BLESS!