Workin' Woman

Alright, people, big news, and I don't have the patience to write good build-up... I GOT A FULL-TIME JOB! A grown-up job! 40 hours a week! Dress pants! I am sooooo excited! I did about fifty cartwheels around my house!

God's providence is so above and beyond would I could've imagined. As I said previously, I turned down pursuing a job with Quicken Loans. The hours were too unforgiving -- minimum 60 a week -- and there were licensing exams and all kinds of crazy things that made it seem like it would put too much of a stress on more important areas of my life. I wanted to have time to spend with Darin, getting plugged into a church, etc. Yet after I said no, I got really nervous about ever finding a job. Darin and I both wondered if that was a mistake to turn down my one lead. On Wednesday, though, out of nowhere, things changed!

Darin's awesome cousin Melissa, who has a super family (and the cutest kiddos ever), asked a bunch of people she knew if anyone was looking for a job, because there was an entry-level opening at her legal firm. Whaaaaaaaaat. Darin pounced on that for me while I was at the daycare and had me send my resume, and before I knew it on Monday I was driving up for an interview! And no one else had followed through on their search for someone to fill this position, and right away I knew I was on the team!

I couldn't be happier. I can learn the things needed for this job, it pays well, and it's full-time at last. It is also a big blessing that my supervisor will be my cousin-in-law, of course. :) I am so jazzed! It is the most massive answer to prayer, that I have the chance to make money and gain experience with a great firm and still have time to spend on the important things in life.

Yesterday when Darin and I started our bible-in-a-year reading plan, something jumped out to us that seems like the perfect description of what our lives should be. It was this:

"They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." Psalm 1:3

We noticed it because our street name was in there, so we are literally planted along the riverbank! Haha. But we were reminded that we are grounded and steady, faithful in our place, bearing fruit there continually. The river as the source of our power and nourishment sustains us and gives us success and life. This is where God planted us, and He has great things in store for our family! It may take time to see where He is heading us, but we're asking Him to see more of His kingdom come here, even on our little street or in our little offices.

Anyways, other news with us is pretty ordinary. We finally merged our bank accounts yesterday, so that's one more marriage check off the list! Now if only Secretary of State would SEND ME MY NEW DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR PETE'S SAKE but it's okay. It better come, though.

Those are the little headlines for today! Love and blessings!

Love, Lara

Decisions, Decisions

I have not written in a long time! It's for the best, I needed to wait a while to have some things that are actually interesting to share with anybody. We (Darin & I) have been living rather busy lives as of late with work and school, so I guess the "adult" life has started. COLLEGE STUDENTS: when people say you have tons of free time at school, believe them!!! I felt so "busy" until I had a house to maintain, a job to go to, and food to make that is somewhat healthy, let alone exercise or read. I did not heed these words. Alas, not important.

Actually, I feel tempted to be anxious right now for several reasons. I just turned down a second interview with Quicken Loans in downtown Detroit. This seems slightly like madness, because who would not pursue more of a full-time job in this economy, especially me? I really hated to do it. I was just faced with a hard choice: do I continue to pursue, and take, a job that requires 60 hours a week on the phone and over ten state licensing exams? If I were single or really interested in becoming a banker for life, this would totally make sense. But I foresee a future rather where I would be kept from attending any dinner bible studies, unable to spend time with family and friends if they came to visit me, and losing out on my most quality time with Darin. The stress would exceed the relief of making a good bit of money. After a great deal of praying about how to proceed with my full-time job search, I decided to hand it over to God and keep looking elsewhere.

Anyone in my shoes looking for work knows what I mean. It is really scary to let God take control of worry about whether you'll ever find a normal full-time job, let alone one that actually stirs any interests or passions in you. (I'm leaving that part on the back burner of my thoughts for the most part right now, haha.) He is able to bring something that allows me a teensy bit more freedom and time to enjoy life rather than dread it; rest assured, if you love phone calls, then you may think I'm a nut, but I think those days would pass so slowly! I am in His hands. If I have to resort to eating only oatmeal for the rest of my meals to make ends meet, then that's what I'll do. I won't make Darin do it. Just me.

So, if anyone would please join with me in praying for this job hunt, that would be so wonderful. I believe that God can give better gifts! Pray that I not only stumble upon something God has for me, but that I will continue to be wise, facing challenges at jobs but also seeking the qualities He wants.

Besides that business, we have been wedding hopping like crazy -- it's that time of year, and we contributed to it as well! -- and it has been a blast.

Macedonian wedding line dancing -- congrats Sam & Vanessa! We partied so hard that we overslept any normal church services... :|

My babester and I looking fancy :)

Later we got ice cream, zazzled up at Dairy Queen. It pays to have friends who work there.

Heck, other unorganized photos that represent what has happened lately, because I got to work at 7:30 this morning and am not in a normal state of mind:

I have to say, I concocted the hottest interview outfit of all time for Quicken last Friday. Maybe it's the first thing I prepared for... maybe. I wore a chambray long sleeve shirt with a brown-ish pencil skirt, a white fake J. Crew bubble necklace, and nude pumps. And curled my hair, which took as long as I remember that it always does, and consequently will continue to do only for special occasions.

Oh yeah, and I finally got (most of) my name changes done! This is a souvenir I took from the Social Security Office, because I was not allowed to take pictures of the even better George Takei Star Trek posters they had everywhere. This is the best ad campaign the government has ever thought of. Keep doing what you do, Social Security, except maybe let me tell you in advance how much faster my thing will be over with than the other people and let me leave sooner. Oh, and Secretary of State was a pain in the biscuit as well, as there was some error and I had to go BACK to Social Security to have them prove AGAIN that I did come in already. (Secretary of State is the DMV up here, to my Florida peeps. Weird, right?) Anyways, the Clinton cards are on their way. Hallelujah! :)

AND... drumroll... it's my birthday!!! Yay! I feel weird saying how old on the internet just because someone could figure out my exact birthday and steal my identity, so suffice it to say that it's not old yet. This is Darin's genius birthday card to me. He knows me so well. Nothing could warm my heart quite like a holographic pug that licks my face as I sway the card in the light. He says this is the closest I will get to owning one as a pet. We'll see. Anyways, we are having sushi after he is finished with class at our favorite restaurant in Dearborn, and then I get my presents! This guy put in hours worth of effort so I know they will be spectacular!

Anyways, that's all there is to say for now! Thanks for your prayers for us and for the birthday well wishes! We are still living the good life up in the Mitten!

Love, Lara

P.S. FALL IS COMING SOON. It's already in the 50's at night. Florida Lara is happy, but dreads the coming extra coldness... :| Stay tuned for my winter clothing picks.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Yesterday's headline: Happy 1 month-aversary to Darin and me! (YES that is grammatically correct people) Wow. So weird. It's yet another one of those times that on the one hand, time flew, but on the other, I feel like I've been married for a long time. I am used to seeing Darin when I roll over and wake up in the morning... in those last quiet moments before we have to be running out the door to some place. I am used to putting the toilet seat down, which is not this huge pain that some ladies complain about. Our giant sink full of dishes commemorates a month that we have to take care of this house and pretend to look like mature adults!

Last night, Darin and I were sitting on our office floor chillaxing and reflecting on our marriage and our walks with God so far. Both of us realized we've taken so many things for granted that it is shameful. We so often doubt that the Lord can bring amazing things to pass when we have ample reassurance of His truly breathtaking power and love for us! I know for myself that there are plenty of things I ceased to thank Him for when I forgot about it, and that is a pitiful thing.

First of all, I am to be so thankful for our home. It is beyond anything we could have dreamed with our little poor people budget. We can't wait to have people over more often, and are praying for big hearts that seek plenty of times to do it. And I'm thankful that God gave me a talent and strong passion for cooking and baking -- it gives us an excuse to make some people come finish off my experiments! (If they are not disgusting, of course. Usually not.)

As I went through a list of lots of things I need to continue to thank God for -- a job, health, family, friends, etc. -- of course I dwelled on how thankful I am for Darin. What happened next was that I was completely wonderstruck with our story, and that we could be here today. How could a Florida girl end up all the way in Michigan like this? It's honestly a huge miracle in my eyes, that this all began because we were on the same conference in Panama City Beach. Darin couldn't even afford to go; his friend Andy paid the three hundred or so bucks needed because he really wanted Darin to come. I almost studied abroad in Istanbul, Turkey over that week, but because my dad was so vocally against it, I decided to wait on that trip and do something else. Big Break, magnet of all who wander at Spring Break, you brought us into your grasp through a game of volleyball. My roomie Ashley at the conference met Darin playing on the beach and introduced him to the rest of us later. And that was that. We were getting married.

I am thankful that we met in this miraculous way, and that we survived a miraculous long distance relationship. The wait to see each other was at times torture, and the dropped calls and Skype issues were enough to make me scream. We stayed together in a miraculous way.

I am also thankful that Darin is even alive today and that we got married at all. In February, when he was living in East Detroit, someone in his neighborhood got into a dispute with someone they knew and pulled out a massive gun to fight back. As they duked it out, Darin's car was in the crossfire at that moment. (If you want to see a really scary looking vehicle come check it out. Still has the holes, haha.) If he'd been coming home at that moment, or was still in his car, he'd be done for -- there's a hole at head-level in the passenger's window. We joke that we wish that person had shot the engine out so that Darin could get something new, but I never stop and think about the grace God showed us in that moment. Everyone was okay. No one got hurt. Darin and his neighbor reconciled and shared barbecue.  It is the craziest story we probably have, as Darin got to share to one of our elderly neighbors here who noticed the bullet holes, and we really should never stop praising God for His providence six months ago.

Now we both are working married people with an exciting new season in life. What could I even ask of Him? Probably prayers more along the lines of these Jon Foreman (and originally, bible) lyrics that come to mind:

Won't you create in me a clean heart, O God
Restore in me the joy of Your salvation
(Psalm 51)

It's a theme that pops up a lot in my life, so I keep writing about it! I hope it keeps popping up for you too!

Love, Lara

Real Life Begins

I am seriously in a high place of thankfulness right now. My life up here in Michigan so far as been incredibly blessed and promising; the Lord is continuing to meet needs (and just plain wants) that we have had.

First of all, I am in a great position for getting a job very soon! I'll speak more on this later, but have applied to a few places involving child care and have been given paperwork to turn back in and hopefully be employed. Today I braved the needle again -- TB test, the least awful but still a needle -- and once the results come back I can hand all that in! I AM SO RELIEVED. It's interesting how the best opportunities that have come up do involve young kids. That is not what I went to school for and hasn't been my job application focus this whole time but the doors opening are in this direction, so I am excited to move this way and see what is coming my way, because I know it's for a reason.

Also, Darin and I have already had a great deal of community and friend time sent our way upon returning home. We've hung out with several friends and lots of family, and have gracious dinner invitations headed our way to spend more time with people up here. This is something I have been praying for long before coming to Michigan. The hardest thing to leave behind in Florida has not, shockingly, been the weather or Cuban sandwiches, but definitely friends and family for company. Not only is it awesome having Darin around approximately 91839182 times more often than when we were dating, but also connecting with his friends and hopefully making them my friends too! YOU HAVE TO. YOU LOVE ME. :)

I am really loving life up here so far! The weather has been beautiful -- I can't believe how cool it gets at night, haha. There are some super cute bunnies in our yard that I'm sure gardeners hate but I love watching them hop around. Our house is so cozy and is coming together one bit at a time. I am getting used to where things are and finding new spots for hanging out. Darin and I really liked dollar beers at Chesley's down the street and walking to the park near our house after dinner. I am also an mPerks gangsta at Meijer and you KNOW we're living large with fancy groceries and whatnot. Woohoo!

The best part is knowing that we have plenty, but we sure don't need it. If it were taken away somehow, we would still have a God-fearing family in this house (or another house). We know we don't need it all and that our circumstances don't have to be this good to believe in God's faithfulness to us. Being content is all the more reason to rely on Him.

"I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13 (I love when this verse is in its context!)

Can't wait to bring more of the Clintons' adventures as I start working and we head out on the town more often for different things!

Darin hung up all our instruments on the wall in our office and it looks so good!

Yesterday's sushi and Batman date since Darin got a day off :)

My ADVENTURIN' KICKS!!! I finally did the Chaco, Southern delight but bane of my poor husband's existence. Darin, I promise it'll be worth it when we do our outdoorsy business and my feets are happy!

Love, Lara

Invisible Warring

In case you didn't know, it's just ONE WEEK until my wedding! Technically less, actually, because it is midnight now and therefore a week from the first day of our honeymoon. :) I can't believe it. The past  six-ish months have been so long and so short at the same time, truly a phenomenon of physics.

One thing is for certain: I never want to look at another pinwheel again.

Or program. Or tablecloth. Or iTunes (still not done with my own wedding music!).

Wedding stuff is seriously getting poopy now. I am burned out for sure. Every day has mostly been comprised of me and my parents doing wedding-related shopping, crafting, planning, freaking out, and other activities. I barely see any of my friends, mostly because the majority of them are not in Orlando at present but also just due to me being busy and them having lives. I keep being left around 10 p.m. to yet another night of Frasier reruns. Don't get me wrong, Frasier is my favorite television show ever -- there just comes a point where you are ready for a little more jazz going on in life around that time than Kelsey Grammer.

The stress and boredom that comes with cutting out programs on a $6 paper cutter all day manifests in ways that aren't good. I find myself getting more irritable a lot faster. When my neck hurts and I've messed up a handful and need to print more, I feel more fussy. That collides with my interactions with Darin, who is also very busy with work and other things, leaving both of us exhausted throughout the day. I take his busyness and tiredness as him nonverbally saying, "You're not that important to me. I don't want to talk to you," rather than "You are so important to me, I am just really tired right now and can't talk long." The continued frustration of having less and less quality time with him as the wedding draws near makes the occasion all the more frustrating! It seems illogical, but it's hard to plunk down and DIY more and more for your wedding when you are worried your groom isn't really that excited to be with you himself.

Stewing in feelings of sadness, it hit me like a ton of bricks tonight as I was washing my face: SPIRITUAL WARFARE, CHICA. That is the connector between everything else. Satan is a master deceiver and wants God's children to feel uneasy and frustrated when huge events that glorify God approach. There are so many little opportunities for him to do his work, from conflating small issues into mountains of irritation for me in wedding planning, to twisting my interactions with Darin into visions of rejection and loneliness. Getting married and becoming one is a huge day of joy in the Christian kingdom because it honors God's plan for starting families and doing ministry as a permanent team, embodying the love Jesus has for his people! Why is it a big surprise that Satan would be so interested in meddling with a bride the week of her wedding?

What encourages me to consider is that he does this because we are moving towards something that is God's exciting plan for us, one that we are so grateful and overjoyed to take. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I am doing what I am meant to do. I am getting married to not only a godly and strong man, but also one who is my best friend! Realizing how much he means to me and how much our union pleases God and should point to Him combats the lies that want to take hold of my life as the wedding gets closer. It's important to pray for the strength to say no to untruth and withstand the temptation to have an outburst that I will regret later.

Believe that God is good.
Believe that He loves you.
Believe that the people He's given you in life love you, too.

I am hoping that this message is more firmly anchored into my heart. It's the weapon I need to fight these invisible wars and be the victor in enjoying this last week before I marry the love of my life and start my brand new life by his side!

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

Love, Lara

P.S. THANK YOU LORD THAT THIS LONG DISTANCE IS ENDING. I SERIOUSLY HATE IT ABOUT AS MUCH AS I HATE THE DEVIL. IT IS NOT GOOD.

Remember the Joy

Just as with everything in this world, there are hills and valleys. I've definitely been feeling that the past couple of days. I had a great time in Michigan getting our house all set up and spending time with my in-laws-to-be and my boo, and am just so tired of having to fly back home again after all that.

The light at the end of the tunnel is definitely near. If I really stop and think about it, it kind of freaks me out. Less than a month until I get married! I am so ready for this to happen already. We've been planning for months and dealing with long distance for many months more. It's taking its toll on me, and even though I never have to go away to visit Darin and then leave again, it gets harder every time to go back to "normal life" talking on the phone a few times a day and that being all that you have.

I think the hardest part is the somewhat helpful but painful tidbits of marriage advice I keep getting; "There will definitely be hard times." "Getting married doesn't mean you won't ever feel lonely again." "Adjusting to being married can be really frustrating." On top of the pain of being apart, it just brings a little discouragement to dwell on these thoughts, which are 100% true but just not well timed for me. My excitement about getting married is dampened a little when I think that some of the sad things I deal with in a long distance engagement won't forever disappear when Darin and I start living in the same house.

It's always good to be realistic, and know that nothing is perfect. When you get married, you are entering a covenant that isn't always easy to keep and is shared by a sinner, someone who makes mistakes and won't always gel with your ideas and feelings every second of every day. But sometimes, when you have had it with being a thousand miles away, you just need to focus on the joy of your wedding day. Then, you will at least be together -- not just in the same zip code but the same home! You will probably rub each other the wrong way sometimes, or even get into it a little deeper than that, but you'll have so many more of those special and fun moments that you remember fondly when you sit on another flight home from visiting your love. You're starting a new life with your favorite person and best friend, and can count on being with him when new hills and valleys approach.

That promise, founded on how God designed marriage and desires it to be, is what I'm clinging to in this awkward transition time of frantically finishing wedding preparations and growing weary of having to say goodnight and hang up until tomorrow. Marriage is a gift and a joy, and that is what merits mentioning the most!

Love, Lara

Getting Close to the End

Today, I turned in my very last International Studies term paper.

The last of very, very many papers that I've written in the past four years.

I only have 2 finals left, but they are both online and for business classes that I am taking on the side. For all intents and purposes, I am completely done with my International Studies degree and will be the proud holder of a USF B.A. on Friday! I CANNOT FREAKIN' BELIEVE IT.

I've both whined and joked about aspects of my major this whole time. People all the time would hear what I study and go, "Gosh, I wish I could do that!" That always cracks me up because, well, you could. I love international organizations, current affairs, culture, history, language, trade, policy, law, and all the goodies that are stirred around the pot of classes one takes at USF in this program. I had fun watching movies from Soviet Russia, writing case studies on human rights issues in China, and learning how to write in Arabic.

The other day, I thought for a second about how many professors I've had that were from different countries, and was really blown away when I realized what a rich body of knowledge I've been drawing from. I've studied under teachers from: Japan, Puerto Rico, South Africa, India, China, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Palestine, Ghana, Turkey, and Sweden. And the others have generally travelled all over the rest of the planet. Isn't it amazing to find out the perspectives of people from every other continent at school?

There have definitely been some grody moments in International Studies. I did not like memorizing the acronym-fest that is the IGO/NGO body. (Even that has acronyms, haha.) But if you ever want to know what the UN, UNSC, WTO, GATT, IMF, HRW, or MNCs are all about, hit me up! I was not thrilled at writing a paper on Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy objectives. That class was just evil. I almost fell asleep multiple times in American Foreign Policy, which was for 3 hours at night.

But the rewards have been so great. I've never doubted that I studied exactly what interests me most and fires me up about what I think it is important. I loved putting in the time and care to write a paper on Bosnian war crime tribunals for my Human Rights Class before I set foot there for the first time. My mind really came alive the times we had to formulate ideas on how to end conflicts, how to promote the rights of people all over the world, and how to celebrate the uniqueness of each culture on earth and find ways to interact as one humankind.

This major has had a hugely spiritual component for me. I get on a big soapbox about the idea of biblical, non-biblical, and abiblical things. There are things that the bible makes clear we should do and things we should not do, but there are many things that it makes no note of. So often, we ship a brand of Christianity around the world that has very American/Western instructions for setup. We make it seem like you must close your eyes to pray, that you must dress up for church, and many other traditions that rob us of the beauty of seeing other cultures embrace the purest nature of a relationship with Jesus, and experiencing his delight and joy in a way that culturally makes sense. I love that so many Asian churches all pray aloud simultaneously so that everyone can experience the cries going out to God at once! I love that so many African churches include dance as a form of worship! We Americans get so uncomfortable at such things... why? We are robbing others of seeing how God created their people groups uniquely and robbing ourselves of experiencing so many beautiful aspects of God's creation as human beings!

That seems like a tangent, but I am really passionate about this. And that drive really ties in with my huge interest in International Studies. If I could pick a dream job, it would be sharing the gospel with new residents of the U.S. I love international students and immigrant families. I hope that the Lord opens that door someday. :) But in the mean time, I have this sweet diploma to prove that I am all about the whole world and how neato it is!

I can't believe it's May of 2012. I'm sure more thoughts will come on this soon. But, in the mean time, go Bulls.

Love, Lara

Who I Am In Christ

Hello! I just got back from our Cru Women's Retreat, where a good group of ladies & I had an awesome time to get away, relax, have fun, and really hear some solid messages about God. I am pretty sure that I gave a talk at some point... haha I breezed the heck right through it and it was a blur! Either way, I got a lot out of preparing it, as I walked through what I have learned over my past 4 years at USF about applying the gospel to relationships. Hopefully sometime I will get the chance to revisit it when I am not quite as busy finishing up school and share more of where I got my thoughts and ideas from in my life experiences and God's word!

In the mean time, I just found a neato list that I got at a Cru leadership meeting that I really love and want to have handy anytime. It's simple and encouraging, pointing us to what the bible says about who we are if we have Christ. I want to make my own copy to hang somewhere that doesn't use Comic Sans (I am just picky like that), but am putting it here for the world to enjoy. I encourage anyone to take an afternoon out to sit and read these verses one by one, contemplating what they mean for us, and go forth confident that we have the greatest strong arm behind us to catch us and push us onward! :)

Who I Am In Christ

I Am Accepted

1. John 1:12- I am God's child.

2. John 15:15- I am Christ's friend.

3. Romans 5:1- I have been justified.

4. 1 Cor. 6:17- I am united with the Lord, and I am one spirit with him.

5. 1 Cor. 6:19-20- I have been bought with a price. I belong to God.

6. 1 Cor. 12:27- I am a member of Christ's body.

7. Eph. 1:1- I am a saint.

8. Eph. 1:5- I have been adopted as God's child.

9. Eph. 2:18- I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.

10. Col. 1:14- I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.

11. Col. 2:10- I am complete in Christ.

I Am Secure

12. Romans 8:1-2- I am free forever from condemnation.

13. Romans 8:28- I am assured that all things work together for good.

14. Romans 8:31-34- I am free from any condemning charges against me.

15. Romans 8:35-39- I cannot be separated from the love of God.

16. 2 Cor. 1:21-22- I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God.

17. Col. 3:3- I am hidden with Christ in God

18. Phil. 1:6- I am confident that the good work that God has begun in me will be perfected.

19. Phil. 3:20- I am a citizen of heaven.

20. 2 Tim. 1:7- I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

21. Heb. 4:16- I can find grace and mercy in a time of need.

22. 1 John 5:18- I am born of Gid, and the evil one cannot touch me.

I Am Significant

23. Matthew 5:13-14- I am the salt and light of the earth.

24. John 15:1&5- I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of his life.

25. John 15:16- I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

26. Acts 1:8- I am a personal witness of Christ.

27. 1 Cor. 3:16- I am God's temple.

28. 2 Cor. 5:17-21- I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

29. 2 Cor. 6:1- I am God's coworker.

30. Eph. 2:6- I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.

31. Eph. 2:10- I am God's workmanship.

32. Eph. 3:12- I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

33. Phil. 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is a practical reference sheet for any and every question about ourselves in God's eyes, once we have given our lives over to Him because of what He did for us through Jesus. I hope it blesses you as much as it blesses me to have on hand and remember what is really true!

Have a refreshing Monday!

Love, Lara

Goal Maker

I've always been a big fan of lists. I used to make lists just for fun of my favorite cereals, my favorite flavors of ice cream, my favorite books, just because. It's a really weird thing to do just for fun - you are literally writing down things that you already know for the most part - but there's something satisfying about seeing it organized and on paper to me.

Lots of times, this weird hobby of mine is actually very helpful. I like pro & con lists, and how they help me make decisions about what to do. Making lists of the classes I've taken and the ones I still wanted to take helped me keep on track throughout college (NOTHING came as a surprise to me in terms of credits and whatnot). Making lists of places I'd like to travel helps me figure out what opportunities to keep an eye out for and save my money towards the ones with the most things I want to see, or what's nearby other places I like.

I was really inspired by the blog of a really awesome woman, the pastor's wife at the church I attend, Ashlee Proffitt. I barely, barely know her at all; I think she recognizes my face on Sunday mornings haha. However, I am a big fan of her design business. We have very similar taste in how things should look, I have noticed.

She has a great practice of putting her monthly goals out for all to see, which first of all forces you to make some goals in the first place that have a deadline, and also share them so other people can at least be a little interested in how they are progressing. Being a list fiend, this is right up my little left-brained alley! Oddly enough, the font she uses on her goals list is exactly the same as one I use all over the place. Again, coincidentally similar tastes. (Thanks Learning Curve.)

Although we're already through a good chunk of April, I have some goals in mind that I'd like to accomplish this month!

Spiritual Goals: 1. My roomie & friend Skylar had the great idea of reading through the Psalms downward that correspond to the number of days left hasta la boda. For example, 90 days left = read Psalm 90. Pretty neat! I have done it most days the past week since I thought about it but want to make it consistent.

2. I've been reading the awesome book Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud for USF Cru's Women's Challenge this semester. Unfortunately, I felt the need to back out of it this last month of school due to the billions of things that must occupy my time, but the book is awesome and I want to finish it up in my spare time. Highly recommended, even if you don't think you're all that messed up, haha. :)

3. Scripture memory. Also something I have been doing at Women's Challenge, and need to continue on my own. I love this verse; it really speaks on how to live in a godly community & bring others in.

Personal Goals: 1. Something I like a lot is fiddling around with graphic design software. I have no idea if I am very good at it or not. I did design my own wedding invitations and received enough positive feedback from trustworthy friends that I am confident in sending them out, but that's still a pretty small portfolio, hahaha. I found a nice online course that has more foundational things I want to learn. Gotta jump on it!

2. All semester I've made a point of exercising with Robbie after my Tuesday/Thursday classes. I also walk a lot to class, so I am not too worried about trying to cram in 5 days a week and become super buff. Just building a little muscle tone. It's fun!

3. Marriage + moving = perfect time to dump some clothes I do not wear or do not need. Not only do I have a ridiculous number of pieces that are Florida-tastic and not practical for living in Michigan year-round, but an abundance of free shirts from USF and the like. Can't wait to get it down to the basics.

Relationship Goals: 1. Darin and I have read through 1 Peter together for a while now. Darin proposed that we start reading the same passage together and come back to discuss it, and both of us independently wanted 1 Peter. Can't find an excuse not to with divine guidance like that! ;)

2. We have started the most perfect premarital counseling course humanly possible. It's online (perfect for this LDR situation we are in), biblically-based, AND was on a special for only $55! I can't wait to start it!

3. We usually pray together before hitting the hay, but sometimes we forget. Both of us want to make it more of a habit that we can carry into marriage.

Wedding Goals: 1. Figuring out the food is a lofty goal for this month, haha. I might need to keep it going into May. But making progress in that area is definitely necessary.

2. I am so close to this goal being done that I don't feel bad that the other one is a tall order, haha. I just need more stamps!

3. This is my last full month in Tampa, because I am heading back to Orlando to finish up wedding shenanigans in the comfort of the city in which the party is going down. Not all my lady friends will be able to come down there later this summer, so I am thinking we will have to have a more open-invite fiesta right here in the 813. I am going to bounce some ideas off my friends!

Goals are great! Even if you're not as much of a visual person when it comes to planning and organizing, you owe it to yourself to keep track of some things you are striving for regularly. There's a lot that everyone wants to do but doesn't set out a plan to just do it! Get you some!

Love, Lara

Who Coulda Known

Looking at the calendar today, I realized that it has been three whole months since I got engaged! Wow. While the time has absolutely crawled at many points since then, I still am a little surprised that it's been a whole quarter of a year that I have been planning a wedding and getting used to the idea of actually getting married!

I really don't stop enough to think just how weird this really is for me. I have gotten used to it pretty quickly, but in reality, this is a huge, totally unexpected place for me to be in my life right now, compared to about a year ago. Before last spring break, I had never been in an official "relationship" with anyone. I did not get asked out a whole lot, and when I did, it was usually either that the timing was not very good for me or I just did not have an assured feeling about it. I spent a lot of time wondering if something was wrong with me, or what I was doing to keep men away. When I really started following Christ, I left behind my more cynical man-bashing ways but was still not seeing tons of results!

Then, completely out of nowhere, I found myself introduced to someone totally new, which I did not expect. I kind of had thought that I would likely one day end up dating someone who I had known for a while and had been warming up to for some time, and that we would be friends who decided to take it to the next level. Wrong! I walked into one week in Panama City Beach as a single girl attending a conference (which I highly recommend in every way), and walked out a not-so-single girl who was spoken for and was pretty much dating, even though it was not made official until about a month later -- at my self-guarding bequest. I probably spent time with this guy a couple times a day, with varying degrees of one-on-one communication and hanging out, for a max of about five days. How in the world does this happen?!

I am the last person to expect myself to be on the marriage path during my final semester of college. My prior plans were to graduate and probably find a way to go overseas long-term, especially having loved my time in Bosnia. I expected to be joining a dating website if I did not meet anyone by age 30, and just resigned myself for the most part to wait and wait. I literally bet one of my best friends $1,000 that I would not be the first one of our group of friends to date someone or get married, which was an assertion that she very boldly stuck to for no reason that I could see. Amanda, sorry... I am not paying you. We didn't shake on it.

Thinking about it all really goes to show how little you can predict about your life. Our stories are very different and creatively written by God, who loves us enough to give each of us a different adventure rather than blandly copying the same tale over and over in this epic. I mean, my senior year of high school, here is what I thought I would be doing:

1. Going to an ivy league university

2. Studying journalism

3. Hopefully getting a job in New York or something equally chic

4. Out-earning my male coworkers

5. Having an artsy and highly intellectual boyfriend who read poetry and played the piano

Here is what I did instead:

1. Went to a public university in my home state (go bulls!)

2. Studied International Studies and some in Ancient History & Business

3. Prepared a job wherever the freak someone will hire me

4. Went overseas to France for fun, and Bosnia for Christ

5. Met an all-American guy who both plays basketball and the guitar, and is a better balance between sensitive and more typical "masculine" qualities, and agreed to marry him

All in all, I came out of it with less debt, more experiences, a more open mind, a stronger faith, and a fella I couldn't have dreamed up being better for myself. :) I mean, when we first met, we discussed Flight of the Conchords, Freaks & Geeks, and Old Gregg. If that was not a divine match, then I really do not know what could be.

I am thankful for the twists and turns my plans have taken as God has held the reins. They are far better than I imagined. I hope I can hold onto that as I embark on a new stage of life as a college graduate and a wifey. Let's just say, I am not planning on having seven babies and moving to India, but apparently I can never tell what will happen...

I hope you see the exciting ways that your life has exceeded your expectations and that you await more adventures coming your way!

Love, Lara