Saturday, September 30, 2006
The Sonoma Trip and my Sanity
Sonoma was great. Lots of things went wrong (it was almost comical, so many things went wrong!), but we had SUCH a good time! We enjoyed two nights of relaxing and hanging out. It was really fun, and I got the most amazing maincure and pedicure ever. It took 2 hours, and I had all different kinds of treatments and stuff. It was great!! Also, I had my first bottle of really expensive champagne (don't worry, I didn't have the whole bottle!) and it was so delicious. I love champagne. As far as alcohol is concerned, champagne seems perfect to me. It just means "celebration", it tastes fantastic, you can mix it with any fruit juice you want, the bubbles are fun, the glasses are pretty and you look oh so cool drinking it. I discovered my perfect drink a year or two ago...it's called a "bellini" and basically it's champagne and purreed peaches....and it's pink!!! It's is so me!! It doesn't get you wasted (unless you drink about 10), it's pink, it has bubbles, it's fancy and...it's yummy! Anyways, I should stop talking about alcohol before everyone gets the wrong idea. Anyhoo...so I haven't been blogging lately because our internet service is not working at our house, so i have needed to find other places to get on the computer. I love the internet, so this has been hard for me (but also good). Basically, life has been hard. Sigh. I don't mean to complain, but this has been an extremely rough week. Mark and I have been just dealing with so much. AHHHH! All I can say is that we have worked through some really, really tough stuff this week and we are stronger than ever. How do people make marriages work without God? Oh, wait...they don't. Sorry, that was harsh. But, after being married for a mere 3 months, I understand the divorce rate. It is so hard. But I can admit that because I know we will make it. There is simply no option of divorce for us. Divorce will simply not be a part of my life. Period. Now, don't get worried about us. We're fine...we're amazing, actually. But, WOW!!! Marriage changes everything. And God has brought up so much in both of us since being married. We're changing and learning what it takes to build a lifelong marriage. And I know what it takes: a close relationship with God. If we didn't have it....I don't know.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Off to Sonoma!
So, tomorrow my sister Sarah, my mom and I are going to to stay the weekend in Sonoma, which should be so fun and relaxing. My Dad always takes trips with all his friends, and my Mom always stays home. So, my dad has been trying to convince her to take a trip somewhere. I came up with going to Napa or Sonoma, and my mom loved it. We're staying at the Lodge at Sonoma and we're going to be there for two nights. My dad really wants us to have fun and gave us a very generous budget (insert happy squeal here). So, we're going to fancy restaurants, going to a spa, going shopping, having room service whenever we want it and we have an awesome room with a fireplace. Yay! I am so excited, I have gotten used to worrying about every penny spent on a vacation. We had a bery limited budget on a honeymoon even, so I'm so looking forward to this experience. Like everyone, I love luxury travelling...especially when my parents are paying for everything. I'm only sad that my oldest sister can't make it, because she lives in Texas and is like 6 months pregnant! But, I know we're going to have a great time. And I can't wait to take lots of pictures..I know it's going to be beautiful!
Monday, September 18, 2006
My first haircut in a year a half!!
So...as soon as Mark and I started talking about marriage, I stopped cutting my hair. It was really short at the time, and I've been letting it grow back for the past year and a half. Now, when I tell you that my hair grows fast, I mean my hair grows FAST! It had gotten to half way down my back when I straightened it. In the last couple of months, I have really been dealing with self confidence issues. When I got married, I thought it would fufill me completely and I would alwyas feel good about the way I looked. Of course, this didn't happen I knew (logically) that God sees me as His beautiful, perfect princess. I know that He sees as SO beautiful and that He just marvels at my beauty. But I couldn't make it go from my mind to my heart. But...I worked on it with my amazing cell group leader, Morgan, and I know that God has completely delivered me from that pain and that way of thinking. I just FEEL the difference!! To say that I have always had self esteem isssues is an understatement. It had previously shaped the way I lived my life..I felt so unconfident and I just tried to fill that with everything..guys, drinking, etc, etc. But now I know that only God can truly fufill me and shape the way I think about myself. I just love thinking that I must be an amazing princess because my Father isn't just a regular king..He's the King of Kings! It's a cliche, but...really! Anyways, I'm totally digging God (I always do, but I am just SO GRATEFUL!!!) and I'm totally digging my haircut. Sigh. Life is good! Here's the new 'do (and a new attitude!):
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Another Weekend Gone...
This weekend was great, but it went so fast..like they always do. I feel like I never get to see Mark anymore. He goes to work at 7:00 am, and he gets home around 5 most nights. Some nights he has crazy hours and has worked 18 hours in one day once. He's really tired usually and goes to sleep around 9:30 or ten. And the days just go by so fast...I feel like I'm always missing him. Our weekends go especially fast since our Sundays are very full with Church. I love it, but I just wish we had more time together. I know I shouldn't complain, but I'm still adjusting to spending so much time apart from my husband. I started a new class at church, and it has already made a big impact. I just feel so inspired and so...filled with a greater revelation of God's love for me. I feel so blessed to be married at a young age to such a wonderful man. My husband and I are working really hard to build a strong foundation for a successful marriage. I am so committed to trusting in the Word for a successful marriage, and I am so excited to live a lifetime with Mark. I know God will continue to use my marriage to reveal all sorts of things to me, and I think it's awesome. On another note, Saturday morning was spent having coffee with Brooke and Emily. It was great to get to know Emily better and to talk to Brooke all about her upcoming wedding (yay!). I had a great time and of course loved my carmel machhiato (mmmm!) I love my new life as a Christian and all the wonderful people (especially all the amazing women) that God has put into my life. The friendships I have formed in the last 9 months as a Christian are so much more real than the friendships I had that were based on going to bars and basically being sinful. I mean, I LOVE my "old" friends and I miss them so much it hurts, but it's just not the same. All the best memories with them were ones that were formed while we were drunk and being crazy. The times I share in fellowship are some of the most heartfelt, impacting times I've ever had. I feel like I can share anything with my sisters in Christ, and I just feel like I'm being real for the first time in my life...
Thursday, September 14, 2006
My Testimony
Although my wedding was an amazing day, and so important to me, it was not the most important day of my life. The day I gave my life to Christ was by far the most life changing and special day of my life. I'll start from the beginning...
Growing up, I was the only child out of four in my family that truly and deeply believed in God. I knew, without a doubt, that God existed. I knew this because I felt His love, and I just knew that I had been placed on this Earth for a specific reason. I was not raised in a Christian home, although my Dad would go to Church on and off throughout my life. I was the only child that would go with him, but because he was not truly saved, he never talked to me about Jesus or shared the Gospel with me. In Junior High and High School, I would sometimes go to the Christian groups on campus, but nobody ever talked to me to see where I was at with God. I was always searching, reading books on all sorts of religions and I was even highly involved with a Masonic youth group because I thought it might help me find some answers.
But, I was lost. And I was hurt, and getting more and more hurt as every year went on. My family life would sometimes be okay, sometimes it would be abusive and my parents (whom I love very much) struggled very much in their own marriage and as parents. I would pray when I felt like I really needed God, but I was forming a view that it was all up to me..that I was alone I needed to rely on myself.
I was in so much pain, and I felt so rejected. My mother had spoken several curses over me about my appearance and my self confidence, and I just felt worthless by the time I was around 16. I tried to be perfect, getting straight A's, becoming a cheerleader, President of my Freshman class, and I was even a homecoming Princess. But, of couse, nothing made me feel better. I started having sex and drinking when I was 17. I thought that if guys wanted to have sex with me, they must at least like the way I look. I would throw huge parties, hoping people would like me after that. I was always funny, and I could drink a lot. I had a lot of fun, but I was never happy. I was depressed often, and had incredible mood swings.
I started dating my first serious boyfriend when I was 18, and entering my Senior year of High school. We dated for three years, although I was never happy in the relationship. He was a very sweet and gentle guy, but I was only with him for security and because my self confidence was so low. Then, at a party, I met my future husband, Mark. To be completely honest, the thing that attracted me to him was that he was having such a good time and was the life of the party (my first boyfriend was quite the wallflower). I was definitely interested in Mark, but I was too scared to leave my boyfriend. It took about a month of me liking Mark from a distance before I decided to take a shot. Now, I was always completely against cheating (and of course I still am), but I got drunk and I told Mark how I felt. We kissed that night. It was a tiny peck and what I didn't know was that that was Mark's first kiss. Anyways, I broke up with my boyfriend and started dating Mark.
Mark moved to go to school at Humboldt State , and six months later, I joined him. We went crazy with drugs, alcohol, sex...Everything. It was horrible and I felt broken. We ended up leaving after that year because we couldn't be successful students in that environment (and I felt broken). We moved back to Chico and moved into together. Our life was more stable, as Mark worked and I went to school. I failed at least half of classes because I hated school and I didn't even want to go to college. But, I felt like I had no choice. My parents and Mark's parents would be way too disappointed if I dropped out. I still thought about God, but it seemed like my life was so screwed up, who would want me now...Especially God. I would pray, but I didn't know anything else to do. Everything around me was horrible, except my relationship with Mark. He was, at that point, the best thing that had ever happened to me. I was honest and open with him in a way I had never been, and I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
We moved into a house with 4 other roommates in June 2005, and we had a lot of fun at first. Three days after we moved in, we had a big birthday party for my 23rd birthday, and Mark proposed in front of everyone with a birthday cake (and a ring)! We were so excited to be engaged, but to make our parents happy, we decided on a long-term engagement with no date set. We loved our roommates and we especially loved having an instant party in our house. But, something started changing within me quickly that year. I started thinking about God a lot, and I started buying Christian books and wondering what it would be like to be a Christian. But, there was a slight problem..Mark was an atheist!!! He was a math major and a science nerd, and had grown up in an atheist home. He would argue with me, and I would always say that there was nothing he could say that would convince me there is no God. He eventually came to admire my faith, and even said he wished he could have a faith like mine. But he couldn't imagine it.
At this same time, a friend from High School, Morgan, and I came back into contact through MySpace. She is an amazing woman. She is a Christian after God's own heart, and she is deeply motivated to reach out to the lost. I knew that becoming friends with her meant talking about God, and I struggled with that for a while. I loved her, but I was scared. I was scared that I wasn't good enough. I was still a heavy partier, drinker and I smoked both pot and cigarettes constantly. I lived with my fiance, and of course I was sexually active. I cursed like a sailor and made fun of "Jesus Freaks" (then a bad title, now a good one!). I didn't know what to do.
I knew God was calling me. I felt it..like someone was holding one hand and pulling me one, while there was someone else pulling me in the opposite direction. My mom is Catholic, so I looked into that. I had rosaries, and starting doing my rosary every day. I started reading my Bible and even went to the local Catholic Church to find out what it took to become Catholic. Mark was surprised by this, but didn't say anything against it. At the same time, Morgan was pursuing a friendship with me and I was fighting it. Finally, I gave in and decided to talk to her about everything. I wrote her an e-mail where I admitted everything I was doing and told her I was afraid I wasn't good enough for church...or for God. Thank God, she explained to me that God meets you wherever you are. She shared with me some stories of our Pastor's past and some of the other leaders' pasts as well. I realized that everyone came from somewhere and I might as well make it part of my past, too.
She invited me to her cell group, where I heard the Gospel for the first time ever. It made perfect, complete sense. I just knew that it was true. At the end of the cell group, there was an opportunity to give your life to Christ, but I was just too nervous. Morgan and I went out to coffee right cell group, and I asked her a lot of questions. I remember saying to her "You know that decision thing? Where you pray to receive Christ? I think I'm ready to do that." And we were in Starbucks, so she was acted like that was no big deal and said "oh, okay, when we leave, we can do that." Now I know, she was screaming and jumping up and down with joy inside. So, we went to her car and prayed. Now I laugh and think "I was saved in a car. Ha." I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was SO important. I remember being nervous to pray in front of Morgan and I hoped I was doing it right.
I came home and told Mark about what had happened. He was happy for me, and I immediately shared the gospel with him. He just kinda laughed and said he was sorry, but he just didn't believe that. I asked him if he would start going to Church with me, and he is so sweet that he agreed, even though he would uncomfortable. We started going to Morgan's church, Zion Worship Center. Zion is under the vision of G12, and it was completely different from any church I had been to. These people really worshipped! You could feel the Holy Spirit and it was just a wonderful environment. Everyone truly cared about us, and I knew this is where I was supposed to be.
I started attending cell group regularly, and Morgan spent so much time with me, discipling me and just being a wonderful example of a Christian wife, mother and friend. I learned so much so quickly and I started transforming. I started praying for Mark's salvation and I was just believing in faith that he would be saved. We had been engaged for 6 moths at this point, and I knew that as a Christian, I should not be unequally yoked with a non believer. He just would have to give his life to Christ, or we probably wouldn't get married. But I never said that out loud or acted any different. I loved him fiercely. I prayed for him all the time, and I always shared everything that God was doing in my life. He saw the changes, and he asked questions. He said he wanted it, but he didn't think he could ever believe. I told him to pray for the faith to believe. And to my surprise, he did. He kept coming to church with me, hearing the Gospel and not doing anything.
I had a conversation with him about how fear is the opposite of faith. I loved that, and decided I would always live in faith, not in fear. He listened, but didn't seem very moved. And then, when he was playing a videogame, he suddenly stopped and said "Laura, I think God just spoke to me." Since he was playing a videogame, I thought he was joking and I said "shut up, that's not funny". Then he said, "No, I'm serious. I think God just spoke to me." So, I looked at him and I saw that his face was white and inside my heart was beating a million miles an hour.
He then proceeded to tell me that while he was playing his game, his character kept dying at a certain part. He said he started to get afraid right before that part, because he knew he would die again. Then, he said he heard someone say "Don't be afraid. Have Faith." and right then he beat the part he had been trying to get past. He said he immediately knew it was not really about the videogame. He said that he knew it was God, and he also said he suddenly knew that the Gospel was true, and not only did God exist, but Jesus was His son. He said it just all clicked..like a light switch coming on. I prayed with him, and it was an amazing moment. He changed completely right then, and has never been the same. I knew God created him to be my husband. How many couples get saved almost together? Not many..I knew it was God telling us we were supposed to be married and have a ministry together.
After that, we both became really involved with our church and we learned how to be Christians together. Morgan and her husband, Eric discipled us with patience, love, friendship and understanding. We learned so much thanks to the G12 vision and the awesome process that they have. We went to an encounter (a whole other blog) where we were freed from some much!
I felt so powerful and untouchable after I gave my life to Christ. When I realized that I should live for no one except God, my whole life changed. I gave up school because I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. School is definitely right for some people, but not for me. And I finally felt free!! Also, Mark and I moved our wedding date up to July 8, 2006. We worked on ridding our lives of sin, and as God put in our heats, we had to make a lot of changes. We were still living together, as we had for 2 1/2 years, but I knew something had to change. We were getting married in five months, and Mark supported me financially..It was a hard situation. So, Mark slept on the couch for 5 months!! Honestly, this was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. Sex was always a big part of our relationship, and we had to learn how to love each other without sex. It was difficult, but so worth it. When I walked down the aisle, I knew that God saw me as a pure virgin, and he had restored me mentally and physically. And we felt like virgins on our wedding night, and God has blessed that aspect of our marriage, partly because of our obedience.
So now, 9 months after I gave my life to Christ, everything is different. We strive to live Holy lives and we live in constant relationship with God and the Holy Spirit. I'm still learning, sometimes still struggling to be obedient, but I know this is who I was created to be. I was created to worship God, to be a beautiful, perfect princess and to be a true lover of Christ. Mark has become a warrior for Christ, a powerful man of God. We love Jesus, and have devoted our lives to be true disciples of Christ. We look forward to being parents of multitudes, spiritually and physically. We are living our lives for God, and I haven't regretted that decision for a second. I was dead, now I am alive. I was broken, now I am healed. I was in pain, now I am comforted. And Jesus can do that for you, too. God is AMAZING!
Growing up, I was the only child out of four in my family that truly and deeply believed in God. I knew, without a doubt, that God existed. I knew this because I felt His love, and I just knew that I had been placed on this Earth for a specific reason. I was not raised in a Christian home, although my Dad would go to Church on and off throughout my life. I was the only child that would go with him, but because he was not truly saved, he never talked to me about Jesus or shared the Gospel with me. In Junior High and High School, I would sometimes go to the Christian groups on campus, but nobody ever talked to me to see where I was at with God. I was always searching, reading books on all sorts of religions and I was even highly involved with a Masonic youth group because I thought it might help me find some answers.
But, I was lost. And I was hurt, and getting more and more hurt as every year went on. My family life would sometimes be okay, sometimes it would be abusive and my parents (whom I love very much) struggled very much in their own marriage and as parents. I would pray when I felt like I really needed God, but I was forming a view that it was all up to me..that I was alone I needed to rely on myself.
I was in so much pain, and I felt so rejected. My mother had spoken several curses over me about my appearance and my self confidence, and I just felt worthless by the time I was around 16. I tried to be perfect, getting straight A's, becoming a cheerleader, President of my Freshman class, and I was even a homecoming Princess. But, of couse, nothing made me feel better. I started having sex and drinking when I was 17. I thought that if guys wanted to have sex with me, they must at least like the way I look. I would throw huge parties, hoping people would like me after that. I was always funny, and I could drink a lot. I had a lot of fun, but I was never happy. I was depressed often, and had incredible mood swings.
I started dating my first serious boyfriend when I was 18, and entering my Senior year of High school. We dated for three years, although I was never happy in the relationship. He was a very sweet and gentle guy, but I was only with him for security and because my self confidence was so low. Then, at a party, I met my future husband, Mark. To be completely honest, the thing that attracted me to him was that he was having such a good time and was the life of the party (my first boyfriend was quite the wallflower). I was definitely interested in Mark, but I was too scared to leave my boyfriend. It took about a month of me liking Mark from a distance before I decided to take a shot. Now, I was always completely against cheating (and of course I still am), but I got drunk and I told Mark how I felt. We kissed that night. It was a tiny peck and what I didn't know was that that was Mark's first kiss. Anyways, I broke up with my boyfriend and started dating Mark.
Mark moved to go to school at Humboldt State , and six months later, I joined him. We went crazy with drugs, alcohol, sex...Everything. It was horrible and I felt broken. We ended up leaving after that year because we couldn't be successful students in that environment (and I felt broken). We moved back to Chico and moved into together. Our life was more stable, as Mark worked and I went to school. I failed at least half of classes because I hated school and I didn't even want to go to college. But, I felt like I had no choice. My parents and Mark's parents would be way too disappointed if I dropped out. I still thought about God, but it seemed like my life was so screwed up, who would want me now...Especially God. I would pray, but I didn't know anything else to do. Everything around me was horrible, except my relationship with Mark. He was, at that point, the best thing that had ever happened to me. I was honest and open with him in a way I had never been, and I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
We moved into a house with 4 other roommates in June 2005, and we had a lot of fun at first. Three days after we moved in, we had a big birthday party for my 23rd birthday, and Mark proposed in front of everyone with a birthday cake (and a ring)! We were so excited to be engaged, but to make our parents happy, we decided on a long-term engagement with no date set. We loved our roommates and we especially loved having an instant party in our house. But, something started changing within me quickly that year. I started thinking about God a lot, and I started buying Christian books and wondering what it would be like to be a Christian. But, there was a slight problem..Mark was an atheist!!! He was a math major and a science nerd, and had grown up in an atheist home. He would argue with me, and I would always say that there was nothing he could say that would convince me there is no God. He eventually came to admire my faith, and even said he wished he could have a faith like mine. But he couldn't imagine it.
At this same time, a friend from High School, Morgan, and I came back into contact through MySpace. She is an amazing woman. She is a Christian after God's own heart, and she is deeply motivated to reach out to the lost. I knew that becoming friends with her meant talking about God, and I struggled with that for a while. I loved her, but I was scared. I was scared that I wasn't good enough. I was still a heavy partier, drinker and I smoked both pot and cigarettes constantly. I lived with my fiance, and of course I was sexually active. I cursed like a sailor and made fun of "Jesus Freaks" (then a bad title, now a good one!). I didn't know what to do.
I knew God was calling me. I felt it..like someone was holding one hand and pulling me one, while there was someone else pulling me in the opposite direction. My mom is Catholic, so I looked into that. I had rosaries, and starting doing my rosary every day. I started reading my Bible and even went to the local Catholic Church to find out what it took to become Catholic. Mark was surprised by this, but didn't say anything against it. At the same time, Morgan was pursuing a friendship with me and I was fighting it. Finally, I gave in and decided to talk to her about everything. I wrote her an e-mail where I admitted everything I was doing and told her I was afraid I wasn't good enough for church...or for God. Thank God, she explained to me that God meets you wherever you are. She shared with me some stories of our Pastor's past and some of the other leaders' pasts as well. I realized that everyone came from somewhere and I might as well make it part of my past, too.
She invited me to her cell group, where I heard the Gospel for the first time ever. It made perfect, complete sense. I just knew that it was true. At the end of the cell group, there was an opportunity to give your life to Christ, but I was just too nervous. Morgan and I went out to coffee right cell group, and I asked her a lot of questions. I remember saying to her "You know that decision thing? Where you pray to receive Christ? I think I'm ready to do that." And we were in Starbucks, so she was acted like that was no big deal and said "oh, okay, when we leave, we can do that." Now I know, she was screaming and jumping up and down with joy inside. So, we went to her car and prayed. Now I laugh and think "I was saved in a car. Ha." I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was SO important. I remember being nervous to pray in front of Morgan and I hoped I was doing it right.
I came home and told Mark about what had happened. He was happy for me, and I immediately shared the gospel with him. He just kinda laughed and said he was sorry, but he just didn't believe that. I asked him if he would start going to Church with me, and he is so sweet that he agreed, even though he would uncomfortable. We started going to Morgan's church, Zion Worship Center. Zion is under the vision of G12, and it was completely different from any church I had been to. These people really worshipped! You could feel the Holy Spirit and it was just a wonderful environment. Everyone truly cared about us, and I knew this is where I was supposed to be.
I started attending cell group regularly, and Morgan spent so much time with me, discipling me and just being a wonderful example of a Christian wife, mother and friend. I learned so much so quickly and I started transforming. I started praying for Mark's salvation and I was just believing in faith that he would be saved. We had been engaged for 6 moths at this point, and I knew that as a Christian, I should not be unequally yoked with a non believer. He just would have to give his life to Christ, or we probably wouldn't get married. But I never said that out loud or acted any different. I loved him fiercely. I prayed for him all the time, and I always shared everything that God was doing in my life. He saw the changes, and he asked questions. He said he wanted it, but he didn't think he could ever believe. I told him to pray for the faith to believe. And to my surprise, he did. He kept coming to church with me, hearing the Gospel and not doing anything.
I had a conversation with him about how fear is the opposite of faith. I loved that, and decided I would always live in faith, not in fear. He listened, but didn't seem very moved. And then, when he was playing a videogame, he suddenly stopped and said "Laura, I think God just spoke to me." Since he was playing a videogame, I thought he was joking and I said "shut up, that's not funny". Then he said, "No, I'm serious. I think God just spoke to me." So, I looked at him and I saw that his face was white and inside my heart was beating a million miles an hour.
He then proceeded to tell me that while he was playing his game, his character kept dying at a certain part. He said he started to get afraid right before that part, because he knew he would die again. Then, he said he heard someone say "Don't be afraid. Have Faith." and right then he beat the part he had been trying to get past. He said he immediately knew it was not really about the videogame. He said that he knew it was God, and he also said he suddenly knew that the Gospel was true, and not only did God exist, but Jesus was His son. He said it just all clicked..like a light switch coming on. I prayed with him, and it was an amazing moment. He changed completely right then, and has never been the same. I knew God created him to be my husband. How many couples get saved almost together? Not many..I knew it was God telling us we were supposed to be married and have a ministry together.
After that, we both became really involved with our church and we learned how to be Christians together. Morgan and her husband, Eric discipled us with patience, love, friendship and understanding. We learned so much thanks to the G12 vision and the awesome process that they have. We went to an encounter (a whole other blog) where we were freed from some much!
I felt so powerful and untouchable after I gave my life to Christ. When I realized that I should live for no one except God, my whole life changed. I gave up school because I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. School is definitely right for some people, but not for me. And I finally felt free!! Also, Mark and I moved our wedding date up to July 8, 2006. We worked on ridding our lives of sin, and as God put in our heats, we had to make a lot of changes. We were still living together, as we had for 2 1/2 years, but I knew something had to change. We were getting married in five months, and Mark supported me financially..It was a hard situation. So, Mark slept on the couch for 5 months!! Honestly, this was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. Sex was always a big part of our relationship, and we had to learn how to love each other without sex. It was difficult, but so worth it. When I walked down the aisle, I knew that God saw me as a pure virgin, and he had restored me mentally and physically. And we felt like virgins on our wedding night, and God has blessed that aspect of our marriage, partly because of our obedience.
So now, 9 months after I gave my life to Christ, everything is different. We strive to live Holy lives and we live in constant relationship with God and the Holy Spirit. I'm still learning, sometimes still struggling to be obedient, but I know this is who I was created to be. I was created to worship God, to be a beautiful, perfect princess and to be a true lover of Christ. Mark has become a warrior for Christ, a powerful man of God. We love Jesus, and have devoted our lives to be true disciples of Christ. We look forward to being parents of multitudes, spiritually and physically. We are living our lives for God, and I haven't regretted that decision for a second. I was dead, now I am alive. I was broken, now I am healed. I was in pain, now I am comforted. And Jesus can do that for you, too. God is AMAZING!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
100 New Things About Me
I did this about six months ago, but I decided it was time to do it again (new blog...new list, right?) Well, here's 100 completely random things about me :
1) My name is Laura. Nice to meet you!
2) I'm still in the process of changing that legally!
3) I was married on July 8, 2006.
4) I dated husband for three years before we got married.
5) My Husband's name is Mark.
6) Nobody ever gets the spacing and capitalization of my last name right the first time.
7) *Removed retoractively for privacy reasons
8) I love my married name.
9) *Removed retoractively for privacy reasons
10) Speaking of which, one of my best friends is named Morgan Fairchild. I love it!
11) I have a scar in my knee from where my twin brother speared me with a broken PVC pipe.
12) I also have a large scar on my thigh where I burned it with boiling spaghetti sauce a few years ago.
13) My dog has three working legs. One of her legs has a kneecap that was broken and it fused back together. We don't know how this happened, because we adopted her years after, when she was around 8 years old.
14)Her Name is Gidget but I also call her Gidge, Gidge-Pup, Pup-a-roo, Fox-Pup, Fraggle, Monkey Girl, Bridget and Miss Gidge.
15) I also have a cat name Chiyo, who is so adorable. We found her by a dumpster in Willows, and we've had her for about 8 months. She's SO CUTE!
16) We love dogs and can't wait to be in a house so we can get more!
17) We want a black toy poodle and an English Sheepdog (think Nana in Peter Pan) next.
18) I also really want to get a really foxy (literally..like a fox) looking dog and name him Foxtrot Charlie...that's like my dream!
19) My wedding was exactly what I wanted. It was perfect for us. I loved our ceremony!
20) Mark and I talked very, very quietly to each other through the whole ceremony. I can't believe I had the nerve to do that. But, of course, we just basically said "I love you" over and over again.
21) Being married is SO different than just living with your boyfriend. Trust me. It is just not the same. Something happens, I believe in the spiritual world, when you get married. It's just all different. It's harder, but I love it!
22) We already have names picked out for whenever we have our first child.
23) Mark loves talking about our future family...maybe even more than me!
24) Mark is different than any other person I have ever met. He is definetly manly, but he is just so sensitive, sweet and caring.
25) I know 100% that Mark is going to be an an amazing father. He just excels at loving people.
26) People have funny reactions when they find out I'm a housewife. It's been interesting.
27) I've realized there is a huge difference between someone who just goes to Church and a true Christian. I am the latter.
28) I think most of my family and friends from "before" wish I just a church-goer...I've changed so much and my life is so different. Sometimes this makes me sad.
29) I believe that after you give your life to Christ, Jesus can transform you and give you deliverence from SO MUCH!!!
30) What's been the biggest change within myself? I don't live in fear anymore. It sounds simple, but I used to be afraid of everything! I'm honestly not afraid to die...it's wonderful.
31) I totally love cooking and challenging myself in the kitchen. I love trying new, difficult techniques and new concepts and stuff.
32) For our 1 month wedding anniversary, I made a huge meal of Spanish Tapas. Tapa are basically Spanish Appetizers and Tapas Bars are huge in Spain. It took all day and it was so fun!!! I made like 9 different little dishes and we ate it almost all. Mark thought it was the greatest thing ever!
33) We're going to take a vacation sometime this winter and I am so excited about planning it soon!! We had an almost free honeymoon (well, not really..but we didn't have to pay for accomodations), and it was very rustic (we're talking outhouse here). Now I want some luxury!
34) Mark and I are incredibly silly together when we're alone. I make up songs and dances and voices and stories and Mark loves to play along with everything. Yet another reason I know we're going to be great parents.
35) I hate drinking tap water. HATE IT!
36) I love, love, love San Francisco. It's probably my favorite city.
37) London is my least favorite. Yuck.
38) My oldest sister is having a baby girl in January. She lives in Texas, though, so I won't get to see her or my niece very often at all.
39) Next weekend, I am going to stay at a Spa in Sonoma with my other sister and my mom. Yes!
40) My goal is to read the Word (the Bible) everyday. It changes your life!
41) My husband and I used to be huge partiers. I could drink so much!! And so could he...we would get in crazy fights and do crazy things. Sometimes I'm surprised our relationship survived all that drama.
42) I miss all my old roommates and how vibrant and alive our little basement home was.
43) I definetly feel like I'm in the matrix. I've taken the red pill...and now I know the truth about the world and sometimes it's heart-wrenching. Sometimes I feel like the guy who just wants to be plugged in because he wants to eat his fake steak. But, then I remember how wonderful it is to be saved, to have the veil removed and be able to see the world the way it really is. Was that all cryptic enough?
44) I love documentaries and any "non-fiction" television. Last night, I watched three documentaries I got from Netflix. It was an awesome night.
45) Mark and I love fancy hotels. I love them because ...I love anything fancy and I've been really blessed because I've basically always stayed in really nice hotels. Mark never did, so now he's blown away by the places we've stayed. We both love using priceline to get the fanciest place we can afford. It's so fun!
46)There is one videogame I really love: The Sims and The Sims 2.
47)I love word puzzles.
48) My favorite TV shows are Project Runway and Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (it's 0n the BBC).
49) Mark will watch really girlie things with me, like Project Runway. Last Sunday morning, before church, for some reason I started to watch a Barbie movie called Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses. Mark came home and watched 15 minutes of it with me, and because we didn't get to finish it, he suggested I netflix it because he thought it was actually really good. He is going to be so mad if he reads this....whoops!
50)I love Fiji Water. It's the best.
51) I love shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway. I do not like Winco at all, but we usually go there for the prices.
52) Mark will eat anything and he can't even tell when things are stale...yuck.
53) I am naturally very messy, so I have had to change that.
54) One of Mark's best friends from growing up(he was a groomsman in our wedding) doesn't like me at all. It's sad.
55) Mark just started golfing. I used to be a golf fanatic, and I want to start again.
56) Mark works all the time..usually about 9 hours a day or more. I miss him, but I am soooo grateful to him for being the head of our family and for "earning our keep".
57) My family is big and crazy and I love it! We have an amazing amount of fun together.
58) I love flowers and love the ideas of always having fresh flowers around the house.
59) I used to hate knives, but now I love them, because I'm obsessed with anything culinary...I got so many awesome knives and utensils for the weddings..my kitchen is so different now!
60) When I'm lying in bed in the morning and mark's alarm goes off for work and I hear the coffee pot turn on and start brewing, I feel SO grownup...and then I roll over and go back to bed!
61) I love fashion and sewing and I want to get better so I can start making clothes!
62) My favorite thing to do in the whole world is to get dressed up and go to really fancy restaurants! It is so fun.
63) My hair is 100% its' natural color.
64) Sometimes I just watch Mark and I look at his wedding ring and I can't believe I 'm his wife.
65) I want to have a room in my house that we use for a library. I love books so much!
66) I've always been told I look really good in hats. Funny, huh?
67) I've been growing my hair out for less than 2 years and it is already really long. My hair grows very fast.
68) I lived in Arcata (Humboldt county) for six months and it was the craziest time of my whole life. Mark and I don't really speak about that period in our lives very much.
69) Growing up, I wanted to be the first female President of the United States. This lasted from about 3rd grade through Sophomore year of High School. I had a whole plan to do it...
70) But instead I'm a housewife..so funny! It just shows that life never turns out the way you plan it.
71) I cried when I found out about the Crocodile Hunter dying. I still don't want to think about it.
72) I love seventh heaven, the incredibly cheesy tv show about a family with a million kids and the dad's a pastor. But, I don't think the that are a good representation of a truly Christian home, either. For clean entertainment, though, it's tops! (haha, I just wanted to use that expression).
73) I love swimming and was even on a swim team for a couple years.
74) I love animals so much it almost hurts and I hope one day our house is more like a zoo, with tons of different kinds of animals.
75) Mark and I used to smoke cigarettes, but it's been about 9 months since we quit!
76) I have never been tubing on the Sacramento River and to be blunt, I don't think it's a good idea. It's a RIVER!! Not a creek!
78) I love Chico fiercely and was born and raised here. We will also raise our family here.
79) I love travelling, but I also get really, really homesick and I almost always cry the first couple of nights. Mark has gotten used to this, but he doesn't understand it. Either do I.
80) I love throwing parties and I can't wait for Mark's brithday in December!
81) I love drawing and painting.
82) Mark is exactly what I always described as my dream guy.
83) I've only started liking vegetables in the latst 2 or 3 years. My favorites are fresh green beans, zuchinni, yellow squash, peas and corn(but corn isn't really good for you).
84) I've a little freaked out by people who let their dogs lick their toes or their mouth.
85) I recently got into taking pictures all the time. I love it!
86) I love chopsticks and sometimes use them for non Chinese or Japanese food.
87) My drink at Starbucks is a Grande Iced Non Fat Caramel Macchiato.
88) I love Barnes and Noble and used to ditch high school to go read there.
89) I love amusement parks and basically anything for kids. Mark's the same way and we have so much fun together.
90) I feel like I am so older than 24. I just live differently than the average 24 year old and I know I think completely differently. I am ready for anything. I'm not trying to hold to my independence or anything. I am fully dependent on God, not myself or Mark.
91)I love my in-laws. Especially my mother-in-law. She's the best.
92) Mark and I have completly different views on almost everything than our families. Sometimes it's akward, but we make do.
93) I wish I could sing. But I can't.
94) I used to be slightly obsessed with Myspace. Not anymore. A little over it, even.
95)I love candles, especially ones with really unsual scents.
96)I used to be way into the Lord of the Rings and I even watched the second movie (Two Towers) 9 nines in the theater. Yikes.
97) I like small dogs way more than most large dogs.
98) I think it is so tacky when some college students line up all the empty bottles of alcohol in the window or on a shelf or something. Ugh. Like I'm impressed.
99) I love shoes and purses. I have a lot of both. And hats and scarves.
100) I am so joyful and I love my life so much! I wish this kind of happiness for everyone.
1) My name is Laura. Nice to meet you!
2) I'm still in the process of changing that legally!
3) I was married on July 8, 2006.
4) I dated husband for three years before we got married.
5) My Husband's name is Mark.
6) Nobody ever gets the spacing and capitalization of my last name right the first time.
7) *Removed retoractively for privacy reasons
8) I love my married name.
9) *Removed retoractively for privacy reasons
10) Speaking of which, one of my best friends is named Morgan Fairchild. I love it!
11) I have a scar in my knee from where my twin brother speared me with a broken PVC pipe.
12) I also have a large scar on my thigh where I burned it with boiling spaghetti sauce a few years ago.
13) My dog has three working legs. One of her legs has a kneecap that was broken and it fused back together. We don't know how this happened, because we adopted her years after, when she was around 8 years old.
14)Her Name is Gidget but I also call her Gidge, Gidge-Pup, Pup-a-roo, Fox-Pup, Fraggle, Monkey Girl, Bridget and Miss Gidge.
15) I also have a cat name Chiyo, who is so adorable. We found her by a dumpster in Willows, and we've had her for about 8 months. She's SO CUTE!
16) We love dogs and can't wait to be in a house so we can get more!
17) We want a black toy poodle and an English Sheepdog (think Nana in Peter Pan) next.
18) I also really want to get a really foxy (literally..like a fox) looking dog and name him Foxtrot Charlie...that's like my dream!
19) My wedding was exactly what I wanted. It was perfect for us. I loved our ceremony!
20) Mark and I talked very, very quietly to each other through the whole ceremony. I can't believe I had the nerve to do that. But, of course, we just basically said "I love you" over and over again.
21) Being married is SO different than just living with your boyfriend. Trust me. It is just not the same. Something happens, I believe in the spiritual world, when you get married. It's just all different. It's harder, but I love it!
22) We already have names picked out for whenever we have our first child.
23) Mark loves talking about our future family...maybe even more than me!
24) Mark is different than any other person I have ever met. He is definetly manly, but he is just so sensitive, sweet and caring.
25) I know 100% that Mark is going to be an an amazing father. He just excels at loving people.
26) People have funny reactions when they find out I'm a housewife. It's been interesting.
27) I've realized there is a huge difference between someone who just goes to Church and a true Christian. I am the latter.
28) I think most of my family and friends from "before" wish I just a church-goer...I've changed so much and my life is so different. Sometimes this makes me sad.
29) I believe that after you give your life to Christ, Jesus can transform you and give you deliverence from SO MUCH!!!
30) What's been the biggest change within myself? I don't live in fear anymore. It sounds simple, but I used to be afraid of everything! I'm honestly not afraid to die...it's wonderful.
31) I totally love cooking and challenging myself in the kitchen. I love trying new, difficult techniques and new concepts and stuff.
32) For our 1 month wedding anniversary, I made a huge meal of Spanish Tapas. Tapa are basically Spanish Appetizers and Tapas Bars are huge in Spain. It took all day and it was so fun!!! I made like 9 different little dishes and we ate it almost all. Mark thought it was the greatest thing ever!
33) We're going to take a vacation sometime this winter and I am so excited about planning it soon!! We had an almost free honeymoon (well, not really..but we didn't have to pay for accomodations), and it was very rustic (we're talking outhouse here). Now I want some luxury!
34) Mark and I are incredibly silly together when we're alone. I make up songs and dances and voices and stories and Mark loves to play along with everything. Yet another reason I know we're going to be great parents.
35) I hate drinking tap water. HATE IT!
36) I love, love, love San Francisco. It's probably my favorite city.
37) London is my least favorite. Yuck.
38) My oldest sister is having a baby girl in January. She lives in Texas, though, so I won't get to see her or my niece very often at all.
39) Next weekend, I am going to stay at a Spa in Sonoma with my other sister and my mom. Yes!
40) My goal is to read the Word (the Bible) everyday. It changes your life!
41) My husband and I used to be huge partiers. I could drink so much!! And so could he...we would get in crazy fights and do crazy things. Sometimes I'm surprised our relationship survived all that drama.
42) I miss all my old roommates and how vibrant and alive our little basement home was.
43) I definetly feel like I'm in the matrix. I've taken the red pill...and now I know the truth about the world and sometimes it's heart-wrenching. Sometimes I feel like the guy who just wants to be plugged in because he wants to eat his fake steak. But, then I remember how wonderful it is to be saved, to have the veil removed and be able to see the world the way it really is. Was that all cryptic enough?
44) I love documentaries and any "non-fiction" television. Last night, I watched three documentaries I got from Netflix. It was an awesome night.
45) Mark and I love fancy hotels. I love them because ...I love anything fancy and I've been really blessed because I've basically always stayed in really nice hotels. Mark never did, so now he's blown away by the places we've stayed. We both love using priceline to get the fanciest place we can afford. It's so fun!
46)There is one videogame I really love: The Sims and The Sims 2.
47)I love word puzzles.
48) My favorite TV shows are Project Runway and Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (it's 0n the BBC).
49) Mark will watch really girlie things with me, like Project Runway. Last Sunday morning, before church, for some reason I started to watch a Barbie movie called Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses. Mark came home and watched 15 minutes of it with me, and because we didn't get to finish it, he suggested I netflix it because he thought it was actually really good. He is going to be so mad if he reads this....whoops!
50)I love Fiji Water. It's the best.
51) I love shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway. I do not like Winco at all, but we usually go there for the prices.
52) Mark will eat anything and he can't even tell when things are stale...yuck.
53) I am naturally very messy, so I have had to change that.
54) One of Mark's best friends from growing up(he was a groomsman in our wedding) doesn't like me at all. It's sad.
55) Mark just started golfing. I used to be a golf fanatic, and I want to start again.
56) Mark works all the time..usually about 9 hours a day or more. I miss him, but I am soooo grateful to him for being the head of our family and for "earning our keep".
57) My family is big and crazy and I love it! We have an amazing amount of fun together.
58) I love flowers and love the ideas of always having fresh flowers around the house.
59) I used to hate knives, but now I love them, because I'm obsessed with anything culinary...I got so many awesome knives and utensils for the weddings..my kitchen is so different now!
60) When I'm lying in bed in the morning and mark's alarm goes off for work and I hear the coffee pot turn on and start brewing, I feel SO grownup...and then I roll over and go back to bed!
61) I love fashion and sewing and I want to get better so I can start making clothes!
62) My favorite thing to do in the whole world is to get dressed up and go to really fancy restaurants! It is so fun.
63) My hair is 100% its' natural color.
64) Sometimes I just watch Mark and I look at his wedding ring and I can't believe I 'm his wife.
65) I want to have a room in my house that we use for a library. I love books so much!
66) I've always been told I look really good in hats. Funny, huh?
67) I've been growing my hair out for less than 2 years and it is already really long. My hair grows very fast.
68) I lived in Arcata (Humboldt county) for six months and it was the craziest time of my whole life. Mark and I don't really speak about that period in our lives very much.
69) Growing up, I wanted to be the first female President of the United States. This lasted from about 3rd grade through Sophomore year of High School. I had a whole plan to do it...
70) But instead I'm a housewife..so funny! It just shows that life never turns out the way you plan it.
71) I cried when I found out about the Crocodile Hunter dying. I still don't want to think about it.
72) I love seventh heaven, the incredibly cheesy tv show about a family with a million kids and the dad's a pastor. But, I don't think the that are a good representation of a truly Christian home, either. For clean entertainment, though, it's tops! (haha, I just wanted to use that expression).
73) I love swimming and was even on a swim team for a couple years.
74) I love animals so much it almost hurts and I hope one day our house is more like a zoo, with tons of different kinds of animals.
75) Mark and I used to smoke cigarettes, but it's been about 9 months since we quit!
76) I have never been tubing on the Sacramento River and to be blunt, I don't think it's a good idea. It's a RIVER!! Not a creek!
78) I love Chico fiercely and was born and raised here. We will also raise our family here.
79) I love travelling, but I also get really, really homesick and I almost always cry the first couple of nights. Mark has gotten used to this, but he doesn't understand it. Either do I.
80) I love throwing parties and I can't wait for Mark's brithday in December!
81) I love drawing and painting.
82) Mark is exactly what I always described as my dream guy.
83) I've only started liking vegetables in the latst 2 or 3 years. My favorites are fresh green beans, zuchinni, yellow squash, peas and corn(but corn isn't really good for you).
84) I've a little freaked out by people who let their dogs lick their toes or their mouth.
85) I recently got into taking pictures all the time. I love it!
86) I love chopsticks and sometimes use them for non Chinese or Japanese food.
87) My drink at Starbucks is a Grande Iced Non Fat Caramel Macchiato.
88) I love Barnes and Noble and used to ditch high school to go read there.
89) I love amusement parks and basically anything for kids. Mark's the same way and we have so much fun together.
90) I feel like I am so older than 24. I just live differently than the average 24 year old and I know I think completely differently. I am ready for anything. I'm not trying to hold to my independence or anything. I am fully dependent on God, not myself or Mark.
91)I love my in-laws. Especially my mother-in-law. She's the best.
92) Mark and I have completly different views on almost everything than our families. Sometimes it's akward, but we make do.
93) I wish I could sing. But I can't.
94) I used to be slightly obsessed with Myspace. Not anymore. A little over it, even.
95)I love candles, especially ones with really unsual scents.
96)I used to be way into the Lord of the Rings and I even watched the second movie (Two Towers) 9 nines in the theater. Yikes.
97) I like small dogs way more than most large dogs.
98) I think it is so tacky when some college students line up all the empty bottles of alcohol in the window or on a shelf or something. Ugh. Like I'm impressed.
99) I love shoes and purses. I have a lot of both. And hats and scarves.
100) I am so joyful and I love my life so much! I wish this kind of happiness for everyone.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The Amazing Tales Of Laura, Super Babysitter
Not. I babysat for a total of one hour. And I was only totally alone with the boys for 45 minutes. Mark came over during his lunch break for the last 15 minutes, which Judah totally loved, because he and Mark are basically best friends ( well, as much as an almost 2 year old and a 23 year old can be) It was really, really easy..and fun! Unfortunately, I couldn't really keep little Samuel happy for very long, and I felt bad because he cried kinda a lot. He would cry for like 30 seconds, then I would hold him in a different position, and he would be happy for like 5 minutes, and then start to cry again..I did everything Morgan suggested, but...anyways, it all worked out. Samuel was pretty happy most of the time, and Judah was just SO easy. He really wanted me to dance with him, but I was holding Samuel the whole time, so I couldn't. Morgan and Eric's sons are just so sweet and such good little boys, I loved spending time with them. It seems like babies are EVERYWHERE!! Now that I have friends that have children, I justnotice kids and "kid stuff" all the time now. And it seems like babies especially are just all over town, all over TV...and I know this is totally untrue, but it seems like everyone has a baby...except me! It's okay, for now...I'll just borrow Morgan's!
Monday, September 11, 2006
How to Spend My Time...
Being a housewife is funny. Really, it means you don't really do..anything. Yes, I clean the house and cook (quite delicious meals, I might add), but that stuff can be done at pretty much any time of the day. So, basically..I need to figure out what to do with my time. Mark really doesn't want me to work (unless I find a very part time job that I really really like) and I am SO fine with that. So, I've been brainstorming of ways to spend my time (and be productive and be a good steward of my time). I think I'm going to volunteer at the Women's Resource Clinic and I also want to volunteer for this group in Chico called Small Dog Rescue that rescues small dogs and places them in adoptive homes. As the "mom" of a formerly abused toy poodle, this is really close to my heart. Maybe I'll take some kind of art class, as well. Also, I am excited about becoming better friends with all the awesome women at church. I was never really someone who needed to be really social, but after I got saved, I realized the need for fellowship and to connect with all sorts of women. Also, I spend a lot of time with my awesome friend Morgan and her precious, beautiful sons. Mark and I are with their family A LOT and we love it so much. We can't wait until we have children, too, so they can all play together and be best friends, too (I hope!) Tomorrow, I am babysitting for the first time EVER and staying with Judah and Samuel for a little while their Momma gets some much deserved "me time". But don't worry, I know these kids pretty darn well (and I know their Mom even better!), so I have a pretty good idea of how Morgan would handle every situation (and she'll be a cell phone call away!). I am so excited to hang out with my favorite little men ever. I'll post tomorrow on how it went!
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