27

Here's a picture of my Godmommy, my mommy, and my aunt Nena. The next one is the cake with tons of candles and then there's me with my new toy..yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a nerd and proud of it!!!
Well, I turned 27 on sunday! YAY!!! This time I can say that I am totally wiser than before. I've learned alot and experienced God's presence in my life more than I could ever imagined.
I started out the day by relaxing in the morning and made my way to my mom's church in Dallas with a pit stop to Starbucks. My mom arranged a memorial mass for my Grandmother who passed away July 25, 1996. Each year, we honor her through a mass by her name being mentioned during prayer. It was really nice seeing the family come together for this day.
After church, my mom chased down the priest so he would say a prayer for me and sprinkle me with Holy Water. Fifteen minutes later, I got prayed for and got sprinkled (no, it did not burn me!).
We went out to eat at my fave restaurant, El Ranchito in Oak Cliff. They have the best Tacos Al Carbon!! heehee. There was great food and great Mariachi music. The Mariachis charged 15 bucks a song!!!! So, everytime they sang the birthday song, I dedicated it to myself. You know, I could buy a CD with that money. Come on now!
The rest of the day was spent at my Godmother's house where we cut the cake and opened gifts! The cake was a chocolate tres leches cake....yummeh!!! I rejoiced after I opened my mom's gift which was a laptop briefcase!!! (I KNOW, I KNOW only a nerd would rejoice) Also, I received some money, too!!! WOOP-WOOP!!!! as my youth kids would say!
I had a GREAT birthday!!!!!
Take care and much love to ya'll!!!

C4C

Had a great time last week. Branson is so pretty! I won't miss driving on the mountains, but I'll miss the people and the atmosphere. We were kept busy all last week. There was a morning service and an evening service each day. The worship was led by In the Deep from Go Ministries. Also, we had some laughs with the In Motion Drama team from Go as well. We had Brother Chip Brim (coordinator of the rally), his mom Billye Brim, Del Mar, Dominic Woods, Jeremy Pearsons, and Rocky Clark. What these guys have in common is that most of them are athletic coaches. So, it was like being in the locker room and receiving a pep talk.

During those services, great things took place. My words will do no justice, you just had to be there! Lives were transformed...there were healings, miracles and deliverances. My kids received the Holy Spirit and I received healing! God's presence was so strong that one service went for 5 hours!! It was awesome! I learned, God is God and through Him ALL things are possible..naturally and supernaturally! We learned about the authority that was delegated to us by God and how to operate in it...WOW!!!! We came in one way and left differently.
Between services, we did all the touristic things like going to two amusement parks, Celebration City and Silver Dollar City, also the Branson Belle Showboat and caught a great show while cruising and finally White Water Park! We had such a blast!
I hope all is well and stay dry!!!
Love,
Laura :0)

The Bird

Going back to Thursday, I had an interesting encounter with a bird. Now, this bird sits out on my balcony and chirps his little heart out...every morning! While he chirps, Mimi cackles at him and cackles at him...remember she's quite the talker. She likes to start drama, lol...j/k. Anyway, this past Thursday, I was cleaning up my apartment and realized that I had a couple of bags full of trash.
I gather all the trash bags and head out the door. As I go down the stairs, I see the bird and it looks at me. Of course, I ignore it and keep going. As I walk towards the trash dumpster, that bird follows me! It flies over my head a chirps and lands on a tree nearby. And does it again! It gets better.....well not for me. As I walk back home, it follows me back, however this time it flies into my hair and makes horrible "wack" sound and flaps its wings over and over again! That thing was attacking me!!!!! If only I'd brought the fly swatter. lol. May I just say that this was one out of 2 encounters I had with this bird???

Later that evening my friend Liz and her daughter came over and told me that they had been attacked by that bird as well. Dang bird, if I ever see it again its gonna get whacked with a fly swatter. (Lucky him, I haven't seen him since then, muhahahaah!)
I hope ya'll have a great weekend and God Bless ya'll!!!
Laura

Stuff

This is a picture from BSA Rock Instruction Workshop from 4/22/07. In this pic, I am repelling from a 36' cliff! It was scary at first, but it was alot of fun on the way down!
I started out the day early by relaxing (try it, it's good!). Later, I met up with co-worker friend for lunch! It was really nice to catch up with her...:0) I asked her that if she had been to Wal-Mart lately. She knew exactly what I meant from that question. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, the BACK-TO-SCHOOL supplies are up in full-force at Wal-Mart! LOL! To a high school teacher, our reactions are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! It's TOO SOON! EEEEEEK!!! To an elementary school teacher, it's a joy and they go all out! We laughed when we made that observation. But, hey, we love our jobs!
Afterwards, I bought groceries and cleaned up a storm. Later that evening, my friend Liz and her daughter Angel (who will be staying with me this weekend) came and visited. It was really nice to see them...:0)
That was pretty much my day! I hope everyone is doing great! Have a fantastic Friday!
Love,
Laura

More on Mimi

Here's Mimi with her favorite toy! She loves this string toy that is attached to a stick. When I first bought it, It had this cute blue fish on it and now the fish is non-existent and the string is half its length! Just a couple of days ago, I attached a piece of ribbon onto it and she still loves it! LOL! Mimi goes ballistic when she plays with it! She jumps, rolls up, pounces, stalks and she meows...it's too funny! She is looking forward to seeing her sister Beans (awww...reunited) and meeting Sam and Elvis very soon!

As far as this week goes, it's flown by! I've had so many things to for my upcoming trip, but I've barely scratched the surface! There's so much more to do: wash car, empty car trunk, get groceries, clean the rest of my apt, plan kid's church, pack, etc. It's bonkers!!! Where has the week gone,lol? Ok, I'm done...lol.
Have a great Thursday everyone!!! :0)

Mimi and Monday

Isn't my Mimi adorable? She's two now and she's such a sweet cat. This cat loves to play ALL THE TIME and is quite a talker especially when she wants to play! Every morning when my foot touches the floor or I come home, she runs to her favorite toy and sits right next to it and meows. When I pick up her favorite toy and play with her, she meows. Isn't she quite a talker? It's hilarious!! However, if she does not get the attention she finds a way to get it!
Another thing she does, is around bedtime. When I get in bed, Mimi sits next to my bed and waits till I am have fallen "asleep". As soon as she hears no movement, she jumps on the bed and snuggles up next to me! It's so sweet.
I think Mimi is a dog trapped in a cat's body. hahahah!

Today, I was recovering from my busy weekend....as a matter of fact I still am. I'm really tired.
I went to Wylie to help out the girls from my Youth group with their talent show routine for next week's youth rally. After a couple of hours, they finished the routine! YAY! It looked great! We're really excited about next week!
I had an uneventful evening, I like it like that! But, I have tons to do especially my weekly cleaning... but I think I'll take care of it tomorrow,heheheheeh! For now, I'll chill.....hehehehehe (I know, I know... I picked on you about it Olga!)
I hope you guys had a great Monday!
Love,
Laura

Brazil WINS Copa America 2007!

Aren't these clouds pretty? They're from this morning as I was driving on HWY 50. I couldn't help but look at them, make shapes out of them, and take a picture of it! The picture doesn't do the beauty of the sky any justice, It was taken in my car through my dirty windshield. Anyway, they were so beautiful. One of them reminded me of the "more power" fist. See if you can find it in the picture...hehe.
Other than clouds, I had a pretty good day! I went to church and came home to relax for a couple of hours. Then, I got ready to go pick up my mom and go to my cousins house to watch the futbol game with Brazil and Argentina! After so much ooooo's and aaaahhhhs and GOOOOOOOOOLs, BRAZIL wins without a doubt! They whooped Argentina big time 3-0! Half of my family was hurting while the other half rejoiced! LOL, you had to be there to see it. We're passionate about our futbol! it can get a little crazy. After the game, we had a pool party and grilled some fajitas! They were really good. My cousin Darwin did a great job grilling and my cousin Karen made the best raw cabbage salad ever...no, not cole slaw. It was dipped in lemon juice with cilantro, tomatos with salt and pepper. YUM!
We had a lot of fun and it was great to see all of the family again...it had been a while! I didn't realize how much I missed being around them since I'm always on the road.

I hope ya'll have a great night and great Monday!
Love,
Laura

El Sabado

I realized that my weekends are my weekdays and my weekdays are my weekends...well at least for the summer. (Wouldn't be nice if it were this way in the real world, lol) My weekends are full and very eventful! It's really hard for me to make plans because I have family and church commitments.
My Saturdays have a set routine. I'm up early and I drive to Rockwall to set up Church signs for Saturday night service. Afterwards, I drive to Dallas and spend the 1st half of the day with my family. My mom and I run our errands together and just spend time together. Like today, we took a detour to Whole Foods Market which I've never been. I thought it was the coolest place. They have all these great products. It was my amusement of the day...I may go back...if only there was one nearby.

Time flies so fast that by 3pm, I drive back home to get ready for Sat night service. I gather my stuff together and leave to Rockwall.
As soon as I arrive, us "roadies" (commerce and rockwall church stafF) set up technical equipment. In this case for me, I'm the techie which I enjoy doing! I do all multimedia tech stuff except for sound...that's Kevin's job. I still cannot figure out all those knobs and wires. Anyway, later on, we enjoy the message of the evening and then break equipment down and pack it up and go! It's bonkers, but it's so worth it! Later on, I'll be launching the Devoted Youth Group meetings as soon as we set in stone our weekly bible studies in Rockwall. It's really exciting!

Well, those are my Saturdays! Crazy, huh?

I hope ya'll are doing great!
Continue to enjoy your weekends!!!
Love,
Laura

My Appointment with God

You'd think it being Friday the 13th and it being such a gloomy day that it would be filled with chaos and unwanted problems, but nope...not tonight! Tonight, my friends, was a total blessing!

My friend Lynn and I went to "A Night of Worship" at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas. (I've never gone to this event and I wanted to check to see what it was like.) Well, this place was filled with people of ALL ages and from all over the country. Ok, let's just say it was so cool to see a 50 or 60 yr-old guy jump up and down with his arms up praising God. Anyway, this event consists of the CFNI praise band and the body of Christ coming together to sing to the Lord. I don't think I've mentioned that this praise band ROCKS! It was full of energy and full of passion!!! This band is not like any other I've ever seen. I mean they really really worship in spirit and in truth!

Well, for 2hrs and 45 minutes we were singing our hearts out, and of course left with raspy voices, lol...but most importantly God's presence was there tonight. Usually during worship, I feel His presence, but tonight there was no "feeling". He was there, though. However, he showed Himself in a different way by showing me that He was holding my hand and told me "Do not rely on your feelings, RELY ON ME." He taught me that He is always around whether I feel Him or not or hear Him or not...I needed to stretch out my arm of faith further out. Also, to worship Him wholehearteldy inside and out whether the feeling is there or not...."worship Him in spirit and in truth." I tell ya'll for sure...I wasn't expecting that. But, I am thankful it did happen! I really needed to hear that. He is so good!

Tonight, God moved. He taught us something very important. He took us to another level. He changed lives. But, He's not done with us yet (that includes whoever reads this).

Well, that was my night. At first, I went because I heard it was awesome and I wanted to check it out, but it turned out to be an appointment with our Father!


I hope ya'll are doing great! Take care and many blessings on all of you!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Laura

Summer 2007

This is the first summer I've had off...I mean off in a long time! It feels great! Although, at first, I was feeling pretty guilty that I was not doing anything. However, I was reassured that it was ok and reminded of the very very very eventful past school year. Let's just say I was pretty burned out on both ends of the candle.

This summer has been such a blessing, not only because I'm on vacation, but the fact that I've had many opportunities to catch up with family and friends.Especially, my high school friends and college friends! It's been such a blessing to reconnect and become once again a sociable person.

Well, I have a month or two to go and there's so much more to look forward to! I have a trip coming up the last week of July for my youth group. It's a Youth Rally called Champions 4 Christ in Branson, MO. Also, I have an APO reunion the second week of August. Finally, a JROTC Leadership Development Course camp in Bridgeport where I'll be instructing safety in rockclimbing sites to the cadets...I'm excited, but not looking forward to hot weather and no porcelain.. if you know what I mean, lol!

I hope all is well!
Take care and many blessings to ya'll!
Laura

p.s. Thanks Olga for inspiring me to start a blogspot! Love reading your blogs!