Junior Year Here I Come

Well I'm back at school. I moved in yesterday and right now most of my stuff is all put away and organized. I'm living in a different dorm, with a different roommate, and on a different end of campus. I'm very excited for this year to start.

I dropped my family off the airport last evening (I get to keep the car!!). It was harder than I imagined to leave them. I suppose because it will be three months before I see them again, and because I missed them so much last year. I know once I start classes again I will be too busy to think much about being homesick but...

A few days after I left Oregon I got a really exciting email from one of my professors. Apparently, my organic chemistry professor recommended me to a different chemistry professor as a research assistant. So on top of all my classes I will also be doing research this year. The professor is a physical chemist, and I will be using the mass. spec. a lot. Good thing I learned how to use it last year so well!!!

Before I got back to school we spent five days at Disneyland. That is a really long time. It worked out well though, because we had to take it really slow for Maddy. She just doesn't have much stamina. It was really nice to get to spend so much time with my family (except Dad) right before I had to leave them. Even though I was getting nasty looks and getting yelled at (by Maddy) for refusing to say "Disneyland is the happiest place on earth". :D

Cheers!

Laura

Amendment 1: It was almost as hard to leave my friends as my family. I will miss you all so much.

Amendment 2: See you all at thanksgiving or Christmas, but hopefully both!!

Welcome to L.A.

I finally made it down to California a few days ago. We have been staying in LA for Maddy's doctors appointment, and tomorrow we are going to Disneyland for a few days. Then after that I go to school for the next three months.

Other than quick trips through LAX I haven't been to LA before and it has been a bit of a culture shock. I expected the smog, and noise, and rude people. But the advertising, that I didn't expect (though perhaps I should have).

I have only spent time in three major cities, Portland, Seattle, and Chicago. In all three there are billboards everywhere, advertising movies, shows, products. But here in LA, specifically Hollywood everything is advertising. The other cities pale in comparison. It also seems that from one billboard to the next they are just trying to out do each other. By this I mean they need more beautiful people, a better catch phrase, and more sex appeal. And when they can't do anything more than that they become just plain offensive. To the point that it makes me embarrassed just to see them.

I suppose if you lived here you would just ignore the billboards. You would become immune to them, and they wouldn't bother you. But it makes me wonder: why as a culture are we taking our cues from the people that come up with these offensive billboards? Do we really have to become desensitized to things like that? I certainly hope not. But that brings up another question: is it really our choice to become desensitized to these things? Sure, we can stick our heads in the sand and just ignore everything that is going on around us, but as Christians can we Biblically do that? I don't believe so. But how can we live in this world and be a Christian of conscience? I suppose this all comes back to being in the world but not of it. It just seems so much harder in Southern California than in Oregon.

Cheers!

Laura

Amendment 1: Does anyone besides me wish at times you could just be a small child again, and not have to worry about all these complicated matters?

Amendment 2: Maddy's doctors appointment went really well, finally finally we got some good news. We really needed that.

Amendment 3: Disneyland tomorrow!!!

Off on a Great Adventure

Summer has officially ended for me. I leave tomorrow to go back to school (eventually). After today I will have said goodbye to everyone but my family and best friend. Times like these I tend to struggle with just trusting God. I am one of those people that plans everything in advance; once I make up my mind about something or someone there is no going back for me. I don't like not knowing what is going to happen. But I'm 19, single, and in college. It seems like my life is filled with unknowns and possibilities. Scary but exciting at the same time.

I will be back home in three months. Over the past year I have learned that three months can be a long time, time enough to change a person. I left last August and came home in November a very different person. But isn't that one of the best parts about life, you are always changing and growing. My goal everyday is to look at life like a great adventure. To see obstacles as chances to grow, and not a road blocks, and to see clear stretches as gifts from God to be cherished.

Not that I always succeed, leaving home and everyone you know is really hard to do. After being away for a year, I honestly don't think I could permanently move away from everyone I love. I have realized that next to my relationship with Christ, family and friends are my top priority. They even trump school (shocking coming from me, I know). Through all these unknowns and scary stuff, I am so glad that while I'm the one living my life, I'm not the one that's in charge. Knowing that that the Heavenly Father has my back is the most amazing experience in the world. My adopted grandmother always says "Our God is not walking the halls of Heaven saying 'What do I do now'." You cannot surprise God, He can only surprise you.

Cheers!

Laura

The song that has been running through my head for the past few days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrrjbTc0urk&feature=fvw

Chemistry and Packing

This past week I helped at a kids' chemistry camp. It was overall very fun. Though, I have never been asked so many times in all seriousness "Am I going to die because I got x,y,or z on my hands". Doing stuff like this reminds me of why I am interested in doing pediatrics as a profession. Doing stuff like this also reminds me how much people that don't fully understand science annoy me.

I leave next wednesday to go back to school. It really seems like the summer has flown by so quickly. I have been so busy, (or have I?) and have had tons of fun. I really love studying and school, but breaks are nice too. I'm looking forward to all my classes this fall, and I'm super excited to live with my new roommate. It will be hard to leave Oregon, it always is. But it will be very nice to be back in the routine of school life.

Before I go back to school my mom, sister, Brittany, and I are making a quick stop in LA and then going to DisneyLand. It should be very enjoyable. There really is nothing like running around like a six year old trying to find Mickey Mouse :P It will be really nice to get to spend time with some of my favorite people in the whole world, before I don't see them for three months.

Cheers!

Laura

Amendment 1: Unthinkable may have been a bit strong a word in my last blog post. I believe unlikely might have been a better choice.

Amendment 2: World Series actually diverges.

Updates

I can't believe I leave in less than two weeks! It seems like this summer has gone so fast. I'm really looking forward to being back, but the transitions between home and school are the hardest. I'm not a real fan of change, and just having to pack everything up is a stressful event for me. But I am looking forward to being back and settled in.

It is hard to believe I am starting my junior year of college. It seems like graduation was not that long ago (either one or two years depending on what graduating means to you :P ) I know I still have six years of school left, Lord willing, but it is so nice to know that in two years I will be finished with my bachelors' degree. I could go out and get a job in a chemistry lab, or do a one year program to become a medical technician. Not that I'm planning on either of these things, I still believe God is leading me in the direction of being a doctor. But it is nice to know that I have options, in case the unthinkable happens and I get married or they stop accepting medical students (one never knows with our crazy Congress and Executive branch) or some other unknown variable happens.

Cheers!

Laura

Amendment 1: I got some of my textbooks in the mail this week. With the exception of a very strange multivariable calculus text that begins on the page 656 and chapter 11, everything looks really good, and I'm looking forward to all my classes.

Amendment 2: No, I am not dating or courting anyone. Right now I'm just trying to concentrate on being friends with both guys and girls and thinking about what qualities I would like in a future spouse. So in other words: stop asking me about this subject! I have no doubt God will eventually bring the right guy into my life, but until then...

Amendment 3: I believe in the heat death of the Universe.
I'm a Kelvinist.

Amendment 4: Old chemists never die they just reach equilibrium