"Yeah, I'm just clumsy..."

You would think saying that maybe like once a week would be fairly normal. Try 4 times in the past 5 days! Good grief. This is not my week for being graceful.

*I tripped down some stairs and landed with a thud at Bible study on Thursday night in the middle of a serious conversation after returning from the bathroom (always even more awkward when people know exactly where you are coming from!). I had tripped over the cuff of my own pants.

*I have a blister on my left foot from my tap shoe, so while practicing, I took off the left shoe so as to not rub the blister any more. In doing that, I managed to stomp on my left big toe with my right tap shoe, taking some skin off, shedding some blood and leaving a nice purple bruise.

*On Sunday night, I was teaching part of class at Sunday Bible study. I had been sitting on a tall chair while I talked because I was sore from bike riding that morning. As I was finishing up talking, I got down off the chair. As I was doing that, I somehow pulled the chair down with me, turned around to catch it and it landed on my left foot, leaving another nice purple bruise. At least no one will forget what I talked about now! I went out with a bang...literally!

*Tonight, while heading out to go out to dinner, a guy was coming up the stairs in front of my apartment. I stepped to one side to let him past and started down the stairs. Well, tripped down them and landed in the grass is a better phrase for that. And leaving some nice scrapes on the top of my right foot.


Welcome to the life of Lara.

Busy little bee!

Hey friends!

So I was planning on blogging tonight anyways and Chels so nicely reminded me it was time, so I guess I'd better do it even though it is waaaayyyy past my bed time.

I have been very busy but very excited lately!

Some cool things I have done lately:
Started MS150 training (I feel like a turtle right now!)
Fed some homeless in downtown Houston (can't wait for that again!)
Tap danced (preparing for the variety show next month!)
Was one of 5 teachers (the only special ed one though!) on my campus to have a proposal accepted to have an interactive whiteboard installed in my classroom (coming sometime next month!)
Prayed for Haiti
Worked the Missions Expo at church and got to tell people about Ch*na


Some cool things coming up:
More MS150 training
Variety show (assuming we make it in the tryouts!)
Preparation meetings for Ch*na (it gets more exciting all the time!)
Possible trip to Syria/Lebanon in the summer!
My class' Women's Retreat (in the planning stages now - its gonna be so great! Have I mentioned how much I still love getting to be a part of women's ministry!?!?)
Softball season!


Some things to be praying for:
Rest and being filled by the Holy Spirit during that time
Financial provision for Ch*na, MS150 and possibly Syria/Lebananon
Women's Retreat
My job and my attitude towards it (more on this later)
Haiti
Ch*na team
My parents' health - nothing serious right now
Kyle's actuary exams


What is going on in your life?

Spin class is hard...sometimes life is too

So my journey to riding my biggest bicycle ride thus far (the MS150 in April) has begun this week.

It has not been easy. My Sunday ride was FREEZING! I rode decently but came back and laid under a blanket and shook for 30-45 minutes after the ride. My dad doesn't get cold often either and even he was chilled to the bone. I told him I wasn't riding in the cold anymore until we went to the bicycle shop and found some more appropriate winter riding attire.

I went to spin class tonight. The first 20 minutes were dreadful! My lungs started hurting and I felt rather nauseated. Not a good way to start! The last 40 minutes were challenging but I didn't feel quite so miserable as I had started out.

I am putting everything I am doing for training in my planner so I can see my progress. Hopefully, when there is more than 2 entries, it will encourage me to press on and feel confident that I am capable of this seemingly monstrous challenge.

In other news, do you ever have those days/weeks where you feel like everything you say is wrong? In the past 2 days, in conversations with close friends, it seemed like everything I said, the person I was with found something wrong with it. I don't know if it is me with a wrong heart attitude or if its my friends and for some reason it all just piled up, but its frustrating and discouraging nonetheless. I've really been praying through and checking my heart because I just feel awful. Or maybe its all things I am making up in my mind that seem like a big deal but are not. I don't know.

One thing you can pray for is my attitude at work. I don't know what the deal is. I almost cried today because I didn't want to be there. Weird. I mean, the first days back are hard, but I've never felt like this before. I was glad to see my kids and receive hugs from them, but otherwise I just hated today and my job and what I do.

Anyways, I like being back at blogging. Sharing life with others, both theirs and mine, is a passion of my heart, so I like this and I like you! Much love!

Twenty ten

Hey!

So, one of my few New Year's Resolutions: blog once a week :0) Get excited.

Some things to be excited about in the coming year:
*Co-leading a return to trip to Ch*na
*Riding in the MS150 in April
*Kyle just moved back to Houston, so adventures with my brother will be plentiful
*Finishing year 2 of teaching
*Possible trip to Syria in June
*Weddings of friends

Each year, one of my friends and I (I'll keep her name private...to protect the innocent) have a rhyme about our singlehood. It started in '08. Here they are with this new one:
*Get a date in '08 (didn't happen for either of us)
*Make him mine in '09 (still didn't happen)
*Find some men in the year of '10 (maybe this year will be our luck year???)

Haha. I'll keep you posted on how our rhyme works out this year.

What are your exciting plans for the new year?