Shark Bait Hoo Ha Ha!

I must say, since I've been in SLO, Week of Welcome (or WOW) has been my absolute favorite part by far.  During WOW, any freshmen or transfer students (the wowies) wishing to participate are assigned to a WOW group with two WOW leaders.  Then you just go exploring all over!

I was in group 98...shark bait hoo haha.  That was our cheer.  My WOW leaders were, hands down, THE greastest, most amazing leaders and human beings you could ever meet.  The other wowies in my group were fabulous as well, and I loved spending every waking moment of my week with them.

Wednesday we hiked to the P and went to WOW-a-rama where every single wowie and leader is out on a field and plays ice breaker games that make you look like an idiot...but every other person around you is doing them too, so it's a ton of fun!

The P!

no, I'm not in this picture...it came from the wow-a-rama facebook page

Thursday morning, we started off with some awareness presentations.  Then it was time for a beach day at Pismo. After returning back to campus, we all regrouped and headed downtown for farmer's market.  We wandered Higuera St. for a bit and then went over to the Fremont movie theater to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

playing volleyball

at farmer's

Next comes Friday, which was probably one of the more eventful days.  Bright and early in the morning, we drove up to Morro Bay to go kayaking, which was super fun.  We saw sea lions, and got to play in really fluffy sand that was almost like jumping into fresh snow.  Next it was time for SLO-bound, where businesses set up booths downtown and give us free stuff.  Pretty sweet!  Later in the day we headed out to Woodstock's pizza for dinner, except our reservations got messed up and we had nowhere to sit!  Instead we got our pizza to go, bought soda from CVS and had a late night picnic in a park, which ended up being WAY more fun.  There was also a randomly bad band playing that was pretty entertaining to listen too.  After our pizza, we traveled to Avila beach for a late night bonfire...except we couldn't figure out how to make a fire!  We recruited the help of another WOW leader who was super hard core and made a fire in about 2 minutes.

WOW faces on the dock before kayaking

My kayaking partner :)

Saturday was also a pretty busy day.  We started off with Day of Service.  Our group volunteered at an assisted living community, where I met a lady from Manteca. Talk about a small world!  Next we decided to go check out the football game that was jam packed.  We ended up leaving at half time to go bowling, which was tons of fun, but slightly embaressing, seeing as how I'm an awful bowler.  After bowling, we headed up to the lounge room in Poly Canyon Village, where we enjoyed pool, cards, coffee, movies, and freshly cooked pasta.  We also made our own dance class.  It was a blast!

Group at the assisted living community

The girls at the football game

The best bowlers you will ever meet...HA!

Finally came Sunday.  We had our group closing and good-byes and were sent off to the club fair...but don't be sad yet.  We had a reunion downtown for dinner at Firestone!  Not only was it super tasty, but we also got in one last family dinner before classes started the next day and one of our group leaders left for Spain.

after dinner infront of the bookstore downtown.

In other news...It's the first day of fall! Woohoo! Hope you all enjoy it :)

still thinking of a countdown...any suggestions?



My New Home

Seeing as how I actually moved in a little less than two weeks ago, I supose this post is a smidge late.  Anyhow, we'll just pretend it's not :)

I guess I'll start at the very beginning with this picture

the classic "stand in the driveway with the car packed full of stuff before we leave for college" picture.

On Sunday, my mother, father, sister and I drove down to SLO and spent the night in a hotel.  Then came Monday...move in time!

The befores

Moving in was actually not quite as hectic as I thought it would be.  It took maybe 3 hours, which I don't consider to be too bad.

After the fam bam left (which was a little sad) I had the pleasure of hanging out with my lovely MC friends.  It was definitely nice to have a slice of home on a day full of new changes.

Here are some final pics of our finished dorm room

My pretty sister

And my awesome roomie!

time to think of a new countdown...

Ahhhhh!

I'm almost positive I'm going to go crazy.

My brain is so overwhelmed with every single thought and emotion you can think of:

sadness of goodbyes

excitement of what's to come

making sure I have everything I need

uncertainty of the unknown

trying to figure out how everything is going to fit

stressed because I'm running out of time to do everything

Oh well, at least I know God is always looking out for me, and that I have gallons of support from my awesome family and friends :) 

I hope all of you are having a lovely weekend!

days till move in: TWO!!!! :)

Lots to Talk About

It has been almost a month since my last post, and man have I been busy!  I'll try to keep it as short as possible, but no promises...

About a week after camp, there was a Schulz family reunion. It was awesome getting together with the family and reconnecting with loved ones we don't get to see very often.

Next comes the week of Vacation Bible School.  I was so exhausted by the end, but had a blast!  The kids seemed to have a really good time, and it's awesome to be able to help share the word of God with young believers.  Another aspect that made the week fantastic would be that a youth group from Virginia graced us with their presence.  All of them were great and I really enjoyed hanging out with them.  There were definitely some strong friendships made and I hope to see every single one of them sometime in the future.

Just last weekend, I was down in San Luis Obispo for college orientation, and you better believe I was excited.  We picked my cousin up on our way there and made a family vacation out of it.  I had so much fun and can't wait to move there and start school

The very next day after returning home, I went into work with my dad and took the car for the day to go on an adventure.  I visited my friend after he got out of surgery, went shopping and to the library, then went back to my dad's work.  We then went to a San Jose Giants game, where I met up with some friends from camp.  I really enjoyed hanging out with them and hope to see them again before camp next year.

Well, that's about it for now.  Hope everyone enjoyed their summer :)

Days till move in: 30

Tree of Life Bible Camp

This post is going to be a bit lengthy, and for that, I apologize.

This past week has been the absolute highlight of my summer to date.  I was at Bible camp the entire time and honestly wish I still was there.  It's been 8 years since I've been to camp and was worried I would have a hard time fitting in with people who have been going to camp together for a long time.  While this was partly true, there were some incredibly kind people there who made me feel welcome and eventually I made some amazing friends, whom I hope to be able to keep in touch with for a long time.

Just being able to escape from the stress and pressures of my daily routine was such a blessing in itself.  On top of that, I had the wonderful opportunity to grow in my faith and to join in fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

The week was jam packed with swimming, volleyball, competitions, and worshiping the Lord.  We also went on a super fun overnighter at the lake where I went tubing for the very first time and completely loved it.  We made s'mores and had a devotion around the campfire and slept underneath the stars.  Though it was a bit uncomfortable and freezing cold, I think everyone really enjoyed it.  Later in the week, we had a dance party which was also a lot of fun.

It really makes me sad to think that this is over.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself this week and will treasure all the memories I made.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have gone to camp, to have strengthened my relationship with the Lord, to have bonded with my amazing cousin, and to have started new friendships with some incredible people.  I certainly hope to return next year, in whatever fashion that may be.

days till move in: 58

Across the Highway and Through the City, to Grandmother's House We Go!

This past week, Emily and I gave our parents a break by spending some time at our gandparents' house, and boy were we busy!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and Emily's birthday.

Monday we went to the Mudmill with our friends from church, where we painted some beautiful pieces, and grabbed some lunch from Panera Bread (yum!)

Tuesday I went back home so I could go out to dinner with my beloved waldos before one of them heads off to Pennsylvania for the summer.

Wednesday we were back at our grandparents for some sunshine and swimming.

Thursday and today we were shopping our little hearts out, and found some pretty nifty stuff.

days till move in: 80

Growth and Blessings

This week was kind of a tough one for me.  I guess I hid it pretty well, but I was really struggling physically, emotionally, and psychologically.  By the grace of our amazing God and the help of a friend (check out her inspirational blog), I'm now doing great; better than great even.  Words cannot even begin to describe the joy I'm feeling towards life.  I am anxiously and happily awaiting the reveal of God's plan for my life.  I seriously cannot wait to go out and serve him to the best of my abilities.  I can only hope, pray, and believe that he will use me to minister his love and compassion to others the way he used m friend to help me.  I am truly and completely blessed to have her be a part of my life, and am truly and completely blessed to be a part of our Lord's kingdom of believers.

I feel like, through this harsh week, God was trying to get my attention.  He was saying "Laura, you need to focus on me more instead of worldly things, so I can prepare you for the work I have planned for you".  I seriously feel blessed to serve a God who loves us so much.  One who has put incredible people in my life, and who can take someone's deepest low and turn it into their greatest high.  I'm awestruck.  God is so good!  There are not words to describe him.  These past two days God has grown my faith at an alarming rate, and I could not be more excited.  I'm completely and irrevokably in love with himeand my heart is on fire to serve him.  I can only pray that this zeal never leaves my heart soul and mind.

God is truly amazing, and I feel so incredibly blessed to be saved and called by him.

days till move in: 89

Sunshine, Shaved Ice, and Shenanigans

Here in Caifornia, the sun has finally started his reign of the sky for the summer.  The temperatures have started rising to an uncomforatble level, and there is no better way to stay cool than eating frozen treats.  Here is one of my new favorite places to go.  I'm now addicted.  I just had my very first one today with Brittany, and am already trying to figure out when I will be able to go back!  We also did a lot of exploring today, including trying a new pancake recipe (which i do not recommend), visiting Vince at work, and a couple of awkward moments.  However, the BIG thing we did today was pick up our diplomas from school.  We are now fully, completely, and officially done with high school.  Yippee!

I hope everyone has plans for staying cool this summer.  It's gonna be hot!

days till move in: 90

A Much Needed Visit

Today was a jam-packed adventure of awesomeness.  The lovely Brittany came over to visit me.  Our day was full of talks, frozen yogurt, facebook, photobooth, pizza on the patio, baking and skype....and of course nutella. 

We also learned a valuable lesson today.  Patience and getting along with others are keys to living for God.  He wants us to spread the grace he has shown us to other people.

Hopefully tomorrow proves to be just as great as today, because we have a ton of fun stuff planned.

days till move in: 91

Visiting the Past

Ok, so it's not that far in the past, but yesterday I took ballet class; something i haven't really done for a few months.  It is safe to say, that after sitting on my butt getting fat for 3 months, I looked something like that pictured above.  My strength, turnout, posture and flexibility were nowhere to be found.  At the same time, I'm not going to let this discourage me and will work on getting back to the point I was at before, even if it takes a while.

days till move in: 94

Let the Countdown Begin

As of today, there are 100 days until move in...ONE HUNDRED!  Even though there's a while to go still, I am so excited.  I seriously cannot wait to start this next portion of my life :)

We Made It!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God forknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that by he might be the firstborn among many brothers." ~ Romans 8:28

This verse was sort of the theme for our graduation ceremony.  The MC class of 2011 went through a rough senior year.  We were faced with many troubles and trials.  We could have crumbled and fallen under the weight of it all, and I'm almost positive that at one point everyone wanted to.  But we didn't.  We stood behind each other and, with God's helped, carried each other.  We grew as a family, and we grew in faith.  I believe that God has blessed our class and the MC campus through these hardships.  I also believe that God will continue to work wonders in the lives of every single one of my classmates.

Congratulations guys! We made it!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

I know what you're thinking...

everybody has blogs now and I'm just jumping on the bandwagon.

     While that may have a smidgen of truth to it, the main reason for this blog is to let people know what I'm up to, especially when I'm off at college.  It isn't meant to be cute, or for everybody to read; just for people who care enough to want to know about my activities.  The idea popped up while talking with one of my very dear friends, and i am just now putting that idea into play.