toothbrushes

in my bible study and dicipleship (no idea how to spell that) we have been learning about what it means to be a woman of God. i've really enjoyed this, and while i have a long way to go, i know that i can trust God to mold me into the woman he wants me to be. probably the weirdest thing about this is realizing that i'm not really a "girl" anymore. i can be, trust me, i have my share of immature moments daily, but gradually i am becoming more of a woman and less of a girl. growing up. creepy.
anyway, the other night, me and a bunch of my friends got together for a girl's night, and we made those toothbrush bracelets. basically, after an hour of plucking out the bristles and then boiling them in a pot of water and taking them out and trying to bend them so they stayed on our wrists, they became deformed bent plastic things that still didn't stay on our wrists (wait for it, i'll tie it back in). i put the toothbrush in the water and took it out at least 20 times trying to bend it into a bracelet, but that stubborn little thing did not want to be a bracelet! now here is where i tie it back in. a lot of times, i resist God trying to make me the person he wants me to be. i know that his plan for me is so much better than any plan i could make for myself, but i am still a stubborn little toothbrush. so lately i have been trying to relinquish control and let God bend me into whatever he wants me to be. it's not easy, but in the end, i will be the prettiest bracelet (or whatever, maybe i am taking the analogy too far) there ever was.
p.s. who says i am bad at uptdating my blog?? second time this week, thank you very much.

oh, it is love.

i know valentine's day was a little while ago, but it has still been on my mind. during this time it is especially hard to think that God has a great love story ready for me, and in his perfect and unfailing timing, that will unfold. while this is something i think about, i wasn't really sad this singles awareness day. no, i didn't have someone to bring me roses (but something edible is preferred), or take me out to a fancy dinner (i actually would rather prefer something casual, i'm not a huge fan of vday anyway b/c it is just a ploy to get people to spend money on dumb things telling the people they love they love them even though they should be doing that everyday). but i'm ok with that. i spent valentine's watching a movie with my parents, and my brother bought me golden spoon.
i am so lucky to have my family. my brothers are turning into amazing guys (not men yet, but soon), and since we've grown up, we've been able to decrease out arguing and attempts to annoy the crap out of each other and have been able to become friends. i love them. my parents are amazing people and i am so lucky to have ones that still are in love with each other after all these years. i am also so lucky of how supportive of me, and their faith in me to make my own decisions, and of how they do not judge me, but they are so loving and fun to hang out with. i can only hope i am half the parent that mine are.
i am also incredibly lucky to have my bffls at college. i really and honestly don't know what i would do without them. we support each other through everything, rate boys' hotness, encourage each other in our faith, and would do anything for each other. they know every mood i have even when i don't say anything, mostly because i am horrible at concealing my feelings. but they are the best.
and most of all, i am so beyond lucky to have a Savior whose grace and love is neverending. i don't want to think where i would be without it. i know that God has a perfect plan for me, and it gives me great comfort to know that whatever happens is for his glory. he sees the present, but he also sees the future, so i can know that he has it all under control.
this is becoming really long, but the point of this rambling thing is that, yeah, i don't have a boyfriend. yes, i would like to have one eventually. but in the meantime, i am able to work on becoming the woman my future husband, my friends, my family, and my God deserve. i already have so much love in my life, and for that i am so grateful. i just love love.

just for fun

so i saw this thing on facebook and it looked like fun, so i am going to do it before i start my pile of homework.

1.YOUR REAL NAME
laura de la rosa

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names)
elizabeth paul

3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
keith john

4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
della

5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Purple elaphant

6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
elizabeth west hills

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The turquoise dr. pepper

8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
lade

9.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name)
lola canyon

10.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)
lauizzle

12.YOUR IRAQI.. NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name)
alelraosa

13.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
black bob

i think it's safe to say that my normal name is the best. it is raining here, so i am in my sweatpants. i am going to do my take home midterm for science, get some laundry done, and drink hot chocolate. later tonight, i am going to watch 13 going on 30 and learn the thriller dance! today will be the relaxing, [hopefully] productive day that i need.

spotlight

i know it's been a while, so i will give you a sparknotes version of my life since thanksgiving: finals, home with steph, disneyland, christmas happiness, guitar hero, best sandwich ever, family bonding, back to school, friends, school, evil teacher, sick, getting better, haircut, superbowl party.

i really love my new haircut. i was really scared, but i am glad i took the risk, because now my hair is healthy, i feel better about myself, it takes have the time to get ready in the morning, and i look older! i've already gotten lots of compliments too!

basically right now i am just enjoying life, loving my friends like crazy, and taking in God's amazing love. not too bad, if i do say so myself. my goal is to write at least once a week, maybe two. we'll see how well that works out.

thanksgiving

i know it's been a week since thanksgiving, but i am finally getting around to putting up some pictures of it. for thanksgiving, my family and i drove up to my aunt and unles' house in castro valley (that's in the bay area). i wasn't really sad about not getting to home until sunday when i couldn't see my fam at church. i really miss them all, but i will be there in a week, so i think i can make it! it was really nice to see my parents and brothers, as well as all my extended family. we did the traditional thanksgiving dinner, and then on friday we all went into san fransisco which was lots of fun. i wouldn't say it was relaxing, however, because there were 16 of us in one house, and 7 of them were boys between the ages of 9 and 16. interesting, funny, crazy, but definitely not relaxing. i am really looking forward to going home so i can just relax with my family and have quality time with my brothers and parents.

one thing i was thankful for was friday night. my brothers and cousins were off somewhere playing video games or beating each other up or jumping off a cliff or something of the sort, and all the adults and i (i don't considere myself an adult even though i am almost twenty, it's just too weird) sat around the table and talked. my grandaparents and three of the their four kids, my dad being the second oldest, talked about when they were growing up and different memories. i love hearing aobut my parents when they were kids, and i had lots of fun learning about different kinds of trouble they caused. a few highlights: my dad shooting a firecracker through the kitchen window; my uncle picking up my aunt while riding his skateboard, resulting in her getting stitches and a scar on her chin which she still has to this day; my grandma tricking her kids into eating beef hearts by cutting them into little squares and calling them "square meats". I also got to hear how my grandparents met; it was so cute! fifty-five years later, and here they still are. love it. it is kind of a long story, and this entry is long enough already, so i will save it for another time.

for now, i just need to get through finals week, and am off to study now. then i have 3 fabulous weeks of family, disneyland, christmas, friends, and no school!

girl time

on saturday, my friends dragged me to the avila pier for pier day. we got to see some ocean critters and smell the salty air. it was great to just hang out and be girls. we all have such busy schedules that when the five of us all get to hang out, it is pretty rare. i love the beach, and it was so fun getting my toes sandy; the beach always puts me in a good mood! for the rest of the day we went to the grocery store, made gingerbread houses, and played jenga (don't ask me why). it was a good time just to catch up and have fun!

on sunday, i went to church, and the pastor was talking about having joy and praising God through your suffering. while i am not suffering right now because life is pretty good, it was still very powerful. i had lunch with a bunch of church friends after, which was a lot of fun. then i went to the pool and did tai bo! now my arms hurt, but i feel very productive. overall, it was a nice, relaxing weekend and exactly what i needed before a long week.

catching up

ok, so i am officailly horrible at keeping up with this. but i will try harder. yesterday, i woke up early (you should be sitting down) and went swimming. after 100 yards, i was tired and out of breath. pathetic. i was on the swim team in high school and i really loved it, and i miss it, so hopefully i will contiue this tradition of slowly floating (can't really call it swimming yet, i am too out of shape) up and down the pool until my muscles can't stand it anymore.

i seem to be in this situation a lot in my life. i know i will feel so much better after swimming, and i did; i was in a great mood for the rest of the day, yet i hate the sound of the alarm and conteplate just going back to sleep. i have homework to do, yet i would rather just put it off until the night before even though i know i will be stressed and not do it to the best of my ability (i have been getting better at this though). i know there is no way i can make it through life without relying on God to bring through the highs and lows, and whenever i have quiet time, i am so much closer with the Lord, and i have this joy that can only come from spending time with God. and still, if i have quiet time 4 times a week, that's good. on a smaller scale, i have also just been bad at keeping up with this blog. clearly self discipline is something i'm going to have to ask God to help me with.

as for this weekend, last night i went to the midnight openeing of james bond (didn't understand the plot, but his eyes are gorgeous). i then had class at 8 this morning (yay for 4 hours of sleep), and i am going to a gingerbread house making party tomorrow. as for the rest of the weekend, i will be doing homework and catching up on grey's anatomy, private practice, and the office during my breaks.

lastly, i don't know if you have heard about the fire at westmont, but already 170 houses have been burned down, as well as buildings on campus. please pray for safety and that the firefighters can put it out quickly.

if you have read this all the way to the end, you get a star! i will (hopefully) write again soon.