Loving Life....

I really do love where I live, and I really love the people i'm doing life with. Where else in the world can you see..... U2, Marry Poppins, & Desparation Band all in one weeks time!? I mean c'mon Dallas is a great place. I have been so blessed lately with great experiences with wonderful people. God is so good to me, and honestly I'll never understan why.

Here are a few pics from U2, Mary Poppins, and other fun events:

We (Gateway Church) are also in the process of building a new campus- Project 114. We hosted a lunch for the workers at the job site and had a blast serving them.

And yes that IS my REAL hair...for some reason when I posted this pic of Facebook I received more comments and people asking if I had extentions... it's all mine, and it's all real.

Recently saw Delirious perform at the Dallas Convention Center for a Reinhard Bonnke conference...their LAST US show ever. It was actually very moving to see the end of such an influential band. Their "Cutting Edge" album was one of my first christian music cd's ever.


Gateway had our annual Fall Festival night at the Southlake Dragon Stadium and we had over 20,000 people having so much fun.....I dressed up....OF COURSE :)

Me & my co-worker, Christyl...dressed up as Tigger....so cute.

I stay so busy, and I truly love it. Lately I have been inspired with tons of creativity...I want to make stuff, I want to take more pictures, I want to decorate more. I'll have a blog soon on some of my creative findings. Visit the web-site of the day for one of my new favorite sites.

Until then....

Web-site of the Day: P.S I Made This

All moved in...

Wow....What an adventure it has been to get moved in! Roomie and I found a steal of a deal on a great little apartment in Las Colinas, and we are SO proud of our new place! Great thing is that I'm paying $250 less in rent (YIPEE) the only downfall is that it's on the 3rd floor, but ya know it hasn't been so bad. Due to our last apartment being a little drab with only 3 color tones we began making an inspiration board back a couple of months ago for our new place...very Anthropologie. (Which makes me happy) - I think we lost it in all the moving but when and if it shows up I'll post pic :)

To reminisce here are a few pictures from moving and one of the last sunsets enjoyed at our place in Carrollton:

After a few good antique store finds:

This chair for $20

these vintage brownie cameras for $40

and a few more touches of home, I'd say it turned out quite lovely....colorful...and lovely :) Within the first 48 hours of living in our little home we had a good 25 people come and visit us; I just LOVE friends!

If you've ever moved you know that no move is complete without some sort of random spill, fall, accident, or craziness. All of those are applicable to what happened the day of our move. Imagine this...

Our apartment complex had painted our place a week before we moved in and had left the extra 12 gallons of paint in our laundry room. Move in day rolls around (which by the way only cost us $78 to move) the movers are bringing up my washer & dryer, Jonathan is hanging draperies, and Roomie is bringing in boxes, and I am in the laundry room trying to move the paint buckets from the floor to the shelf above me in the laundry room. I'm sure you can tell where this is going. As I am trying to get this one bucket of grey paint up on the top shelf, the lid comes off and an entire gallon of paint comes showering down on me! I'm in a total state of shock, I let out some sort of noise relative to a scream and a gasp and Jonathan is the first to reach me.

In relief he says "Oh, it's just paint...I thought you might have been injured or cut yourself open." Ya know, I think I would have been calm had it been blood or an injury, but PAINT?!...paint is permanent! It was EVERYWHERE, all over me, my leg, my shirt, AND my most favoritest suede New Balance shoes- THAT was what I was most shocked about! Jonathan starts telling me to get towels... I CAN'T MOVE, anywhere that I go I'll get paint on everything I touch. There is a layer of paint about half an inch thick on the floor (now drying) and I can't move!

Jon begins to bark orders to Jenn and myself "Jenn- bath towels and wet paper towels; Laura- Focus babe- I need you to FOCUS! Hand me your shoe, give me your shirt. Jenn, right here. Laura, move the towel hon the paint is drying, it's OK!"

The mess was finally cleaned up and we are still laughing about it; I was pitiful!




On another note, although it's quite weird, and probably more saddening, is the thought that this will be my final apartment as a single women. The next time I move, it will be because I'm getting married. Now, while that is still a ways away the thought of moving out with out my Roomie & best friend makes me want to cry. Jenn knows me better if not just as well as Jonathan does; and grant it she probably knows MORE about me because she's lived with me. She holds a very very special place in my heart, and for now I will relish and enjoy our time together...marriage is coming, but definitley not on the fore-front of my mind.





Here are a few pics of our place!

You'll have to come visit sometime, it's just the greatest little place ever!

Web-site of the Day: www.peopleofwalmart.com

Absolutley hilarious!

The Progression...

So this is odd... 2 posts within a couple of days time?! I just might be going crazy.

Why is it that I always start out my blog talking about how long it's been since my last blog or how crazy it is that I'm actually blogging? I'm weird I'll admit it but since I've just revealed one of my own personality flaws I doubt I'll be mentioning it again...maybe :)

For some reason this past week I have been in a crazy mood to shoot with my D90. I've done more research and come across more inspiration for my photos than I ever thought was possible. I managed to come across a very cool photography site that explained how to make your photos more interesting. I've searched and searched but I doubt I will ever come across this website again. (If I find it I will post it.)

The site explains how to make your pictures progress. To study your own pictures, see what is leading your eye, what makes the picture interesting. The site shows a progression of one picture of a wall of graffiti in a men's bathroom. Through a series of photos you begin to realize that your eyes are drawn down to a particular spot of graffiti on the wall. The final picture is stunning of the artwork. So I decided to try it out and here is a little bit of what came to be. I'm happy with the final product, and here is my "progression" :

Photo #1: Pretty cool view of the poolside right?

Photo #2: Tried changing up the layout of the photo to

portrait, but not still not it.

Photo #3: Tried changing the perspective a bit...

now we're getting somewhere

Photo #4: Add a little bit more of a change of

perspective and our picture starts to

become more interesting, wouldn't you say?

Photo #5: Changed the focus to be more towards

the right of the photo with the straps

Photo #6: Brought the point of focus

more towards the center of the pic, added a

vignette and a little color boost and there you have it!

Our photo is interesting!

My photos may not be THE greatest but I do love taking pics and the creativity that can be found in the world. Maybe this inspired someone...who knows.

Web-site of the Day: Continue to view & enjoy the rest of my photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/laura_oglesby

The Big Apple....

It's been a while since I've posted and I've been working on this one for quite sometime...it's another long one, but it's totally worth it. Promise.

Last month (June 12th) was mine and Jonathan’s one year anniversary. Yay, and congratulations to us! I don't think I could have asked for a better man, or a better year of my life. Thinking about it, I have come to know the Lord more through him, see the world through him, and learn to love and fight for truth through him. He is my hero and my biggest fan, I couldn't be more blessed. Here is the story of our one year anniversary weekend.

Jonathan told me to ask off for Thursday and Friday the week of June 11th & 12th and to be ready for ANYTHING when I woke up Thursday morning. Wednesday night after going to a rained out Rangers with friends, I came home and laying on my bed I already had an outfit ready for me for Thursday morning. (my roommate Jenn was apparently in on the conspiracy as well, she's so sweet)

Thursday morning at oh about….4:00 AM Jonathan bursts in my room and wakes me up and tells me to start getting ready….Dear Lord! 4:00 in the morning, I could barely keep my eyes open. As I am fixing my hair trying to get ready in under 15 minutes, Jonathan is in his own world doing his own thing, but what I fail to realize is that he is grabbing things like my shampoo, hair brushes, and random toiletry items…..weird. I finally get ready and head down to the car, as he opens up the back door of the car to put my purse in, I look and see MY SUITCASE and his suitcase next to each other in the backseat! WHAT WAS GOING ON?!?!? So as you and I both figured, we’re on our way to the airport to head somewhere in the world!! (He loves to take me on adventures) We get to the airport at around 4:30 am, get all the way through security, and I STILL have yet to find out where we are going. He figures that I’m going to find out where we are going as soon as we get up to the gate so he tells me that I can go ahead and look at my ticket…..and you will never guess where we are heade....NEW YORK CITY!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! I dropped to the ground when I saw the ticket and I began bawling my eyes out! (I’m sure you can imagine me and my subtleness) I was hysterical, laughing and crying all at the same time; I think he was a little shocked at my reaction too. I was in shock and disbelief, I have ALWAYS WANTED TO GO to New York and now my dreams where coming true. I'm sure the people in the airport thoght he was a horrible boyfriend at the time, imagine the scene: I'm crying and can't say anything other than "I can't believe you!" People must have thought he was wretched! Haha, funny.

The night before we left we had awful storms and they were still going when we arrived at the airport. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6:00 am, & unfortunately that didn’t happen. We lost almost an entire day because of the storms and we didn’t arrive in New York until 6:00 PM that night….frustrating, but WELL worth the wait. On the plane Jonathan had told me his entire planning and secretive process for getting us to New York without me knowing, too funny. He also told me on the plane that since it was so expensive to fly to New York he was unable to get tickets to see a Broadway show, which was completely understandable. That evening he had planned for us to spend the evening walking around Central Park….(little did I know what Central Park was like at night). He had also made arrangements with for us to stay with a friend of his in Brooklyn so we wouldn’t have to get 2 separate hotel rooms which would have been REALLLY expensive.

As soon as we got off the plane in Laguardia we got our bags and changed into dressy clothes for dinner, we were meeting with his friend for dinner in TIMES SQUARE!! In the taxi on the way to dinner Jonathan kept saying that we weren’t going to have a lot of time to eat since it was still dark because of the rain. I of course chime in and tell him to forget walking around Central Park and we can just enjoy our evening and dinner with his friend and we can just walk around Times Square for the rest of the night. At that point Jonathan look as though he has some important news to tell me, he then says, “Well, we really don’t have a lot of time for dinner because Phantom of the Opera starts at 8:00 p.m!” (as he is pulling 2 tickets out of his bag.) AHHH!!!!! And yet again I start laughing and crying, (maybe a little squealing was in there too) I was SO surprised!

First time in a taxi cab...and a NY taxi cab at that!

We go to dinner with his friend Chris at this great Italian place in Times Square called Tony’s and then we walked to The Majestic theatre for the show!

If we had literally been 5 minutes late going to dinner we would have missed the first part of the show. We walk straight in, give the usher our tickets, and as we sit down the curtain opens and the first scene begins…phew we had JUST made it! The show itself was incredible; probably the best show I’ve ever seen….I mean c’mon its BROADWAY!! And yet again, I cried for the first 15 minutes of the show because I was in complete disbelief that I was at an actual show on Broadway in New York!

After the show.

After the show we ended up walking around Times Square until about 2:00 am, and it IS the city that never sleeps, we felt like it was only 9:00 pm because of all the people out and about.

We took the subway (which was SO COOL) all the way to Brooklyn and arrived at our friend Chris’ apartment. It was a very New York picturesque apartment too, VERY SMALL, less than 800 sq ft and he pays $1700 a month to live there. Luckily his wife and 2 kids had traveled back to Texas for the weekend to see her family so we weren’t cramped in the apartment as we might have been.

The next day (Friday) we woke up and went to breakfast in Brooklyn at this little hole-in-the-wall café with GREAT food. The Colodor Cafe, no sign just a cool little place.

We took the subway and our first stop was the Brooklyn Bridge, we walked all the way across to lower Manhattan,

caught a Flag Day Parade

saw St. Paul’s Cathedral right next to Ground Zero,

went to Trinity Church and explored there,

Ate lunch from the street vendors! YUMM!

got to see the NY Stock Exchange,

Battery Park,

the Long Island Ferry, Lady Liberty,

Clinton’s Castle, The Sphere from 9/11,

Central Park and SO much more….

I couldn’t believe how much we had seen. And we managed to get a little bit of shopping done too.

There was still so much more that we didn’t get to see that we wish we could have had time for. That night we met back up with Chris and went to a restaurant on Broadway called Max Brenner’s Chocolate Bar. You have never seen anything like this restaurant, great food, AMAZING desserts, AND there are pipes of chocolate running through the ceiling all over the inside! It’s like Willy Wonka’s, but very chic and cool.

We finally got done eating around 1:30 am and then we sat out in Union SquarePark and people watched till about 3:30 am. It was so much fun.

After we got back to Chris’ apartment we climbed on the roof of his building and just looked over the city….it was gorgeous.

The next day (Saturday) we woke up late and walked around Brooklyn where Chris lives and had brunch at another great little café.

We had a car come and pick us up and take us to the air port and again our flight was delayed about an hour…not so bad.

As soon as we got off the flight we met my dad at my apartment since he had come in town and went straight to the Rangers game in Arlington.. I got great tickets for him as his Father’s day gift. Turns out something went wrong with a set of lights and the game got delayed an hour and a half! Ugh we were SO exhausted and frustrated to boot! The game lasted till about midnight and we finally got home around 1:00 am. I told my dad and Jenn to not wake me up until mid afternoon!

On Sunday Dad got up and fixed us all brunch with a few other friends that had come over and then the rest of the day we just laid around and talked about our trip and showed pictures to everyone. That evening it was my turn to treat Jonathan to MY anniversary gift for him! I took him out that evening to a steak dinner at a great restaurant called The Keg in Las Colinas. After that we took a walk down the River walk and there I made him close his eyes and flip a coin I had made. I glued 2 cd’s together and had made a homemade coin with 2 different gifts on each side. I was going to have him flip the coin and whatever it landed on was what his gift would be. The first side of the coin had a tattoo on it and the other side of the coin had a skydiver on it!! Haha, he flipped the coin and so now we are planning for HIM to go skydiving….I might go if we can afford it, it’s still pretty expensive for just even one person to go. When he opened his eyes and saw the sky diver he freaked out! He was so excited, it was great! He loved it!

So…..THAT is the story of our anniversary weekened! The funny thing about it was, the entire trip we had people calling us asking if he was proposing or if there was a ring on my finger. Arrogantly Jonathan says “People, people….your imaginations are SO small if you think THIS would have been my engagement to Laura. No, no you guys and her have no idea what’s going hit you when I DO propose!” Hahaha I can only imagine

Website of the day: http://www.starbucks.com/ This is in celebration of the new Starbucks coffee machine we recently got in our office... It's the Bentley of all coffee machines.

I got a nose ornament!

Take a CLOSE look at the picture above....can you see it!? Look a little bit more towards the center of the picture.  See it now?  Yep that's right...I got my nose pierced!

 

I wish I had some sort of exciting story to tell you to go along with it, but it wasn't that exciting.  Yes it did hurt.  No I did not cry.  

Other events in life:

            I'm in love the way I've always dreamed of being in love.  I honestly feel like the most blessed woman on the planet. Jonathan is the most amazing man and better than anything I could've dreamed up on my own.  We are talking more serious about engagement and NO we are not rushing, just enjoying the process and being blessed by all that God is doing along the way. 

          Roomie (Jenn) and I are planning on moving to Las Colinas in September.  We love our apartment we are in now but we both work so far away.  It'll be a fun move and we might get more roomies!  More updates on that later. 

          Work is going great, busy as always.  This weekend Gateway hosted our first mens conference and had over 1000 men sign up! Awesome! 

          Jonathan has been on his own sabbatical this week out at his land in El Paso.  Sometimes it's great just to get away from people and spend some time in nature with the Lord.  I fly out to see him tomorrow morning and we'll have a fun road trip together back to Dallas.  I wouldn't drive 10 hours "for fun" with anyone else. 

          I've started working out...I know HUGE surprise to me too.  I actually LOVE working out and Jonathan is the best personal trainer (considering he used to be one).  I've gained weight, all muscle thankfully and am happy with my results so far.  We work out usually about 5 days a week at 24 Hour Fitness in Southlake.  If you're out that way come join us! 

           Can't think of any major events that have gone on lately.  Small things here and there but nothing worth blogging about.  God has been doing so much in my heart lately...I feel like a completely difference person than I was last year.  God is GOOD people! 

Leave me coments...

Website of the day:  www.randyadams.com    This is where I got my nose pierced.  BEST IN DFW!

Random-ness

             I have returned!  From where, I'm not to sure; the "Blogging" World I guess. And yet I feel no remorse for being away so long because I changed the title of my blog... what you see is what you get people :)  It's been more than a month ago that I blogged...I don't do this often so take it in while you can.  I AM "The Inconsistent Blogger."  I'm really not even in "the mood" to blog so...Here it goes...

1) I have joined society:  As many of you know I have been using the most ancient phone there is.  It's one of AT&T's original "free phones" and it was probably THE best phone I've ever had.  I've had a cell phone ever since I was, eh 15 or 16 I guess. I got this one phone that everyone called "The Toilet Bowl" phone because it seriously looked like one...no kidding. After that phone I got the "free phone," the one I've had forever.  SO times have changed and I broke down and finally purchased ... the iPhone.  My life has been blissfully changed.  Before this I was unaware that the majority of my life could be controlled from one device.  It's an addiction, seriously. 

 2) B-12 can solve every problem:  I’ve been on a kick here lately since I have recently discovered a bottle of B-12 in our vitamin drawer at the apartment.  Now if anyone knows me, Laura, the “Junk Food Junkie,” you know that I am beyond eating anything healthy or remotely low in carbs, saturated fat, calories, or lard.

           However, I do have a wonderful boyfriend who has a past work history of credentials that include being a nutritionist and a personal trainer…he’s buff if any of you are wondering J  This new year I have asked him to help me become a healthier eater and get me on a vitamin and workout regimen….. What in God’s name was I thinking?   It’s as if I’ve ordered my own death sentence!   As of right now I am not on vitamins, nor have I worked out a day into 2009, and I don’t eat any healthier…well at least when Boyfriend isn’t around.  

            Anyway, upon discovering this bottle of B-12 in the “vitamin drawer” and figuring out what B-12 can do for you I started taking one 500 mg tablet every morning.  I’ve been on this B-12 routine for the past week and I feel a billion times better in the mornings.  It’s like instant coffee into your bloodstream.  Don’t worry mom it’s all natural and very good for you.  If you aren’t knowledgeable of what B-12 is here’s a link for more information. 

Click Here to find out more about B-12

            Valentine's Day weekend, before Roomie and I left for an 8 hour road-trip Kansas City , I had a terrible back ache, and was extremely exhausted from work. (I had to help make the drive to Kansas a well)  So I took a B-12 and a couple of Advil.  WHOA, within like 10 minutes I was feeling amazing.  So now  Roomie and I have a joke that if you have any ailment that a B-12 can heal you instantly.  Having a bad day?  In a grumpy mood?  Headache?  Backache? B-12 is all you need. I’m a believer.

3) Don’t expect much…of anything…ever:  Last year I heard a message preached on not having any expectations by Preston Morrison  …..Completely changed my life.   Having expectations completely thwarts the chances of ever being surprised.   (And being surprised is one of my oh-so-favorite things) There is however a difference in expectations, Godly desires, and having standards.  So, then and there I decided that I wouldn’t have any expectations (mainly regarding men, since at that time in my life I have a 5 pages list of everything I did and did not want in a man) Turns out after hearing the message I ended up burning that list, and 2 months later I met Boyfriend!  I can’t begin to tell you….He is nothing I ever expected but EVERYTHING my heart has ever desired.

          This past Valentines Day, the Boyfriend had been away on a week long tour with a wonderful and dear friend, Kari Jobe.  So instead of spending the weekend wishing he was here with me … Roomie and I decided to go on our first road trip to visit her family in Kansas City.  So even as we were apart, I ended up pretty much forgetting about Valentines Day.  Not so much a bad thing considering I didn’t want to be THAT girl who whines about her boyfriend being away and not getting to spend all of his hard earned money on needless stuffed animals and over-priced chocolate for ME …Puh-lease!  However, the Friday before V-day, while extremely busy at work, I received a WONDERFUL surprise, a BEAUTIFUL and HUGE bouquet of roses.  I laughed at myself considering I was pretty much oblivious as to why I would be getting flowers from him…duh Laura, Valentines Day.  It was a good day to not have any expectations…. I was SO surprised!

            Ok I think that's all I have for today.  Not too exciting I know, sorry to disappoint. Time for..

Web-site of the Day:  www.gowalla.com  This is the coolest iPhone application yet, and I just happen to know a couple of the developers.  It's a travel based game and I am so addicted to it.  If you have an iPhone you need to download this. 

 

Ice Day...

Had my first day of work yesterday.  AMAZING.  I know it sounds weird, but I'm going to have to get used to nice people.  I was welcomed with open arms yesterday on my first day, but I have to confess I felt slightly awkward when random people would come by and say hello and introduce themselves to me.  Ugh, I guess that's what corporate life does to you.  I think I will adjust just fine.  I actually got to go home early due to the weather....crazy ice and snow. 

   

I woke up at 6:00 a.m this morning, excited to venture in to my next day of work. I check the Gateway Website and the offices are open--YAY! So I begin to get myself ready, eat a banana and a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, (my favorite childhood cereal) when I get a text on my phone.  It's Pastor John (my boss) telling me that the offices aren't going to be open until 12.  Ok, I can chill until then.  Roomie and I hang out the rest of the morning while getting ready for work, when around 11:00 a.m. I received another phone call informing me that the offices are officially closed for the day.  I was kind of disappointed really. 

  

So now.... boredom has set in.  I've been watching people try to shimmy their way over the speed-bumps in the parking lot.  Pretty entertaining. Here's a picture of the ice off of my roof and balcony. 

   

Website of the Day:  Gateway Church   (just click the link)