December

December seems like forever ago,,, I was going to write a post about it but never got around to it! Better late than never! I'll just sum up that busy month with pictures! :)

Our Garrett Connect Group Christmas Hang Out! Love these ladies!

Our VCM Christmas Party was a success with great food, games, & dancing!  

Annual Mike's Farm visit= they have a restaurant, then we go on this hayride through the woods to see these awesome Christmas lights! This is my favorite "Eastern NC" tradition!

Some of  "the big girls" came along for the fun night!

Savannah, GA!! I finally got to go to the city I have been wanting to go to for years!! But I only got to spend an hour there b/c  we were in route to Jacksonville, FL for the Every Nation Campus Ministries Christmas Summit! Savannah, I hope to see you again soon for a proper "visit!" 

In Jacksonville, Victoria and I stayed with Meghan and Katie! Grace stayed with Bella and Elissa! So glad for these awesome ladies who love the Lord! Glad I get to serve with them around the great country of the U S of A!!! (Bella left in Miami, Elissa Texas. ps do you like our "awkward family photo?)  

Nick talking about the "Target Cities" for church plants!! Blue dots= where there are EN churches. Orange= hopeful church plants. Chicago is one of the new church plants! I am going with a team for a spring break mission trip!

Our "Old School" ECU crew minus Alan & Melissa. (Nick and Heather far right were our ECU directors for years and now they serve as our National Directors. To take this position they moved to Nashville, TN. So glad for them but sad for me. They are like second parents to me!) 

So after Jacksonville, I got to fly to the Bahamas to stay with my sister, bro in law, nephew and their friends. My mom was there the week before me so I only saw her at the airport for a few minutes. 5 days in paradise was just the ticket. I did not want to leave at all! It was fun to hang out with this rascal!

Carrie and sweet Jack on the beach! He absoultey loved the beach, digging holes, and playing in the water!  The beach this summer will be tons of fun! (This past summer he wasn't walking yet so this was the first time Jack was able to walk on the beach!) 

I got back into NC just in time for a sleep over with these lovely ladies. Sadly this was the only picture I took. Steph was in town from Kansas so naturally we talked and she knitted. ;) Kendall was gracious enough to host our sleep over! The next morning we went to breakfast with Sprinkle and then had a fashion show at the bargain box! I need to locate those pictures!

So sad that this was the only picture I took of Christmas day! Mom... I mean "Gigi" gave Jack an elmo doll just like Carrie used to have when she was little! It was the best gift of the day other than Jesus!

All of the hype about Les Mis made me dig out this and watch it! I need to post about this later but our dance studio did a rendition when I was in middle school!

Sarah was in town from Kansas as well and we got together to hang out and watch Les Mis!

Christmas break was so awesome and jammed packed with lots of good visits with friends and family! It went by way too fast as always!

Life is good, real good!

Well,  I did not find my husband on the "Show us Your Life Singles" Though I did get a few emails that did not turn into anything... Life moves on and I am glad all of my eggs weren't in that basket. 

Though it sure would be nice to be engaged right now or to even had a date last night for NYE, I am happy and content with where I am in life! :) I have a loving Savior, faithful friends, a bright future, a great ministry to be a part of everyday,  a car that works, and a super cute townhouse and on and on... "Life is good, real good" as Nacho Libre would say! 

Here is a recap of my semester:

Fall Retreat with our ECU crew at Campus Munda Vista in Asheboro!

10 year High School Reunion at Page High School

 This was the same weekend of the Fall Retreat so I was just able to go to the tour of the school which I loved. But man am I glad that I am not that insecure girl without Jesus that I was back then! I used to stress out about so much in High School, especially school work. Glad that chapter of my life is closed. Thank you Jesus for your redemption!

Went to help the girls set up for the Reunion party that night! (Hunter, Colby, Meredith, & Keely)

One Sunday I taught Tonsha, Tria, & Natayla how to make friendship bread! This was so much fun! I wish my kitchen were bigger with an island so I could have more "cooking classes!"

Went to see Elizabeth perform in Annie with these lovely ladies from connect group!

Became the VP1 Advisor for the Iota Rho chapter of ZTA! I have loved this! I sat on the Planning Committee a few semesters in college so this is a lot of fun!

Threw a Halloween party for Victory Campus Ministries! I love dressing up as anything 80's!

Shamefully the only pictures I have of Thanksgiving!! My mom with my precious nephew Jack!

I have to start taking more pictures to document everything! My friends will love that! ;) Christmas post to come soon!

Why Not!

Soooo, I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner today for her Single's Day! I have read Kelly's Korner for years, ever since Harper was born. So I am quite familiar with her Single's Days! Most of the time I just  scroll through all of the links, but this time I figured I might as well post too! I just found out what YOLO stands for this week: you only live once! So here goes!

Hey I’m Laura!

I am 28 years old and live in Greenville, NC! I went to East Carolina University 10 years ago, got saved Christmas of my freshman year, and have stayed in Eastern NC ever since! (I grew up in Greensboro, NC!)

With Stephanie & Melissa!

I have a huge heart for the Lord so I love what I get to do everyday! I am a campus minister and love seeing college students come to know the Lord! 

With Bella & Elissa in Miami!

I also love my family! My nephew Jack is precious to me and I can’t wait to have a family one-day!

I love my friends, both old and new! I love to laugh, talk, and listen! I basically love people! If you are familiar with the strengths finder book/test all of my themes are all people ones. (Empathy, positivity, individualization, woo, harmony!)

This past Christmas with my friend Hunter and Jesse's baby Will! Love that kid!

I love planning parties & entertaining! Having people over is one of my favorite things! I originally came to ECU for interior design, but God had other plans. I do still love to decorate and do diy projects! 

I love to cook and my new best friend lately has been Amish friendship bread! I love cookbooks, southern food, & local restaurants!

I love to travel and go to different places! I love going on short-term mission trips! Every year I have been in ministry, I have gone on a mission trip! Past trips include: Baja, Boston, and Miami! I am looking forward to Spring Break 2013 to go to Chicago!

Baja Mission trip on the border of Mexico & USA!

In Boston! 

With Brittany on our way to Miami! 

I am pretty outgoing! Not so adventurous as in bungee jumping, sky diving etc but love to try new things! I love movies, plays/musicals, and playing games! I am not sportsy at all, but I love to have a good time!

Being silly with my friend Grace on St Patty's day on ECU's Campus!

So,,, there's a little about me! If you know someone who would be a good match, please send him my way! ;) Leave a comment or email me a lauralever@gmail.com 

Summer Wrap Up!

Let me fill you in on what went down this summer! 
One of the most fun things I did this summer was attend the School of Empowerment! This was hosted at Kings Park International Church in Durham and was an awesome three weeks! 

School of Empowerment lunch crew at William's Restaurant,, home of the best sweet potato fries!!

I grew so much spiritually and really feel like the Lord meet me in so many ways! God is so faithful! The months of April and May were pretty dry spiritually because of everything going on with my mom and aunt (mom= car accident, aunt =Diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder called Wagoners disease. She was in and out of the hospital May & June and was actually at Duke hospital the whole 3 weeks of the SOE.) 

July 4th@Kenan stadium in Chapel Hill

I honestly wasn’t spending consistent time with Jesus at all! So I really needed this time with the Lord of refreshing! I learned more about the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and made incredible friends. These three weeks change my life, and deserve it’s own post one day!

Birthday Dinner at Mellow Mushroom! 28 is going to be great! ;)

At the end of July, I went to the mountains to Granite Falls to speak to a church up there that supports me! This was so fun! This church has supported me for a year and this was the first time I got to meet them! I stayed with the most awesome 75 year old I have ever met! It was such a blessing! I love the mountains and had fun hiking up to see some waterfalls with my friend Emily! Glad I was able to swing by and have a day with her family in Marion.

Catwba Falls

The first week of August I was able to go to the beach with my mom, sister, brother-in-law and sweet nephew Jack! This was so fun. I love the beach and being lazy! This trip to Wrightsville beach also included a mini day trip to see my sweet friend Jayme who just moved to Southport! Southport is precious! They were filming a movie with Hilary Swank so part of the town was blocked off! Pretty big excitement around those parts!

Out to eat at Provision Company in Southport with Jayme & Lily!

Carrie blowing bubbels for Jack-a-roo!

 Right before school started back, I moved into a town house with my friend Laura! Laura and Laura living together makes it easy for our neighbors to remember our names! ;) We did that on purpose! Honestly though, we feel soo lucky! The town house has everything we wanted: gas logs, two bedrooms each with their own bath, ½ bath downstairs, two story, (laminate) hardwood floors, patio, lots of storage, painted walls, nice safe neighborhood! Everything is great, expect we got the utility bill today for this month and it was $260! Shut the front door, no really you are letting the bought air out!! We will live with candles and windows open until we can figure things out! ;) So there it is! My summer wrap up! Can’t believe it has taken me this long to get back to blogging and I had so much to catch up on!! Hopefully more posts to come and not another blogging hiatus! 

Mom and I with precious baby Jack! :) Don't you love the Polo outfit I bought him!

Spring Wrap Up!

So it's been a while.... A long while!

With Bella and Elissa in Miami! They are also campus ministers here in the USA!

The rest of the Miami trip went really well! I came back to life as normal for a little while. Then the next big event in my life was ,,, Campus Harvest where I had the opportunity to speak on a panel during the main session! I was super honored but nervous too!

Our ECU Gang at Campus Harvest!

Right after Campus Harvest I went to stay with my mom Sunday night and Monday. An hour and a half after I had gotten back to Greenville after driving back from Greensboro on Monday, I got a call saying my mom had been in a car accident and was in the hospital! I had all of my clothes in the washing machine and was exhausted so I went to Greensboro the next morning. My mom stayed in ICU for a few days with a total hospital stay of a week. She had a broken neck (in two places) and sacrum (right above your tail bone). It was scary to see her in the hospital hooked up to all of the machines. Every day she got better and then was able to go home!

The month of April my sister and I drove back and forth to Greensboro to take turns staying with my mom! This was a crazy, emotional time but I was so thankful that my mom was OK and alive! Oh I forgot, the day before the car accident, my mom's house sold (the house I grew up in)! So looking after my mom, packing the house, sorting through my possessions was a lot! My mom has a great support system and lots of people who brought food and came to help! My friend from elementary school, Hunter, also came over to help!

One of the "Gems" I had to part with! Made this in interior design class at Page High School!

Wasn't expecting to find this gem in the attic! (1980's Lilly Pulitzer)

In the middle of all of that, one of my besties got married! Christie and Ryan have been together for so long that it was fun to see them finally "tie the knot!"

Bridesmaids with the Bride! Me, Kayla, CHRISTIE, Victoria, & Christina!

The beautiful dress!

Christina and I having a photo shoot on the Yankee Hall grounds! :) We felt like Southern Belles!

Well we got my mom all packed up as the school semester here at ECU was winding down. We had our annual end of the year party at the bottom of the hill and end of the year planning/evaluation meetings. After all of that, I was able to take a few days off, then I started raising support for the summer. This went well and I am super thankful for all of the ministry partners I was able to see! I love having awesome people support what the Lord is doing at ECU!

Our Campus Staff at East Carolina went to the beach for a mini staff bonding trip!

Miami Wrap Up!

And now months later, let me finish telling you about the Miami trip!

Kaylan leading morning devotions!

The last day of the Ten Days Miami Trip we did service work for an orphanage. We painted. Well actually I didn’t paint at all.  I helped Bella shop for lunch. Then we came back and set up lunch. (Even though I didn’t spend the day there, I was glad we were able to serve in the community!) After lunch clean up and a little help at the orphanage,  Bella and I went to Walmart to shop for our cookout that night. While we were shopping it poured down rain and we started to wonder about the likelihood of a cookout! 

Cute girls painting away!

Get it Brittany!

Praying over the center at the end of the day!

We bought the stuff anyway and went out to one of the Florida keys with the whole gang! By the end of the afternoon, the rain cleared up! The drive there was absolutely beautiful! I totally understood why so many people go to Miami! We had a fun time and got to go to the beach! After that we went to South Beach one last time!

Look how clear the water was!

Our trip to Miami was lots of fun! It was awesome to be able to serve and help on another campus! For me it is important to actually see the Kingdom of God and not just talking about it! I am already excited for the next Spring Break Mission trip to Chicago! Hopefully we can take a large group from East Carolina!

Kristen, me, Bella, & Elissa! ENCM staff girls! 

All of our ENCM staff!

Had lots of fun with Sarah & Brittany this trip! 

Our whole Ten Days Miami group! 

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