in the last couple of days, people have found my blog by googling these phrases:
*flicking someone the bird
*makeout-what does it mean
*interdigitation-holding hands

i think there's something wrong.

(it's actually cold in boston today...my ribs hurt...i'm coming home tomorrow.)

it's been a little while. christmas, travel, family--it all comes before the blog.

i'm in boston. been here since late friday night. my niece is beautiful, and precious, and just the sweetest little thing i've ever seen. of course. what else would you expect?

got to spend some time in a-town with good friends before we left. have i mentioned lately how much i heart my friends? i think i have, so i'll refrain. but seriously, i REALLY do love 'em.

okay...

we've been here 5 days and haven't done any sightseeing yet. but that is no surprise. downtown boston and the other good stuff is on tap for tomorrow.

and now to the funny/painful news that some of you have already heard. (i can hear the jokes starting now.) i fell yesterday. in the hotel shower. my mom later went on to tell me, about 12 times, how she had noticed it was really slippery and meant to warn my dad. my dad. because he's kinda old and had some trouble earlier this year with balance and all. yeah, he had no problems. i, however, took a bad fall that ended with my ribcage smashing against the side of the tub/shower deal. a trip to the somerville ER was not far behind. after a couple hours there and a consultation with the doc, i was sent home with some serious pain medicine and a diagnosis of definitely bruised/possible cracked ribs. because of the place where i hit, they can't tell on x-rays if i broke any ribs. so i just wait it out and judge by how well i'm doing in a week or so. if i'm much better, i just bruised the ribs. if not, then it'll be about 8 weeks or so before i'm back to normal. i think i just bruised 'em. i'm pretty sore today, but not excruciatingly so. right after it happened, i couldn't breathe without hurting. so...that's a real improvement.

i guess that's what i get for wishing we could get out and do something instead of sitting around all day. i got my wish. hahaha.

we're flying home saturday--new year's eve. a little bit more quality time with some of my favorite people, some new spring, and then i'm moving more stuff from storage to the new place in cola. yay! i'm so excited to move to the house. it's gonna be such a good place to be.

then new orleans. that's gonna be good.

how was your christmas? fill me in. i miss you all.

i feel like there's something i want to say, but i don't know what it is. usually when this happens i just type and go with whatever comes out. it's not always a good thing.

i was sick sunday night and yesterday. UGLY sick. up all night, puking my guts out, praying for some relief kind of sick. and then it stopped monday morning. but my head hurt so bad all day yesterday that i seriously contemplated BEATING MYSELF SENSELESS. it was really not good. i couldn't do anything except lie in the bed. my head hurt too bad to watch tv. i didn't have the energy to do anything else. all i did was drink sprite and turn over every now and then. thank God for mama renie coming and taking care of me. that one cracker (the only thing i ate yesterday), wet washcloth, and tylenol made all the difference in the world.

on another note, has anyone else noticed that christmas is only 5 days away? what?? i just can't believe it. i know that's sort of the thing to say, but honestly...it doesn't seem possible. i feel like i've been trying to cram the shopping and partying and celebrating into days that already seem quite full. and i don't feel like i'm doing a good job with the juggling. something always seems to suffer a little. it's just not quite right. and it's so easy to feel like i know exactly what will make life completely wonderful and meaningful (and if you're thinking it's a guy, you're WAY off)...but i've got to trust that God knows better than i do. and i just keep reminding myself that following Him and being right where He wants me does not always mean loving everything that i'm doing and having the most fun ever. sometimes it means just doing what i know i've gotta do for now...and hoping that the day when i get to do what i LOVE will come soon. but it also means accepting the fact that the future might not be exactly like i thought. and i've got to be okay with that.

i really must go to bed. i'm heading to a-town tomorrow evening and then to boston friday. i can't wait to see beautiful little nora. i'm sure i'll have lots of photos after the trip. get ready. i'm also going to new orleans a couple days after i get back from boston, so i should have lots of stories to tell after the holidays.

4 hours old[1]
Originally uploaded by l to tha b.

nora elizabeth brown. born december 19th, 2005.

i'm an aunt!!

i played silent football for the first time tonight. reggie was hilarious, chris was ridiculously slow, and commissioner willis made me want to punch him in the face. all in all, a great game with incredible people.

i don't really feel so hot.

that is all for now.

my 27th birthday. (not my 30th, though that's what people like to call it. just to clarify.)

(let me preface this story by saying that birthdays are not a big deal in my family. they are celebrated, of course. and i'm not trying to say that my birthdays haven't been great...but i think that every year i hope someone will make a big deal out of it.)

back to monday...

the day started out completely normal. work. nothing extraordinary. i was actually a little afraid that this birthday was gonna be sorta crappy, to be honest. birthdays have become a big deal for the old crew back in a-town. we always go all out for the special day (like going to the beach for the weekend in honor of mcd's last one.) but i'm not there anymore, so i was trying not to miss that fact or be sad about not seeing any of them. i knew i would get to spend some time with incredible friends in cola, and i was looking forward to that. but still...i was nervous about being in a new place, away from my family and some close friends, with no celebration planned. little did i know i had nothing to worry about...

throughout the day, i got calls from many wonderful people wishing me a happy birthday. one even sung to me on my voicemail. it was glorious. i received the prettiest bouquet of roses, carnations, and christmas greenery at work. it was quite nice. every monday night, the midtown leadership team meets. so, after going home for just a bit that evening, i headed to chris and beth's for what i thought was a regular meeting (and maybe dinner with the crew later).

i get to the browns' place and all the guys are missing. the ladies and i chat in the den and play with ollie. at one point, renie says something to cunningham (who has just walked in) about going to see what the guys are doing in the other room. i thought she was talking to me too. i try to go in, and the door is quickly slammed in my face. so i figure they must be up to something dealing with my birthday (i mean, it'd be a little hard not to think that at this point). anyway...we sit around for a while longer and wait on the guys. eventually, the singing starts and i'm wondering what took so long to get the cake or whatever ready. yeah. courtney covers my eyes. i wish you could have been there when the guys tried to get the present through the door of the den. they sang happy birthday at least 3 times in a row, trying to keep it going until they got this thing in the room. it didn't happen. so i went into the study to see the surprise...

a foosball table!! the perfect present. seriously. if you know me very well, you probably know that i love foosball. and i talk a lot of junk about beating everybody. i love it when people pay attention and give you presents that show it. so, as soon as i can figure out a place to put the table (and a way to get it out of chris and beth's house), i will be challenging you all to a game.

after the unveiling, i was blindfolded. they didn't even let me walk to the car before putting it on. it was quite humorous as courtney and renie tried to guide me up the steps and into the car. we drove for a while. court tried to tell me we were near a lake. i didn't believe her...but i had no idea where we were or what restaurant they were taking me to. we get there, and they lead me inside. still won't let me take the blindfold off. i'm sure i got some funny looks. we sit in the restaurant for a bit, waiting on the table, me with the pink blindfold on. i'm like "y'all, don't you think i can take this off now since we're inside?" no luck. finally, they tell me i can take the blindfold off...

and standing in front of me are lee and karl, two of my very favoritest (that's just for y'all) people in the whole world. i had no idea they were coming down from a-town. it was the most amazing surprise ever! my friends all know me well...they knew just what to do to make this day awesome.

so we eat at california dreaming. yum yum yum. the food was great. the conversation, laughter, and love of friends was even greater. i don't think i've laughed that hard in a while. and then we had cheesecake. cheesecake factory cheesecake, thanks to mrs. renie willis. delicious! karl and lee had to depart after dinner to head back. i still can't believe they drove 2 hours down and 2 back just to have dinner with me.

unfortunately, the evening didn't end at this point. if it had, i would have absolutely nothing to complain about. however, dustin decided we should all go see a movie that looked really good. syriana. i don't know...i hear that some people actually enjoyed this movie. we all HATED it with the burning hatred of a thousand suns. horrible. i'm fairly certain i have never fallen asleep in the movies before, but this one was so bad that i didn't even want to stay awake. the best part was when chris got up and faked throwing up and then eventually just walked out in protest with beth because they hated it so much.

anyway...overall, this birthday was freakin' awesome. full of friends, foosball, fantastic food, and funniness. thanks to all you internet peeps for the love too.

my life in the past year has been such a ride. i never would have imagined on my last birthday how drastically things would change for me. or how ridiculously God would bless me. or how much i would learn from every event that has taken place. i'm excited to see what this year as a 27 year-old will hold for me. as long as it brings me closer to Jesus, i'll be happy.

is coming. but you're gonna have to wait for it.

it's worth it.

we're heading there this evening for a little midtown leader retreat. should be a weekend filled with fun times and great discussion. and the chronicles of narnia.

later.

first let me state the obvious. i love to use ellipses. (they're the ... for those who might be unsure.) but, apparently i've been using them all wrong. they're supposed to be used when a word is omitted. i just use 'em when one statement seems to be leading into another. you know--dot, dot, dot. i think we've all been led astray on this one. personally, i'm gonna keep using 'em the way i wanna...just like now.

yeah.

also...i love big, old, soft sweatshirts. and hats. there's nothing better than a worn-in, comfy sweatshirt or a hat that's been perfectly beaten up. i guess it's easy to make me happy. i don't know what it is. when it comes to these two things, i'd just rather have 'em after they've been through it. oh, and guys' hats and sweatshirts are way better than girls'. they just are. i have this one sweatshirt right now that i put on whenever i'm cold at the house...it's the greatest thing ever. about 4 sizes too big. perfect. i wish i had a nice beat up hat to wear on days when hats are just called for. oh well.

anyway...

today's been a good one. for no particular reason really. things have just seemed fun and new and full of possibility. it was a long day at work with no lunch break or anything. then i went straight to the store for some christmas shopping and such. so, i'm at wally world...and i'm riding around on the cart. you know what i mean? when you give it a good push and then jump on the back? yeah. i do that a lot in the parking lot. but tonight, i was doing it in the store. i just couldn't keep myself from it. and then i come home and people have left me love on the computer. and i got an email today from another lauren brown who is in cali doing some church planting stuff. she found the blog by googling her own name. weird (in a cool sorta way), huh? today has been full of random things like that. i love it.

so, here are a couple of actual serious thoughts that have been on my mind lately:

this whole internet thing. we have a sorta love/hate relationship. in so many ways, the internet makes life grand. i'm not gonna name all the ways, because you people know them. but i still can't help but think many times that we're (or at least i'm) missing out on something by doing so much interacting (can you even call it that?) over the computer. i'm glad i can im or email my friends anytime i want. it makes phone bills much cheaper and keeping up a lot easier. but i miss people's voices and the way they look at me when they talk. or how i can read right through them in person. or the laughter that explodes after something funny is said. i miss those times where i try to avoid things that i don't want to talk about...but i'm forced to own up and share my feelings. i miss trying to hold back the tears when something has really hurt or hit home. i mean, i'm real on this thing to a certain extent. but you get the edited version. and when i'm not sure how something will sound or i decide that it's too much information, i can just rewrite or delete it altogether. that's not real honesty. that's my version of it. although i can't control how you perceive me by reading this blog, i do control what information you have to determine who you think i am. and while i feel a lot of times like i'm more open in this context than i am with a lot of people face-to-face...it's still only the honesty that i choose to give you. and i'm not sure how accurate that picture is many times. and it's felt lately like i've been keeping up with some friends' lives almost completely by reading their blogs. i'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily...i guess i'm just missing the actual people, not their version of themselves that they share with the internet world. i had no idea i was gonna say so much on this topic. you'll have that.

eternity. when does that start? i used to always think of eternal life as beginning when you die. you know, your life on earth is over...but if you're a Christian, you inherit eternal life. i keep getting reminded though, that eternal life is now. as soon as we become followers of Christ, our eternal life begins. there's nothing to wait on. since life continues after our bodies are dead, we really just keep on living (in a much more amazing environment of course). eternity is right now. what are you doing for eternity? what am i doing for eternity?

just some completely random thoughts today. hope you enjoyed 'em. (i'm all nice and cozy in my awesome sweatshirt. under the best blanket ever. life is good.)

are happening all around.

good thing #1. i'm gonna be an aunt really soon. my brother and his wife are expecting a little one on Christmas eve. we're going to boston to be with them for the holidays...hopefully the baby (we don't know if it's a boy or a girl) will come sometime while we're there. today i did a little shopping for the baby. i'm not excited about being so far away from my new niece/nephew, but i guess there are positive points to that as well. if i lived really close, i would totally spoil the kid rotten. i had to restrain myself today at old navy...baby stuff is just so incredibly cute. i'm excited about watching my brother and sister-in-law become parents. such an exciting time.

good thing #2. i am moving in with sara and leslie (a couple of very cool chicks) sometime after the holidays. living with them is gonna be so much fun. i'm looking forward to deepening those friendships and just having good girl friends around on a regular basis. their house is in the target area of town for the church...it'll be nice to be right in the heart of things. and it's an amazing house. old with lots of charm, hardwoods, super cute...if you know me, you know i love that kind of house.

good thing #3. God is blessing midtown in ridiculous ways. i'm in awe. it's not about midtown, it's about Him...but He has chosen to throw awesome things our way.

good thing #4. i've said it before and i'll probably say it again...i really am surrounded by great people. people who look out for me and love me, especially when i'm doing something a little stupid. Jesus has spoken to me in various ways through my friends lately. i love that.

good thing #5. i'm gonna celebrate another year of life pretty soon...and yes, i am starting to feel a little old. go ahead with the old jokes. but seriously, this past year has been one full of goodness. sure, it's also included some rough stuff...but every hard thing that i've faced in the last year has made me experience God like i never would have otherwise. i've grown a lot. i've made mistakes. and even though the hard times seemed so bad in the moment, it's amazing what has come from all of it. trusting Him, trying my hardest to be obedient, and realizing that nothing and no one else will satisfy...those are invaluable lessons.

good thing #6. all the other things in my life that are total blessings...things that i take for granted each and every day. i live such a good life. i have never really known great need, or abandonment, or strife. i don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. my parents have been married 30+ years and they love and care for me. i have the freedom to fill my days with just about anything i choose. i have nothing to complain about.

good thing #7. i just feel like there are more good things on the way. i don't deserve 'em...but i'll take 'em.

tell me about the good things in your life...

but you should know that i just got back from having a root canal at the dentist. yeah. actually, the only thing that was uncomfortable was one of the first shots...the one that goes right in the top of your mouth. i felt that, though it didn't really hurt.

fun times.

right now, i'm trying to drink out of a straw. it's pretty entertaining. half of my face is not quite working properly.

there should be more to come later today or tomorrow, when i've got some time to devote to this blog of mine.

hope your day is amazing. find someone to love on. give 'em a kiss on the cheek.

i stayed up way too late last night talking to friends and drinking pumpkin spice latte and such.

it's cold in the house this mornin'...but sooooo warm and toasty under the covers.

i don't wanna get out of bed.