Sadie

This is my new dog Sadie. She is just over a year old, and full of energy. When people ask me what kind she is, I tell them she's "black" because I really don't know. I love her ears because one goes up and one goes down, as you can see. She loves to play with toys and chase animals outside. I think she'd be a great hunting companion. I'll leave it at that for now, except for one funny story I must share.

Sadie loves to hide her bones all over the house. If she could, she'd take them outside and bury them, but until we have our own backyard, we try to minimize our time outdoors due to her predaceous nature. Anyway, today I gave her a bone and she intently searched the entire house for just the right place to hide it. I sat on the floor "Indian-style" and watched her wander around for probably 5 or 6 minutes, tenaciously scoping out all the possibilities. Finding no place suitable, she eventually came over and buried the bone in my lap, of all places. Of course, as soon as I got up, she had to start all over. What a peculiar lady. I kind of wonder how many bones we'll find tucked away when we move out in May!

p.s. Sadie's full name, according to Lori, is: Anna Maria Sophia Sadie Elaine Bumkins Butler... and this is my favorite photo so far.

Pondering

Ever wonder how a copy machine works or why people from different parts of the world look so distinctly different? I mean, we're all human right? It's just interesting to me. Other things that really get me thinking are fax machines (weird) and the postal system. I mean, we complain about the price of stamps... but I'd charge you a whole lot more to carry a letter from here to Montana, and it would probably take me longer, too! And then you got airplanes. I mean, I can kind of explain to you how and why it works, but really, there is no rhyme or reason why a 777 should ever make it off the ground. Seriously. And then of course there's hearing. I've spent almost 3 years studying how hearing works and it still amazes me when I think about it. It's so incredibly intricate! Not to mention the rest of the body... I won't go there. These are just a few things that have crossed my mind in the past day or two (probably when I was supposed to be doing homework or something "productive"). I just wondered if anyone else ever ponders these things....

p.s. If there is anyone out there who actually gets how a fax machine works... don't bother trying to explain it. I'd just rather wonder.

Hooked

Well, I took the bait and decided to stay at Callier for my externship. I haven't decided exactly how I feel about that just yet, other than that I am super excited to be staying in Dallas awhile longer. I love it here, and it's become home. Someday maybe God will decide to bring me to a new place, but for now I'm thrilled to be here.

Now that I've got my externship worked out, I'm ready to move onto more important things like finding a new and exciting place to live! We've loved where we are now, but sometimes a change of scenery can be quite exhilarating. Lori and I have been looking into some townhomes. I'd love a garage; she wants a backyard. The challenge comes in finding something which fits that description, in a decent location, at an affordable price. We think we may have struck gold in one potential neighborhood just a few miles south of where we are now, but we need to wait a few months to be in the right time frame. Unfortunately, one more semester lies between now and then.

Getting back in the swing of things after Christmas break has been a bit challenging, and I often wish we could go back to "vacation" mode. In a few months' time there will be another break in the action, and I don't think it could come soon enough. Hopefull the next 4 months will fly by and I'll get all of my assignments turned in for the very last time. And what a relief that will be!

Here's to a great 2008!

On the edge of reality...

Well, I'm 5 days away from beginning my final semester of classes. I'm not sure I'm ready seeing as I've been off for over a month and every day has felt like Saturday for the past 5 or so weeks. It has been fabulous! I have had a month to kick back, not think about school, visit friends and family, and pretty much just chill. Only problem now is, I'm 5 days away from two days of testing during which I should be able to remember everything I've learned in 2 1/2 years of graduate school. (And I've been off so long I think I've forgotten everything I ever knew about audiology.)

Over the holidays, I got to spend 3 weeks at home with the fam. It was probably the longest time I've ever been home since I left for college and it was lots of fun. It was great to be in a new place, visit old friends, and see all the sights (my parents live less than a mile from a shopping mall and a mere 3.7 miles from REI in Houston)! I love our new house and the area we live in. It's easy to get to, yet relatively tucked away for being in the middle of Houston, and reminds me a lot of camp (lots of tall pine trees). We went on a 6 mile bike ride one afternoon through a beautiful park. The weather was gorgeous the whole time I was there.

I've recently decided I must be hitting the quarter-life crisis, because by the end of my stay I was pretty convinced I could just stay there and scrapbook all day, run errands for my mom, play Guitar Hero and Pool with Ben every night, and ride bikes on the weekends. Getting back to reality is going to be a bit of an adjustment. I don't think I'm ready. This semester is supposed to be a lighter one but right now it is seeming very daunting.

In less than six months I'll be starting my externship, which should be my first taste of grown-up life. I'm really looking forward to having no homework for a change. I've been in school for the past 19 1/2 years (about as long as my sister has been alive) and I'm ready to have a little free time on my hands! As soon as my tests are over, I'll be counting down the days!

Things I'm thankful for...

Lately I've been reflecting on the many things I am so thankful for each and every day. Here are just a few.

*health - for me and my family.

*a roof over my head and three (or more) meals a day.

*the awesome friends i've made at church and school. next year will be so weird without them!

*the ability to be in grad school - financially, intellectually, emotionally!

*having family close by in dallas - and lots of little girls to play with!

*toilet paper - strange, but true. Where would we be without it?

*CHRISTMAS BREAK!! A much needed time of rest, and hanging out with the fam at our new house in HOUSTON!

*seeing the end of school in sight... just about 4 months of classwork left!

Jenny's Birthday Tailgate!

Last weekend we had our annual family tailgate party at Baylor. All the little girls came down and Dad cooked another fabulous meal. We had so much fun playing and even went to the game for a little bit! The girls had a blast! They are all getting so big.

Olivia, our newest addition
Playing in the grass
Rachel, Ramona, and Rebecca with "Uncle" Ben
Jenny, Rachel, and Hannah
The gang's all here!

New Pics of Nick

I found these in Picasa tonight... I'd forgotten about them. :)
My dog was such a sweetheart! I miss having him around.
 
 
 
 

A Great Weekend

Friday afternoon Ryan and I headed to Waco for Baylor Homecoming. We got to see Jenny and her friends get ready for their Pigskin performance before we went to the bonfire and our 10:30 p.m. performance. Saturday was the Homecoming parade and Tri Delt's float won 1st place!

Yesterday afternoon I rode back to Dallas with Sarah and Stephanie and went to a Silpada Jewelry party with Sarah Tillman. After that, Lori and I saw "Dan in Real Life," which was great and I think I laughed the whole time. It was such a great weekend and the most fun I've probably had in some time. Today, I'm back to homework. Can't wait til next year when we have none!

Now for the sad news. Thursday morning, November 1st, Nick died. I miss him so much right now, but I'm glad he's not suffering and I don't have to worry about him anymore. He was a great dog and I will always cherish the time we had together. He had so many unique personality traits that impacted me in a way I never knew an animal could. It was such a pleasure and an honor to care for him during his last year of life, and I truly believe God brought him to me last Thanksgiving. It will be a big adjustment to life without Nick.

The hardest thing for me right now is coming home and him not being here, going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning to an empty bed. I know it will get easier with time, but I will miss him for a long time.

Nick's Album

Sooo cute!

Nickers

My dog has got to have the cutest face ever!




You can't necessarily tell that from the pictures, so you may just have to trust me on that one. He's an amazingly resilient little guy, too. He's also a problem solver (I like that) and manipulator (I don't so much like that). Last weekend we tailgated at the Baylor/A&M football game and he had a ball. He's not much of a lake-dog but he sure is at home in the R.V. I guess that comes with seniority. HA!

Whipped

This semester is killing me. I come home completely exhausted at the end of the day and there is so much stuff waiting for me when I get here. I don't know how I'll ever get it all done. I'm trying to take it one day at a time, but doing it that way means that some things never get done. For example, applying for externships. Kind of an important thing to do right now, if I want my education to continue next year... but there just aren't enough hours in the week to get it all done. I keep telling myself that the real world doesn't require homework. At least not every single day of the week. Please let it be true!

He is the Lord

The Lord recently opened my eyes to a phenomenal segment of Scripture (found in 1 Samuel 3).

Samuel, whose mother dedicated him to the Lord not long after birth, grew up in and around the temple, continually growing in favor with the Lord. It was quite some time, however, before the Lord called Samuel to be a prophet. In fact, the Bible says, "Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him" (v. 7). Imagine, growing up among the priests and not even knowing the Lord! So anyway... (I'm getting side-tracked.)

When the Lord finally called Samuel, the very first mission he was given was to approach the priest and tell him that he and his whole family would soon die because they were not honorable in the Lord's eyes. The first thing that amazed me was the fact that Samuel was courageous enough to follow through with the Lord's request. The second thing, which absolutely blew me away, was Eli's response to Samuel: "HE IS THE LORD; LET HIM DO WHAT IS GOOD IN HIS EYES."

If we were faced with imminent death, either our own or someone close to us, our first response would likely be to plead with the Lord for mercy and healing. We want nothing short of a miracle. But Eli's response is quite the contrary: "He is God. So let it be."

What if we had the kind of faith that said, "He is the Lord: let him do what is good and his eyes." What if we had the kind of faith that allowed us to look beyond ourselves, beyond our time here, and to trust wholeheartedly in the Lord's sovereinty no matter what it meant for us and our loved ones? If only we could see this earth through His eternal lenses. What lives of genuine faith we might live....

Cousin Time

I was lucky enough to squeeze in some play time with the girls this week at Kelly's shower! It was so fun since I haven't gotten to see them very much recently. :)

Olivia!

Hannah and Rachel

Ramona

This one is from the day Olivia was born!

8 months and counting...

(No, I'm not pregnant.) On the other hand, it's official... I have no life. However, I will begin living again in approximately 8 months when I start my externship and enter (pseudo-real-world) phase II of grad school. I do have pictures from England and I will post them when I have the opportunity. Right now between classes, job searching, research, walking my dog, and Hike for Discovery I feel very squeezed for time. This weekend I do have the privilege of getting away to "camp" (aka Pine Cove) for fun & fellowship with friends. Hope it goes well considering I have lost all social skills and I'm not much fun to be around right now. Grad school has definitely taken its toll on me. I do believe that once I am free from the incessant burden of assignments I will return to the pleasant person I once was. Here's hoping...
lb

Summer Fun

Hooray for summer break! We waited and waited, and finally it came! I have had such a fun and relaxing two weeks off; it has been wonderful! It began with a trip to Keystone, Colorado for OtiCamp. Sounds nerdy, but a free trip to Colorado just could not be turned down. They gave us lots of free time every day to go and do fun things, and we didn't even have to pack dressy clothes! I wish I could go back every year! The day after we got back I headed to Ardmore, OK, to hitch a ride with Lindsey and Brandon to Bella Vista, AR. We went for her dad's birthday party and it was my first visit to the Fowlers' new house. It was so much fun to see them and to be in the beautiful scenery of northwest Arkansas. Just gorgeous! Today I am repacking my suitcase one more time for a trip to England with the family. Jenny has been studying abroad this summer, so we're taking the opportunity to "visit" her in London. We'll be going out to the countryside as well and I'm expecting some more breath-taking views. The other thing I've accomplished during this break is teaching my dog to shake - finally! It takes lots of patience to teach an old dog new tricks! :) Today he also surpassed all records and slept in until 7:30. Good dog, Nick!

Click on the photo below to view my web album.

Oticon Audiology Summer Camp

Oh, Nick...

Sometimes my dog drives me crazy. He has a special talent of breathing very loudly whenever he wants me to pay attention to him. So this evening, he was sitting near me breathing loudly enough that I put my earplugs in to drown him out. As if on cue, he strategically moved closer and began breathing even louder! Ahh! Eventually he fell asleep... and promptly began snoring. Oh, Nick...

Moving Day

 

Last Thursday my parents closed on their house in Houston and that night we had a surprise party for my mom's big 5-0! Friday morning the movers hauled everything out of the apartment and into the house. The rest of their stuff is still in storage in Dallas and should get to Houston August 1st. We had a great weekend seeing friends and family and having them over to the house. Saturday morning Ben and I stopped by the Antique Center where Linda has been working in Uncle Jim's booth this summer. We snapped this picture of the 3 sisters before we headed back to Flower Mound for Scout camp. Aren't they cute? :)

It only gets worse....

My latest visit to the campground was quite an adventure. I abandoned my car at the PARK CLOSED sign and hiked in from the main road... went through 3 water crossings by boat, and finally made it to the entrance about half an hour later. Once I got there I took a moment to cool off in the motor home before I started out on my next venture. Since the access to the marina is now blocked off due to water on the road, you can only get to our boat via shuttle from the other side of the lake. So... I thought the rubber raft should be moved back to the campground. That way, if anyone does venture back to the motor home, they won't have to drive to Grapevine to take the shuttle back across to the marina to take the boat out. So... I swam as fast as I could across to the boat to avoid snakes. Thankfully, I made it without incident and was able to raft safely back across. Once I ended up back at the motor home, I had to decide how best to get back out to the main road. I decided to hike out the back way to avoid water crossings, which landed me in a neighborhood that I ended up walking for 30 minutes to get out of. It was a long hot walk back to the main road. But, I made it safely back to my car, thank heavens!

Summer Adventures

JUNE 27
My family was evacuated from the RV park today due to rising water
level. (The lake is VERY full. In fact, the parking lot at the marina
is completely underwater.) However, they could not drive the RV out
of the park because the road is in bad shape after all of the recent
rain. So, they gathered up their belongings and headed south (to
Houston), and left the RV sitting there to float away to a happy
place. Life at the "lakehouse" is never dull.

JUNE 30 The adventures continue...
Today my parents returned to the campground. My dad waded through
waist deep water (phone in pocket-oops) to get into the park so he could get the raft from
the motorhome. Then he rafted across to the marina to pick up my mom,
who (understandably) didn't want to wade through the waist deep water.
When I talked to them they were rafting back across the cove to clean
out the sewer line at the motorhome. (That I don't envy...) All in
all, this has turned into a very memorable summer for my family. I'm
pretty sure my parents think they're teenagers again, with all these
adventures in the creek and what not. Needless to say, I'm entirely
jealous. :)

JULY 1
When Jenny and I went to visit the lakehouse today, we had 3 options for getting into the park.... a hiking trail from a nearby neighborhood, a rubber raft from the marina side, or a "skif and rope" contraption across what is now chin-deep water at the park entrance. I'm almost sure my parents are living in lower Arkansas at this point, when these are our options for coming to visit. We did manage to get everyone safely into the park, including Granddad! Half of the park is underwater now, since the lake is 17' above normal, but so far all of the RVs are on high enough ground. Ours happens to be on the highest point in the park. In fact, Searge (USMC) has calculated that the lake is still 12' below its highest recorded level, and we are likely above that point... so there is no real chance of it floating away! My parents have become acquainted with all of the locals in the park. There's Dick (known as Dale), Darren (known as Searge), and Marlon (known as Nick), among others. Evidently all of the full-timers have 2 names. Who knew? Around 3:00 they called a community meeting to discuss emergency evacuation procedures... as I said before, life at the lakehouse is NEVER dull!

JULY 3 (Email update from mom...)
You are all welcome at the lake house on the 4th and I think that you'll be able to access it!! Who knows though. There were two more low places on our driveway (besides the one that's already flooded over) and now one of them is probably 6 inches under water and the other place has water on the road . . . Jenny will definitely have to come out to do a photo update . . . the circular road inside the park has water on it in one place. But we are high and dry. Beau ( the graphics guy with the brown bus has moved up by us where the "hunting" trailer was (his employees). They put the hunting trailer in with Kim's trailer next to us. Marlon (also known as Nick) . . . with the string of lights down by the water view . . . moved up this morning by the high side bathrooms. Anyway, Ben moved the rubber raft to the marina with our boat. So as long as the marina stays open you can get there. But Lauren knows how to hike in :)

Be sure to check out my web album on the previous post!

Lakeside Living at its Finest

Life at the lake gone wild from the summer rains...

The great flood of 2007

Decisions, Decisions...

In the myriad of decisions we all face on a day to day basis in this journey called life, I found a moment to chuckle as I weighed this one in my head...

I'm at school late and I need something to eat. The snack bar in our student workroom is quite sparse this time of year, and I'm looking for the longest-lasting satisfaction possible. Candy's out of the question; so are the peanut butter crackers I've basically been living off of for the last 9 months. That leaves M&M's bite-sized cookies and Pop Secret. Checking the labels, I find that popcorn (at least this particular bag) actually has fewer carbs, more fiber, AND more protein per serving than M&M cookies, which means I have less chance of taking a bad blood sugar plunge sometime in the next hour and a half... I guess you know what I chose.

Yes, Mom, I'm eating popcorn for dinner. (Hey-Dad does it all the time!)

Pretty Kitties

Dear friends, last month my uncle Jim passed away from lung cancer. He left behind his beloved cats who are now looking for a new home. Smartie is the black and white one and Little Marvin (named after my grandpa!) is the solid one. I believe they are around 7 years old, maybe... I don't know much else about them but I'd be glad to inquire more if you know anyone who might be interested in adopting them. That's all for now. (My life doesn't change much these days...grad school has definitely taken over.) Love you guys!
-LB

Road Trip

This past week I had some time off from school so I took a road trip around Texas to see Jenny in Waco, Dad in Houston, Liz at Camp, and Ryan, who was playing baseball at A&M. Liz and Matt have a new baby puppy (redundant, yes, but he is such a baby still!) who I just had to snap some shots of. This kid eats dirt, rocks, bugs, leaves, flowers, sticks... pretty much anything he can get his teeth on. And boy are they sharp! He's a cutie though!
  eating grass...
  more grass...
  in FULL swing!
a stick...


Here's a glimpse of how small he really is...
Mr. Curiosity

Spring Tulips

I snapped some shots of the beautiful tulips around Dallas, just in time before the freeze hit and it started snowing today!
Click on the flower to see my web album!

Spring Tulips

DJ is married!!!

Last weekend we went to Houston for DJ and Courtney's wedding. It was so great to see everyone! We had a blast. To see more pictures, go here!http://picasaweb.google.com/laurenebutler/DJSWedding

 
 
 
 

Sweet Nick

My dog is so funny. It is absolutely unbelievable how attached he is to me. I still can hardly believe I actually have a dog, but I'm pretty sure I have the best one (at least for me). I wish I had more time to play outside with him during the day, because he loves to be outside and he could stay out all day and sniff every blade of grass and every leaf on the block. Sadly, he spends most of his time stuck inside all day. Thank goodness he loves to sleep, because he definitely gets a lot of it!

GUATEMALA!

These are just a few of our photos! To view my web album, click below!

Guatemala