Pass the tissues.

My name is Laura, and I'm a weeper.

Always have been, always will be. Seriously, people. Any time I experience an overwhelming emotion- frustration, sadness, anger, happiness, loneliness... it comes straight out my eyeballs in the form of tears.

And this trend goes back for decades.

Any time I was in trouble with my parents, or even just having a serious discussion, I would start crying. I wouldn't even know why! But there they were... tears... whether I wanted them or not.

I've cried at every birth I've ever witnessed. And there have been many. Folks I have barely even met! And I'm bawling.

I even cried earlier this year at the courthouse when some very good friends of ours were finalizing the adoption of their beautiful baby girl. Not one other crier in the house, and me, the one NOT adopting a child, is blubbering like a moron.

Any time I hear the Star-Spangled Banner. Tears.

I even cried at a Josh Groban concert one time. He had been on stage for all of five seconds when my family caught me with tears streaming down my face- and they haven't stopped mocking me for it since.

The ugliest cry I ever experienced was on June 22, 2010. I had just finished the worst flight of my entire life and had left my fiancé in Africa without any time frame of when we may be reunited. When the plane touched down in New York, everyone broke into cheers and joyous applause, and I lost it. I wanted to be back in Africa immediately. I'm lucky the flight crew didn't call security.

Grad school has made this crying nature of mine even more impressive. And by impressive, I mean OUT OF CONTROL. Back in the day, Leo used to get all concerned and try to figure out what was wrong. But he's since learned that nothing is really wrong. I'm just so flipping frustrated and overwhelmed and it's best to pat me on the head, walk away, and come back in 10 minutes or so. Crying makes it all better.

I used to go out of my way to hide the tears. It used to be an embarrassment. But hey- I'm an emotional person, and sometimes it just cannot be avoided.

Cry it out.

What's happening hot stuff...

Hi everyone!

I'm still here! I promise.

The school semester is more than half over (yay!), and I figured it was time for a quick and dirty update for all of you. We're definitely staying busy with our studies and all that nonsense, but we do find a little bit of fun time every now and again...

Back in October, I ventured north to Fayetteville to spend some time with family. And we made our way to a local pumpkin patch. My dear nephew Colt helped me pick out the perfect pumpkin to bring home to Uncle Leo, and on Halloween night we opened up a bottle of wine, watched "Scream" and carved up that bad boy!

 

Surprisingly, this was our first time to carve a pumpkin together. And while I expected to take the lead, being the American in the group and all, Leo informed me he's been on "pumpkin-carving-duty" for his kindergarteners for the last two years... So I sat back, mostly drank wine, and roasted pumpkin seeds.

 



Ohhhhh yeah.

Then, last week, we got to get all gussied up and go support a clinic I've been training at since June. Agape Clinic is in downtown Dallas and does amazing work with a not-so-amazing budget. The staff is incredible, and I hope to stay involved with them for a long, long time. Once a year, they do a big, very fancy fundraiser and we were invited to come! While we never thought to get a full-length picture of us, here's one of us stuck in traffic on our way to Union Station!

 

It was an impressive night, to say the least. Wolfgang Puck catering, auction items going for thousands of dollars, and we even got to meet our local councilman! And as a bonus, I found this drawn on a car in the parking garage as we arrived home:

 



Did I mention it was an open bar??

 

Speaking of cars, I also did a bit of a science experiment last week with mine.

I noticed this was happening awhile back with my battery cable. And when I went in to the dealer for a routine oil change, and they offered to change out the whole cable for me for $700+, I immediately went searching for another option. And with the help of my brilliant parents, a plan was devised!

 

 

Baking soda, water, and some old toothbrush heads that needed to be thrown away anyway.

 

 

And voila! The difference is slightly incredible. And the fizzing and bubbling of the baking soda concoction made it all the more fun. $700?? Pshaw!

 

We also went shopping for ski attire... since we have only 41 more days until we're on the slopes in Utah!

 

It was more of a window shopping expedition, with the intention of ordering stuff online for much lower cost, but we did end up getting the deal of the century on Leo's ski pants. $18! For ski pants! I'm not kidding! And we may just have to go back and get these goggles. Because we look goooood. And I need pink goggles.

 

And to finish up our photo recap, here we have Keebler and I getting our cuddle on.

 

Only 188 more days until graduation!! Hope to get back to you all soon!