please.

accept who you are.
say how you feel.
just be nice.
be genuine in everything you do.
fall in love.
be honest.
keep your promises.
respect your elders.
respect your peers.
learn from your mistakes & never repeat them.
be in tune with your body and it's needs.
call up an old friend.
if you miss him, tell him
& go ahead and call him just to hear his voice.
if you love him, tell him.
remember that you are a child of God.
overplay your favorite song.
go ahead and cry about everything.
laugh whenever you can.
be better tomorrow than you were today.
enjoy meeting someone new.
remember all those you met before.
don't forget to say "good morning" even when the mornings make you groggy.
spend some time in the sunshine every day.
pray your little heart out.
sit on a lawn chair and watch the sky.
if you think someone has pretty eyes, tell them.
& if even if there's no one else, remember to trust God.
love everyone.
learn to love yourself.
& embrace it all.
& breathe
through your nose, if you will.
its better for your brain.




"what if i fall
further than you?"
love, laura

i walked up &

he stepped out of the car and smiled,

"hug me."
and finally, it was all ok.




"maybe i think you're cute
& funny."
love, laur

lessons of a weekend.

on saturday
i four-wheeled through a mountain
(almost killed myself and the boy on back)
i repelled down a real life cliff.
i rode on a very big horse
and felt very tall
its name was quicksilver
and i nearly fell off of it a million times.
i made some new friends
i got a dirty face.
and i learned that sometimes you fall for someone
much further than you had ever anticipated.

on sunday
i went to church
i wore big feather earrings
i wore leopard print shoes
i felt pretty exotic.
i couldn't pay attention
i had a hole in my stomach and sore muscles.
i watched her drive away.
i learned that nothing makes your heart hurt more
than saying goodbye.

and that i sure do hate that bed being made.

today
i got my hair blonded
i cried
i worked and worked and worked.
i checked my phone a million times.
i got scared
i cried.
i learned that new adventures aren't always
so exciting.

i went for a bike ride.
i was alone
and the sky was beautiful
i came home and i got some hands placed on my head.
i was told i'm doing exactly what i need to.
it has never felt so good to hear words ever before in my entire life.
i learned that prayers never go unanswered.


i went and laid on a tramp and looked at space
i saw 3 shooting stars.
to you that might mean nothing

but today
i learned again
that God sure does love me.


because no one else know how much
a shooting star means to me.

"my loves too big for you,
my love."
love, laura

my dear sassafras,

i love you.
thanks for making me better
for learning with me
and growing with me
and sleeping in my room.
for sunsets
and nuggets
and "life is so pretty right now."
and "o."
and closet doors and lights out.

be safe,
be good,
be happy.
i miss you far too much.



"don't know how long its gonna
take to feel ok but
i know that i had the best day with you
today."
love, laur

the truth is,

and we are

NOT
cheese
now, are we?



"and he can change the world with
his hands behind his back
oh."
love, laur

its weird.

that my mouth is full of words
that never
ever
come out right.

and a heart can be so happy to have found him
and so scared to leave him
at the same time.


that saying "see you later"
makes you feel so much better than saying "goodbye".

how sleeping alone
with an unmade bed on the other side of the room
can make you cry.


how i feel like i'm so full of
confusion inside my tummy
that i don't want to put jeans on.
i'm scared they won't fit around it.

how close everything is to falling
apart
or how close it is
to falling together.


how he probably thinks i'm kidding.
but i'm actually very serious.

and that i want to live in a teepee.


"but it sure felt nice when he was
holding my hand."
love, laur

for the one everyone secretly wants to marry.

its been a long time since i first set eyes upon this cute boy.
it started a little something like this
"hello, my name is laura, i think you're friends with some boys i know"
"uh hey, i'm parker"
"lets be friends."

i went to a park with him
this past eve
and sat on a bench for a few hours.
we talked about everything and everyone
under the sun.
i looked at him and my heart just filled right up with complete joy
and a smile spread right across my face.
by the end of our talk my cheeks were sore.

and i said "thank heavens i know this boy."

for all those nights and days we look up to those heavens and wonder
why these boys just don't get it,
why they have to be little nasties sometimes.
why why why?

and then they get a mission call
and for some of them
it doesn't change a thing.

and for others
suddenly life becomes more important than
all the fuzz.
they want to be more
they want to treat you like you are more.
and you can see the sunshine coming right out of em.

here's to that special little orange haired boy.
here's to 4 years of being there for me.
here's to "honestly..."
and maybe a little bluntness.
here's to sharing birthday parties
and for being stuck in corners together.
here's to a little green truck parked in front of the house
that we're all gonna miss so much.
here's to laughing till your tummy hurts
and making everyone feel like they're his favorite person.
for being him
and no one else.

and here's to him being a missionary.


God speed, elder.
i'm sure gonna miss you a lot. :)


"i'm a hustler baby"
love, laura

the real deal.

my sister is engaged. to a wonderful
boy.
i've never seen her happier in my entire life.
its been hard for me.
harder than it is supposed to be.
i tell them all,
"its just hard to give up your sister
you know? things will
never be the same."
while thats all true,
there's this very large problem i have going on inside of my heart.
its a problem i often pretend is long gone from me.
this part of my heart is called,
"mostly, i just don't really
trust men."
i believe that she is honestly
in love with this guy.
i believe he is honestly in love with her.
but i just can't let it go
right now.


its hard to give your heart away
but its even harder to watch someone else
give their's away.



"he broke his own heart and i watched as he tried to reassemble
it."
love, laura