I am such a slacker. Seriously.

Ok, so it's been forever. I won't bore you with the details of my life since the last post. Honestly, I would be hard-pressed to remember. Haha. Anyways.

It's not even 10 o'clock yet and I have been so convicted this morning. My focus is so off. My eyes are not on Jesus. He is not my first priority. I will never understand how I can neglect the One who died for my sins. Praise the One who paid my debt.

The other day I was reading in Jeremiah and I came across this verse.

"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

Jeremiah 12:5

That hit me square in the face. So many times, I get caught up in doing a "thing" for God. I have no idea even what this "thing" is going to be--but in my silly human mind, I know it's going to be big and so great. I just know the Lord is going to be so excited and happy with me. SILLY Lauren.

I read this verse and it was like the Lord was saying to me: "Lauren, dear child. You have not done what I have given you today to do. You get tired doing nothing and stumble on flat ground. How are you going to climb the mountain?"

That's killer. I felt about 2 inches tall. It's so true. I get caught up in the hype of doing this big "thing" for God when I don't even take the small, precious opportunities to share His love. Talk about some conviction. Man.

Anyways, I hope that you are having a great day. Remember how great his love is for you. Let him love you with an everlasting love.

xoxo

Lauren

Well, It made it to day two.

I have alot going thru my head right now.

The only constant & sure thing I can cling to is my Savior. That's all I need. I'd pour my heart out here but it might get a bit intense.

So, I will just share the simple parts of my life. After work yesterday, I met up with Chelsea and Larry--who met for the first time. That was fun. Haha. We ate at Chick-Fil-A then headed to Wal-mart to help Larry with his Peru list. I'm pretty sure we saw some airline magazine models.

As we were leaving, we passed a mom and her two daughters. She had two baskets full of things & they were stopped at those twenty five cent toy machine things. She asked us if we had a quarter for two dimes and a nickle. Me and Chelsea began to check our purses and Chelsea handed her one. She thanked us and we walked out the door.

I promise you as soon as I walked out that door, a ton of bricks hit me. I had a crazy intense sinking feeling in my stomach. I would dig thru my purse to find her a quarter but I wouldn't take five minutes to tell her about a Savior who died for her and her girls? How dumb. I knew we had to go back.

I immediately told Chelsea and Larry what I was thinking and we turned around and walked back in. They were still standing there, getting their toys. We stood there super awkward not sure how to approach her. So before I could give myself time to back down, I walked up to her.

I had no idea what to say. It came out like this: "Hey, I know this is really random. But I am a christian and after I walked off I got really convicted that I would take the time to find you a quarter but I couldn't put for the effort to tell you about Jesus. I just want to make sure you know Him."

Then I took a super deep breath because I am pretty sure that all came out in one breath. Haha.

She just smiled and said, "I do know Him. We all know Him actually. We are all saved and we know where we are going. We're relying pretty heavyily on Him these days. He gives that inner peace we all need."

Then I smiled super big. Such a sweet answer. She went on to talk to us about her church and ask us where we went. It was such a blessing.

I say all that to say. If you feel like you need to share Jesus with someone. You do. Don't hesitate. Give them something that's worth so much more than a quarter.

After Wal-Mart, we definitely hit up Steak and Shake for shakes. Then we visited a random park we found by accident. We swung and discussed life. It was very nice.

Larry went back to his own state and I spent the night with Chelsea. I got to sleep until 9:15 which was really nice since I went to bed about 1:30. Due to some not so great reasons.

Work has been pretty uneventful. Delivered some flowers, you know--just normal stuff. It's quiet now and I love it.

Tonight, me, Jenn, and Hallie are going in to pick up our dresses for Kayce's wedding. It's getting super close :D There's talk of a possible patio party with some AO boys. We shall see.

Anyways, I have rambled too too much. I hope that I haven't put you to sleep. Have a splendid day. Be safe and smile.

xoxo
Lauren

We'll how long this lasts...

Okay, so I am randomly inspired to blog. I'm not sure why. Maybe I just need to talk and whoever wants to listen can. I will mosty likely ramble alot. So if I began to bore you--which is totally possible--I totally understand if you just move on. I shouldn't say "totally" so much.

I started this blog for my PR Writing class so if you read anything before this post, it was required and probably boring. Just throwing that out there. Haha.

It's super gloomy outside today and crazy humid. I am really over this whole humity thing. So is my hair. I'm at the flower shop and it's pretty quiet. I do tend to complain about this job, but I have to remind myself that the Lord is faithful and I really should be thankful for a job at all.

Speaking of the Lord's faithfulness, He is providing left and right. Let me give you some background. My friend Kayce is getting married August 1st in PA. Me and Jenn are in the wedding. Weddings = Expensive. Especially when there is a plane ticket involved. Just sayin'. The Lord is providing the hours at work that I need crazy bad. Thank you, Lord :)

My granny randomly called me this morning and somehow we got on the subject of when my dad asked my mom out on their first date--after which he has told me he knew he was going to marry her. I would say it's worked out well with 29 years of marriage of 4 kids. Haha. It was a sweet story.

There's alot going on in Lauren world currently and the Lord is teaching me so much--It's overwhelming but in such a sweet, refreshing way. If that makes sense. I guess the biggest thing I am learning is the incredible importance of abiding in Him. That is the key to everything. Everyday I am called to put Christ on. That's the only way things are going to work.

I hope that whoever you are reading this that you know His love. I couldn't face another day without it that's for sure. Come back tomorrow. I might ramble some more. In the mean time. Smile :)

xoxo
Lauren

Do you Twitter?

I do. Do you?

Just recently has Twitter become the talk of the town. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Twitter.Twitter-this, Twitter-that. I "tweet" quite frequently. Sometimes, they are deep and philosophical and other times, they are fun and sarcastic.

Mike Massimino, a mission specialist on the space shuttle Atlantis, announced this week that he will use Twitter from space during the shuttle's next mission in May. It is official, this trend has been taken to new heights. Pun intended--of course.

Massimino is a relatively new "tweet-er". Within two weeks of beginning to use Twitter, Massimino has accrued 119,893 followers. By the time you read this, he will most likely have more. He is proving himself to be a pretty popular guy. NASA's PR team is responsible the idea of Massimino twittering in preparation for the May mission as well as while actually in space.

If you don't Twitter, you should. Mike goes by Astro_Mike.
Go follow him and I'll see you on Twitter.

Here's an app, there's an app...

Everywhere an app-app...

I own an iPhone and iLove it. Oops, I mean I love it. I'm sure you're aware of one of its hottest features: the "App store". This aspect of the iPhone allows users access to more than 25,000 programs, with 5,000 new added every month. There is seriously an app for everything.

Apple is in a league of their own---a market solely dominated by their genius idea. Others have tried to grab an edge and catch up, but they can't really compete. Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, and Research in Motion (BlackBerry's maker) have already opened app stores this year or plan to do so.

Did you know there were about 80,000 "apps" for the BlackBerry before anyone had even heard of the "App store"? No. It is ALL about how you market and project your message, clearly.

Many apps are free, some cost--but remain inexpensive. Consumers view them as disposable and therefore won't invest too much of their wallet.

This feature connects the product directly to the consumer-- direct market-- a really great thing. Apple has got the idea. It's profitable and it shows.

So, I'm sorry for all you out there without an iPhone. They are amazing. You really should join the club and go get one :)

Constructive Criticism

Feedback is a great thing.

How will you ever know what isn't working if no one tells you?

Yelp is a user-submitted small business and restaurant review site. It has some controversial policies as well as pretty intense influences in local markets. Originally, business owners could not respond to or retaliate against harsh reviews their companies received. Recently, Yelp has softened on this protocol-- letting businesses respond to damaging comments.

It's a win-win situation. This recent change in policies will give Yelp positive publicity and also will mean that business owners will be spending more time on their website.

Complaints are "free customer research." View them that way and they will be 100% more helpful and 100% less frustrating.

My Kind of School

Mattias Hansson is 40 and the CEO of Hyper Island. He helps to train more than 1,000 students a year in digital media and digital business management. The "school" is located in Stockholm, on a former prison island off the coast of Sweden. Graduates are quickly recruited by well-known firms such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Ideo.

"Look into the eyes of the creatives you know and ask them: If they could choose, would they pick the traditional academic world or an opportunity to learn by doing real stuff such as building e-communication solutions for MTV, Ikea, and others. We don't have classrooms or auditoriums, and we don't focus on grades. We don't educate people to become something. They have to decide that themselves."

This sounds so incredible to me. I learn best with hands-on activity. A main reason I chose to attend the University of Memphis was the amazing basketball team. Well, Memphis no longer has that. I might as well transfer.

Hansson's "school" gives "students" opportunities to boost their skills and increase their demand after graduation the program. Every student has at least five job offers from top international agencies according to Hansson. One student alone received 56 offers this year.At least 80% go abroad to work.

"We're more of a household name in Manhattan, Paris, or San Francisco than in Sweden."

Seriously, where do I sign up?

Yoga..a cult?

I think the saying goes: "If the shoe fits, wear it." You can deny you are something as much as you want but actions always speak louder than words.

Lululemon seems shady to me. For those who don't know what it a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company that also offer free yoga classes within their stores. Seems pretty great, but the more I learned about their methods, the more I questioned their motives.

They bring people into their stores with the lure of a free, trendy yoga class. Then they take all your money you didn't spend on the yoga class by selling you $52 tank tops. But no worries, they will give you a 15% off coupon. Whoop-dee-doo.

"If you want to be successful in this industry, it's about being authentic," says Christine Day, Lululemon's CEO.

I am totally not getting the "authenticity" vibe. But maybe that is just me.

In just a little more than 10 years, this company has gone from a single storefront in Vancouver, British Columbia to more than 100 outlets and $340 million in annual revenue. That works out to $1,800 in sales per square foot.

"Our vision is 'to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness,' and we are growing so we can train more people and spread the word of The Secret -- which to us at Lululemon is not so secret,' says Chip Wilson, the company's founder and chairman.

Lululemon plans to expand into swimming, triathlons, and running.

So, we shall see. Google them, but beware--they will suck you in.

A Name You Should Know

"It doesn't matter if it's a company or a campaign; you build around commonality. If it's real people and real communities, then it's valuable. Otherwise, it’s just playing around online.”

That’s what Chris Hughes has to say to sum up his philosophy. Remember the name ‘Chris Hughes’, I have a feeling this is not the last time you will hear it. At the mere age of just 25, Hughes has already helped create two of the most innovative and successful start-ups in modern history—Facebook and the online-based campaign that got Barak Obama elected.

What made these ventures so innovative and successful? They acknowledged the importance of communities and how people interact with each other.

Hughes became involved with Facebook on the ground level when he befriended Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard. Little did he know that would eventually lead him to work for the next president of the United States.

When Obama's campaign began to look at Facebook and the options it provided, they found Hughes. Way led to way and Hughes joined the Obama team. He was hired on the spot. He's that good.

“Technology has always been used as a net to capture people in a campaign or cause, but not to organize. Chris saw that was possible before anyone else,” says David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager.

That is what I call job security—to create the very thing your employer or client desperately needs but has no idea what is. Pure gold.

Hughes proved himself a very valuable asset Obama’s quest to the White House by employing his philosophy.

My.BarakObama.com, Hughes main tool, served as a social networking source to empower citizens and turn them into activists without the aid of any actual human field staffer. The site quickly became a place to create groups, organize events, raise funds, download tools, and connect with other Obama supporters. Best of all, it was cheap and effective.

At the end of the campaign, volunteers had created more than 2 million profiles through the site, planned more than 200,000 offline events, formed 35,000 groups, posted 400,000 blogs, and raised $30 million on 70,000 personal fund-raising pages AND their guy got elected. I'd call that a success.

Hughes contributed vastly throughout the campaign and should be credited largely with Obama's victory. Barak Obama was a huge commonality for so many people. Obama knew that he would need a nation of organizers to win--that is exactly what Hughes gave him.

So, take notes on this Hughes guy. I think he may end up going somewhere :)

iPhone? iPill? Same difference...

It seems like something you would see on a science fiction movie--but no.
This thing is real and it's here.

Philips's R&D unit is currently working on an 11-by-26-millimeter capsule. This tiny device is loaded with tiny sensors, a microprocessor, a fluid pump, a wireless transmitter, and medication. Patients can ingest it just like any other pill. This device permits doctors to deliver drugs directly to a specific area of the gastrointestinal tract. These kind of advances will help treat illnesses such as Crohn's disease.

What will they come up with next? Seriously.

A New Way to Play...

Recess will always be the best part of school.

When I was younger I loved recess. I loved the swings and the jungle gym; but after a while they lost their luster. There's only so much you can do on those things. My best recess memories were made without the aid of those metal structures. Me and my friends often came up with games and scenarios involving things found laying around or even nothing at all. We used our imaginations. Novel idea, huh?

Designer David Rockwell has taken notice of such non-structured recess play. He has developed a playground that promotes free play versus jungle gyms and swing sets that emphasize motor skills. Rockwell utilized basic elements such as building blocks, sand, water, and found objects in his 21st century, multi-level play space.

"It's the same thing you would have in the country with a hill or a series of rocks," Rockwell says, "It's space to explore."

Rockwell's playground, a figure eight shape, draws inspirations from famed architect Louis Kahn and sculptor Isamu Noguchi's 1960s design for New York's Riverside Park; which was never built.

It's an old concept with a new implemention. Building blocks help children develop cognitive and social skills. Rockwell's play space provides children with dense, oddly shapped, over-sized, germ-resistent blocks to create with. Rockwell will also include "found objects" such as milk crates and pool noodles, as well as scaffolding structures and drop cloths for making forts.

This 21st centruy playground brings the rural resources to the urban setting. Running water and a shallow pool provide children with the idea of playing in a real pond or creek. The water can be contolled by damming it up or diverting it to make water falls.

The first Imagination Playground is under construction in Lower Manhattan and is expected to be finished within the next year.

As if we needed one more way to be tracked...

There is yet another way to keep "tabs" on friends and family. Great, just what we need.

Most won't admit that they love the idea of this. But they do. A lot, actually.
What a bunch of creepers.

A couple days ago, Google announced a spiffy, new stalking-er- I mean, "mapping" feature called Latitude. It will soon be available for every major mobile phone platform, currently supporting Google maps. Soon, everyone will know where you are at all time. Yay?

But rest assured, there are "strict" privacy settings. Sense a hint of sarcasm? Users will have to manually turn on Latitude before it will broadcast their location. Users can also determine the specificity of their location--from an exact city block or just a city itself. Only friends on your contact list can see your location. Thank goodness.

You are in control, or at least that is what Google wants you to think Ha. You have the ability to accept someone's location and share back, accept their location and hide yours, deny their location or block them. So many options!

You can even change privacy levels for each friend. Latitude also allows you to post a "Twitter-like" message along with your location, like: "Getting lunch, come join me!" or "At the dentist, come join me!." Be creative.

Latitude has a leg up on the competition. The other "mapping" programs have a restricted user-pool because of certain phones and certain carriers. Latitude promises stalker-privileges to anyone with a halfway-decent phone. Latitude is also available for desktops and laptops.

Latitude's potential is huge. Anyone could see that. Theoretically, advertisers could tap into your location, match it up with the locations of their services and your browsing history, and provide a highly, intensive targeted ad. Kinda scary. Hello, Big Brother.

So, go ahead.
Give in.
You know you want to.
All the cool kids are doing it.

Snowboards and Sucess

Be your own Brand. Be invaluable. Be essential. Make people want you.

That is how you will make the big bucks.

That is exactly what gold-medalist, snow-boarder Shaun White is doing everyday...and everyone is jelaous. As his popularity increases so does the demand for "Everything-Shaun". Everyone wants to capitalize on this phenonmeon with red hair.

For goodness sakes, Heinz offered White six figures to put his face on everything from ketchup bottles to stewed tomatoes; playing off his nick name "the Flying Tomato." White says when opportunities arise such as this, he steps back and asks himself: "Do I really want that? Do I really want to be known as that?" Sometimes the answer is "no" and White willing turns down huge amounts of money.

White definitely controls his image to specifications set my him and his trusted agent, Mark Ervin of IMG. At age 15, he had Ervin write a right of approval into all his contracts to control the use of his name or likness.

"A lot of people will just put their name on anything, and you can tell," White says. "I just can't do that.

White seeks out companies that he truly connects with and that are relevant to his actual life. White sees it as a long-term investment. He is looking something that will outlast his knees.

"Shaun turns down a lot of money. And I couldn't be more proud of him." Ervin says.

White found a an untrapped audience. White's intict and drive to push new ideas and venture into new territories is quickly becoming part of White's value. He started his own brand of women's clothes with Target.

"I think chicks..ladies..er...they know what we call them...special lady friends..they want to look hot." White says.

White is a long-term guy. He enjoys the moment but he understands the necessity of having a secure future.

"We look at everything through a long-term lens," Ervin continues, "and ask, How does this affect us in three years? Five years? Ten years? I look at my job as allowing Shaun to make informed decisions. I give my opinion, but never tell him what to do."

Everything isn't always peachy-keen for Mr. White. He is very aware of the "haters" out there. Exponential growth is definitely a double-edged sword. People are threatened by him and the coolness he exudes.

"I'm still pretty young and just winging it, but on a different level. I am not really worried about the haters, the Buzz Killingtons." White says.

I have a feeling this kid is going to make it and he is going to make it big. Watch out for Mr. White.

He has arrived.