Teammate Tuesday: Lauren

June 28th, 2011 was a special day. It was on June 28th that the emails finally were released with our city placements in China, and with the juicy details of who our [fabulous] teammates would be. It's one of those moments that will always be perfectly clear in your mind. As soon as the email was opened, the facebook stalking began to ensue. It was basically an immediate friendship between Lauren and myself, merely based on the fact that we had both celebrated a birthday two days before hand. To top things off, [through my years of experience in facebook stalking]  I came to find that she was/is an avid lover of "Criminal Minds". Again I say, immidiate friendship {for those of you who don't know, I too am a lover of anything that has to do with that TV show.}

So please, allow me to introduce you to my immediate friend, Lauren Ketron. She is the definite coffee bean of team Harbin, not only because she loves the beverage that they are a part of, but also because of her lovable (and endless) energy and pizzaz. Her hometown is Madison, Alabama and she recently graduated from Auburn University (AKA The Loveliest Village on the Plains) with a B.A. in English. Lauren has a three-way-tie between her favorite movies: "The Sandlot", "You've Got Mail", and "Dead Poets Society". "The Sandlot is hilarious and has some of the most-quotable lines in any movie, ever. You've Got Mail has Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan at their best, in my opinion. And the the English major and teacher in me can't help but to love Dead Poets Society!  Carpe diem!"

Lauren, too, will be going through a slight withdrawal this year as her favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-Fil-A. Her favorite Chinese food so far is yet again another three-way-tie: pineapple chicken, three treasures, and spicy green beans. Lauren's favorite M&M's are the classic milk chocolate, hand-dipped in peanut butter. Snickerdoodles win for her favorite cookie.

"Once when I was a child, I got on a really big "Harriet the Spy" kick. I just recently unearthed a journal of secret "spy" notes in my bedroom, full of really juicy details like, "It's 4:32 p.m.  A car just pulled up in front of the driveway of my neighbor's house and then drove away."  I think I was onto something... maybe I should have stuck with my spy gig?" Little does Lauren know that I too did the exact same thing. Immediate friends, I'm telling you.

Lauren's three favorite hobbies include reading, creative writing, and cheering on the Auburn football team! However most recently a newly acquired hobby of Lauren's [and basically all of team Harbin] is  scouting our grocery stores and collecting Chinese journals with awesome Chinglish phrases on them. {Chinglish (n): a combination of Chinese & English, often comical, and conveys a different meaning than intended.} If forced to eat a crayon, Lauren would choose to eat Laser Lemon "because I love all things lemon-flavored!"

If Lauren could meet any person from history she would choose to meet Elisabeth Elliot. "Her story has had such a huge impact on me, and I would love to sit and talk with her and just garner some of her wisdom!" Lauren says,
"If I had a million dollars, (and I was splurging totally on myself) I would travel to each continent, buy a Barnes & Noble bookstore's worth of books, and a set myself up with a lifetime supply of Almond Milk Tea.  Being real though, I would love to donate that money to Compassion International and International Justice Mission, to help get children out of poverty and bring an end to human trafficking."

One secret skill that Lauren has is that she is really good at impressions! What a surprise this was to our group when she pulled out this secret of hers. Lauren also has this bubbling laughter that once she gets going, one can't help but to laugh along with her. It especially gets going when shopping for Chinese Chinglish notebooks.

Lauren wants the world (or the followers of this blog) to know that "I now have TWO Kayla Maries in my life... my sister and the fabulous Miss Mini!  It's fate, I'm telling you. This and the fact that we have the same birthday means we were meant to be friends! Also, I'm most excited about seeing the Father working in mighty ways... both in us and in our community. Greater things are still to be done in Harbin!  On the point of community, I'm also really looking forward to growing even closer in unity and love with the rest of Team Harbin! "