Friday, July 20, 2012

truthbombs

Daily Truthbombs from Danielle LaPorte... some of my favorites...


Truthbomb #61
Sometimes, when we think we need to "surrender" to something, it sets us up to be in opposition. Walk away from the concept of surrender vs. fighting or holding firm. Just be with it.

Truthbomb #62
Tolerance is overrated.

Truthbomb #63
Curiosity will save your soul.

Truthbomb #64
Resentment is a very big, frantically flapping warning flag, with accompanying blaring sirens saying: STOP!

Truthbomb #68
You can be deeply certain, and slightly doubtful. You can be scared, and really, really ready.

Truthbomb #69
Meditate before you activate.


Thursday, July 19, 2012

langan reunion

My grandma, Nina, turned 90 years old this year.  That's her in the middle:)  Many Langan relatives gathered to celebrate her birthday. 

Pictured from left to right:   dad's sister, Shannon, and her husband, Paul- Dad's brother, Tom, and his wife, Jan- Grandma- my dad and his wife, Jo- dad's sister, Sue, and her husband, Duane.  Dad's sister, Pam, is in the front.


Grandma and her grandkids... several grandkids weren't able to make it.  I hadn't seen a couple of my cousins in over 20 years!  It was good to spend some time together again. 


I had to include this casual shot.  I enjoy these pictures more than the formal, posed ones:) 


Grandma and 3 of her great-grandkids...Ben, Isaac, and JP's son, Zach.


My cousin, JP (Sue and Bruce's son), JP's son, and Steve visited on the deck overlooking the river.  Grandma has a beautiful home on the river.


...one more picture of the guys visiting with the river in the background. 


My cousin, David, was popular with this little guy! 

My cousin, Chrissy, with her dad, Bruce, and her nephew, Zach.

It was nice to see my dad enjoying time with his family.


It was fun to watch grandma visit with her family and just move around her place.  It had been a very long time since I had seen so many of my Langan relatives at once!  Childhood memories with grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins surface and are cherished.   

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

songs in my head

Music I've listened to lately...

"Read My Mind" by The Killers


"Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd


"The Resistance" by Muse


"Saving Grace" by Crash Kings


"Days Go By" by The Offspring


                                     
"Bend and Break" by Keane

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

copper is home!

It's still hard to believe that Copper is back!  After missing for a week, he showed up in our yard last Thursday morning!


This is a picture of Sam and Copper just a few days before Copper disappeared. 

Copper's disappearance is a mystery and we will probably never know what happened.  strange.  We did get a tip from our neighbor who called us on Wednesday afternoon...a week after Copper had disappeared.  Our neighbor had seen a yellow lab run into the woods about a 1/2 mile away from our place.  When he called, we immediately went looking.  Isaac, Sam, and I drove around and called his name.  No Copper.  That evening, Steve took the 4-wheeler and walked along the woods calling Copper's name.  Steve then walked across the wheat field and drove home.  No sign of Copper that evening but the next morning I found him sleeping in our yard under a favorite shrub!  Did he hear Steve and then follow Steve's scent home?  Maybe he was home all night.  Who knows.  But it is wonderful. 


This is what I saw when I stepped out the backdoor Thursday morning.  Copper likes to sleep under a shrub that is right next to our steps.  His paw is peeking out from underneath.  I haven't been that surprised in a long time!

 
Copper pretty much remained there the whole day.  He would move to the patio or next to the garage but all he did was sleep, wag his tail, and get hugged.


Cinder gave him a quick greeting behind the shrub and then took a watchful spot on the steps next to Copper.

 
Copper stayed pretty close to the house the first 2 days back.

 
When he crawled out from under the shrub, I found him sleeping in front of the garage door.  He never usually sleeps there but that is the door Steve comes out of when he goes outside.  Steve hadn't seen Copper yet and I think Copper was waiting for him. :)


Grabbed my camera quickly to catch this shot:) 


Happy boys happy dog...


I know there are a lot of things better than finding a missing pet. But not that many.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

"Copper"


I know there are a lot of things that are worse than a missing pet.  But not that many.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

roses roses roses a lilly and a basket

The light streaming into our yard a few nights ago was mesmerizing!  I stare at it's effect and feel like I'm in a dream.  really.   The quality of the images within this light is breathtaking.

After I snap out of it, I tear into the house for my camera.  These are some of the pictures I took of our roses.  They are so pretty this year!  Maybe they liked the dry weather we've had. 



This is new in our yard.  "Victory" rose...stunning.  It's buds are yellow but the bloom is a buttery-white. 




This is a unique rose to our area, I guess.  "Morden Sunrise" does "not do well" in our area, according to experts.  But I've had this rose for over 10+ years and it thrives.  I think I happen to have it in a perfect location with ideal conditions.  It was a mother's day present:)

Had to throw in this gorgeous lilly...
and then there's the basket.  This hangs on our old garage so I guess it is technically a windowbox.  Just seems like a basket.  I stuffed it with perennials out of our flower beds and I love the way it looks! 

Monday, July 2, 2012

home improvement week #2


A little over a week ago, I posted about the projects that I wanted to do this summer. I have finished my first week and have made progress. I did not feel fully prepared to take on the projects that were spinning wildly in my head but I jumped in anyway. I fired off a text to a friend before I got started, confessing that I was about ready to cry. The idea that I would not achieve what I was hoping to achieve was enough to drive me to tears. And the idea of actually acomplishing everything on the list was enough to drive me to tears!

This was my work station for the week.  The dining room table housed my glue gun, velcro, 3m adhesive, hooks, spray paint, sandpaper, tape, etc. etc.

Now it's week 2. My focus for part of today needs to be on laundry and basic cleaning.  These things  suffered last week! I do get plenty of help from my boys, but between jobs, drivers training, Monday night league, lawn mowing, and girlfriends, hours available to contribute to housework become very limited! That's ok. As long as we can keep our heads above water, I'm ok to let the day to day tasks consist primarily of washing clothes, washing dishes, preparing decent food, and putting stuff away. Clean bathrooms, vacuuming, and dusting can wait. 

A few of the things accomplished last week:
-- painted 2 tables and a stool white. Hmmm....not sure if I like it. May have to redo
-- went through chest of old magazines--sorted and threw many away
--used 5 white gallon paint bucket for fern stand and storage bins in mudroom (I'm in love with white 5 gallon paint buckets for $2.97)
--reorganized craft and project supplies into new totes
--hung holder for pots and pans on fridge next to stove. hmmm...kinda cute kinda not.
--moved infrequently used utensils to ???? don't know yet...made room for frequently used utensils
--moved snacks/cookies/candy to tote in pantry and put storage containers in that drawer
--moved jello (and threw jello), chocolate chips, mixes to container in pantry and put bread in that drawer (Love this!)
--reorganized storage area in laundry room
--created storage for jewelry

...from hanging on doorknobs

...to hanging from wire and magnets. An old cupcake tin holds hanging earrings. I really don't own that much jewelry but it was always laying around! A cookie sheet and magnet hooks hold necklaces and bracelets (not pictured yet).

I know it's not the most sophisticated system in the world but it cost nothing, jewelery is off doorknobs and bathroom shelving, and it's kinda cute.  I velcroed them to the wall in our bedroom.

--started to clean pantry--- OMGSH! --- this will be an ongoing project for weeks I'm afraid
--started organizing mudroom closets
--started cleaning mudroom bench


This is the pile of sweatshirts that came off the mudroom bench and from the closet! 


Looking at my list, I realize I'm really kind of all over the place. I originally thought that I would start in one room, finish it, and then move to another. That would be very satisfying:) but not possible. When I take something out of one room, I need to clear a spot in another room for it. And then that stuff needs to go someplace else...and on and on. And so I will let the tasks guide me. 
Week 2... goals are mainly to finish up a lot of the things that I've started. And then I'd like to move upstairs.

But it's a holiday week and I think I will spend more time relaxing this week. Steve and Ben work all week but Sam is off on the 4th. Isaac doesn't have driver's training Wed. through Fri. Yes. More relaxing and playing.

A little work and a lot of relaxing and playing.