Tuesday, November 26, 2013

What will happen over break...hopefully

I have a day left of work, then I'm off for 5.

To say I'm a little bit excited is quite understated.

I have to get through work, then cheerleading practice after school, and then I'm home free, but first there will be a Varsity basketball game to attend.

Then, joy.  Unadulterated joy.  Maybe some sleeping in.

A lot of things to accomplish.  But then I always set a goal over break.

I've decided in a not very formal way, that alot of Pinterest ideas will be accomplished over Thanksgiving break.

Like, going through my closet, getting rid of what I NEVER wear, and putting together some outfits I've been pinning for awhile.


I need to sew up some jeans, and maybe add some ruffles to the bottom of my camis.

I need to start baking my Christmas cookies (always a favorite by friends AND my own family...)

and I'd like to try some new things, like homemade crunchwrap supremes,

P.F. changs lettuce wraps...

and some paleo meals.

Eating at my aunt's house, and Black Friday shopping with the kids is also a plan.

Then, some craft projects...for my Etsy shop, and myself.





and we can't forget...Holiday Decorating.

I need to mix mine up a little.  Move some decorations around, so my Christmas things don't look the same every year.



Simple isn't such a bad thing...maybe then I won't be so tired of it come New Years.

All in all, I'm getting pumped. 


How about you?

(feel free to find me on Pinterest.com...loriery, or just click the link on my sidebar.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

What you never thought you'd do

I'm not one to write with big, giant, sweeping words.

In fact, I get made fun of if I whip out a new one I read in a book.

So, my posts will never be what, say, my idol, Flower Patch Farm girl has with her wonderful, sweeping writers prose.

I'm a simple kind of girl, which leads me to talk about something that just "sprang to mind" the other day while I was waiting in my van to go into the preschool I help at 3 mornings a week.

"Things I thought I'd NEVER do, or have." 

In typical Lorie fashion, it's gonna be in a LIST.  (Remember, there is nothing wrong with lists....ahem... Brent.) just sayin'.

So, here goes...

1.  I NEVER EVER wanted a mini van.  I mean, who drives one of those...soccer moms.  Frumpy people.  I was going to have a sport utility vehicle, and I was gonna look like I was cool.  Well, low and behold, 9 years ago, while I was the mother of a then kindergartner and a 4 year old, we bought one.  Gas prices had started to skyrocket, and sport utility vehicles were gas guzzlers.  It was the BEST THING WE EVER DID!  At the time, we were making yearly treks out to Illinois to visit my husband's extended family.  We had SO MUCH SPACE, AND we could put the kids WAY IN THE BACK, instead of right up behind us in a car.  We thought we were the smartest people on earth.  It was HEAVEN.

Now, it's necessity with all their stuff, and the friends we take home from practice.  Until my children are out of the house, we will have a van.  Now, granted, it's a sportier looking van, with leather heated seats, a DVD player, and all the extras.  We're not crazy, people. 

2.  I NEVER wanted to, or thought I'd live in the small town I grew up in.  I mean, come on people, I can't have a high paying, fancy job in a small town.  I can't marry someone rich with an equally fancy job if I stay here.  I thought I was gonna live in Chicago, or New York, or someplace MUCH fancier than my quaint little town.  (Ironic though it is, Grace now has the same aspirations!  New York is always on her mind, even though we have never been there.)  I had plans to move to Grand Rapids where my aunt and uncle were living at the time, and then I started dating my now husband, and I guess you could say, my priorities changed.  I don't regret the decision we made, but once a year, I have to get my "City Fix" and we travel to Chicago.  A girl's gotta dream, right?



3.  I NEVER EVER was going to find antiques interesting like my mom did.  She went to auctions, thrift stores, and antique stores.  My sister and I went with her.  I thought I hated every minute of it.  Little did I know I would grow to love them just as much, and make a small business out of selling/repurposing vintage items.  Who knew it would become a "fad" all it's own?


4.  I NEVER thought I would like the crazy, very ugly CROCS fad.  I mean, sure, they are great for nurses who are on their feet all day, but come on...they look ridiculous.  I'm happy to say, however, I have a pair in my back room.  They are GREAT for outdoor summer projects, cause you can hose them off, and slip them right on again.  When Evan was little, his feet were so fat, and he took his shoes off so much, crocs were the easiest thing for him to wear.  Just goes to prove, sometimes crazy really is GOOD! 

and lastly,

5.  I NEVER thought I'd be a writer.  I mean, I know, I'm not, my sister was always better at that, but I NEVER guessed I would ever be writing a blog, telling strangers about my life, OUR lives. Getting comments that crack me up from people I've never met.  What a great experience this has been, even though so very often my husband thinks it's important to tell me the blog would be SO MUCH BETTER if it was all about him.  Get your own blog buddy! 

So what things did you NEVER think you'd do or buy, or wear?  I'm dying to know!


Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday Finds

Thank goodness it's Friday.  It seems like it took forever to get here this week.

I caught myself more than once this week, thinking of so many other things while driving to work.  Things I had to do, cheer schedules I needed to make, etc. 

Today when I realized we had no big thing to do this weekend, I felt incredibly HAPPY.

This rarely happens to us, and it feels so freeing.

So, I'm instead sharing some Friday Finds from Pinterest.

Things from my FAVORITE store, Anthropologie...





theshabbycreekcottge.com
 DIY spray painted curtain rods...

 intials for everyone in your family...
 A photo collage with lights for Grace's room...




Things that make my already happy mood, well, happier.  Hope you enjoy them too.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

History...Yuck, or not?

I NEVER grew up LOVING history.

However, for some VERY odd reason, I still remember the big 5th grade history project I had to do.  We were each given a president to write a report about.  We were to drum up facts, and add pictures as well.  (Remember, this was BEFORE computers, so pictures were copied, or in this case, transferred from a book using thin transfer paper.)  My President was the 14th...Franklin Pierce.  While I liked my 5th grade history teacher a little, I LOVED the picture part of this project, and the use of colored pictures, tracing, and just how it came out.  So, a history buff I wasn't, but a future art major I was.

Crazy memory, I KNOW.

But now we're in the present, and history is STILL not my favorite subject, save for one era.

I've read books about it, watched movies, and seen dramatized TV shows, and folks, I CAN'T get enough of it. 

I'm talking about the Tudor era.  King Henry VIII as a matter of fact.

I'm both intrigued and disgusted by it all. 

How cold WERE those castles?

How HEAVY were those dresses?

Were people really beheaded ALL the time?

And why was everyone so plain looking?

Brent thinks I am certifiably insane for all the things I've read and watched concerning this era.

He will walk through the room while I'm watching the Tudors TV series on Netflix, and just roll his eyes.

The only history that intrigues him is tractor history.  (insert rolling of MY eyes and snores.)

I REALIZE that what I've seen on TV and in the movies is highly overrated and made for dramatic effect.

I KNOW this, but I can't stop watching!

I've watched EVERY episode of the TUDORS (an HBO series) on Netflix.  (remember we DON'T have cable.)



No one is or was this good looking back in the 1500's in England.

I mean, King Henry VII really looked like this.
Yuck.

I've read this book (my pick for book club years ago)

and watched the movie.
Once again, the REAL King Henry VII was NEVER this good looking.

Now, I find myself hooked on the series Reign on the CW (Thursdays at 9pm).

Their costumes are BEAUTIFUL.  The drama and fighting and scandals were real I'm sure, but even more fun to watch on TV.

However, I'm sure the lady's in waiting to the queen were never this beautiful.  Nor did they wear lipstick.
The show is good.  I like it alot, but I watch it alone in my room because of the man with the comments and rolling eyes...aka my husband.

If I were you, I'd check it out, but remember, it's based only on some fact.  The real story from back that long ago is the most interesting.

But, sad to say, a history buff I'll never be.