C O O L...and it's Wednesday

So I ran out of time to post a sketch today.

But I do want to share that my sister Deb and her family are purchasing a horse named Sundance. He is 6 years old and he is a sorrel or sorrel colored...(obviously I am not up on my horse lingo.) Anyway I did a search on the internet for a sorrel 6 year old male horse and this is one of the pictures that came up. Not sure if he looks exactly like this, but isn't this horse so pretty? I am excited to meet Sundance (that's his name). My mom tells me that I rode on a horse when I was about 2 years old...of course I don't remember and obviously I did not ride solo. But I have always loved horses. I know they have big heads, but they seem so wonderful and amazing to me. So maybe sometime I will post that I got to ride him sometime. We will see. (FYI- he is 1300 pounds! My sister told me that most of the horses, at the stable that he is from, are about 900 pounds. He is a big boy!) This is cool...he is the son of Secretariat and is the great great grandson of the original Secretariat.

Tuesday and Grateful

It's Tuesday! Yay!

It's sunny out, I am getting work accomplished, and I am healthy. And grateful.

Grateful for cute nieces and a nephew who let me take their photo yesterday in my mom's climbing tree. Also, grateful for non-skinned roads!!!

Seriously people, do you enjoy driving over the "skinned roads" during construction on the freeway? You know how they take the top layer off of the pavement on the freeway and you are left with these ridges on the roads and as you drive on them you feel like you have lost a layer or two of tread on your tires and possibly a layer of enamel on your teeth? Not to mention being shaken about as you endure the torture?

I just have to say that I was SO grateful this morning to find that the part of the freeway that I drive on has FINALLY been given a top smooth layer again! It is such a happy day! Thank you for saving my tires, my car, my teeth, and my sanity! ; )

Have a great day, oh faithful readers. ; )

Monday has come...

Happy "pretend" mouse day since I know a lot of people don't like "real" mice...like I don't like them. And it really isn't Mouse Day at all. Just had to throw a drawing in and this mouse was available...

It was a nice weekend. A good Sunday as I helped corral 20 nursery kids at church on Sunday in Nursery. That was entertaining. For the first hour, I was the designated "lap" for a couple of insecure kids. They kept coming back to me to sit on my lap. My legs started to lose their circulation after a bit but it was okay. (I was on the floor with my legs to the side of me.) They are sweet kids. Even a little girl named Emma came to sit on my lap for a little bit. She doesn't smile all that much but I think I got a little smile out of her once. Yay!

And I have to add that at Sunday dinner at Karen and Alan's, Wy came up with a great idea..."cookies for dinner". You can tell that he thought that was the best idea and could not understand why mom and dad said no to that. He cried huge alligator tears that they wouldn't go for his idea. After about an hour he finally calmed down.

Happy Monday!

Climbing Trees and Rodeoing...perfect!

What a great weekend! I worked with my sister Karen on clearing out our mom's lower basement yesterday. More to do but we got stuff done. After, we got mom's lawn mowed and then the boys played with water balloons. And of course the day had to end with the 3 boys up in the crab apple tree in mom's front lawn. I love this tree. And such cute nephews I have.

So then today was the 6th annual Neighborhood Rodeo out in Eagle Mountain. My sis Deb and her family live out there. It is a wonderful area. Quiet and lots of space. Every year for the last 6 years they have a neighborhood rodeo. Deb invited me and our sister Karen's family to come. What a fun time! Here is Karen and Wy sitting on the hay bed truck waiting to go for a ride.
Here are all the kids from the two families waiting for a ride too. (The girl beside Marcus is not a family member.)
They also had a candy drop event. Here is Wy in his little red outfit running to be with the kids to grab the candy.
Here is the cool candy drop machine. Love it!
Here is Lissa riding along on a horse. Yeehaw!
Here is Lana. Ride 'em, cowgirl!
Here are Lissa and Lana.
Here is Cowboy Marcus! (I didn't catch a photo op of him riding a horse but he did!)
The fake horse race...Ben is the tall one running along.
And here is Ben riding a real horse. He loved it.
Here is Ander riding too. They had such a great time.
Here's little Wy. Riding solo. He said he wanted to drive the horse.
Here is my sister Deb with her family. Minus Lana. She was off somewhere.
Here is Karen and her family. Enjoying the rodeo too.
It was a great day. Just fun to be around lots of horses and rodeo stuff. Just a fun neighborhood activity that we will be happy to come to each year. I even wore a cowboy hat.

It was a good weekend. Now to do some computer stuff. Like get the ward newsletter worked on and maybe some work stamp sets...we will see.

Friday, friends, and family!

Off to work on my mom's lower basement with my sister Karen. Clean, clean, clean! I have the day off from work. I need to mow lawns too. Mom's and mine.

Here is a sketch I did of a friend's father, who passed away a while back. He seems like such a sweet and cute man. Full of personality. I am sorry for my friend Paul's loss. I know it has been some time now, but the feelings never go away. I am so grateful for the knowledge we have that we will see our loved ones again and that they are all around us even when they have to leave us for some time.
Happy Friday. Happy sunny Friday! It is a good day.

It's Thursday...and an attempt to be crafty.

So it is my co-worker Kathy's birthday celebration today at work. I drew this card (non-crafty) and this is what I feel that I do an okay job with. Yes, that is a tray of cookies that she is holding. Kathy is known for her pink cookies that she brings to work. From what I hear, everyone adores them. (I, being a non-sugar consumer, have never tasted them. But they do look pretty.)

And here is my attempt at "crafty". We have a machine we sell called The Big Shot. And it has dies that you roll through and cut shapes out. This cookie below is made out of foam sheets from the craft store. And all three shapes were cut out from the The Big Shot. I cut out 40 pink cookies! I stuck the cookie pieces together and then we covered up her wall cabinet covers with aluminum foil to make them look like cookie sheets. Then we stuck the pink cookies on the aluminum foil. Ah, cute.
So crafty! ; )

Happy Thursday. It's supposed to be in the lower 90s today.

Ah, cute. And Happy Wednesday!

So my nephew, little Wy, turned 4 yesterday. He loves the Wiggles, Cars, and Toy Story. So this year my sister and brother-in-law chose the theme Toy Story for his family birthday party. A bunch of us went to Toy Story 3 yesterday afternoon. (Ah, such a cute movie!)

Here he is with his big brothers as they watch him open his presents. (All Toy Story 3 themed of course.)

Here is Wy blowing his candles. He said his cake was perfect. (He had told his mom that he wanted Woody riding Bullseye the horse. Karen told me she was concerned he wouldn't be too happy that it didn't show Woody actually riding the horse...)
See... it kind of shows Woody riding the horse... I thought she did an amazing job. I have very talented siblings for sure.
Wy got lots of presents, got to see a very cute movie, and got to get an amazing cake created by his mom.

Skipping the sketch today but I will have one for tomorrow for sure.

Just sweet and just Tuesday

Tip of the day: Don't cry over onions. It's just not worth it. ; ) And certainly don't get them crying!

A couple of different moments during this last weekend, as I was driving in my car and also being at home, I had a calm peaceful feeling come over me. A feeling that things are good and I felt a good peace in my heart. It is kind of hard to explain. But it was a sweet and very warm feeling. That I need to not stress. That all is well. I don't get those feelings too often so I really notice when I do get them. I just remember feeling so at peace. And it reminded me again to not overreact to things like I do sometimes.

And a HaPpY bIrThDaY today to my sweet baby nephew who isn't really a baby anymore. He is 4 today. What a light he is in our family. What a strong spirit he has. Sweet Wy-Wy, we are so grateful you are in our family.

Monday---it is a good day.

So my almost 4 year old nephew said to me yesterday, "Lori, you are a great artist." He told me that a couple of times yesterday. He had seen some drawings I had done (I drew a bunch of drawings a couple of years ago) that my sister used for sharing time in Primary yesterday. His comment was pretty cute. And sweet. I knew there was no use going into the fact that I have so much to improve on etc. because I know this in so many ways. But it was a sweet gesture of his to tell me this. Made my day. (I did want to try to explain to him that when I was his age that I really doubt that I filled up a notebook a week with drawings like he does. True- he is constantly drawing. It is amazing. I can only imagine at what level he will be drawing as an adult.)

So, I wish everyone a happy Monday and a happy week. I hope a little child gives everyone a compliment. It's the best!

Yay for Friday...all day!

It's Friday! How great is that? Have a flowery and fine Friday. All day!Enjoy your weekend. It's supposed to be decent weather all weekend. Yessssss!

Now I need to get to work. Lots to do.

Thursday hath come. Hooray!

So here is a sketch of a professor of mine from BYU. His name is Bob Barrett. He is an amazing illustrator. His artwork is everywhere it seems. So I drew a sketch of him. Ta da. (I should have spent more time on his right hand...Ah well.)Nothing new to report other than I ran for an hour on my treadmill last night. Phew. It feels so good to do that. I just need to be more consistent. Such a great workout!!! I love it when I actually do it.

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday Wishes

Don't you think it would be very convenient to grow flowers on your head? You would always have a flower to give to someone who you cared about.

Thought of the day:

I was glancing through an article in the online Meridian Magazine this morning and the writer's comments really got me thinking...thinking of how privileged and thankful I am to be able to enter the temple each week even in my state of huge imperfectness.

Maybe not to get angry at that driver who zooms up to cut me off but honestly there is absolutely no reason for him to do it. Maybe to be more patient with a family member or a friend. Maybe to not get upset when someone irritates me in general. Maybe to not wonder so much why some drivers think the carpool lane is a passing lane. Silly things really. (Mostly freeway anger on my part I guess.) What I need to focus on is trying to make myself a better person. I need to truly adopt the philosophy of a friend when he calmly says, "No worries." He is such a calm person. I need to work on being more calm for sure. Letting issues etc roll off my back more. I need to constantly remind myself what really is important to me. To truly be less uptight. And I know that doesn't stop me from entering the temple, but it reminds me that I need to just calm down. Anyway I love this quote below.

“Take off thy shoes, for the place where thou standest is holy ground.”At that moment, the words came alive for me and I understood — perhaps for the first time — exactly what a privilege it is to be allowed to enter the temple.- Kathryn H Kidd

But I do know this...as I attend the temple each week, it reminds me each week that I am trying. I am trying to be a better person. And service certainly helps with that. So I am grateful that little imperfect me is at least allowed to enter the temple. And I hope I can continue to work on removing those "imperfect shoes" of mine. And I am grateful to be able to take the sacrament each Sunday to also continually try to improve. To be the person I really want to be. And I know I have that in me. I just hide it really well sometimes.

So my goal is to laugh things off. Trivial things that is. Like if I get ignored, or if I get cut off on the freeway, or if something else trivial starts to irritate me. Just remember, I am a work in progress.

Tuesday is moving along...

Another drawing in the same style as yesterday. E A S Y style for sure. And cute, I think.

Happy Tuesday! I got a lot of working out done yesterday! Woot woot! Yay for sunshine and blue skies!

Off I go vting tonight. Well, a third of my vting. (We have 3.) Would be nice if my partner showed.

Enjoy the day. Life is amazing!

Oh, Monday!

Oh, Monday, how quickly you come. Do you pay the weekend to go by REALLY fast? I think you do!

Oh well, might as well make the best of today, right?

Maybe I will figure out a way for Tuesday through Friday to be bribed to hurry their days along... ; ) Not sure I want to include Monday in this deal...he seems a little underhanded with shortening our weekends!

Or maybe something exciting will happen this week. Now that would be a nice surprise. Or maybe there is something to be said about having a calm week...

Happy Monday!

Good Friday yesterday and lazy today

I got a lot done yesterday... mowed my mom's front lawn and pulled some errant weeds, finishing a drawing (below) for a friend's daughter's baptism in a week, did some cleaning, did some errands, did a little sorting...not much but still working on that. But I did NOT go to Orem Days tonight. I meant to as I usually go with a couple of friends. Oh well. They had a busy day. I wasn't in the mood to go wander over by myself. Just a lazy day. Congrats to Jared on his PG sprint triathalon today! I did go watch that this morning.

Happy weekend to all!

Friday is here!

Yah think I posted this sketch before. (Lazy Lori!) Another little girl from Ethiopia. I just like the look on her face. I don't know her. Just a little child. A child that probably has a lot of dreams. A sweet little face.

Last night was great at the temple. A busy night. A few glitches but all works out when it comes to the power of temple work. A quiet, powerful, and humble work.

Lots to do today. A drawing for a friend's daughter's baptism, cleaning and organizing around the house, working out, and maybe some relaxing too. Yay for EDO days.

LOVE long weekends.

FUNNY THURSDAY! And thumbs up to all!

Hehehehehe!

[Oh, I have to first tell you... I came into work this morning and Kathy's phone (Kathy is a co-worker who tends to misplace her phone a bit) was lying on the ground. I mentioned it to Larry who is another co-worker. Right away he wanted to hide the phone. Hehe. I suggested hiding it in the light. So Larry hid it so you couldn't even see it. When Kathy came into work this morning...Larry called her cellphone. Right away she said she thought it was her phone. I said, "oh really?" Then Larry called it again. And Kathy yelled over the wall to the other girls and asked whose phone that was. She walked over there. Larry called again. Kathy said,"oh, my phone is in my cubicle." Can I just say how hard it was not to laugh? Finally another co-worker, Julie, came over and said she could hear it above Kathy's cubicle. Finally the laughter started and Kathy realized it was above her head on the light. Oh how we laughed! Jim Halpert (from The Office) you would be soooo proud!]

So it's Thursday. I got my 5 miles in at the track last night and then I went and mowed my mom's back lawn after. Can we say "so in need of a shower"? Goodness. But it was a great workout. Loved it! Cock a doodle doo!

So we have drinking fountains at work. Hurray you might say. Well our drinking fountains are very funny to me. The part where you get the water looks like the back of a thumb to me. Seriously. Every time I walk by the fountains, I smile. So I finally took a picture. Don't you think it looks like a thumb? Come on, you have to agree.
Have an amazing Thursday!

P.S. Look around and take a picture of something you think looks like something else. Pretty fun!

It's Wednesday...and sometimes I wonder

Yes- it's Wednesday (funny- I was just about to type the word Friday! I wish!). Didn't get too much done last night but I did get to the track. Woot woot! That's always a good thing.

Hello, frog with the pink hat and blue flower. Looks like you are smiling.

Which brings me to an interesting observation. Either people in general are just not very happy or they have just forgotten how to smile or have just stopped acknowledging people's existences. And I'm not talking complete strangers either. People that you might not know super well but you do know them. You maybe walk by and smile or the double whammy where you smile and even say hello. And all you get is a blank stare. Oh I know...a lot of times people have so much on their minds that it is a wonder that they are breathing.

But what amazes me, in my observation, is that I watch a person (person #1) smile or smile and say hi to another person (person #2) and that person #2 just greets them with a blank stare. Oh yes...I know you are thinking "well that person #2 probably had a lot on their mind." And again, I agree with you...at times. Because we are all busy, we all have concerns and different things going on each day. I get that.

But what amazes me is that right after that first encounter (above) that another person (person #3) then does the smile/hello to person #2. And right away person #2 will do the smile/hello back to person #3. It TOTALLY amazes me. Oh, how we all look forward to the blank stare! Anyway, just an observation. And it makes me sad. VERY sad. Life should never be that busy nor should there ever be a situation where you ignore another person. Maybe childishness comes into this situation.

My two cents. It is a pretty sad world out there when "small" people populate the planet. I am working on not being small. (Hey, maybe I don't have to go to the track so often! Hehe.) All I can say is that I am grateful for my family and my friends. And maybe this is a good reminder for me too.

NOTE: when I make these random comments, it is just me observing. Doesn't mean that any of you are doing these things to me. Hey- it's my blog and it is just a place I write my observations.

Happy Tuesday!

It's a good day. I got some sleep last night. For some reason on Sunday night I was tossing and turning. Oh great. And so at about 2:30 in the afternoon, I got so sleepy. Don't like that for sure.

My niece Erin graduated from high school last week! Way to go, Erin! Love you! Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for you. (Sorry if you see this before your card actually gets to you in the mail...I sent it yesterday.) Love you!

I hope to accomplish much today... at least more than falling asleep at my desk. : ) Though I do have to say that I created a stamp set from start to finish yesterday. Woot woot! Of course, it hasn't gone to our committee...so maybe I shouldn't be patting myself on the back too soon.

On to bigger and better things today. It's a pretty morning. Have to add that I had nice email conversations with 4 good friends the last week or so. Wow- I am so grateful. I should never ever complain in my life because of the simple fact that I have SO many blessings.

Happy Monday, puppy!

A little drawing of a sweet sleeping puppy. Ah, the life of a puppy.

It's okay. I am glad I am a human. Lots more stuff that I get to do. Though sometimes a nap during the day sounds like a great idea!

Lots of work to do today!

P.S. I came up with a new word... a "mond-ache". For those people who have headaches on a monday. I very rarely have headaches. But a co-worker has a headache this morning. So I named his headache. or his mond-ache. Mondache?

A great weekend!

A great weekend! Here is Ander at his 7th birthday party, showing part of the obstacle course. We celebrated on Friday though his birthday was technically on the 5th.Here are Wy, Ben, Ander, and their cousin Marcus. Hanging out on the grass...Hey, Ander, no shooting your aunt with the foam dart gun! ; )
Sisters Lissa and Lana. Sweet little nieces! Great helpers at Ander's party.
Little Wy, enjoying the roses from the rose bush.
And Wy with his head sticking out of the bean bag toss game. What a funny little guy!
It was a great weekend. Nearly the whole family was there on Saturday to celebrate Marcus' baptism. We missed having Stef and Kiley and Kolby there.

And FYI- even though I didn't get photos of Marcus after he got baptized (silly me), we are so proud of Marcus for taking this step in his life. He is an amazing little boy. Full of a lot of energy and strength. We are so glad that he is in our family.

And also I am so proud of Jenna with her performance that night. So sorry I did not get to make it to see you perform. Love you so much!!!!

And thanks to Che' and Finley for letting me join you at the track Saturday morning.

I have an amazing family. I am so grateful to be a part of it. Love you all more than words can say!!! And Jase and Dad, I know you are with us always.

Ander has a party and Marcus gets baptized

So here is a drawing I did of Marcus a year ago. He gets baptized tomorrow because he turned 8 a little while ago. And his cousin Ander is having a birthday party today to celebrate turning 7 (tomorrow). Lots of fun this weekend! Happy birthday Ander and happy baptism Marcus!

I get to help with Ander's party today. A Batman themed event. I will take photos.

Happy Friday!!! And happy weekend!

It's Thursday and all is good

Happy Thursday! Gratefully I am not sleepy today and I did not sleep in this morning so I wasn't running around like a crazy person...okay, maybe semi-crazy.

This little bunny made me smile. And it's a good thing he has so much down there in his little caboose so that he can just prop himself there on the ground for any impromptu naps he may need.

I do have to say though that I am kind of disappointed that I didn't officially find out until last night about the BYU Alumni Illustration show. Entries are due by tomorrow. And so I don't even have time to think about what I would enter...let alone get it ready. Oh well. This is a good reminder that I need to be working on pieces of art in my spare time (like right now!) when I don't have freelance to do. Then I would be ready for a show like this at any time. Oh well. This is a good reminder to me and a good learning experience. I know there are many personal projects that I need to be working on. Kind of like a non-school non-graded portfolio...but projects that I really feel I have inside me. I can be pushing myself so much more than I do.

Happy Thursday!

This is what I want...

My friend Amy took this photo. But I want these chairs all in my house. So cool! All the different styles and colors! Just against a wall like that! LOVE!

Heart filled Wednesday

Everyone can have a little heart for someone or something. So today's thought...have a little heart.

Off to a good start today...got up late again and ignored my alarm. That's what happens when you have a 4 day weekend and don't use the alarm at all. It's okay though. I got ready in about 20 minutes and was out the door only 10 minutes late and even shaved 5 minutes off my commute. So I ended up getting to work only 5 minutes later than I usually do. That was an amazing feat!

It's a pretty day. The sun is shining on the wet streets...yes, it rained overnight. But I hope the sun is finally here to stay. We can hope. Hey, it's still Spring...anything is possible.

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. On Memorial Day, I got to ride around on a sit down lawnmower. No, I wasn't put to work mowing...I just drove it around in the driveway. Fun!

Happy Tue-Monday!

I'm glad it is Tue-Monday! That it is really Tuesday...but for the work week it is like it is a Monday. But the nice thing about a Tue-Monday is that it is a short work week! Woohoo! And extra short one for me since I am taking Friday off to help with my soon-to-be 7 year old nephew Ander's birthday party.

So enjoy your Tue-Monday!...and my advice today is if someone "bugs" you (though I guess a snail and a worm aren't technically bugs.), just walk on by...or slither on by (yuck- I hate the word slither.).

BTW--such a fun long weekend...painting at my sister's house, mowing lawns, BBQing, going to see a fun concert last night...Davy Jones from the Monkees. He is hilarious. Such a teensy little guy. All of 5'3". Just loves to talk and really funny too. It was a fun night just laughing with friends and singing along and enjoying the Spring night air. The only problem was that the reality of having to get up this morning just about did me in... ; )

Happy Tuesday!

(OH YAH...I have to post this TOTALLY embarrassing moment that happened in a combined RS/PH meeting the last hour of church... I was asked to give the opening prayer... Okay, no problem...Hah! So I started out okay. Saying how we are grateful for the gospel, for the blessings we all have...and then it happened...not once, not twice, but three times!!!! I kept resaying how we needed to listen to the teacher. Oh yes, you are thinking, well, maybe the class really needed to listen to the teacher...but you know what ? I don't think that was the case...I just could not stop saying it. How embarrassing!!!! Ah well. Didn't help that the two girls I sat with told me that they were both embarrassed for me. Oh well. It is over. But seriously I am never that bad or tongue tied.)