Girly Girl · Moviegoer

The City

Laurie7 Comments

This was party week for me and considering schools out on Tuesday I need all the quality girl time I can get! Tuesday night we celebrated Tatiana’s birthday. Happy B-day Girl!

Thursday night we got our groove on again for Chanda’s birthday. We had such a great time, I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a while.

Near the end of dinner someone came up with the idea of doing the “shaky face game“. I must live under a rock because I hadn’t heard of this before. Basically you shake your face and while a picture is taken. Click over to Chanda’s blog to see more pictures.

Here’s what Julie and I would look like if we had collagen. See I still wouldn’t have an upper lip. Drat!

It should be said that I LOVE movies! I admit it’s a vice. So when I heard the SexandtheCity movie was coming out, I’ve been so excited I’ve been wearing flowers all month.

To me the movie is the about friendships and how important they are in our lives. Years ago, I watched the show with Laurel who is the epitome of an amazing friend. When she talked about the people in her life, she always used their first name. It wasn’t “my friend from church” or “my neighbor”. So it didn’t take me long to really care about her friends and family. I absolutely loved that about her. I felt like she gave me full access to her life and I was able to do the same with her in return. I’ll never forget Laurel and her influence in my life. She also made me realize how key good friendships are and I’ve been striving to make it a priority in my life ever since.

So, Chanda and I went to see it at the mid-night showing opening night! It was so exciting and the theatre was full of energy and anticipation. It did not disappoint. It was great to be in NYC again and see 4 friends who are crazy but devoted to each other.

Blogger

Top Commenter Widget

Laurie9 Comments

I found something totally cool on Celia’s blog today. It’s a ‘Top Commenter Widget’ which displays the top 10 commenter on your blog. What a great way to reward your regular commenter!

It’s really easy if you use Blogger. Just type in your blog name as per the instructions, press Customize, then press the Add to Blog button.

It puts it directly into your layout! Drag it to the position you prefer and press Save. Presto!

I knew Are You Serious! would be #1 on the list. She’s such a great commenter and I can always count on her to brighten my day. Thanks girl!

I’ve also got to give an honorable mention to Julie because she’s been one of my favorite bloggers since this crazy ride began one year ago. Thanks CrazyMamaof6 – you totally rock!

Blogger

1 Year Blogiversary

Laurie22 Comments

I can’t believe it, as of Tuesday, I have been blogging for one year! On the outside not much has changed: I have 3 boys, live in the same house, my man has the same job, and I still go to Mavens, book club, and dinner club with the same fab friends.

But in reality a lot has changed:

* Davis has braces
* Davis is now medicated
* Dylan has been diagnosed with ADHD and is now medicated {{a hit to my ego}}
* Finished Mommy & Me gymnastics with Drake
* Drake is talking a little
* Drake is in a big boy bed – although still not sleeping through the night
* Jason’s going to school to get his MBA
* Executive Homemaker which took over a year to design and 5 years as a concept is 15 months old and has 2,333 members and growing at a rate of 300+ new members every month.
* Executive Homemaker’s online store has grown from three to 26 Mom-prenuers!
* Tip Junkie is 11 months old
* My house is a little prettier and more organized
* My Dad is divorced
* My brother Scott came home from his mission
* We’ve realized our family is complete
* We won our battle with the school district
* Helped my sister, Lisa, move into her first house

Throughout the past year, I have completed a total of 588 posts between my personal blog and Tip Junkie! Hopefully you’ve found them inspiring, uplifting, and worth the read.

Both this blog (personal) and Tip Junkie have grown so much, with a combined total of 688 regular subscribers. I’m so grateful for all of you! As of right now my personal blog has had 50,700 visitors and Tip Junkie has 116,300 visitors. WOW! Thank you so much for taking an interest in what I’m interested in. Thank you for validating my need to share and be heard.

Blogging has given each one of us a voice and that voice matters and is powerful. I feel honored to be apart of it.

I’ve been completely surprised and amazed at the impact blogging has had on my life. Some of the things I’ve learned are:

* Technical stuff like: downloading pictures from my camera, how to upload pictures to my blog, how to link in a post, etc.
* I’ve also learned how to make my own headers and buttons
* A little about html code
* How to use Photobucket to get a direct link for pictures and buttons
* Bloglines and Google Reader to make reading blogs more efficient instead of going to each blog individually to see if they’ve been updated.
* How to have new comments go to my e-mail so I can delete the spam comments that get posted on older posts and so I don’t have to check my blog directly to see if any new comments where posted.
* To use Flickr to find a picture for a post

Fun blog things I’ve participated in:

* Tons of meme’s and blogthings
* Participated in a Travel Swap & Witch Switch
* Picked Cherish as my word of 2008
* Had a blog crush
* Started the Great Tip Award which has now been changed to “I was Featured” on Tip Junkie
* Been featured on Today’s Creative Blog and have developed a friendship with Kim
* I’ve met bloggers in real life (MIRL) at Blogapalooza 2008, Jill’s 3rd Annual Blog party, and for lunch.

Most importantly, I’ve made some real connections and have been really inspired by other bloggers. I have felt more accepted and appreciated this past year than I ever have before. I’m making a Blurb book and therefore I feel like I have something to show what I’ve done this past year, which is important to me.

Memories that would normally be lost, I have record here to laugh at, reflect, and be grateful for. Even though this has been a difficult year for me personally, I’ve been able to focus on the positive, and stay grateful thanks to blogging.

Thanks for the journey Ladies! I’ve enjoyed every moment of it and am looking forward to another fabulous year!

Mother of Boys

Memorial Day Weekend

Laurie5 Comments

Question: Why is it that when you want to make a larger purchase, you and your spouse have to really think about it and make sure that’s the right place to put your cash. But when you see something fun for the kids, almost the same price, you purchase it with out hesitation.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this? {{pout}}

Anyway, yes can you believe it – we bought this big yellow banana to give the kids a summer they’ll never forget. I can just imagine when the boys are grown and married reminiscing about that crazy banana ride we had the summer of 2008.

School is out next week and we got a sneak peek of summer over the weekend. The weather was great and we spent the weekend at the lake with friends.

Here’s Drake and Emily taking a snack break. Emily has told her mom that she’s going to kiss Drake and marry him. In my book that’s a done deal, sweetie. You better not let me down! {{kidding – sort of}}

I don’t know who first came up with the concept of national holidays but I’m so grateful. It was so nice to have Jason home not only from work but from school too. YAY for reinforcements. 😉


Greg & Rebecca, Jason and Me, Mike & Julie

Saturday night we meet some friends at Brio for dinner club. The food was yummy but the company was better! I can’t tell you how much I’ve been appreciating adult time lately. Especially with summer right around the corner, I’ve been relishing in the conversations, food, and laughter.

Mother of Boys

End of the School Year Party

Laurie1 Comment

It’s that time of year already – end of the school year. {{help!}} The boys have some really amazing room mom who’s went all out this year. Dylan’s class started out with a picnic outside and then they had each took a turn getting their hand painted for the 1st grade banner.

Their class is the first 1st grade class in this school – so their banner will be hung in the library next year and then put in the time capsule. Cute idea. All the kids loved getting their hands painted.

Then it was outside for snow cones,

Flag thingies (technical name of course) – fabric strips stapled on rulers. It was so windy the kids had a blast playing with them.

And lots of bubbles!

Drake was treated like a rockstar during the festivities. He did what ever they told him to do and quite enjoyed the attention.

Davis’ class had a luau! The room moms cut up the table cloths and rotated the colors around the semicircle of desks. Each student had a tiki cup, sand bucket with fun summer sayings on it and filled with lots of candy, a lei, and a cute T-shirt made into a pillow.

Can you see the T-shirt in this picture? I know the picture is blurred {{bad camera}}. She ironed on a fun tag that had each person’s name on it and their teacher’s name. Sewed the bottom and arms shut, filled it with batting, then sewed the head hole.

During the part they passed them around the circle and everyone signed it. What a great idea!! The kids loved them.

Several of the kids dressed up and made masks for the party.

They even decorated their Webkinz, wore flowers in their hair, and decorated their water bottles.

For the end of the year teacher gift, the room mom had a picture and letter framed. All the kids signed the picture mat. I thought that was a very thoughtful gift.

It was a fun filled day! Bless you room mom’s for being so creative and fun.

Small Talker

Good Mail

Laurie1 Comment

Last week I received some good mail! Tabetha sent me this beautiful necklace in appreciation for all my referrals. I don’t feel like I’ve done a thing – her products speak for themselves!

So head on over and order gifts for all your favorite ladies in your life! They’ll love them.

I also got some good mail from the IRS. Lucky me. I guess this means Karma’s mad at me again. If only I could figure out what’s ticking her off. These battles between us are kicking my @ss.

Girly Girl

L to the T

Laurie11 Comments

I’ve been on the look out for a new summer hair style. I like to change things up often.

I’ll admit when I first saw LC (from The Hills) sporting the braid – I thought it was ghetto. Alas it has really grown on me and I decided to try it.

Here I am, “LT”. Not bad for my first attempt, considering I haven’t braided my hair since the 80’s. 😉

I’ll have to “keep this in the running for Laurie’s Next Top Summer Hairdo”. {{giggle}}

Drake decided he wanted to get in the action and do his hair. He laid down on the counter and stuck his head in the sink!

I dried him off and helped him a bit. Here’s an after shot.

Let’s talk hair! What are you considering for your summer look?

About Laurie

Congrats Honey!

Laurie13 Comments

I’ve got to officially congratulate my man (right) for winning the ‘game changer’ award at work. He works for Eaton Corporation, a 13 Billion dollar company with approx. 80,000 employees in 29 countries. Jason was 1 of 14 selected for this most prestigious award. Here he is shaking hands with the company’s CEO, Sandy Cutler.

Jason came up with an idea, designed the web-based software, and now they’re implementing it throughout the corporation. I am so proud of him! I admire all the hard work and dedication he has for the many passions in his life. And I’m honored to be one of them. he he

Would you believe Jason was a welder with only a semester of college when we met. “Honey, you’ve exceeded my expectations and anything else you achieve in your career is a bonus. Love you more than the universe!”

Genuine

Distractions

Laurie3 Comments

A head honcho Mary Kay lady came to speak to us at church quite some time ago, and gave such a motivating talk on “Good, Better, Best”. It was absolutely fabulous and really spoke to me.

She put things into perceptive and I’ve been trying to get myself motivated to get back to the basics ever since. I kept telling myself that, “slow and steady wins the race.” But somehow I got on the autobahn and I can’t slow down for fear of crashing.

Denae’s recap of one of the classes she attended at Women’s Conference finally did it! So, last week I took the time to sit down, think of the 5 fundamentals of family life, and schedule them into the insanity which is my life.

I also loved Angie’s comment about teaching our children ‘the art of conversation’ during dinner. Honestly, that has never occurred to me. Our house is so loud that Jason and I like to eat in peace and don’t allow talking at the dinner table. {{my bad}}

Obviously, last week there were a lot of changes at once but the boys handled it well, considering.

I finished my summer schedule for the boys yesterday and I have a better outlook on the next 3 months. I’m armed with the 5 fundamentals of family life, a neighborhood pool, amazing activities thanks to Rebecca, a babysitter once a week, and a LOT of diet Coke. 😉

Is anyone else stressing about summer?