A moment of peace

The next couple weeks may be a roller coaster for me, as I will be making some big med changes. I am feeling a bit uneasy about it all, to say the least. However, today I had a moment of complete peace. I stopped by the cementary- it has been one year since Pappa passed away. It was a beautiful day, and I sat on the grass feeling relaxed and at ease. I enjoyed sitting in silence, and even having a little chat with Pappa. I am not a writer, and cannot put into words exactly how I felt, but it was a beautiful moment, and I think that just maybe Pappa was passing his calm, laid-back personality onto me. :)

While I was there I had to take a quick picture of the American flag at Pappa's headstone, which was very appropriately mended up with duct tape. Those who know Ellen and Pappa can understand how that made me smile. :)

The Winner...

I used random.org to draw a winner- I tried to post it on here, but it didn't work. Anyway, the winner is....

Ethiopifinn!!!! I started laughing when I saw you were the winner because of your comment- lol! Hey, now you can order an...um, updated dvd! Or a good book- whichever makes you happy! :) Zip me an email so I can send you your Amazon.com gift card!

First, thank you everyone for your great suggestions! No, I did not order Jillian's 30 Day Shred- I've heard it's killer, which is awesome, but I need beginner. Same for X90- I heard the diet involved is major killer- I'll definitely keep it in mind for when I'm in great shape! ;) So what did I order? First, I ordered Carmen Electra's series- from reviews it looks like it's not much of a workout, which means for me it's a perfect beginning workout- seriously, I'm in bad shape! Then I ordered "Yoga: Just My Size With Megan Garcia". It's for plus-sized people- there were some positive reviews on Amazon.com about it. (That's one thing I love about Amazon- I love the reviews!)

And I want to say CONGRATS! to Tara on your success!!! (I couldn't put your anonymous admirer into the drawing because he or she didn't give their name!) ;)

Giveaways are FUN!!! Keep an eye out for my next one! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

GIVEAWAY!!!

A $20 gift card (via email) to amazon.com!

The doc says I'm too stressed out. So I need to get back into yoga. I mean, real yoga, not just a few stretches that I do here and there. I also need to learn to dance. Why? Because it's exercise and exercise is a great stress-reliever for me. (And because I started watching "So You Think You Can Dance", and now my greatest dream is to be at least as good as the worst dancers auditioning. I think I should be able to get there. I'm a Finn- we've been compared to passionate Latinos when it comes to music. Ha. Even still, I want to dance, and I Think I Can!)

Please tell me what your favorite workout dvd is. Yoga, dance, or otherwise. Actually, I don't care what your favorite is if your favorite is anything beyond beginner. How about you just give me a good suggestion for a BEGINNER workout.

One entry per person. Entries must be in by 11:59 p.m. (central time), Wednesday, July 29th. I will randomly draw a winner Thursday morning.

Thanks for the dvd suggestions and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

Oh, and I chose amazon.com as a prize because it is where I buy all my 'media'- books, music, dvds- you can get them for low, low prices! :)

Laura, baker

I am half proud and half ashamed to post this picture. Proud because I baked my first pie ever today. Ashamed because I have never made a pie before in my life- yikes! Proud because I made three mini pies (two for the freezer), and one regular size one (also for the freezer). Ashamed because this one turned out pretty darned ugly. Proud because....hey, it may have turned out yummy! I don't like blueberries (GASP!), but I'll have Davin test it tonight. It's actually for his birthday tomorrow. I don't know that it would be his number one pick, but we had two gallons of blueberries from the U.P. sitting in our freezer since last season, so I figured I should start using them! Next up, blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins. I don't love cooking...who am I kidding- I loathe the kitchen, but I know it would be a great shame to not use U.P. blueberries, right? :)

Colorful Chit-Chat

Re-cap. Or something.

I haven't moved from this comfy chair since we got back from Michigan on Monday afternoon. Lie. I have moved, but I haven't accomplished anything important, so I may as well have stayed here. I am still recovering from the vacation. And by vacation, I don't mean fun-fun-fun!- I mean Fun-YIKES-CRASH! Families are tiring. You know why? 'Cause both Davin and I come from crazy families. Yes, it's true. Joe and Sandy's family: CRAZY. Wes and Cheryl's family: CRAZY. So.many.people. This girl can't handle the chaos. Not true. I can because I did. But still, you know what I mean. And if you're thinking I didn't I have fun, you're wrong. As it turns out, you can be completely stressed out and still manage to enjoy yourself. Who woulda thunk? We were on the lake every day. I think we hit every beach in the Keewanaw. We saw lots of family- so.many.people. We ate Ambassador pizza- YUM. I ate Mackinaw Island icecream and didn't get sick. (I've since tried 60 varieties of icecream since we've been home and it seems I am cured- uh oh!) But the highlight of the trip....oh, the highlight!!!! ROFL....hold on....LOL....it's a funny story....LMAO....okay, -deep breath-. On our last night there we went to Sedar Bay to visit Grandpa and Grandma. (That's not the funny part...although they are entertainment alone). Grandpa had lit the sauna, so we had to sauna-swim, right? Well, Dan and Lynne were there also so we headed down together. The waves were big. And I mean BIG. So we had to ride them. That's the funny part. Well, not that we rode the waves, but being in the waves, and screaming, and then watching Dan and Davin try do tricks in the wave. ....okay, so you had to be there. Whatever. But you know that laugh, when you every bit of tension is released (so.many.people) and nothing is holding you back- you laugh and feel so light??? It was wonderful. It was the perfect end to a fun, chaos-but-laughter-filled weekend.

And I got pictures to boot:

And if you want to see the less-funny-just-cute pictures, click here.

Going to the Goob, Goob, Goob!

How about you, you, you???

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

Help Wanted

Let's say you walk into a sandwich shop. In the lobby is a bulletin board. Do you look at the contents posted on the board? What do you notice? There is a half-page flyer that says "DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE CONSIDERING ADOPTION?" in bold on the top. Do you read on? There are two large photos of a smiling couple. The text is pretty brief:

"Hi! We (Davin and Laura) have been married for nine years. We are happy and thankful for the life we share, but feel a void having not been blessed with children. We are hopeful that adoption may provide us the chance to start a family. We are working with Adoption Minnesota, a licensed adoption agency in Minneapolis. (www.adoption-minnesota.com)
Please learn much more about us online at:
laura-davin-adopt.blogspot.com
OR contact us by email or phone:
laura.davin.adopt@gmail.com
(***) ***-****"

Do you think, A) This couple is nuts and terribly desperate!, B) Hmm, do I know anyone???, or C) Oh look, a puppy for sale! If you thought somewhere along the lines of B, where else would you notice this flyer? Would you take one of the business cards by the flyer?

We're trying out some networking. I am heading toward the cities tomorrow with the flyers, and would love some ideas of where I could post them. If you think we're nuts, that's alright too...but you can keep you thoughts to yourself, even though I just asked for them.... :D

ETA: If you would like the pdf to our flyer to hang in your local coffee/sandwich shop, or your church, or your work break room, please feel free to email me, and I'll email it to you!

Thank you much! :)

Truly...

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Independence Day! :)