Merry Christmas to all

the Christmas cards that I made for this year

So my father has a final funny story

When the mailman delivered my father's ashes to my brother, he absolutely refused to touch the package since it was posted as human remains quite clearly.  So he brought it up to the house where my brother lives and went to give it to one of the roommates who told him she was not touching it either so he would just have to pick up his us mail bucket tomorrow.  She then decided that the package belonged to another roommate who is always ordering weird things online.  Just for the record, I dont think you can order human remains online YET!!  LOL So she puts it in his room.  That evening while she is bitching about the weird shit this guy orders my brother catches on that she is talking about human remains and says I have been expecting my father's remains are you sure it was addressed to him?  Sure enough, it was my father, and i guess he had that final last laugh on people.

peace and luv,
laura

the adventure continues

heard from my brother yesterday that my fathers ashes are here now - he got shipped from louisville to seattle so that i can put him in the water with my mom.  somewhere i should put some kind of actual memorial for them so that others can find it in the future but that is an adventure for another day.  when we did my mom's ashes we took her on a final adventure driving from the seattle area up to port townsend, the took her sightseeing a little and finally put her ashes into the straight of juan de fuca.  we took tons of photos and i made a slideshow of her final adventure, so i feel it is only fair that i do the same for my father.  and of course any excuse i have for a trip to port townsend is a good one.  i love it up there and i love the cemeteries up there.  i really need to take a day and go cemetery exploring here soon.  i have wednesday through friday off so maybe i will just hop a bus and see what i can find.  i am trying to get better about exploring and making posts on here :) time will tell.  i am also working on redoing my family tree as i found that i have like two whole trees combined but they are not showing up as duplicates - dontcha just hate that?  and have started working on a tree for my wonderful friends that i am staying with.  i hope everyone is having great adventures researching their family trees as well as exploring cemeteries.  peace and luv to all, laura

november 26 2011

ok i am constantly falling behind on keeping this up all month so i am gonna go for a long one today - i am thankful that i have a roof over my head and food in my belly daily.  i am thankful for my family and my family of friends.  i am thankful that we have enough for extras like cable and netflix.  i am thankful that i can walk over a mile now.  i am thankful that my son is working on moving in with a friend till he gets back on his feet instead of living out of a tent in the winter.  i am thankful to have a new camera that i can take thousands of photos with again.  i am thankful that each day i grow closer to my weight loss goals and getting new knees.  i am thankful for the beauty all around me from everything to looking out in the distance at mt rainier to a fallen leaf in the gutter.  i am thankful to be watching a wonderful almost three year old who makes me younger every day.  i am thankful for my sore muscles at night because they mean i played hard each day.  i am thankful for the christmas lights going up all over as they make the world seem so much nicer, friendlier and peaceful.  i hope everyone out there has as much as i do and is as thankful as i am this year, peace and luv, laura

november 21 2011

today i am thankful for everyone who reads this :) also thankful for my down comforter at night and laying in bed looking out my window as the sun comes up even on cloudy or foggy days :) hope everyone is thankful for what they have today ~ peace and luv ~ laura

november 16 2011

today i am thankful that i have a home, food in my stomach and people in my life who love me

november 15 2011

today i am thankful that i am not sick any longer.  I am thankful for the people who invented vicks and psudofed.  i am thankful for my friends and family who worry about me when i am sick.  ~~ since last friday i have been thankful for all the veterans, all the active servicemen and women, pizza night, lazy saturdays at home, playing with trucks, childrens movies and cuddling with a 2 year old on the couch till we fall asleep

been MIA

been MIA for a few days now - i have been sick - will be back later with a list of thankfulness :)

november 10 2011

today is the 236th birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  I am eternally thankful for all the men and women who serve and protect our country and our way of free life.  today will be a little long since my step-brother was a Marine.  I am thankful for the few short years I got to share with him in my life.  As teens life was not what it should have been to say the least especially between me and my step-father.  Shawn and I didnt really talk about the stuff that went on in the house, but he totally knew it was wrong.  He worked at Taco Bell his senior year and would bring me a bag of food every night that he worked and just put it outside my locked bedroom door and knock and walk away.  it was not something i asked for, nor was it something he expected thanks for.  it was just something he did to try to right the wrongs going on within our household.  Shawn married a wonderful girl aftern graduation and when he went into the Marines they moved to San Diego.  I was living down there for a few months during that time and it was great to see him really succeeding in life.  Unfortunately, he had many personal demons to deal with and when his marriage was failing, he decided to end his life.  He is one of the actual good guys in my life, and he is greatly missed to this day.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week,
peace and luv,
Laura

november 9 2011

today i am thankful for naps and that mr william decided to take a nice long one :) i am also thankful for the broccoli cheddar soup with chicken that was made last night.  it is delicious!!  i am also thankful for soft fuzzy slippers :)  what are you thankful for today?  peace and luv to all ~ laura

this photo is from my train ride back from kentucky last month

november 8 2011

today i am thankful for the sunn streaming in the window and warming my back as i try to focus on working while william is sleeping.  i am also thankful that i am not sick, as william's daddy is.

peace and luv to all
laura

november 7 2011

today i am thankful for homemade mac n cheese.  it was amazing for dinner last night but even better for lunch today!  i am also thankful for all my friends and family for sticking with me throughout this time in my life.
peace and luv to all,
laura

November 6 2011

today I am thankful for foggy cold mornings - i woke up to our first real frost and thick fog and went for a nice long walk (yet another thing i am thankful for since 2 years ago i couldnt walk a block without a walker) and took a bunch of photos and just gathered my thoughts for the day - all before most people woke up.

I hope everyone enjoyed their extra hour of sleep this morning,
peace and luv to all,
laura

november 5 2011

#thankful - today i am thankful for sleeping till 8 - i dont have to get up with little guy on weekends which is nice.  i am also thankful for my sister who loves me enough to drive 200 miles to visit with me.  here is a photo that was taken of me and my sister last halloween:

i am the one not covered in blood lol

well i hope everyone is having a great weekend,

peace and luv to all,

laura

November 4 2011

today I am thankful for rainy seattle days when I can just stay inside all day playing with mr William and uploading photos to my new Deviant Arts account. Who knew that a 2 year old could spin in circles for a half an hour?? :)

This is Obviously not from today :)

Peace and Luv to all,

Laura

November 3 2011

Thankfulness today - today I am thankful for the amazing things that little 2 year old William tells me - we are working on potty training and he is watching Horton hears a Who and I can tell he is going #2 in his diaper so I asked him "are you pooping?" and he said "no, dont worry, I am watching the movie" :) funny answer when I know exactly what he is doing - and I am thankful for my son who is almost 22 and still talks to me almost daily and makes me laugh a lot also :)
Hope everyone has their little things they are thankful for today,
peace and luv to all
laura

November 2 2011

Thankfulness - it means something different to each person on earth.  Today I would like to state that I am thankful for the beauty that God has created around me.  The fall colors are just amazing and when you add sunshine and blue skies to that here in Seattle you get just amazingly beautiful scenery.

Until tomorrow, peace and luv to all, Laura

November 1 2011

Hello all,

November is a month when we get to celebrate Thanksgiving and remember what we are thankful for.  In that spirit I am going to work hard on posting here daily things that I am thankful for.  Today I am thankful that it is sunny and warm in the Seattle area.  I am thankful to be watching my friends son whom I adore.  I am thankful for my friends who have let me stay with them.  I am thankful for my sister who I couldn't really do without as she is one of my best friends too.  I am thankful for a lot of things so that is why I feel I can choose at least one a day to post about.  See here is my friend's son - ready for trick or treating last night - how can one not be thankful for having such a joy in their lives?

Anyway, that is it for today, Peace and Luv to all ~ Laura

January 24 2009

a selection of mom's sympathy cards. i had not really read them when she passed away

Life is just one adventure after another

so it has been a while since i wrote in here (again) and in order to update you all this might get a little long :) the first of september i moved in with my friends and their son due to my about to be homeless situation.  i have loved every minute of helping them out with their 2 1/2 year old son.  then october 1st, my father passed away in a terrible accident.  my friend put her job hunt on hold and didnt blink an eye about me leaving for 16 days.  i dont fly, so i went from seattle to indianapolis by train and my cousin picked me up there and transported me back to her and her hubbys farm in shelbyville, ky.  i tried to work with my uncle and brother and get stuff taken care of for my dad, but on my dads side of the family things like that are handled by men i guess - so instead i focused on having a wonderful time getting to know this side of my family and seeing the area my family is all from.  i did get to go see cave hill cemetery for a little bit, but we didnt know that they close at 430 daily when we decided to go spend an hour and a half at lunch.  i am now back home with my friends, and i am watching the little man while they are both at work at least through the end of the year.  i will decide what i will do after that another day :) here are some of the photos i took at cave hill cemetery i hope you all enjoy them:

Peace and Luv to everyone, Laura

9 11 - take time to remember

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/

this would have been too long to try to copy and paste into here, cnn has the full list of the people who perished on 9 11 01.

thanks to all those who serve for us daily - army, navy, airforce, marines, coast guard, firefighters, police, emt's, hospital workers and anyone else i may have forgotten

peace and luv to all
laura

9-11-01 remembered

ten years ago today - hard to believe it has been ten years, but it has.  ten years ago today i was on a bus on my way to work listening to jackie and bender on kiss 106.1 fm seattle when the world turned upside down.  at first i remember thinking, what kind of idiot crashes a plane into the world trade center?  it is new york - if you are going down, head for the open water not the middle of manhatten.  then they said a second plane had hit the other tower.  and we all just knew.  our world, our lives would never be the same.  i continued into work, thinking we would be sent home for the day.  i called my mom and told her to keep the tv off.  my son was 11 and he would hear about it all at school i knew but that didnt mean i wanted the visual images (which i had not seen yet) in his mind.  i got to work and called my baby sister who was in virginia since her husband was stationed there to see how she was and if david was being deployed or what.  she was cleaning her house with cd's playing and i had to tell her to sit down and turn on the tv.  she was dumbfounded.  she needed to get off the phone and call the base to find out what was going on with her hubby.  while she did that we found out at work that we could leave but we might also lose our job if we did.  talk about losing respect for your manager when three of us had family in new york as well as numerous people with friends/family who were in the service.  but we were told that we could make all the calls we needed to and trust that i did.  i called my mom probably 10 times asking about my cousins in new york - just had one of those gut feelings.  she kept assuring me that aunt ginny had spoken to aunt linda and everyone was fine, but i didnt think so.  it turns out my cousin maureen was in the world trade center - normally she wouldnt have been, she worked from home and it was her birthday, but there was a mandatory in person meeting that she had to attend.  she lived through it, but i honestly cannot imagine what it did to her life.  i am glad that we do talk here and there on facebook, she is an awesome person.  i talked to jaymee  and found out that the base was on lockdown, but since david was non essential personnel he was allowed to go home.  but her neighbors hubby got escorted home and only had 5 minutes to say goodbye and grab all his gear.  i finally got home around 530 that evening - still having not seen any of the footage and my mom was watching while my son was in his room playing video games and as i saw the second plane hitting - i fell to my knees and sobbed.  the following days were eerie, we lived less than a mile from seatac airport and there were no planes.  well i take that back, we had fly-bys from fighter jets, but no commercial airplanes.  my son spent several days sitting in his closet working out in his 11 year old mind what had happened as well as what was going to happen now.  he was eventually ok, but it did take some counseling at school to help.  my family was all ok, but as a nation, we did what they didnt expect - it brought us closer together as a nation.  10 years later, i think we need to get back to that.  it didnt matter what race, religion, or anything else you were, you were an american and that is all you needed to know.  anyway, that is how i remember this day 10 years ago.  i was not sure i wanted to share it but i feel it is good to share this with others.
remember, peace and love to all, laura

8/24/11 Thinking...........

So i saw my friend Vicky and her family last weekend, and while I love them to death, they are totally against government as it stands today. I do not blame them for most of their views, but i personally would not go to the extremes that they discuss going to. Anyway, we were talking and she says that Bill Cosby is running for president as a write in candidate and that when I get home and online I should check out his platform. Well I did and via Snopes.com as well as many other urban legend sites, it is of course a hoax that has been attributed to Bill Cosby, Robin Williams and George Carlin over the years. However, I got to thinking, that our government is supposed to be for the people and of the people, so what would happen if everyone who agrees with the following "platform" writes to their government officials and lets them know that of the people and for the people want this and they want it NOW! ???

Here are the platform issues listed:

(1). Any use of the phrase: 'Press 1 for English' is immediately banned. English is the official language; speak it or wait outside of our borders until you can.

(2). We will immediately go into a two year isolationist attitude in order to straighten out the greedy big business posture in this country.. America will allow NO imports, and we'll do no exports. We will use the 'Wal-Mart 's policy, 'If we ain't got it, you don't need it.' We'll make it here and sell it here!



(3). When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it coming in here.



(4). All retired military personnel will be required to man one of the many observation towers located on the southern border of the United States (six month tour). They will be under strict orders not to fire on SOUTHBOUND aliens.



(5). Social Security will immediately return to its original state. If you didn't put nuttin in, you ain't gettin nuttin out. Neither the President nor any other politician will be able to touch it.



(6). Welfare. -- Checks will be handed out on Fridays, at the end of the 40 hour school week, the successful completion of a urinalysis test for drugs, and passing grades.



(7). Professional Athletes -- Steroids? The FIRST time you check positive you're banned from sports ... for life.



(8). Crime -- We will adopt the Turkish method, i.e., the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There is no more 'life sentences'. If convicted of murder, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for the victim you killed: gun, knife, strangulation, etc.



(9). One export of ours will be allowed: wheat; because the world needs to eat. However, a bushel of wheat will be the exact price of a barrel of oil.



(10). All foreign aid, using American taxpayer money, will immediately cease and the saved money will help to pay off the national debt and, ultimately, lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask The American People if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision as to whether, or not, it's a worthy cause.



(11). The Pledge of Allegiance will be said every day at school and every day in Congress.



(12). The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.

Or you know what? How about making your own list of 12 things you think would make this a better country, or help the economy or whatever and sending it out to your friends and family as well as your local, state and federal government members? I just feel that if we as Americans keep just sitting back and waiting for some public official to magically fix things, then we deserve the fall of our nation which at this point I see as inevitable.

Anyway, that is my thought for the day, as always ~peace and luv to all ~ Laura

8/22/11 life sux edition

I love having this as a sounding board. So my manager who kept telling us that he was ok working with us as long as the money kept coming in weekly gave us a 3 day pay or vacate notice friday at 5 that means that there is no time friday to try to get emergency funding and weekends are out so basically we had today to get help and well we didnt get it so i suppose we are all facing homelessness. then i went to dshs to see about getting back on a gau which is general something unemployable due to my depression and physical ailments among other things and was told that i will probably qualify, but that the program is being obliterated as of october so i will only get benefits for september and october then will have nothing again. so i am facing disability, homelessness, and there being no funding for help - it is great. not to mention the stress of wondering where my son will go - yes he is 21 but still my son - and knowing i cannot keep my cat who i have had for 12 years. but i will survive this as well as all the other crap i have survived in life!! anyway, back off my soapbox for now, peace and luv to all ~ Laura

random thoughts

so i often find myself asking the question what do i want to be when i grow up? why do i have to be one thing? why cant i just do it all? thinking about a website for laura does it all (except the name needs work cuz well it could totally sound like a porn site) and one page will be digital scrapbooking, one page will be digital art, one page will be nature photography, one page will be cemetery photography, one page will be bead work, one page for building websites, one page for cleaning grave sites, one page for freelance office work, one page for genealogy, one page for paper making and hand made journals.........and i could just go on and on and on :) so there is my random thoughts for today ~peace and luv~ laura

Angels and Fairies and Cherubs Oh My . . .

Hello world,

Today I am really in an angel/fairy mood. So I have posted some of my photos fitting into this theme. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy taking them. Peace and luv to all ~ Laura