Day 02: A picture of me and the person I have been closest with the longest

I think this one is self explanatory. I love my mom. She is the best ever. I love that I can spend an entire week with her on vacation and never get sick of her... I think that says a lot.

Day 01: Picture of me and 10 facts

1. My name is Lore, with an E. Named after my mom, Hannelore. My name was supposed to be Michelle but my dad was worried that when he filled out the birth certificate he would spell my name wrong and I would be Michael. So he went with Lore to be safe.
2. I love bunnies. My first bunny was named Thumper, he was awesome. He got too big and I ended up taking him to a pet store to give to a loving home. I choose to not talk about the other bunnies I had, cuz they died.
3. I was born in Landstul Germany. My birth certificate is in German. Ask me how fun it is to get a government document when they require a birth certificate as proof you are who you are.
4. I love to throw parties, even more so when the party has a theme and I get to decorate.
5. When asking my friend Melanie to name 10 facts about me she said “You have the Coolest Mom EVER!” and apparently I do. The more and more I hear stories about friend’s mom’s I am VERY, VERY thankful that I have the mom I do.
6. I love big tires. The sound, the look, the ride… oh what is there NOT to love about a awesome pair of mudders!
7. I have been on Life Flight as a passenger. I broke my jaw in three places, fractured my skull, and broke out a tooth in a car accident when I was 13… or 14.
8. I love the smell of plastic… you know like the new shower curtain kind of smell. LOVE IT!
9. I still have a dead canary in my freezer.
10. I hate skiing, and most other snow related outdoor activities.

August Blog Challenge

Recently I have noticed that I have SUCKED at keeping up my BLOG and as a result I am not meeting my personal goal (AKA resolution) I set in January. So I am going to cheet-ish by doing the following little thing that a cute girl in my neighborhood did on her Facebook page. I hope I can accomplish the whole thing.

If you are at a point that your blog is suffering feel free to take this list and modify it to meet your needs too… it really makes you think and hunt down pictures.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
Day 04 - A picture of something you take pride in
Day 05 - A picture of a place filled with memories
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has stood by your side the longest
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19 - A picture and a letter
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite flower
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
Day 25 - A picture of your favorite day
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of
Day 29 - A picture of a group of people
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss
Day 31 - A picture and your favorite quote or saying

Happy Birthday To Me...

First let me officially declare that it is NOT my fault! I know that I ask for snow on Timp every year for my birthday, but seriously people, I did not expect THIS much love this year!!

Also, I am not to blame for the colder (Seattle like) weather and I had nothing to do with the snow pack.
Though I have to admit, it sure is pretty, don’t you think!

My birthday was pretty low key this year, still good though.; as is any day you get gifts, cards and people shower you with attention. But as you know I am not too much of a fan of attention so low key is good.

In years past I have been on the ball and have provided my birthday wish blog with plenty of time to purchase said list. This has been an interesting few months and I am just not quite on the ball this year. Considering I did not provide a grand list my birthday turned out rather good!

Alexis made me breakfast… a freaking awesome breakfast burrito and a bowl of fresh berries… I was in absolute heaven!! It has been 6 weeks since I have had carbs, dairy, or fruit…. So it was bliss!

Work was busy and I played in the warehouse most of the day, so it was nice to return to my desk to a card before I left.

I returned home to more cards, and a surprise from Becky. She remembered that I fell in love with the new Religion Jeans perfume “Hippy Chick” and got me the gift set, along with an beautiful sun dress I tried on a few weeks ago and fell in love with, and a matching necklace. LOVE IT!

The rest of the night was normal, I ran Britt to Kohl’s to pick up the clothing that she and Court had put on hold, we did not get home till around 11. That was when I announced that no one had sung Happy Birthday to me or let me blow out a candle. Court quickly ran to find a candle and a match so that they could do that. It was a good day.

So back to that wish list that never made it to my blog before my birthday… for the record here are the things that were on my list that I did not get. But I am a big believer in “Birthday Months” so you still have a little time. Here is my top 10 list….

1. Patio Set. My dream is the one from pottery barn, but considering the price I am willing to settle for much less. There is one at Target that I may give in and go purchase myself if I do not receive notification that it is in route and to not go out and get one.

2. A red Weber BBQ grill. I don’t know why red, I have just always wanted red. But unfortunately it is not an IN color in grills this year. So I may have to go with copper or some other fun color, but as long as it is able to cook me a great burger or grill me up some chicken I am happy.

3. Knives. This request is more to make my sister happy when she comes over. Apparently all the knives I own suck. Including my Cutco and Ginsu (I know crazy talk- right!) So If you happen across this fine German Forged Steel set (that I am sure will result in a lost appendage) feel free to pick one up for yourself at the same time.
4. A lens, my awesome 24-70mm is having some issues and I want to cry thinking about it. But I need something that is versatile to shoot on vacation that I don’t have to be 500 miles away from my subject. My precious 80mm will not cut it. I will leave the choice up to you, as long as it has a Canon seal of approval I will be OK.
5. If I have all of this then I need a party to put all of these other great gifts to work…. Hint, hint.
6. I could also use a new wardrobe… NOTHING FITS!

7. There is a place in Springdale Utah that has these Wind Sculptures at Worthington Gallery that I have always dreamed about. This little gallery has been there for as long as I can remember and every time I am in the area I stop by and wonder through. I almost always leave with pottery but it is the Wind Sculptures that I love. I have always been fascinated by them and now my yard is to a place that it need something this awesome, so why not.
8. If these things are a little over the top there is always the options for gift certificates for my favorites… Aveda Products, Supreme Nails, Smart Water, Wingers (man I miss their salads!), …oh let’s face it I am happy with ANYTHING that comes from a friend and is sealed with Love! So if you’re not into big lists then the next two are for you….
9. Hugs, I need to get better and giving more hugs, so maybe if I receive a bunch I will give more away. I think that is how hugs work honestly.
10. Smiles, if your smiling it is contagious, and I would love to catch a good smile every now and then. So you can give me one or more of those, that would be appreciated.

Graduation Class of 2011

If parenthood is a test, and I am sure it that it is, then the grade is determined by the worth of your child when they enter adulthood. So far out of my 5 major courses I have an A+.
Alexis Graduated from Pleasant Grove High School this year with an average 3.50 or higher GPA. She has overcome a lot over the past few years and has come a long way. She is a beautiful girl with a outgoing personality. I cannot express how proud I am of her.

Alexis was offered a 4 year full ride scholarship to Dixie College in Southern Utah, and another one to Virginia State, but she has her heart set on attending the Deaf Studies program at UVU. She did get a half tuition scholarship to attend, but will have to pay for the rest. Alexis met with the professor over the program a few months ago. When she interviewed with him he felt that she had enough skill to start with the 2nd year classes, and if she does well in them she can buy out all of the credits for the Deaf Studies courses below… at a MUCH, MUCH lower rate than actually taking the class. Saving her a lot of time and money.

She is looking to go into Deaf Interpretation. She simply lights up when she is signing, it takes her into another world. I look forward to seeing her go through this chapter of her life, I wish her nothing but the best.

Congratulations Alexis
Class of 2011

Ideal Protein

A few months I was down in the dumps, bummed all the time. Celebrating my own pity party. I was struggling with the doom and gloom of the impeding layoffs and not sure how to deal with it. And when they passed and I still had a job I struggled with the fact that I was the only one on the team left. I worried about letting people down and not being good enough. I worried about my kids, as I always do, I had one of those the whole world is all on my shoulder moments.
Then a good friend decided that he did not like how I was treating myself, and he could tell I was not in a very good place. And I am thankful for him for basically yanking me out of a hole. One of the things he said as he went off on me was that “you mind as well get a knife and stab yourself, cuz your just killing yourself anyway!”

Wow.. that had impact! I was. I had gained an obscene amount of weight in the past few months, and I was turning to food for comfort… I was killing myself, my knife was food.
I had had enough!

I knew I could not do it alone, I needed to be accountable to someone. But not anyone in my family or my friends, they were to close and would be nice to me, I needed someone that would be stern. I also needed something where I could see results and was low impact, I had already been to the hospital once that month and I did not need to go again! My mind kept going back to a friend in my neighborhood, Christopher Salmon. He is one of the teachers of Sunday School at church and teaches every other week, I remembered when he started I thought to myself… what the heck, look how fast he changed! He often brought up the diet in his lessons and so I knew he was doing something. I decided to find out more about it and that’s when I decided to try it.

The web site sums up the diet plan as this:
The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is a medically designed protocol that results in fat loss while sparing muscle mass. The protocol was developed in France 25 years ago by Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, MD PhD, who focused his career and research on nutrition with a particular emphasis on the treatment of obesity and obesity related issues.
The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is an easy 4-phase protocol which helps stabilize the pancreas and blood sugar levels while burning fat and maintaining muscle and other lean tissue. This protocol is also an excellent support for cellulite reduction and has been used in well over 2500 Professional Establishments in North America over the last eight years with great success.

6 weeks into this program and I am down 20 lbs. I am happy with the results so far. I am working to get off for Hawaii and then when I return I may start right back up. It is easy, I feel better, and I eat tons better. To get to my ideal BMI I need to be down another 10-14 lbs, I think I can handle that.

My Other Graduate

Look at this cute kid… my little boy, graduating preschool!
Yes it is true, he will be attending Kindergarten in the fall. He will be among the young pups, but he is so ready to move on that I think another year in a preschool setting would bore him.
Now if I can just get him to stop telling everyone to call him Justin Beiber or telling me to spike his hair so that all the girls will chase him we will be good.