Um.

Thank you Julie A for getting me back on my blog. And for Kamran as I just read yours and remember liking reading these things. And also big thanks to Julie G because I just went on yours and see that you are still blogging. I don't know how the busy busy people like the three of you still find time to blog. Maybe we do what we make time for I suppose. We'll see how long I get back into it for. Probably less than a few months. My computer already takes up too much of my time with all the journaling (yoga teacher journal) and making/printing handouts and expenses and revenue and mileage and taxes, etc... Why would you care to know about that? Exactly. So, like I said, we'll see. Maybe whenever I have some sort of inspiration I want to share I'll remember to come on here and publish the Love. Speaking of which, how 'bout that new President? ;)

Oh! Amy how the heck are you doing?? I miss you! (if anyone reads this can you let her know I say hi?) Thanks!!

WORLD REJOICE!!!

Nothing interesting has happened. Just thought I'd let you know.

Well, Julie came up to get her painting, and that was nice! Lots of fun stuff going on in her city these days. :) I hope to paint some more commissions... LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS! (Not just for Julie everyone, *hint hint*.

Last weekend we went up to Hibbing to spend one final night in the house I basically grew up in. We moved my parents the next day, but not before I ran 7 miles in 1 weather. 1 degree I mean. I love Minnesota. Anyway, I ran my favorite route hooked onto another one from HS Track. That was quite enjoyable. Running up north is soooooo much better than running here, where there are no hills, no trees, and no good places for people to run, or walk. Very sad. Now my parents live in "Greenhaven." Still Hibbing, but the part where all rich little kids lived and went to the rich little elementary school... I think my sister and I both had the same reaction when my mom told us where they'd bought a house. It is a great place though, and I guess their next door neighbors are the parents of one of the nicest kids in my HS Class. My super good HS friend lived in Greenhaven, too, so I guess it's not completely full of little rich twits. Anyway, that day was a good workout. We're lucky my parents have so many friends, and all of them have pick-up trucks.

Oh and I got to drive my sister's new Camry Hybrid back from Chisholm, where we went to a restaurant that had no meatless red sauce, and I'd rather shit my pants in public than eat creamy sauce, so I had a quarter head of iceberg lettuce with count them, 2 each slices of tomatoes and cucumbers, each cut in half, so it was like there were 8 pieces. Not to complain, it is my choice not to eat meat. But really, a hunk of iceberg? Oh well, it was free for me and only $4.50 for my parents. No need to say I ate dinner when I got back to the new house.

People kept asking if it was weird that I'd never be back there and if I had a lot of attachment to it. Yeah but no. I haven't lived their for 7 years or something, and things are always changing. It's not like it really felt like home. Nothing does. Last time I felt like that was last June when I went up to Bemidji and layed down in the grass in the park Bill and I used to play catch and frisbee in. That was home. That's a long way away. Someday........

I went PT at work. Now I can call what I want to call work work. Art. Though, it's been tough because last week I put in 40 hours. I'll have less this week. Quite frankly, I'd like to reduce it to zero. But I don't think we'd last very long in this house if that happened, because essentially my income would reduce to zero. Of course, I'd like my art to sustain Bill and me, but no one else believes that can happen. F 'em all I say. (the second letter was an "r"). Haha, that's what my mom said this weekend when she said "fruckin'" or something. It was riduculous. She's never said the F-word in her life I swear to every god of every religion. She's awesome.

Totally lost my train of thought. Guess that's my cue. Take care.

Fin

Not really, but they are all matted and framed! Some of my photos turned our blurry, which is sad, but here's a sample!

So if you're looking at this you're probably Julie. (Thanks for keeping on checking!!) And, if you're Julie, I might need your help setting up a website. It is my goal to have one set up by the end of my first show in St Cloud. I'm hanging it up this weekend! (I think) So, I think I'll be setting up a my space page (for starters... wow, totally didn't see that one coming). Anyway, if you're in St Cloud or know anyone it St Cloud, get or get them to Jule's Bistro in February or beginning of March, and then tell them to buy one or 26 of these. :)

Beauty Spelled A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T

Very rough... But my mom will be matting this and we'll frame them in black. I hope they go into a Bistro in town (My favorite place in St Cloud) soon. It's no Wild Hare, but it's damn close. --wish it was as close in proximity to my home. *Sigh*

Beauty

Dream

Endurance

Finding my way

Well, maybe not, but I guess that's all any of us ever do, right?

I have signed up for this, though I haven't received confirmation. (200 hour Teacher Training starting in April) Maybe I'll check after the Holidays are done. Speaking of which, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas, and will have a wonderful New Year's, too! I will be separate from Bill again this year, but it's sort of a trend. I think in the 3+ years we've been married, we've only been together for one New Year's. I guess that day's not so important if the rest of the year we're still together! (It is my choice really to be separate--I just don't feel like driving to Eau Claire on Monday night after work, being there for just the night, and then driving home Tuesday and working again Wed.) Too much I want to do around here. :)

I'm also looking into this. My dream is to teach Yoga, as well as be a nutritional consultant. I think I could really help others get to where I want to be. I want to make holistic nutrition and well-being accessible to people who don't realize how truly accessible it is. maybe it will be a lot of work, but I guess I'm not afraid of that. I'm much more afraid of remaining where I am and never being my true self. I'm still trying to find that, of course, but if I know one thing, I certainly won't find it doing what I do now.

Have a beautiful day.

Art?

Wow, this photo pretty much sucks. :) It is a start though. I am working on making my letters beautiful. English, or Latin, I should say, letters are just not that pretty. I mean look what we have to compare it with. Look at the Eastern letters, or those of the Mayas! Awesome. Anyway I believe ours can be beautiful, they just aren't. We're too rushed to make our letters look nice, just so long as they function, right? These, I don't know, I think I can do a lot better than these. But Hey, it's a start right?

My mom and dad and myself are going to collaborate for--hopefully--a show here in St Cloud. I spoke with the owner of a local bistro (my favorite spot in town), and she liked my idea of making letters beautiful. I'd also like to work with my friend Andy, who is an amazing poet. We'd have the letters and the poems, matted and framed by my parents, in the bistro for about 3 months. How cool!? Anyway, I'll let you know if anything developes with this. :) Peace.

Auntie Jeanne

My goodness. My great aunt Jeanne is an amazing person! Artist, Life Coach, Mother, and so much more all rolled into one! It is unfortunate that it is not until now (she's got to be around 80) will I get to know her better. Jeanne helps people find their dreams, and then she helps them get to them. Seems easy, huh? Something tells me it's not like it seems. Maybe that's why we have so many damn corporations. People still trudge to work at them every day.

What a poop!

Hehe.. I'm such a poop. Positivity is so great and cool and wonderful. Tomorrow I'm off to the cities after work to visit with my Great Aunt, Jeanne. She is a Life Coach and an artist, and above all that, a really cool lady. It is unfortunate that I don't know her very well. I'm much looking forward to seeing and visiting with her. I'll let you know if she helps me make any amazing discoveries, like the meaning of life being 42 or something. :) {Miss you Kamran--and thanks for that book!!!}

I'm famous!

Not really,, hehe, but check this out! The pretty feet w/ the colorful flip-flops is me!!

And another thing: I went here and talked to the owner! Just wanted to inquire about how one becomes a pastry chef/baker/cake decorator. I am planning to submit not only that application, but a few more, including into some post-secondary educators. I'm not sure when for all that, but if I wait much longer I just might keel over and die of boredom and non-creating. Ick!

:)

Arrrrrt

What a shame. I wake up each day with so much creative energy and enthusiasm, and then I kill it. Ahhh! Work is work and that is good. In the words of my brother-in-law, "Work sucks but employment is great." (I can especially relate to that with the industry I've somehow wound up in). I have decided I cannot keep doing this though. I am doing something that is so not Laura that Laura is dying... :( Very sad indeed. I want to check out Pastry Chef/Cake decorating. How fun :) And art and baking all at the same time.

People say not to make your hobbies your job. Well, if they are, then I don't have to become depressed trying to find the time to do those hobbies and I can do my other hobbies.. (Like running and yoga and painting and reading and playing guitar [which has taken the back burner for WAY TOO LONG, by the way]. Anyway, for some reason I thought I should share this, but I'm not sure why. I hope everyone else is having a wonderful time w/ life at the moment... :)

buh-bye!

Flattered. Really.

Flattered
That you should take the time
To look at me
Ever
At all

But thank you
For taking the chance
To take a peek
Someday
Maybe

A glimpse?
Into my real being,
My real soul
Through my eyes
Into me

Not though
What you see
Is on the surface
I'm all there is
Inside

Fireweed

More photos later

I wanted to put more on, but it is giving me errors. I still need to post the Fireweed, which is everywhere there and beautiful.

I know I have not written for a long while, and I'm not really writing now, but I don't want to wreck these photos with letters.

I shall speak soon though. Maybe. :)

AK flowers continued

Red Poppy

Don't know-little flowers in Girdword

Don't know, but they were like 5 feet tall :)

Denali (far right) or McKinley=about 11:30pm

does it no justice

If you go, don't expect to leave: it sucks

Blue Poppy

Some Flowers in Anchorage

Same flowers, closer

Orange Poppy and little White Poppy

Red Poppy

Gate of Heaven (Blue Poppies)

There will be more :)

Arrrrrrrr

Matey

Bemidj

I miss Bemidji and all my friends (many of whom don't live there anymore)
I can't wait to go up there with an awesome old friend in Feb. :) We will go to the Wild Hare and the co-op and Brigid's. I hope I can see some old profs too. That would be grand. Bye!

If there are Bunny Grahams

in the bottom of the box, I suggest that you do not eat them.
That last blog was quite a while ago! Wow. Well, I am at work now (lunch). It is fun. I interview people and decide if they would be good at a job. I'm the decider. That is a challenge Mr. Bush.

Herons and Muskrats

This morning (or maybe it was last night), I said to Bill, "Let's retire in Bemidji." He said, "OK, that would be cool."
This is actually really quite ridiculous because I don't even have a job yet. Therefore, retirement might not actually ever even happen. But as for right now, we are going to live in Bemidji on a lake (probably not Bemidji) when we retire. Bemidji's got everything we love, just not everything we need at the moment. And what is that? Living somewhere other than Bemidji. :)
Actually the reason that Bill and I think it would be fun to retire in Bemidji is probably because we are living on a lake (not on, but really really close to one). No matter how badly I want a job (do any of us really want one?) I don't mind spending the summer here. In fact, "Hi Mom and Dad," I think I am going to summer here every summer. Just kidding.
I scared the heron yesterday. I was sitting on the double chair and s/he came out of the weeds walking oh so deliberately toward the docks, hunting for delicious creatures to eat. I have wanted a good picture of it for so long, that I was so excited upon seeing it that I jumped up to get my camera. Except I sat back down shortly thereafter, because even if they're slow, heron's have this amazing ability that my other favorite birds don't--they fly. And my excitedness pissed it off and that's just what it did. Oh well. I'm here all summer! And this is one of its favorite spots. :)