Author: Laurie

California and Coconuts 

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“The Dark, Blue Sea… Thou Glorious mirror, where the Almighty’s form glasses itself in tempests.” -Byron This week I sunk my feet into the California beach for the first time in my aware-life (since 2 years old). After hours of driving, we rushed to the beach for fish tacos and to see the orange sunset, hovering over the ocean rim, like an overly ripe Georgia peach, about to drop from the tree on a muggy summer day. I mean, the only thing that could have improved this heavenly moment would be a penguin clothed waiter with a linen towel over his arm, telling me how they came up with a low calorie Pina Colada and asking how many he could bring me. But, actually, the silence was enough. See, even though I learned that California is massively and understandably overcrowded, like a cod on a table at Pike Place, Seattle on a gray, downy morning after a good fish, the sounds of the ocean drown all those people out. So, I closed my eyes and just…..was. …

Dominant or Dominated & Elderberry Syrup

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“Humility comes before honor.” – Proverbs 18:12b “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” -Proverbs 24:26 Most mornings, or should I just call it what it is and say, “The middle of the night,” my loving husband joyfully cuddles up to me and whispers sweet, “good mornings,” in my ear, so much like a jubilant Mufasa from The Lion King, greeting the dawn with the stance of ancient kings and a proud roar. Not only am I NOT a morning person but I have intense opinions about waking up before 6. When verbally pressed before 7, I communicate only in sign language, like an overtaxed nurse on a full newborn ward when the babies are finally silent. People are all wired differently. We think, communicate and go after different things in life….. by design. I’ve been thinking a lot about the social balance of powers. Let me take to the stage and act out a couple classic personas for a moment. 👩🏼”Hi my name is El. It’s short for Elizabeth. I like ‘El;’ it’s like a …

Health Idioms, True or False

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“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion.” Psalm 27:5a Joseph, who is very much the youngest child, a comical, sometimes pampered (he is the “baby” to 6 other siblings after all),” sprouting boy, whose legs are too long for his head, like a stalk of asparagus, said this week, out of the blue, “I feel a bladder coming on.” Ummmmm, Don’t we all. Lol. And, if he means a bladder infection, where did that come from since he’s never had one?! But, I can more than relate to the feeling that something is coming on illness wise. I’m about as impatient a patient as a pig in a bacon factory in the south. I have been known this week to bemoan to myself, “Just get me out of this!” But, let me tell you what I’ve learned, while I could only sleep one of five nights due to excruciating back pain. I was overcome, right in the middle of it, with waves of gratitude, which rolled in stronger than ever, even while the sky …

Girl Meets Super Bowl, Healthy Game Food

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  If I ever drift off into the dreamy world of delicate women and think that because I married an Englishman my world is full of chintz, bone china and blueberry studded scones filled with jam and cream, I am jolted rather quick into reality, like a monkey in a test rocket who suddenly goes into orbit. What do I mean? Oh, there’s very little in the way of rhinestones and mascara in our home; we are a very football dominant family, with three of our four eldest kids being defensive linemen. I experience reminders of that daily, such as when one son last weekend smacked my tail like I was on his football team while we were on the front row, as church began. I never felt more apart of the team. Lol. Now, I definitely joke in broad generalizations; it could even be said that I am the Cliche Queen. But, while there are all different men out there, from bearded hipsters, live- eat- breathe footballers to men who take Facebook selfies with …

How to Make Meaningful Resolutions & a Health Survey

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Picture credit: The talented, Cynthia Miller “Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.” -Jonathan Edwards How to Make Meaningful Resolutions Joanna Gaines is my BFF. Ok, sooooo I’ve never actually met her in person. Alright, admittedly, I’ve also never corresponded with her in any normal way. Wait! Does pathetically saying, “You’re awesome. I want to be like you,” to the television count? LOL. What is it about that chick that is so appealing? Well, she rolls with the punches and she goes after her dreams in a big way. As 2016 begins, I find myself sitting by the throaty and crackling noises of a full, topaz fire, thinking about resolutions. In the past, so many people, myself included, have made grandiose commitments, only to see them quickly fall off the map, like a palm covered, tropical island that is overcome by the vast, rolling waves of the green-blue sea, to always sit just …

Christmas Cheer and Light Weight, Home/ Hotel Exercises With Muscular Impact

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Above picture: One of those “by the tree pictures” with lots of love, bad lighting, and flash- induced smiles, that look like we’ve been sipping on too much nog. Enjoy! 🙂 “Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind  In one the hearts of all mankind;  Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,  And be yourself our King of Peace.  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel  Shall come to you, O Israel!” – 12th century Latin text In the snowy, downy days of November, I decided I needed a new sweater to stay warm. When it arrived in the post, it was wayyyy too big but apparently I’m wrong because my daughters squealed with delight, just as they do over an array of nail polish colors, anything that sparkles and puppies dressed in baby sized clothes. Believe me when I say, you could draw young girls towards a hog if you glitter bombed its brown rump, smeared his lips in hot pink gloss and put an oversized tutu on him. Don’t believe me? Think about it. That is precisely how Hobby …

Adele, Kindness & Gluten Free Info

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“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” -Victor Hugo “Hello… it’s me,” the husky, lonely tones ring out from Adele’s new hit single, like an echoing wind across the empty, welsh countryside, that reverberates off an abandoned granite cottage on a darkening January afternoon. Maybe my husband and I are products of 25 years ago, cut out of dough, like little 1980’s gingerbread foot soldiers, but we rolled with laughter this week, as we realized every time Adele sings, “Hello,” we both mentally answer, “Is it me you’re looking for?” A warm nod to Lionel Richie, the original friendly, pining greeter. With an overly full schedule this week, I desperately wanted time away to have a short, mental break. I finally had a few quiet minutes alone, which is about as rare as a steak on our grill, no matter how it’s cooked. Lol. Listen, financially, I had to choose steak or children and, while there are days where I …

Simple Living and Pesto

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“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity” -2 Corinthians 1 Recently, my son performed well in a football game but immediately started berating himself on not meeting his personal goals right when he got in the car to go home. I said to him, “Come on! Enjoy your good game for at least 10 minutes before looking to your next goal.” And, then, it hit me like a strong winter wind that howls around the corners of the house all night long and blows patio furniture into the neighbors yard, he gets this relentless drive, in part, from you, Laurie. Some days, my brain works on overdrive, like a 16 year old in his 80s, beaten up Ford Thunderbird, who drives with his foot flat down around girls who wear a half can of Aquanet on their hair, his t-shirt off, a giant S for superman painted in green on his chest and a mullet of clown hair, that badly needs some one-on-one time with …

Thanksgiving and Homemade Greek Yoghurt

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“When I hear the wind rush through the trees, I have to stop and listen. There’s so much to thank him for.” -Barbara Mandrell We arrived at the doctor’s office yesterday and my elementary son asked, “Do they help people with Algae here?” I immediately visualized a stagnant pond covered in swampy slime and internally shuddered, “Algae? What do you mean?” “You know, Algae,” he repeated impatiently, not understanding how his brilliant mother who had lived so much life couldn’t grasp this simple concept.  Inside scoop: just give him about 5 years and I will become a vacant woman, staring off into an empty abyss who answers, “uhhhh,” at every question. 😂 Didn’t you know, children become Einstein-Esque at 13. If only world leaders would realize that, all our diseases, wars and hardships would be over! By my late teens, I had come up with a cure for Aids and actually presented it to my biology class. That memory makes my face fill with heat, just like a teenage girl in a bandy bikini, smeared in …

The Strongest Force in Physics and 7 Basics for Losing Body Fat

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Dory: “I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy.” -Finding Nemo As a young girl, I remember my family taking an exotic trip to a Turkish beach resort. We enjoyed days of swimming in the cobalt waves of the faraway world of the Mediterranean, even venturing deep, out to the crumbling Kizkalesi (Castle in the Sea), located on a small island. Our evenings were full of slow meals at a candlelit, wooden, farm table, over fresh caught, batter fried fish, olives straight off the tree and warm flat bread, with a bare breeze that tickled the tiny coins along the seam of my scarf. And, I recall how deeply we slept after being tenderly kissed under our eyes by the rose sun. It was at that beach that I learned the force of love. One afternoon, my sister and I were swimming near a rocky, volcanic edge of the coast. Rather suddenly, the waves seemed to be hitting harder and the choppy water forcefully licked us up onto …