hot summer day

location: bike trail, friend's house, my house

emotion: happy but a bit warm

I started my day trying to pull myself out of bed. I finally did and ate a quick breakfast then out to run. My mom and brother wanted to walk on the bike trail so that's where I ran. I really had to push myself to move after 2 miles I think I only did 3 instead of 4 like I wanted. Yesterdays harder run soreness was kicking in. blah. Even running has good and bad days.

On the way home mom said we should stop and see our artist friend and her daughter Allie. We passed up the road that we normally take so we took a less traveled road that I only have been part of the way down. Allie answered the door and told us her mom was down at the other house. Allie's brother lives there but her mom's studio is in one of the rooms. When we got there Allie's mom was outside by the flower garden painting a sunflower. She asked if I had been painting (gulp no....feeling guilty). Allie and I went inside since it was cooler. We drank cream soda and she showed me around the basement. Since boys live there it was messy and Allie said she got roped into cleaning it the other day. We ended up inviting them over since it was a warm day. So the rest of the day was on and out of the pool!

cute little post it!

My Cute Little Rabbit "Honeysuckle"

The Holland Lop

location: Surrounding towns

emotion: hungry (is dinner ready yet?)

I went all over the place today! From the library to Walmart to the pool place to the doctors to a different library to home. Tomorrow I start running twice a week with the cross country team. I'm looking forward to this upcoming season. Now I feel like sleeping or watching TV or reading. Hope you like my picture!:)

good times

location: my hometown

emotion: happy

Yesterday my mom, my sister, and I drove up to the nearby bike trail to go for a bike ride. The weather was perfect for it! We rode 4 miles took a break then turned around making it a 8 mile bike ride. During the ride, a nasty horse fly landed on my forehead, so now I have a bite there. You can't really see it but right now its starting to itch. I haven't gone on a bike ride in a while. By the end I was feeling sore from sitting. It was good to cross train, use different muscles other than running.

For the past two days Meli and I have been helping our dad stain the deck. Its all finished now and looks so much better. The sun beats down on it so it dried fast and we were able to swim within a few hours. We've been swimming a lot! The water isn't the warmest but on the hot days we have been having it feels so good! I guess I've been cross traing a lot.

Last night I had a friend over. We played the game LIFE with my siblings. Meli had a full van of kids and became upset when she passed a "baby girl" or "baby boy" space! I was soooo behind everyone on the board. I was still in college when everyone one else was married, had a house, and was beginning to land on baby spaces. When I finally got out I was a doctor (no wonder I was in college so long!). I started with the highest salary but it got taken away and I got the second highest. Meli took that away so I ended up with the lowest salary. Somehow at the end I won the game!! yippy!

4th weekend recap

location: Outside with cousins Mary and Issac

emotion: cheerful

I spent the holiday weekend full of activities. On the 4th we went to our family reunion, on my mom's side of the family. My dad's side of the family doesn't have anything like that, plus half the people I don't know (mostly likely never will) and are floating around in Germany or Yugoslavia. We haven't been to our reunion in a few years and people didn't know which one was Lauren and which was Melissa. The last time they saw us I think we were the same height, but even then they still didn't know who was who. I don't think I'll ever go to a reunion without getting called the wrong name. It doesn't really bother me any more, it did a few years ago. Some relatives came up from Arizona, the last time they were in Ohio I was really little and the lady asked my mom something about my mom's twins! Melissa and I were sitting next to our mom and started laughing. When my mom said 'These are my girls,' motioning to us 'and they are just sisters.' The lady looked surprised. I guess she was expecting to see two twin girls instead of the two girls that had been sitting in front of her the whole time.

The rest of the activities included the garage sale. We sold a few things, hopefully if we have another one it will do better. This one guy did buy 12 VHS tapes, so I was surprised. I went to see the Chardon fireworks. It was a very nice show this year. Afterwards, we went to DQ! Oh I love ice cream! On Sunday, I saw the newest Disney/Pixar creation Wall-e. So cute and a must see! It also had one of those short movies beforehand. I like watching those. They are entertaining. I also went to a friend's and watched fireworks there. Wow two fireworks shows in one weekend!

Happy 4th!

location: outside in the sun

emotion: crazy

Happy 4th of July everyone! I've had a wonderful start to my day so far, a three mile run. Exercise does wonders I tell you. There is so many benefits from it. I need to start doing some ab workouts and some weight training. I used to be one of those girls that stayed as far as possible from sports. I did try in swim and gym and later in gym class at school. So I can't say I never tried. I just lacked coordination in most sports, so I turned to dancing. Dancing really was perfect for me. During my homeschool years I spent 4 to 5 1/2 hours a week at the Grange. For a while dancing was my sport.

A few years later I started thinking about running after I heard my freshman English college prep teacher, who also was a track coach, had thought that I should run cross country. Before that I almost signed up to be on the track team but in was more of an after thought. My french teacher asked me to help with stats at some of the little meets. I agreed and got the chance to see how it works. So the fall of my sophomore year I signed up for CC. I had no clue what I was getting my self into.

Yeah well here I am now spending my summer mornings running. I've been running since March with a short two week break in between track and cc. Now with my run over with I can enjoy all the wonderful things the rest of the day brings. I'm not realty sure what those things are since being at Grandma's put me a little out of the loop but I'm sure its something.

I like summer because...

location: outside (mostly)

emotion: joyful

I like summer because...

• Flip flops- those little white lines are so worth it, while freshly painted toenails get all the attention


• Ice cream- no words can describe how truly wonderful it is...ahh!


• Sunscreen- smells funny but is way better then looking like a lobster!


• Watermelon- seedless or seeded no summer is complete without it


• Lightning bugs- I'm always afraid that they are going to escape their jar when we catch them and keep them inside for a night


• Fireworks- stunning to both young and old


• Kiwi- and anything else in fruit salad


• Beaches- the ones by the ocean are my favorite


• Swimming Pool- water is so refreshing and fun on the hottest day of the year


• Sunglasses- too cute and stylish, have to go everywhere


• Late nights- no bedtimes just time to relax


• Pink lemonade- I want some right now


• Fresh cut lawns- think summer is here to stay


• Cookouts- chance to see people and eat yummy food!

There are really sooooo many other things to add to the list but I only picked some of my favorites!

location: here and there

emotion: sleepy

Today I went to the track with my mom and brother. It was an easy run today just a mile on the track. Tim ran then stopped then ran then stopped. He hung out around the long jump a lot. After running we stopped at the library. Story time was going on and I told my mom how I remembered being smart then! They were singing some bug song. Tim was in a crabby mood but could help but smile when he heard the silly song about bugs.

I have been cleaning my desk but its a work in progress. I would like to begin scrapbooking. I've started a scrapbook but it only has one page complete and one other started. I just need a clean area to get going on it again. Also, I'm going through things and finding this to put in my scrapbook. I've found lots of things I've totally forgotten about. The scissors keep getting lost every time I need then to cut out something that my name or picture is in the paper for. I'm trying to down size and cut out only what I'm in, instead of the whole newspaper.