A Laugh By Any Name

If you received this via e-mail, click here to see my blog...in it's entirety,with photos.

Giggle.  Smile.  Guffaw.  Snort.  Chortle.  Man-laugh.  Squeal.

I don't care what kind of laugh you have, but I hope you laugh often.  It's my opinion that most of us don't laugh enough and we don't laugh without editing ourselves.  Oh, you know what I mean. 

When was the last time you almost lost control from laughing so hard?  How long has it been since you threw your head back and just roared with laughter?  Do you try to maintain a sweet little laugh, but if you were to be honest, you would snort and cry from laughing so hard?

I dare you - let it out!  The world needs more laughter.  If you laugh out loud at movies or TV shows, invite a friend over to laugh with you.

Do you have friends that make you laugh?  Do they tell funny jokes, or is it simply that they are filled with such joy and wonder that time with them seems to always include an element that brings laughter?  Do you reach the point when almost everything becomes funny?

I'm fortunate to have some friends like that, and I get to spend a lot of time laughing with them.  I try to fill my life with people that make me laugh and have the ability to laugh with me.  Life's too short to be miserable.

A particular joy for me is to go out to lunch with friends and have so much fun laughing and sharing stories that we appear to be intoxicated!  I love to watch the people around us slowly become a part of our happiness.

In Spring 2010, I was able to return to my hometown and gather with most of "the cousins", a loose term meaning "the most wonderful, laugh-filled women I know and I happen to be related to them".  There are cousins, aunts, nieces, moms, daughters, etc. in this gathering but we call that group "The Cousins".  I miss them.  I want to grow up to be just like them - they laugh, a LOT and they will never, ever grow up.

NOTE: In the photo, we are actually missing several, but this picture caught the spirit of the day so well.  It is difficult to corral a group of such giddiness, but here's a few of my great family members.

One More Thing...

When was the last time you laughed uncontrollably?  Who were you with?  What were you doing?  Funny stories being told, or just good times together?

I hope you laugh.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

Inherited Value

http://loislynndesigns.blogspot.com/


Last weekend we picked up a few furniture items and a handful of boxes from my grandparents' estate.  They are now all unpacked and staged for integration into our own household of belongings.  As we look through them, some bring memories while others leave you surprised to know they were once owned by Grandma and Papa. 

There weren't any hidden Ansel Adams originals, no priceless treasures that would let me retire and travel the world.  But, there was value in each and every item...inherited value.  These items all have a connection, and by virtue of being inherited...they have a special kind of value.

My husband and I used to frequent estate sales, but we always missed out on the special deals.  We would get so caught up in looking into the lives of the people.  Who were they, that these items were the leftover, unwanted remnants of their story?  It always made us so sad to think there wasn't anybody in the family to cherish these personal things.  One time we found about a dozen rounds of vacation slides spanning the globe.

As I look around my home, I sometimes wonder what will become of my things.  We don't have any family to leave things to and I'm uncertain...will my tokens of life have any inherited value to anybody?


If you have some items in your home that have special stories behind them, either from an experience they represent or a story of where they came from or who they once belonged to...write that information down so it will increase the inherited value someday. 

This oil lamp is something that awed me from as far back as I can remember anything.  It drips oil so it looks like raindrops and I always thought it was the most amazing thing.  Now, I have inherited it and treasure it deeply.

One More Thing...

Do you have something special that you inherited?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

Sharing My Friends

I'm taking a different approach today.  First, a little bit of "business".  I appreciate every one of you that chooses to spend a few minutes with my blog each week.  I do want to remind those of you that follow via e-mail that the message you receive only shows you the writing portion of the blog, but there are several other things that I include from time to time, like pictures, links to outside information, my Etsy store, etc. so please take a moment to go to the actual blog website if you can and not just read the e-mail message.  If you go to the blog, you also have the option of posting a comment, even if you are not signed into that account - you can use anonymous...but, please, tell me who you are at the end.

For the next few posts, I'll include the link here so you can simply select that link.
http://loislynndesigns.blogspot.com/

Now, on to the fun stuff!

I have some really interesting people in my life and I want to take today's blog space to share a couple of them with you.  They have not asked me to do this, I simply want to share their stories with you to allow you to meet them.

The first one is a friend of mine from church who began a mission to train for a marathon while raising funds to battle cancer.  Her dad was battling this disease and has passed while she's been in training.  I'm inserting a quote from her first post below and the link to her page so you can read her story and support her.

I'm training to participate in the Nike Women's Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Luci Smith's Racing To Save Lives



The second person I'd like to introduce you to is Ron Heaggy.  I heard Ron speak at our church, but did not get to meet him.  His positive attitude made an impact on me, even without directly meeting him.  He received an unusual birthday present for his 18th birthday - a paralyzed body. 

I'm including the opening statement from his website below and a link below that.  Don't forget to go look through his art and blog as well.  His art is great, but amazing when you read how he does it!  Not only just by mouth, but he turns it over halfway through and connects the picture while painting half of it as an upside-down image.  This just blew me away!  Enjoy meeting Ron. 

I also want to share that due to some recent health issues, he's not been able to speak as often and therefore his income level is dramatically reduced.  If you are touched by his NEVER GIVE UP attitude, I'd love to point out his links to donate and support the family and/or the ministry.

Hi, I'm Ron Heagy and welcome to my website. I broke my neck the day before my 18th birthday in a surfing accident. I am now a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. I chose to Never Give Up. After receiving a masters degree by typing with a stick in my teeth, I am now an inspirational speaker, mouth painter, author, husband, father, and founder of a special needs camp located in Oregon, which has given freedom to numerous individuals to explore the wonderful outdoors. I am also the founder of Life Is An Attitude LLC.

Ron Heagy (Roll on Ron)

I hope you enjoy your time looking through their pages.  These friends are inspiring to me and I hope they inspire you.  May we all live, laugh and learn from them.

Miss Me?

Do you remember that last post about "Conquering the Cluttered Room"?  I need to revise the goal I asked you to hold me accountable to, as there's been a slight detour.  That wonderfully inspiring room painted to bring me to the right attitude...is no longer the craft room.

You see, we inherited a trundle daybed I've had my eye on my entire life from my grandparents' estate.  There is one place in my little house where it would fit so the "craft room" has now become the "guest room".  In other words, it's where Mom and Dad stay when they visit.

Do I throw in the towel on the idea of being creative?  NO!  I took a little tiny corner of the basement that was the office area, turned it around, stuffed some weird little tables in there and deemed it the new "Art Studio Workshop" - catchy, huh?  I am expecting that with a title like that, it's going to be the home of great things.  :-)

There have been a few bumps in setting all of this up.  We tried to move a couch from upstairs down to the basement (oh, that's where the Art Studio Workshop is) but it didn't fit through the stairwell.  We tried different tables but they were all too big.  Now, without any furniture to speak of to sit on, it looks like the TV area has plenty of room for all of those tables that were too big.

One More Thing...

Does it take much to throw you off track and stop your momentum?  Or, are you good at perseverance?  What do you tell yourself to keep you going?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn