need a laugh today?

                                          when the video starts, click down in the right hand corner to enlarge

well, I don't know about you, but this video

cracks me up....

 

like really UP...that's up with a capital U
and just for good measure a capital P as well.

 

 

~ a good laugh is such a great way to start a day-

 

  watch it and then go make someone else laugh too,
it's an assignment-from me to you.


xo beth

p.s. laughter is so important to our health that recently on the
dr.oz show (does anyone else think everything he advises is
"the gospel"?) he said, to feel better just put
a pencil way back in your mouth, between your teeth and bite down on it
~ hold it in there for awhile.
(crossways- so it's sticking out both sides- right?)
it stimulates the muscles you use to smile broadly and then
even if you're not actually feeling smiley about
anything
it will trick your body into feeling better!

apparently if you smile more, you are a happier person.

i'm so going to go try it right now~


:  )       : )       : )


p.s.  i have two friends that i hope will pay special attention to this video. 
one of you is a childhood friend and the other a newer one. 
both of you along with me could have starred in the video. we were, and still
are that ridiculous when we're together.  thank you both for
always making me laugh!


 

 

 

 



coming soon to a nursery near here...

 this is keely... 

 

keely and her husband aaron are expecting their

first child.

 

 

this baby will be the second grandchild this year

for some of our dearest friends.

 

 

 

keely isn't the only one who's expecting~ 

i am expecting too.

i am expecting a tiny baby with big brown eyes

and dark hair

 who will steal our hearts and bring unending

joy to our friends lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these two met in ecuador while volunteering. they are soft spoken, grounded,

kind people.



 

this was Aaron's favorite childhood book- his parents

sent it for the baby- awwww,  how sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

(this is my favorite shot)



 

 

 

is there anything more lovely than the curve of a baby belly?

 

 



 

 

 

 

thanks k. and a. for letting me

hang out with you on this perfect summer evening,

i loved seeing your new home and

i hope these photos bring you lots of joy.

 

 

******************

i've known keely since she was in 2nd grade

and this baby is going to be very blessed to

have these two for parents~

 

 

 



 

happy hot weekend...

winter will be here before we know it- i just know it!

xo, beth

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

there's a cool resale homegoods store in my town. marcie the owner is an

artist. this sign is one she hand painted. it now hangs in my boudoir at the lodge~

cool folk art if you ask me. marci has a whole line of her art being

reproduced on mugs, pictures frames, signs etc.

I think she's going to be famous- she's that talented, when she is I will point

to my piece and say "it's an original".  

 

:  )

 

 

can you see how it's 3-D and all?

there are snippets of cloth, metal and painted canvas on it.

marcie also does staging for weddings and has a growing collection of beautiful,

unique items that she rents out for events.

 

the shop is called st claire consignment if you're interested.

 

oh one more thing, she's just moved into an 800 square foot

home and has a blog about it called:

 

http://myittybittyhouse.blogspot.com

 

she's got so much raw energy she makes me tired just thinking about all

she accomplishes in a weeks time!

 

can't wait to see her line in local stores~

 

xo, beth

 

 

 

 



the distance hasn't mattered

 

 

 

when our family moved from alexandria to the twin cities

21 years ago, my best friend and i both kind of felt like our hearts were

 torn in two. she and i had met in the doctors office- (where she

was his nurse) 12 years earlier and it was love at first site.

 

i really really love telling the story of how i went in

for my first prenatal visit with this new doctor and by

the time i left that day, knew that his nurse leslie, was

someone i'd like to have for a friend.

she's the one who said~ that very first day~

"come to my house for tea"

and the fun was ON.

 

leslie pretty much wraps everyone around her

in her arms and nurtures them. she loves to take care

of people and she does it with wild abandon.

she's a born caregiver and servant to others.

 

well now on to the reason for all this gushing....

i just spent 3 lovely days at her house and had so much

fun that i had a hard time coming home.

 

we toured her gardens and talked about what she wants to do

with them next year...she cooked me breakfasts that were photo worthy.

we stayed up way past our bedtime because we had hours of precious, uninterrupted

time to get caught up on each others lives. we hit up many of the

local thrift shops and we paged through magazines and

talked about projects.

we took an early walk on tues. and had the fun of strolling through the county fair as it was being set up. it was so great...everything so clean and organized still, cute gray
haired ladies were being dropped off by their husbands in front of the exhibit buildings,
their pies and bouquets of gladiolas in hand.
when we lived here we never missed the fair. the kids loved it all and so did we.
if the mini donut booth had been ready i would have run back to the house and grabbed some money for a fresh bag of them.
yummm-y.

 

all in all it was just the best.

you're going to see the pictures below and want to

steal her for your best friend...but SORRY,

she's mine.

 

tee hee~lucky me

 

 

i came from our cabin and beat her to her house...it gave me time to scope out all her flowers and in the bucket above were some i brought her from the lodge.

 

 

 she and i both love ferns

                          if you read my blog you've probably heard about "bed prizes".

whenever we're together, there are bed prizes. there's no point in
even trying to compete with her for the best loot- girlfriend always trumps
us all and when we get together-like a little kid, you kind of want to
fake a yawn and suggest we go to bed (even if it's 11 a.m.) just so you
can run see the great gifts that await you!

this leather notebook and kinfolk magazine were on my bed and the
pitcher below with the dog on it and filled with yellow roses and joyce meyers book?
yep, you guessed it- for me!!!
there were more little surprises along the way but i don't want
to gloat too much so that's all i'll share about that.


i



leslie was done with this jumbo pile of magazines and sent them home with

me. you may not hear from me for awhile.

 

 







these heart shaped rocks line the window sill in the guest room.



these are some of the flowers from the lodge

 



here's one of the b.& b. worthy breakfasts

 

one of my favorite things to do when in alexandria is to take a little trip down

memory lane. i get all melancholy and it makes me so happy to drive by the

homes we lived in during our years there. lars and i brought 2 of our 3 babies home

from the hospital to this big old farmhouse. it's for sale now and needs a

great new family to make it their own.

 

 



the evergreen tree here was one my oldest brought home from school in a ziplock bag and

we planted at the farm when he was young. look at it now!

 



now back to leslie's. i am in love with this art on the wall.

she's been drying all her summer flowers in this wooden bowl

isn't this just the most beautiful morning light streaming in through the windows?

girlfriend has a to die for studio that is intriguing and it makes me swoon.

 

 



 leslie loves to glitter things.... the sparklier the better.

this framed photo of leslie's mother wini hangs in all her girls houses.

it takes my breath away.





 well this was my week. a wonderful break from the usual.
a wonderful chance to reconnect with
a dear friend.


i am happy. hope you have a happy weekend too!

xo, beth



 

 

 

 



 last weekend up north, while out exploring in the woods

the guys found these wild lilies.

seth was so excited to bring some back

for me.  (at 13,  he's such a love- still all sweet and affectionate. )

 

 

 

 

here's some shots from the new garden. these are forget me nots. i haven't grown

them for years and i'd forgotten (no pun intended) how much i love them!

                                a long row of zinnias-grown from seeds i saved from last years crop.

                                         i planted all kinds of vining things and to tell you the truth

                                i don't know if this is pumpkins (pretty sure it is), watermelon, gourds

                                   or cantalope.

the sign and the ladybug tell the story. turnips.

these sunflowers will make me very happy if they ever bloom.

last year the critters ate them all off as soon as they'd push

thru the ground- this year they're not eaten off but it's been cooler than usual

so things are slow to grow up north.



healthy looking beans huh?

and last but not least, one of the strawberries in the new patch. the previous

owners just had some ground cover planted in this raised, rocked circle, so

we decided to kick it up a notch and make it a strawberry bed.



ta-da!    this is the first pretty bouquet of flowers from the gardens

at the lodge this year. when we get there late friday nights 

i rush out to see what's blooming. the best part is the fact

that with the fenced in garden so far all animals except

birds have stayed away and let me do my thing- grow stuff.   :  )



if lars is driving home, he cannot resist stopping in a little hole in the wall town

for ice cream cones. dude loves his ice cream. it's the kind of store where

 you look in a big old case, choose

from about 10 different flavors, choose waffle or regular cone and then for

about 3 bucks-get an ice cream cone piled so high that one could feed our whole family.

we, of course, each have our own.

seth has to take a bit of rough housing from his uncle as they rush

inside to order first, but it's all worth it, trust me.



 

 

 

enjoy your weekend - gotta go pack for mine. 

 

xo