That glorious song of old

Here are my Christmas Highlights. It just got real in here, yo. 

The English dinner at Jack and Danielle's. Jack made Beef Wellington and Yorkshire Pudding. And treacle tart. I normally avoid pie like creations like the plague, but my loyalty to all things Harry Potter forced me to try it. It was actually really good:)

Christmas at Milford Branch. I always forget how much I love singing Christmas Hymns.

The amazing gift from my parents. (I don't have pictures for some reason)

An incredible Christmas dinner and quality time with 'crazy Danielle'. I LOVE crazy Danielle.

24 hours with the 4 craziest kids on Earth. We made more than one anniversary cake. We barked like puppies in the Walmart parking lot. We laid on the grass and looked up at the stars. It was...amazing.

Watching another hour of 'Jane Eyre' with my brother. We have made it through 2 of 4 hours. I had to explain AGAIN what a governess does. At which point he said " I am watching Jane Eyre, but I don't have to understand it". Oh Junior. 

An untold number of hours at my parents; watching low quality TV, wrapped up in a blanket, drinking hot chocolate and feeling completely at peace. 

Lori Ann

Bells will be ringing

It's almost time for me to go home for Christmas! 

Of course, I was home last weekend, so it's not exactly a call to roll out the red carpet:)

My dad's making steak and shrimp on Christmas day, we are opening presents after church and probably spending a fairly crazy day with the kids. Everyone will be home. 

Only one thing will be missing. 

Erin.

Christmas isn't anywhere near the same without Eri. 

She listens to me, does projects with Danielle, and always makes plans with Junior. 

She brings light and happiness to our home. 

Spending one day with Erin gives me the feeling of having taken a two week vacation. 

She is Christmas magic. 

I wish you could be home, Eri. 

Merry Christmas. 

Lor

5 Things

5 Things You Don't Know About Me

1. I've lived in 8 different states. Pennsylvania the longest, Colorado the shortest. 

2. I'm really good at memorizing things. But only if they are obscure and pointless. Like movie dialogue and weird facts.

3. I can always predict that it's going to rain, but not with any degree of certainty as to exactly when. So, yeah..not so useful.

4. I truly believe that there is an episode of Seinfeld about every life situation.

5. I am completely honest when I say that I would love to marry a gay man:)

5 Things I'm Knowledgeable About

1. Axis 1 mental health diagnoses

2. Harry Potter.

3.  The Philadelphia Eagles and football in general.

4.  Historical Romance novels and their Authors. My favorite is Lisa Kleypas. 

5.  The Poems of Emily Dickinson. I've read every single one. Two words: Nature, Death.

5 Things I Know Nothing About

1.  Oliver Cromwell. I guess he's important but I can't ever remember for what.

2.  Stocks and Wall Street. My dad tries to explain it to me, but I'm like "wait..so, can I go buy a stock? And then they send it to me? How does it work again?"

3.  Fashion. I like it, but I don't understand it. And 7 seasons of Project Runway have brought me no closer.

4.  Mechanics. I don't know a transmission from a tire iron.

5.  Entertaining. I want to entertain but I can't figure out how to do it. Finger foods or a meal? What will people talk about? What time should the party be?? AHHHH!!!

5 Things I Believe

1.  I believe that everyone would benefit from therapy.

2.  I believe that blond haired and blue eyed babies are the cutest.

3.  I believe that when you become a pet owner it creates a bit of a social disconnect. Kind of like having kids. No, I don't want to hear about your puppy again, thanks.

4.  I believe so strongly that everyone should read the Harry Potter books. It's one of my strongest held beliefs.

5. I believe that God loves you where you are.

Lori Ann

Streams of mercy, never ceasing

My weekend in pictures

My uncle got my parents cats some catnip for Christmas. Thomas (aka "Lord Tubbington" and "the fat one") stood at the bottom of the stairs for I-kid-you-not FIVE minutes, staring blankly. Merry Christmas, indeed.

   
 I got to complete my goal of doing something crazy and Christmassy with the kids. We made hot chocolate and peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses. And according to some we made a "mess". Whatever. We let our haters be our motivators! 

 

My sister Erin sent our nieces Christmas dresses. I don't think my nieces really needed any further confirmation of their princesses status, but if they did, these dresses gave it to them. They LOVED them and twirled and twirled. They looked like Christmas angels. 

I watched A Christmas Story with my parents and Junior. It never ceases to make me laugh. 

Thanks to a certain blogger friend,(you know how you are), my Post Secret app addiction continues. This secret (if you can call it that) was my favorite today. 

I've been making Christmas trees. The one white is a bit avante-garde, eh? 

It's Christmas Week, people!! I hope you have the MERRIEST week ever!! 

Lori Ann

p.s.- On a strangely serious note-  I can't express how much joy it brings me to spend the holidays with my family. I feel closer to God when I am with them and I hope they know how much I appreciate their love and support. 

Tell Lori that I love her

I've told the story of my name countless times. How my parents didn't decide until I was born, and how they choose my name from a soap opera. 

Today,  for some reason, I was filled with an inexplicable curiosity about exactly WHO I was named after. 

I can't say for 100% sure, but the girl in the big picture on this Soap Opera Digest, she played a character named Lori Brooks, on the Young and the Restless in 1979.

So...there she is. The girl I was named after. 

Now..back to making these!! These are the most fun Christmas crafts I have made in years!!

Lori Ann

And so this is Christmas

I haven't gotten  very much accomplished on my Christmas "to do" list.

Work and life have just taken over, I guess.

But that changes as of tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I am throwing myself full tilt into the Christmas season and having a magical week before Christmas. 

Feliz Navidad, people!!

Lori Ann

Truly Random

I don't dedicate enough blog posts to my various injuries.

I am slightly prone to cuts, burns, etc. My dad would say it's because I don't pay attention to what I am doing. 

This is my latest injury. Pretty sweet, eh?

Anyway, back to reporting on the Christmas magic tomorrow!!

Lori Ann

Beautiful and Strange

I just got back from my weekend at home. Here's what went down...

1. I heard the two most epic talks in LDS church history. For reals.

2. And by "epic" I mean the following things were mentioned: infant sacrifice, the zombying effects of Ritalin, what kind of snow tires to get if you move to Vermont, the importance of trading your pain pill buzz for some excellent Motrin, and how pride is easily swapped for charity.

3. My baby James got baptized! It only took 2 dunkings:) It was not your run of the mill baptism, which was perfect, because James isn't your run of the mill kid. I can't believe he's 8!

4. I attempted my long dreamed of armoir tent at my sisters house. It was unsuccessful. But me, Junior, and 3 of the 4 Monrobie babies still watched Return of the Jedi on blu-ray:)

5. I watched the new fear factor at my parents. My dad always tells me that 'this crap is rotting your brain'. As if watching people eat live scorpions could be anything less than educational:)

It just got real in here. Oh Snap.

Lori Ann

But right from the start

My less blogged about niece and nephew (Erin's babies): Pumpkin and Buster

It's my sister Erin's birthday today!!!

You faithful readers of my blog know what that means..it's blog tribute time!!

Erin is a rescuer.

If she were a Harry Potter character, she would be a Healer.

She saves left behind animals and befriends left behind people.

She brings the fun to our family. When she is home, everything is better.

She is so funny. No one makes me laugh like my sisters.

She is strong and smart and beautiful. And I don't know how I got so lucky as to have her for my sister.

Happy Birthday, Eri.

I hope you have an amazing year.

Lor

I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas Tree

In the interest of full disclosure, and because I know y'all find the minutiae of my daily life unbearably interesting, I present to you...

My annual (well, two years in a row now, anyway)

Christmas To Do List!!

Let's do this thing!

1. See a choir concert

2. Bake cookies for someone

3. Have a fancy dinner, just me!

4. Do something crazy and Christmassy with the kids

5. Watch "A Christmas Story" with my family

6. Drink hot chocolate and watch Love Actually

7. Make a homemade snow globe

8. Complete at least one act of selfless service and do not tell anyone

9. Go the Office Party

10. Possibly host a Festivus Party..if people can make it.

11. Send out Christmas Cards! (I'm going to do it this year, I swear!)

Wish me luck, gente!!

Lori Ann

It was his true medium; a master.

I came home from work yesterday to see my apartment looking like this.

It brought tears to my eyes.

I knew my dad was dropping off the couch I bought and a tree (which was already an over 100 mile round trip for him), but he put the lights on the tree and my windows and the star on the top, which I can never reach.

It was pure Christmas magic walking through that door.

My sister and brother in law lent him their SUV so he could haul all of it up without me having to rent a trunk or anything.

And then; when I got sick last night, my sister Erin stayed up late talking to me, making sure that I was ok.

My family is amazing.

I don't say thank you enough to them.

Thank You.

Thank You.

Thank You.

the family baby,

Lori Ann Peanut Butter- Jelly

Let's talk about you and me

Ok,

So, I know that you are all burning up with curiousity to hear more about my job. It's kind of glamorous, yo.

I listen to people. That's my job.

I love it. I really do. But some days, 6-8 hours of LISTENING can make you feel a little crazy. But, luckily for me, my day is usually broken up with one or two diagnostic assessments.

It's where I assess people and diagnose them. Yep. I've given out every diagnosis from PTSD to kleptomania.

Anyway, the reason I just took five minutes of your life to get to mentioning these assessments is because they have been making me laugh so hard lately. Or actually one section has been making me laugh- the cultural questions.

In the South, our assessments didn't ask any cultural questions. That's not how we roll in the South.

Yankees do things a little bit different.

Here the assessments ask people to identify how they define their gender (male, female, transgender, other), how they define their race/ethnicity, how they define their sexuality (heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bi, other), and how they define their religious view (Christian, Jewish, etc, etc-its got like 12 things listed)

In all the assessments I have done (probably 50+) NO ONE can answer these questions like an adult. Everyone reverts to their 13 year old self. At least for the sexuality question. I have gotten the following responses when I asked "How do you define your sexuality?"

Normal

What do you think?

Strictly dickly

I'm going to give you one guess.

The one where I like boys

and a lot of people just laugh.

Anyway, it's sad the things that keep me entertained at work.

Lori Ann

Rockabye sweet baby James

“One day we were brought into the world, knowing love only as being what we had for our toys, family, and friends. Then, you meet someone who alters your conception of love, and you never know how you loved anything before this kind of love.”

I love all of my nieces and nephews SO much I can never adequately express it in words. But my James will always have a special place in my heart. He makes me laugh, he runs from my kisses, he is so smart and so crazy and everything wonderful there is in this world.

And today he is 8.

Happy birthday to my beautiful Turkey baby!!

Love,

Aunt Lori

I didn't need that tab key anyway...

What do you get when you add one 3 1/2 year old niece...

..to about two hours of unsupervised time with your iPhone??

You get one $150 dollar Hot Air Balloon ride purchased (unbeknownst to you until you check your account balance) on your Groupon app.

Oh, Katy Monroe... you are, as they say in spanish, "bien traviosa". I'm adding this one to the tally, girlfriend!

Love,

Aunt Lolee

The Addictive Properties of Crafting

Have you ever been peer pressured into doing something??

Drugs?

Alcohol?

Sex?

Or perhaps, much like my coworkers today, you have been pressured into crafts.

Yep. Today I pushed no less than 4 people into making m and m turkeys with me. As in "Oh, I see that you are working there, go ahead and put down the phone because I brought m and m's and pipe cleaners and you need to prioritize".

If only the druggies in high school had me working for them- people would have been getting high and decorating their book covers with glitter at the same time! A win-win. I bet they feel pretty stupid right now for never involving me in their misadventures, eh?

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!

Lori Ann

With birds I share this lonely view

I guess no Thanksgiving week would be complete without a list of things for which I am grateful. I am going to try and veer off of the "my family and health" path, with the understanding that I am EXTREMELY grateful for all of those things.

1. I am grateful for my job. The other day I was dreading going in to work and I smacked myself upside the head and reminded myself "Lor..all you have to do is listen to people...that's your job. It's not like you've got to go and get carts in the scorching heat, cater to ungrateful customers, or give 6 people showers." (all previous jobs of mine!)

2. I am grateful for my view. I finally get why people are so obsessed with views when buying a house. I lived in a shady apartment with an equally shady view of the parking lot for 3 years. Which is why I never lifted the blinds. Now I have beautiful views and it makes me happier than I could have imagined.

3. I am grateful for my upbringing. I feel like it was God's plan for me to grow up the way I did. It helped me develop empathy and understanding, which is essential for me in life and my career.

There is a lot more I could say. I am grateful its the holidays again. It's good for me to have a time to remember to give thanks and to have fun with my family. I miss my nieces and nephews especially. More than anything, I am grateful for them.

Lori Ann

Breaking Dawn: The Much Anticipated 3:20 AM review

I saw Breaking Dawn tonight.

And somewhere between the laughable wolf conversations, Jacob taking off his shirt literally 1 minute into the film, Bella's strange wedding dress choice, Rosalie stepping up to the plate, a vision of the future Renesme, and Emmett and Charlie giving the BEST WEDDING TOASTS EVER and a million other little things- I kind of fell in love with this one.

I think it's my favorite so far.

Go see it, gremlins!!

Lori Ann Lautnor

(It just sounds right, right?)

I want to take him down to China Town

I saw this quote on my friend's awesome blog today. Amazing. I'm going to get a print and hang it in my office.

Lori Ann

p.s. Am I the only one watching "New Girl" ? I love it!!

" And the wiggly one and the bear attack and the claws and the head and the one that figure skater do and the what's for lunch and the give me that hat."

You and I have a history

I've said it many times.. I hate when people put videos on their blog. I'm always like "huh..now I've got to watch some lame video". That being said, I feel strongly enough about this video to post it on my blog.

Because it's got the best possible combination of my two favorite things.

Glee and Adele

You won't regret the 3 minute investment of your time!

Lori Ann

any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos will be ignored

the kids. Not relevant to this post, but I can't post without a picture:)

Over the last two days I have done almost nothing.

With the exception of about 2 hours of shopping (including travel time) and about 15 minutes of cleaning, I've spent the last 48 hours vegging out.

Watching Harry Potter. Taking bubble baths. Making grilled cheese. Trying to find an amazing and practically free couch on craigslist. Mixing ginger ale and cranberry juice. Playing trash talking scrabble on facebook with my same-age-as-me sister.

Probably sounds fairly similar to all of y'all's days off.

Back to the grind tomorrow...but good news...

Only a week and two days until I'm off for a nice 5 day Thanksgiving break!!

Lori Ann

My day in pictures

8 am- left my apartment and disappeared into the fog. All that was missing was the icy hand of a murdered child creeping up behind me.

8:15- off to the BEST STORE IN THE UNIVERSE. The Christmas Tree shop. Holy Hannah- it's intense how exciting this shopping experience is.

9 am- got home and realized that my new tea lite centerpiece is in the shape of a pentagram. Interesting.

11 am-7:40 pm- Providing therapy and eating these wild cherry cough drops. (which I got at the Christmas Tree Shop!) Best. Medicine. Ever.

Also, I spent a good portion of time staring out the window. Can't leave that out.

And last, but not least, my FANCY dinner. A new table and a new centerpiece called for an epic meal. I had chicken and potatoes (because that's what I make every night) but it was on my fancy plates, and I made a salad and cheese danish for dessert!

Now..all that remains is a bubble bath, hot chocolate, and watching Twilight in bed. Have to get psyched for Breaking Dawn:)

Lori Ann

Cheap is the new black

BEFORE

30 minutes of rolling the table through the dark parking lot with a number of cars slowing down to stare at me and an awkward trek into the building, up the elevator, and through the door:

AFTER!

I owe it all to my mother for teaching me the art of the Dumpster Dive.

Thanks, Ma.

Lori Ann

To dive or not to dive??

Ok,

Right now I am in the middle of a quandary.

There is this fairly nice kitchen table that someone threw out at my complex.

I don't have a table.

So... is it worth rolling the table about 4 buildings over?

(it won't fit in my car, I already tried that)

And; on a completely unrelated side note, if you put a table on top of your car without bungee cords, will it stay on??

Lori Ann