iwantmk.comLuanne Storer,IBC

Hello everyone!  I’m Lori, and it is a pleasure to meet each and everyone one of you! 

And, just so you know, I have NEVER met Luanne… but I hope to someday! 

I grew up in Dayton (with Jenny from momminitup, actually), but moved to Canton, Ohio to go to college, and have stayed up here ever since.  After all, it is the home of the PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME!  Who can resist that?  But, my husband has something to do with it too.  I met him in 1996 and we fell in love. John and I will be married nine years in July.  We have two beautiful daughters.  Faith is 7 1/2 and Lucy is 4 1/2.  I love my family so very much and wouldn’t know what to do without them. 

One of my “claims to fame” is that I have had MANY odd jobs over my working career… the best working at Jacob’s Field – home of the CLEVELAND INDIANS.  The worst being a telemarketer… for four days. The ironic part is, my husband and my dad work for a telemarketing company (not the same one I worked for).  The oddest job has been being the EASTER BUNNY.  I actually did this twice, and hope to do it again in the future.  But for now I am a preschool teacher which I totally love.

Another thing I am currently doing is going back to school to get my degree in Business Management.  I graduate in December.  It has been a challenge to go back to school, but I am really glad I have done it. 

Someday I will find out what I want to be when I grow up.  I hope that’s not anytime soon, though.  I enjoy how things are right now.

So for now, so long, dear readers.  It has been a wonderful experience blogging to you all.

If you have your color samples, join me on this one. If not, you can watch and then get your free color samples here!                                                                                  

Today is a tip on changing our attitudes and thinking. One of the best ways I’ve ever known to keep from focusing on the negatives in life is to keep a close eye on the positives. Be aware of everything you have to be thankful for. I would like to challenge all of you to start a list of the things you are thankful for: 

God (He’s my Father)

Jesus (He’s my Savior)

Salvation

My husband

My Children

Brownies

My husband’s job

Our home

Homeschooling

Laughter

Our Church

My friends (they love me just as I am)

My parents

My brother

Freedom

My sanity

My dog (Dudley)

My children are Christians

Our vehicles…..

Go ahead….share the start of your list with us if you will, and then for the next 30 days, add to your personal list every morning or night, whenever you have time to pray and reflect. Let’s see what a difference it makes in the way we think.

 ·          Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)  

I have to tell you that this weekend was awesome! The girls shopped til we were all about to drop, they went to see a movie, swam, relaxed in the hot tub, blared music and danced around the hotel room, had creamer and ice fights, ate pizza, cookie dough, chips, and candy, and well……at 2:30am I got a call from the front desk. They said that if they got one more complaint, we would have to leave. I had no idea! Every other year we have done this, my friend, who was the manager, who is obviously not the manager anymore, would get us two rooms and not put anyone on either side of us. Apparently it didn’t work out this year. Oh yeah, did I mention the hotel was full of out of town soccer teams that were in town for the tournaments. The hotel was packed and we didn’t get the run of the place. We had a hard time adjusting, but truly, they could have called when they got the first complaint. Anyway, the girls seemed to have a good time. They were totally exhausted when we got them home Saturday evening.

Thank you so much for you suggestions and encouragement. I ended up giving her money to shop with in the mall (good idea Tiffany!)  I remembered that I had a few jewelry items that I got from Just Jewelry that she liked. I put the money card in one of the boxes. The mall had an American Cookie Factory, and so I got her a big “Happy Birthday” cookie. My BFF Jenny from Momminitup went on Saturday and picked up a handmade purse that Krisha said she liked when we were at the market last week. I am going to give that to her when we go out with family on Tuesday (her actual birthday.) Thanks Jenny J

My point of all this was to not only fill you in, but to remind you of something I have to remind myself of all the time. Why worry? I was worried about what I would get her and how all this would come together. Isn’t it funny that even when we know the truth, we still believe a lie? The truth is, worry is not from God. I certainly need to quit focusing on what I am going to get (or get someone else) and focus on the blessings I have. Lori, you were right; Krisha was my sweet blessing from my Heavenly Father 14 years ago.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus!

Amen.

My daughter’s birthday is on Tuesday. This weekend we are taking her and five of her friends to a hotel about 45 minutes away from our house that has an indoor pool, and it is attached to a mall and a movie theater. The girls love it because they can pretty much sleep overnight in a mall. It doesn’t get much better than that to a bunch of teenage girls. It is also great because while they are swimming and/or running around the mall, guess what I do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It is awesome.

Anyway, my dilemma is that Krisha has only asked for one thing, a pair of brown shoes (and someone else is getting her those). No kidding, that is all she asked for! We have been asking her what else she might want for a month and she says that is all she needs. That kind of attitude is what makes me want to get buy her everything.

When my girls were little, Tosh was about seven and Krisha was two, I took them to the circus. We were very low on funds in those days and getting enough money together for us to go to the circus was a miracle in itself. Before we got there, I told them that each of them could have a $5 bill to spend. That $5 included snack, drink, toy, whatever. In other words, if they wanted a snow cone, that was all they got. If they wanted a drink, that was the end of the $5. When we sat down, they announced that there were elephant rides down on the floor until the circus started. Kids everywhere started screaming “I want to ride the elephant!!! Mommy, I want to ride!!!” My girls just sat quietly looking around and smiling at all the things there were to see. It continued like that, every time a vendor would go buy with light up toys, hats, food, cotton candy, you name it, children everywhere went nuts screaming and crying for their parents to buy it for them. Tosh quietly sat on the edge of her seat and Krisha stood in my lap in amazement watching the three rings below us. Their eyes were fixed. Mine were full of tears. It was then when I realized what beautiful children I had been blessed with. When the circus was over, we were leaving and Tosh said. I think I would like to buy a light up sword. Krisha’s eyes lit up and she said “me too” and went digging in her purse it get her $5 bill (yes, she carried a purse at age two.) They left laughing and talking about everything they saw that night and lighting up their swords on the way home. “Thank you,” Tosh said, “Thank you for taking us to the circus. “Me too,” Krisha said.

I knew as I sat in the car waiting to get out of the parking lot, that out of thousands of children, mine might have been the only ones who had spoken those words to their Mom or Dad.

I tell you all that just so you will get a small glimpse of who they are. Now tell me, what do I get a sweet girl like this for her 14th birthday?

Kisses!