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is looking pretty BOMB, if I do say so myself !!! Come check it out!
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Love, Love,
Lo Mc
In Pursuit of Happiness
- What is happiness?
- How do you get it?
While laying on my favorite raft, in the middle of the lake, at my very own retreat from the real world I came to a realization. Life is good… I want it to be great!
KO, Brad, Ben and I packed up our cars and hit the road for a much needed breather on Memorial Day weekend. We made a stop at Hooters for some wings and the largest Corona I have ever seen and then we were off to the lake. (The Lake of The Ozarks, that is)
The lake house has become Ben and my home away from home the past few summers. When life gets to be a little too much, when we feel as though we just can not breath, or when we are just plain board we pack the car and get the heck out of Dodge. There is something about laying on the dock or a raft in the sun that just makes everything okay. No matter what crazy stage we are in, the lake house just makes life make sense again.
This trip was especially needed for KO and myself. It turned out to be a nice relaxing weekend that left us sad to leave our oasis in the sun. For me it could have been a little better since I was pretty sick for most of the weekend but, why let being sick bring you down, right?!
Back to my point here…While relaxing on my raft in the sun Saturday morning, I had a utopia moment… I was floating there in the middle of the lake, listening to Kari’s perfect compilation of tunes when it hit me. This feeling, right at this moment, this is happiness! Laying here, in the sun, with two people that completely get me and always love me no matter what; that is true happiness.
Some say that we always want more. No matter what we have, we always want more. Though I do not completely believe this, I do believe that at this point in my life I want more. I am not satisfied with happy… I want ridiculously happy. I want to love my job, I want to love my life; no matter what curve ball life throws at me, I want to be able to pick it up and run with it. I want this kind of happy, and someday soon I and my husband will be there. We will have this kind of happy, and that is what keeps me moving through life. That is what gives me strength to get through the long days.
I have a husband who loves and supports me in everything I do and everything I want to do. I have a best friend that knows absolutely EVERYTHING about me and loves me, not in-spite of it, but because of it. She loves the good, the bad, and the ugly. She has seen me at my best and at my worst and she still says, “count me in on that life!!”
All of this came to me from one song. Of all songs, it was a rap song. I may not agree completely with everything the artist says in this song but at that moment, his song just fit…
I’m on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain’t always gonna be gold. I’ll be fine once I get it, I’ll be good… – Kid Cudi –
CoCo, chillin at the lake last summer
Brothers - the best kind of friends
Now this is happiness
Always a little dance in this one
Sunsets are always better at the lake
Husband, puppies, lake, perfection!
Lake Summer 2010
I think we have this same photo at every age since fifteen
There are no words for this photo... 🙂
Come on! It's the lake, who needs grammar??
That’s all for now…Lori Mc
It’s Official
My husband has his BSN!!
Today was Ben’s graduation day. Words cannot express how proud I am of him. It has been a very long five years. We have both worked so hard to get to this point. The light at the end of the tunnel is finally here. The working 40 hours a week, while going to school full time (for both of us) are finally over.
We still have quite a ways to go but we are WAY past half way there. He has his diploma, he has a FANTASTIC, (way more than we hoped for) job, now all that is left is to pass those boards!!! We will be leaving Sunday for a much needed week vacation to the lake house and then it is time to HIT the books HARD, one last time. Well… at least the last time for the next two years. Then it is off to Graduate school for my hubby, but for now… we hit the road for friends, sun, boating, TONS of food, and fun!!
Congratulations, Uncle Ben!!
SIUE Nursing Bar Crawl 2010
Graduation Day
Random Epiphany
“Make some room in your apartment because I may have to move to Chicago with you.”
This is what a friend said to me once when her fiance and she were having a bad few weeks/months. “If he leaves me”, she said, “he will still be everywhere I look. We grew up together, we grew into who we are together.” I never really realized how true to life these statement were… until she was my friend, no longer…
When I drive down the highway, to the mall which I now live closest to, I can hear our giggling as she repeats, “Those damn refluckers!!! I hate those damn refluckers.” When it rains I think of that time that my daddy told us not to put the top down because it was going to rain but we did anyway. We laughed so hard we almost peed ourselves as we tried desperately to get that convertible top back up while still driving down the road in the rain.
Sometimes as I am just sitting quietly, tapping my fingers, I look at them and laugh as I think to myself, “Hey, they ski!!” When I see a girl with really bad hair I think, “Humm… Maybe she is going for that I need a brush look!?” When someone says something really dumb, I think, “With the brain; without the brain??” Every time “Girls Just Wanna have fun” comes on the radio, or I see a little girl wearing a spoon ring, I tear up.
When I see a Geo Tracker or a firetruck, I think of our adventures with boys. When I run across an old picture, I cry. Sometimes when I am just cleaning my closet, I cry. There is no rational reason behind my thoughts. They are just there. There at the corner of State & Elm where our “guy behind the counter” worked. There when I eat Chinese and think of being completely trashed together and adding “son” to end of everything. There when I walk through Old Saint Charles with an ice cream cone and no best friend by my side.
Some days I am really mad and others I am just really sad. Some days I want to call her up and scream and others I just want to tell her how much I miss her. Some days I write these long pointless letters that will never be sent and some days I just scream at her in the car while I am driving down the road alone. Losing your best friend is like getting a divorce…
Someone recently said something to me that really struck a cord with me; it was so poignant. “You never stop loving someone; you just learn to live without them” The moment he spoke the words I thought of the best friend I once had…
Step Up For Jack
This is Jack
Little Peanut
Jack has an extra chromosome. This is known as Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome. What does this mean for Jack? On one hand it means that Jack is an extremely happy little boy! It also means that Jack and his family get to be part of one of the happiest, most loving communities on the planet. You can read about Jack’s family and his newly found extended family here at his mommy’s blog. www.justjackjack.blogspot.com.
On the other hand it means that Jack will grow up just like any other child. He will laugh, he will smile, he will roll over, he will crawl, walk, talk, run, play, learn, read, write, sing, dance, swim, play soccer, etc, etc, etc… It will just take Jack a little longer than most. Jack will have many difficulties along the way and will have more medical struggles than most. Other than that, Jack is just like you and me and all the sweet little babies born every day. Jack is a pretty special little boy. He has made my life, and the lives of everyone around him a little brighter, and he will continue to spread his love every day.
Now here is your chance to spread a little love to Jack and children all around the world like Jack…
Click the link below and support Jack in his walk to spread awareness and love!
http://www.firstgiving.com/brandimckenzie
Thank you from Jack, his family, and mine,
Lori Mc
Photo Blog Updated – Come See What’s New
Come check out what’s new over at Lo MAC Photography!!!! www.lomacphotography.blogspot.com
Visit My New Photography Blog
So, apparently I am a photographer. I guess that big fancy design school is finally paying off!
Come Visit me at http://lomacphotography.blogspot.com/
Love, Love
Lori Mc
Lo MAC Photography
Our Year in Review: Part Trois
May/June 2009
Hold on to your seats, Kids, this is where it all gets cRaZy!!
May 17, 2009
I throw Brandi a baby shower at her and Michael’s home. It was small and simple but loads of fun!
Brandi & her super fab cake made by the one and only Momma Logan
B was not to happy about how much everyone over estimated her baby bump
Michael joined in the fun at the end of the day
May 24, 2009 (Actual B-Day May 26)
CoCo Noelle turns one year old. This makes Aunt Lori want to cry.
Baby Chloë McPherson
Ash, Tim, Theresa & one pooped out CoCo
At the party Steven tells us that he has made a HUGE decision. He has enlisted in the US Navy. He will become a Navy Seal. He will ship out in July.
Steven & Ben
May 25, 2009
I turn the BIG 2-6! I decide on the 24th at about 8pm to throw myself a party the next day. It is Memorial Day and My Birthday so, OF COURSE, it rains. It rains every single year on my birthday. 🙂 On May 25, 2008, as Chloë Noelle made her grand entrance there was a GIANT thunder-storm. Aunt Lori welcomed little CoCo and told her all about how it would rain every year, from now on, on her Birthday or at least the day before, since she claimed her very own birthday two hours after mine.
Ben cooks the chicken kabobs, hamburgers, hot dogs, & brats
CoCo & Ashley
Ben made sure to burn Brandi's hot dog just right. Pregnant Women and their cravings!
Happy B-Day to me!
Me & B
The B-Day Spread
May 29, 2009
Ben’s cousin, Tim recently won a battle with cancer. Though, Tim was a very blessed man with a loving family to support him and the blessing of wealth to pay the outrageous bills he understood that not everyone is a lucky as he was.
Tim and his friends and sisters decided to start the Annual Tim Jones Charity Ball. The proceeds will benefit those who are unable to keep up with their bills while being treated at the Siteman Cancer Center. This also, was close to my heart since my physicians work at the Heart Care Institute which is located in the Siteman Cancer Center.
Ben & I had a great night out and were able to donate some cash to a great cause. We will definitely be attending annually.
The red carpet photo wall
Curly Hair!!
Me & My Ben
May 2009
(The Great Poo Flood of 09′)
Sometime in May, (I can not remember the exact day at the moment) Our home flooded because our toilet blew up. That’s right folks the toilet blew up! Somehow a 3/4 inch coil of copper wire ended up in the pluming system and clogged the pipes directly above us. This caused everything to back up. The result: Every time any of the occupants of the TWELVE condos in our complex flushed their toilet, ran water to do dishes, ran their dishwasher, took a shower, etc. etc… all of the water ended up spewing from OUR toilet. We had been gone since six a.m. so when we came home at 11 p.m. the toilet looked like Old Faithful Geyser, and our condo looked like a lake of poo.
Later that week, after fighting with the owner who did not want to replace our sewage soaked carpet, Ben and I decided it was time to start looking for a new place to live. I believe it was a Wednesday; Ben was checking out condos/houses and I was trying my best to focus at work. The phone rang and I answered, “Cardiology Consultation Service, this is Lori”. Mom responded, “Now don’t get all excited, it is no big deal, you do not need to come but….” “But, what MOMMA???” “Your dad was on his way to a job site this morning with Dan when he got pretty dizzy and well, we think he had a heart attack…” “WHAT????!?!??!” I almost screamed! “Not my Daddy”, I thought. “My Daddy, is Superman, he can not have a heart attach”.
I, of course, immediately called Ben while running out of my office. We got to the hospital and there sat Daddy, on a stretcher in nothing but his jeans, with EKG patches all over his chest. As we walked in the room he put his finger to his mouth to shush us. He was “on a business call” Just like my Daddy!!! Just had a heart attack and can not even take a break to go to the hospital. Ben quickly quipped, “No cell phones in the E.R., Mark!”
Luckily it was not really a heart attach. Just low potassium. The Dr. prescribed lots of bananas, and NO MORE 14 hour work days followed by working on the rehab house in 100 degree weather. My daddy, the workaholic!
So, needless to say, that was the week from HELL! Thankfully the owner finally wised up and realized that he would never get tenants in this place as good as us and agreed to replace all of the floors. We actually got a great surprise out of the deal and got not only new carpet but also hard wood floors in the entryway and hallways. YIPPIE!!
June 2009
Ben and I took in a free baseball game! Bob gave us his AWESOME seats to a Cardinals game because, he loves us! We packed a lunch and took off for a nice Sunday game.
Me & Ben
Cheap Sodas!
It Rained
Run Pujols, RUN!!
A Good Man Died Tonight
He was a father, a grandfather, a neighbor, a friend. There are many people who loved him very much. He was much too young to die and went much to fast for anyone to understand. Cancer is a terrible monster and I will never understand it.
We will miss you so much…
L McPherson's Blog 