Monday, January 9, 2017

If You Love The Outdoors…


Hey there! How’s everybody? I trust you all had a great Christmas and a happy beginning of the New Year.

 
We had a great Christmas. Both of our children were able to be at home with us this year. Times like these are rare these days and I really love them. I’m not going to bore you with Christmas pictures and such, but I do want to show you a few pictures taken on our day after Christmas. If you love the outdoors, like we do, then you take a walk in the woods. And then there’s this one of Cliff cooking our Christmas steaks outside over an open fire. Since we went traditional at Thanksgiving, we decided to part from the norm at Christmas. Yes, we had steaks and all the fixins to go with them. Delish!

Our walk in the woods was so fun and beautiful and peaceful. We may even make it a tradition. I mean, when you have a child as active as Whitney and a husband who would love to just live in the woods or swamps, then you conform. It wasn’t hard at all. I love it, too. Not the swamps…just the woods. Especially, when there are no snakes out.

 
And then after the New Year, specifically this past weekend, there was the promise of snow. Accumulation was expected to be about 3”. For the south, that’s nearly paralyzing. Well, that didn’t happen. We had a trace…I don’t even know if it was enough to measure. But to this snow loving woman, it was beautiful. I stared and gazed and was mesmerized for the two whole hours that it snowed. Ha!

This week, I’m working on my goals for 2017. They include health, organizing, new plantings, crafting, and such. I’ll probably share. Stay tuned.

Hoping you all have a great New Year!
Laurie

26 comments:

  1. My 2017 goals sound a lot like yours!

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    1. Like you said a few days ago, "like minds". lol!

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  2. So good to hear from you and glad that you had a wonderful Christmas!
    We're supposed to get snow this week and if we ever get more than an inch, we struggle!
    Happy New Year!

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    1. Hi Christine, well I hope you get just enough snow to be fun, but not enough to paralyze you. Ha! Happy New Year to you!

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  3. We like to get away from the normal at Chritmas too. Like Lasagna dinner!
    Been missing your post. Your outdoor world sounds marvelous!
    Lisa

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    1. Hey Lisa, yum....Lasagna sounds good, too! Yeah, I took a little time off to spend with family over the holidays. Good to be back. Love the great outdoors. I enjoy the woods during winter because I wouldn't dare step foot in there during summer with all those creepy critters slithering around.

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  4. Hi! Looking forward to hearing a little more about your goals. Hope you hae a wonderful year. Nancy

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    1. Thanks, Nancy. You'll hear about them here.

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  5. Welcome back Laurie...
    I like your idea of traditional for Thanksgiving...and not for Christmas! With my families food preferences and gluten allergies, this looks good to me for next holidays!
    Those steaks sure look good!
    Enjoy your week...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)
    ps....looking forward to your plantings and crafts!

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    1. Thanks, Linda! We actually got the idea from Cliff's sister. She started serving them at Christmas a few years ago. We were thinking that two traditional meals so close together was just too much food, so decided to follow her idea. I'm glad we did. It will be Christmas dinner from now on.

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  6. You can never go wrong with a good steak! Yum!
    Well, you know I'm into the organizational part of your resolution! I've jumped into mine already, knowing it will probably take the better part of the whole year with combining spring cleaning and purging to it, too! But I'm excited!
    I know your gardening plans will be awesome!

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    1. I'm excited about my organizing plans. It's going to take awhile for me, too. It involves moving furniture out and then bring some in from storage. It's been a little over a year now that we sold our home and made the lake our primary residence. Sometimes you just have to live there awhile before you figure out what you want to do. I'm there.

      I am also super excited about the gardens...vegetable and flower. And, I'm planting another pecan tree.

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  7. What great pictures and now I am hungry for a steak. lol
    What body of water are you on? Is that a lake or wide part of a river or? It is gorgeous.
    Happy new year to you- I am already on the purging and accomplishing bandwagon this year. xo Diana

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    1. Hey Diana. We are on Lake Greenwood....love it. You've been purging for awhile. How's the sale of your home going? I have been out of touch, you may have already sold it.

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  8. Love your decision to go with steak and the Great Outdoors for Christmas! I might have to steal that one for next year. It is so good to start catching up with my blog friends; I am looking forward to seeing what 2017 brings for you! blessings ~ tanna

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    1. I'm so glad to hear from you, Tanna. Welcome back!

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  9. Happy New Year! We love hikes at all times of year too. :)

    Eager to hear more about your 2017 goals.

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    1. Thanks, Marcie. There's just something about a new year and new beginnings to get the organizational juices flowing. I'm excited to get started.

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  10. A steak on a wood fire is awesome! If the weather here were conducive to outdoor fires in December, I'd make that a tradition too. I'm open to new ideas and I'm a meat eater so I'd be on board with this one! I've been working on getting rid of "stuff" over the past year and making small headway. I'm looking at my computer room and decided that will be my next project. It's easy to just dump stuff there with the idea of getting back to it later...well...it's later! Glad you had a wonderful Christmas and I'll look forward to your resolution posts!

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    1. Hey YaYa! Yeah, my office sounds like your computer room. It's multipurpose, so I want to concentrate on different areas or stations for the room. Stay tuned. Good to hear from you. Happy New Year!

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  11. Your pictures of your Christmas hike and meal looked so nice. Reminded me of fall in our neck o' the woods. What a lovely tradition you've started. I would have loved it.

    I could reorganize and get rid of a little stuff but I'm not a keeper of things I don't use. I've been a little in awe that my "save everything" husband has actually been doing some cleaning and weeding out himself. I try to be supportive of this but at the same time not saying too much so as to jinx this new and welcome activity!!

    Looking forward to your blog post this new year. Hugs.

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    1. Hey, Mama Pea. After making the move to the lake, I had to consolidate my crafting, sewing and office. Not much storage here, so things sort of sprawled out....hence the need for organizing. I agree, don't jinx the hubs. Sounds like he's on a roll. HaHa!

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  12. Always planning something... do you ever have to take a break? Looks like you did when you took that walk in the woods and had a cookout. Love the looks of those steaks! We got around 4" of snow in the upstate, and it hung around for about four days since it was so cold at night. Love the snow, and it's usually gone in a few days. My son lives in North Dakota, and he won't see the ground until April. I guess I'm just rambling on... Hope you, Cliff, and the rest of the family have a healthy and happy 2017! Keep up the blogging -- we all love hearing about the goings on on LaLa Lane.

    Jim Fowler, Greenville, SC

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    1. Well hey there, Jim! Good to hear from you. Hope your holidays were wonderful. Planning? Yeah, you know what they say....if you don't have a goal and plan for it, nothing ever gets done. True, I may go overboard at times. It's fun though. I heard about the snow y'all got. I'm so jealous! One of my daughters lives in Colorado and gets lots of snow, not quite as much as your Dakota son, though. I wish the same for you in 2017....lots of health and happiness and orchid photo opportunities. I'll see you back here soon.

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  13. Hi Laurie! We love snow here, too, but we don't usually get a lot. We live in the foothills below the Smoky mtns. Love the idea of steaks for Christmas dinner. We did that in 2014.
    Have a great weekend!
    Toni

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    1. Hey Toni, thanks for stopping by. We live in upstate SC...so we're sort of neighbors. As far as snow, I say bring it on. Yeah, steaks at Christmas was a hit. Hope you have a great weekend, too.

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