Thursday, April 24, 2008

Memories for a year on the 25th!

Christi Snow, Design Team Member for Unity had this on her blog. It intrigued me so I followed the link. I found this SPLENDID idea here. Shimelle is a genius and I am all game! Take a peek at her blog, she will even send you a reminder when the 25th is approaching! If you are in, leave a comment below so I know who's blog will have some eye candy around the 25th of each month! FUN STUFF!

Monday, April 21, 2008

After 40 years....

You can eat like a King & Queen courtesy of the children you have cooked for all your life....
.....you can enjoy grandchildren that ADORE you but may be a teenie bit jealous of one another(Sawyer was eyeing cousin Jackson on his brothers lap.)


...you love one another dearly








...you inspire, and in return we love you dearly





...you are used to the bear hugs of my hubby







....you make us look forward to our future together.
simple love
so much appreciated
thank you dad & mom.








Saturday, April 19, 2008

Why am I cleaning cupboards?!

We are on the verge of releasing at Unity...10 days to go...why am I cleaning cupboards?! Maybe because there is Tupperware, color crayons, play dough, pans, plates and dish towels in cupboard #1 - and as I open the next we have grape nuts, coffee filters, red hots, plates, bowls, a Hershey bar and coffee saucers. What in the world?! THIS is what happens when you find it important that the entire family "help out" - even the 5 year old. Laugh. I sometimes wish that kicking things to the side DID qualify as suitable means of clean up - or how about the whole "out of sight, out of mind I'll just stick it in ....HERE" thought process? Anyone have individuals in their home with that mode of thinking? My personality tends to be on the laid back side and I can live with a little dis-order - but when I decide to clean, I clean. Nothing half hearted about it. When I was little, I remember being sent to my room to tidy up, and I literally would pull everything out of it's place and start FRESH. I still do that. It's a lengthy process, but when I am finished things sparkle! So as I sit in my "sparkly" living room, I have a keen little sense of accomplishment - it will last all of 2 days. The female to male ratio in my house is 6 to 1 - A consistent tidy environment is nearly impossible, I have been brought to the "dark side" of messiness. I often refer to my house as a snow globe that has been shaken and set down. I beg you, call before you come.

Life at Unity is exciting! I am being contacted by so many significantly relevant people in this industry with support regarding our new mounting system. I am going to stay silent with specifics. I can tell you it is BIG and it is EXCITING - our dreams are manifesting on a daily basis. As I look through my journal & even go back to the beginning of this blog I note all the quotes, and words of inspiration that I have been drawing from for months. I am a devout advocate of positivity, faith, and taking responsibility for the life you are living. I have been studying faith & spirituality from every angle for years - I love the place it has brought me in this lifetime, each and everyday I wake up with warm sense of contentment with where I am, yet excitement for where I am going.

I have a request in on my Unity blog for people to leave RANDOM or AMAZING facts about themselves. I thought I would take a moment to list a few "randoms" about ME.

  1. 3 of my 4 babies were born nearly 10lbs & every single one was 23 inches long.
  2. I love to FiSH! Sunfish are my favorite. On any given warm sunny day a fishing rod, nightcrawlers and a fishing boat is considered prime entertainment.
  3. Last March we became the "Cub Foods" family. Television showcased the Magnuson's in a local grocery store commercial filmed in Minneapolis. My kids still get grief at school...not to mention the slack we take when caught grocery shopping at Super Walmart!
  4. I move my furniture around about every 3 months, DRIVES Chris NUTS! (thanks for the reminder Susan, i guess that is a little random - not EVERYONE does that, do they?)

Big day of cooking tomorrow! It is not every day your parents celebrate 40 years together!

Inspirational Quotes that I love, courtesy of Mr. Albert Einstein:

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

"If at first an idea isn't absurd, there's no hope for it."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Time for an addition....

This very minute we are sitting in our living room. 7 of us. It's cozy, we will just put it that way. Bringing Kyle into our home has been nothing less than pleasant. He is still a little distant and I can see there is some deep thought going on, but overall it has brought the best out of everyone. The boys are all sincerely happy that he is here. He can stay - as long as he wants. He is a great kid. I am proud of him - he has managed to keep his flair AND follow our rules. He is respectful and kind, and fits in with the rest of the Magnuson clan. Now it is time for an addition. One more bedroom, and a dining room is in order. Looking forward to accomplishing that in the near future...it is beyond time.

We are SUPER busy at Unity! Our pad printer has arrived and the images that it imprints on our stamps are incredible. We have some tuning up to do and within days we will be able to consistently complete each and every order that comes in. We are running a small night shift to keep up with the demand. We have 9 saws running, cutting our images with perfection. High quality is key for the success of Unity - our product is beautiful. I couldn't be happier with the way everything is coming together.

Now, the only thing missing in my life is MY MOTHER. That little absence will be filled tomorrow. She is FINALLY coming home from Florida. I miss her terribly and it will be splendid to have her back in Minnesota. Sunday my parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. How fabulous is that?! Chris and I are going to cook a gourmet dinner in celebration of the occasion. Hopefully we will get through the day without a hitch. He cooks in a neat cleanly manner and I am complete chaos. He measures, I dump, He stirs, I whip, He cleans, I toss, He has a plan, I just dig in. We could easily do a reality cooking show called "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen". He tolerates me fabulously...I give him a ton of credit.

Loving Life...looking forward to each and every day! I actually heard myself say this out loud yesterday...something I NEVER thought I would say - " I LOVE MONDAY" - Is that weird? I am surrounded by unbelievable people each and everyday. My design team, our help at Unity, our family, our friends, even the random interaction I have on a daily basis. A huge THANKS to each of you for making my life a fabulous place to exist everyday!

Story time for Sawyer - He is ready for "Winnie the Pooh Adventures", it is calling our name!


"We find greatest joy, not in getting, but in expressing what we are... Men do not really live for honors or for pay; their gladness is not the taking and holding, but in doing, the striving, the building, the living. It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself."
R.J. Baughan

Monday, April 7, 2008

6 + 1 = 7


We were given an opportunity this past weekend, and it was a doozy. Isn't it amazing how the good Lord gives you all kinds of chances to feel Joy? It is just a matter of what perspective you look at it. Our opportunity came in the form of a child in black. Black clothes, black hair, black fingernail polish, black eye makeup (which you would only notice if the hair is slightly moved away from his good looking face) He is now part of the Magnuson clan for a bit. He has been in the lives of our boys for as long as we can remember...his big brown eyes used to greet me at the front door several times a week, but in the past year the visits were much less. He has a
"flair" - let's just put it that way. I am all about individuality, but some guidance is what we hope to offer. We are opening our home with the hope of giving him some support, some perspective and some security. Perhaps he will take a new direction. His choice. So our lives have been sprinkled with some diversity to say the least, but our family is happy to have it. That's what livin' is all about. My hope is that this 13 year old boy realizes that life does not have to consist of drama and being the victim. He has a choice now to take what is being offered and find some way to turn things around. It is going to take some sacrifice, but he is smart...he'll figure it out!
'My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,' the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky. 'Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.'
Paulo Coelho

Friday, April 4, 2008

If your reading this........

Say a prayer...a prayer for his family - he was young. He left too soon. Cancer.

Lance helped us. He was smart, determined, & motivated. He was kind, intriguing, and quiet. We liked him...a lot. We are grateful for his part in Unity. He passed away this week - I told him how smart I thought he was, but I never told him Thank you. I hope he knows how much I appreciate the part he took in making our dreams come true.

sym·pa·thy;
1 a: an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Tagged - 7 random & weird facts

I was tagged by Lori! http://www.sentimentalmomentsintime.blogspot.com/

1. When I put on my boots, consistently one pant leg goes to the proper place around the bottom of my boot - yet the other is always scrunched up at the top of the boot. Several people call this to my attention, and I simply don't see the need to fix it! Originality is good, right?

2. I love the smell of rubber stamps cooking in the vulcanizer just as much as I love the smell of fresh laundry! How weird is that? Perhaps because if we cook enough rubber stamps I can HIRE someone to do my laundry!

3. I WANT my children to travel across the country after they graduate and THEN decide what to do with the rest of their lives. College is important, I know! Don't email me! I hope they go to college, but I want them to dream BIG and know why they are there when they go!

4. I would love to be an advice columnist - but after the statement I have made in #3 I don't know that any level headed person would ask my advice!

5. I WILL NOT be told what to do, HOW to do it, or what to think. Let me figure it out and then let me ask questions. I think this makes me a bit of a free spirit. (My poor mother...although I am pretty sure she loves me dearly regardless)

6. I don't like wind. Ticks me off. It blows in my ears and I can't hear anything, nothing stays in place and if it is blowing in just the right direction every one's belongings on the entire block ends up in MY BACK YARD!

7. My lip twitches when I do public speaking. I am like Elvis Presley reincarnated on stage with that twitchy lip. The right corner...it is uncontrollable!

I am now supposed to tag 7 people - therefore I am picking on my DT, artist, and talented friend. Once you get my tag, do as I have done - pick 7 people to tag yourself and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they are UP!

I will now tag:

Brooke Lien - www.brookelien.blogspot.com/
A.J. Otto - www.thewillowgarden.blogspot.com/
Amy Bass - www.littlefishdesigns.blogspot.com/
Karen McLaughlin - www.karenmclaughlin.blogspot.com/
Jen Erickson - www.shut-up-its-true.blogspot.com/
Christi Snow - http://www.alteredambitions.blogspot.com/
Robyn Weatherspoon - http://herebygrace.typepad.com/here_by_grace/

Smooth Sailing...My Hope for You.

I read this quote - by Abraham Hicks, and pondered it:

If you are ending up where you want to be, what difference does it make whether you went fast or slow? Or what difference does it make whether it was painful before it got really good?

Isn't that the point of free will? You get to choose.

We do get to choose, that is SO GREAT! Life does not have to be full of heart wrenching tradgedies to learn what we are meant to learn while spending time on this earth. This life is "termed" as a gift from God - live in abundance, live in joy, live with gratitude and LIFE is what it was meant to be.

You have choices. They can lead you onto rough road till by messing up so much you finally see the light OR you can choose to sail the smooth waters and only have the wind blow enough to keep you on course. Smooth sailing is what I wish for you. Small mistakes along the way to keep you on the smooth path. Learn fast, Love life, and Enjoy the ride.

A few of my favorites, today:
"The person who sends out positive thoughts, activates the world around him positively and draws back to him positive results."
Norman Vincent Peale
"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles....but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."
Budda
"Your true passion should feel like breathing;it's that natural"
My Friend: Oprah Winfrey
Off to breath! Loving Life!