adios, november

leko's disgusted expression while sitting on ryan's lap pretty much sums it up.  it's hard to believe that today is the last day of november and that there is just one month left to 2016. to be honest, i'm pretty happy about it.  over the thanksgiving break, we got together with an old friend who was in town visiting, and she mentioned that everyone she knows has had a rough 2016.  i agree, and i'm very much looking forward to a new year for many different reasons . . . but don't get me wrong, i don't want to rush through the holiday season by any means.  i love december and all that it has to offer.  the christmas season is one of my favorite holidays and it's a really special time of the year for us since we got engaged at christmas (9 years ago!).  here's hoping for a joyous month of december and a peaceful end to this absolutely crazy year.

adios, november.

love, laurie

snapshots of life lately, according to my iphone pictures

. . . and ryan's iphone too.

i can't believe that i haven't shared a "life lately" post since july!  here are a few photos of . . .
a lunch date at chipotle for their b.o.g.o. special, meeting up with an old friend for coffee over thanksgiving break, leko investigating dirty dishes, apple cider waffles for breakfast, and a pretty rainbow we discovered while out running errands.

love, laurie

a lovely long holiday weekend

wow, the long thanksgiving weekend came at the perfect time for us.  the weeks leading up to thanksgiving were hectic and stressful, so the three-day weekend was just what the doctor ordered.

we had a wonderful thanksgiving on thursday with our families and it was the perfect kick-off to the holiday weekend.  friday, saturday, and sunday were nothing short of magical and we savored every moment.  it was like time stood still for those three days, and i can't remember the last time that has happened.

the holiday weekend was the perfect combination of relaxing and productive.  ryan and i got to spend quality time together, and we are both amazed at how much we were able to accomplish too.  the weekend was refreshing and i feel so much better because of it.  we're now officially ready for december and the christmas season!

hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving weekend too!

love, laurie

thanksgiving 2016

we had a great thanksgiving yesterday with our families at my parents' house!  

hope your thanksgiving was lovely too!

love, laurie

. . . 

past thanksgivings: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

happy thanksgiving!

happy thanksgiving!  we have so much to be thankful for, and it's so nice to have a day set aside to reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives.  today we're looking forward to cooking with my mom, spending time with our families, and of course eating way too much.

have a wonderful thanksgiving day!

love, laurie

helpful tips for cooking thanksgiving dinner

thanksgiving is tomorrow, which means today is the big prep day for most households.  if you're in charge of cooking thanksgiving dinner this year, here are a few charts filled with prep tips that you might find helpful.  (this post is a long one, so click on "read more" below to see all of the charts.)

a rare saturday morning breakfast date

going out for breakfast is such a nice treat, but it's a very rare occurrence for us because i have dance very early on saturday mornings and most of our favorite breakfast spots are closed on sundays.  however, this past saturday was one of the rare occasions when i didn't have dance, so we took advantage of the opportunity and went out for breakfast.  we headed to our favorite little local breakfast spot.  we had some super yummy specials off the menu: a green goddess scramble (with spinach, broccoli, and avocado), italian eggs benedict (with spinach, roasted red peppers, and mozzarella), and crispy home fries.  it was such a nice little date together to kick off the weekend!

love, laurie

kicking off the holiday season with a christmas dance performance

for the past few years, our town has held a town christmas lighting ceremony, and the event is a lot of fun.  there's entertainment, food, games, movies, crafts, and even horse-drawn sleigh rides with santa.  this year, our dance studio got to be part of the festivities.  

on sunday afternoon, 14 of our dancers performed 7 selections from our holiday dance showcase (which is coming up in december).  we were originally scheduled to dance outside, but the weather was so horrible.  it snowed all day long and it was freezing cold outside.  luckily, they were able to move us inside.  since we anticipated dancing outside, we bundled up in as many layers as we could.  (i had 4 layers under my outfit in an effort to insulate my body!)  it was a tad warm dancing inside in all of those layers, but it sure beat freezing outside!

a huge thank you goes to my dad who filmed the whole thing for me because both my mom and ryan couldn't make it.  (thank you, papa!!!)  so proud of my flip-phone-using-dad who learned how to film on my iphone just for this.  below are a few screenshots from the video that he shot.  

i danced in 2 numbers for the event.  the first was our junior/senior jazz class dance to "dance of the sugar plum fairy" by pentatonix . . .

the second number was our junior/senior ballet class dance to "mary, did you know" which was also by pentatonix . . .

you can see more photos and the video of our performance 

on my dance studio's facebook page

love, laurie

fun links

we're less than a week away from thanksgiving!  where did november go?  i'm excited that the weekend is upon us because my dance studio is performing at a local town christmas lighting ceremony on sunday.  we are supposed to be performing outside, yet the weather is not looking so good for sunday.  keep your fingers crossed for us!

since it's friday, here are a few fun links that i found around the internet recently . . .

1. which thanksgiving food are you?  take the quiz - i got pumpkin pie, which is pretty appropriate

2. these cranberry bars intrigue me

3. some of the many health benefits of apples

4. this d.i.y. garden tool rack is awesome

5. this cinnamon roll wreath is gorgeous

6. on that note, here's how to keep your health/fitness goals during the holidays

7. file this under ridiculous

8. how 86 burglars broke into homes

9. and on a related note, how to make it look like you're home when you're traveling

have a wonderful weekend!

love, laurie