happy long labor day weekend!

it's labor day weekend!  bring on the looonnnggg weekend, please!  we're kicking things off early by taking the day off work today to see a show with our parents. 

this weekend i'm very much looking forward to visiting our local italian festival.  i absolutely live for this italian festival and it's one of my favorite traditions that we go every year.  i'm salivating just thinking about it, and i have my italian festival shirt ready to go!

i'm also not complaining one bit about the fact that work is closed on monday so i have the day off!  thank goodness that there are no shows to work this weekend!!!

have a great long labor day weekend!

love, laurie

new season, new hair cut

it's been exactly 4 months since i last had my hair cut, and it needed a lot of tlc after the summer months.  i was finally able to carve out some time last night to see my hairdresser and my hair said a big thank you!  it's nice to have a fresh change for a new season.

when i got home, leko and i had a competition to see who's "fur" was softer, mama's or his.  of course, he won!

happy thursday!

love, laurie

back-to-school quiz

i love the dumb quizzes buzzfeed puts out.  since it's back-to-school season, here's one that can predict your major based on how you design your dorm room.  i took the quiz for fun and was surprised to get physics as my major . . . not even close, buzzfeed!

in real back-to-school news though, yesterday was the first day back at it for the fall semester.  i taught my theatre class yesterday afternoon, and i teach my communication arts class today.  i somehow think i'm even less interested in school this semester than my students.  is it time for break yet?

love, laurie

hazards of our jobs

our jobs working in multiple performing arts venues are physical and often lead to scrapes, bruises, and sore body parts.  even though i've injured so many different body parts over the years, i rarely hurt my hands . . . that was until saturday when my hand got slammed between a metal set cart and a metal video wall cart (because someone stupid wasn't paying attention!).  now i have some nice bruised knuckles as battle wounds.

i think resting my hand on kitty fur sounds like the purr-fect remedy!

love, laurie

back at it again

we were back at it again on saturday with another summer concert at our local outdoor concert pavilion.  we both worked knotfest all day, and boy was it a long day.  ryan worked lighting for the load in, deck during the run of the show, and lighting for the load out.  i worked rigging for the load in, then video and lighting during the day, spotlight during the show, and then back to rigging for the load out.

knotfest featured slipknot along with a bunch of opening bands.  it certainly wasn't my taste in music at all, but i was surprised at how theatrical it was.  i'm exhausted and need a rest from that show, especially since i have been fighting a head cold all week too.

i'm elated that we only have one show left at the pavilion in september before we pack in the pavilion for the season!  a few photos from saturday . . .

love, laurie

back to school next week

school starts back up next week and students aren't the only ones who don't want to go back.  i'm not ready to start teaching back up yet.  i feel like the fall semester came way too quickly and i don't have anything ready at all for my classes.  i'll have to crack open the books eventually before tuesday!

love, laurie

snapshots of life lately . . .

a few photos of . . . the new plant in our kitchen next to our kitchen sink which is actually still alive, a trip to the zane grey museum with my parents, a night at the movie theatre to see the movie "yesterday" with our families, our first time trying rolled ice cream, an employee appreciation treat that ryan received at work, and working on the lighting crew for the breaking benjamin concert at our local concert pavilion.

love, laurie

my laundry helper

i was folding laundry the other day on the bed and leko jumped up to help me out.  he was particularly interested in one bath towel.  after i folded it and set it down on the bed, he came over and started kneading on it with his paws and then made himself comfortable on it.  he was "fluffing" and "pressing" the towel for me.  he also helped me wrangle my sock balls.  what a great helper!

i told ryan, "wait until you get this laundry service bill!  it's going to be very, very expensive for these kitten laundry services!"

love, laurie

another summer concert

on saturday we worked the florida georgia line concert at our local outdoor concert pavilion.  one of the three opening acts was dan + shay, so needless to say, the place was packed!  ryan worked on lights for the load in and load out and was on deck for the run of the show.  i worked rigging for the load in and load out and was back up in my spot tower to run spot light for the show.

this summer has been a busy one with shows, and we've been up there working concerts every single weekend for the past several weekends.  we're thrilled that we only have one concert left in august and one in september before the outdoor concert season is over.  hooray!

love, laurie

ryan's birthday trip to knoebels amusement park

we celebrated ryan's birthday on wednesday by taking a trip to knoebels amusement park with our family.  it's been two years since ryan and i last went to knoebels and our parents haven't been there in a long time.

we reserved a picnic table in a pavilion so we had a home base to store our stuff all day and eat our lunch (and birthday cupcakes)!  it came in handy to keep us dry during a downpour which came out of nowhere too!  we rode a bunch of rides and had a lot of fun.  it was a great way to celebrate ryan's birthday!

i didn't lug my big dslr camera with me (thank goodness because it rained) but i did snap a bunch of photos on my phone . . .

happy birthday, ryan!

love, laurie

birthday treats

it's always so fun to get free treats during the month of your birthday from stores/restaurants.  this past week ryan used a few of his birthday coupons.  on sunday afternoon we went out for a little date to use his free burger coupon at red robin and his free italian ice coupon at rita's.  it was a nice little break from our crazy work schedules!

love, laurie

pillow kitten

this is what i woke up to one morning this week . . . leko barging his way between my head and my pillow in order to get himself close to the window over the head of our bed to see if there were birdies outside.  what a way to wake up! 

love, laurie

happy birthday, ryan!

wishing a very, very happy birthday to this love of mine!

(how are you 35?!  where did the time go?)

love, laurie

the grand canyon of pennsylvania

on friday my parents decided to take a day trip out to the "grand canyon of pennsylvania" to check it out since we had never been there before.  it's quite a distance from where we live, and there was a mix up with directions, but after many, many, many hours of driving we finally found it!  we first stopped at a lookout tower to take in the view before heading to an overlook for a different view.

it really was amazing how large it was, and luckily the view was totally clear since the weather was so good that day.  a few snapshots from my phone . . .

love, laurie