happy halloween!

happy halloween!  we'll see if there will be any trick-or-treaters who show up tonight at our house for candy.  who knows!  leko will be on the lookout for them.

love, laurie

piano!

oh baby!  we're so excited over at the theatre where i work because a woman from a neighboring community has decided to donate her baby grand piano to us and it's being delivered this afternoon!!!  we're thrilled that the theatre will have a piano of its own and that we won't have to keep renting a piano every time we need one for a show.

i took this picture last week when i went to the woman's home to see the piano in person.  we're still trying to track down the history of it, but so far we believe it was built in the 1930s and we know that just 2 years ago the entire inside was restrung!  can't wait to hear someone play this!

love, laurie

blue light blocking glasses

even pre-pandemic, i'm someone who spends a lot of time starring at screens every day.  lots of screens and lots of starring means i often have tired eyes at the end of each day.  now since the pandemic, it's even worse because i'm spending even more time in front of screens.

three years ago, ryan and i traded our contact lenses for lasik eye surgery and it was easily one of the best decisions we ever made.  i want to make sure i'm taking good care of the investment that we put into our eyes and not damaging them with the blue light that emits from screens.

for months, everyone has been talking about blue light blocking glasses.  i was hesitant to try them at first, but after too much eye strain i decided to buy a pair to see if they help.  there are tons of different ones on the market ranging from really inexpensive to crazy expensive.  i decided to try this $15.99 pair from amazon based on a friend's recommendation.  they are the brand orange by tijn (which is much more expensive on their website and much more reasonable on amazon, btw).  

i'll give them a try for a bit before i make a final verdict, but i'm hoping they help.  (many people even say they sleep better after a day when they have worn them.)

love, laurie

a very different look at cruise ships now

our family has enjoyed cruising for years.  we've been on many and had great times.  we even had a family cruise scheduled for this past september which had to be canceled due to the pandemic.  

well, now that the cruise ship industry is shut down indefinitely, i found these articles interesting about where cruise ships are at now.  turns out they're either headed to a scrap yard in turkey or floating out in the middle of ocean somewhere. 

what happens to cruise ships when they go to the scrap yard?  they get dismantled and sold for scrap metal.  (for real, i can't believe they park them so close together that they are touching!)

for the vessels that aren't ready to end up in the scrapyard, they are getting a lot of onlookers via a ferry that is taking people out on a sightseeing adventure.  (ryan and i were on the allure of the seas back in 2012.)

it sure is sad!

love, laurie

cuddle kitten

this guy loves to cuddle and i absolutely love the positions he gets into when he naps on our laps!

love, laurie

weekend baking and kitten cuddles

i finally had a free moment this weekend to use up some open pumpkin puree i had in the fridge by making pumpkin scones with maple glaze, use up leftover apples sitting on the countertop by making morning glory muffins, and actually sit down on the couch for more than a millisecond to cuddle my furry baby boy!

okay, monday, here we go.

love, laurie

working another political event

earlier this week we worked yet another political event for our stage hands union.  i'm grateful for the stage hands work, but goodness i'm really tired of working these political events because they are grueling and exhausting.  i have never meet anyone as picky as the people who are in charge of these events.

it was two very long days setting up a full stage area from nothing in a parking lot for dr. jill biden, and the whole even was over in the blink of an eye!  

love, laurie

for goodness sake, wear a mask!

this by far is the best thing i've seen on the internet this week.  

listen everybody, the live entertainment industry (which my household relies on to make a darn living!) will never get back to where it was if you don't put a stupid mask on your face.  stop being idiots!

love, laurie

movie special effects

i always find movie special effects fascinating.  here are some fun behind-the-scenes pictures showing how the special effects made the harry potter movies look so incredible in the edited movies.

love, laurie

a 40th anniversary celebration

we celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary over the weekend with a gathering at our house on saturday.  for lunch we made a garden salad, rosemary herb olive oil rolls, and seafood pasta with lots of veggies covered in a cauliflower alfredo sauce with pesto on top.  for dessert we enjoyed pumpkin creme brûlée.  it was so nice to get together and celebrate!

love, laurie

the picture of fall

this guy was all about checking out our fall tablescape this weekend!  he was so cute next to the fall flowers and pumpkins!

love, laurie

happy anniversary, mom and dad!

happy 40th wedding anniversary to my parents today!

love, laurie

fun links

a few fun links i found around the internet recently . . . 

1. talk about a throwback! wayyyy back!

2. the most ridiculous masks spotted on the subway

3. yum!  i want to make a vegetarian version of this

4. kitty comics

5. this reminds me of a dessert from the 90s

6. i started watching this on netflix and it's scary!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

it's thursday and we're all doing the best we can

you would think that a short week after a long 3-day holiday weekend would be easier . . . nope.  ha!  it's thursday and my goal is simply to survive to dinner today.  all i want to do is curl back up in bed with leko.  

love, laurie

hair stylist

ryan gets such special treatment from his furry hair stylist who always makes sure his hair is well washed!

love, laurie

the long weekend

the long columbus day weekend was much appreciated.  even though we had a bit of work interspersed throughout the weekend, we were very grateful to get some time off too.  

among other things, our weekend included . . . lots and lots of cuddles from leko, a trip to knoebels with our parents to see the park's halloween decorations, apple pancakes in our pjs which made the whole house smell like fall, some much-needed yard cleanup, a little dinner date at our favorite mexican restaurant which left us with lots of leftovers, a sunday night sundae date at one of our favorite local ice cream shops for buy-one-get-one free pumpkin ice cream, and a netflix marathon cuddled up on the couch with our fluffy baby.

love, laurie

finally a day off (sort of)

work is closed today so we have the day off . . . well, sort of because i still have to teach today but at least it's only one class.  happy to have most of the day work-free!

love, laurie

2020 miley cyrus parody

at least the holderness family is keeping us well entertained this year.  i have no idea how they crank out these videos so fast, but i'm loving it!

enjoy your weekend!

love, laurie

best way to watch the debate

watched the vp debate last night . . . what made it tolerable was this guy in my lap in bed!  

love, laurie

national led light day

it turns out that october 7th is national led light day.  we have to take a moment to acknowledge a whole day dedicated to lights since ryan loves lighting so much!  in addition to doing lights when we're in the thatre, ryan loves creating fun light colors a home with our philips hue bulbs all over the house!  (remember the year that ryan dressed up as a light designer for halloween?!)

love, laurie

happy birthday, little blog!

today my blog turns 9 years old!  it has been 9 years since i started this blog back in 2011 on a whim.  9 years later, i'm still grateful to have my little corner of the internet as a virtual scrapbook to chronicle the highlights of our lives.

happy birthday, little blog!

love, laurie

. . .

previous blogiversaries: year 1, year 2, year 3, year 4, year 5, year 6, year 7, year 8

2020 elton john parody

the holderness family is keeping me laughing during this crazy pandemic.  here's their take on if elton john's songs were about 2020.  ha!

love, laurie

mind your mouth

i really cannot sit idly by anymore and take the constant verbal abuse of society running their mouths around.  everyone feels entitled to loudly boast their opinions nowadays about absolutely everything and it's to the point where i don't want to have a conversation with anyone for fear of being verbally accosted.

you are 100% entitled to your own opinion, beliefs, choices, lifestyle, etc. but for the love of goodness sake, stop trying to convert everyone to your side when it comes to every single issue.  it's maddening.

we're at the point now where people are fed up and their patience is running low as a result of the pandemic and the upcoming election.  all of that negative energy is really toxic and i want to hibernate until everything blows over.

guess what?  you can vote for whoever you want!  just stop making every conversation about converting everyone around you to your beliefs.  (for those who are guilty of this, i have news for you . . .  if you are this type of person, the majority of the time the people around you don't want to hear about it because they don't agree with you.)

do not tell me what i should believe, what is right/wrong, what is fact/fiction, who to vote for, how to live my life .

can you think what you want?  absolutely, but keep it to yourself.

i certainly have my own opinions about everything, as i am entitled to, but i do not go around running my mouth and trying to convert everyone to my side.  i make comments inside my own home to my husband but not directly to people's faces (although i would certainly like to most times).

there are several people who i am now embarrassed to be in public with because they are so loud and obnoxious.

ryan and i recently had a conversation with a close family friend.  all three of us agreed that we will never put a political sign on our lawn for fear of having our property vandalized.  how incredibly sad is that?  when people press us about voting for a political candidate, we lie and agree with them in order to shut them up in order to end the conversation sooner.

people, keep your politics and religion private.  if the most exercise you get is running your mouth, jumping to conclusions, and pushing your luck, then you need to reevaluate your life.

if only closed minds came with closed mouths.

love, laurie

leko for president (again)

we sat down on tuesday evening to watch the presidential debate.  we don't get involved in politics at all, and certainly don't typically watch things like presidential debates, but we just had to watch this one to see what level of nonsense would be displayed on tv.  in true laurie-and-ryan style, we lit up the living room red and blue for some theatrical lighting to go with the theatrical acting that was about to take place on tv.  

when we watched the debate four years ago, i decided that the country was doomed and that leko should run for president.  if you remember, we made leko a campaign poster, and ryan's aunt and uncle printed out leko's campaign sign and put it in their yard!  definitely one of the best things i had ever seen!  leko actually got several votes too!

well, here we go again.  we decided he had to run for president again because the country is an absolute embarrassment right about now.  thus, i present to you, leko's 2020 campaign poster . . .

that hot mess train wreck on tv was beyond embarrassing and i can't believe that adults can act so childish.  no one was a "winner" of that debate because it was so immature (that poor moderator couldn't even get a word in or control them) but there certainly is one candidate who is better than the other.  please, please, please vote wisely this year folks!

love, laurie