festival of ice

on sunday, we bundled up to face the single-digit temperatures and headed to the clarks summit festival of ice.  it's been a long time since we've checked out the annual ice festival.  we first went in 2016 and then again in 2017.

this year's theme was "frozen wilderness" so the ice sculptures were all animal themed.  even though it was so cold, we enjoyed walking around to look at the ice carvings.  it was so cold that i couldn't take my hands out of my gloves for very long to take pictures, so i only snapped a few . . . 

love, laurie

morning murder

leko has a halloween-themed tennis ball that is black and orange which my parents gave him several years ago.  it's one of his favorite toys and periodically when he gets revved up, i give him the tennis ball and he "murders" it by furiously kicking it.  he got himself all in a tizzy the other morning, so i tossed him the ball and caught a photo of him mid murder.  it's the perfect little way for him to take out his frustration!  so funny!

love, laurie

hypnotizing

this painting video is so mesmerizing.  it's incredible how talented people are, it's hypnotizing!

love, laurie

tummy time

when we were watching ryan's parents' cats this past week, pepper was always ready for tummy scratches every single morning as soon as we walked in the door!  such a cutie.

love, laurie

homemade stuffed-crust pizza

on saturday ryan and i were having a conversation about stuffed-crust pizza and i was telling him all about how my mom used to make homemade stuffed-crust pizza using string cheese when we were kids.  less than an hour later, my mom called and said she saw an ad for string cheese in the grocery store weekly ad flyer and was hungry for homemade stuffed-crust pizza.  i'll tell you, the universe works in mysterious ways!

of course the only logical thing to do was buy string cheese and get together on sunday evening to make homemade stuffed-crust pizza for dinner.  we loaded it up with lots of veggies and oh, it turned out sooooo wonderful, it was absolutely delicious!

love, laurie

kitten kisses

we watched ryan's parents' kitties every morning while they were out of town this past week.  yesterday, ginger climbed up on the chair to give ryan kisses.  it was absolutely adorable.  they are such loving kitties!  

ginger's tail really cracks me up in these pictures.  it's so straight!

love, laurie

the elliptical thinks i forgot about it

the holderness family always knows how to make me laugh.  it's january 21st and i've only stepped on the elliptical once so far on monday and that was only because ryan guilted me into it.  so sad.  when it's this cold i just want to cuddle under a pile of blankets with the kitten.  can we hibernate instead?!

love, laurie

no more snow please

we woke up today to another coating of snow.  luckily it wasn't as much as we thought we were getting, but the sidewalks sure were slick.  i did a not-so-graceful slide down the sidewalk . . . thankfully i didn't fall.  i'm ready for summer please.  no more snow please.

love, laurie

national popcorn day

it's national popcorn day today and i found this old picture of leko eyeing up a bowl of popcorn.  it's been such a long time since we've had popcorn, and i'm not sure why we don't make it more often.  i loved the homemade caramel corn that we made and the homemade parm truffle corn too.  i'll have to get the air popper out of the cabinet!

love, laurie

built-in play toy

when dad's wearing a sweatshirt with drawstrings, it's like a built-in play toy!  so fun!

love, laurie

nor'easter izzy

we've lucked out so far this winter that the weather hasn't been too bad.  we have only had a little bit of snow.  however, we've had wicked cold temperatures lately, so it has definitely felt like january.  yesterday morning we woke up and it was -2 degrees outside!  i don't even want to know what the windchill was if the temperature was that low!

today we woke up to the most snow we've had so far this season covered in rain/sleet which made it super dense and heavy.  gross!

okay, summer, i'm ready for you!

love, laurie

free birthday (veggie) burger!

i love all of the freebies that come from stores and restaurants during your birthday month!  i especially love getting a free veggie burger from red robin!  a fun weeknight treat!

love, laurie

watch cat

who needs security cameras when you have the best watch cat in the neighborhood!

love, laurie

this made me laugh

i saw this online and it made me laugh.  it's also true when attempting to trim the cat's nails!

love, laurie

koziar's christmas village

between christmas and new year's we took a drive down to koziar's christmas village.  my parents have been talking about visiting this famous light display for years, and this year we finally had the time to join them to check it out!

it was a long drive from home, but it was worth it to see over one million lights decorating the former dairy farm.  we couldn't believe how many hand-made displays there were both outside and inside.  the weather was great that night and we really enjoyed checking it out!

love, laurie

birthday celebrations

on saturday, our parents came up to celebrate my birthday.  it was so nice to keep things super simple this year . . . instead of an elaborate dinner and cake we did hoagies from wegman's and homemade ice cream for a build-your-own sundae bar.  ryan always makes the best ice cream!  it was so nice, relaxing, and stress free!

love, laurie

first real snowfall of the season

we woke up today to the first real snowfall that we've had so far this winter season.  we really lucked out up to this point.  this guy doesn't care though!  so long as he can hang in the sink and get soaking wet, that's what's important to him!  

have a lovely weekend

love, laurie

it's my birthday

genuinely had to stop and think how old i am turning today.

okay, 37 . . . let's go.

love, laurie

i want to go back to bed

it's impossible to get out of bed when this guy curls up and tells you to just stay home and cuddle all day!  

love, laurie

ten years with leko

today marks ten years since we adopted leko!!!  oh my goodness, how has an entire decade passed by already?!  our hearts always burst on january 4th since it marks the day we brought our little fur baby home and we love him so much!  of course, he's going to be spoiled all week with extra kisses and tuna!  above are a few of the many, many pictures that we took of our lover this past year.

love, laurie

. . .

one year with leko / two years with leko / three years with leko / four years with leko / 

five years with leko / six years with leko / seven years with leko / 

eight years with leko / nine years with leko

ringing in the new year

we celebrated new year's eve on friday at ryan's parents' house.  we got together to eat (of course) and enjoy time with the kitties.  later that night, we curled up on the couch with leko to watch the ball drop.

on saturday we headed down to my parents' house to celebrate new year's day.  it was a nice quiet way to ring in the new year!

love. laurie

happy new year!

okay, 2022 . . . we're ready for ya!

happy new year!

love, laurie