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

wednesday night at the wayne county fair

it's become a summer tradition for us to take a trip to the wayne county fair the first week of august.  it's our favorite local county fair because rides are included with the price of admission.  it's fun to see the animals, vendors, entertainment, and of course ride the rides.

ryan got out of work early on wednesday night, and we were able to head up to the fair.  it's wasn't busy at all since the forecast was calling for rain, so we hardly had to wait in lines for anything.  we lucked out and the rain held off until we were driving home.  we even got to see the fireworks at the end of the night too.  it was a fun little date night!

a few snapshots from my phone from our impromptu trip to the fair . . .

love, laurie

previous trips to the wayne county fair: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018