Laura's Life

Million Dollar View

laura818 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:22:00 +0000

So maybe the view from our fourth floor apartment isn’t the greatest. Unless, of course, crumbling parking lots and three cheesesteak places across the street are your idea of scenic. We do look across at the back of the church, but the front is much prettier than the side we see.

But, it’s okay. Because our view of the sunset each night makes up for it.

Hello world!

laura818 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:49:38 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Wordless (Mostly) Wednesday

laura818 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:21:00 +0000

The first post-season game for the Phillies was this afternoon, and it was a victory! One down, ten to go! Here’s hoping for a repeat of last year!

This Weekend

laura818 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:45:00 +0000

On Saturday, this girl…
… is coming here…

…to sit here…

…and watch this…

…and I can’t wait.

Another Fall Favorite

laura818 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Another thing I love about fall…candles that look and smell like an apple pie.

Phones, Fairs, and Farms, Oh My!

laura818 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

I should be writing about T.S. Eliot and The Four Quartets. Because I have to have my paper finished by Wednesday morning. But instead I’m writing about my weekend. Because it was a great one.

Matt picked me up on Friday afternoon. I have been eligible for a phone upgrade and mine was in pretty bad shape, so we stopped at the Verizon store on the way out of State College and I got this phone…

…and I love it. The only thing I’ll have to get used to is the fact that it’s a touch screen, and it makes me feel like I have huge thumbs!

Then it started to rain. From the moment I learned about what hydroplaning was, I have dreaded driving in the rain. Especially driving fast down a dark, unlit highway in the pouring rain at night. Matt knew I was nervous so he told me to close my eyes and think about something else, and he would get us there safely. So I did. And he did.

We didn’t arrive in Bloomsburg until well after dinner, and we were both starving. So we stopped here for dinner…

…where I enjoyed my very first Cracker Barrel meal. It’s one of Matt’s favorite places and I’ve been dying to try it forever, and we had a great time. When we got back to Matt’s apartment we watched this Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which was so disappointed. It was terrible and we ended up turning it off and just talking instead.

We had plans for Saturday to go to the Bloomsburg Fair. It’s a huge fair they have every year, and this year over 200,000 people went in just one week!

My guy looking up some fair info.

The first thing we saw as we walked through the gates. Some fancy car that we stopped and looked at for a few minutes. It was a Mustang, I think. Matt just have to take some pictures!

Matt and I are city people. The whole animal, farm, 4H, crops thing is so foreign to us. But it’s also fascinating, I think because it’s so different. We walked through all the barns and I took so many pictures of the animals. I know I looked so out of place and got more than a few weird looks, but I’m from the city!! Seeing these kinds of animals this close was rare for us!

This cute little guy was ready for his close up. I asked Matt if he would be embarassed if I started singing Baa Baa Black Sheep. He said no in the voice that really means yes, so I kept my mouth shut.

Bad lighting, but HUGE draft horse!

A real Texas Longhorn! I’ve only ever seen them on TV in the endzone of Texas football games!

The cows looked SO much bigger in person than they do driving by them on the highway.

Cute.

These cows look how we felt after a few hours at the fair. Following some fair food for lunch and a long walk back to the car, we said goodbye to the Bloomsburg Fair. When we got back to Matt’s apartment we looked past the parking lot over the mountain to see this pretty sunset…

We watched the beginning of the Penn State-Illinois game, and were planning to walk over to the stadium to watch the Bloomsburg game. But the PSU game was 7-3 at the half, and Bloomsburg was winning by about 30 points, so we decided to stay and see how the PSU game turned out. Luckily, we played a GREAT second half and won!

Matt has pretty severe diabetes, and even though he has his insulin pump on at all times, he couldn’t get his sugars to cooperate this weekend. After the fair they were a little low, so we ordered some food and had it delivered. He was feeling better after some dinner so we took a walk around the upper campus and throughout the sports complexes. It was a beautiful, crisp, fall night and we just held hands and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company.

We were so tired so we went to bed at 10. Well, I was so tired. And I went to sleep at 10. Matt, not so much. Oh well.

This morning Matt’s sugars were very high and he didn’t feel well at all. We were planning to walk around campus so I could see everything, but he didn’t feel up to it. His sugars finally went down after about an hour and we went down to campus. It was beautiful, like going to school in a park.

The Bloomsburg Huskies!!

After being way too high for a few hours, Matt’s sugars suddenly dropped way too low. When they get too low he starts to get incoherent and doesn’t make much sense. I knew he needed to eat a solid meal, so I grabbed his car keys and told him we were going to get some food. I knew they must have been veryyyy low, because there is no way he would let me drive his car if he was coherent!! We got to the closest campus food court and even though he said he wasn’t hungry he managed to eat some ravioli and bread and eventually, the sugars rose to safe levels again. It makes me so sad that he has to deal with this contstantly. He’s such a good sport about it, but I know sometimes he gets tired of it.

Then came the worst part of the weekend, I had to leave. The leaves around here and just starting to turn, and the drive was beautiful. We said goodbye quickly so it wasn’t too sad, and I handed Matt a bottle of orange juice on his way out, just in case his sugars dropped while he was driving! He texted me when he got back to school, he needed a few sips of the orange juice but was finally feeling back to normal.

It was a wonderful weekend. Just great. I couldn’t think of one thing that I would change about it.

Now it’s back to the grind, but in a way I like that. I like the routine of the school weeks and looking forward to the weekends. My family is coming for the game this weekend, next weekend is Homecoming, the following weekend I am going home, and the last weekend in October Matt and I are planning to take a trip to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

This post was all over the place. But I knew I had to write it now or else I never would. Time for bed now, Monday will be here very soon.

Picking Favorites

laura818 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:27:00 +0000

I’ve always had trouble picking favorites. I don’t like to pick a favorite color because I’m afraid I will hurt the other colors’ feelings by not picking them. I don’t like to say I have a favorite day of the week or flavor of ice cream or pair of shoes for fear of offending those that aren’t my favorite. Yes, I am well aware that this is utterly ridiculous, and probably something I really should just get over. But, it’s just the way I am. However, when it comes to picking a favorite season, all bets are off.

Winter blows in with snowfalls that cover the world in a sparkly white blanket and make it still for a while. The birth of Christ is one of the most joyous times of the year. Traditions are bountiful in these winter months, especially around the Christmas season. In the wintertime hot chocolate is sipped, hills are sledded down, parkas are worn, and fireplaces are used. But man, is it cold.

Spring slowly wakes us up from our winter hibernation with the promise of new life. The snowy white background turns to a lush green, the frigid temperatures become warmer, and t-shirts replace winter jackets. But man, is it rainy.

The slow pace of summer is a welcome change. Afternoons are spent poolside, evenings are enjoyed on the patio, and weekends are celebrated at the beach. The spring rains have produced juicy fruits and vegetables that are ready to be enjoyed. Fireworks, lighting bugs, and barbeques are staples of the season. But man, is it hot.

And then we have fall. Ohhh, beautiful, unrivaled fall. Sorry winter, spring, and summer, but fall is my favorite. Fall isn’t too hot, and it isn’t too cold. It’s not too rainy, and it’s not too dry. As Goldilocks would say, it’s just right. Even though the calendar said fall officially started a few weeks ago, it just started to feel like autumn in the last few days. And I couldn’t be happier. I love chilly nights and cool, crisp mornings, when you can still feel the chill through your jeans and sweatshirt. I love cuddling under my covers at night, and putting an extra blanket on my bed. Nothing makes me happier than attending a fall afternoon football game or listening to Penn State on the radio with the announcer’s voice I have been hearing my whole life. I wait all year for pumpkin carving and apple cider drinking. I cherish spending time with out of town family on Thanksgiving. I love the vibrant leaves on the trees and the smell of the air that says “winter is coming, but not quite yet!” Fall seems to be the shortest season, so I try to soak it in as best I can while it’s here.

Tonight, I put my September calendar in the trash and hung up October.
Oh autumn, I have such great plans for you. Don’t let me down now, because you are my (shh) favorite!

I’m Never Visiting Iowa

laura818 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:36:00 +0000

Beaver Stadium…just the place I spend my Saturdays!!

It was a strange day here, weather-wise.
One minute it was sunny, then it was raining.
It was hot, then it was cold.
It was still, then it was windy.
It was clear, then it was cloudy.
Basically, it changed from good to bad.

Happy to sad.

Much like this weekend.

This weekend was the most anticipated weekend of the semester thus far. But more about that later. On Friday night I worked until about 9:30, but still had time to meet Heather and some friends at a bar because we are finally …gasp… 21 years old.

Come on Heather, open your eyes!

There we go! Matching shirts, and matching drinks!

I didn’t stay out very late because 1) after all the anticipation of finally being of age, and all the hype they receive, bars aren’t really my thing, and 2) Saturday was GAMEDAY. But it wasn’t going to be just any football game. It was the night we Penn Staters have been waiting for since that chilly night last November, when Iowa killed our national title dreams and undefeated season in a final second field goal. It was our change for revenge.

ESPN’s College Gameday was broadcasting from Beaver Stadium Saturday morning. We play our best at night, and kickoff was scheduled for 8 pm. We had a huge pep rally the night before. We had home field advantage and went into the game undefeated. Plus, we were having a White Out. I had the picture right here but accidentally deleted it, so now it’s at the top of the post. But still, how cool is that look?!?!

Two inches of rain were predicted to fall between two in the afternoon and midnight on Saturday, and temperatures to be chilly. We did not let that dampen our spirits. We simply put leggings under our jeans, two pairs of socks inside our rain boots, and donned highly flattering ponchos, and in come cases, garbage bags. The fans and team alike were ready. We were confident, and we were set.

Unfortunately, not set enough. Iowa beat us. They walked all over us as much as we gave the game right to them. We threw three interceptions. Had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. And fumbled. In three quarters. After being up 10-5 for most of the first half, we totally lost it mid-second quarter.

See that tiny sliver of yellow? They’re the Iowa fans. And see that blurry stuff in front of the lights? That’s the rain that poured down on us the entire game.

View of the White Out from the student section.

Even though the stadium looked awesome, the team did not. The rainy, cold walk home was even longer with the bitter sting of defeat still fresh. While many chose to drown their sorrows at the bar following the loss, I decided to come home, dry off, put on my comfiest pjs, crawl under my covers and forget about the loss.

Because there’s always next week.

We Deserve It

laura818 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:24:00 +0000

It has been a stressful week. Because I had a doctor’s appointment that I couldn’t miss at home on Monday, I had to miss the two classes I had that morning. I absolutely hate to miss class, I always feel so behind when I return. On Tuesday I had classes, a paper due, an exam, and an appointment with my adviser. Yesterday I had classes, work, mandatory attendance at a piano concert, and I had to stay up until midnight to schedule my courses for the fall. Today I had classes, a huge exam, and a quiz. All that I have to worry about tomorrow is a short quiz which I’m not too worried about. My other class for the day was canceled!

Anyway, all that to say that I am about to head out with Heather to get some water ice at Rita’s. We are celebrating the light at the end of the very long academic tunnel that was this week! We deserve it!

Unintentional Dumpster Diving

laura818 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:06:00 +0000

I had a few errands to run this afternoon, and on my way out the door, I remember there were some things in the fridge that had expired and I needed to throw them out. I already had my purse, keys, and phone in my hands, so I grabbed a small trash bag, threw in the moldy hot dogs and weeks old cheese, and tossed the bag down the garbage chute.

It wasn’t until I was downstairs in the lobby that I realized I couldn’t find my phone. So, with my fingers crossed, I ran back upstairs to my apartment so I could IM my sister and tell her to call it. She called. I listened. Nothing.

I told her to keep on trying, I was going to run down to the dumpster to see if I could hear anything. Sure enough, as soon as I walked out the door, I heard my ringtone, good old Phillies announcer Harry Kalas, proclaiming “Well hit to deep center field, that ball is outtaaaa hereeeee.”

I had gotten a little too enthusiastic with my fridge cleanout and thrown my phone right into the trash bag. I came back upstairs to IM her I was going to take my broom down and try to fish the bag out, and the she should keep calling. By sheer luck, a maintenance man was getting into his car as I was walking out, broom in hand. He came over with his trash grabber contraption and retrieved my bag, and ringing phone. He was a nice man, and told me he did the same thing a few weeks ago.

I called Emily back and told her the phone had been recovered!! I had already had a rough day and this was just the icing on the cake! I’m eligible for a phone upgrade on Sunday, and never again with I do anything trash-related while I’m holding my phone!!