Life is Beautiful

BUTTERBEER!

2012-01-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Oh, P.S. I thought you might like to know the recipe for Butterbeer.

Yes, when I returned home from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
I experimented on every recipe I saw online and this one is the best.

They only serve it cold at the park, but I have found that it actually tastes
really good hot, too. So...you pick.

Christmas was only a month ago...

2012-01-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

So, you may have noticed that, like most newly married people, I seem to have "fallen off the face of the Earth". Well, friends, after orbiting the Earth and taking a trip to Mars and Neptune, I've returned! YAY!

Yes, apparently marriage, home-making, a full-time job and freelance on the side takes up quite a bit of my time ;)

But I'm determined to fit in my blog time, too, so...bear with me.

- - -

Here is the first update of MANY:

Shortly after the DVD release of the infamous"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" we hosted a movie night in our basement apartment.

We gotthis adorable cinema kettle popcorn popper as a wedding gift and we madeBUTTERBEER! Beware: it's SUPER loaded with sugar! :D

- - -

Here's is our cute little kitchen and our first "romantic" dinner at home.

I believe James made the pasta (his specialty).

- - -

And, of course, we had to make a date night trip to

Temple Square to see the lights!

Pretty!

Isn't he cute? He picked up this look on his mission in Italy :)

We decided to snap a picture where my dad proposed to my mom, in front of the statue of the 3 Witnesses. It seemed appropriate to smooch ;)

- - -

AND here we have a Christmas Party with my siblings and their families.

We had it at a church, because my family is fairly large ;)

We had a marble roller-making competition and split up into to teams with duct tape, cardboard, paper and scissors and went to work. There were some ingenious contraptions to say the least. SO FUN!

Well, then of course Santa came and brought gifts

for all my cute nieces and nephews.

Some were less excited to see Santa than others.

Sam even got a machete from Santa.

I suppose the elves have started to think outside the box ;)

Bens had a death grip on his present.

Sara didn't even have to hold it for him. Haha.

Soph looking a little suspicious...

...but, like so many children, easily contented with a present.

This one cracks me up. Poor Joshy, he was so tired.

The WHOLE she-bang :) Aren't we cute? I love my family!

Santa gave me a hubby for Christmas. YAY!

- - -

James and I went to Nevada over Christmas to spend the holiday

with his family. On Christmas Eve we went shopping for last minute presents,

went to dinner at Olive Garden and then finished up the day with

"Mission Impossible IV"! It was EPIC.

Here we have the good ol' cardboard cutouts at the theatre.

Always a good time.

And finally, Merry Christmas Day! Here's me and Rudy, Abuelito's dog :)

Abuelito opening his new robe.

Gotta try it out :)

I love that face :) Christmas brings out the little kid in all of us.

I got James a U of U shirt (my school) and myself a BYU shirt (his school).

:) I love this photo.

Trying out his new folding chair.

MERRY belated CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

Next up: Wedding & Honeymoon!

Window of Opportunity

2012-01-24T17:16:00.003-07:00

Every night I catch a glimpse of this beautiful littleslivver

(who else thinks "sliver" should be spelled likethis?) of...

wait for it...

FREE TIME!

So, I have to very strategically plan my to do's within thattime slot.

And if I'm lucky, 30% of them get done.

Wish me luck! ;)

Make Something

2012-01-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Somedays, especially the ones where you really miss blogging, you just got to sit down and make something...and blog it. Even if it's just real quick.

I'll be back.

Soon.

Promise.

ENGAGED?! Today is your LUCKY day!

2012-01-18T12:28:00.001-07:00

Remember my fabulously talented friend Jalene Taylor that took all of my beautiful engagements and wedding shots?

She's doing a GIVEAWAY (and I designed the graphic for it)!

So that's pretty dang exciting!

CHECK IT OUT

CLICK BELOW!

Good luck, cute people!

A New State to Love

2011-12-09T15:19:00.001-07:00

Remember in September when I got engaged and then left for Michigan the next day... without James. Yeah, I still have not posted that AWESOME (though James-less) trip... TILL NOW! :D YAY! Be excited.

For those of you who don't know, Madre and Dad are LDS mission presidents in Michigan right now. They left in July and I was lucky enough to go out and visit them for a week in September :)

After picking me up at the airport and some brief relaxation and a tour of the mission home, we took a tour around East Lansing. Here we have Michigan State campus in all it's old school, bricky awesomeness.

And, of course, what would Michigan be without some pie? We ate dinner (and dessert) at Grand Traverse Pie Company. YUM!

The mission home is so pretty. My favorite place is the backyard - it's like a scene out of Snow White - birds, squirrels, flowers, chipmunks. Love it!

The kitchen window looks out onto the patio where the critters gather.

It's fun to watch them :)

Yep! The weather was perfect.

Mom enjoying our latest family picture :)

There have been two additions since then...soon to be 3!

During the day, Mom and I were able to go wedding shopping for a few things, which was fun. I didn't want her to miss out on all of the crazy planning...and frankly, I didn't want to miss out on all of the mommy-daughter bonding and her helpful advice, as she is a professional in that particular area :)

Then, when Dad got home we would drive around and see more sites.

Here we have the BEST burrito I've EVER eaten. Panchero's is SOO yummy!

One night we went to a cute little town called DeWitt...

...famous on The Food Network for this little shop called Sweetie-licious, owned by Linda Hundt - cutest little 50's-lookin' baker lady ever.

Mom and Dad said Linda's there baking on a regular basis,

but unfortunately, she wasn't there when we went.

We got some pie to take home and also got some yummy yummy fresh produce at the farmer's market right outside.

This was our farmer's market-inspired meal. SO SO YUMMY and fresh!

The next day, Mom and Dad invited all of the couple missionaries, office staff and the assistants to the mission home for a little barbeque get together.

Dad had me sing for them (of course) and they were all very sweet. I loved hearing about each of their areas and loved seeing a part of missionary work and feeling everyone's excitement for it. Aren't they a bright group? :) Some of them feel like family already. The mission office staff and assistants even came to James' and my wedding :) Cute huh?

After the barbeque, we packed up the car and drove to some of Dad's appointments, all over the mission, on our way to Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island! I spent the drive taking pictures, texting James, talking to Mom and Dad and sleeping :)

Trees and forests are EVERYWHERE in Michigan. I love it! I can only imagine what Fall looks like there. Ah, trees :)

LOOK! Here is the famous Mackinac Bridge. It's the third longest suspension bridge in the world, and is currently the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. Cool, eh?

This is what tripped me out though...doesn't that look like the ocean (I mean...except for the land on the other side)?! Nope, it is in fact "The Straits of Mackinac", which is where Great Lakes Huron and Michigan meet...? Is that right, Dad? I think that's what Wikipedia was trying to tell me :)

We stayed the night in Mackinaw City and woke up bright and early to fairy over to...dun-duh-duh DUH - Mackinac Island - known for being the location of the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour AND also it's "lack of cars". They only drive horse-drawn buggies there :)

See! Horse-drawn :)

Here's the quaint Main Street. They also have a lot of bike rental shops :) ...but because it's such a cute island, they probably spell them s-h-o-p-p-e.

The island is SO beautiful, quaint and nostalgic.

Parts of it reminded me of Prince Edward Island from Anne of Green Gables...

...and other parts reminded me of Hyde Park in London, England...

...and other parts reminded me of River City, Iowa from The Music Man :)

It is all simply breath-taking :)

Picture him saying "Wilburrrrr" :)

Ah, the part I was MOST excited for was THIS!

The famous Mackinac Hotel where most of "Somewhere In Time" was filmed.

The carriages that drove people to and from the hotel were drawn by high-stepping "show horses" (Brian Regan, anyone? hehe). Oh, and that light blue ceiling of the porch? It was painted that way to make birds think it's the sky, so they don't nest there... Eh? Smart huh? Plus, light blue is my FAVORITE color!

Ok, in the video above, forward to 1:25:39 :) And you will see the beautiful reunion on this very staircase! Warning: The scene right after the reunion is a little risque, but you can simply skip it by forwarding to 1:29:02...though, I would start from the beginning if you've never seen the movie, cause the scene right after the "risque scene" will RUIN the WHOLE movie for you... Just sayin'

The staircase is a "little" overgrown with trees now...
but it was still reaaaally exciting :)

This is a pretty greenhouse we stumbled upon as we were walking on the grounds.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the stairs, cause that was the part of the movie I remembered most :)

I would totally eat lunch here :)

Like our mismatched layers? We didn't really prepare for the FREEZING temperatures...so we put on every long-sleeved thing we had and looked super awesome :)

Don't you just want to curl up here and read a good book? :) Or play croquet? They had a little croquet set out on the lawn.

And HERE is the inside. They didn't have one set color scheme, which was fun! Each room and floor had its own flair.

Not sure if this is THE theatre that Jane Seymour performs in in the movie, but I took a picture just in case :) Are we loving the pink?

Aw. Isn't this the quaintest little eatery EVER? :)

Or...there's always the one next door :)

This is the restaurant they have on the top floor with a view of the surrounding island :)

And, inside a little gift shoppe (hehe), I found A, if not THE, picture from the movie! :O

And, of course, they had several glass cases and frames in a portion of the hotel to pay homage to the movie.

Ah, Richard, looking all dapper and handsome. We should bring this look back :)

So here's another fun fact about Mackinac Island Hotel - they have a dress code :) See the sign? It says "Proper Dress required at the hotel and hotel owned street. Gentlemen after 6pm must be attired in coat and tie. Ladies may not be attired in slacks. Please no bicycles or saddle horses in front of the hotel".

Unfortunately, we weren't on the island after 6pm...cause we totally would've been kicked off the island for our mismatched awesomeness, but I seriously LOVE THAT dress code! Just another fun authentic perk about this cute place.

They even have someone at the ferry dock who sorts through all of your pennies before you're allowed to step foot on the island (if you've seen "Somewhere in Time", that should make sense) ;) Hahaha. I'm kidding, btw.

Don't you just want to stroll down these streets, hand-in-hand with your lover?

I'd TOTALLY borrow a cup of sugar from the resident of this place :)

Aw. I love lighthouses.

The architecture and design of these houses on Main Street are SO unique. I love them. I think I'm going to have a wrap around porch with vintage trim and a princess tower someday :)

OH, and don't forget the picket fence!

Back on the main land, we went to a fudge shop (spelled the normal way, because we're no longer on Mackinac Island). Mackinaw City is apparently FAMOUS for their fudge...so, we bought three different kinds and tried them all :) Maple, Praline and...chocolate. I'm pretty sure that's what they were. All I know is, they were AMAZING!

On our way home we stopped in Traverse City and looked out over Lake Michigan...and, because everything was so picture perfect that day, we saw a rainbow. Can you see it?

The water was cold...like Bear Lake cold, which I'm used to, so I totally would've gone for a dip if I had my swimming suit and it wasn't so windy.

I have to say, I LOVE old school EVERYTHING. I feel like I got the short end of the stick being born in the late 80's. I wish I was born in the 20's with the flapper girls and the Great Gatsbys, or the 50's with the poodle skirts and soda shops, or the 1776's with Jane Austen :) Our era lack SO much of that vintage, glamourous pizzazz. No pincurls or big hats...just ponytails and skinny jeans.

Ok, ok. I'll save that rant for another post :) Just enjoy this fabulousity.

Then, before I went home, we went to a sport paraphernalia store so I could get a Michigan State sweatshirt. Why? Because Michigan is one of my new favorite places: a) The parents live/serve there, b) I got married there, c) IT'S BEAUTIFUL! :D

TTFN, Mom & Dad :)

Aren't they cute? :) I love them.

Happiness!

2011-11-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'M MARRIED!

I have SO MANY fun and happy details to share with you all!

But for now I will share this little tidbit of advice, designed by yours truly in the most fabulous font I've EVER beheld! :)

I'll be back REAL soon!

Photo by J. Taylor

Becoming Superwoman

2011-10-12T01:16:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I have super powers.

That I, Lindsay Kay, can take on the cares of the world single-handedly.

Truth be told, sometimes, I think I'm Superwoman.

Well, let me tell you that if I had a dime for every time I've realized that I'm not Superwoman, I would, at least, be a Super RICH Woman ;)

I'm pretty sure no matter how fast I run from sun-up to sun-down, I can't possibly do everything I need, want and even don't want to get done.

It's all about priorities and organization and time-management and getting enough sleep and maintaining good health and delegating, etc. Right? Ok, so...where do you find the time to do all THOSE things on top of everything else?

"A step at a time...a day at a time," James says.

I dream big. It's my blessing and my curse. Sometimes I dream up things that are way bigger than I have the means or time to make possible. Thus, my dream list is long...but, so is my stride - rooted in determination.

But no, I am not Superwoman, though, at times I'm almost positive that I'm marrying Superman himself. James truly is my hero. What I did to deserve such a great blessing, I may never know, which is fine. Why question a good thing? ;)

Ya know? Sometimes I find it unfathomable that James could think as highly of me as I do of him. In fact, last week he took me to the BYU Homecoming Spectacular (which truly was spectacular) starring BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL as an early b-day present and Brian, whom we both love, sang a song I'd never heard before, but immediately related to:

Yep, that's SO James. Truly, the potential that he sees in me makes me want to be better for him, makes me try to be the person he describes when he compliments me. She sounds pretty fantastic ;) Well, tonight James was no different. My stress levels could've carried me to Pluto on a cloud of steam or a stream of teary frustration, and oh...that boy, he is the world to me and I don't know what I'd do without him. He straightens me out when my thoughts are crooked and lifts me up when the weight of life tends to accentuate my weaknesses.

Yes, he simply amazes me.

And, yet, I must say, as amazing as my James is, there is only one for whom and by whom I know that I can be made "super", unbroken, stronger than I often feel, healed and at peace - He is our Savior, Jesus Christ. By Him, I truly "stand all amazed." I will never be made a "super woman" by my own strength and good intentions, but through the infinitely loving Atonement of our Savior...it is possible.

For now, that's all I need to know.

I don't need to fly at lightening speed or carry the world on my back, I simply need to kneel in prayer and faithfully seek guidance and strength, then stand and...take one step at a time...one day at a time.

Starting now.

Good night!

Weekend's End

2011-10-09T22:50:00.001-06:00

Someday, weekends will come to an end and he'll still be here.

And not in Provo.

In 26 DAYS to be exact!

Thank GOODNESS time is going by... however slowly.

Envelope Stuffing Party

2011-10-04T20:26:00.000-06:00

Wedding Theme

2011-10-03T23:27:00.001-06:00

Our wedding theme has been decided...

Good thing, cause it's NEXT MONTH! YAY! :D

I call it, "DIY Garden Picnic"

And, yes, it's in the Fall...but I'm making it Springy...because I can :)

This is my inspiration photo :)

And THIS is my wedding planning/inspiration Pinterest board.

I just finished making my own lovely cake pedestals (DIY tutorial to come) and we're stuffing, addressing, licking and stamping invites tomorrow! PHEW!

Little by little it's coming together.

Really though, I just wanna be married now :)

Flies, Fitness, Food & Fanny

2011-09-22T08:43:00.000-06:00

Eeesh. I had a very bugful day yesterday:

a) The endless torment of fruit flies swarming my face at work.

b) I accidentally ran over a preying mantis while mowing the lawn. I felt so bad! Such a big living thing! It was like 7:30p, dark and the poor thing blended with the grass...unfortunately I blended it a bit more... :S

c) In hopes of restoring my bug-kharma after the mantis incident, I helped a grasshopper find its way out of my stairwell...rather than vacuuming it up.

d) Brace yourselves...I nearly walked FACE FIRST into a spindly little spider dangling from his nasty web in my bathroom. ew. Ew. EW!

- - -

I must take a moment to thank my lucky stars for the invention of Dermatologists. No one should have to endure the torture of acne and breakouts...especially those who wish to be pretty when they get married.

- - -

Why is it that when I'm away from James time draaaaags on SO sloooooowly,

But when I'm with him time FLIES by?

Bah! Seriously? I find this phenomenon very inconvenient.

- - -

Now that I no longer (for the time being) have a bathtub or a piano, I've found a new kind of therapy, that, surprisingly is more productive than either of my previous options... cleaning & baking. It's like now that I'm getting married my home-making skills are kicking into gear... and I like it! :D

- - -

And, for a little PPP, I am bound and determined to tone my legs and I found some quick and effective exercises that I thought I'd share with all of you:

The Bird Dog, The Plank, The Bridge, The Lunge, The Plie Squat...and I truly don't know what that last two are called...but they kill me every time.

Also, in Pilates, we do a similar exercise called "Teenager Butt"
...need I say more? ;)

My long term goal?
To be this lady.

- - -

So...I've found that my goals of learning to feed myself, trying to eat healthy and living a the 9-5 life (just got a fulltime job) cannot easily co-exist.

Anyone have suggestion for quick and/or freezer meals?
I'm the "grab something as you run out the door" type, these days.

- - -

That's all for now.

Keep it random, y'all! ;)

Our Photographer

2011-09-20T00:04:00.000-06:00

As Rick Steves said,

“I shutter to think how many people are underexposed

and lacking depth in this field.”

Ok, not only is one of the most cleverly awesome quotes I've ever heard ;) but I must also agree with it 100%! These days it's ridiculously easy to claim the title of "photographer." I don't mean any disrespect by that, but truly, one would hope that a nice camera wouldn't be the only qualification for starting a business...and yet, for some, it is.

Maybe it's just me and my ultra-nitpicky-aesthetic-visionary approach to wedding planning (and design/art in general), but James and I feel so blessed to have our friend, Jalene Taylor, capturing this fabulous time in our lives! She is the embodiment of a professional and an artist and is so passionate with her craft. I've always admired Jalene's love for photography, her attention to detail, her eye for composition and, all around, her ability to freeze beautiful moments in time, to be remembered and cherished for years.

“It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like,

it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.”

~Paul Caponigro~

Thank you, Jalene, for sharing your beautiful talents with us!

Our Story - Part II

2011-09-13T22:06:00.002-06:00

Y'all ready for this? :) Good, cause I'm so giddily excited to tell you all the fabulous details of how and when I realized that I wanted to spend forever with James and, of course, the way he finally proposed :)

I remember, before James was even my boyfriend...I think we had only been out 3 or 4 times aka he wasn't "sold" on me yet, I was sitting in Sunday School and he was teaching.

First of all, let me premise this by saying that, my future husband is an awesome teacher. He's had lots of cool experiences and opportunities to be a teacher throughout the past 5 years and, thus, he's pretty impressive up in front of a group (see photo below...I rest my case ;)

So, there I am, sitting inconspicuously in his Sunday School class and, frankly, daydreaming about "us"...the not-yet-existent "us", that is ;) I remember looking around the room at all of these impressive and gorgeous women in my ward and then up at James in all of his spiritual-awesomeness and silently (and selfishly) praying,

"Heavenly Father, if, out of all of the amazing women in this ward, James chose to date only me, I would feel like the luckiest girl on the planet..."

Well, maybe Heavenly Father took that little pathetic plea into consideration, but...BEHOLD, it came to pass! And, truly, I AM the luckiest girl on the planet to have James...forever! :D

Well, fast forward to July 30th, the night, after much discussion, prayer, fasting and thought, that James and I decided to GET MARRIED! Oh yes, that was a good night! :) We also happened to bake a pizza that night :) See how happy we look! Not too mention, how cute is James in that sparkly cloud apron I made in Junior High?

And thus commenced the awesome adventure of wedding planning and ring shopping...and more ring shopping...and more...and more. PHEW! But it was all worth it :) James is a "deal hunter"...the best I've ever seen, I might add...so, I let him do his thing.

Alright, this next part is an important segue into the fabulous proposal.

K, so, I love my family! Like, so much so, that, you may have noticed, I tend to talk about them 24/7! So, suffice it to say that from very early on in our relationship, James has known the names of my whole family (like sibs-in-law, n&ns, everyone), even before meeting all of them.

Thus, James had a feeling that they must be pretty important to me. He's right, by the way ;) They are.

So, Friday night, September 9th. I was busy bustling around my apartment cleaning, packing for Michigan...frankly flustered about all the things I needed to get done. James arrives. He had planned this whole backyard movie for us and set to work setting up a screen and a projector while I finished up some things. I figured it was just something nice for us to do before I left for Michigan for a week...I wasn't completely wrong.

So, we set out some blankets, a bazillion pillows, a sheet duct-taped to the side of my neighbors garage and a table with a projector & computer. I was indifferent about the movie selection so James picked one that he had brought - Harry Potter 2...or so I thought.

As we were trying to sync the computers with the projectors, James accidentally forwarded to halfway through the movie and suddenly I saw my brother John's face appear on the screen...

"What...? What was that?"

James was silent and kept on in his technological efforts.

"Why was John on your computer? Do you have videos from John on your computer? What was that?"

After a moment, James responded,

"He and I are making a business plan together."

I took that absurd excuse as a clue to stop asking questions.

Finally, we got the projectors to work and we sat down to watch..."Harry Potter 2." I have to admit, I was just waiting for John's face to appear on the screen at any moment...but Harry Potter went on.

Suddenly the movie turned into an Emergency Broadcast System Alert screen... then it went fuzzy and made all sorts of loud staticy sounds. All the while James was saying things like, "What's going on?" "What happened to the movie?"

Then, suddenly, James appeared... like, on the screen.

I was silent.

Screen James, we'll call him, stood in his presentation stance (yes, he has a presentation stance) and said something like, "By now you may have noticed that I'm not Harry Potter...Lindsay, there are a lot of people in your life who love you, so, before I take my turn, I think your family has something to say..."

One by one, each of my 8 siblings, their fabulous spouses and their beautiful children (my n&ns) came on the screen, each sharing their own segment of "Why We Love Lindsay." Truly, folks, I cried through the whole thing. Tears of love (yes, there are such things as 'tears of love'). My heart literally swelled with each of their sweet sentiments of love and appreciation. Lastly, was my parents. Oh how I love them! I think for the first two months of their mission I cried every time I talked to them on the phone. I've really missed them. So you can imagine how sweet it was to see them on the screen expressing their love in their own sweet way.

Finally, Screen James appeared again and expressed his own love for me. He expressed how his love has grown and how I've truly become his ideal "companion." Then, Screen James turned the time over to Real James by saying, "I think the James sitting next to you has something to say..."

Real James took my hand and politely asked me to stand. I sniffled, kissed his cheek, beaming, and stood. Immediately he put his hand in his pocket, produced the ring and dropped to his knee. Suddenly, my favorite opera duet, AND the most beautiful love duet of all time, I might add - Puccini's "O Soave Fanciulla", began to play in the background.

The tears were uncontrollable by this point. I just stood their laughing and crying and smiling and sniffling. He knelt there for a moment and attempted to regain control of his own emotions...then he spoke. Unfortunately, I wish I could remember everything he said, word for word, but by this point my heart and my head were racing each other a billion miles a minute. I remember it was the sweetest and most poetic thing I've ever heard and by the time he finished he had asked me to marry him! We exchanged kisses and hugs and somewhere in there I let out an "Of course, I will!" and then he put the most gorgeous ring ever on my giddy finger.

After more hugs and kisses and laughter and awesomeness, we sat down again for a moment and watched James' bloopers from the movie, which, by the way, were adorable. A favorite of mine is the beginning one...James walks on screen nervously, stands there, looks at the camera and says, "...Welp...here we go..." and walks off. Haha! They reminded me of the teenage boy practicing his, "Hey, Lindsay!..."Yo, Lindsay! What's up?!... Oh, uh...hello there, Lindsay!" in the mirror before calling a girl up for a date. My heart melted at the sheer cuteness of him :)

We went inside and took this series of photos minutes after the proposal.

Red-eyes, happy faces :) Gotta love it.

Yeah, yeah! Ew, GROSS! ;) I say that for my n&ns...and some of my siblings who may gasp and/or blush at the sight of that last photo. Haha.

Truly, he put his whole heart and soul into every sweet second of the proposal and made it the most romantic and beautiful moment of my life...thus far. I wish I would've thought to applaud him afterwards. Honestly, best chick flick I've ever seen ;) And the amazing thing is, it was for ME! I've never been so humbled by love. And, oh, what a Love I have, too ;)

(James handing me a dead rose he found on the beach in L.A. Haha!)

Good heavens, James dear! I love you!

LET'S GET MARRIED!

And they lived happily ever after...

To be continued...

FOREVER! :D

Our Story - Part I

2011-09-11T17:05:00.041-06:00

Alright, all you patient people, here it is - James & my "once upon a time..."! So get comfortable and grab a box of tissues...or a box of chocolates, cause you're about to hear my favorite love story of all time! :)

It was March 27th, a Sunday, when I first saw James. He was visiting my ward with his sister Liz for Easter Sunday. Liz and I had been asked by Sister Larsen, the teacher of the Temple class, to share our testimonies, since we had both recently received our temple endowment. Thus, James was also in attendance in that class.

(Originally, my favorite picture of James to stalk on Facebook)

I remember seeing him and thinking, "That has to be Liz's brother! Wait a minute...Liz is awesome, I bet he's awesome, too... Hm, he's cute!" After Liz and I bore our testimonies and love of the temple, Sister Larsen opened it up for anyone else. James bore his own beautiful testimony of the temple and thus...my first impression of him was..."Spiritual? Check. RM? Check. Loves Gospel? Check." :) Not a bad way to start.

I found out later that I wasn't the only one running a secret "date inspection" in that Sunday school class. Liz apparently had mentioned to James that she wanted to set him up with me. In Sunday school she nudged him when I came in - "That's Lindsay." So, the next day Liz got my approval and my number to pass on to James and on Wednesday James called me. By week's end we had been on two dates and I was feeling great about "Liz's brother."

Well, let's just say that James wasn't as "gung ho" as early on in our relationship as I was. He took some convincing...some "chasing" if you will. I attribute it to the fact that, at BYU, where James goes to school, there is an abundance of beautiful, awesome and spiritually-founded young women to date (guys, too), and thus, unfortunately I feel like the general population have gotten fairly comfortable that there will always be someone "bigger and better". At least, James agrees, that this is the case with some, if not most.

So, that said, it wasn't till late May, when James got back from a tour in Russia with a BYU folk dance group, that James and I went out again. Though, I should mention that he called me the day after he got home and we went out that night ;)

(James and some of his friends from "Living Legends" - the folk dance group at BYU)

After some more casual dating on his end and some more casual chasing on my end, James invited me for a weekend at his friends' cabin with a bunch of his buddies. By this time it was June and I, frankly, was sick of this "casual" thing. I knew that I liked him, we had spent nearly 4 days a week every week with each other, and I was either wanting to move forward or to stop wasting each others time. I was never very bold in dating before, but I knew that with James I could and should be as open and honest as I he would be with me, so I basically said, "I can find happiness with or without you, but I need you to make a decision." I know. I surprised myself, too...but it worked ;)

The next night at ward FHE (Yes, I was lucky enough to have James in my ward for the whole Summer! Tender mercy!) I determined to just be me, not focus too much on James, and just enjoy everything and everyone. When the night was over, I left James with nothing but a brief and polite wave and a "see you later." He caught up to me in the parking lot and we talked...for two hours. He said he still wanted to date me, thought I was awesome, etc. which satisfied me enough that I decided to accompany him to his friends' cabin for the weekend.

(James and some of his friends at the cabin)

After that beautiful weekend of relaxation, games, laughter and fun with all of James' awesome friends and plenty of flirtation between James and me...he held my hand and asked me to be his girlfriend. And, you can guess that without any hesitation at all, I said yes.

Since that point James and I have been pretty into each other :) It was such a blessing to have the Summer together. Seeing each other nearly every day, our relationship was able to move along fairly quickly. A month later, we found ourselves sitting on his parents' front lawn in Nevada, looking at the stars on the Fourth of July and exchanging a first kiss and our first "I love you"s. Giddiness and butterflies and happiness, I tell you what :) Haha, ok, I promised myself I would limit the "mushy" stuff.

(James and I in his parents' front yard...and the spot where we smooched ;)

I can't even express how grateful I am and how blessed I feel that Heavenly Father would orchestrate such a beautiful relationship in my life and introduce me to such a remarkable young man. James and I find ourselves saying often, "Heavenly Father must really love me."

Not only have we found every crucial thing we've ever needed in a future spouse, but Heavenly Father has lovingly allowed us to have some of the "Would Like to Have's", too. For instance, James can cook, he can dance, he's thoughtful and romantic, he supports my love for Harry Potter and allowed me to convert him and bring him to the pre-screening of the last movie, his smile makes me melt and he served an LDS mission in ITALY!! - thus he speaks Italian, shares my love for everything Italian and, best of all, he wants to take me there :) For James, well, he happens to love the fact that I can sing. In fact, I invited him to my vocal recital (where I sang in Italian, too) and he said that when he heard me sing he melted and realized a whole new depth to me that he really enjoys. So, guys and gals, it never hurts to magnify your talents ;)

(Harry Potter 7.2 prescreening with our friend Carrie)

Next up: The Proposal :) Stay tuned.

ShaBling-A-Ring-Ding

2011-09-10T16:57:00.001-06:00

Last night, Mr. James Stubbs got down on a knee (detailed, adorably, romantically, awesome story coming soon...like tomorrow, k?) and asked me to be his wife for...forever :) It was seriously the most beautiful thing ever! Can't wait to tell y'all the genius plan of my genius FIANCE ;)

Oh, and the ring?

Tis the most gorgeous thing I've ever had on my finger!

What a great man :)

I mean, we all knew he had good taste. Right?

Ha, he's marrying me afterall ;)

(Yeah, yeah...just ignore my burnt fingers. Fight with the curling iron. Curling iron won.)

Tee hee!

Now I'm giddily spending the week in Lansing, MI with my awesome parentals.

That fabulous reunion story will come soon, too, with lots of fabulous pictures!

Michigan is gorgeous...and Jamesless :(

but it is SO good to see my Mom & Dad again, I tell you what!

Ok, I'll be back soon...

TTFN

NEWSFLASH!

2011-09-08T22:15:00.004-06:00

So...remember that cute and fabulous boy named James that I love?

Well...I may or may not have some news for y'all.

CLICK ME!

Yes, sir.

I'M ENGAGED!!

In-depth story to come soon :D

P.S. Isn't Jalene Taylor an amazing photographer? :D I can't wait to see the rest of our pictures!

The Marathon

2011-08-27T18:54:00.000-06:00

Do you remember what last Saturday was?

Yep.

Park City Marathon day!!!

You may recall I registered for said marathon a while back.

So, the Thursday before the marathon was packet pick-up day, right? So, I drive to Murray, or wherever, after work and pick up my packet - complete with awesome T-shirt, etc.

It was a thrilling and humbling experience to see all of the fabulously fit people walking around with their own purple bags. We're talkin' soldiers in Army uniforms, gals in sweaty workout attire, tall and skinny men in suits. You get the idea. These people are legit.

So, I walk back to my car, drive to the gas station across the street, fill up and...

...hand over my Park City marathon packet to my new friend Shaelynn, who ended up running the marathon...instead of me.

I know.

I KNOW!!!!

WHAT?!?

How. Pathetic. Am. I?

I started training in January. Remember how addicted to running I was? How addicted I AM? Yeah, so hopefully you can imagine even a sliver of the sadness I felt when I realized that my busy life, post-graduation, would no longer accommodate my marathon training schedule. Sad day indeed.

Don't you fret. I WILL run a MARATHON! A.S.A.P. I've already started running more and I'm feeling great. I have no regrets, really, cause my life currently is treating me better than I deserve, quite truly.

The important thing is to not ever give up on your dreams, right?

I haven't, and I don't plan to, so I won't.

#27

2011-07-25T16:28:00.002-06:00

Remember my brother John and his wife Sara?

They had a sweet and healthy little baby boy!

And I got to take pictures of him today :)

I feel so blessed to be his "downstairs aunt".

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship :)

Welcome home, sweet witto baby boy!

Aunt Lindsay loves you!

So, There's This Boy...

2011-07-18T12:41:00.001-06:00

...his name is James.

And he's practically perfect.

He's extremely smart, funny, ambitious, attentive, adventurous, kind, non-judgemental, respectful, hard-working, driven, playful, contagiously happy, spiritually-centered, ticklish, honest, handsome, dances like nobody's business, speaks Spanish... & Italian... & English, has such a warm and loving family...

...and to top it all off, he happens to love me quite a bit.

As does Heavenly Father apparently, to have blessed my life with such a wonderfully fabulous young man for a boyfriend. The first, I might add ;)

OH...and did I mention that I love him quite a lot, too?

Cause, I do.

Deck the Cube with Harry Potter! Fa La La La La...

2011-07-13T15:44:00.001-06:00

It is safe to assume that I am SO STOKED FOR TOMORROW! YAY! YAY! YAY!

Check out my cubicle. I am henceforth and forever known as the

hardcore-ing-est Harry Potter fan of my entire workplace. True story!

Anyone else got tickets to a pre-screening or the midnight showing?

How about both?

Yeeyah, baby! :D

LONG LIVE POTTAH!

That Pretty Much Sums It Up For Me

2011-07-07T23:44:00.001-06:00

Good heavens, friends! Are you feeling abandoned? I'd be surprised if you weren't. Sometimes I even feel like I've abandoned myself...

...if that makes sense.

My "new life" is almost unbearably busy. Almost. Being here with you, even just for these few minutes, makes me realize how much I miss writing. It's my sanity. I kind of need it...but, in all honesty, I'm doing the best I can and that's all I can really hope for right now.

Nearly every single thing about my life is soooo different than it ever has been before and it's taking me some time to adjust. Especially because I don't feel like I've even had a split second to think about the idea of even moving a millimeter toward the possibility of maybe trying to think about everything that's been going on.

PHEW!

All I can say is, thank heavens for the constant things in my life! If it weren't for them, I think I'd hardly recognize my life anymore. But no, it's still there, still mine. Heavenly Father's still smiling down on me as I push forward. He's still guiding my path, sending His angels, and bestowing His beautiful blessings. In short, He still loves me and allows me to see small glimpses of His love each day, which reminds me to breathe and not furrow my brow in seriousness, but to smile in joyousness.

Life...

...however hard to recognize at times,

...however synonymous to a sardine can it may seem,

...however much stretching and bending it may require,

...is Beautiful.

I am forever grateful for our Heavenly Father's willingness and ability to take the drab, ordinary, and often downright ugly things that seem to cloud our vision and lovingly shape them into His beautiful masterpieces. All because He wants us to be happy.

I am happy.

14 DAYS!

2011-06-30T20:36:00.001-06:00

best Trailer EVER!

Hee hee hee.

I'm giddy.

An Old Bus, A Mouse, A Few Friends & Their Cameras

2011-06-24T11:32:00.001-06:00

Remember that one time when I said I would post these for you to see?

Yeah, I didn't forget.

Here are the rest of the photos from that shoot I did with my friends Josh and Travis out by the Salt Flats in the West Desert.

It was majorly fun. Mostly I just love having excuses to dress up :) I guess I never really need an excuse, but having one helps, right?

Ok, this bus rocks your socks, does it not? The only bad part was it had this nasty old mattress inside of it and...well...there was a nasty little mouse livin' under there we soon discovered. EW! Yep, apparently I don't like mice. I didn't know that until it came darting out from under the mattress, right for me, fangs bared...and I went, "BWAAYAAAHHHHHCK!" and probably did a really sweet spontaneous dance move. Yep, still makes me shudder to this day. I even sat on the floor of that bus, which is where I pictured the little critter scurrying up my pant leg. Byahaha, GROSS! Interesting adventure, to say the least.

They's pretty pics, huh? The ones of me were taken by Travis. The rest are mine.

Thank you, Josh & Travis!

Aside from the mouse it was very much a fun time and the photos turned out awesome. You should post yours on your blogs so I can link to 'em from here. K?

Let's do this again soon!

Dislike & Love - My New Life

2011-06-24T09:41:00.004-06:00

*Note: My "new" life is in reference to the fact that A LOT of changes have taken place the past couple months and especially this week. i.e. Graduating from college, starting a new job, my parents leaving for the Missionary Training Center, moving into my apartment, having a boyfriend (I still need to introduce you), quitting my "student job" of 5 years, being in a brand new ward, new blog design ;) etc.

THIS WEEK I DISLIKE:

Not eating breakfast

(and sometimes lunch),

Not having a bathtub in my apartment

(Week 1 isn't even over and I'm already having withdrawals),

Not sleeping quite enough

(Yikes! I'm just asking for illness. Knock on wood),

Gas prices,

Living in a (soon-to-be-organized) mess,

Working from 7a-9p,

Driving and driving and driving,

The convenience of eating out vs. the inconvenience of working out,

- - -

THIS WEEK I LOVE:

My loving and supportive family & friends,

My “New” Life,

These long and gloriously hot summer days,

Shopping for my own groceries

(I knew I would enjoy that),

Easy hairstyles

(Thanks to my magic wand...curling iron),

Counting down to the Harry Potter 7 Part 2 Midnight Showing,

(21 DAYS!)

Converting people to Harry Potter,

The iPod I lovingly refer to as "myPod,"

The peace I get from FHE and Temple night

(P.S. I love my ward),

Reading Il Libro di Mormon,

My brother's GPS system,

Having the coolest parents in the universe,

Midnight calls after long work days,

Chalkboard mouse pads,

Having a cubicle,

Reading children's books out loud with a cute boy,

The awesome/hilarious people I get to intern/work with

- - -

I think it's fair to say, as I weigh the outcome of these lists, that, though life isn't perfect and I'm still working out the kinks in my new life, the blessings continue to come as I am trying to do my best and I still happen to very much love this beautiful Life that I've been blessed with...in all it's crazy freshly newness!

Add "run-on" sentences to my Love list.

I'm real good at those!

May your "Loves" always outweigh your "Dislikes"

Here Goes...

2011-06-21T21:33:00.002-06:00

I Smile

2011-06-21T17:56:00.001-06:00

My friend Liz shared this song with me a couple of months ago and, I must confess, I simply love it. It has quickly made its way onto my "Top 25 Most Played Songs" list on myPod.

I got the feeling that some of you might enjoy it, too!

Don't give up, friends.

You look so much better when you smile!

Redesign In Progress

2011-06-21T09:04:00.000-06:00

Thoughts? :)

Speaking of Lagoon

2011-06-16T12:03:00.000-06:00

True Happiness...

2011-06-16T11:19:00.001-06:00

...knows no pride.

...is a drop in a pool and each resulting ripple.

...is your heart's way of smiling.

...comes when charity calls.

...is water through the fingers of those who seek to keep it for themselves.

...is gratitude to God.

...is not the destination, but is accumulated in each step of the journey.

...often reveals itself in the form of chocolate.

...is rooted in action, not stagnancy.

...can only be seen with open eyes,
can only be heard with open ears,
can only be felt with an open heart.

...is the genius of little children.

(my nieces on a ride at Lagoon on Monday)

Are you happy?

There's Just Something About Balloons

2011-06-09T08:45:00.002-06:00

Remember how I like doing photo shoots with balloons?

I did one again yesterday!

Photo via Travis Kawabata

It was fabulously enjoyable...as you can see.

Ah, the beauty of having friends with mutual affinities for taking pictures :)

Don't you fret, there are plenty more to come!

Fish Are Friends

2011-06-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

I mean, who doesn't love Dory?

It's impossible not to.

I've decided that, at least today, if not for the entire Summer,

I'm going to adopt this motto for my life:

What a profound fish she is.

How are you, my dear friends!?

My goodness, I've been totally slacking on the blog lately. Life happens, yes it's true. Thankfully, it's good and exciting things happening this time around.

Things like a fabulous internship, a cute boy, an adorable kitchenette, a really fun photoshoot, an upcoming marathon and some much needed family vacations!
More details to come, don't you fret.

Can you believe my parents are leaving THIS MONTH!? :(

Oh dear. Neither can I.

(inhale...exhale)

"When life gets you down ya know what you gotta do?

...Just keep swimming."

Have a beautiful day, lovely people! :)

Prescriptions

2011-06-01T12:03:00.002-06:00

Want to see something great?

This is what happens when you "Like" Bob Harper on Facebook:

I love him.

And while I'm prescribing things that bring me true happiness...

Behold, my favorite website EVER:

http://speeches.byu.edu/

Now you're probably wondering,

"Lindsay, why should I love this site as much as you do?"

Well, I'll tell you.

Say you're having a crumby day, things are bleak or you're stressed or what-have-you.

Go to this website

Don't be perturbed by the prices you see. They sell books on this website, too.

What you're looking for is the browse box. Happiness is found here...see!

You can select a topic that best fits your personal needs AND if you particularly want to hear from one of your favorite speakers, you can select them, too!

And, VOILE! You'll want to click on that "More Media Types" link.

That where you can download FREE .mpg and .pdf files of these speeches and listen to them on your iPod or read them on your bus rides, etc.

HOORAY!

Instant happiness.

Seriously, I just filled up my iPod with some serious Bruce R. McConkie and Dallin H. Oaks! I'm SO ready for the commute home!

Have the happiest day of your entire life, k?

The Pinch

2011-05-31T15:59:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while I sign onto my student page on the U of U website and pull up my degree audit report...

Just to look at this...

Nope.

Still not dreaming :)

Tee hee.

Reality rocks!

And Life...

Oh yes!

It's BEAUTIFUL!

Busy vs. Boredom, Blog Book, Birds, Bacon & Beyoncé

2011-05-31T13:21:00.090-06:00

They say that post-graduation is often accompanied by boredom due to endless amounts of free time and such. And yes, that may be partially true, but I have really been enjoying my free time. See! I'm FINALLY designing my blog into a physical book, starting with 2009 and so on.

I love Adobe InDesign :) I'd go with Blurb or some other free internet book-designing software, but I love having complete control of what goes in and what comes out...

Graphic design has turned me into an aesthetic nitpicker. And proud of it :)

- - -

Speaking of things I'm proud of, my nephew calls extension cords "extendable" cords ;) And, on Sunday, my other nephew ran around the house singing,

"Weasley is our king! Weasley is our king!"

So, it's safe to say I'm not the only one in my family that has an affinity for Mr. Potter :)

- - -

Speaking of dancing... ;)

You: "Who said anything about dancing?"

Me: Oh! Speaking of dancing...

I added "learn how to dance" to my bucket list yesterday.

I mean, I've always been a dance "appreciater," but that's completely different than being a dancer...which is completely different than being able to bust a move here and there...which I can do. So, I wanna learn something cool like hip-hop or tap or ballroom or breakdance.

"Anything is possible if you just believe."

("Cinderella Story" anyone?)

- - -

Speaking of possibilities, I'm going to be potentially profound for a moment, mostly because that's how I organize my endless train of thoughts...

I've discovered that it doesn't matter where you are in your life or how busy you may be, if you have a dream, simply take a step toward it in whatever way possible with each spare moment you can find, and by and by, you'll look back and see how far you've come and how much you've grown and...eventually that you've actually LIVED one of your dreams, rather than simply went on dreaming it. I call that "The Nike Point of View". Just do it.

Speaking of Nike... I'm walking out of the gym yesterday morning after a really good workout, wearing my Nike gear, feeling awesome, and guess what smell slaps me right in the face...

BACON.

Yep, from some breakfast bbq taking place at the park next door.

Cruel and unusual.

- - -

Speaking of bacon (ok, this has nothing to do with bacon)...Ya know how it's been raining the whole entire ocean onto Utah lately?

Yeah, that stinks, cause June is...tomorrow, but I've noticed something happy about the birds (at least the ones around my house). They LOVE this wet weather... At least, their increase of beautiful singing makes me assume they do. Y'know, kinda like how we humans sing in the shower ;)

It's a theory, but I think it's valid.

- - -

Speaking of singing, there are very few songs that I can continuously rock out, too...mostly because I get sick of those new, overplayed songs SO quickly. However, Katy Perry's "Firework" and Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" hit me right in the groove thang EVERY time! ;) I can't help but dance and sing-along to those two.

- - -

Speaking of Beyoncé, my friend Carrie told me a HILARIOUS joke that I feel needs to be shared with the world, because I honestly laughed all night long post-joke-telling. Ready? K...ah-hem...

"Why does Saturn look the way it does?"

"Because...God liked it, so he put a ring on it."

OH Oh oh ;)

Spread it like wildfire. You know you want to.

- - -

Speaking of randomosity, perhaps you've noticed, or more-likely you haven't, but I just renamed all of my "Randomosity" posts. Why? Cause using roman numerals was getting to be too confusing...not to mention lame. Who uses roman numerals anymore? Just kiddin', but I had fun! Want to see the new names? Ok, I'll let you:

Randomosity Part I = Belts, Bands, Bugs & Because

Randomosity Part II = Utah, Uncomfortable, Umbrella & "Ugh!"

Randomosity Part III = Love, Leprosy, Lipstick & Lingo

Randomosity Part IV = PDA, Pizzazz, Patronage & Pins

Randomosity Part V = Warm, Wrong, Wishing & Washing

Randomosity Part VI = Forks, Fingers, Fragrances & Facebook

Randomosity Part VII = Clip Clops, Clasps, Copying & Curiosity

Randomosity Part VIII = Muscles, Murder Mysteries, Marine Biology & Massages

Randomosity Part IX = Potter, Pickup Lines, Paste & Purple People-Eaters

Randomosity Part X = Guys, Good & Going Green Garbage

Randomosity Part XI = Cookies, Carats, Creepers & Capitals

Randomosity Part XII = Pens, Planners, Presidents & Portfolio

- - -

What are you doing on your computer?

You should be outside enjoying this beautiful day!

Heartstrings of the Week: Because, I Love Her

2011-05-26T08:30:00.000-06:00

I. Love. Barbra.

That's pretty much all there is to it.

However, I probably should also mention that I VERY much adore this song, too! I mean, it's called "People!" What's not to love? Listen to the words. It's so great!

My goodness, woman!

Yeah, I must warn you though...the movie this song is from, "Funny Girl", is...strange.

Well, it's good, like, it has it's moments...but it's mostly strange.

However, if you haven't seen "What's Up, Doc?" with Barbra and Ryan O'Neal and Madeline Kahn...This needs to be amended pronto. You'll thank me!

Here are some of my favorite quotes...which may or may not make sense.

- - -

Howard: "I am not repeating myself. I am not repeating myself..."

Howard: "How...? How...?"

Judy: "How-ward! Howard. We've almost got that stutter fixed."

Howard: "You...? You...?"

Judy: "Eu-nice! Eunice."

Hugh: "I am Hugh."

Judge: "You are me?"

Hugh: "No, I am Hugh."

Judge: "Stop saying that. Make him stop saying that!"

Judy: "Howard Bannister...as in sliding down the..."

Eunice: "As the years go by, romance fades

and something else takes its place.

Do you know what that is?"

Howard: "Senility?"

Eunice: "Trust!"

Howard: "That's what I meant."

Howard: "Is that clear?

Judge: "No, but it's consistent."

Delivery Boy: "They stole my bike!"

Judge: "That's grand theft auto."

Eunice: "They tried to molest me."

Judge: "That's...[looks at Eunice]...unbelievable."

- - -

Yeah, I could pretty much quote that whole movie.

SO FUNNY!

Anyway...

Over and out!