Post #199

I've realized that talk of children comes up more frequently when I'm not in school or unoccupied. The conversations usually go something like this:

Lindsay: Hey, James...

James: Yes?

Lindsay: When can we start our family?

James: Ummmm....

Logistically, it would make sense to wait until I'm done with school and maybe even until James is done. I don't know how long it would take to get pregnant (knowing that would be great for planning.) I've had a couple of my friends who took years to get pregnant but I also have friends who got pregnant really fast after getting off the pill. Everyone is different, right? I just really wish I knew when things were going to happen. On the plus side, I do know that my last semester starts on August 29th. Isn't that crazy? I swear I was just blogging about how apprehensive I felt about grad school. It's almost done!

That post reminds me of the reoccurring fascination I have with bangs. I keep thinking I want them again. My history with bangs hasn't been great. Whenever I get them I usually regret it because they either look funny or I just get sick of them. Either way, I probably shouldn't do it. Here are some pictures of great bangs:

Julie Christie in "Darling"
Zooey Deschanel (recent, probably at an awards show) Doesn't she look THRILLED?
And Marianne Faithfull in the 1960's.

For some evidence of why I SHOULDN'T get bangs see here, here and here.

We're moving next week, we have a LOT to do!

It's DONE!

With Annie's permission, I'm posting pictures of her wedding dress and some of the process pictures. She's getting married on Saturday to a great guy named Rob. She figured that the chances of him finding this blog were slim to none.

I learned a lot with this project, mainly the importance of acquiring all of your fabric at the beginning. We had the silk and the cotton for the flat lining but we didn't have the lace. I cut the dress out anyway so I could start tailoring the dress to Annie's body. So, here is the dress in plain silk dupioni on a dress form.
After Annie found some lace (she found some other lace on-line but they were both back ordered) I applied the lace on to the bodice, piece by piece. This was time consuming but totally worth it in the end. After another fitting I was able to install the zipper and the ribbon sash. This next picture is proof that if you don't check before you finish the zipper, you have to fix it two more times.
Although, the scalloped edge of the lace was dead on. Too bad the ribbon was not. Before I left for Nauvoo I tried to finish as much of the dress as I could. This included the facing on the collar, the horsehair hem and the closures. Granted, I still needed to fix the ribbon part.
And a front view of the almost completed dress:
On Tuesday I met Annie in the costume shop and we FINISHED the dress! Part of Tuesday was spent making covered buttons (and sewing them on!) fixing the zipper and adding netting to the skirt of the dress so it was properly poofy.
Annie in her dress and veil, so beautiful!
And the back view. I wish I had a side view because she really looks great!

I had some cell phone pictures from the Nauvoo road trip. Here is a cell phone picture of Wyoming. Vast.
I know that the commas probably wore off but I am really interested to know what "food sleeping" is and how it is accomplished.

This is probably Nebraska. Yeah, it's Nebraska.

This was in Iowa, I thought it was really cool. I didn't get a picture on the way there so James reminded me as we drove home. I love him so much!

The "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo" show in the Cultural Hall. I couldn't believe how many people were on that tiny stage! It was out of hand!

And I think that's about it! Lyric starts on Monday!

Nauvoo Trip (told through pictures...)

Big news: we all survived the Nauvoo trip! I'm going to tell the tale of our travels through photos. Just so you can get your bearings I'm starting out with a model of Nauvoo and the Mississippi River from the Nauvoo visitors center.

Before we arrived in Illinois we had to DRIVE. Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. Much of the scenery looked like this (in varying colors):
Here is a picture from the Iowa welcome center. Please excuse the face, we woke early and I was too tired to get ready.

This is probably Iowa. But it sort of looks like bits of Nebraska too. I'm guessing Iowa.

After DAYS of driving, we arrived in Nauvoo. We stayed in log cabins. James's parents and his sister and her kids stayed in this one.

James and I took a walk to the temple later that day. We were sick of the car, can you blame us?

The view was amazing!

The next day we went to the park.

The kids enjoyed it.

Especially us!

Later on we visited Carthage Jail. It was incredibly spiritual and it reminded me of the blessings of eternal families.

After Carthage we drove to Iowa to do some grocery shopping. Zack seemed to want to make a break for it. Not that I can blame him...

We didn't stop here but it made me giggle. I'm not crazy, I have a reason. It can be found here.

Another grocery store we didn't stop at but holds significance. Both James and I shopped here on our missions. Cool huh?

We went on an ox cart ride, here the kids are getting acquainted with the beasts.

The kids also enjoyed the blacksmith shop. Brooklyn received the miniature horse shoe because of her red hair (the Elder had red hair when he was younger.)

James looking at the artifacts in the press office.

James showing off his newly learned coopering skills!

The reason for our trip: Liz, John and Waylon were sealed as a family in the temple. It was a wonderful experience even if Waylon screamed the entire time! He's so cute !

The last day we visited a few more sites including the Sarah Granger Kimball home. It was a bit of a walk but it was worth it!

We were even able to fit in a session with Candice and Hutch. It was really great to spend time in that sacred place!

Of course I realized on the last night that I didn't have a clear picture of Liz and John's restaurant. It's called Dottie's Red Front and it is located at 1305 Mulholland Street. They have owned it since the beginning of the year. Here is a local article about it.

Totally out of order but... We stayed in the Danielson cabin with Candice, Hutch and Perrin.

It looks like Pioneer village on the outside and a modern cabin on the inside.The one downside was probably the door. I have a hard enough time with modern keys, much less OLDY TIMEY KEYS. It was still fun.

And, because I am a total nerd, this is a picture of the property one of my ancestors owned. I found the information at the Lands and Records Office. I really geeked out.

The last day of traveling. Our niece, Brooklyn, wanted to take a picture so this is what she took. Bleary traveler, no?
We had lunch in Rawlins, Wyoming at a place called Cappy's. Funny story about this place: nine years ago my Dad drove me and Jordan to Denver for the David Bowie concert. We needed to stop for lunch and we saw JB's on the hill so we thought, hey, that sounds nice! The problem was that it was closed, along with most of the town!
It was a pretty funny experience but I think you had to be there.

I'm really glad we were able to be a part of it. But, I don't want to take a long road trip like that for a VERY long time.

Happy (early) Mother's Day!

Happy early Mother's day to the best Mom ever!

I could go on and on about how much I love and admire my Mom but you probably don't want to read it. All you need to know is that she is a wonderful mother and I love her very much!

She's the best!

I love you Mom!!!

YES!!!!

Some things that I am particularly jazzed about:

• I got an A in my Theory class. AN A!!!!!!!
• I won best costume design at the department banquet last night (yeah, we didn't go. Ironic.)
• Annie's dress is coming right along (pictures will follow after the wedding, just to be safe.)
• We met with our new landlords yesterday (again) and they are still wonderfully sweet.
• Last up, my last spring semester EVER is over!

The weekend

This past weekend was kind of a doozy. There was the royal wedding (I LOVED Kate and Pippa's dresses,) I had my LAST day of class, we cleaned the church and we had some friends over on Saturday.

It's kind of funny how it didn't totally sink in that it was my last day of Spring classes. I had a continuance evaluation for grad school (they'll let me finish) and then I rushed off to class. It was sort of anti-climatic. On Saturday we cleaned the church, inside and out, as a ward activity. I helped to clean the chapel. We used magic erasers to clean the scuffs off of the benches. It was a lot of work but it was worth it! James helped in the cultural hall and outside. He's such a trooper.

After we cleaned ourselves up we worked on homework. I finished up my final essay and James did a take home exam. I went up to the costume shop to work on the wedding dress some more. It's coming along! I went home and made a pizza for dinner. We had some friends over for pizza and Wii. It was fun and laid back. After that we went grocery shopping where James was recognized for his senatorial achievements. Here's how it went down:

Jacob (the Smith's checker): Hey, don't you the ASUSU senator or a graduate senator or something?

James: Uh, yeah

Jacob: Yeah, I recognized your picture on the web site. I thought, "He shops at Smith's"

James:....Yeah....

It was pretty funny. More funny than I my re-telling. Just ask James.

The last thing, I really like this website: Pinterest.com. It's a cool electronic bulletin board that you can sort things that you like according to subjects like food, crafts, home, fashion...etc. If anyone would like to join in, send me an e-mail Lindsaydesigner@hotmail.com. I can send you an invite.
It's kind of addicting. Just a warning.