The one where my brother got married, old toys were found and I got closer to 30...

I realized that it has been almost a month since I last blogged. That is sort of crazy because it's not like I haven't had things to write about or pictures to post. A lot of stuff has happened. Let the spewing begin....

Jordan married Lindsey in the Bountiful Temple on June 18th. The sealing was beautiful and I'm so grateful that so many of the family was able to be there. Afterwards we did the customary pictures by the fountain. I didn't take any of those so you'll have to let this one suffice.
They had their reception at Mom and Dad's cultural hall, just like us. It's so convenient to have our parent's house so close! I liked this shot of right after they cut the cake. I think it sums up Jord and Lindsey:

And my brother, looking ridiculously happy. I'm so glad they found each other, I really like the new Lindsey Keller.Oh, and they had Mid 6 play. I think the drummer is pretty hot.

The week after the wedding was pretty busy because "Little Shop of Horrors" opened and we had a whole week of dress rehearsals and performances. This meant I was gone for most of the day, except for a short dinner break between costume shop work and dressing work at the theatre. I'm lucky enough to have a husband who can cook:
Doesn't that look amazing?!? Most of the toppings were in our Bountiful Basket from the weekend before. I love getting my vegetables on pizza.

Jumping to another subject; does anyone remember Playground Kids? I found the dolls that Hil and I had. I can even remember most of the their names: Laura, Julie? Becky, Tracy, Amy and Lindsey. Granted, after a certain amount of time the manufacturer printed the doll's name on their oversized shoe. I really liked these toys. I used to play with these with my friend Brandi.

Jumping ahead to this past weekend, we went to my parent's house to celebrate the holiday weekend and some birthdays. My Grandpa Arbuckle's birthday is July 2nd but when I was growing up he used to tease me that he was going to change his birthday to the 5th so we would have the same birthday. I like this shot of my maternal grandparents and Parker, even though PJ doesn't look too happy to be there.

Moving right along to today, I went out to dinner with my wonderful in-laws as well as James' sister Candice and her cute son. They came up to visit for the holiday and to wish me an early happy birthday.
My dinner was wonderful and yes, I just turned 8...
Melanie brought a cake she decorated especially for my birthday:
I really married into such a wonderful family! They have been so welcoming and loving. I really am so lucky!

Once it got dark enough, James and I decided to finally use the sparklers my friend Amanda gave us last summer. The fourth isn't the fourth unless you have sparklers.

I figured out that the pictures work better with the flash OFF.
Artistic fun with our sparklers...
James spelled out his name but I only got "Jam," backwards. It's still really cool!

It's supposed to be a star...
Neat squiggles...
Well, I think that about wraps it up! Hopefully I won't be as busy but I sort of doubt it!

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.

A break from homework

I realized after I put the first picture on my blog that it's kind of nauseating. It's basically upside down.

I changed it. Can you tell a difference?

It just seems slightly more natural the second way. I'm working on designs for Frost/Nixon, one of my favorite plays. It's the first batch of watercolor renderings this semester. The first two sets were in marker and pen. I'm glad that I haven't totally forgotten how to paint!

The design process sort of goes like this: script, research, sketches, renderings, costumes. It's the bare bones description of how it goes. Below is some of my rough sketches, completed on tracing paper with Prisma pencils. I wanted to experiment with color and this was the fastest way without working on the computer. I'm kind of old school that way.

You can't get your sketches without some research. Yep, it's a yearbook. Check out the sweet plaid suit, lower right hand corner.
Three Musketeers opened this week, hooray! I was responsible for patterning four dresses including the queen's ball gown:
and Milady's dresses. This one wasn't finished, we added more trim to the collar and cuffs plus interchangeable stomachers.
Up next is another shot of my grad lab box. I don't really work in here much apart from class. It's not the coziest room and there isn't a sink in the room which is a pain when I'm painting.
I made a couple of discoveries this week including:

Spray and Wash+bleach=FOAM! Granted, this was probably toxic so it's a good thing I'm not pregnant! I dyed some lace for Milady's dress and it was way too dark so I tried to get out as much of the dye as possible. I few tries and a go in the washing machine and it was perfect. I think I was just lucky as opposed to qualified.
Someone hung this up on the art hallway. In case you can't read it, it says "Hello?" and under Lionel Richie's picture, "is it me you're looking for?" Here's a link for those who aren't laughing.
Finally, I made grapefruit marmalade using Nigella Lawson's recipe. I was very pleased with how it looked. It was so jeweled and pretty in its orange-ness.
However, it was disgusting. Anyone want a few jars of stomach-turningly-tart marmalade?