Ten years???

The past few weeks have been spent in more than a few different ways. James and I had our 10 year high school reunion the same weekend. Thankfully they were on different days. As I was driving I thought the sky looked so pretty I took a picture.

I got a picture with two of my high school friends, Becky and Kristin. We were pretty tight. I actually saw them a couple of times last summer because Becky took our amazing wedding pictures and Kristin came to some of the festivities.Me and James

Kristin and Jim

I've also been working on the wardrobe crew at the Lyric Theatre. I was hungry so I went over to Great Harvest and saw this funny sign. It's true.

I've also been working on "stuff" for the shows including this bodice, over skirt and skirt costume for Amadeus. It's not done in the picture and I didn't take a picture of it after I finished. Cartridge pleating kind of hurts your fingers.

I also made two coats for the Emperor in Amadeus. I didn't get a shot of the finished product, it's missing the cuffs which really finish the whole thing off. I also made a gold coat with a different pattern but similar idea.During "Little Shop" I have a costume assist where I help Audrey put on her sweater. This is what I see while I wait. Kind of scary.
My friend/boss/mentor/big sister/shop manager, Amanda, is moving to Wisconsin in less than a month. She and her husband blessed their baby this weekend. Kamee and I played costume shop mice and finished Amanda's dress for her. She was really stressed out and we thought, "Hey! We can follow a pattern!" So we left it on her porch. We are all going to miss this great family, a lot.

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!

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!!!

I might be crazy

HAPPY EASTER! I loved this message that my sister shared on her blog. It is a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate and the reason for our lives. I am so grateful for our Saviour and His sacrifice for us all. I know that He lives!

I recently finished my renderings for Frost/Nixon for design studies. It's a play about the 1977 interviews between David Frost and former President Richard Nixon. I wanted to delve deeper into the characters so it wasn't just a design of men in suits. I'm really happy with how they turned out and as soon as I get them scanned, I'll post them on my Behance portfolio.

It was also a good experience with patterns, as seen in the rendering of Caroline Cushing.However, my sanity could be called into question with my decision to render a PLAID SUIT. It's crazy but it's a totally appropriate choice for that time period. If you have any question of that, please refer back to this picture from a previous post. It's my Dad's yearbook picture from that time period. Not only is it appropriate for the time, it was also fitting for the character. While I was working on the rendering I decided to take step by step pictures.

Picture #1 shading and horizontal lines:

Picture #2 vertical lines and some of the secondary lines

Picture #3, the completed rendering. I cheated here and skipped a few steps including the layers in the shirt, face, hands, shoes and hair. Plus, I totally repainted all of the main plaid lines because they weren't right. It was kind of frustrating. Despite that, I'm happy with the end result.Exhibit B for my case of crazy: I'm making my friend's wedding dress. We designed it and I'm making it. I drafted a paper pattern and then made a muslin mock-up. After the fitting I altered the pattern and used that to cut out the pieces in silk dupioni. Now I get to finish cutting out the flat lining of the leftover muslin and serge all the pieces together.I used my cool Ginghers to cut out the silk pieces. They really are the Cadillac of scissors, as my grandma has said. I hope to have it finished by this week so my cute friend doesn't have to worry about it during finals week!

Isn't the silk beautiful? Even with a crappy cell phone picture you can still see the luster of the fabric. (Side note, I stumbled upon the work of a wonderful LDS designer. Her work is mind blowing!)

With all the craziness, I do have someone who helps me stay sane, James. He is so wonderful. He played his guitar and sang for me while I painted on Saturday. Plus, he did the laundry while I was at the shop working on the dress and striking "Three Musketeers." It was so funny, he wouldn't tell me what he did while I was gone. It was only when I saw some of the wet clothes drying in our bedroom that he admitted what he had done. He's so cute like that. Did I mention he also does the dishes? I'm so lucky!

And last up, renderings of Nixon. I was trying the get the shadows dark enough so I took pictures with my cell phone. I think it worked.

One more week until finals! AHHHHH! We can do it! I know we can!

Food!

We had a very productive morning, food-wise. First we picked up our "Bountiful Baskets" order. It's pretty cool, we pay $15 and get a bunch of vegetables and fruits. Granted, we don't get to choose but it is SO worth it!

We got strawberries and a cantalope! I was so excited!

After that we went to Gossner's to buy a bunch of economy cheese. It's basically the odd shaped pieces so it's cheaper. We bought about six pounds of colby-jack, mozerella, swiss, cheddar and muenster. We spent about $15 on it. Not only was it inexpensive but it is REALLY good cheese!
And, another picture of my rough draft set.

My husband IS a rock star

I'm quite possibly the luckiest woman in the world because I married this guy:

James is in a word, FANTASTIC. And in another, WONDERFUL.

Seriously. There is no amount of exaggeration going on here. I figure as it is Thanksgiving next week I'll list the reasons why he is such an amazing spouse.

#1- He has a sense of humor and is able to maintain it during stressful times.

#2- He is understanding. Case in point, "costume shop time." Usually when I'm working in the shop and I say, "I'll be done in fifteen minutes" it usually means twenty or twenty-five. I usually try to not hold to costume shop time if we have somewhere to go but even then

he's so patient!

#3- James doesn't think my taste in music is weird.

#4- He takes charge of things when I'm stressed out or busy with school stuff.

#5- Connected to #4, he can cook AND clean! Here is some proof. Sorry about the color levels, I was trying to be sneaky and take the picture from the dark hall.

#6- James may be laid back but he is also ambitious and responsible, a crazy-great combination.

#7- He sings really well. (Funny story: when we were in California last month an elderly couple asked him if he was professional singer after sacrament meeting. I still tease him about it.)

#8- He has a wonderful family. I was pretty sure I liked him a lot before I met his parents but I knew for sure after meeting them. His sisters are all amazing too.

#9- James keeps me focused. I've been a little distracted lately and kind of baby hungry but he sweetly reminds me that we are BOTH in grad school and graduation is less than two

years away. It's not too long to wait.

#10-James noticed me. Sure it took him a year to ask me out, but he was only guy in our singles ward to do it. I am so lucky!

Christmas!

Okay, I realize that Christmas is a ways away but I like to take care of things and I'm sick of homework. So anyway, here are somethings on my wishlist:

New scriptures. My current set is six years old and it is falling apart. Plus, it has my old last name on it. It would be cool to have scriptures with Lindsay Beardall on them.

Art supplies.

I'm running low on cadnium red.

Sephora giftcard. Always nice. I also made a registry on their website. I can't figure out how to update my account so it's still under Lindsay Keller.

Black stretchy Gap t-shirt. My old one is falling apart. Literally. I like in a large in the stretchy variety.

Brown riding boots. I'm not really copying my sister, we just have similar tastes. My old pair wasn't really my size and I finally owned up to it last year. You know it's a bad sign when your shoes hurt your feet.

They are all so cute!

School starts tomorrow. Bleck. Three more semesters after this one for James and two for me. Hopefully.

We're getting married in the morning...

I've sworn my fiancé away from my blog for the next...16 hours (yipes!) so he will still be surprised when he sees me tomorrow. I'm finally posting some of my bridal pics, courtesy of the wonderful and lovely Becky of Ravenberg Photography. We took them at Trolley Square and a few outside places. I am really thrilled how they turned out!

Funny story: according to my brother Alex, my hair made me "look like a first lady, circa 1935." Meh. I did it myself and I'm really happy how it turned out!