halloween!

we celebrated halloween on saturday with friends.

the gibsons threw THE best halloween party ever.

it was so much fun.

linc and i didn't want to spend money on halloween costumes so we kind of came up with things last minute.

me: creepy zombie.

linc: michael jordan.

i'm not going to lie, being a zombie is kind of fun... but i also am very scared of these photos of me.

yikes!

 see what i mean?

the lovely dinner table:

the clan: 

(and the creeper in the corner)

the polar bear and tiger:

(hilarious!)

michael jordan and the zombie:

the progressive lady and mayhem:

the other zombies:

 it always great to be with these people.

we just love them!

lincoln's idea... (we got last place)

happy halloween!

saying goodbye is becoming a habit.

hosting a going away party for our friends tonight.

he was accepted to pharmacy school in oregon.

going to miss this couple and their adorable little girl.

 

 

last october maci offered me some leaves.

seriously going to miss them.

eternal families.

hello, all.

i hope your mother's day weekend was wonderful, mom's and future mom's alike.

lincoln got in trouble by me and his family for not doing anything for me.

*cough* don't forget next year *cough*

:)

but i guess he slightly made up for it by letting me order a vintage pearl necklace last night.

he also gave me a nice elbow in the face in the middle of the night in his sleep.

thanks, husband.  haha

we spent this mother's day motherless.

my mom is currently visiting south africa with my dad.

and lincoln's mom is in oklahoma serving as a mission president.

we missed both of our mom's, but we got to skype and email with them.

yesterday was also my dad's birthday.

happy birthday, dad!

and wednesday is lincoln's dad's birthday.

it's a week of celebrating our parents!

we also got to talk to lincoln's beautiful little sister, abby, on saturday.

she is serving a mission in santiago, chile.

it was SO wonderful to hear from her.

she is so happy and can speak spanish beautifully (from the little i know).

***********************************

this weekend we actually spent a great deal mourning with some of our closest friends.

this sweet dear couple gave birth to a still-born at just under 20 weeks.

ever since we heard the news friday evening, my heart has felt broken.

since both of their parents live far far away (and we were parent-less as well), we took them dinner yesterday evening and cried with them.

i can't believe the things they had to experience this week, and how strong they are now.

it made us think a lot about the miracle that is child birth and how we would handle the same situation.

we love this couple dearly, and hate to see them go through such pain.

but we both know they will see their little girl again someday.

and they will be able to hold her and love her and raise her.

we are so grateful to be an eternally family.

if you would be so kind... pray for our friends.

love you all.

my co-worker friend.

this afternoon i was sorting through old pictures.

and found this one.

this is me and my co-worker friend, erin.

i miss her a lot.

we had lots of fun last summer.

then i found this one.

she's really funny.

you don't even know.

that is all.

instead of doing homework i did this...

today i chose photography over homework.

and i still have 7 quizzes to take.

and multiple assignments to complete.


and i know tomorrow i will be super stressed out
and mad at myself for procrastinating.

but right now,
i don't even care.



instead of doing homework today i did what makes me happy.

i'm in love with photography.

i think it was good for me.
usually by this time during the week i turn into a crazy person.
no crazy today!






one day,

photography will be all i do.

and one day,
i'll start a photography blog
so i don't have to post on here.


i am not even close to being that great yet.
but i'm slowly finding time to practice.


today,
my beautiful friend, kristin,
asked me to take photos of her for her photography website.


we braved the cold and
i think they turned out great!
my job is really easy when i have a beautiful model like her.

here are some of my favorites.







i think this next one is my favorite.




hello, gorgeous eyes!










the haze made this filter from the sun and the lighting was so great!





thanks, kristin!

i had so much fun.



i'm glad we are friends.

we rang in the new year in the kitchen.

first kiss of 2010.

toasty-toast with some martinelli bubbly.

huzzah!

happy new year!


love,
jalincoln

preggers

see this girl?

her name is Lacie.

she's totally pregnant!

and that's kind of weird to me.

first one out of my friends.


in this picture we were both single
and waiting for missionaries.

hah! she married her's!
i did not.


and now she is with child!!!

totally weird.

but i'm so excited for her!
she will be such a good mom.

i've loved that girl since 8th grade.
bff's.

attractive pictures of us, don't you think?

lights at temple square

last weekend we went to see the lights at temple square.

always such a fun Christmas tradition.

here's all my wonderful friends and their others.

minus the browns and dahls. so sad they couldn't make it.

me, lindsey, whitney, haley, lindsay, dayna.

i found this picture of us at temple square when we were all singlets.

haha cute.

i have such amazing friends, by the way.

i lurve them.

awkward.

Today I'm having one of my best friends tell us a story...

A story about a date she went on that I think tops them all.

Serious, folks.

You can't make this stuff up.

Without further ado, here is Lindsay's most awkward date ever.

The Most Awkward Date of My Existence

His name wasn’t Richard, but we’ll call him Richard.

Richard and I were casually introduced through a mutual friend at school and, as is the case with most acquaintances these days, he found me on Facebook.

We chatted fairly regularly. Richard seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me and thus created surveys for me to answer which included questions like, “What’s your favorite place to visit?” or “What’s was your favorite childhood activity?” I didn’t think much of this behavior and returned the surveys for him to answer as well.

Time went by and Richard asked me on a date. When the day came he picked me up at 5:30pm and we went to dinner. In the surveys Richard came to find out my inexpressible love for Italy, so he took me to Johnny Carino’s. I’d never been there before, but the food was delicious and conversation, though awkwardly deep at times, wasn’t completely uncomfortable.

After dinner Richard took me ice skating, having learned from one of his surveys that I enjoyed skating lessons in my youth. It was, again, fun and only slightly awkward at times. After we were done, I thought to myself, “That’s a good date. Dinner and an activity,” but when we got in the car Richard informed me that we were now going to his apartment to make dessert and watch a movie. I secretly groaned inside at the thought of a prolonged and mildly awkward date.

When we pulled into the driveway, Richard exclaimed, “Alright, this is the fun part. Now I have to blindfold you.”

“Uh…no,” I responded with a laugh.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. Trust me.”

And, for some bewildering reason that I still don’t quite understand, I did. I let him blindfold me. He guided me to his doorstep and while doing so, introduced me to a whole new level of awkward. It was just plain uncomfortable, so I made sure that I could at least see out the bottom of blindfold.

I was then guided into Richard’s entryway where he told me to wait as he “got things ready”. Oh boy! Suddenly, an Italian melody began to play through his small apartment accompanied by a sinking feeling in my stomach. “What have I gotten myself into,” I thought. I shuffled and tripped awkwardly as Richard guided me into his family room.

“Alright, I have to pick you up for this part,” he announced.

“Um…what? No,” was my immediate response, to which he laughed and quickly ignored. He put his arms around me, my elbows bent and arms at my sides, and lifted me onto, what I thought was a LoveSac. One more moment of waiting and I was given the command to remove my blindfold. “Oh here goes nothing…” I thought.

I looked down and found that the LoveSac I thought I had been sitting on was actually a large inflatable raft in the middle of the family room floor. Richard stood at the front of the raft wearing an Italian straw hat and “rowing” us along with a plastic yellow ore. In front of us was a huge projection screen playing a video of gondolas riding through the canals of Venice. . . . . .

Speechless, mind-boggled and laughing uncomfortably I sat in that inflatable raft not knowing what to do. And then, without even a moment to catch my breath or orient myself, Richard pulled out his guitar and proudly announced,

“This is a song I wrote, inspired by you.”

“You wrote a song for me?!” I asked surprised

“No, inspired by you,” was the response.

I do not remember the words or the title or the melody of the song. I just sat there, mind and heart racing, wanting it to end. Wanting to wake up.

When he was done singing, I applauded politely and thanked him for all the work he had put into this…whatever “this” was. I was half expecting him to pull out a black velvet box and propose right then and there…but to my relief, he did not.

We then proceeded to the kitchen to bake a cake. When it was completed we took our servings to the family room. I instinctively went to the couch to have a seat, “Wait! Let’s sit here,” Richard said, ushering me to the inflatable raft in the middle of the floor. I reluctantly got up from the couch and sat next to him in the raft as we watched “A Goofy Movie” on the large projection screen.

When the movie ended, it was 12:30am. Richard took me home and gave me a hug. As I closed the door behind me I let out a long and relieved sigh…it was over. 7.5 hours later, it was over. Absolutely and unequivocally the most awkward date of my entire life.

I have to give Richard some credit for his outstanding creativity…but no, I never did accept another date invitation from him. Once was enough for me.

Thanks for the great story, Richard.

Thanks, Linds.

Anyone else have an awkward date story?
Please do share.

love me some brad paisley

I might have to admit...

that I only knew one Brad Paisley song
before attending this concert.

you see,
I'm not opposed to country...
it's just not my first musical genre of choice.

but this concert was definitely awesome.
I think I feel in love with Brad a little.

especially when he sang "Then."
I kinda wanted to cry
because it was just so gosh darn cute.



here's Brad in all his silhouetted glory!



I guess the company wasn't too bad either.

lindsay, scott, yours truly, and lincoln.


we has ourselves some fun.


lincoln sang every song to me with his awesome voice.

he will disagree that it's awesome.

don't believe him.

hot sauce.



it was probably the most perfect way to end summer.

outdoor concert.
gorgeous lightning display at a safe distance.
friends.
laughter.
mmm, me likey.








today it definitely felt like fall.
holy brrrr...

i like labor day.

first, i said good-bye to jas-face.

he's moving to a state abbreviated with a MO.
to be a statistician.

we made sad faces.


but don't worry, we're happy too.



then on saturday, I did some bbq-ing at my cute little cabin with some friends.


i love it there.

and it has THE best swing in the world.


then we played loaded questions for a good 3 hours.


and laughed a lot.

i love friends.


and i love four day weekends.

Pioneer Day... and other July festivities.

Want to know something that I love about Utah?

The 24th of July.

It celebrates the day the first group of the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.

Along with celebrating our Pioneer heritage we have parades, carnivals,
(check out this awesome race)

fireworks,


BBQing,


s'mores,


friends,



and
FUN!


Mmm... I sure do love summer.