Bubba Love.

Hi from Colorado :)

It's been a little while. Oops. Quick trip down to Grand Junction for the day for catalog press checks. Spending time at a press makes me remember when I worked in the bindery at Premier Graphics in Bellingham, Washington. I love the smell of fresh ink!

Katie dropped me off at the Provo airport this morning, and Bubba came running up and gave me a big hug and kiss before we took off. He knows the way to my heart! He is such a loving lil' guy and can't seem to get enough of his little sis, Evie. (He has been known to crawl into her crib at night just to snuggle up with her!) This pic was taken just a couple days after Evie was born--we were taking a bunch of newborn pics and Bubba couldn't miss out on the fun. Great smile, no? Classic Bubba face. Love this kiddo.

The last couple months have been a blur...a good kind of blur. Keeping busy with family (only 11 more wake-ups til Dad retires! Party!!) and friends and work. Stadium of Fire // Beach Boys concert: amazing!! Love them. Trips to Seven Peaks on Saturday mornings with Katie and Joe and the kiddos. Loving on Lizzy and Lucy, the parental's dogs who have temporarily made their home at Katie's place. Sound of Music at the Hale Center Theater. Keeping cool in all this 100* weather. Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days rodeo. Trips to the snowie shack for snow cones. Roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. Enjoying life.

Flashback

Twenty years later, and the glasses are back. Not a strong prescription, but enough to need 'em. Still figuring out if I like them or not. I think I need to do a little more shopping around to find some frames that I really love, but for now, these will work!

Happy!

Happy Saturday morning! My morning started kinda early for a Saturday (like 5:30 early) with a migraine, so I took some meds, went back to sleep, and started my Saturday over sans migraine. I love meds :) Forecast for today: sunny and nearly 80°!! I think it might be the best day so far in 2011. Lots to get done today, so I'm hoping I can enjoy the sunshine at least for a few minutes today.

Last trip home to St Louis was kind of bittersweet. Littlest sis, Sarah, graduated. No more high school graduations--yay! No more trips to Edwardsville--sad. For the last 6+ years, St Louis has been "home" for me, even though I never really lived there. The motto in our family is "the plan is, the plan will change." I wish I were good with change--I'm really good with change when others are involved in whatever is changing, but sometimes going through change solo is kind of hard. But that's ok! Life is supposed to be an adventure, right?

So the funny thing with my parents moving to Houston is this: I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say now when I'm asked where I'm from! Is my hometown where mom and dad currently reside? Where we've lived the longest? What state we've lived in longest? Where I graduated high school? (I went to three high schools, so that's kind of a trick question :) I've been in Provo for going on 4 years now, so am I from Provo now? Input, please.

Life is good, it's sunny out, and it's Saturday. Best day ever.

Snapshots

Katie and the kiddos headed to St Louis this afternoon to spend some time there before my parents move to Houston next month...and I get to meet up with them next week! (Slightly excited :)

listening to: adele, make you feel my love
feeling: anxious/excited/nervous/happy/scattered/focused (confused? me too!)
thinking about: katie flying to st louis by herself with the kiddos and hoping she survived
seeking: for some answers
looking forward to: being with my sisters and mom and dad
weather: cold, rainy (snowy in the mountains)
enjoying: my new little toy--an iPad--but...
wondering: if i should get the 64 GB
making: well, thinking about making this
enjoying: the last few days being 26!
dreaming about: the future

and one more smoochy pic. love these two.

Happy Friday

Dear Mom,

Thanks so much...I needed that :) It made my whole week that much better!


Happy looooong weekend!

*me

hello

I found myself at Ikea on Saturday with Katie and the Little Lady, and on our way back, Katie reminded me it's been over a month since I posted...oops! It's been a busy month to say the least! :) I'll get back to blogging (maybe) this week. Promise. And yes, that would be me and missy Claire on our way to IKEA, tutu and all! I love it. I love her juice-drenched shirt. I love her crazy curly blonde hair. I love her.

But first, please take a look at this goodness:Would you believe this is from...IKEA? Yes, yes it is. Anthropologie will always have a special place in my heart, but this looks mighty tempting :)

Images from Agent Bauer. (Not to be confused with Jack.) Go check it out. Beautiful!

Happy Monday :)

BiCYCELS 4 SALE

While stopped at a stop light, I looked over to my right and saw this:I was all by myself and I laughed (out loud), so I whipped out my camera and snapped a photo. (Note: always carry a camera with you...you never know when you'll need it!)

Story time: one of the most important lessons I learned in school was to be more observant of my surroundings. I've noticed an increased appreciation for the little things when I pay attention to what's around me. Sometimes I drive other people crazy because I'll point out the littlest things that I think are beautiful/weird/random/etc. Case in point: tonight on my run with Danielle (shout out!) we went past a blooming magnolia tree and it was beautiful! Naturally, I pointed at it--slightly excited--because Spring is just around the corner! (It snowed this morning here; Spring has not unveiled it's face here along the Wasatch Front.) Then a few minutes later, this little pair of quails ran across someone's lawn and without even thinking about it, I pointed them out to Danielle and she just laughed at me and was "impressed" by my observation skillz. I started laughing, not quite sure what to say except to just laugh at myself and my quirky habit! Please tell me I'm not the only one does this! :)

And one more thing...we (my roomies and me) might be going to the BSB concert this summer...what do you think about that?!

New{ish} Blog

Everyday I get sucked into my google reader and read hundreds of blog posts on blogs about life, weddings, photography, family & friends, strangers, on being happy, design, art, home decor, quilting, flowers, tech-y things (nerd alert!), scrapbook stuff, DIY ... and on, and on and on! I (without fail) star at least 50 posts daily because there's something within the post that's inspiring in some way to me. I've tried to figure out the best way to keep track of all these things...should I print them out and keep the pics in a binder? I started doing that, but that 1-costs a lot of mullah, 2-it's too much work and 3-I don't have room for stuff like that right now.

Solution: start a blog and compile all these things that I love and find inspiring. It's super basic...just pictures and links to the original post. Simple, right? I think so. I kind of think of it as a digital sketch book of ideas, ya know? The plan originally was to keep it to myself, but a few people have somehow found it, so I figured I'd uncover it...not that it was super secret to begin with. Don't count on regular posts...they kind of come in spurts (like 20 at a time)! Everything has a label, so it's easy to find things. Hope you enjoy! Click here.

I'm going through my google reader and want to add some fun, new blogs...what's your current favorite blog? I need some new ones :)

Só Jesus Salva!

It was kind of a busy and crazy day at work (to say the least), so it was nice to come home and find an email from my little brother, Marshall. We get emails weekly from him, and they always seem to come at just the right time! It was so good to hear his voice on Christmas when we were able to talk with him for a few minutes. In his email this week, he shared this experience:

"There was one day this week when a man drove past us in the other direction shouting "Só Jesus salva!" ("Only Jesus saves!") You know, in one sense he was right. Jesus did do something that only He could do for us in order for us to receive salvation... but the thing is, there are things we can (and need) to do in order for the Atonement that He went through to apply to us. And as representatives of Jesus Christ, we're here to help other people learn what those things are and do them."

I'm so grateful to have a brother serving a mission right now. I feel like I've grown to love him more even though he's so far away!

And on an entirely unrelated note, my poor desk needs a little attention, don't you think?

The Week of Weird Dreams

It's been a weird week for dreams. For some reason I've remembered every dream from the last five or so days when I wake up in the morning, which is pretty unusual for me...and they are weird and crazy dreams! Monday morning I woke up from a private Adam Lambert concert...he found out that the light bulbs in my room were burned out, so he came to change them for me and decided to give my apartment a private concert! I asked if I could invite some friends over, but he said "no." (Sorry Katie, Tessa, Kate and Melissa...I tried!) He sang us his new single "Whataya Want From Me" and that was the end of the concert and I woke up! Weird.
Monday nights are the best night because one of my *favorite* shows is on--Antiques Roadshow!! Love it. (I secretly want to go on that show!) The last item that was appraised before I fell asleep was this Confederate Belt Buckle. Tuesday morning I woke up laughing! In my dream, I was the person with the belt buckle having it appraised and I ended up arguing with Rafael (the appraiser and yes, I know his name...moving along...) telling him that he didn't know what he was talking about, and that my belt buckle was worth a whole lot more than $10,000!

I'm not sure what all these weird dreams mean...if anything at all!

Oh...and I could use a little extra luck sent my way tomorrow and Friday. A local radio station is giving away tickets to the Michael Buble concert in March and I just think that I should win the tickets, don't you agree? Wish me luck!

Please, Have A Seat and Enjoy.

For the record, I didn't go into Broadcast Journalism for a reason! :)

Onto the story! I went up to the KSL studios in Salt Lake City this morning to demo a sweet-action flip book on their talk show, "Studio 5," for Pebbles in my Pocket. I got there a few minutes early, so I was just waiting in the lobby until I was escorted back to the studio. As I was waiting, I could hear a familiar voice coming from down the hallway...someone with an English accent. Sure enough, it was Alex Boye! He was on the show this morning, too, for their segment "What's He Thinking?" It was fun to see him and knowing someone else at the studio I think calmed some nerves! It was rather funny watching him...he's such a natural in front of the camera, and I'm *so* not!

This is Alex's segment (it gets good at about the 4 minute mark...Alex talks about his style and they all talk about skinny jeans...it's quite funny! Everyone was dying in the studio laughing!):

A few minutes before I was to go on, the Stage Manager hooked me up with the mic. He must've done this a million times before, because he sure was comfortable adjusting everything for the mic, if you know what I mean! Anyways, the time came for me to be on. To say that I was nervous is just a *slight* understatement!

I called my sister, Katie, as soon as it was over, and the first thing she said to me was, " your voice sure sounded weird!" A couple other people said my voice really doesn't sound like this...if it does sound like this to you, I apologize! I hate listening to myself! :)

Now that I've watched it a few times, I just think the whole thing is funny! I feel awkward putting this up, but I think it's rather amusing and it's worth documenting the experience! Laugh it up, laugh it up!

Busy weekend ahead...my "To Do" list is a bazillion miles long for the weekend! We'll see if I get everything done!

Get Ready...

...to laugh! If you're in Utah, tune in to Studio 5 at 11:00 and I promise you'll have a good laugh. Just keep in mind I'm not really crafty. More info on this later this afternoon.

And yes, I'm being vague on purpose.

Tuesday.

Yesterday was just one of those days. I went to bed pretty exhausted...I think it was because I exercised so many emotional muscles that hadn't been used in quite some time. It wasn't any one particular thing. More like lots of little things. Ever have days like that?

The day couldn't have ended any better. I picked up my brother in law and niece at the airport and it was so good to see baby Claire again. (Joe...it was good to see you again, too!) When we got home, Katie had picked up my favorite cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy...Va-NIE-lla Squared.
I'm grateful for days like yesterday. I had the lyrics to "More Holiness Give Me" running through my head:

More holiness give me, more strivings within.
More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin.
More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care.
More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord.
More zeal for His glory, more hope in His Word.
More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief.
More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.

More purity give me, more strength to o’ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home.
More fit for the kingdom, more useful I’d be,
More blessed and holy, more, Savior, like Thee.

...

Yesterday will be a day I always remember.

Answering Questions

Such a fun weekend with Channy and Erin in town!! Chandice and I were able to go to our friend Amy's wedding on Saturday...it was such a beautiful wedding at the Provo temple. The only thing that could've made the day better was if it wasn't raining and snowing! Oh well, Amy made the best of the situation and everything turned out so beautiful. More pics from this weekend later...still trasferring photos!

Until then, some random questions and answers for your reading pleasure:

• First thing you wash in the shower? Shampoo my hair.

• What color is your favorite hoodie? Brown. It's probably going on about 5 years...it's been so good to me, but I'm afraid it's about time for it to retire.

• Do you plan outfits? Depends...sometimes I'll think about a church outfit, but not so much for work!

• How are you feeling RIGHT now? Happy and so ready for bed.

• What's the closest thing to you that's red? My phone.

• Did you meet anybody new today? I did...two people, actually! Adam and Mitchell (?) I think...

• What are you craving right now? Amanda (my roommate) made brownies tonight and I can still smell them...brownies are my weakness!

• Have you ever counted to 1,000? Yes, actually. I remember baby sitting for someone (back in the day) and the daughter had to count to 1,000, so I did with her.

• Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Usually bite into it. I wish I didn't.

• Do you like your hair? Most of the time, yes. I like going between straight and curly.

• Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Umm, yes. I'd be really nervous, but I would do it.

• What are you listening to right now? iTunes: Only You, by YAZ. Currently on repeat.

• Would you go sky diving? I'd go sky diving before bungee jumping.

• Do you like cottage cheese? When it's with pineapple or fresh strawberries, yes.

• Do you rent movies often? Sometimes...Monday nights at Albertson's, you can rent Redbox movies for free! I love Redbox!

• Have you made a prank phone call? Oh, yes. Pre-caller ID days were the best.

• Brown or white eggs? I don't think I've ever bought brown eggs for myself before, so white.

• Do you have a cell-phone? Yes

• Do you use chap stick? Burt's Bees is the best! I love when you lips kinda tingle a little bit when you use it

• Can you use chop sticks? I always try using them when they're available, but I can't quite figure them out, so I usually give up and just use a fork.

• Who are you going to be with tonight? Earlier we had an American Idol Results Roommates Party...Roommates + Adam and Mitchell + Matt = fun times.

• Ever have cream puffs? Yes and I l.o.v.e. them...especially with chocolate!

• Last time you cried? I think the last time i cried was the other night when we watched Marley and Me.

• Favorite time of the year? End of spring/beginning of summer and end of summer/beginning of fall

• Do you have any tattoos? Nope...but I've had a henna tattoo. Funny story behind that one.

• Have you ever walked into a wall? I don't know that I've walked into a wall, but I've walked into glass sliding doors. Not fun!

• Is your hair curly? Yes...

• What was the last CD you bought? Not off iTunes: Coldplay, Viva la Vida

• Do you like your life right now? Life is good...I think I'm about 95% satisfied right now.

• Do you sleep with the TV on? I love falling asleep to it...I find that this happens quite often and I end up turning it off at about 2 in the morning.

• Do you have good vision? I do now...I used to wear glasses, switched to contacts, and now my eyes are perfect!

• What are you wearing? I'm ready for bed: Wicked shirt and black shorts...so comfy!

• What is your favorite animal? Dogs...and I kind of wish that I had one right now!

• Can you hula hoop? I haven't hula hooped in for.ev.er, but I think I can still do it. It's like riding a bike, right?

• What was the most recent thing you bought? A new flat iron, but I don't like it...I think I need to return it and try a different one!

No Can Do.

Ward closing social tonight. I got called up with 3 other people to volunteer for something (that 'something' was unknown at this point). Found out it had something to do with kissing...I could feel all the blood drain from my face and I know I went pale...I can't believe I didn't faint! Turns out it was a cherry stem knot-tying contest. *phew*

I learned tonight that I can't tie a cherry stem in a knot in my mouth. No can do. I almost had it, but couldn't quite finish it off.

Lovin' Me Some Sun.

Good weather = time outside! Couldn't pass up the beautiful weather we've been having, and decided that the best way to enjoy it was to go to Bridal Veils. I tricked Katie (and Claire for that matter) into going with me and we highly enjoyed our "hike" to the falls!

Seriously...

I have a major hard time 'appreciating' spiders. Why do they have to exist?? I don't like them; never have and never will. In the last week I've had two too-close-for-comfort encounters with a huge, black, gross spiders...one just landed on my laptop five minutes ago as I was typing and last week one landed on my lap as I was driving (so not a good experience...). I think someone is playing a majorly twisted joke on me...

...and it's not funny any more.

No picture for this post.

I love...

...this little girl! I can't get enough of her! She has the most contagious laugh and you can't help but be happy when you're around her.

and p.s...Katie and Joe, I think you need to get her a puppy. I know where you can get one!

::25::

01. My name is spelled l-i-n-d-s-A-y (the correct way). My mom's name is Lisa, and my name uses all the letters from her name, hence the "a" rather than an "e."
02. Cinnamon Life Cereal is the best cereal ever.
03. I love all things vintage and antiquing is the best Saturday afternoon activity. I inherited this love of antiques from my mom and her sisters.
04. I'd be completely lost without my phone. Pre-cell phone days, I had everyone's phone number memorized. I got my first cell phone as a junior in college and couldn't have been more grateful for it! Erin's phone number is the only number I have memorized. I don't know my parent's home number!
05. I attended 3 high schools: El Modena (Orange), San Ramon Valley (Danville) and Sehome (Bellingham). High School was not my fave; college was much better.
06. My Grandma Bowerman always had orange tic tacs. She would always have a pack just for me, and I'd tell my younger siblings I couldn't share with them because they were "special pills and were only for me." Worked like a charm.
07. I am definitely a morning person and not so much a night owl.
08. I work for a scrapbook company, but have no scrapbook skillz. People assume I have the most amazing scrapbooks, and when asked about them, I tell them, "Oh, you have no idea..."
09. I love getting snail mail...and even better than getting snail mail is sending snail mail. Handwritten notes are the best.
10. Sunrises are amazing. I think what makes them even more beautiful than a sunset is that it takes a little more effort to see a sunrise.
11. My dad is the funniest person I know. Don't believe me? Check out his blog. Even during his health scare a couple months ago, he found things to laugh about. I have a thing or two to learn from him! :)
12. I love thunderstorms, especially midwest thunderstorms. The night before Katie and Joe got married in Nauvoo, there was a huge UGE thunderstorm and I thought it was actually kind of romantic! :)
13. Linnie Bell was my great-grandmother's name. I only met her once before she passed away. Could a name be any sweeter?
14. One of my favorite TV shows is Antique Roadshow. I'm actually watching it right now! Project Runway is another fave. Tim Gunn reminds me of one of my design profs at school.
15. I listed all of my roommates I've had over the years the other night, and I've lived with over 50 girls!
16. I love classical music and I love listening to it on long drives.
17. I get 'nervous neck' around certain people. Enough about that.
18. Sandals are better than shoes.
19. I got a bus ticket in 2nd grade for twisting a boy's arm. He told me I couldn't hurt him; I told him I could. I grabbed his arm and twisted it until he cried. Oops.
20. Of all the places I've lived, Bellingham was my most favorite.
21. I love the piano. Mom got a beautiful Mason Hamlin baby grand a few years ago, and I love playing it when I'm home.
22. Home really is where my mom is! When I'm asked where I'm from, St. Louis is the easiest answer, simply because that's where my parents currently live. I'm kind of a homebody and wish my parents (and Sarah!) lived closer! Four of the five Bowerman kiddos are now living in Utah.
23. I recently inherited my mom's Bernina sewing machine and I LOVE it!
24. Tulips and hydrangeas are my favorite flowers. I'm tempted to go to the Tulip Festival this spring.
25. I'll be 25 in May and I'm really excited about it! Perhaps I'll make a trip down to Disneyland for my birthday this year and get in free! Anyone want to go??

Maybe...

Maybe next time you stop by, I'll have posted something new. Until then, Happy 2009!