Lend a Hand

Sam is a helpful dude. I mean it, he does his share of the chores, and our apartment looks relatively decent most days. He is in charge of cleaning the fish bowl, doing the laundry, and cleaning the bathroom. I do the grocery shopping, vaccuum everything, and clean the kitchen. We make a pretty good team.

Anyway, in my paintings I wanted to continue experimenting with blending colors, so I decided to make a visual representation of our relationship. I literally painted our hands together, to form this little series. I hung them over our kitchen sink to remind me that we are each one hand in our marriage; we have to work hard and together if we want to get things done.

I've heard horror stories from some of my married friends about how their husbands don't help with anything, so I'm especially grateful that Sam does all that he does to keep our home running. I'll be honest, most of the time, it's just me asking him to take out the kitchen garbage when it gets full (or wash the dishes in the sink), but he is quite obedient and quick to help me when I ask.

I always thank him with a kiss!

Everything has a Season

For the better part of this year, people have been reminding me that everything has a season. When I worked at the temple, while I was in a particular class, and especially at church. I finally decided to make myself a visual representation of that phrase.

The series "Everything has a season"

I'm really pleased with how this series turned out, even though it went in a completely different direction then where I thought I was going. I really need to remember to paint every weekend, otherwise I won't progress. Metaphorically speaking, I too am realizing that I'm in a season where my time is not as flexible, but at least I have the option of reserving some of my free time for painting, and writing too (only it's significantly easier to write 500 words a day than it is to sit down and paint).

Putting forth the effort/Fire Pit Activity

Many who are close to me know that I don't respond well to sudden change, especially big change. Our family ward has certainly been an adjustment, I didn't know ANYONE! Unfortunately, this doesn't help motivate me to make new friends, if anything I retreat into my solitude of homeostasis (thank you Sheldon Cooper!). But anyway, my sweet husband being the encouraging guy that he is, told me to try a little harder, and I could start by going to the Relief Society Enrichment Night Activity.

So I did. Here are some photos to prove it.

I did make some new friends, so I guess that effort paid off.

By the way, have you ever tried a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Smore?

The Dunn Family Send-Off

So the Dunn's are moving next week, and boy am I bittersweet. I'm going to miss my little monsters SO much! They had a farewell party this weekend at Jupiter Bowl in Park City, and boy did we have a blast. I'm trying to forget that they leave on the 29th, but it's proving to be an impossibility.

My two best sweethearts!

My my, is that a strike for Lindsey? :)

Our New Calling

Sam and I were recently called to be in charge of music for Sacrament. Sam is the organist, while I am the chorister (or the Music Director as the bishop continually reminds me).

We are in charge of selected and leading the hymns every week. Also, we are in charge of the choir, or rather I am in charge of the choir. Lucky for me, Sam has decided to practice the idea of an insta-choir (don't ask me, he's the musician), taking a lot of the pressure off of me so that I can focus on my capstone.

Anyway, we've been doing this for about three weeks now, hopefully I'll get better at being the chorister, it seemed so much easier when I was younger and conducting in the NP3 Ward. I'm hoping that I can make time to do some kind of choir next semester when my course load is lighter

A is for Azalea

My friend Esther just had a beautiful baby girl named Azalea (aka Zaylee), so I decided to make her a small painting for her nursery of (what else?) pink azaleas.

It was so great to see the new baby and visit the rest of the family who just happened to be there for dinner. Welcome to the world little one, it has big plans for you!

Labor Day (Studio C premiere!)

Labor day, also known as a paid holiday.

We didn't really do much beyond our normal Monday chores; I went grocery shopping, Sam did laundry. I had a study session mid-morning, and we baked cookies and ran errands in the afternoon.

But what made this day special was that the first episode of season 6 for Studio C premiered! What's funny is that out of the five sketches, we had already seen three of them. When we went to the taping back in June, they showed us some prerecorded sketches (two of them were part of the premiere) and one of the sketches we saw live was part of the premiere as well.

It was so nice to watch the episode together, and we have a standing date on Monday nights to watch the newest episode when I get home from class.

Love Studio C, and I love watching it with my husband!

PS: Here are some photos from when we went to the taping.

Meet Macklemore!

So, for our three-week anniversary, we decided it was time to get a fish. We'd each had Betta fish before, so we were pretty sure we could handle it. We went to Petco, bought a bowl and some pebbles, and of course our gorgeous little fishie.

When we got home, we made a shortlist of names and then compared the list to him to see which one fit best.

We were on a Simpson's kick for a few days (hence the Flanders and the Bart options), but we put together a solid nice list. Out of every name we listed, five of them were our favorite, but only one of them seemed like a good name for our first pet. Macklemore it was!

Sam frequently refers to him as Mac or Mackie, while I tell people his name is "Macklemore the non-mackerel."

We like him a lot, I even painted him when Kate & I went to the Paint Mixer. Anyway, If we can handle a fish for a year, then maybe we can get a cat or a dog :)

It's that time again...

...graduation application time!

I handed in my paperwork yesterday to graduate in May 2016 with my MA in Community Leadership! It's such a strange realization; I just started school a year ago, and now it's already time to start thinking about what is up next. I keep thinking where I was at in my life a year ago, and I can't believe how far I have come in just one short year.

For anyone curious, the MACL program is an interdisciplinary graduate program at Westminster College. There are three tracks (Comprehensive, Arts & Communities, and International) and it can be completed in anywhere from five semesters to three academic years.

Personally, I chose the Comprehensive track and wanted to finish in 5 semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Spring). I've taken classes in the Master's of Business Administration program, the Master's of Education program, Master's of Public Communication, and of course Community Leadership courses.

I now have business and budgeting skills, marketing and rhetoric skills, community organizing and public policy skills, and of course social justice skills.

I'd like to keep working on educational issues as I advance in my career, so at least I have some kind of idea of where I want to be. Only 7 months to go!

currently...

Currently, there is a lot happening around me. Coursework is picking up, social events are being scheduled, holiday rendezvous are being planned, etc.

So, I am currently::

Attending yoga classes on Tuesdays during my lunch hour

Researching my topic for my thesis capstone project (master's thesis)

Writing rhetorical analysis' on Divine Comedy clips, music videos, and song lyrics

Filling out a graduation application

Convincing my husband that we should cruise Norway as a Graduation/Anniversary Trip

Spending a LOT less time on facebook and more time reading and painting

Reading books by Emily Giffin (So far, I've read Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Heart of the Matter)

Grateful that my husband does laundry on Monday night when I'm in class

Bummed that the wellness center changed the Zumba schedule and I can't make it this semester :(

Psyched that we have tickets to see Idina Menzel next month at UVU

Really excited for Mom to open her birthday gift tomorrow at family dinner

Tired, because I haven't been sleeping well by ways of waking up throughout the night

Thrilled to get some new workout gear this weekend.