i've just seen a face.

so.
i have this friend.
her name is jessica rae {perry} schaack.
you see, she takes photographs in her spare time.
and recently she took some photos of hannah and myself.



everyone needs to check out her photos. click HERE.
she is living proof that beauty is all around us because she has a way of capturing that beauty in every photo she takes.


what i am trying to say here, is that she is incredible.

bless you jess.
and thank you.


ps. for all of you that are wondering, i officially have a b/f now. and we're so happy together.
sorry there aren't any pictures to document the amount of happiness that is going on, but honestly, it's the most happiness i've felt in my life.

xo.
linds.

a day in the life.

alright bloggies.
here's the update i promised.
let me just start of by stating that:

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

and i am so happy.
the reunion with the one, m. t. porter, went down last night (saturday january 2, 2010) at about 5:45pm.
you see, i had been planning on going to the breakfast party that was going down at the porter abode, but unfortunately did not get a phone call until around 5:32pm, which i later found out was because m. did not have a telephone and didn't want to see me until we could actually hang out. great idea!
so, i waited around all day and was very patient (sort of) and finally when the phone call came as previously stated at 5:32, i immediately headed over to the porter house. it took me 11 minutes to get there. it was a very long 11 minutes.
i walked up to the door. i could hear my heart beating. my hands were shaking. i saw him through the window sitting at the kitchen table. he looked exactly as i remembered. my eyes got watery. i rang the door bell. his sister dayne answered. he came walking through the dining room. i felt like i was going to melt. he was wearing a vintage canadian hockey jersey. it was blue. he asked how i was. i said i was great. he put his arms around me. my eyes watered some more, but my giant smile didn't let the tears leave my eyes. we embraced. my heart was thumping against his chest. i was worried he could hear it. he didn't let go too soon. and when he did. our eyes met and my heart skipped a few beats.
he is home.
we sat in the kitchen, ate quesodillas with his family. it was like no time had passed. i just kept on looking at him in disbelief. i couldn't believe he was there. i had to touch him a few times to make sure he was real. he was, of course.
he touched my leg a few times as we sat at the table and made jokes and laughed at each other and everything else that was going on. i was surprised and instantly twitterpated. i had the giggles going wild inside of me.
as the night progressed, the two of us, along with some friends and family, went to the porter basement and watched the beloved jazz take on the nuggets. it was a long game. and unfortunately it didn't go as we all had hoped, but that didn't put a damper on the night. after all, the night was far from over.
post jazz game, we made our way to the gibby abode. with a pit stop at the millers house, and then the smith house where we heard a tragic story of "the battle of the bands: the death of macbook." following the tragic story we made it to the gibby house where the 11 (or so) of us that were there, squeezed into the theatre room, which became very muggy and hot after about half an hour. gross. and watched "taken". a pretty violent movie for m. to watch after 2 years of not watching any. but, when it was all said and done. the movie was enjoyed and all was well.
he is home.

let me just sum this up by saying once again that i am so happy.
life is so great. and i am so grateful that m. served a mission and is home and is happy and heathy.

i hope all of you had a wonderful january 2. i know that mine was unbelievable.

xo. linds.

golden slumbers.

happy new year everyone!
i can't believe that it is finally 2010. this past year went by way too fast, but i am totally looking forward to 2010.

ok. so.
it's 7:27am on saturday january 2nd.
why am i up this early you ask?
because my best friend, mason t. porter, is home from his mission!
he got home last night around 10pm and the anticipation of seeing him is about to make my heart explode.
my hands are so shaky, and my heart goes through spats of beating about a million miles a hour
which makes me even more nervous.
i don't know why i am so nervous. i mean, he's just another guy, right?
haha. yeah. good one.
we have written a letter to each other every week since january 2008 and to think that two years have passed,
dozens of notebooks have been used, nearly gallons on ink have turned into words and finally, it's all over.
of course, the letter writing doesn't have to stop, but the whole, going to the post office to get a 75 cent stamp is all over.
don't get me wrong, i'm not sad about this, it's just a little surreal.

ok, so on to the question for why i am up so early?
well, you see, there is a breakfast party going on at mason's house this morning,
and yes, i was invited, but i am waiting for mason to call me, and that alone is why i am up so early.
my brain is going crazy and my heart is going to beat out of my chest.
those are two contributing factors as to why i can't sleep.
it's ok though, who really needs to sleep anyway when there is an extremely handsome man waiting to see them?
not me, thats who.

alright blog and blog readers, wish me luck.
and hey! lets all make this year a little greater than last year. deal?
excellent.

xo.
linds.

It's that time again.

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
I hope it is filled with love and laughter.


Big love. From me to you.
xo.
Linds.

act naturally.

hey everybody!

guess what! i got a real-life grown up person job. it's great. i'm making actual money for the first time in 2009. good thing it's almost over.

i'm working at myler disability (the myler of myler disability is my bishop, but let me assure you that he did not get me the job. i am completely qualified). i'm working as a front office worker and it's a total party. so, if you know anyone needing a social security or disability claim (or you just want to give me work to do) just give call the 1-800 number on the website and there's a one in 4 chance that you'll talk to me. cool beans.

in other news. it's almost christmas. i've done absolutely zero shopping. anyone want to go with me? pretty please?

moving on. there are only 15 days until mason comes home. how wild is that? i'm about pooing my pants thinking about it, mostly because it's coming so fast. everyone send yours prayers his way so that he has a great last couple of weeks and ends his mission strong. thanks a million.

well. i'm pretty exhausted from my big person job and all this waking up early and working all day has turned me into a grandma and i now go to bed at 10pm. and that is soon. i'm out of here people.

stay well all.

and happy happy week before christmas.

xo.

yesdnil.

i me mine.

dear friends.

can you believe the holidays are upon us. it is a little hard to believe that its december 10th. i'm telling you, this has been the fastest, craziest, most surreal, best year of my life. so far.

school is almost over, which is great, but not great because that means that in a few weeks i have to pay thousands more dollars for another semester. i have no money. it's pretty awful, but hey! that's the life of a college student, right? right.

so i have been thinking about a lot of random things lately, and i would just like to share some of those thoughts with you. feel free to stop reading anytime you want.

1. i really hate when people abbreviate the word chicken as chix. i don't know why but it makes me SO crazy and little annoyed.

2. i have had my fingernails painted for about a month and half. maybe longer. they haven't been the same color all that time, but there hasn't been a day when they were their normal (nude) color. wild.

3. there are only 21 more days until m. returns. it is so hard to believe how quickly time goes. two years? really? fastest two years of my entire life.

4. the other night i had a dream that i was driving somewhere, but i was driving in reverse. i'm not very good at driving in reverse, except for when i'm backing up (which is usually the only time i actually drive in reverse). in the dream i was going wild and going all over the road. believe it or not, i didn't even get in a wreck in my dream. i am an amazing driver.

5. my car (glen cocoa) is about to bite the dust (or snow). he's having a hard time starting up in the mornings and is prone to shaking ALL the time. maybe he's just cold, who knows. but i'm not feeling safe when i drive him anymore. time for a new car.

6. on my way to school the other day, i was sitting next to this girl who was on her computer. i'm kinda nosey (my bad) and i looked over at her computer screen and to my surprise, i noticed that she was writing a "dear john" letter. it was pretty brutal and said things like "jordan gives me everything you never did. and he doesn't want me to work. ever. i can just hang out and shop all day." and "let me go, ok? cause you can't have me back." "i chose jordan, not you. and i can't change how my heart feels." uh. a little harsh don't you think? i felt bad for reading it after that. poor missionary.

7. the other day, ok like two weeks ago, hannah and i were coming back from a Christmas card delivery and heard this song on the radio. it blew my mind! it made me feel awful. probably the WORST Christmas (season) song ever.

8. speaking of Christmas song, my favorite one is "the friendly beasts" by sufjan stevens. it is beautiful and is about CHRISTmas, not santa (i think santa is great though).

9. for the second time since i have been home from china, i ate with chop sticks. i had some ramen noodles (chicken flavor) and guess what! i am the still bombtastic at using chopsticks. i actually think they are easier when eating noodles and rice (which i have only had twice since being home!). huzzah!

10. i really don't like being cold, but i like that snow and christmas means that christmas is almost here. and if christmas is almost here, it's almost new years. and if it's almost new years, my best best friend will be home! can you believe how quickly time flies?

sorry if this was BORING to read. i told you that you could stop anytime you wanted. anyway. i've got to go to astronomy now. hopefully we'll look at some stars today! if not, i'll be sleeping.

xo.

L.

revolution 2.

life in general is pretty crazy. i am a full time student, which takes up a lot of my time but surprisingly i still find more than enough time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the world.
as i have been looking back on the past year, i have come realize that i have done so many things that i never would have imagined myself doing.
for example.

• i went to china. who does that? i mean, a lot of people do but i didn't go for me. yes, i knew that i was going to be a different when i came home, but what i didn't realize was that i am a totally different person. i am still me, of course, but my view of the world has changed.
• i became a cryer. i knew this isn't something that someone should put up for whoever to read. but i am truly one of the most emotional people i know. i don't think it's a bad thing, not at all. i actually like being able to cry when something is awesome, or sad, or inspiring, or even hilarious. i find that it makes life a little more interesting when i cry out of no where.
• i was able to grow closer to my family. this has always been a goal of mine. not because i am distant from my family but because i feel like there is always reason to be closer. the weird thing is, it was while i was in china that my relationship with my family grew stronger. it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
• i came to the realization that life is something to celebrate and every day there is something exciting going on. yes, some days are less exciting than others, but we all need to laugh and clap and cheer about the fact that we are alive. we are living, surviving, and loving. how lucky are we.
• i have the greatest friends. i know that i'm not always there for them when they need me to be, but i want them all to know that i always want to be there. when they are happy, sad, angry, heart broken or on top of the world. dear friends, i love you all. and i am here for you when you need me.
• i don't have anything to lose. in life in general. i think a lot of the time i keep myself from doing things because i feel like i am going to miss out on something else, but the fact of the matter is, there is never anything to lose. only more and more experiences to learn and grow from. bring it on, life!
• i gave my heart away to 33 little asian children. i went from getting all their little round faces confused, to knowing who was laughing even when i wasn't looking. each of them changed my life more than i ever imagined and miss them everyday. i will never be the same person i was last year, and because of them i am better than i was.
• i learned to say when i'm thinking. this isn't always the greatest thing to do. but i feel like there are so many people out there that tell people things that they don't necessarily believe. i want to be someone that just lays it all on the line and says what i'm thinking. if you don't like that, too bad for you.
• i learned to roll with the punches. life is so unpredictable and if we get too caught up in worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow or in the next six months, life gets too messy and we get ahead of ourselves. i learned to just live in the moment and enjoy it. embrace it, take it all in, and breathe in deeply the fresh air of unpredictability.

well there you have it, just a few examples about how i grew more over the past year than i could have imagined. and the exciting part is, i don't even know what the next year is going to bring! hopefully something exciting (you'll be the first to know). for all you who read this blog, thank you for reading it and thank you for being so great. cause really, you are all so great and i am so lucky to have YOU in my life.

bless you.

xo.