Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Past Couple of Months...

Wondering what I've been up to?... Here's a sampling...
I haven't posted lately, but wow alot has been going on. Today is a day to celebrate! I haven't spent a spare minute doing much else but painting. Twelve weeks ago, I signed with an artist agent and shortly afterward, I was assigned my first official illustration job. Today I sent off my final illustrations for approval! So exciting! There may be some changes, but so far they've been very satisfied with the sketches and have had no revisions for me. Sorry to all those friends that I've totally ignored lately... I feel like a hermit. But - today I went to the movies, which I felt was an appropriate celebration.

I want to report all my recent happenings as well - because though I've been painting alot, life has been in full swing as well. Last weekend we were able to go down to little Beckham's blessing. What a special day! He was so good, and so handsome!
Two weeks ago now, I went on vacation with my parents, my sister, and her little boy. The trip was originally planned with my parents and us (me and Spencer), but Spencer decided to stay home and work harvest with Highmark Farms. I missed him all week, and we all wished he could have been there, but we respected his decision to stay home (I think this is his way of "nesting"). Even with the change of company, we had a great time.

We started the vacation off in Lake Mead Nevada! Definitely my favorite vacation spot on earth! The weather was perfect (hot!). Hyrum loved the water, and it was nice to jump in and cool off.
We spent two days on Lake Mead, staying in Henderson 3 nights. I debated putting my bikini belly baring pictures, but... decided against it, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting my momma-tan on all day.

Our next 3 days were spent in Disneyland! I had way to many pictures to post them all, so I made this lovely collage for you all to enjoy. If you were wondering which rides a pregnant woman can ride on in DL: all the ones a toddler can, I could. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid, the Flight of Peter Pan... etc. I did my fair share of shopping, people watching, and perusing through all the shops. I loved seeing Disneyland from an artist's perspective, thinking how fun it would be to help design and paint these props, rides, and backgrounds.

I loved the fact that it was Halloween decor! I love Halloween! Enjoy the baby bump pictures! I've popped out in the past couple of weeks. My family enjoyed feeling my baby kicks throughout our vacation. The car rides were the only bummer part of the vacation, but they were made alot easier thanks to Rio and new portable DVD players.

Our final day of vacation ended in St. George, meeting up with Tae and Chase and going to Sand Hollow. Chase offered me a swig of his Diet Pepsi while I was hanging ten :) That was baby Ward's last surf before he's doing it by himself one day.

Like I said before, I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd backtrack a bit and share some more pics! Another highlight of the summer was the Eastern Idaho State Fair. We went a couple of times, enjoying great food and even better company!

Spencer finished off his footlong corndog as I enjoyed a cherry-lime specialty drink. Yum!

Spencer and I both enjoyed some fair treats. I try to find something new for each year. Last year it was spicy crawfish, this year I decided to go with a fried candy bar. Though super-delicious, it was border line too sweet, and that night I had my first ever run-in with HEARTBURN!!! Ugh! Unfortunately that wasn't the last time either, but that was definately the worst case.


Another main event of our summer was the Salsa Shack! Spencer spent nearly every Saturday at the Farmer's Market, and every Wednesday night at Revive at Five in Old Town Pocatello. I wish I could say I was an uber-supportive wife and was his right hand gal every time... but my illustration job put a kink in that plan. We were both working hard I guess. Thankfully he had some great help most of the time. Thanks Jessi, Rachel, Aly, Tyson, and Shad for filling in and lending him a hand. He's the salsa master! Can't get it any fresher!

Anyway, I've been doing great, totally enjoyed my summer, love that autumn has come, and anticipate winter to be more exciting than both! Little boy is growing more and more, I'm enjoying being pregnant and feeling his little movements all day long. Sure, I'm getting more uncomfortable every day, and I cry at the thought of anything nostalgic or heartfelt, but I have been so blessed, and love that my family is growing and can't wait for this new chapter to start.