Baby shower!

I am so excited! I have the best little sister ever. She is putting together my shower and she is organized and on the ball. I also have some pretty great sister-in-laws and friends! I have no doubt this will be a great party. I just love having people around and happy. If any of you who read this blog want to come here's the invite!

Almost done!

There's only two weeks of school left and I am so excited! I am nearly done with all of my classes and I only have two finals during finals week. Things are looking up!

I am 28, almost 29 weeks now and that means that I have only 11 or 12 weeks left... almost done with that too! Well maybe not almost, but definitely getting closer to done:-) I'm in my third trimester at least.

I should go make dinner...

Two photos today! (maybe three...)

So the first photo is of the first real snow of the season!
 

It's quite amazing how one day there's no snow, it's just kinda cold, and the next day it's like being in Narnia during the reign of the Ice Queen lady!



The next photo is of me at 27 weeks...

Getting bigger and bigger!


More later!

Belly Shot at 23 Weeks!

It feels as if this little bump happened over night! I had people asking me today how far along I was. After I told them that I was 23 weeks, a few of them said, "Wow! You look very pregnant!"

At first I wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing, but I've decided that this is good! That is as long as I don't get it after I have Emma!

And I still have a ways to go before I am REALLY big!

My First Baby Blanket...

Made this today... It's my first blanket for the new baby girl!

p.s. Those are hippos, not pigs;)

My First Belly Shot...

Here I am at 19 weeks... Almost half way! Yeah! 

Utter Exhaustion has overcome me...

I didn't sleep well last night because, between Chris leaving and allergies, I couldn't breathe through my nose!

And to add to the sleeplessness, I have about a million things to do today... The only reasons I have a minute to type are 1)I am waiting for some files to upload to Walmart.com and 2) I TOOK that minute by force! I mean, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

I just wanna say a quick thanks to all of my family and friends who are supporting both Chris and I during this deployment... You all Rock!

And it's time to get back to business...

Bak tu skool!

You know that Adam Sandler movie, I think it's "Billy Madison," where he has to go back to school to prove he can handle his dad's company? In that movie he sings a little song (I think he may be a little intoxicated) about having to go back to school. Every time I have to start a new semester I think of that song. Such a funny movie. It makes me feel better about having to go "bak tu skool" :-)

School started yesterday. It was also quite a busy day. I went to bed late the night before and then got up early, went to school all day, ran errands, bought text books, took molly to the vet (she got poison ivy or something) and then had to run more errands (this time not for me) and then went to mutual. I got home and went to bed!

I was so exausted.

Today was the second day of school. I only have one class on Wednesdays. HALLELUIA! I have been vegging for the last four hours. It's been wonderful.

I am grateful for naps, people I know, people I love (sometimes I don't love the people I know:-)) and for coupons.

Well it's time I got busy with homework and prep for the rest of the week. I'll just leave you with a photo of me on my second day of school. (there wasn't time to take one yesterday!)

just found the cutest blog ever...

So while I was wasting time waiting for Chris to come home from work, I stumbled across this gem of a blog.

http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

It amazes me how creative people can be. I wish that I could come up with an original idea like this. Anyways.... Don't forget to oooohh and aaahhhh for me!

Photos, recap, and EXCITING NEWS!

SO today I am plan on sharing with you photos, a recap of the summer this far, and some very exciting news... not in that order!

Because it is so exciting, I will start with the news!

I'M PREGNANT!

Yeah! Chris and I were not planning on having kids until after he came back from his deployment, but apparently Heavenly Father had other plans.

Baby is due at the end of February. We will be finding out the gender but as of right now it's too early, so it's just Baby.

Photos will be posted here and on the blog that Chris and I will write together while he's gone, if you want to see them of course!

And now onto other things...

Here is my summer recap (not in any particular order):

Internship at the Post Register in Idaho Falls (a newspaper)
Got sealed in the Temple (YEAH!)
Enjoyed road trip to temple and around the Pacific Northwest
Went camping at random times
Went to Girl's Camp (Tons of fun, but alas, no photos)
Found out above-mentioned exciting news
Got to hear Baby's Heartbeat
Went to a family reunion (Best fun ever)
Mutual every Tuesday for the rest of my life.

That's all I can think of right now, but I may add more later, AND the summer is not over yet.

And now for the photos... on the next post...

June... Craziest month of my life... So far!

'nuff said.


really. (okay, not really)


And it's still not over!

Just a week or so left till the craziness slows down...

and just a few weeks until I start to fill it up again!

The thing is I really like being busy. I feel like I get a lot done. I feel productive and useful. I enjoy having at least one "planned" activity everyday, even if it is just going to the grocery store.

BUT. But every now and again I really enjoy spending an entire day in my pajamas, in bed with a good book or two and maybe a tv show or 3. ( I watch tv online cause I don't have cable so I can watch all my favorite shows without having to leave the comfort of my own bed! I even have netflix for movies and stuff too!)

my point is, that I got none of the every-now-and-again-stay-in-bed-all-day days at all this month. I am tired and I want one! (imagine me pouting pitifully, lip stuck out and everything, and you'll have an accurate picture of what I look like right now.)


In other news... I was given a blog award! Thanks Jess! Jess Byam (aka: The Coolest of Jest Kept Secrets and the Thursday Chronicles) nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award... or she awarded me with it... one of those...

How cool! I never thought that my blog would win an award... well it did... and as soon as I figure out how to post it here, I'm gonna! Thanks again Jess!

Memorial Day Madness

It seems as though patriotic holidays attract car problems. Last year on the fourth of July, Chris, Amie (Chris' sister) and I were driving to Raft River to celebrate the holiday with family. On the way out there, Amie's car started overheating. She had a coolant leak and we needed to replace a gasket of some sort. (I am not a mechanic.) We ended up stalled on the side of the road and Amie and I hung out at the car while Chris went into town to try to find a mechanic that was open. Thank goodness that a kind man pulled over and took Chris to the only mechanic open on Independence Day.

We got the car fixed, got to Raft River and enjoyed the rest of the holiday no worse for the wear. The real Irony comes when, yesterday, we had a very similar experience.

Chris and I were invited to go with some friends to the Opal mines in Spencer, Id. Chris and I drove and they paid our entrance fees. Great deal. On the way up though, the car began to die slowly.

Let me back up a bit. For the last two weeks we've had the "check gauges" light flashing on and off and the battery hasn't been getting off enough power. Chris took the alternator in to get tested when it first happened but the mechanic said it was fine. Chris cleaned all the connections and checked to see if it was a wire problem but nothing seemed out of place. The problem persisted but nothing had died just yet. (I thought that maybe it was a short in a fuse or something, causing the gadgets to go haywire... but like I said, I'm not a mechanic!)

Enter Memorial Day. On the drive to Spencer, we took I-15. At about Idaho Falls the lights on the dash and the clock dimmed, then went out. Then all the gauges died. By that time I had just barely convinced Chris that we should stop at a mechanic in Idaho Falls, instead of getting stuck in the-middle-of-nowhere Idaho. As we pulled off the highway, the whole car stopped working and we coasted down the exit as far as we could.

I called my parents (who live in Idaho Falls, about 10 minutes from where we got stuck) and my dad and little brother, David, came to the rescue. We parked the Jeep at a garage (no one was open) and borrowed my dad's car to finish the trip. All went well in the end and we have since found out that the alternator was the problem (some mechanics just don't know what they are talking about!).

I just have to watch out this Independence Day. I don't want to start a tradition of car troubles on National Holidays. That could get expensive real fast!



ps. Do you remember a few posts ago when I mentioned that I am going to be doing some free lance writing? Well one of the companies that I write for allows me to have a gadget showing what I have published. I only have one thing published right now, but there will be more to come. Check it out on the right hand side of the blog... it's the Associated Content thingy...

First Week of the Internship...

First week went well... I currently have a homework assignment that will hopefully end with me getting my very own story published with my very own byline! I am so excited, nervous, worried, happy, and hopeful and... well you get the idea. I am a little bit of a wreck when I think too much about getting published.

Dreams are coming true:)

Starting my Internship...

I am starting my very first internship in the morning!

I will be driving to Idaho Falls 3 Days a week for the next four weeks for this job. It'll be at the Post Register (a newspaper) and unfortunately I'm not getting paid. BUT I know that I will lean a lot so perhaps I'll be blessed with the money to pay for gas somehow. AND GAS IS ALMOST $3 A GALLON!

besides that life is good.

Lindsay the Freelance Writer

So something that not many of you may know is that I have recently found a passion for writing. Not just any kind though. I have recently rediscovered my passion for journalism through news writing.

So, today when I was doing the normal job hunting that I do, I stumbled across a listing on JournalismJobs.com for a free lance writer. Several actually. So I applied to several. One of the listings was for a business called Textbroker.com, and for them you just sign up and you're in, so I signed up. I should hear back from the other sites within the next few days, and within the week I'll be writing for a living.

Thus my career as a freelance writer has begun!

Going to the Temple!

Chris and I are going to the temple on June 19th!

I am so excited. It's been a long time coming and I can't wait. For those of you who don't know, I have been waiting on a sealing cancellation from my first husband and I finally received the letter at the end of April. Yeah!

Now we can go to the temple!

For those of you who want to know, the sealing will be performed at the Columbia River Temple on June 19th, 2010. It will be at 11am and if you are going to come, please be in your seats at 1030.

Thanks for all the support that you have all given me! I love you all.

Lion and Tigers and FINALS! Oh my!

One week left. Final projects, portfolios and study guides have been haunting me since last Wednesday. I will officially be finished next Thursday. Finished for the summer! Yeah!

I have also been applying for jobs and internships, on top of the chaos of finals... Man I need a vacation!

Overall, my grades look promising. Summer travel looks awesome. I am living a truly blessed life.

Life is good, and I have been a very busy bee and it's not over yet!

And just so you think it isn't all fun and games...

Okay so maybe "it" is all fun and games... and by "it" i mean photoshop class.

I thought I would post something a little more serious than my "funny tomatoes." Although I do really love those tomatoes!

So here is a calendar that I created... It's a plan your wedding in one month calendar.... I wouldn't recommend doing it:-)

The Art Walk...Finally!

So here are some of the images that I hung up at the Art Walk on Friday... Sorry it took me so long to post! You know how life is... always busy! Well I hope that you enjoy!

Please ignore my misspelling on the poster above. That is what happens when you only proofread it yourself!

If you want a print or anything just give me a call! Thank you all for your support.

My Lil' Sister's Belly Pictures...

I think that my sister is adorable. She's beautiful and very photogenic. The only problem I have when I photograph her is that she doesn't give me her real smile all the time... silly me, I've taken too many photos of her!

Anywho, she's having a baby around April 20th (I think she'll have it on the 16th) and these are the photos that I took of her on the day of her baby shower.

I had a lot of fun...

















PS: These are just a few of my favorite... The rest will be on a website for you Kenz... You can give mom the web address and password... I gotta get ready for the ArtShow

Funny Tomatoes

So this is what I did in my Photoshop class yesterday...

The fork says, "Yummy tomatoes in my tummy!!!"
The tomato on the left says, "Oh, no! Not the Fork!"
And you can read what the one on the right says...
(If you click on the photo, your browser should make it bigger and you can then really enjoy it...)


Ah the joys of learning new tools. I love playing with Photoshop!


ps: only two more days 'till the Art Walk!

It's all coming together...

I am getting ready for the Art Walk, which is this Friday, and i am so excited!
Today, I got my mats for my picture frames today... very exciting... and I have all my photos printed.

The last things to do are: put the photos in the mats, put those mats in frames, set up in the shop and post photos here for your viewing pleasure!

Not too shabby.

So that job...

The new job that I posted about just a few short posts ago hasn't called me back again... I'll give him a couple more days and then I'm going to call him...

On the other hand... I also got an internship! Yeah! With a local magazine... Have you ever heard of Inside Pocatello? Or Inside Twin Falls? Or Idaho Falls? It's a very successful local magazine that talks about what's going on in each city. Pretty cool. They all have .com's too! and I know one of the owners! Very exciting! anywho...

I will be posting the photos for my art walk art show here in just a few days... or whenever i get around to it... perhaps I'll just have to post after the show so I can also talk about it... Or maybe i'll do both!

In any direction, we'll see how it goes!

Dear friends...

A very dear friend of mine wrote a post on her blog the other day that is just what I needed to hear. That is what friends are for... to tell us what we need to hear, when we need to hear it.

For those of you who are curious, you can follow the link to what she wrote...

Jess's Blog Post That I love

I just want to say, "Thanks, Jess!" You are The Greatest.

A new job...

I have a new job!

I will still be working my business, so if you need photos, don't hesitate to call...

But I will also be working for a place called Purple Moon. I got hired to do a lot of different things but the part I am most excited about is that I was hired to take photos of the products for their website and catalogs. I am quite excited about this....

I am going to update my website to show that I do product photography, too, so check it out!

I'M HAVING AN ART SHOW!!!!

It's so exciting to be able to say that i am going to be having my very own art show! and the cool part is that i'm not just saying it!

This will be my second show... the first one was a joint show with other students from BYU-I about a year and a little bit ago. This time it's going to be all me... ( I may ask some one else to join me cause there seems to be a lot of space but we'll see!)

Every 1st Friday of the month, Old Town Pocatello hosts an Art Walk. Artists display their work in local businesses; the businesses get publicity and the artists get to show off their work. There's usually finger foods and you can buy the art or just appreciate it. It's a win-win situation.

Well, one of my bishopric members works at one of the aforementioned business and he is sometimes in charge of getting artists for the show. SOOOO... about a week ago he asked if i would be able to set up a display for the April Art Walk!

So I get to display my very own work in the Art Walk!

For those of you who are close enough to come...

The art walk is the 1st Friday in April (that is April 2, 2010) and it usually starts around 5pm and runs till about 8 or so.

For those of you who are not...

I will be posting the digital files of the prints I'll be hanging and you can enjoy the art show from afar! The post will be able to be viewed on the same day as the Art Walk so don't forget to check it out!

I hope to see you there!

Sitting, waiting, wishing...

Here i am at school, sitting in a study cove-thingy above the computer lab, waiting for my next class to start, wishing that i was at home baking bread...

ps... I love that Jack Johnson song!

The Family Photos

This year Chris and I spent Thanksgiving with his parents and Christmas with mine. While we were with our prospective families we took family photos. I got to be the photographer! They all came out great but there's too many to include them all, so I'm putting up just the big photos.

Hope you enjoy!

The Hodge Family


The Titus Family

Boy! The Families just keep getting bigger! I am hoping to be able to post more photos from New Years Eve... Let's see if i do it tomorrow as planned!

Happy New Years!

i have decided to go against tradition and send out New Years letters instead of Christmas letters. i figure that i don't have time to get them out before Christmas and besides i would procrastinate anyways, so i am sending out New Years letters on purpose instead of on accident! I am emailing those of you whose email addresses i have, writting this on my blog for those of you i don't have email addresses for and sending to those of you who only have snail mail addresses... hopefully i don't forget anyone! if i do, i am terribly sorry. The following is my New Years letter...

To all my friends and family,

First of all, I'd like to request that if anyone receives this letter but knows someone who didn't, who should have, would you be so kind as to relay/forward this on to them? Thank you very much!

So much has happened in this past year... so much has happened in the past few years. Since that's just too much time to cover we'll start this letter with February 21, 2009. Christopher and I were married on that day! Yeah!

Since that day, I have worked at Convergys (selling and troubleshooting for Directv... BOOORING!), gone to school (I've gotten one and a half semseters in at ISU... oh and I am working on a BA in Mass Communications), and officially started my business (Through The Linz Photography... look for website below). I've also done some reorganizing and fixing up of the house... actually chris did all the fixing up, but i did help.

Chris has gone to school (he's a junior at ISU getting his bachelor's in zoology so he can eventually become a physicians assistant... aka: P.A.) gone to medic school (For those of you with army lingo, Chris changed his MOS and MOSQ'd as a 68W this past summer... for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, chris changed his job in the National Guard and got trained as a combat medic (which also means that he trained, and certified, as an EMT)) and he found out that his unit will be deployed to Iraq by next fall.

This past summer we also got a puppy! Her name is Molly, she was born on May 20th, and she's is just wonderful. She's so smart (a mixed blessing) and she is very trainable. Like all puppies, Molly loves to chew and tear at things. So far the training-not-to-jump-on-strangers-or-any-other-people-for-that-matter is the toughest thing she has had to learn. She sits, lays down, crawls, plays fetch, can catch a ball (or other toy) in mid air, and is learning how to roll-over. The most frustrating moments this year have come because she loves to dig, and apparently, the garden has the best dirt to dig in! Next year, Chris and I will be taking steps to keep her out of the garden... drastic steps.

Plans for 2010 include, but are not limited to, getting jobs at the forest service (or some other temporary employer) for the summer, taking classes at ISU, expanding my business, drilling with the Guard for Chris, and more training of the pup (I'd like to train her to walk/run with me but she gets so distracted right now!). We also plan on having a garden, researching everything to do with homesteading (Chris and I's biggest dream is to be self sufficient some day) and spending as much time together as we can before he goes to Iraq. Kids are not in the plans this year because we don't want Chris to miss out on any of the future baby's life.

So far, Life is good! Chris and I have dreams and hopes and we are just enjoying the ride. We hope that all is well for all of you too! We miss and love you all and we hope the best for you in 2010!

All our love,

Chris, Lindsay, and Molly Hodge
cudls16@yahoo.com
krazyhodge@yahoo.com

925 W Young St
Pocatello, Id 83204

Chris' cell (208)705-7205
Lindsay's cell (208)705-3760

my blog...
viewtheworldthroughthelinz.blogspot.com

my website...
throughthelinzphotography.weebly.com

I don't have a facebook page but chris does... (maybe i'll finally break down and get one this summer!) so the best ways to keep up with us are to email or call us (alway welcome) and to follow the blog... I'm getting better at updating it!

Pictures coming soon...