Lindsay Smith Photography Blog

I’m not a fan of recipes with more than 10 ingredients. I’m also not a fan of measuring and mixing and timing. So, a tossed salad was the perfect thing to make for lunch given my cooking style. Today I invented a salad that includes both my favorite ingredients (apples and almonds), and other more healthy ingredients I know I should include (tomatoes and leafy greens).

Below is a story through images of how I made my summer salad, with completely visual instructions. Enjoy!

Mix everything. Serve chilled with croutons for some extra crunch.

What better way to enjoy a fresh salad that eating al fresco?!

With excited anticipation I handed my last final exam to my professor, and glided out the double doors. I knew that the last day of class for the quarter meant I was just that much closer to the day of my bridal shower.

I am blessed with an amazingly creative sister, who also happens to be my maid of honor. I couldn’t wait to see what she had planned for the party. Better yet, my future mother-in-law surprised me and flew up to Ohio for the weekend. I was so blessed to have both my mother and Michael’s mother at the bridal shower!

Finally, the big day arrived. I was blown away by the details my sister, friends, and family had created.  I was especially delighted to see custom cupcakes designed by 3 Story Cakes. Even more, my sister bought both vanilla and chocolate macarons- my favorite!

The best part of the day was getting to see so many wonderful ladies that have been so special in my life. Take a look at some of the highlights of the day!

My bridesmaids and I:

My favorite image, with my mom and sister:

Her encouragement over the past almost 8 months has been indispensable. There have been several occasions when she has shared her experiences and passages of hope from the Bible that have been helpful during my separation from Mike.

I want to additionally thank the following people for their encouragement during Mike’s deployment to Afghanistan:

* Mike’s mom – She answered many of my late night calls and was always ready to pray with me during hard days.

* My best friends – They have listened to me talk about Mike on a daily basis, and many of them have never even met him.

* The post master – Thank you for faithfully delivering every single package I sent overseas on a bi-weekly basis. You rock.

Finally, since these tulips are such a thing of beauty, I thought I would share them with you:

Don’t let the 18th birthday icing on the ice cream cake below throw you off. Yesterday I celebrated my 23rd year of life.

There is a running joke between one of my best girlfriends and I about what age we are, what age we act, and what age we look. But understanding the joke isn’t the point. The point is having friends that acknowledge your inside jokes. Friends who remember your favorite flavor, favorite color, and favorite place to eat. Friends that let you call them when you fail a test. Friends that let you cry because you don’t understand why hard things are happening. Friends that encourage you to dig deeper in your Bible for wisdom. Friends that pray for you consistently. Friends that aren’t afraid to tell you when you’re not acting Christ-like. Friends to celebrate with, grieve with, work with, and grow with.

I’m thankful for my friends. I am so excited to get married this year, and celebrate new beginnings with my friends. 23 will be a great year.

Minor design changes can be as flattering as major ones. As shown below, although my old couch had plenty of throw pillows to mask the couch cover, it was still somewhat of an eye sore. Additionally, since I have color scheme ADD, the variety of colors was almost sickeningly vast. It was time for a design tweak.

After visiting multiple furniture stores, I settled on this couch to replace my old one. I found throw pillows on sale and got four for just $20. This time, I had a better idea about what colors defined my style. I also repainted one of the hanging frames to match the new color palette.

Now, the only non blue-green-gray-ivory item left in the room was my orange swirl curtains. Although I still love the pattern, it just wasn’t working for the cohesiveness of this room. So, I went with a crisp lime green sailcloth pair, instead of the orange duck fabric.

Happy decorating!