Amazing Fall!!

Every year I wait for the weather to turn cool. For the days when I use the heat and the A/C in my car all in the same day! For the 55 degree mornings and 72 degree afternoons. The time when the leaves migrate from summer green to all the lovely reds, browns, and yellows. This time of year often means the end of green, the end of blooming flowers, the beginning of a long period of colorless, frigid days. But I enjoy it all the same. Maybe it’s b/c I grew up having all the seasons and have become accustom. But I don’t think so. I believe there is a time and place for all the seasons. I love the sweatshirts and football and bonfires and Halloween candy that fall promises. I enjoy sweaters and boots and fireplace afternoons in January. The slower pace of things that winter brings. I love the annual trip to buy flowers and the promise of that first shot of warmth in March or April. I love the heat of July and August when it’s too hot to do anything but lay by the pool to stay cool. However, I have to say that fall is my favorite. I think we have the most beautiful weather in the fall…the trees are brilliant…I celebrated my wedding in the fall…one of my favorite traditions of all time is going to the apple farm and picking apples and pumpkins (this is second to tree cutting/trimming at Christmas time).

Our first official Fall Event was two Friday's ago! We ventured to the Balloon Glow in Forest Park with the Cincoski’s! What a fun and relaxing night!! The weather was perfect! We’d love to make it a tradition! You can see pictures on Steff’s blog here. Also, I included some pictures here that we snapped!

Favorite Things – Summer Edition

April posted an “I love Fall” blog and I’ve been feeling one of those coming on strong…but before I do that…I had to say goodbye to summer.

I’ve never gotten very good at posting a weekly favorites, however, I did enjoy doing a favorites post from my maternity leave. And now as school is in full swing again, the weather is amazing cool and the dog days of summer are over…I thought it appropriate for me to do a favorites post – The Summer Edition!!

Dad’s Blackberries
Owen’s Tank Tops
Girls Trip to Botanical Gardens
Jilly’s Cupcakes
Taking Owen to Botanical Gardens
Fresh Salsa
Going to Pere Marquette with Jer
Jeff City and Herman Winery Trip
Laying out at the pool with Steff
4th of July as Linoski's and Owen's first swim
Watching the fireworks from the levy
Walking the River Road with Owen
Strangely cool but very welcomed, cooler summer weather
BLT’s
Jer passing his CFM Exam
Spending our first summer as the Linley 3 and loving every minute of it!

Goodbye Summer…hello fall!

Happy Half a Year Owen!!

Oh my my my. Owen turns 6 months old today. I can hardly even believe that!! This milestone means many different things. It means the passage of time is moving us forward...and fast! It means our son is a few months away from walking and talking. It means he's sitting up and trying to stand and getting ready for more real food. It means he's getting closer to being done with his first round of baby shots. It means Jer and I have been a parenting team now for half a year. Half a year! It means this time 6 whole months ago, I was holding Owen for the first time in my life. Our baby is 6 months old. How time flies!!

Owen hasn't been to the doctor for his 6 month checkup yet, so I'll have to save updates for that until next week! We're guessing 19 pounds...and I swear he grows longer over night. So we won't place any bets on how long/tall he is jsut yet!

Check back for his usually monthly pics, doctor appointment updates and hopefully some professional pics we're going to get done next week sometime!

Happy Birthday Owen :)

DA BEARS!!!

I’ve stated before that Jer’s family is from northern Illinois. With this, comes a love of Chicago Teams. While it is against every fiber of my being to cheer for the Cubs, if it’s your thing…I say cheer them on!! That being said…I’ve never had much allegiance to any St. Louis football team. B/c of this…Jer and I made a pact. I liked the idea of having teams we cheered on together. Something about the camaraderie if your team is down or excitement if the team is up! Since he enjoyed cheering on the Bears and I never knew who to cheer on when it came to football, and I routed on the Cards and he enjoys the atmosphere of Busch Stadium and Cardinal nation, we decided a compromise was in order. Linley’s route for Bears and Cardinals all the way…or well…to wherever the teams go!

This year the Linley family strapped on their Bears Jersey’s and so far…we’re one and one. They aren’t Super Bowl bound from what I’m told but that’s ok! Bears football we will be watching! Check out our jerseys ;) Also, per Jer’s request I included a link here…for you to watch a SNL Super Fans Da Bears episode. Pretty funny stuff!

Much needed girl time!

Saturday Steff and I treated ourselves to some very much deserved girl time. We started with lunch at Josephine’s Tea Room…delicious! Then we headed to a local wine shop for some browsing. Followed by shopping at Season’s for nothing in particular but finding good deals and beautiful pansies to dress up our houses for fall! I must say the highlight of the activities however, was our massages at Dutch Hollow. Amazing!! Other great things about Saturday:

We learned that mums are perennials and can come back every year if planted in the ground. A fact that Steff thought was so crazy she called me a crazy cat (direct quote)…and admitted to the fact that she’s killed many mums in the past b/c she thought they just died each year! It’s ok…so have I…and it’s worse b/c I know they come back! Oh a highly entertaining discussion.

That questionnaires at spas ask questions about your glutes and it’s also highly entertaining.

Eating outside at Josephines is awesome this time of year!!

That if we were the type of girls to get a mani/pedi every month (totaling around $35 a month) And gave that up, we could afford to splurge on a massage every 2 months. That is some math worth doing!

Best Friends are one of God’s greatest gifts!

Love you Steff!

Busy Owen!!

Owen is a busy baby! Not that I’m surprised by this fact. Jer and I are both busy people. But Mr. O cannot sit still for very long without becoming bored and ready to move onto the next thing. He can sit up and do some scooting…but sometimes the fact that he cannot move himself around as much as he’d like will drive him to a state of complete crabbiness. Often times, days with him involve putting him in his Baby Enstein Bouncer, then laying under his tunnel or on the floor with toys, then into his doorway jumper, then back to his bouncer…into his walker…going for a ride…he likes to move move move! I have no idea where he gets it from! Once he can move himself a bit more, i.e. crawling across a room, I believe our little man will still need to be entertained, but at least some of it may be easier on our backs!! Here are some pictures of him playing in some of his different stations!

The Bumbo...he likes to watch me while I cook. Sometimes I hand him the measuring spoons and he eats those while I tell him about what we're making for dinner. He almost knocked the sugar canister right off the counter.





The Tunnel...this new addition was brought to us compliments of the Frappier family. Thanks Scott and Cindy...and Kalie! Owen loves to kick the ball and watch it light up! What a fun addition to our collection!


The Walker...this is the newest toy we've gotten. He enjoys tooling around the dining room under the table. He thinks it's hilarious to roll towards you and get a kiss!

Cardinals Baseball!!!

I love living so close to downtown St. Louis. I love knowing that regardless of the fact that I live on the opposite side of the river, that I can still route for and call myself a part of Cardinal Nation. I love that the Cards make it easy to be a fan and that in the summer time, there is nothing better than sitting in a seat, enjoying a delicious hot dog and big plastic cup full of beer.

Thought we didn't bring them luck last week we got to take in two Cards game in 48 hours! Mom and Dad took us to the game with some tickets that Dad won from work. Then I got a couple tickets from my work for the following day. It was a day game. Owen enjoyed the day game with us! It was his first Cardinals game! And our first test with St. Louis mayhem and a near 6 month old!

Here’s some pictures from our Cards Baseball Adventures!

Shots from the Night Game with Mom and Dad



Getting ready to walk to the game

The O man taking in his first official baseball game!



The Linley 3

WTF Mom??

Knocked out in the 7th

Week 3, 4 and 5 down…only 11 more to go!!

So I've been absent from my blog recently...but school picked up and to be honest...the thought of making myself log into a computer or use any more ounces of brainpower...just didn't sound like a good idea. But I have missed my blogging...and I'm ready to spend a little time on here getting caught up!

On the school front here is the latest:

Week 3 brought the Labor Day Holiday and a rescheduling of HR Management. I couldn't make it to the make up night...which I later regreted while I took both a quiz and a midterm in one night. This week also brought me my first of 4 test grades in Business Law. I was informed I "Kick the sh$% out of that test!" by my instructor. Can't beat that! I was proud and very elated to hear this news!

Week 4 brought a quiz and a Mid-term in HR Management as previously mentioned. Though I got done early, I felt like I got run over by a mac-truck at the end of the night. Also, this past week was short b/c my glorious professor of Business Law had a speaking engagement. So we met the next week for the Mid-Term and a lecture over Crimes.

Week 5 just wrapped up and the lecture of Crimes was interesting to say the least. The Mid-Term was a nice surprise. He gave the true/false and multiple choice in class and sent the 5 essay questions home with us. Saaweet! Next week might be a bit of a bear. I have Quiz 2 in HR, Essay Questions due, and Test #3 for Business Law. Wow.

Something's of note about the past couple weeks of school:
Love having Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches before a long night of class. Wash it down with some ice tea and it's the perfect greasy mess to dissolve any woes about what my little boy was doing at home with my husband while I sat in hours of class!
Torts...both intentional and negligent are highly interesting. At least I'm better prepared if someone decides to sue me for negligence.
Everyone should take some kind of business law. There are so many random pieces of should-be general knowledge and common sense facts out there that link back to something in law it's amazing. Case and point...if someone trespasses on your property...You owe them a duty of care...that they won't get injured on your property. If they do get hurt, they can sue you...AND WIN!
Studying 4 hours for an exam in HR that is 8 chapters worth of material...helped, and rendered me a B on my MidTerm...I'll take it.
True and False Questions are tricky enough on their own. Don't take 8 chapters of material and get tricky with me on what I actually know!
I'm slowly adjusting to the time spent away from my son...and if nothing else it has made me cherish the time we do spend together even more than before.
My husband is a saint...and patient and amazing.
Getting to hold Owen just before he went down to sleep is the best surprise at the end of a long day.
I have two tests, a paper and two finals before I can call this term over...however....I am over one quarter of the way to my December graduation! WOOHOO!

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry for the momentary leave of absense from my usually weekly postings! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! Bare with me...I've got lots of updates about school, the O man and general Linley goings-ons. So stay tuned for good stuff. It's on the way! Until then...here are some Owen pictures...just beacause!

2 Weeks Down...14 to Go!

Last week I mentioned that I had began school...it was a tough week...and I was hopeful that this week would be easier. I will say that a large part of this week was not at all what I expected...sometimes life throws you things you aren't ever ready for. This week, that happened to me! Regardless, I'm at home on Thursday night. My son is in bed. Jer is on his way home from a church softball game. I enjoyed a much needed visit with Steff, Alison and Julie. I've had an amazing bubble bath and am half way through a delicious glass of wine. It's the most relaxed I've felt all week. After many prayers said and loads of caffiene, the week is finally over and I'm gearing up for a low key, enjoyable Labor Day weekend! So...after this week I've learned:

That 2 16 hour days away from home is now never going to be as easy as it once was(thanks to the adorable boy who now resides at my residence).
God doesn't always have the same things planned for us that we do.
Being in the heart of downtown STL in a very old historic building with sweeping views of a beautiful area gives me something amazing to look forward to.
I loved having the chance to tour the Missour Court of Appeals
I love having a professor who embodies what I think a college professor should. I love the fact that he's a judge for the Missouri Appelate court and knows so many things about the way law works.
And that I'm going to LOVE business law b/c of this
I love that there is a new place called Culinaria (just opened) in the parking garage I park in...and they served prepared foods until 10pm. Say goodbye to vending machine dinners! And hello to a fabulous Vanilla Latte on ice that got me through this week's test.
I enjoyed learning about a sweet old man who testified at a murder trial where he heard the shot fired right at midnight...why midnight? "Because the wrastling show had just gone off on the T.V."
That it feels good to be 2 weeks in and only 14 more to go!!
That even though our plans and God's don't match, we still have answered prayers...even if I'm asking for things I never thought I might.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Botanical Gardens

After my recent trip to the Botanical Gardens with the Girls, Jeremy and I decided Owen would love it and I was dying to go back when it wasn't sweltering hot! So we set a date and headed over. Coupon in hand we received a killer deal just like Girls Day...buy one admission, get one free. And Owen, since he's under 12, he got in free!

The day was awesome and Owen absolutely loved it! We decided it was the perfect day for the Baby Bjorn. With it, we were able to let him reach out and touch plants, smell flowers and just see the world from our level. He laughed the whole time and simply enjoyed his little tushy off. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more memorable time together! We're excited to take Owen to the Butterfly House and a few other STL attractions. Gotta love amazing nature and all the beautiful things there are to see right in our own backyard! We got some great pictures! Enjoy :)