What a Wedding!

Well, we could have had a baby, but we chose to use the last nine months to make a wedding book instead. We started with an unbelievable number of pictures (we're guessing about 3,500) supplied by professional and amateur photographers who attended the event. Countless number of hours were spent by Erica and Jenny at Images for a Lifetime, creating a book that will help us relive this special occasion fovever.

We look back on that night (or really weekend) as a magical event that will be replayed over and over in our minds, every time with nothing but smiles. So many things took on lives of their own, and everyone joined us in the spirit of celebration.

We want to share this now, to help those who were there remember the evening, and to let those of you who weren't able to make it know that you were with us in our hearts. Check it out at http://picasaweb.google.com/EvieBartlett/WeddingBook#. As a heads up, you might want to have a tissue or two nearby.

What Evie's Up To

Some of you know me as Evie, some as Evelyn. And I honestly don't have a preference of one over the other.

Since leaving LA and moving back to Lincoln (ah, what we do for love), I've been busy getting settled in the Midwest business climate. We've gotten BBGS up and running, you can check us out at http://www.bbgsonline.com/. We're working in strategic business planning, helping our clients organize, grow and market their businesses. Most of our clients are young entrepreneurial companies, which makes it fast moving and fun.

I haven't left the database marketing world behind, though. I'm still keeping my feet wet there, helping clients increase their marketing ROI by understanding their customers.

We're having fun making a difference in our clients' businesses. Living up to our tag line, "Bringing Good Stuff to Your Business." Check me out in more detail at http://www.linkedin.com/in/evelynbartlett

Roger on the Radio

If you want to listen to a great DJ, check out NET Radio, Nebraska's NPR station, at 91.1 FM Sundays from 12-5 Central Time. That's Roger's regular gig. He subs other times during the week, so you may catch him at any time. He's working a lot over the holidays so that others can take vacation and spend time with their families.

If you're not in the listening area, you can still catch him at www.netnebraska.org/radio. It's streamed over the web. Check him out!

Music Happening in Lincoln

Friday night held another unexpected music happening for us. We headed out to Duggan's Pub, our favorite, to listen to the early band, dance a few, and have some of their pretty decent bar food. We noticed on the marquee that the band was different than the one in the paper, but we headed in anyway.

As we walked in, I said to Roger, "The bass player looks just like Dr. Stanfield." Well, sure enough, it WAS Dr. Scott Stanfield, an English professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University where Roger is a "non-traditional student," a Junior majoring in Communication and English. We proceeded to learn that he has been writing music and playing in a rock and roll band for many years along with his Wesleyan colleagues. The band, Prarie Psycho, was really good. They had people on the dance floor and we nabbed a couple of their CDs. Here's a link to an interview with Dr. Stanfield, http://www.starcityscene.com/FeatArchive/FeaturePP.html. Their earlier CD is "A Prairie Psycho Companion." We have yet to listen to all of the tunes.



It turns out their Wesleyan groupies were there, too. We shared some dancing and conversation with his fellow students, and a couple of professors. He's hoping he earned a few extra suck-up points from his Advanced Fiction Writing professor, who we shared a beer with.



Another great evening on the town. It's all good when there's good food, good music and good fun.

Our Butterfly Persuasion

Our backyard was a beautiful sight this year. First, because Roger painstakingly watches over every detail of the environment. And also, because of the incredibly gorgeous butterflies who came to visit. Since I’m new (me, Evie) to having a yard, at first I just noticed a butterfly flitting through now and then. Then I started to follow their flight and realized that they were landing on particular plants or bushes to feed.

Being also a newly-converted digital photographer, I began to seek them out each day in order to catch the on film (disc, whatever we call it now). What I found were some of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen in my life. And right here in my own back yard. Here are a few of those I was able to capture. http://picasaweb.google.com/EvieBartlett/Butterflies#

Then I began to research them. I found some amazing statistics. They migrate from New England to Mexico each year. And they return to the same areas, sometimes even the same bushes, in their annual migration. If people can’t find their way around the block without a GPS, how do these creatures do it?

They need certain plants to breed, and certain plants to feed. And, when they have those plants, they keep coming back. And the natural habitats that have supported them are being lost, so conservationists are urging more and more people to provide the habitats where they can thrive.

I discovered a program called the Monarch Way Station, http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/, where you can purchase a combination of seeds needed by the butterflies. Then you can have your “butterfly garden” certified as a Monarch Way Station. Schools and communities are promoting this program as a way to get children involved in the conservation of these beautiful creatures.

So now we have a plan. We are reclaiming part of our yard to become a butterfly garden. We already have some of the plants that support them, which is why we saw so many of them this year. By adding a few more, we’re hoping to enjoy the beauty of the butterflies every year. And begin to recognize them and welcome our new friends during their annual migration.

What We're Listening To

One of our favorite pastimes is seeking out great music. We've found some great groups but are always looking for more. We like Blues, R&B, Rock and Jazz mostly. Witnessed by the fact that our wedding processional was "Your Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney. At the Sacramento Jazz Festival we discovered Nite Cry. Check them out at www.nitecry.com. Their Run for Cover album is one we love top to bottom.

In LA we revived our enjoyment of Billy Vera & The Beaters (www.billyvera.com). We fell into a great jazz violinist, Karen Briggs , one Friday night. She can really make a violin scream -- in a very good way. Our favorite group here in Lincoln is The Blues Messengers, with a keyboard player who can knock your socks off.

The music scene in Lincoln is really good for a city of its size, and some of the coffee shops have the best gigs in town. So we can catch some great tunes, and maybe catch a dance or two, early on Friday night and be home in our jammies early enough to catch the late news.

We love to discover new music, so share your favorites and we will check them out.

Heidi Made the News!

Heidi made the news yesterday -- she was photographed by the Journal Star as she protested against the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.