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5.27.2012

Church and Chocolate.

On Friday we got to hang out with a bunch of Southwest Interns and it was really fun. Everyone is so nice and really supportive of the fact that we don't drink at the parties. We've been able to answer questions about the church and it's fun - haven't done that in a while!

The weekend was pretty relaxed and today we went to church. The people are so nice and we've gotten to know several families. We are going to dinner tonight at a family's house - should be fun! I made the dessert. Hopefully it tastes as good as I want it to. 

 
easy chocolate trifle


 Because we don't have a pretty trifle bowl It doesn't look that fancy but I'm pretending it really looks like this on the inside.

I also made snicker-doodle cookies yesterday. Paul couldn't remember what they tasted like and he loved them :) They were soft and fabulous. And super easy.


In church today Paul and I both spoke. We aren't even technically in the ward yet but it was fun. Paul talked about Temples and did a fabulous job. I talked about understanding and doing things in God's timing. If you want to read it, here it is (mostly for mom : P ). Or skip down : )
During the most difficult days of World War II, Winston Churchill declared: “To every man there comes that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.” 
Are we living in a way that we will be ready to accept God’s timing and be prepared for the greater things he has in store for us? In his April 2005 General Conference address, Elder Bednar said, “Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord’s timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings.” 
Along with these important blessings we may receive come many challenges that also have an important place at various times in our lives. We can whine and moan and complain, or we can look for the new opportunities within the Lord's timing. It really comes down to knowing and then submitting to the Lord's timing and will for us. Sometimes we need to simply "let go and let God.” 
 Elder Hugh Pinnock of the 70 shared this story with my dad when he was facing a difficult challenge as a young man: 
“A long time ago there lived an old man who lived in a very small village.  The only possession he had was a beautiful horse that was strong and fast, and was his only means for providing for his family.  One night a great storm arose.  The winds blew tremendously, frightening the horse. As the storm continued the gate to the choral was blown open and the horse bolted and ran off into the desert.  Upon hearing that the old man had lost his horse the people of the village went to his humble home.  All of the people went up to the man saying, "This is a sad day.  You have lost your only possession and the only means that you had to take care of your family.  This is bad, this is truly terrible."  The old man looked at the people and softly replied, "You don't know this is bad, you don't know that this is terrible." 
The days went by and the old man worked his land as best he could.  He didn't bother to fix the broken down portion of the choral because he had nothing to keep in it anyway.  The old man awoke one morning to the sound of prancing hoofs and the familiar neigh of his trusted horse.  He darted out of bed and ran to the choral to find not only had his horse returned but it had led 50 wild stallions into the coral.  When seeing what had happened, the people of the village exclaimed, "This is so wonderful and good.  Now you have all of these horses and all this wealth you will never have another worry.  What a great and wonderful thing!”  The old man faced the crowd and softly whispered, "You don't know that this is a wonderful thing, you do not know that this is so good." 
The old man had a son who was one of the great young warriors in the village.  He spent hour after hour training to perfect his skills with the sword and the sling.  One day as he was breaking in a strong black stallion he was thrown from the horse and his leg was crushed.  Never again would he be able to use those skills he had worked so hard to acquire.  When the people of the village heard the news they responded again by saying, "This is so terrible this is such a bad thing.  Now this great young warrior is crippled, what an awful, what a terrible thing."  The old man responded, "You do not know this is so terrible, you do not know that this is a bad thing." 
Not long after the tragic incident the cry of war was heard in the land and the war lords came to the village and took all of the able young men off to battle and the majority of them were killed.”
And that is the end of the story. As we journey through mortality we often don’t know if a certain challenge or opportunity is a good thing or a bad thing.  When we learn to trust in our Heavenly Father’s timing we come to understand the scripture “all things will work together for your good.” 
Growing up, my family moved every few years, changing my childhood hobbies and focus from sports to piano. Having started lessons later in life than most of my competitive peers, I practiced hours a day in order to be on their level. I started playing competitively at age 12 and by the time I was 15 knew I wanted to pursue this talent in college and had a dream of performing in front of thousands of people. Just a few months later, I was forced to quit lessons as I had developed tendinitis in my left arm. I heard a lot of “This is so terrible, this is such a bad thing” and I had many of those same thoughts. I couldn’t figure out why this had happened to me, why the one thing I had spent countless hours on had been taken away. I could still play, but couldn’t practice enough to be competitive or play more difficult pieces. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the Lord had greater things in store for me. 
Not practicing piano freed up a lot of time and allowed me to participate in things like musical theater, student government, and decide on a new major in college. At BYU I decided to major in Business Management and marketing. This changed all of my goals from being a performer, to a career woman. I had dreams of going to New York City and having a career in sports marketing and making that my life focus. I was on track and half way through my college experience when another speed bump was thrown my way. His name is Paul. After bonding over BYU basketball in January and being humbled to accept fact that I wasn’t going to leave college single as I had planned, I said “yes” to my Knight in Shining Armor and we were married this last September.
While I was completely happy with my newly married life, I always wondered why I hadn’t been allowed to complete the goals and aspirations I had made earlier. This is when I truly came to realize the love of the Lord and how His timing is perfect, and He has a way of making things work out for the best. While being married and fulfilling that goal of mine, I was able to work in athletics at BYU during my senior year of school, fulfilling my dream of working in sports marketing. At graduation I was asked to perform a piano solo, fulfilling my dream of performing classical piano infront of thousands of people. Here in Dallas, I am interning at Southwest Airlines, fulfilling my dream of working in corporate marketing while Paul is pursuing his career in public accounting at Ernst & Young. It has been amazing to see my goals in life checked off my list, but not in a way I had ever expected. And with the Lord’s timing, everything turned out better than I could have ever planned it for myself. As Elder Bednar stated, “Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.”
The timing spoken of is so key. We never know what things in our lives will turn out differently than we planned, but we need to be prepared to accept those blessings and be ready for those changes. 
I would challenge each of you to look at your life and ask yourself, “am I ready for a big change? Am I worthy to accept the Lord’s timing and recognize His hand in my life?” And if you’re worried about your capacity to fulfill these challenges, take some council from Elder Maxwell. “The Lord doesn't care about our ability or inability; but only about our availability; and if we prove our dependability, He will take care of our capability.” 
 In all the trials, challenges, and changes we face in life, often we just don’t know if they are good at the beginning.  We just know they are hard.  We know they are discouraging.  But ultimately we learn that this too shall pass – and that there are opportunities found within every challenge as we accept the timing of the Lord and endure to the end. I know that if we do this, we will see His tender mercies and perfect timing along the way…

As always, thanks to my daddy for his wonderful quote suggestions. The Bishop picked up on the "Knight" in shining armor pun and thought it was pretty funny. Click HERE for the full piano story.

You are probably wondering why it is in different colors. Well, being daughter to a public speaking genius, I learned very young how to organize and memorize talks about speeches. The colors help you separate ideas and organize it in your head to make it easier to memorize, and keep track of where you are. It's actually very helpful.

I am so glad to be here and Dallas and am so grateful for all the love and friendship we've received already, especially from our new church friends : )

Hope you're having a wonderful long weekend.

Luv, Lindsay

5.24.2012

I know it's only day 2 . . but i LUV my job.

I feel so cheesy putting LUV on things . . it seems so cliche . . but honestly I have been using it on my email signature since I was probably in 6th grade. And I guess it's appropriate, working at Southwest and all . . but no, I didn't steal it. :)

Today during lunch we got to watch the series premier of On the Fly. If you didn't watch it, you should. It's pretty funny and shows some of the things Southwest employees encounter on the job. I only saw the one episode but I enjoyed it. People are pretty crazy sometimes!

We had happy hour for the interns today and it was fun to meet and re-meet some people. I don't think I will ever remember half of the people, but luckily I'm getting to know the people in my area pretty well. I got to sit down with several full-time employees from the brand engagement team today and am meeting with some more tomorrow. It is so helpful and has gotten me so excited for what I'm going to be doing this summer!

Things I learned today (both observations and advice from employees):

  • Southwest uses TONS of acronyms. Maybe even more than Disney. Crazy!
  • Speak up - the people at Southwest are so nice and will always accept all ideas and are so willing to answer questions and help you find answers. Everyone is so helpful.
  • At Southwest, they want to make sure you have a healthy work / personal balance. They encourage taking breaks from work and stepping away from work so you don't get burned out. 
  • Write everything down (I mostly only do this now to get in the habit and look like I know what I'm doing, but I know it will come in handy and help me out as the summer goes on.)
  • The Brand Engagement team rocks. I am so happy to be where I am!

Everyone is so nice and respectful and really just a lot of fun. And it seems like quite a few people have picked up on the fact that I am Mormon. A lot of people (especially the full timers I work with) have made comments that I'm pretty sure stemmed from the fact that I'm from Utah and went to BYU . . giving a 95% chance that I'm Mormon . . :) I've had so much fun and can't wait to party this weekend. 

Speaking of BYU...
Does the quote look familiar?
Yes. It's on one of the signs that EVERYONE takes a picture in front of when they come to and leave BYU. Proud (maybe not the right word) to say that I never took a picture with either sign. Ever.

But anyway, this quote is on the door going into the University for People at Southwest. I'm sure the quote is used all over but I had only ever associated it and seen it at BYU. Who knew?

Paul hasn't started work yet so he's being awesome and taking care of everything at home. Cooking, getting ripped . . all that good stuff : P

I love having friends!

Luv, Lindsay

5.23.2012

Southwest!

Today I started at Southwest.

And it was basically amazing.

Outfit for day 1. 
Lucky for me I can wear jeans and shorts to work tomorrow haha.

It was bright and windy. But there is me at headquarters. 

 My cute desk!

Everyone is so nice and so much fun. I learned about some happenings and projects that are going on in my team and I cannot wait to get started! I've met tons of people and can probably only remember about 3 of their names..I'll get it later : P

This summer is going to be amazing.

More to come.

Luv, Lindsay

5.20.2012

Bread and Ice Cream.

We had Stake Conference this weekend. It was definitely different than the typical Utah Stake Conference but it was so great. It was very focused on missionary work and there were several converts that spoke. It was very inspirational and made me want to teach someone.

After the adult session last night we went out with a few couples to get frozen yogurt. We went to Yogurtland and it was definitely the best frozen yogurt I've had. The chocolate milkshake flavor was my very favorite. It was fun hanging out with other people and we finally have some friends! We talked with some of them until after 1am. Haven't done that in a while! Very fun.

One of Paul's friends (Jeff) came over tonight to watch the NBA game and eat some dinner. I made some spaghetti, vegetables, and french bread. Yes, I did make french bread from scratch. And it was really good. After I baked it I cut it up and put butter and garlic on each slice and broiled it. So yummy.


Bad news. We have had more bugs. We found another crack that they're probably coming through in the bathroom. The worst part? It's in the shower. Gross. 


Here are the boys trying to kill and stop the bugs. I'm guessing we are going to have several more before we go to bed tonight. Not a great feeling.

We also made ice cream tonight. Yummy! But it didn't quite get hard..so it was more like a really thick milkshake..still. Yummy.

Southwest internship starts on Wednesday. So excited!

Luv, Lindsay

5.17.2012

Living the Good Life : )

I am so excited to start work next week but we are enjoying our relaxing life . And making yummy food . (Recipe at the bottom!) Such as . . .

Laying out by the beautiful pool . . .

 Working out . .














And just being silly us .


We went to the Dallas Temple today . It was lovely . But definitely not Provo!
It is very small and there was only one other person in our session .
It was a great experience .






I'm in love with this boy . He makes me happy and gives me a reason to get ready for the day sometimes : ) 


We made our special black bean chili tonight . So good! Gotta love crock pot dishes . 
I know I look so lovely in this picture . This was after a wonderful workout .


Here's how we make it :

Black Bean Chili
2 cans black beans
1 can diced tomatoes (any flavor really . We haven't tried any we haven't liked . )
About 1 cup chopped onion (We've used different kinds . . any work)
1 chopped pepper
1 can corn
3/4 pound pork, cut into small cubes (no need to cook beforehand)
1 cup chunky salsa
A dash of chili powder, oregano, garlic, and onion powder

Throw it all in a crock pot and cook it on low for about 7 hours.

Garnish with some sour cream and cheese . Easy as that . It's great to eat with tortilla chips .

Try it, enjoy it, and as you can tell, we guess and improvise on a lot of the ingredients .

Luv, Lindsay

5.16.2012

Food. Yum.

 Tonight we made food. Yummy food.

Ranch chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and a salad with corn, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. 

Remember our recent obsession with McDonald's chocolate shakes? We made them.
 And they basically taste just as good. I just wish we would have had straws.
Yummy.

Work at Southwest starts in a week!

Luv, Lindsay

5.15.2012

We like to P . . uzzle . . arty . .

First, for the puzzle part.

Since right before we got married, Paul and I discovered that we like to puzzle. In our home, our artwork on the wall consists of puzzles that we have framed. 

  



And since we've been here, we've completed two more. : )







Now for the party part.

We've had fun going to see the few cousins I have around here. Here's Paul and one of his new little buddies. 


My cousins have the cutest boys! Paul loves hanging out with them.


 The young men in our ward washed cars for a fundraiser.  They were so gross after the drive from Utah to Texas..lots of bugs that got very stuck . .

They look much better now.


We are happy here : )

Luv, Lindsay


5.14.2012

Homemaker . . what?

Those who know me well know that I have never been much of the "homemaker" type . Never the most organized, not much of a creative cook, and I really don't enjoy arts and crafts or sewing . 

But guess what I did ?


I started cooking/baking a little bit : ) I am not super into crazy, fancy cooking . I love your normal, basic, American dishes . Mashed potatoes, chocolate ice cream, and white bread . We have had a homemade meal almost every day for the last couple of weeks and I made rolls! They weren't perfect and baking here is a little different than Utah, but they were still pretty good . My cousin's kids LOVED them. : ) Direct quote "I like Lindsay because she's a good baker . " Awww .








I love rolls. especially these ones.

Now those people who have lived with me will admit that I do not keep my living area the very cleanest, to put it nicely . But guess what ? You will be surprised to hear that Paul and I probably now have a cleaner apartment / living space than any of you . This is largely due to the fact that I am very afraid of leaving something on the floor and picking up later and finding a bug in it, but still . Our apartment is almost constantly clean . Dishes are always put away, clothes are always off of the floor, closet is organized, and we vacuum and clean things like twice a week . And it's actually pretty nice .

This is probably the extent of the homemaker in me for now, but it's kind of fun. If you haven't seen our finished apartment, Take A Look!

Luv, Lindsay

5.13.2012

We love our mothers.


Happy Mother's Day . . especially to our wonderful moms. :)
















We love you. Thank you for all that you do, all you have taught us, and the love and support you continue to give us. We could never have gotten to this point without you. We miss you!

Lots of love, Paul and Lindsay

5.10.2012

Sometimes life gives you lemons . . Literally.

The other day, Paul and I were at the mall, enjoying some wonderful fries and chocolate milkshakes . (Did you know McDonald's has the best chocolate milkshakes? I didn't until this trip. They are so good!)

These girls all wearing white t-shirts that said "life" came over to our table . One stepped forward and said "Hi, I'm life," and put a lemon on our table . And walked away .


Unfortunately the lemon wasn't quite enough to make lemonade with .


 But it was pretty cool. And they just continued around the mall, giving people lemons . Probably wondering what they would actually do with them .




Both of us thought that it was definitely something we would have expected from people in Provo . :P

Luv, Lindsay


5.09.2012

Home, Sweet Home.

After we crossed everything off our lists for school...









Said good-bye to our old jobs...







Packed...







And loaded...









We finally got here. And it finally feels like we are home. We have been here for almost two weeks now. It has been filled with lots of shopping..and lots of bugs.


Luckily there is a wonderful man who lives in an apartment just around the hall and he has been doing a lot of work to help us with our bug problem. We are very grateful as we have gone from about 7 of these lovely things a day to about 2. And most of them now are already dead when we find them. Our vacuum has become a permanent part of our furniture because that is how we killed them..so much easier to catch that way. It started smelling HORRIBLE so it's on a break now. We took it apart and washed it. Thank you, mom, for our wonderful Dyson vacuum. :)

I have never been a decorator. But tried really hard to make our apartment look really pretty . . Enjoy :)






We built most of the furniture ourselves.


We still have to find things to put in the cubes..


Bathroom..where most of the bugs have been found.
Our bathmat is pretty incredible. So squishy and soft! And Paul loves how much counter space we have.



Kitchen!



Little office area. Finally got the printer up and running.




Our little dining area. Behind it, our puzzles! They are all 1000 pieces and we loved them so much, we framed them. We have finished another one and are working on yet another.




 I love the layout of our apartment.










Our new toys :) Tv, apple TV, Xbox with kinect, and finally got our internet set up. Since we won't be around too much we're getting rid of cable but are enjoying it free for a month :) 




Our couch and ottoman.



Rocking love sac. I love our furniture. It's so soft and comfortable!












Two weeks until I start at Southwest Airlines! So excited. Our ward here has been great. Everyone is very friendly. I think we're going to like it here :)

Luv, Lindsay