A Molly in Babylon procrastinating homework

I have a lot of time to reflect while I'm here in Norway. There is plenty of time to think when I'm traveling to and fro on trains, and when I have hours on end of sitting in my room not wanting to work on my thesis, but not wanting to do anything else either. I think of the absolute immense plan of our Creator, the immense plan of God. I just finished reading the October Ensign (a church magazine for those of you that don't know) cover to cover and I am amazed at the amount of things that Heavenly Father has His hands in. One person is led to the missionaries in a miraculous way, the Liahona magazine is being revamped, people are helping other people come back into the fold of God, the church helping hurricane or tsunami victims, and a thousand other things that are happening around the world. As I sit in the armpit of Norway, though, God is with me as well. With ME, one small speck in the middle of this huge world, and Heavenly Father is always there to help. With billions of others out there that need so much more help than me, He's still there, and always will be, even when I don't realize. Then I think of all the people that live in "Babylon," the people that live without God, the people that surround me, and I wonder at how amazing they are as just people and why I am so lucky as to have been born into a family that believes in God and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am ridiculously blessed and have NO room to complain about ANYTHING....although I do. I often talk to the missionaries at church and are in awe of their goodness. They are ambassadors for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they truly live up to their potential. My little brother is about to serve a mission for my church in Brazil and he will make an incredible missionary. He is nothing short of "elect" and I am so proud of him. I am proud of my whole family, they are such good people and great examples to me...and most of you know that I don't have a small family, so there are plenty of people that are there for me and whose examples I should live up to. Through being here in Norway, I kind of take a spiritual beating, but through all of it, my testimony of the Gospel has gotten stronger and my reliance on the Lord has grown deeper. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS the true church and I know that Jesus Christ died for each of us so that we can live with Him and Heavenly Father again. I know that the Holy Ghost is REAL and He leads us through everything we're faced with. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, as well as the Bible. How grateful I am for those books and how grateful for the fact that we are led by a prophet. Life is more amazing than we could ever imagine.

So, this Molly Mormon in Babylon is excited to come home, again. I should be headed home sometime in early February for good. I'll be writing the remainder of my thesis from home after that and will turn it in at the end of April. I can't believe how fast this time has gone!

Anyways, these are my current reflections as I sit in my room not doing the report that I should be doing. It's amazing the reflections that come when you procrastinate homework. :)

Back to the Grind

Just wanted everyone to know that I'm back in Norway once again. The long stints of time are over and I only have about 8 months left! It's weird to think I'll have a masters degree in May. Isn't that for old people??? I must say that I'm excited to finish so I won't have to travel 5000 miles every time I want to go home. The time has FLOWN by, though. I'm not exactly excited to be back this time, I ain't gonna lie. Fun at home sure does beat a lonely night with nothing to do in Norway. The next two semesters should be busy with thesis writing and a couple classes...so at least there won't be AS MUCH pure boredom. We'll see! I have determined, however, that with my boredom I will not be making cookies. This time around Lindsey refuses to put on those few extra pounds by fine-tuning her baking skills and inhaling ALL her creations.

My New Little Buddy, 6400 miles, one scratched eyeball, and President Uchtdorf

Here goes.....literally....that's what has been happening over the past 3 months, go go go. I seem to be picking up the pace when it comes to travel over the past little while. About 2 weeks ago I got back to Texas from a 5 week trip covering Missouri, Utah, and Oregon...by car...with just me. A week after I flew back from Norway, after all the trips there, I was off again on several more trips. I first went to Missouri to see my Mom and attend the infamous 10 year high school reunion, which was, for lack of a better word, kinda weird. I came to the conclusion that the $30 entrance fee for the reunion was basically for the alcohol that everyone ELSE was consuming....so I accidentally paid for everyone to drink liquids I am against. Ooops. The reunion itself was low-key and overall wasn't worth going to, but I caught up with about 3 people that I was friends with growing up. I haven't yet decided if it was worth going to, but it's all said and done now. At least I got to go to Missouri and have my Mom take care of me and feed me for a week. :)

Next up. Portland, OR, by way of Utah. I got to stop in Utah for a few days before I headed up to Portland to see my sister. By the time I got to Salt Lake, my left eye was swollen and drippy from the scratch on my cornea that I did to myself a few days prior when there was a piece of something on my contact when I put it in my eye. Word to the wise....do NOT give yourself a scratch on your eyeball....they don't feel nice. Incredible light sensitivity occurs and if you drive all day in the bright sunshine, you can bet you've got what looks to be a shiner by the time you get to your destination. Maybe I exaggerate just a tad, but seriously, I couldn't sleep all night because of my swollen watery eye. So, aside from my shiner, I saw my very pregnant sister-in-law, two brothers, and some more family. I also got to go to my favorite burrito place....ooooh, and Gandolfos....oooh, and Noodles. Oh man, Utah's got the goods.

Macaroni and cheese made to perfection. Oh man. MMMMMM.


After a few days of wearing my stupid glasses (that's what I call them because I hate wearing glasses), I went "one-eyed" and only wore one of my contacts. That's an adventure in and of itself. A word to the wiser than me...don't do that either. Although faced with the alternative, I would do it again.

Anyways, off to Oregon to see my sister and my cute little nephew....who is already 4!! I got to be there for his 4th birthday party and set up his pinata and eat really good cake. Who wouldn't want to go to a 4 year old birthday party???? They are so fun! After the party, I basically just hung out around the house and was a bum for the week. Good times. My sister Jessica always has things for me to do, so I really don't get bored. She will forever be my older sister, the boss, and the best sister you could ask for. It was sad to leave, but I had to go back to Utah to wait for a new little nephew to be born.

Rocky Charles Taylor!!!

My new buddy and me.

While in Utah I made my very first "purbag." I hate the term "purse" (it's too girly) and so my new "bag" was termed the purbag. It's awesome. I bummed around with my sister-in-law and had fun for about 10 days and then my new nephew came. Rocky Charles Taylor was born on September 2nd late in the night and he's my new little buddy. I am a proud aunt once again! He was named Rocky because my family is cool, Charles because it's my dad's middle name and his initials are the same as my Dad's. He's a "stone cold pimp" as my brother likes to refer to him as. I wish I could have stayed longer and held him a bit more, but I had to be back in Texas for the BYU football game. I ended the trip putting 6400 miles on my car. Oh another word to the wiser than me....don't drive all day and all night by yourself from Utah to Texas. You will feel a bit groggy in the morning.


The Purbag. I am crafty now, and somewhat domestic.

BYU won against OU and the game was great! I watched it in Denton at the LDS institute building there with the singles ward. My friend Shannon and I were determined to stand up and shout the cougar fight song when they scored...so we did....all alone. We had overestimated the amount of BYU alumni in the room and thought some people would join in with us, but we stood up and sang alone. A little embarrasing?? Yes....but we did it again after they won. :)

Next on the docket....the regional Young Single Adult conference held at my ward over this past weekend. We hit the mormon jackpot and had President Uchtdorf come and give a fireside for us on Sunday. The whole weekend was full of good people, fun, food, and a healthy dose of the Spirit. There were 1700 of us in the building....which exceeded fire code and we had to get a fireman to be on duty while it lasted....and President Uchtdorf and his wife were fabulous! We basically got a mini general conference shrunk into a little over an hour geared toward the young single adults. The day was nothing short of phenomenal. I even got to shake his hand. First apostle/prophet whose hand I've gotten to shake. :D What a great time to be on earth when we can be led by prophets!!!

So, that's been my last little while. It's been full of great things all around. In two weeks I head back to Norway for my next set of adventures. I don't think they'll be quite as fast paced as my last little while. It's time to actually do some school work now. Bummer.

Hurtigruten and Home

I have had so much to write about that I didn't want to do it because I knew it would take too long, but seeing as how I don't have a job and my life is more on the leisurely side....well, I really have no excuse. Here goes. In July, before I came home to the States, I went on an ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL cruise up and down the Norwegian coastline. My aunt flew from Utah to Norway and took me on it. So for 12 fabulous days, off the deck of a ship and various jaunts on land at the ports we stopped at, we viewed probably some of the more beautiful sites of this great big earth. The cruise ship is a "working" ship that carries mail and supplies to a bunch of ports along the coast, therefore, we stopped every few hours and looked at different little towns. We took excursions at some ports and were picked up at the next ports after driving on land in buses. The pictures that follow don't do justice to the sheer beauty of what is actually there. We also got to see the midnight sun....the sun never sets up above the Arctic Circle for about 6 weeks out of the summer, which means you can see the sun throughout the night and day. It is quite upsetting to your internal clock because you never know really what time it is and when you should go to bed. Anyways, here are some pictures to let you know what some parts of it looked like.
look at the HUGE sun!!!




The Atlantic Road


Midnight Sun

Cod drying on racks.

There are a ton more pictures, but I just don't want to take the time out of my busy schedule...ha ha...to put them in. Computers aren't my favorite things to sit in front of for hours.

About a week after the cruise I flew home to Texas and then a week after that drove to my Mom's in Missouri. Next week is the long drive up to Oregon to see my sister...and then to Utah to see my brother and sister-in-law and the soon-to-be new nephew. :) Rocky will be his name! I am quite nomadic these days. Maybe I'll show up on your doorstep, maybe I won't. All I need is an invite and a few bucks to fill up the gas tank.....well, fill it up over and over and over. I am very happy to be back home in the States. Norway might be nice, but there's no place like home. I'm a true blue American through and through.

As for an update on school and such. My next class isn't until October, so I won't be going back to Norway until then. I will be officially finished at the end of April....after the thesis is all done....eeeeek. Then it's home for good....as far as I can tell. My life changes quickly and I'm always ready for another adventure. I hope everyone is doing great and even if you're not doing great, just stay positive. There's always a plus side.

Glass Door

Yesterday I went to stake conference in Oslo via train and subway. I got to Oslo on the train and was doing just fine and then I had to switch to the subway for the rest of the journey. After I read on one of the electronic boards as to where the trains go, I turned to go down the big corridor and SMACK!!!! I ran right into a sliding glass door. I turned and immediately started laughing, especially when I realized there was some guy watching as I did my little stunt. How embarrassing. I mean, you always hear about people doing this and see it on funny shows, but when you actually see it, or do it yourself, you feel the full stupidity rush at you like a ton o' bricks. So classic!!! I wish you all could've seen me. Then, as I was sitting on the subway I kept having little bursts of laughter whenever I thought of my incident, which I am sure the other passengers enjoyed. I've been having some shiny moments lately, this is just one.

Hail to the Queen

This post is being written in June, but to be posted later. I'll explain.....So, I wanted to go to London and so I did....unbeknownst to most of my family and friends. For some reason, I like to keep things secrets, and that happens to be one thing I'm really good at (thanks Dad), so this was a secret. I didn't want to hear about how much I can't afford to go and I didn't want to tell the same thing over and over....ergo, I didn't tell a bunch of people. that's why you are reading this post a little bit (a lot) later than the trip happened. Another reason for secrecy is because I wanted to get my step-mom a present from London for Christmas and surprise her with it. She served a church mission there and so I thought it would be nice for her to have something from there. Dual purpose secrecy.

So, London was great!! I was able to fine tune my British accents, which is something that is near and dear to my heart....as many know. I got to see lots of sights and I took a few pictures to note the occasion. The first two days were spent at the temple and the next 4 were spent in central London among all the mayhem. London is a BUSY place. My personal opinion is that it is a mix between DC and New York City. Basically it's just another really big city, only very very old...with buildings dating back to the 1300s or something. I went to the Shakespeare Globe theatre and saw an authentic style Shakespeare play, which was actually the highlight of the trip. It was FABULOUS. We also went to see Wicked, which was also great. All we did for 4-5 days straight was walk and walk and walk. Oh, forgot to mention that I went with my Norwegian friend from church and stayed at her friend's place in London. Overall, it was a pretty cheap trip, so I don't want to hear anything about how I'm a student and can't afford such things. Who goes to Europe and doesn't travel a little??? Also, I had a goal of going to England at least when I'm here, so I fulfilled my goal. Unfortunately now that I have gone to England, now I want to go to lots of other places. Anyways, here are some pics, only my favorites are included. :) Ask to see more. My personal favorite pictures are the ones of the signs. Classic.




I hope you enjoyed this, I certainly did.

We also figured out the London bus system....which is NO SMALL FEAT. We took the bus everywhere.....as did everyone else. I want to go again so I can see more.

It just so happens that President Uchtdorf and Elder Anderson (and some other general authorities) were there for the UK and Ireland regional conference, so I got to hear them while I was there. Pretty sweet!

I'm a lucky duck.

My mom would be so proud!

This post is dedicated to my MOM because she always wants me to try new foods. I would like to tell her that I ate MOOSE. Yes, her favorite collectible. She has moose everywhere around her house, from on pillows, figurines, to a singing christmas moose head. She loves her mooses. Well, last week I went to Sweden with school and walked and walked and walked around the woods counting piles of moose poop for a study on the population of moose in the area. On my second night there, we had moose for dinner....and it was GOOD!!! I didn't know it was moose until after I ate it, I thought it was just a special meatloaf we were eating, but after I found out it was moose, I went back for seconds because it was so yummy. Moose is eaten tons more here than in the States, by the way, but I hadn't had it before then....oh but maybe I had. Another time I was in Sweden with school we ate moose sausage...it wasn't as tasty, but everyone else liked it. Anyways, that is my adventure with counting moose droppings and eating moose (not eating their droppings....sick!) OH...one other thing. We had a little tutorial before we went out to count the piles to teach us how to tell the difference between fresh and old piles....and also what other animal droppings looked like. The place we were staying is a youth hostel in the middle of the woods and we were learning what all these droppings looked like. We had samples of them on the dining tables in the hostel. Yes, there was poop spread all over the tables...where we eat (it was dry and old). I feel sorry for the other occupants who noticed this. :) We wiped off the tables quite good before eating, don't worry. I told one of my friends that one subject that is talked about quite often in my program is moose poop and he laughed maybe thinking I was kidding....well, I wasn't kidding. :) It's true.