One of the final updates!

It's been a long time, I know. I just wanted to get on here and tell everyone that I'm almost done with my Masters! The thesis is due this week, I fly back to Norway on May 31st, present and defend my thesis on June 4th, and then I'm DONE! Hallelujah! A little over a month and this thing is over with. :)

Velkommen Hjem og Ha Det Bra! (Welcome Home and Good bye!)

Well, this adventure is coming to a close and new ones, I'm sure, will take it's place. I am headed back to the USA in 2 days for good....well, you know me, probably not for good, but to live some more at least. :) I decided recently that I will be going home to finish up on my thesis. I will only have the writing to do and I will be able to do that from home and save tons of money in the process. Norway ain't cheap to live in. It's bittersweet to leave this beautiful country and the friends I have made. The branch of the church that I go to is exceptional, the people there are some of the finest I've ever met and they will always have a place in my heart. I spoke again in church yesterday, in Norwegian, and this time went much better than the last. It was definitely a little more nerve-wracking than the typical talk in English, but this time I knew what I was saying when I was reciting my pre-written translated-from-English talk. I have become almost somewhat on the verge of being conversational in Norwegian and I am happy I at least am that....just in time to not use it probably ever again. :) Oh well.

This past weekend I have had A LOT of Norwegian food. Christmas party at church, Julebord (a sort of Christmas dinner) on Saturday, and Norwegian Christmas cookies and dinner yesterday. I have been Norwegianized now. They eat TONS of meat at Christmastime, it's kind of overwhelming to a little girl like me that doesn't eat much meat. It was all pretty good, though, no complaints here. I also had this traditional drink called Gløgg (pronounced "glug")....it was....interesting. To me it tasted like hot flat coke...but everyone else seemed to like it. Picky Lindsey shines through once more.

One more funny thing before I end this fiasco. I read the Book of Mormon in Norsk every day (out loud) and I laugh every time I say one particular word. It is the word for "judged." The word is "dømt." It is pronounced "dumped"....even as I type it, it makes me chuckle. I was kinda sad because before I knew the language a little, everything sounded so funny, and now it sounds normal. It's nice to still be able to laugh at things. Here's another one that I thought I heard the Branch President say a couple weeks ago....something like "skue oss over".....it kinda sounds like "skrew us over." Now that one made me almost laugh out loud in the middle of church. It really means something like "look us over." :D

I will miss it here, but I am excited to come home and have Christmas with the family and see what is next on the docket. I am incredibly grateful for having come here and having learned so much, not so much in school, but about everything else....life, people, and God's plans for us all. I wouldn't trade this time for anything....even if I was bored most of the time. :)

Evidence

Last Saturday all the international students got to go to some museums in a town about an hour away and one of them was a forestry museum. In said museum, there are a lot of exhibits telling of the history of logging in Norway. It's a pretty big industry here and so basically they like anything that brings them any sort of recognition and money...and like to make little museums out of it. Which is normal, I guess, there are some pretty weird museums in the states too. Anyways, they were telling us how in the old days the men would go out all day and be in the forests doing the logging thing while the women were at home tending to everything else....just like normal for old days anywhere. They were saying that the women didn't do much in the forest, but if you look back you may see "some evidence of women in the forest." That makes sense, yes, but in my head I was picturing all kinds of limbs all over the forest...like some kind of crime scene. Evidences like a hand here and a leg thrown over there under a log....you get the drift. It made me chuckle a little as I leaned over to the guy next to me and commented on this, he was laughing as well. I guess I wasn't the only one that thought that phrase was funny. Our tour guy was quite zany in this forest museum, he also sang some Elvis songs to our group and made a comment about the "King" of America coming to Norway (aka Elvis). He also included random facts about why he was wearing the shirt he had put on that day and he would throw himself onto the floor in an attempt to literally show us how some of the logging maneuvers were done and to illustrate a story of one of his ice-fishing friends. He was a nut.

Today

As I came into church today, one of the older ladies said that I looked very Christmasy....I was wearing a red sweater and a black and red skirt. I then said to her "nah, it's just red." Normal thing to say, right?? Well, later on one of the missionaries (who is American) started teasing me that I sounded "Texan" when I said the word "red." Apparently I put a little bit of Texas drawl on it. He also told me that he wanted to squeeze my cheeks because of the accent. Oh my.

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.