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.

Did you say "paste"?

I hereby have a new favorite thing that a friend accidentally said. We were walking along and we had to hurry a little bit and he said "we have to pick up the paste". I asked if he really said paste instead of pace because I thought I heard wrong...but no, he said paste. HA HA HA HA. All I could think of was picking up a new bottle of Elmers. :)

A Dedication to the Bathroom and a Bucket Update

I keep forgetting to mention a little piece of bliss that I enjoy most weekends. When I go to peoples' houses on the weekend there is one thing that makes me a very happy girl when I get up in the morning. Many of the houses here have heated bathroom floors. What joy I feel when I step off of the cold unwelcoming floor with my chilly toes onto a nice toasty one in the bathroom! An unlikely place, you might say?? Oh no, not in Norway! When I "grow up" I want a heated bathroom floor too.

Aside from the amazing warm bathroom floors, I have an update on the bucket situation previously written about. I stayed at the house that doesn't have an indoor toilet and they, INDEED, had a bucket for inside use. :D They mainly prepare the bucket for night-time use so you don't have to wander outside in the middle of the night to the outhouse and fall, perhaps breaking bones, peeing your pants, or getting eaten by the moose. :) Gotta love it. I, however, could not bring myself to use the bucket. I am ok with outhouses and the woods, but I just couldn't do the bucket for some reason....call me a city-girl, call me a wuss, or whatever you want, but the bucket was an impossibility. I held it all the way to church in the morning so I could use a toilet. (to clarify....I did not hold the bucket....I waited to pee until I got to church) :) Oh man, I could never make it in the old days.

A Mix of Stuff

I got to spend a couple days at the Stockholm Temple after Easter. My eye decided it was going to be red for a few days, so I had to wear my stupid glasses. I hate glasses, but I love the temple! It was fabulous. I went to 4 sessions....1 Swedish, 2 Norwegian, and 1 Russian. I must admit, though, that massive amounts of jetlag combined with temple sessions does not make for a very alert Lindsey...I fell asleep...a few times...at least. Since the temple is far away for most people in Scandinavia, there is a temple guesthouse you stay at for a week or two at a time instead of just going to the temple for a couple hours every once in a while like we do in the states. Here you do all you can in those couple days/week/weeks and then you don't come back for a long time because of the distance.


I got back to Evenstad a few days after the temple trip and all the snow was gone. When I left 10 days before that, it was quite in tact....but now it's just mud and brown everywhere. I can't wait for it to be green again. It's getting warmer and I haven't had to wear my coat any lately and it looks like I won't have to until Fall. YES! I'm ready to wear my flip flops again.


Here's the pick from before when I was talking about capturing and marking the red deer. This picture is classic! It looks like I'm a pretty hardcore "capturer," but if you knew the whole story, you'd know that really I'm just a hardcore flashlight holder. It's a very high tech and important job to hold a flashlight, you know.



The next picture will go down as another thing that Scandinavia has and the US doesn't, and I think it should stay that way. You tell me why they wanted to call a snack food "Funkies." I found this little delight in a grocery store in Sweden under the gluten-free section....that's probably why it was called that....

One more picture...I get to say that I have spent time in The Netherlands (Holland)...even if it was only 11 hours and was spent asleep in the Amsterdam airport. That still counts, right?


I have to start writing my thesis soon. I don't feel like a grown-up who is supposed to write such things...how did I get so old???

The Best Whirlwind EVER

Last week I was sitting in my room, bored, as usual, wondering how much I can't afford to come home for spring break and Easter....the next thing I know, I'm getting out my credit card and leaving on a plane to Texas the next day for a surprise trip home. This trip was not strictly for fun, it had practical purposes, but really it was just for me to get out of boredom and into some much needed happiness and fun with friends and family. I decided not to tell anyone I was coming, except for my friend Shannon who would be picking me up from the airport and taking me home.

This is my reasoning behind this trip:

Pros: a friend's birthday on Thursday at the Cheesecake Factory (oh yeah)
a friend's wedding on Friday
surprises (which I absolutely LOVE to do)
Easter Sunday with my family (which is where it should be)
take care of student loan business
renew driver's license
fun

Cons: money
be by myself for a week in the middle of nowhere while everyone else is off galavanting.

Now, wouldn't you make the same choice???? I even called some of my Norwegian friends before I bought the ticket to try and get them to talk me out of it, but they weren't there, so I gave into a little temptation and started packing. OH YEAH. It turned out to be such a good trip and so much fun surprising everyone. I did everything on my list and even got to do extra things I wasn't planning on that added to the justification of buying the ticket. I also rejuvenated myself by getting to go to the temple and having church in English. Oh how I miss that!! I had no idea that I was drained so much until I left Norway and stepped foot off the plane in Texas and felt happiness flow back into me as I saw my friends and family. It's amazing how much we can deceive ourselves sometimes. I'm not saying that I don't love Norway, I do, I'm just saying that I get a little drained by not being around anyone of my faith during the week and not being able to go to the temple. This is my grand once in a lifetime adventure, though, so I don't have any right to complain! I have been revived, as well as severely jetlagged. I am posting this at almost 3 am Norway time. You should feel sorry for me....HA!

What I got to do: hid in the bathroom of the Cheesable Factory to surprise Pammy Wammy as her unbelievably fantastic birthday present, surprised Sharon at her wedding, surprised my family by walking in the door unannounced, play Rockband...twice, went go-carting, ate at Fuddruckers...mmmm, have Easter with my family and get an Easter basket :), stocked up on some American food to take back with me, ate burritos...mmm, ate bagels...mmm, slept in my comfy bed, drove my CAR....WOOHOO!!!

I am one lucky kid.