Gearing up for Spring 2015

Spring 2015 Textbooks!

Christmas 2014

Christmas this year was very low-key. I woke up early and drove to my parent's house so that we could Skype Tyler. After our Skype session we had brunch with the Dunn Family for a little bit. Here are some highlights from the day.

Oh, and we got a white Christmas after all!

Skyping with Tyler in Madrid

Dreams

Last week was my 25th birthday, and I realized that while I have accomplished a good number of things in my life so far, there are a few things on my list of dreams that are patiently waiting to be fulfilled.

Accomplished Dreams as of now:

• Graduate High School in the Top 10% (Actually, I made it in the Top 7%)
• Live on campus at least one semester during college (not only did I live on campus for three semesters, I lived in the Humanities House for an entire year)
• Graduate College (I even finished a year earlier than planned)
• Intern in DC
• Buy my own car
• Write a book
• Get into graduate school (This one was tricky, I applied to three different programs over the course of three years before I got into my current program)

Dreams to fulfill:

• Obtain my Master's degree- I'm currently pursuing a Master's of Art in Community Leadership at Westminster College, set to graduate in Spring 2016.
• Travel to Europe- This one will be my graduation gift to myself after I've finished my graduate program.
• Get my book published
• Buy my own home
• ...and whatever else pops into my head!

Life is short, and there is so much to do! I can't wait to see where my path takes me, the people I will meet, and the adventures I've yet to have.

Stay tuned!

A Tyler Update

My little Tyler has less than three months left in his mission, 11 weeks and 1 day to be exact! I can't believe it. It feels like he left just yesterday, but even I know that's not true. A lot has happened since he left, and I can't wait to see him again.

He is set to return on March 3, 2015 around 7pm!

Birthday Party at the Paintmixer

My wonderful friends who celebrated with me

Chase and Me

Heather, Amy and I

Everyone who came to the studio for the workshop

Melanie, Myself and Sam

I had such a wonderful party with my friends. I enjoyed painting my wave picture, and now it's on display in my office. Turning 25 was such a great experience, and I'm so grateful I had so many friends who chose to share this night with me.

Kiddo Avatars

So, tonight while watching the kids, we were playing around with the avatar website I used to make my book characters a while back. They insisted that I make them using the program, so I now present to you what we came up with. I think that Kate's is exactly what she'll look like when she is a teenager. Anyway, enjoy!

My avatar, minus my new bangs

MACL*601 is over!

Commence with the celebrating, because not only am I finished with MACL*601, that also means my first semester of my graduate program is complete!

So, I know I've posted about my other two classes, but this one is special because these people are my cohort; and sadly, next month, our cohort splits up to accommodate the different tracks that we are on (international track vs. comprehensive/arts and culture).

I LOVED this class. I loved everything that we talked about, I loved the friends I made, and I love that we all want to try and save the world one step at a time. They are such an amazing group of people, and I'm over the moon that I get to learn with them.

What we learned:

• How to determine root causes
• The proper way to cite APA style
• How to prepare enough food for 30
• What it means to participate in the 'Sharing Circle'
• The sound of a rain stick means it's Peggy's turn to talk
• There are two kinds of people: those who save the world, and those who run the world
• How to make a causes map
• How to make a 'pretty' causes map
• Reframing pop and rap songs can be very fun
• Our cohort Facebook Group is more like our own personal public forum
• These are the friends we've been waiting our whole lives to meet!

Carly, Me and Melinda

Megan and Me

Me, Danielle and Rachel

Me and Jana (my newest favorite person in the world!) 

Me and Hannah

Me and Kira (she was my orientation buddy)

Me and Claudia (one of my other favorite people)

See you all next semester!!

My 25th Birthday

My birthday was a blast! The best part was not having class and being able to attend the Hillside FHE Christmas Auction. It had been almost two months since I've been able to go to FHE, and I was over the moon. Before the auction began, the entire ward sang to me :) I couldn't have picked a better way to spend my birthday than surrounded by a bunch of my friends and celebrating Christmas. I can;t wait for my party tomorrow at The Paint Mixer!

Me and Hayley

Me and Sam

McKenna, Janiece and Me

The cupcake from the Arts & Sciences staff

The cupcake that Victoria made for me

Alex, me and Rory

'Twas the night before my birthday...

It was the night before my 25th birthday, and I all I could think about were my grades, cheese fries, cupcakes, and paint.

I was excited.

My birthday is the one day out of the year where people lavish me with attention and I can just absorb it without worrying if I'm being humble. It's a day full of hugs, praise, cards, and cupcakes.

Wow. 25 years. That's more than a quarter of the average person's lifespan. Since I've already decided that my life will end at 98, technically my quarter-life began six months ago at 24 1/2.

I end this chapter of my life knowing the following:

• Pick friends who share your interests, but don't forget to spend time with others who can help you learn new things
• Wash your bed sheets every two weeks
• Get a pedicure every three months, you deserve it
• Pick an artistic hobby and pursue it
• Find some form of exercise that is fun
• There is a difference between a good kiss and a not good kiss
• Rent your textbooks, unless you absolutely want to own the book
• Take lots of pictures
• Sing random songs
• If you're not interested in dating someone, just tell them
• Decide who you want in your life, be nice to them, and enjoy your time with them
• Say thank you whenever someone opens the door for you
• Smile when you're happy
• Tell people that you love them

I hope you appreciate this shortlist of wisdom from a soon-to-be Quarter Lifer!

MBA*651E is over!

Okay okay, now that I've finished cartwheeling around campus, I've decided to write about how my second MBA class of the semester has ended.

The experience wasn't quite like it was earlier this semester, but I guess since I made three new friends it wasn't a total wash. I'm so happy to be finished, and I believe I will have my grade by next week. This class will be a wildcard, so I'm not really sure what to expect.

Clarke, myself, Nathalie, and Morgane at the Zoo while we did research for our Nonprofit case study

Preferences (just in case you were curious)

My favorite color is blue, although I wear a lot of black.

My favorite food is a fire-grilled steak quesadilla from Cafe Rio.

My favorite animal is a panther, not just because it was my high school mascot, but because I've loved black cats ever since the first time I saw Hocus Pocus.

My favorite day of the week varies, but I usually like Thursdays the best.

My favorite piece of clothing is my black Bennion Center Track jacket, unfortunately, it's time to get rid of it because it has far too many holes in the arms.

My favorite activity is going to the Temple on Saturday mornings.

My favorite subject was English, but my favorite class in college was Theatre Singing.

My favorite sport is non-existent because I'm not really a sports person.

If I won a lot of money, I would use it to create my dream house.

I like to get up close to 6am every day, I'm definitely a morning person.

I like to go to bed sometime between 10-11pm.

My favorite game to play is blackjack, sometimes all you need is a deck of cards to keep yourself occupied.

My favorite book is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

My favorite movie is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

My closest friend is a toss up between Bryce and Meredith.

If I had one wish, I would wish for no anxiety, for me or anyone else.

The thing I like most about myself if my ability to endure, especially when things get really crazy.

My favorite candy is Nerds, preferably the pink or the yellow ones.

My choice super power would be telekinesis, so that I could be just like Jean Grey.

My favorite breakfast food is bacon.

My favorite holiday is the 4th of July; I love fireworks, BBQs, and snow cones that often appear during the holiday.

My favorite song is Pachebel's Canon in D, and all of it's variations.

My favorite way to travel is by plane and with a buddy.

My favorite toy is probably my iPhone.

A little more spiritual...

Many of you know that I'm an active member of the LDS church; and some of you know I was also born Jewish. Religion has always been an area of my life that I've chosen to keep private, i.e. I keep my thoughts to myself as opposed to sharing them with anyone else. I'm sure there are people who question whether or not I even have a testimony.

I'll admit that I keep to myself because I know I'm still trying to figure it all out. I know how much I love the temple, and I know that the day I went through the temple changed my life. I've had my ups and downs with my religion, but lately I've been searching for comfort and I'm finding it piece by piece.

I've made choices that have brought me closer to the Lord, and choices that took me further away, but I've always circled back to what brings me comfort.

I love the temple, it has always brought me peace and happiness. It is one of the things that I am most grateful for. So maybe, in honor of Thanksgiving, it's completely appropriate to make a gratitude list (in no particular order).

Obviously, the Temple (as noted above)

Having a job that I love, which also pays for tuition for the graduate program that I love.

Meredith & Aaron, who are just wonderful and I'm grateful everyday that they are a part of my life.

Bryce, who has been my friend for over 10 years at this point. He's the best "big brother" I could've asked for, I would be lost without him.

Alex, Rory and Hayley, they are such wonderful people and I'm so lucky that they care about me the way that they do. What would I do without them?

Max & Kate, my sweet little cousins who follow me everywhere and inspire me by saying adorably precocious things.

Tyler, my baby brother who is making the ultimate sacrifice by serving a mission when he didn't have to.

My friend Connie and her kids, because they've "adopted" me into their lives in the most adorable way possible.

My friends in my ward, they've really been there for me in the last 19 months.

My parents, they always have my back.

My bishopric, and their wives :)


Anyway, regardless of all the doubts I've had regarding religion, I've always known what to be grateful for in my life. So, how's that for a little more spiritual?

Photo Shoot 2014

So, Mere and I did another little photo shoot; this time we went to Westminster and occupied the Converse Building for about an hour. Out of 260 photos, here are the ones that made the cut.

A Writing Update

As you all know, I recently took the #My500words challenge for thirty-one days. It was such a great experience, I think I definitely broke through some of my writing walls and learned a little bit more about my voice, which is great, considering what's currently happening with my novel.

Let me backtrack, right after I started the challenge I was able to meet up with my friend and former roommate Natalie. Seeing as she studied English while we were in school, I brought her a copy of my manuscript.

A little while later, she texted and asked when we could get together to talk about my work.We ended up meeting last weekend so that she could give me her notes.

Long story short, she asked if she could edit my book, and now we are officially partners!

Her feedback really gave me the chance to think about my characters and the "Lindsey-verse" they lived in, and for the last few days I've been trying to write 500 words for the new scenes. In the last three days, I've reached about 1,600 words of brand new content. I'm hoping to add this rather large new section to the story before the month is over. By the time my classes end a few weeks later, I plan on rewriting the novel, chapter by chapter and share them with my editor!

It has been such a neat experience to work on the companion novel while everyone reads the original, it has definitely helped me understand my voice and perception as a writer. I've also come up with some ideas to help make the original novel even better.

Maybe the whole "write my way to happiness" dream was more realistic than I originally thought. Oh well, time to get back to writing.

#My500Words Challenge: Day 31

The Challenge

Write about finishing this challenging/accomplishing a goal

The 500 Words

I love how this challenge is supposed to be about the thrill of finishing this challenge, and the overall victorious feeling of accomplishing a goal. That makes me laugh, because I feel that’s all I do is accomplish goals. Every time I decide that I really want something, I make a list of steps that will help me get there.

For example, writing a book. It’s not like I haven’t written stories before, but this was definitely the longest in length. First, I had to do character summaries to figure out who was who and what they were all about. Then I needed to figure out the story; I made a very detailed outline, and probably 80% of the original outline was kept, the other 20% was modified repeatedly.

Next up was actually writing the story. I wrote it out of order to avoid writer’s block, and it took 14 months from start to finish to have a decent first draft. After the draft comes getting feedback from certain people to polish it up just a little bit. I love feedback, it doesn’t bother me at all, but I think it’s because I’ve emotionally detached myself from my work. Of course, I do love it completely because it is my baby, but I also know that I want what’s best for my work and am willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it becomes the best version I can make of it.

Taking all that feedback and creating a second draft came next on the list. I rewrote, added scenes, cut others, changed a few names here and there, and voila! Second draft.

My point is, I accomplish my goals all the time. It’s part of my personality; if I’m not achieving something, I don’t feel like I’m progressing. This year alone, I got into grad school, aced all of my classes so far, continued my piano lessons, finished a 10k, drove my car for it’s very first road trip down to Saint George, taken up painting, got a newer and better paying job, finished two drafts of my book, and started the next one.

I’m no stranger to accomplishing my goals. I love the feeling of victory and knowing that I can do “big” things. As long as I write it down, I know I will do it. I love lists, making them and crossing the items off of them. It gives me so much joy knowing that I accomplish things.

Doing this challenge meant having that feeling every time the word count hit 500 words. Every day felt victorious, one more daily task to cross off the list. I really enjoyed finding my writer’s confidence, and learning how to tap into my creativity brought on by vague parameters. It was nice to recapture my spark of brilliance.

I guess it’s time to find a new challenge to validate myself as a writer. I still can’t believe I did this for thirty-one days.

Bring on the adventure!

#My500Words Challenge: Day 30

The Challenge

Write about innocence

The 500 Words

Innocence; it refers to a few different things. One definition highlights a separation from involvement in a crime or offense, another sheds light on virginity, and the third is about purity (or a lack of corruption).

Writing about my childhood isn’t the challenge. I remember being six years old and absorbing every bit of information that was thrown at me. Children are naturally pure, full of curiosity, love, and have an overwhelming desire to be friendly to others. Children don’t have the ten-foot high, electrified concrete fences around their hearts like some adults do.

I read a lot of books as a kid. It was a weekly thing for my mom to take me to the library and I would grab a stack of like, 15 Babysitter’s Club books. I would carry them around in my backpack all week; whenever I finished one I would simply trade it out for the next one. Other kids bullied me for my “unnatural” obsession with reading books for fun. But reading was the love of my young life.

These stories would take me away from my current life and let me observe what life was like for other characters. I learned about hardships felt by others, what it meant to be vulnerable, and what it was like to fall in love. This certainly wasn’t a substitute for the real-world experiences, but it gave me a better idea of what to expect in certain situations.

I find my own writing process is the opposite of all the experiences I had as child. I write about people who are naturally jilted and emotionally raw, and are able to showcase that kind of innocence once they connected with someone.

Although, I think that innocence is more than yourself being considered “pure,” it’s being able to recognize the same kind of purity in others. I like that I am able to find the purity among my friends and family members. Everybody has that glimmer of innocence, and it isn’t a bad thing.

People should strive to hold onto the characteristics and ideals that make them innocent, because I believe that it is rooted together with hope.

Children hope for everything; Christmas gifts, new friends, their favorite foods, the books they love, the people they love, they always have hope for the things that make them happy.

My hope for doing this thirty-day challenge was that I would write my way to happiness. I definitely think I’ve made some strides in the last months, and I have hope that as long as I keep moving, that hope will become my reality.

I hope for joy.

Innocence=Hope=Joy

There is so much to be joyful for, there are many things that are joyous and we don’t even realize it. What gives you hope? What bring you joy? What is your innocence? Those are three things I feel are much needed in the world today. It all starts with acknowledging them, one at a time. I know we can do it!

#My500Words Challenge: Day 29

The Challenge

Write about what you know (free day!)

The 500 Words

Since today is basically a free day, I’m going to write about my married friends who got married last month.

I came over for movie night; I arrived a their condo around 6pm, and we immediately began to talk. I love this couple. They are truly the best. We began talking about the television show Once Upon A Time, one of my favorite shows. They are almost finished watching the first season, and I’m currently watching season 4.

Anyway, her and I began talking about dating, more specifically some of my stories as of late.  She recapped a story to her new husband, one she had old me the first time we met. He got a kick out of the story, and then gave me some advice on a recent date I’d gone on. Like I said, they are the best.

I had to step out for a few minutes because my house is currently interviewing for a new roommate, but after I’d shown the house to this person, I came back to finish our night. He was playing a video game while she and I kept talking. At one point, we looked at the screen and this group of buxom women was following around his character.

“Who are they?” she asked, trying to figure it out.

“They are women that I paid to distract the guards,” he replied. She threw him a look and stifled her laughter.

“And why did you do that?” she continued.

“So I don’t have to kill them,” he continued.

We cracked up laughing. “How did you meet these women?” I asked.

“I was just trying to call my horse and they just showed up,” he defended.

 At some point I know we stopped laughing, but I can’t really remember. We popped some popcorn and began watching an episode of Once Upon A Time. I’m seriously the worst person to watch things with, because I talk so much. Lucky for me, they humored me and didn’t tell me to be quiet.

We kept talking until it was time for me to go home, and I was so to go. I loved getting together with my married friends and catching up, spending time together, and watching a good episode of one of my favorite shows. Once again, I’m coming up short of my 500-word goal, but considering that it’s a free day and I’ve already told my story.

#My500Words Challenge: Day 28

The Challenge

Write your eulogy

The 500 Words

I’m not stranger to someone writing their own obituary, that’s what my grandmother did in preparation for her funeral. As for writing my eulogy, it was an assignment in my leadership class earlier this semester.  So, here goes:

Lindsey L. Larsen was born on December 8, 1989, the first and only daughter of Ron and Connie Larsen. As the oldest child with two brothers, she was born to be a leader. Throughout her childhood she encountered many people who thought she was adorably bossy; if they didn’t think she was bossy, they were insecure that a child had more ambition and organizational skills than they did.

She loved school; she was born to absorb knowledge, be it in school or reading books for fun. She could’ve been the modern-day, blonde version of Belle form Beauty and the Beast. Her love for books was immense as she continued through high school. Eventually her love for reading switched to writing as she began writing multiple stories based off of her friends and the experiences she was currently having.

She graduated from the University of Utah in 2011, a year earlier than expected, and then headed out to DC for her next adventure. She began her graduate work at Westminster College in the fall of 2014, and obtained her MA in early 2016.

She continued to build on her love for education by working at nearly every university in the state of Utah. Following her marriage to a man the has yet to reveal his name or the story of how they met, she decided it was time to start making the changes in public education for that her future children could reap the benefits.

She began the long process of changes the paradigm of public education spending so that the budgets for low-income school were robust enough to compete academically with the other school in the higher-income neighborhoods. She was successful in her educational endeavors, and realized that she had achieved her dream of making a budgetary difference.

She went on to have four children; a daughter named Jean-Grey, and three sons named Boston, Parker, and Christopher. While raising her children, she turned her efforts back to her first love, writing. She published two children’s book series about the adventures of her children, and finally started publishing her novels geared toward young professionals, a genre she coined as Twenty-Something Fiction. When her youngest child started school, she decided to go back to work and began establishing herself within the school district.

She was determined to teach her children that they could do anything if they worked hard enough and gave themselves opportunities. After taking over the school board and seeing all of her kids off to college, she and her husband began traveling the world. She was finally able to cross all of her travel destinations off of her bucket list. She died peacefully in the company of her granddaughter Rachel shortly after her 98^th birthday during a stay in the hospital.