My Own Surprise!

When I got home from DC, this was waiting for me!

Go Lindsey!

Ian's Surprise!

Those of you who know me, know that my younger brother is named Ian. What you might not know is that I have a friend named Ian Doherty who is one of my best friends. After I left for DC, I noticed his FaceBook status' were sad :( so I wanted to do something special for him. One of his favorite shows right now is The Addams Family, and those who follow me know that I went to see this show in New York during my time in DC. Anyway, the fabulous Brooke Shields was starring as 'Morticia,' and long story short:

Surprise! Hope you like it Ian! :)

Update: I am still alive!

So, I realize it's been almost a month since I last posted. Sorry, something major came up.

I am back in Salt Lake, I left my internship 6 weeks early.

Reason: My Bubby died.

It was a difficult month for my family. First, my dad's father passed away on Oct 8. Two weeks later, my dad's brother also passed away. A week later, my mom's mother was admitted into the hospital. She'd had some major health problems, and finally went on Hospice to pass on with some dignity (her request). I booked my flight to come home on Nov. 5, and she died later that evening after I booked the flight. My mom didn't tell me until the next day. I was a wreck. Luckily, my wonderful friend Sandra took care of me. She let me stay with her that night, she made sure I actually ate food, and then she helped me get to the airport. It was the longest 5 hour flight I'd ever been on. My dad was happy to see me. It really put a lot into perspective.

It felt great to be home, regardless of the circumstance. Suddenly, I was in a sea of familiar and loving faces, instead of in a miserable black hole like I was in DC. I pulled it together for the funeral (or the Celebration of Life), but had a really hard time at the burial. It was hard to be there for my mom when I felt like I couldn't even be there for myself.

I really miss my Bubby. The hard part is when something happens, and my first instinct is to call and tell her about it. I never realized just how much of my life I shared with her, and how much wisdom she had to offer me. In the meantime, I have to remind myself what she told me, "I've had a full and happy life, and I love you very much."

New York, New York!

The Addams Family poster in front of the Lunt Fontanne Theater, yes that is snow you see falling. The first day it decided to snow was the only day I decided to take a day trip. I will say that the slushie snow was the only unfabulous part of the trip.

Sandra and I waiting for the bus at Union Station, 6:30am on a Saturday. After two DC buses, we boarded the Bolt Bus for a 4hr15min nonstop ride to Port Authority. I will say I have learned to have patience by being in DC, and I now have far more patience than I ever thought I would have.

Times Square, although in my mind I see it as the heart of Broadway, we did stop at McDonald's just so we could say that we had lunch in Times Square. There was a crazy protest going on while we had lunch, all we could see were umbrellas and hear people screaming excitedly. It was exciting!

Before the show, Sandra and I had about an hour to kill, so we did what any sane adults would do: got to the Time Square DISNEY Store!!! They had adorable Tigger ornaments, and since we both love Tigger, it seemed appropriate to take a picture.

I SO wanted to by a Rapunzel outfit, they were super cute and sparkly, but alas they were too small :(

At Cindy's Request...

I forget to mention some crucial details about our adventure yesterday.

First was Cindy's insane flirtation technique to which she promptly displayed by hitting on a group of Marines while we were waiting in the long line at the White House. She waltzed right up to them, and I watched in awe and amusement as she chatted up this group of 10-15 people. She is very charismatic.

Second was when we were at the Post Office, on our way down from the tower. One of the riders commented to his buddy that Amish country was the Utah of the East Coast. Cindy quickly rose to Utah's defense, and once again, I watched in both awe and amusement.

Cindy, I hope this post met the standard of your last request. :)

Me, Sandra, and Cindy in the Tower

A Cindy-themed day

All right, so we are halfway through the semester! One of the things on my To-Do list for DC was an obvious task 'Go To White House.' Today, we had our tour of the East wing at noon. It was a great activity and a fun opportunity to see all the other interns, we've all been crazy busy lately. Part of this greatness was that I got to visit with Cindy. Cindy is an intern from UVU at Rep. Cheffetz's Office, and she's the one who organized our tour.

After we finished the tour, we noticed a protest going on in front of the White House (by we, I mean myself, Sandra, Cindy, Talisha, and Matt). We watched for a few minutes, and then hit up the White House gift shop. I found all of the perfect DC gifts for for my family, especially for Max & Kate.

Cindy and Sandra and I continued our journey to the Post Office Tower, and stopped briefly for lunch in the food court (meatlover's pizza and lemonade). I purchased the perfect souvenir for myself, a rose-colored   pashmina scarf, before we went up to the tower. It was AWESOME!!!!!

Cindy then insisted that we go to the Capitol so she could give us a tour. We walked for what felt like forever, and arrived 30 minutes before closing. Cindy condensed her 2.5 hour tour down to 1/5 of the time, ridiculous! She did a great job. Pictures to come, as Cindy took all the photos of the day on her phone and promised to post them to FaceBook before the day was over. My feet are SO killing me.

*Added this morning by Cindy, here are the photos:

Me and the Capitol

Me and Cindy

Me and Sandra at the White House

Me and the Ike statue in the Rotunda

A girl and her cat

Not 15 minutes ago, I left my apartment en route to the lobby to facebook until our mid-semester meeting. As I locked the door behind me, I saw a girl coming down the hall, also heading to the elevator. She was carrying a large carry case, her large cat, and crying hysterically.

My first thought was that her boyfriend had just broken up with her and she was leaving. As we waited for the elevator, she called someone on her phone, and told them that she thought her cat had died. She was sobbing at this point, and my heart went out to her. She hung up the phone, looked at me, and through her tears apologized for making such a scene.

I asked her if she needed a hug, and she opened her arms. I hugged this complete stranger for a good five minutes, as she told me about how this cat was her baby, and that she had just moved out to DC and didn't know how to get to the 24-hr Veterinary Clinic. Her friend called her back with the directions, and I asked her if she needed any help with anything. She said no, but seemed to feel better that I had asked.

Her cat looked like my old cat Lucky, only he was rather large, kind of like my cat Sugar Ray. My initial reaction to seeing her was to say "I like your cat" as I myself miss my pets in SLC like crazy. I'm glad I instead offered her a hug instead of complimenting her cat.

The whole scene just reminded me how easy it is to offer someone a seemingly basic action (a hug) and how much it can help them. My heart broke for her, I hope she will be okay.