I am Now the Queen of Tea!

Alright, something that I always wanted to do, but that I am still not that confident in, was to be my own boss...

And with the failing economy I thought that I better start to look for some kind of income somewhere. And frankly it was something that I wanted to do for some months now. I have officially become...



A TEA CONSULTANT!! (Superman music playing in the background!)



Lindsay, what the crap is that?!

Well, I'll tell you what it is boys and girls. I have joined a company called "Let's Do Tea". At LDT we promote positive work environments for tea farmers, organic teas, flavor, hospitality, and a positive tea experience for everyone.

You see, because secretly you are living in a world of tea crap!

I know this because when I was in Asia I experienced the awesomeness of tea. How the favor can instantly cure whatever ache you have had along the way. How there was a delightfulness to it. Then I came back to America...

And discovered that our tea world is full of cheap Lipton and bitterness that NO ONE appreciated. I spent FIVE years trying to find a cup that even closely compared to what I experienced overseas, once I tried a tea from LDT, I literally became a believer. And as I looked into the company, what they stand for, and the quality of the product; It just felt like something that I could stand behind.

I want to offer everyone a good tea experience, and free them from the tourney of awful bitter teas! There's more to life than Lipton, and I will help show you.

In the coming days I will be posting my consulting website in the sidebar. You will be able to order through my site and have products delivered to my door, or yours! If you are nervous about trying a certain tea please call me. More than likely I have it in stock and you can smell it. Smelling a tea is the best way to know if you will like it!

I am both nervous to bomb, but stoked to succeed. If you would like to order tea, or host a party so you and your friends can have more information, let me know! This is one goal you all can help me succeed with!


I'll let you know how it goes!

Knock, Knock...Whose There?

The Bolder Bolder...

And here we go. 35 days until the Bolder Boulder. And I am freakin' terrified.

Why Lindsay, you've ran it before?

This is true. But before I ran it with a lot more training and discipline. I have not had that this time around. Work, weather, and traveling have all gotten in the way this year. How do you stay committed to working out when a teen calls in the middle of the night, or you're on the road? Or 12 inches of snow happens fall outside in the middle of April? Twice?

Either way it has been a challenge. I don't know how strong I will be by the big race. But I am still fairly confident that I can beat my old time, you see, I have a secret. This time, I am going to run it with shoes!!

That's right. Funny story. The first time I ran the Bolder Boulder was without shoes. Bare foot. What happened was I started running the race and felt some discomfort on my toes. I didn't think anything of it because I had trained in these shoes many times. But by the time 1k was over my feet were screaming. I ripped off my shoes as saw quarter sized blisters on each pinky toe. I couldn't even get my shoes back on.

Alright, Lindsay, time to make a decision. I could either give up the race, throwing away months of training. OR I could try to run it barefoot. So that ladies and gentlemen is what I did.

Needless to say I was slower. I had to make pit stops to let my bare babies take a rest. At one point I found a lady on the side of the race giving out band-aids. So I took ten and wrapped them around each of my toes! In the end I made it, and I made it in under 2 hours.

So now that I have the secret weapon of SHOES; now I just need the muscles to go along with them. They are coming along. I am able to run pretty far without stopping, close to two miles. But I will not feel truly confident until I can run 4 miles straight.

Well, it's too late to back out now.

Ah, Vegas!!

Sorry for the lack of posts last week but I was busy dancing in the land of sin!!

Vegas is such a interesting place. Where grace and glamor and trailer trash blend together so well. All in the same city block one can enjoy expensive spa treatments, lavishing meals, and walk the streets to find used condoms on bridges. How lovely!

I had one kickin' time. I spent days in the sun by the pool listening to bad "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC" soundtracks. Which just reinforces the idea that everyone needs an Ipod. But there is nothing more relaxing in the world than watching bird flutter threw flowers and trees poolside. It's wonderful.

We saw awesome shows. Penn & Teller was amazing. It may be our new show that we see EVERY time that we are there. It was that good. And funny. And we got to meet them afterwards. When we got back I felt as though I just needed more Penn. And I just discovered that Penn does a video blog on YouTube that's called "Penn Says". Check it out.

We saw a really BAD show called "Lance Burton, Master Magician". Bad, really really reall bad. No bueno. He was like bad magic met an 80's hair band video. The music was all 80's rock intrumentals. There was ton of bad acting on Lance's part, and his girls could not would not dance in step with one another. And he did the same tirck over and over. Which was levitating stuff, and making stuff vanish. That was all. It got really old, and made me want to puch my friend Parwaiz in the face for getting me to see it.

Rick Sent me to the spa. Which was wonderful, and also gave me the chance to get in one 10k workout while I was there. The spa was great. Go to the spa. Even if you are a guy, don't care, go to the spa and pay someone to rub your face!!

Then, like we talked about before. There are the wonderful moments where the glamor and the trash of Vegas slowly combine to make this glamtrash smoothy. The last night we were there Rick took me to the romantic steak resturant that was connected to our casino (The Paris). We got sat out on the patio, and had the most polite waiter and french bus boy. With french food and music. However it was hard to enjoy with the motorcycle noise, prostitute billoards, and strippers in the background. Ah, Vegas! Its one of those moments that you laugh out loud and enjoy the town for what it is. A town filled with fun and dirty dirty people!

I had a great time but I am glad to be home. Food is a lot cheaper here.

What does Destiny mean to you?

I check the obituaries every day. It has slowly turned into a ritual that I end the day with.

I do this for a number of reasons. One, if someone very young died in the community (ages 13-18) I can know and act accordingly with the youth that I interact with. Also because the majority of my church is elderly and I would like to know when death affects us. I am starting to build relationships within my church, and my pastor would forget to tell me if someone of significance had passed. And last, I am just plain curious.

Today I saw two names:

LaVonne A. Wininger
Harold E. Wininger

As I read their obituaries I discovered a wonderful story. One that Nicholas Sparks couldn't write any better. LaVonne married someone else in 1941 who died in World War II. She was 21, can you imagine being widowed at 21? Five years passed before she finally married Harold in 1946. Harold also served in WW II and was on the Battleship Maryland during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Harold and LaVonne lived a happy little life in Ft. Collins, CO and Wyoming for their entire life. They raised five children together and had a mess of grandchildren. I know this because half of the obituary are the names of their children and grandchildren.

It was only at the end of their lives that the most amazing thing happened. After 62 years of marriage, while living at the Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne, WY; LaVonne passed away at the age of 86 on March 26, 2009. Harold passed away at age 86 on March 27, 2009. Harold lived without his wife for one day.

One day.

How beautiful is that?

Many of us run through life wondering our purpose; my youth believe that they are running through life alone. While we are running this race we never quiet see the crazy beautiful path that God is painting for us. Sometimes we are so overcome with stress that it is hard to see the positives right in our face.

And some of us are lucky enough to have a partner in our lives, one that is so devoted to us that we are able to share the journey together. There are always ups and devistating lows. I wonder if after LaVonne lost her first husband she asked God if she would ever love again. And she loved more grealy than we will ever be able to imagine. She built and shared her life with a wonderful man who in true meaning of the words could not live without her.

How Beautiful is that?

As odd as this may sound this reaffirms my devotion to my partner. Not that it was wavering, or that I was filing for divorce tomorrow. But as Ben Folds said it "I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong". But I do, I mean, it does reaffirm. The story of LaVonne and Harold is a story that shows me that I am meant to share my life with this person. That we are meant to fight battles and have crazy amounts of offspring, enough to where they will take up half of our obituaries. To leave a legacy that only we can create together. That God has brought us to this point, has made these puzzle pieces fit to form our destiny, our journey. We were truly created for one another.

At this point I am rambling. I just want you to know how truly special and precious this story is. And that we are all created to have the same kind of love.

When we get married many of us say the phrase "Till death do us part." But I don't think death ever separated LaVonne and Harold. I think LaVonne left early to show Harold the way home. And He followed her.

How Beautiful is that?