If you were to ask me what my favorite part about working in ministry is, it wouldn’t take me two seconds to tell you that meeting up with girls one-on-one is easily at the top of my list and is such a delightful privilege. I am a naturally relational person, so I can never get enough face time. These meet ups don’t happen near as often as I’d like, but sweet mercy these girls are busy!

A few weeks ago I got together with one of my regulars (I sound like a barista greeting a customer) and it happened to be just a couple weeks after she and her boyfriend broke up. Typically we start out by shooting the breeze, but I didn’t let one minute pass before I made her spill the every last bean. It goes without saying that she’d been having a hard time and I wanted her to know I was all ears, but I was also hoping I could bring some encouragement to her.

Listen, I may not have an expert advice when it comes to dating relationships, but I’ve lived vicariously through enough of them that I feel like I could write a book.

Ironically, two close friends of mine had also been through recent break-ups, so this topic was very fresh to me.

After she lamented the details of the break-up and the sadness she felt along with the negative thoughts towards him (don’t judge, we’ve all done it), I made her tell me the one thing she missed most about him.

I know, why in the world would I make her rehash such a fresh wound? But, I had a goal in mind.

It took her a minute to come up with the one thing (I only wanted her to tell me one so as to not throw her back into a tizzy), but when she did, she admitted to the fact that she missed being adored by him.

Oh, I so get that. Don’t we all?

What girl doesn’t long to be adored? Chosen? Known? Cherished? Loved? Valued?

When we know what we’re missing, it has the potential to hurt even worse.

After she was able to express what she missed most, I challenged her to get a journal and tell the Lord all these things.  I know journaling may come natural to some of us, but if it isn’t routine for you, then this discipline wouldn’t be your first instinct.

If being adored is what she missed most, then why can’t she ask the Lord to reveal to her ways He adores her? And then receive that.  And so on and so forth.

I realize it sounds like I’m preaching to the single girls of the blog, but I want you to know first and foremost, I’m preaching to myself. After challenging her to do this, I had to get honest with myself and what I was lacking and ask the Lord to fill that longing with Himself. However, this isn’t just a post for the single, this is a post for you, the reader.

This past Sunday we had a guest preacher and he talked about Immanuel, God with us. It goes without saying that this was appropriate for the Christmas season that is now upon us, whether we’re ready or not. One thing he said that I haven’t stopped thinking about is, “We know the power of “with” because we know what it feels like to be “without”. Amen and amen.

A week ago I sat at a funeral of a man I’ve known since I was little, two days before Thanksgiving. Talk about hard. Although that family has the hope of Christ, it doesn’t take away the sting of moving on in life without him. We know the power of with because we know the power of without.

If I’m being honest, and well, I’ve never learned anything from anybody that had it all together, so I don’t want to pretend that I do, I can tell you that whenever Thanksgiving hits, everything in my flesh wants to have a pity party. It all stems from my selfish desires of not having what I want. Y’all, I’m weak.

However, as I was getting ready the morning of Thanksgiving, and I’m almost certain it was while I was applying my mascara, I heard the Lord whisper in my heart, Lindsee, be thankful for this day. You don’t know what future Thanksgivings hold. Simply put, be thankful for that day, this Thanksgiving and don’t complain about one thing I’m without.

Why? Because I don’t know what the rest of my Thanksgivings will hold. And quite frankly, throwing a fit isn’t going to change anything. I learned that as a little girl when I wanted to rent a movie in the worst way. I threw the biggest fit right there in the middle of Randall’s and walked out empty handed.  How am I supposed to enjoy the future if I can’t delight in the present? It may seem like the silliest, most elementary revelation to you, but it did wonders for me. I enjoyed every minute of that day. And it was good.

What do you find yourself lacking? What do you find yourself most longing for? What is something that you miss? I could be wrong, but I think it’s safe to say that the holidays can be some of the most painful days for some, and some of the most joyful days for some.

Maybe it is your singleness. Maybe you’ve just lost a loved one. Maybe your marriage isn’t all roses and sunshine. Maybe your family is falling apart. Maybe you find yourself unemployed. Maybe you feel lost in a big crowd. Maybe you’re lonely. Maybe your health is spiraling out of control.

This I know: He sees you. He hears you. What do you need Him to be? Tell Him. Cry out to Him. Be honest with Him. He knows your longings, as they are never hidden from Him. Ask Him to delight in you along the way, then receive it, however big or small it may seem. He is always mindful of you. You are dearly loved.

How do I know you are loved? Because as I recently heard a gifted teacher say, love sends and comes for you, love initiates, love stays and love sacrifices. God did all of that by sending His one and only son for you. He sent. He came. He sacrificed. And friend, He’s not going anywhere. It’s a promise.

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,
 and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4

“Lord, my every desire is known to You; my sighing is not hidden from You.” Psalm 38:9 

Oh, ladies! Before I say anything else, I just have to tell you that all of Houston is on cloud nine because our weather has been out of this world gorgeous. Coming from the high 80’s last week to the low 40’s this week has put a skip in our step and is undoubtedly preparing us for the upcoming holiday festivities. I don’t know about you, but I like the week of Thanksgiving to have a little bit of chill in the air. It just feels right.

Enough about the weather, though. Mercy, y’all hear more about our weather than anything else. It’s just so fickle that we (and by we I mean me) get really caught up and obsessed with it.

Needless to say, I am thankful for our current temperatures.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m trying to imagine what we’ll all be doing about this time a week from TODAY. Whoa. I’m looking most forward to my post-turkey nap. It always delivers.

Moving on.

I spent last weekend with a handful of middle school girls and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still in recovery mode. They are pure gold, but our energy levels don’t even compare. They are like the energizer bunny while I am more like a turtle. I like to take things slow and steady. Them? Not so much. I know those of you who work with young girls are laughing. You get me. I’m still trying to decide if they are more concerned about One Direction’s newest single or the truths we talked about this weekend, but I’m claiming the truth that God’s word never returns void, so I’m praying the Word sinks deep in them. Of course, you know I’m kidding about One Direction. Kind of. But if I am going to get in with the young girls, I have to know what they’re currently obsessing over, and well, One Direction has certainly hit a nerve.

(To chase one more rabbit trail, for those of you who have no idea who One Direction is, to put it very simply, it’s a pop boy band.)

Can I just encourage you for a minute? In a world where we hear more negative than positive regarding the younger generation, I want you to know that listening to these girls sing their hearts out during the most simple worship set, and watching them put pen to paper taking notes during each session was by far the biggest delight of my weekend.

Y’all, there are some jewels out there and it is our job to speak truth and invest in them. How are they supposed to be our future leaders if we’re not pouring into them now and showing them the Way now? It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. And you can never start too early.

Oh, how my heart for these young girls beats fast. They need us. And we most definitely need them.

Anyway, I’ll step off my soap box so I can share with you what I really got on here to say. (Sorry for the rabbit trails.)

What I really want to say is, we have something new in our product store that might spark some memory or interest for some of you.

And while I’ve  now set this post up to make you believe it’s a resource about the weather or something for young girls, I want you to know that it has nothing to do with either of those things. I do apologize.

For those of you that have asked if you can get your hands on a copy of the LPL Simulcast message: “Girl A to Z: A Call Back to Faith”, today is your lucky day. Our desire on the blog is never to promote a certain this or that, but we’ve gotten so many calls and emails from those of you asking about it, that the easiest way for us to get the message out is through the blog.

The message from the simulcast about forsaking fear and gaining faith was so powerful that I’m still looking over my notes from that weekend, and I know many of you are, too.

If you are one of the ladies we’ve heard from about getting a copy of the message, you can get it by simply visiting our product store by clicking here. We have made it available as an audio MP3 download only. We hope and pray it speaks life into your bones.

We count it an absolute honor and privilege to serve y’all. Thank you for letting us do so. We love you!

Good morning, Siestas! For those of you who think we forgot about the recap video, rest assured, we did not. Here it is! I can’t believe this is the last recap video I’ll be posting until the 2013 Living Proof Live schedule starts back up. So crazy! Enjoy every single minute of this and we hope you have the very best Monday. We love y’all dearly!

Living Proof Live Lewiston Maine 2012 from David Lowe on Vimeo.

Good morning, Siestas! I realize this post is a day early, however, as we said yesterday we have a really fun giveaway planned for you ladies so we’re doing a little flip flop around here. So instead, be looking for that not-so-secretive, exciting giveaway post tomorrow morning! Does it feel a little bit like Christmas Eve to you now? You know something fun is coming in the morning, but it’s still a mystery to you today. I love it!

Did y’all know that this weekend’s conference is the last LPL of the year? With all of the sobering storms that have swirled around in the Eastern part of the U.S. I have a feeling that the Lord wants to do something only He can do this weekend.

With that said, we have 20 scholarship tickets to give away thanks to the Siesta Scholarship Fund. If you have a desire to attend, but financially just cannot afford it at this time, please call our office toll free at 1.888.700.1999 during regular business hours (8:30 – 4:30 CST) and ask for Kimberly Meyer. If you happen to reach us while we’re at lunch, leave a message and Kimberly will get back to you.

We sure love y’all. Happy Wednesday!

At work I share an office with one of my co-workers, Jenn. Jenn is one of the sweetest, most genuine, kind, compassionate, Jesus-loving women you’ll ever meet. I instantly clicked and fell in love with her. Because she has three little one’s vying for her undivided attention, I only get to see her every now and then, especially when we’re not in Bible study season.

The other day she was at the office de-cluttering her desk when she found a stack of papers piled up in her drawer about an event LPM had put on about eight years or so ago called “Tell Me How”. That specific event was for college aged girls ages 18 – 25.

Just about eight years ago, I was 19 and attended that event. It was my sophomore year of college and I remember that being a really pivotal time in my walk with the Lord and I was all ears. I wanted to soak up any and all wisdom I could from gain from these wise ladies because after all, I was a sophomore in college, and what in the world did I want to do with my life? I was desperate to know how to not royally mess it up, my life that is. Little did I know, and nor would I have ever dreamed, that almost a decade later I’d be serving alongside these sweet ladies. That was a really neat thought for me.

Sometimes life brings you to a full circle moment and that was one of them.

I told Jenn that I attended that conference and that to this day I still refer back to those notes. I think it was fun for both of us to walk down memory lane because we were both able to see fruit from that conference, almost ten years later.

The keynote speakers were our very own Siesta Mama, Beth, Priscilla Shirer and Christy Nockels, who not only led worship, but also taught a session. I clearly knew who Beth and Christy were at the time (we’re obviously on a first name basis), but it was my first introduction to Priscilla, whom from then on, I fell in love with. Her teaching was so powerful, she was hilarious and her passion was contagious.

The three of them each took a main session, there were breakouts to attend throughout the weekend and then at the very end, the three of them did a Q&A session with us. This was by far my favorite part of the weekend. It is amazing to me the rawness and vulnerability people express when asking a question anonymously. (They wrote in questions.) Questions ranged from Christy’s lipstick color (which was a MAC color and made my heart happy) to things I’d be too embarrassed to even mention on here.

I know I’m only 27 and have years ahead of me to mess up, but I didn’t want to be, and still don’t want to be, just a statistic.

One girl geared her question specifically to Christy asking her how she gets to do what she does? For those of you who don’t know, Christy Nockels is not only gifted, but an extremely anointed worship leader. She serves the Lord with such grace and humility. This girl in particular had felt called to be in ministry similar to Christy’s and wanted some guidance. I totally understand that.

Like always, Christy was so gracious and had such wise words to share along with words of encouragement.

I was glued to her as she shared her journey with us. Not that I felt called to that particular area of ministry, but we’re all called to something and I so badly wanted to know how to know what I was called to and how to pursue that calling.

She said one thing at the end that is forever etched on my heart.

“Bloom where you’re planted.”

Serve where you are. Do the mundane thing. It may be mundane to you, but it’s certainly not mundane to God. Even if it’s something you don’t enjoy at the moment, rest assured, you probably will not be doing it the rest of your life. Be faithful in the little things. Be faithful in general. Stay committed.

If you told me in high school that I’d be working in ministry one day, I would have laughed in your face. Not because I disliked church and not because I didn’t love Jesus. I loved each of those things, but my heart was always drawn to teaching. As in, decorate my own second grade classroom kind of teaching. I was the little girl that grew up playing school.

However, during my senior year of high school the Lord really started stirring up different passions in my heart personally. I wasn’t sure what it all meant or what would come of it, but instead of sitting on it, I sought counsel and leadership from some older and much wiser ladies about what was going on to hopefully makes some sense of all the Lord been birthing in me.

Hindsight is always 20/20 so what I know now is that the Lord was clearly shifting my desires. Aren’t you so thankful for His leadership? And the fact that He knows what’s best for us? And for people in your life who can speak truth and life into you? And for His Word that is a lamp unto our feet? I could go on and on.

That year I actually applied for an internship with a traveling girl’s ministry and I was turned down. I was heartbroken, but knew that if the Lord had truly placed these desires to work with girls in my heart, he’d be faithful and guide me to serve in other ways. Although he shut that door, I decided to press on instead of give up and bail out doubting everything I was feeling. But I also trusted that the Lord would change my desires if I wasn’t called to that specific area of service.

My freshman year of college I stayed home and attended a community college here. During that year, I helped lead a small group of freshman girls. It was a good taste of teenage drama, yet I loved them so much.

When I went off to college that next year, I immediately got involved in a Christian sorority, Sigma Phi Lambda and through the next three years served as chaplain, rush captain and little things here and there. Do you see how the Lord threw me into girl’s ministry long before I made it my actual career?

As graduation neared, the desire to work in ministry exploded. I don’t think I talked about it a lot because it kind of scared me. After all, I went to school to learn how to be a teacher, not how to lead or speak to teenage girls. Or work in a church. That was a totally different ballgame.

But God is faithful and his grace is perfect. He opened doors in ministry that I never pursued on my own. I really struggled at that time with deciding whether to pursue teaching full time or take on the ministry position at church as the Girl’s Ministry Director. But how could I not take this ministry position when my heart was really there? When I look back I see how he really prepared me for this exchange of career paths. It is a beautiful thing.

Had I tried on my own, I can honestly tell you that I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today. The Lord planted a seed in me years ago with a heart for young women, and I simply watered it along the way, again, by His still small leading, His still small voice. I tried my hardest to do what I felt He called me to do for that season and honestly, that’s all I still know to do.

It’s one thing to be passionate about something and walk out that passion, it’s another thing to think you’ve arrived. What does that really mean anyway? We won’t arrive until we reach Heaven’s gates. That’s our goal after all, is it not?

I don’t know what’s next for me or for you. But I can say with confidence and with experience that God is faithful. If He’s been faithful in the past, we can be sure that He’ll most certainly be faithful in the present and future. However, we must humbly throw ourselves under his hand. Under His leadership.

Trust the desires he’s given you. But check to make sure they’re desires that exalt Christ and not yourself. I could be really off saying this, but I’m not sure he’ll grant us selfish desires that steal his glory. He won’t waste His glory on us. Selfish idols and desires are things that rarely get his blessing, if ever.

How many times does he say in the Psalms that He satisfies our desires with good things. These are the desires that are rooted in what pleases and exalts Him. (Psalm 103:5, Psalm 145:16)

Bloom where you’re planted. And no matter what, don’t ever quit serving, dear sister.

“Don’t bother your head with braggarts 
or wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they’ll shrivel like grass clippings
 and wilt like cut flowers in the sun. Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last.
 Keep company with God,
 get in on the best. Open up before God, keep nothing back; he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
 and stamp you with approval at high noon. Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him.
 Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder,
 who elbow their way to the top.” Psalm 37:1-7 (The Message)

Good morning, y’all! Here is the Long Beach LPL recap video for those of you that were able to attend and for those of you that enjoy watching to get a little taste of what the Lord did. I happen to be in the latter category. Grin. If you were there, we’d love to hear how the Lord spoke to you. Enjoy, friends!

Living Proof Live Long Beach 2012 from David Lowe on Vimeo.

Good morning, y’all! I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve actually gotten on here and said hello, but thankfully, our sweet Siesta Mama has kept you all busy. But, today I come to you with more of  a business item rather than pleasure. At least it’s fun business!

This post is becoming so routine that these days we have people calling weeks in advance for scholarship tickets. Thanks to our Siesta Scholarship fund it is our great joy to get to do this, but I just wanted to graciously remind you that these tickets are truly for those that honestly don’t have a dime to spare but so desire to attend the conference. Please know y’all are really so good about this, but a friendly reminder here and there doesn’t hurt and it really helps out our Kimberly when she’s answering phones and explaining what these tickets are about!

So, with that said, we DO have 20 scholarship tickets for this weekends Living Proof Live in Long Beach. If you qualify, please call our office toll free at 1.888.700.1999 during regular business hours (8:30 – 4:30 CST) and ask for Kimberly Meyer. If you happen to reach us while we’re at lunch, leave a message and Kimberly will get back to you.

We love y’all so much. As always, prayers for Beth and the team are appreciated. They head out today and are thrilled to see you all! Have a great Thursday!

Oh, sisters! How in the world is it already Thursday? Needless to say, the simulcast is quickly approaching. We’re exactly 48 hours away!

With that said, for those of you ladies in or near Reading, we wanted to make you aware that we have 20 scholarship tickets to give away thanks to the Siesta Scholarship Fund. Reading is the location the simulcast is taking place, so this is a ticket to join in live. However, please remember that these tickets are for those of you that would love to attend, but currently just don’t have the finances to do so. We’d love nothing more than to put a sweet ticket in your hand free of charge. If you meet this criteria, please call our office toll free at 1.888.700.1999 during regular business hours (8:30 – 4:30 CST) and ask for Kimberly Meyer. If you happen to reach us while we’re at lunch, leave a message and Kimberly will get back to you.

I think it goes without saying that we’re feeling the seriousness around here and have been bathing Saturday in prayer, so of course, we’d love nothing more than you for you to join us in praying for this weekend as well. Y’all are simply the best. See you Saturday on the other side of that screen!

One year ago today I walked into a house-turned-office for my first day at Living Proof Ministries, and my, what a year it’s been! (Fun side-note: Within an hour on the job, I filmed this video. On my very first day of work. I was terrified and can now laugh hysterically at my professional head nodding.) This year has easily been one of the most exciting, fun, challenging and neat years of my life. I’ve grown in ways I would have never imagined, been challenged to increase my faith and believe God, and on top of all that, made a handful of new best friends. What you may not know is that not only did I enter into a new job, after 26 years of attending, serving and working at a church I was raised in, I became a member at a new church as well. So, to say it’s been a new year and a new season is a vast understatement. But I wouldn’t trade this year for anything in the world.

There is no way I could let this day pass without sharing what I’ve learned about this ministry in just one year. Though I’m only going to share three things that stick out to me, what you need to know is that this list is the bare minimum.

L is for the Lavishness of LPM

I may hear the word “village” around here a lot, since we do refer to ourselves as The Village, but more so than that, I hear the word lavishness. I don’t know a word that describes LPM more accurately. Not only does the Lord lavish His love on us, but His lavishness towards us means that we can generously give to others. Living Proof gives more than anyone I know. And I mean that in every sense of the word. They give of their time, their love, their resources, their energy, their wisdom, and especially their prayers. You can’t walk through the doors of LPM and walk out without receiving a blessing, which is their goal. They do it with intentionality and grace. And lest you think for one second they do it to make a name for themselves, think again, it is all to make God’s name great, because He is the one that so lavishly and generously loves and gives to us.

P is for Prayer Warriors

My very first day of work happened to be on a Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. On any other given Tuesday, you would find us scurrying out the door at noon to head to lunch, however, on this particular day, since they had missed their typical Monday prayer time during lunch, they dove into prayer time on Tuesday instead. I think you know where I’m going with this. Instead of eating out on my first day of work, I prayed with my new found co-workers. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared and intimidated out of my ever-loving mind, and sometimes I still am. What in the world had I gotten myself into? I was sitting in the red room with 10 other ladies I barely knew and they were praying their heads off. If I can say one thing about these ladies, it’s that they’ve taught me how to pray. And not just pray, but pray with boldness, belief and for heaven’s sake, a little bit, or a lot of faith. Are my prayers eloquent? Heck no. Do I soak in every word they say and pray? You bet I do. I’ve witnessed miracles because of their mighty prayers. One thing I know to be true, you want these ladies praying for you.

M is for Mothering and Mentoring

September 6th, 2011 I gained 14 mothers and 14 mentors. Please note, I have a wonderful mother who I love dearly that lives 20 minutes from me and we talk often, but this was a no brainer given the territory I stepped into. I am the youngest on staff and each of them could be my mother. I say that in the most endearing, respectful way. The way the care about the little details of my life, the way they scratch my back, they way they send texts because they can’t bare to wait until the next day to hear about a certain this or that, are all things any mother would do. Do I hate it? No. In fact, I consider myself ridiculously spoiled in the spiritual realm. I’ve been known to confess during prayer time just how unique my situation is. What 27-year-old girl gets to be surrounded by this much wisdom? Does it mean we sit and chat over coffee on a daily or weekly basis? Well, not really. Unless you take into consideration our lunch hour, but what I mean by mentoring is I get to watch (and watch I do) the way these godly women handle their husbands, their children, their times alone with the Lord, their reaction to all manner of circumstances and so on and so forth. I get a front row seat to their daily, personal lives, and not one of them has left me disappointed. Are they perfect? Far from it. But they’re real. They’re authentic. I want to be like that.

The Lord has extended His faithfulness to me in more ways than I can count. I will boast in the Lord alone, because He alone did this.

Working alongside these women is one of the greatest privileges of my life. It’s life giving and water to my soul nearly every day. Not one day goes by without receiving encouragement, truth, wisdom and you better believe it, laughter. When I leave, I feel like I’ve been near God. Not to mention, we can talk for hours without gossiping, a miracle for 14 ladies if you ask me. Thank you, Jesus.

I don’t want to fool you into believing that life here is perfect. We’re human, flawed, we are all but a vapor, dust, bereft, and deeply in need of Jesus, without Him, every minute of our work here is in vain. However, it is my greatest desire to honor God and this ministry by celebrating God’s faithfulness to us.

Thank you, LPM, for accepting me from the minute I walked through those front doors. I feel like I’ve been here for ten years. And I hope I’m here for ten more, God-willing.

Thank you, Lord, for planting me here for such a time as this and doing greater than I could ever ask or imagine. You alone are to be praised. You are what LPM is made of.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

Good Tuesday afternoon, ladies! I hope you all had a wonderful, restful Labor Day. Just this morning I sent our dear siesta mama a quick text to see if she had any plans today (we hate to double up), because low and behold, we’ve been thinking of y’all all morning and since there were no immediate blog plans, I just knew it was perfect timing to post this fun meme. She just returned this weekend from filming at Life Today, so needless to say, we’re praying up some sweet rest for her.

What is a meme you ask? A meme is simply a “concept that spreads via the Internet.” So, please know that I simply saw this on another blog and decided it was a fun post for you, our dear siestas. Although I don’t know who originally came up with it, I still have to give credit where credit is due.

A. Age: 27

B. Bed size: A queen. My long legs tend to hang off anything smaller.

C. Chore that you hate: Hanging up clothes. Not washing or ironing, but hanging them up. I loathe it. I have been known to have neat piles of folded clothes around my room because I hate doing that so much. Oh, and I also cannot stand cleaning an upright shower. I learned that last week as I almost suffocated from the fumes while trying to accomplish this task.

D. Dogs: Oh, the puppies. I’ve only “owned” those that my roommates have had. Which have been Macy, Cohen and Cupcake. Three of the most different dogs you’ll ever meet. Growing up I only had a turtle that unfortunately ran away. And by “ran away”, I mean we left him in the yard one day while cleaning out his box and a day later (he was my older brother’s turtle, don’t blame me) after Brien remembered to get him, he was nowhere in sight. Poor buddy. His name was Norm. Short for Norman.

E. Essential start to your day: Waking up. That is essential. Seriously, though? I cannot get ready without listening to worship music. Ask my roommates.

F. Favorite color: It’s constantly changing, but is currently green. Or coral. And maybe red. See, I’m very fickle with my colors.

G. Gold or Silver: Both. I used to think Gold looked terrible on my skin tone, but currently gold is the “in thing” so I own a lot of gold costume jewelry which I wear often. However, silver is my go-to choice.

H. Height: My drivers license says 5’11. So I’m going with that.

I. Instruments you play: Since my mom has been a piano teacher my entire life, I play the piano. My skill set, however, is much less than hers. She’s the best of the best. : )

J. Job title: Media Assistant and Youth Specialist. If you’re going to friend the youth, you must know the media. ; )

K. Kids: Zero. Though I’d claim many as my own.

L. Live: Texas! I’m a proud Texan through and through. First family member born and raised here.

M. Mother’s name: Kristy Kay. Love her!

N. Nicknames: The most obvious one is Lindsee Lou. (Lou is not my middle name contrary to popular belief!) Lou. Loupers. Leddy. Lindslepie. (Thank you, Grandma, for that last one.)

O. Overnight hospital stays: Besides my birth, to date, this hasn’t happened. Praise God!

P. Pet peeves: When people drive crazy. It drives me nutty. (No pun intended.)

Q. Quote from a movie: I love me some Madea lines. “Heller? How u durnin?”, “Um, ner.” ,“Halleu-yer.” So funny.

R. Right or left handed: Right hand all the way!

S. Siblings: Two brothers. One older and one younger. I’m smack dab in the middle and the only girl. It’s not the worst gig in the world.

T. Time it takes you to get ready: Um, I’m tempted to lie here. I set my alarm for about two hours before I have to be anywhere. See “W”. I hate to be rushed.

U. Ultimate Vacation: Currently, that would have to be the Seychelles. Oh, to dream.

V. Vegetable you hate: Peas. Gross.

W. What makes you run late: The fact that I am really slow at everything I do makes me late. I enjoy taking my time and hate to be rushed. Those who know me personally can testify! I even eat slow. Therefore, I seem to never give myself enough time. Other than that, probably applying my mascara. Grin.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Do my teeth count? Oh, and I think in the third grade I had my ankle x-rayed because I sprained it in P.E. That was unfortunate since I’m not sure I actually DID anything in P.E.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Listen, I don’t want to fool you into thinking I make all sorts of yummy food. Cooking is simply not one of my gifts. (But that could also be due to my lack of trying to cook yummy food.) My roommates could testify to that. However, I can make a mean Taco Ring. And I also have mastered the art of Nutella Rice Krispie Treats. (Added: See recipe and link below.)

Z. Zoo animal: It’s been a while since I’ve taken a trip to the zoo, so this is a little tough. But, I’m gonna have to go with penguins (I mean, have you watched them walk? Or waddle, better yet?), and monkeys. I love me a cute baby monkey.

What about y’all? Choose a letter and share it with us. Y’all have a great day!

*Nutella Rice Krispie Treats (Originally taken from here.)

6 cups Rice Krispies (or 3 cups Rice Krispies and 3 cups Chocolate Puffed Rice)
1 bag (10.5-oz) miniature marshmallows
¼ cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter
generous 1 cup Nutella

Topping:
1 cup Nutella
1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate
1 Tbs trans-fat free shortening

Measure the cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Melt the marshmallows and butter together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the Nutella and stir until combined. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the cereal stirring well to evenly coat the cereal. Pour into the prepared pan and use a small buttered piece of waxed paper or the back of a spoon sprayed with cooking spray to press evenly into pan.

In a small sauce pan melt the remaining 1 cup of Nutella, shortening and chopped chocolate over medium/medium low heat. When the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, pour over the cereal mixture. Gently spread the chocolate topping evenly across the top of the krispies.

Allow the chocolate to set, then cut into squares, serve and enjoy!

Taco Ring Link

And lastly, but certainly not least, for those who have asked, you can find the recipe and the directions for the taco ring here. Y’all are so fun!