Christmas at the Sampson's

I spent last weekend in Houston, TX at one of my best friend's weddings and the weather was 80 degrees. Then I came home for Christmas to 14 inches or more of snow. Below are a few pictures from the day.

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, work is going great. I am mostly working on personal injury work. My duties include, contacting doctors and requesting medical records and bills, negotiating with insurance companies, writing settlement proposals, drafting pleadings, blah blah blah, I'm sure that is boring to all of you. The swearing has definitely been a struggle for me to hear all of the time. My co-workers love to use every swear word in the book but I am learning to tune it out. Last week, the two attorneys got in a huge huge fight (they have been dating the last eight years) and Mike kicked Sandra out of the office right then and there. I was expecting her to come back this week because apparently they fight like that all of the time but she didn't come back this week. Mike has seemed happier this week so I guess it's for the best. I got a Christmas bonus today after only working there for a month and it is the same amount I got last year from working at MHM for two years. (Don't tell anyone I said that Brooke.) But I must admit it is nice working for someone who isn't so concerned with money. He seems to have plenty and mentions giving me a raise all the time. He has even mentioned that I am his best worker he's ever had so I think I will stick around for a while because raises are in the future. :)

I got a calling a week ago. I am one of the four Young Single Adult Reps for the ward. It sort of seems like the calling I had the last two years as activities co-chair but the Bishop totally pumped me up for it by saying, "there is no doubt in my mind the Lord wants you to serve here." So I am committed and want to make the most of it. We will be in charge of fhe, firesides, break-the-fast, activities, and helping with stake activities, etc. Basically anything the young single adults get together for, we are in charge of.

Next Friday, Lori and I are driving to Houston to go to Elise's wedding, (my friend from Provo). She gets married on Saturday. Then I am flying out of Houston on the 22nd and going home for two weeks for Christmas!!! I am so excited to go home.

Below are a few pictures of this last week. We went to ICE for Natalie's (a girl in the ward) birthday. It was so fun. They keep the room 9 degrees (I had a hoodie, coat and their blue heavy coat they provide on, and I was still cold) and it is filled with ice sculptures of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was pretty fun.

Lori & I

Here's a group shot in front of the Grinch.

Lori, Myriam & I stopped to pose for the camera.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I spent Thanksgiving in Nashville! A girl in the ward always invites the singles over that don't have anywhere to go. Below is a picture of the group. I made my first ever pumpkin pie and everybody loved it!!!
Top 5 things I'm grateful for this year:
1. That I had the strength and courage to follow the guidance of the Spirit and move to Tennessee.
2. My family's love and support in my move and prayers in my behalf.
3. Wonderful friends that have always been there for me!
4. The Lord's unconditional love and patience for me even when I don't deserve it.
5. My life. I am so happy to be here right now in this place in my life. Nashville is treating me well!
Love you all!

New job!

Well this has been a fun and busy week. I got a random call from a law firm that I apparently applied for a while ago. They called me in for an interview Wednesday morning and I got a call this morning offering me the job. I will be a paralegal at a very small firm. There are two attorneys and now two paralegals. I am starting out on a trial basis for 45 days and then if things are working out I will stay after Christmas. They know I want to go home for Christmas for two weeks and they still hired me so that is a plus. This firm is located near downtown so that will be fun. I am going to call Gap Kids and see if they'll let me just work Saturdays. I'm thinking they are going to want me to work Sundays too and I don't want to do that and I especially don't want to be working every single day so that job may not last much longer. There go my hopes of meeting someone famous but that's ok. Thank you for all of your prayers. I couldn't have gotten it without you.

CMA Awards!

I am sure y'all are aware that last night was the 42nd Annual CMA Awards. Lori and I decided to take a trip downtown and see what we could at the Red Carpet. We learned that we will go much earlier next time. There were a lot of people to look through and it was nearly impossible to get any pictures but I did catch a glimpse of: Keith and Nicole, Billy Ray and Miley, Lorrie Morgan, Darius Rucker, Kid Rock, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, Clay Walker, Mark Wills, Darrell Worley, Kellie Pickler and probably a few others. It was so fun to be there!

Lori and I posing with the red carpet behind us.

Darius Rucker was very nice to come to our side of the fence even though we didn't pay to see the red carpet. He shook everybody's hand. He is new in the country business but some of you may recongize him as the lead singer for Hootie and the Blow Fish. Unfortunately this is the only picture of a star I got.

Here I am with "the King" on Broadway in downtown Nashville.

Purity Farm and Jack Daniel Distillery

Lori and I both had Tuesday off so we decided to visit some places her co-workers have suggested we see.

We took a tour of the Purity Dairy Farm in Nashville. We were able to watch them make and package their ice cream. We were even able to sample some and it was delicious.

Here we are with the Purity cow.

After the dairy Lori and I went to Lynchburg, TN which is just over an hour from Nashville. This is where the Jack Daniels Distillery is located. So we took a tour of it. I think I got a little buzz just from smelling the alcohol throughout the tour. I don't think it would take much for me to get drunk.

Here I am with Jack himself.

Part of the factory.

Here is a shot of a nice Jack Daniels car reminding everyone to drink responsibly.

After the tour of the Jack Daniel Distillery we walked around Town Square and I couldn't resist challenging this guy to a game of checkers. As you can tell it was a very intense game.

Colors of Tennessee!

Here is a glimpse of the beauty we have been witnessing here. This shot is off my balcony. The trees have been so incredibly bright and colorful and beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. People from here have said it's been more beautiful this year than normal so I guess I lucked out to be here now.

Happy Halloween!!!

Some girls in the ward threw a YSA Halloween Party. There was food, games, scary movies and great company. I went as Waldo. I almost won the best costume but was beat out by Rainbow Bright. Below are a couple of snapshots. Lori and I ready for the party!

Hanging out at the party. The best part of this picture is Lori in the mirror. Freaky!

(Alisha, Alisa, Dustin, me, & Colby)

I GOT A JOB!

Hey everyone, I finally got a job today! I will be working at Gap Kids at the Green Hills mall. This mall is a very rich area. I plan on taking my camera to work each day because you never know when a country singer will come in shopping for their kids. The pay isn't great and it's only part-time (20 to 30 hours) but it is a relief to have ANY job. I was upfront about wanting time off for Christmas and they still offered me the job so I took it. I will continue to apply for other jobs and looking for something better. I think it will be much easier to get a job in January when I don't have to request time off. Anyway, just wanted to keep you all updated. Thanks for caring.

Another update!

Since Dan updated his blog I figure it must be time for me to update mine too. We got our second piece of furniture. It is a couch/bed. It's so wonderful to not be sitting on the floor anymore.

Still on the job hunt. This last week I applied at Kohl's and Target and two weeks ago I applied at Baby Gap and Gap Kids. I have an interview with Gap Kids this week. I also had a job interview on Thursday for an outpatient hospital working as an Administrative Assistant. She said I would hear back either Friday (which I didn't) or Monday (tomorrow) so maybe I'll have a job tomorrow.

We only had Sacrament Meeting today because our ward was split. The ward really was ginormous and it was bound to happen sometime. We always showed up early to get a seat in the chapel because they had chairs all the way to the back of the cultural hall. Relief Society has been so big that we had to meet in the chapel and make the elder's quorum meet in the relief society room. It will be nice to have a smaller ward and get to know people better. With this change we will be getting a new bishop. He seems really energetic and fun. In his talk today he mentioned how he loves teenagers and young single adults but especially young single adults. So it will be fun to get to know him better. Word on the street is he is a very wealthy man and has season tickets to the Titans games so hopefully (on a Monday night game of course) we can get invited.

Lori is at her second day of work today. They hired her as a part-time security guard at the Opryland Resort. We don't know if this is regular for a part-timer but she works 34 hours this week. I will be going to many events by myself, such as institute, firesides, fhe and possibly church but I will survive. We have been making a lot of friends out here so that is good.

Well that is my update for now! Congrats again Rachelle, David & Delaney. Can't wait to see Liam. Billie Jo are you getting anxious?

Love you all.

First Piece of Furniture!!!

I found this entertainment center on Craig's List for only $50. The man was moving to a new home and it just didn't fit. It was quite the hassle getting it to our apartment. We had to make a friend with a truck and it worked out perfectly that he happened to be a 6'4" football player! We are very happy to have our first piece of furniture.

In other news, we finally got internet and cable hooked up in our apartment. We let them know how unhappy we were with their service so we will now be getting two months free of service and 2 movie tickets.

We also recently bought an air mattress so we are no longer sleeping on the floor.

I also had two job interviews this week. I am only interested in one of them. If I get this job I would be making nearly double what I was making in Provo, so that would be fantastic. At this job I would be working for a bankruptcy attorney in downtown Nashville. The building is right next door to the CMT building!!! The lady that interviewed me gave me the rundown of the firm and the benefits and asked me a few questions and then said she would give my resume to the attorney but I haven't heard back since. The firm is really big, about 30 attorneys and only 10 paralegals. The firm is on the 22nd floor of the building.

I spent last weekend in Virginia tending Kyle's kids. It was really fun to get to spend some quality time with them. They were quite a delight!

We are loving our ward. The activities are so great. Institute is wonderful. We still don't have callings yet but hopefully soon. I am leaning toward primary pianist but we'll see.

Dan- Kyle and I were thinking that since you love the Outer Banks and Kyle, Paul & I will all be back east we should have the family reunion back east this summer? Think about it!!!

Anyway, that is a small update on what I have been up to. I miss you all!

Sorry for the delay!

Hey everyone,

I'm so sorry I haven't been updating this as much as I planned. I am actually in North Carolina right now at Lori's sister's house. Her niece was baptized this week and her parents flew out and are going to go to South Carolina next week and didn't mind if Lori and I tagged along. So it may be a while before I update anything new from Tennessee. As soon as I get back the next week Kyle is going to fly me out to Virginia to tend his kids while he and Noelle are in Utah doing the St. George Marathon. So now I don't mind at all that I don't have a job because I get to be doing all of this fun traveling. I will try to update as soon as possible when I get back. We still don't have the internet at our apartment, it's really getting ridiculous. Thanks for reading this! Lindsay good luck this week! Can't wait to FINALLY hear the name of my new niece. Love you all!

Pictures from roadtrip!

We still don't have the Internet but thanks to KateMoore we sometimes can get a wireless connection wherever she may be. Below are a few of my pictures taken on the road.


Here I am all ready to go with my car packed to the max.







Here is the lovely Colorado sign.












...and the Kansas













We weren't able to get a picture of the Oklahoma sign because it was difficult to see it from far away and by the time we saw it we were driving passed it. But, we did stop in Chechotah which is Carrie Underwood's hometown (my all-time favorite). Here is her High School marquee.










Here is her billboard right off the freeway.














By this time we were tired of taking pictures of ourselves so we just took a picture of the sign.









Here is the Tennessee sign. There is so much going on here and so much to look at while you drive. We were concentrating on taking a picture of the sign while driving as the traffic gets thicker with the big city of Memphis right there that somehow Lori and I both missed the passing of the Mississippi river.







Final destination!

I'm in Nashville!!!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting about arriving. We have been trying to get the internet figured out and it will take some more time. We got comcast to come and set us up and she told us to wait 20 minutes then set it up. It wouldn't work. So we called technical support and they couldn't figure it out. So that guy had another guy come the next day and turns out we aren't connected from outside and he can't fix that. So he said it would take about 48-72 hours to get another worker in but of course Monday is a holiday so I wouldn't be surprised if it's more like Thursday or Friday before we get them in.

Anyway, I'll update you on the roadtrip. We left Monday morning and made it to Denver that night. It took us about 8 hours the first day. The drive was so beautiful. When we were driving over Vail Pass our cars wouldn't go above 40 mph because the hill was so steep and our cars were so weighed down with everything we own in them. We spent the night at Lori's mom's cousin's house. She treated us to dinner that night and we enjoyed spending time with her.

Day two: We left Denver at about 8:00 in the morning. This day was our longest drive. We drove for 13 hours. We started in Denver and ended the night in Checotah, OK. If any of you are Carrie Underwood fans you'd know she is from the small town of Checotah. We spent the night in a dumpy motel but it was fun to wake up and tour around her town for a little while.

Day three: We had breakfast in a smalltown diner. It was fun to watch people walk in and everybody knows each other. We left around 9:00 in the morning and charged right through Arkansas. We didn't even stop at all. We stopped in Memphis where we ate lunch at a bbq restaurant Lori and I saw on the travel channel. We have been planning to eat there for a long time so it was fun to mark it off the list. We drove three more hours to Nashville and got here about 7:00. The drive was not as bad as I was anticipating. I thought I would need to stop a lot but we both were not ever very tired, huge blessing.

We have spent the last few days not really knowing what to do with ourselves. On Thursday we tried to get the internet set up but couldn't. We thought it would be fixed on Friday. So we just tried to unpack and get things organized. Friday they still couldn't fix the internet so we decided to come to the library to use the internet. But what do you know, the library is closed on Fridays. So yesterday we went grocery shopping. Today we came to the library to get things done like, update my blog, apply for jobs online, look for furniture online, mapquest church directions, etc.

Well, that is all I have for now. When we get the internet in our apartment I will post some pictures. I love you all.

Here is the proof of us jumping off the bridge.

Random pics from Portland!

Eating dinner before heading to the cabin.


Shelly & me posing before going out on the lake.


Cute Olivia!


Cute Delaney!

Hayden & me before going to the lake.

This is Lori and me climbing up to the 2nd level of the bridge. The scariest part was thinking about climbing up.

Payton being a good cousin and holding on to Delaney so she won't fall out of the back of the truck.

No hands! Go Delaney.

Payton is all smiles while surfing with Uncle Michael.

Me and Delaney in the back of the truck.

Brittan eating her treat after a long day of boating.

The Glorious cabin. Thanks again Neals.

Oregon!!!

The last few days my best friend Lori and I were able to spend time in Oregon. Both of my sisters live there and it was really fun to get to hang out with them and their families. My sister Shannon and her family recently built a cabin in Central Oregon and we spent a couple of the days of our trip there at the lake. It was so beautiful. I wakeboarded, jumped off a bridge and even learned how to surf behind the boat. Attached is a picture of Lori and I preparing to jump off the second level of the bridge. It was quite a rush! I will attach more pictures soon.