Lyndseycornell’s Weblog

Since it’s Christmas Eve, I thought I would give you a little preview of what the Cornell house looks like at Christmas.
Here’s the tree… and it’s real too! (I’m not used to the real tree thing).

And here’s our Santa bobble-head.

And our stockings…

A full view of the family room

All the cards/pictures we’ve received. This is my favorite part. I love walking into the kitchen and being reminded of all the family and friends we love so much.

So Merry Christmas to everyone! We love you and hope you have a special time with your family and friends. I know Andrew and I are both missing our family at this time but we are so blessed to have one another and great friends down here.

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So I noticed that on October 14 I had the most views ever on this blog. The reason? I made it on www.aseaofblue.com. This guy, who I have no idea who he is, found my post about the LSU victory and said, “Lyndsey Cornell, not really a sports blogger but apparently a UK fan, has a great description of her excitement with the victory.” And then he linked to my blog. Here’s the link to read story.

I was very excited about the win. I guess it showed well.

This is probably something that nobody but me cares about, but I thought I would post it anyway

As you might have already read on my pop’s blog, Andrew is now the official owner/operator of the Treasure Coast Mall Square Chick-fil-A! I’m so proud of him. It’s quite an accomplishment at age 23 after only being with the company for a year and a half. But if anyone deserves, it’s Andrew. He has worked so hard, and we feel very blessed. 

He had 9 interviews at the home office in Atlanta last week, and then they flew both of us up this past Tuesday and Wednesday for 6 more interviews. It was an incredible experience to be at Chick-fil-A corporate.  From our driver, Bob, all the way to the Vice President of Human Resources, everyone treated us with unbelievable kindness and service.

The ladies at the front desk chatted with us for about 10 minutes when we walked in and then gave us a Scripture verse as we headed up the elevator for our first interview. Anytime we were waiting on the couch for our next interview and someone passed by, they would introduce themselves and ask if we needed anything to drink. As soon as we were told that Andrew got the store, everyone that we had previously interviewed with came in and congratulated us with hugs. It truly feels like a family there and you can tell it’s all genuine.

Besides Andrew getting the store, the best part of the day was when we were able to meet Truett Cathy himself. I saw him get off the elevator and mentioned how excited I was to see him once we were in our next interview. The lady we were interviewing with immediately got on the phone and set up a time for us to meet him. She said he absolutely loves meeting the candidates.He was wearing a black suit with a red vest and tie. One of the first questions he asked us was whether or not we wanted to have children as he is extremely family oriented. Andrew thanked him for building such an amazing company and he just said he’s always been to kind customers and said “my pleasure” whenever anyone thanked him. He simplified business in a matter of words.  He gave us a “golden ruler” (it was a ruler with the golden rule engraved on it) and an autographed copy of his new book: “How did you do it Truett?” I was so excited to meet him!

Bob took us back to the airport and let us know how truly happy he was for us. It was such a great experience and again, we’re just very grateful and happy. Pray for us though when you think of us because Andrew is still working like crazy since the Northlake store just opened. He then goes to 5 weeks of training in Atlanta starting January 8. I don’t get to visit him or vice versa for that time, so it will be tough. But I just keep thinking about all the military wives who have to deal with their husband being gone all the time, so I know I’ll be fine! Thanks for all your prayers and support and Eat More Chicken! 

It’s been so nice to be back in Kentucky for a while. It truly is beautiful here. We had breakfast on Sunday morning at our old neighbor’s house where I grew up. We lived out in the country and my whole childhood washed over me while I sat on her front porch swing listening to the peaceful silence that you can only find in wide open spaces. There is something about the country that makes you reflect. I forget to do it or don’t allow myself to do it enough in South Florida. It’s harder to come by.

But I got to thinking on that porch swing…

I’m more than grateful for my childhood. I know a lot of people can’t say that. We were allowed to be kids. I’m amazed at the kids in our youth group and the things that they know. They know how much their parent’s rent is, details of their parent’s divorce, the specifics of their mom’s affair, their dad’s addictions. They bear the weight of it all. Completely robbed of their childhood.

Our childhood: we just played. We made up games in the back yard, constructed forts and threw baseball with dad until dusk. We came inside with dirty knees and sun-kissed cheeks. We knew each of the neighbors on our street by name. We never knew the struggles of our parents….we didn’t know their mortgage (much less what a mortgage was), had no idea of family strife (if there was any) and our biggest worry was whether or not the neighbors down the street would be able to play with us that day. We lived in kid world. That’s how it should be.