Ok so I solved the problem I described above.
Essentially I went through Lenovo's Warrantee Support team and emailed back and forth with a technician. What helped them identify the problem was when they asked me to:
4.) Please run the hardware diagnostics test. See below for instructions:
Turn the machine off and then back on. Before you see the Lenovo splash screen, start tapping the F10 key repeatedly until it takes you to the diagnostics page. Select RUN ALL then select FULL UNATTENDED TEST. Once completed, the diagnostics test will provide you with a FINAL RESULT CODE. Please write the final result code down, or take a picture of the results along with the date the test was ran and reach back out to us so that we can validate the results and replace the part that may be listed.
I did this and sent them a picture of the test and from that information they were able to diagnose that "I believe the system board is malfunctioning / defective.".
Lenovo sent me a box to mail the computer in. I mailed it in and they sent it back quickly. The problem I described in my previous post no longer happens.
Hopefully this resolution will help other people.
Note: My computer was still within its 1 year warrantee so I believe that made process of getting support easier.