I just typed up my scenario and some dumb questions asking for advice, but decided to go do some research before posting. I have been following this thread off and on and haven't seen a lot of chatter about what actually causes a pipe to burst. Maybe I just missed it. I was assuming it was ice expanding beyond what the pipe could handle, like a beer in the freezer, but come to find out that isn't what usually causes them to burst. Although it can. Most often it is the pressure build up in the pipe caused by the ice and not the ice itself.
This leads me to believe that my outdoor faucet that's not turning on isn't as dire a situation as I had thought because that faucet is likely a dead end to my plumbing. At least, I think it is. If the frozen pipe is at the end, it seems the pressure shouldn't be a problem as long as I have an upstream sink partially open to relieve that pressure. I don't know what I'm talking about, so this could be total bullshit. Seems to make sense though.