Last first day of school?!

Well, today I had my last first day of class of my undergraduate career. Kinda weird, but not really that weird either.

It was fun remembering the beginning of my freshman year. I was definitely one of those directionally-challenged freshmen who walked around with a map for the first month. I was one of those freshmen who cried because she got a C on her biology final (but I still got an A- in the class—what the heck was I crying about?). But, I was also one of those freshmen who did crazy things every night for the first month, and still managed to fit in crazy stuff even after that.

I think that the funnest part about this whole thing for me is that I'm starting my last semester surrounded by the friends (aka boys that just got off their missions) that I started my first semester with.

Anyway, enough reminiscing. About this semester—I'm only taking 11.0 credits! Because that's all I need to graduate!

Eng495: The Senior Course

My section is "postwar fiction and the discourse of dissent." I'm excited—even though Prof. Matthews told us repeatedly on Monday that this is going to be "the hardest course of our BYU career."

ELang430: Editing for Publication

This is the editing capstone class, which consists of us creating a magazine, from start to finish. Our first homework assignment is sending in our résumés to apply for a staff position. It should be awesome. (And in case you are curious, you can view past issues here.)

Hum202: Western Humanities 2

RelC333: Living Prophets

I'm still working 20 hours a week as the Editor at the Preprofessional Advisement Center.

And what am I going to do with all of my extra time?

Look for a real job for after I graduate, of course! (Wish me luck.)

christmas break 09

playing Super Mario Wii • working online • Princess and the Frog • reading whole books in one night • the movie theatre • way too many Circle K runs • lunch with the parents • staying up too late • Care for Life fundraiser • wedding receptions • 30 Rock on Hulu • going through old stuff • giving gifts • good food • speed scrabble and Boggle with the family • seeing old friends and their babies • listening to Ryan sing Replay • Christmas parties • sleepover with besties • reading old journals • playing with the new puppy • talking in British accents • New Years resolutions • spending time with family

2009: REMEMBERING

Roommates:

Lindsey & Crystal

Meg & Jenny

Lauren, Ashley, & Kayla

Employment:

BYU Fine Arts Ticket Office

Accompanying

Editing at the Preprofessional Advisement Center

Tips.net

Making blog books

Movies:

[500] Days of Summer

Psycho

Up

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Everything Is Illuminated

Good Night, and Good Luck

All the President's Men

Say Anything

The Princess & the Frog

Little Dorritt

Henry Poole Is Here

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

He's Just Not that into You

North and South

Rebel Without a Cause

Experiences—first time

Visited Idaho

Didn't leave the country in 3.5 years

Played the organ

Interviewed someone to write an article

Joined a book club

Spent spring/summer in Provo

Had an internship

Sleepwalked in front of my roommates' friends

Donated blood

Hardly studied for finals

Rescued by a lifeguard (lie . . . that was the second time)

Music:

You and I, Mountain and the Sea, The Chain (Ingrid Michaelson)

You Make My Dreams Come True (Hall & Oates)

Where the Road Meets the Sun (Katie Herzig & Matthew Perryman Jones)

One More Time with Feeling, The Calculation (Regina Spektor)

I Want You Back (Jackson 5)

You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)

Winter Song (Ingrid Michaelson & Sarah Bareilles)

I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)

I've Just Seen a Face (The Beatles)

Take a Bow (Rhianna)

The Bird and the Worm, Rainbow Veins (Owl City)

We Will Become Silhouettes (The Shins)

How Great Thou Art (Chris Merritt)

I Believe in Love (Kenny Loggins)

40 Dogs (Bob Schneider)

Just Haven't Met You Yet (Michael Bublé)

A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left (Andrew Bid)

It's Only a Paper Moon (Ella Fitzgerald)

Half of My Heart (John Mayer)

Hey, Soul Sister (Train)

Gotta Have You (The Weepies)

Books:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer)

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)

The Chicago Manual of Style

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

These Is my Words (Nancy Turner)

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love (Robert Johnson)

The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

Enjoyed:

Playing the guitar

Diet Dr. Pepper

Tennis

Rockband

Hare Krishna Festival of Colors

Reunions with friends from freshmen year

Recitals (actually—concerts):

Ingrid Michaelson

M. Ward

King's Singers

Mormon Tabernacle Christmas

Icky feelings:

Bronchitis

Scorpion sting

Swine Flu

Nightmares

Stitches

Concussion

Insomnia

New favorite shows:

30 Rock

Glee

Gained:

A greater love for the Book of Isaiah

Awesome roommates

My own room

Materials for a good portfolio

Lots of interview experience

A ton of copyediting and substantive editing knowledge

My favorite "Christmas presents" this year were

talking to missionary brother Taylor on the phone

& having the "Originals" back in Provo

(as well as some other awesome stuff).

yikes

seven more days, seven more days . . .

school should be canceled for "cold days"

Are we really expected to make it up to campus when the number of degrees is less than the number of hours of sleep we got the night before?

On a happier note, today is my last day of class.

And on a poke-fun-at-others note, all those who were studying in the library late last night had to go outside and stand in the freezing cold because the fire alarm went off. Bahaha.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I love going home, even when I have to spend so much time sitting in a car to get there and back. Here are my highlights of this past week:

-Beautiful weather which allowed for eating Thanksgiving dinner outside, and also a lovely bike-ride with Danny

-Hours on the piano playing Beethoven sonatas and Charlie Brown Christmas music

-Not setting an alarm

-Lots and lots of Rockband with my brothers

-Finishing almost all of my Christmas shopping even before Black Friday

-Spending time with the fam

-Our new PUPPY! We named him Murphy, and he's adorable.

And now it's back to the grindstone for another few weeks.

thankful

The Big Ones:

10. Music

9. Literature

8. Technology

7. Traveling

6. Education

5. Employment

4. Love

3. Friends

2. Family

1. Jesus Christ, My Savior

Honorable mentions:

roommates who make my apartment feel like home • footy-pajamas

• iPods • libraries • museums • my car • e-mails from Taylor on his mission

• blogging • nice weather • tennis

• seeing how much my friends have grown up in the two years that we were apart

• nail polish • reunions • curly hair • hot showers • the Book of Isaiah

• general conference • Beethoven • homemade rolls • internships

• the future • wikipedia • good professors • dresses

• playing games with my brothers • seeing happy marriages

thankful for Christmas music

I have a confession:

I may or may not be listening to Christmas music in the car already. And I'm a die hard Christmas-shouldn't-start-until-after-Thanksgiving girl. But really, it's the only way I can manage to handle how terribly cold it is here in Utah. (Something happened to my circulation or something this year because really, I'm way way way colder than I have ever been before.)

So anyway, I'm thankful for Christmas music—because, for some reason, it makes cold weather appropriate.

Sing on, Ella!

thankful for blogs

I love love love love reading blogs and blogging myself (although I've been too busy to do much of that lately).

Some awesome girls (including my dear friend Megan), started Becoming Lovely. Some of the posts have hit me pretty hard ("Don't Tweeze Your Life Away," "Be Handy," and "Take Risks, But Take Advice Too" to name a few.) It's really great, so you should check it out.

And that, my friends, is all for now. At least until my massive final paper is rough-drafted.

Today I'm thankful for blogs.

thankful for veterans

Please, please, please listen to this song/watch this video

(don't worry—it's short).

I think that it's easy to forget sometimes that wars are made up of normal people,

with normal lives, and with normal hopes and dreams for the future.

Today especially, I am thankful for our veterans.

(This is from Ken Burns's 2007 documentary, The War.

Although I've only found time to watch half of it, I highly recommend it.)

thankful for a fully-functioning brain

(It's almost Thanksgiving, so I'm going to be writing "thankful" posts :)

This semester has been rough: I've really slacked on my whole eight-hours-of-sleep thing, and it's harder for me to take notes in class. I've been sick a lot, and I've learned that the flu is not conducive to writing papers on Faulkner and Modernism. And most recently, I had my concussion-or-whatever, and boy, is it hard to catch missed commas when everything is a little swirly. I had no idea that being hit on the head by a falling branch would make it so difficult to articulate what I'm trying to say.

Fortunately, all of those problems are basically gone. I'm back to normal. And I'm thankful for a functioning brain. Class discussions are a heck of a lot more interesting when you actually have something to say. It's refreshing to finally print off a six-page paper that you've spent way too many hours on...and actually feel satisifed with it. It's awesome to be able to help someone improve their writing. It's nice to be able to talk to people and not feel like an idiot.

Today I'm thankful for a fully-functioning brain.

Halloween!

So for Halloween, I decided to be Betty Rubble from the Flinstones. I found this hideous blue dress at D.I., but I could tell it definitely had a long way to go.

(I couldn't breathe)

So, after employing my mad cutting skills and craftiness, I came up with this costume for a grand total of $6.00:

See the resemblance?

(random fact I discovered online: Betty's maiden name was McBricker...which is pretty close to McBride, right?)

Lauren was Velma from Scooby-Doo

and Ashley was Jane Jetson from the Jetsons. Here's all of us:

The night was super fun. We went to Costa Vida, and then met up with a homeless man (Adam) and the UPS man (Scott) and hit a couple parties.

So, there was this guy hiding in a tree dressed in tree-camo, and he would jump down and scare people walking by. We saw it happen before we got to it, so he didn't scare us, but we ran into some people we knew right by the tree. We were kinda standing under it, and the next time the guy jumped down, the branch came with him...and landed on my head.

(Evidence)

I'm pretty sure I have a mild concussion, and my head is throbbing, but other than that, I'm okay. I probably should have been hurt a lot worse than I was, because this it was a big branch, and it came down hard.

All in all, I would say Halloween was a success this year, even with the lump on my head.

aminals

So, my roommates and I like to do funny things:

Like dress up in Michaels

And go to the Hogle Zoo:

Basically, we are a bunch of party animals

(or a bunch of little girls—take your pick).

a few weeks ago

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."

William Cullen Bryant

reeeeunions

I like reunions, which means that it made me very happy to have three of them this past week:

1. Freshman ward

2. Freshman besties

3. Mozambique friends

It's just so fun to reconnect with people that shared a significant time in your life, even if it's a little awkward sometimes :)

???

I just thought I'd share a little picture of the back of my orchestra music:

Have a wonderful day!

I have a serious problem

I think that I should probably never watch a super-scary movie again. I'm totally not a baby when I watch scary movies or even when I go to haunted houses. I'm honestly, totally fine (and usually less scared than my dates are...).

But, the middle of the night is a different story. I think it has something to do with my lovely sleeptalking/sleepwalking skills, but I have really, really vivid dreams. Like I think that people are with me, and I talk to them, etc.

Which is why I've been too chicken to watch Psycho. I've been dying to watch it ever since discovering my love for Hitchcock in high school, but I've been too afraid of my nightmares.

I finally watched it last night—and I loved it! I thought it was fantastic. But, it's about a "psycho," a mentally-ill person—there is nothing that scares me more in movies than crazy people.

Then, it was time for bed and I was afraid to go to sleep, so I slept on my friend Lindsay's floor. And I slept for about 45 minutes before I woke up. And then I managed to quadruple my score on Tetris and do 15 wordsearch puzzles on my iPhone...I could not get the creepy faces out of my head until about 8:00 this morning (when the sun came up).

This is no bueno.

(And no, I have not showered today.)

if you haven't seen this movie yet...

1. This movie won me over at a time when I absolutely hated "chick flicks" (this summer).
2. I want my own Lloyd Dobler.
3. This movie made me love John Cusack.
4. Shia LaBeouf looks like the young John Cusack
5. I couldn't find just the boombox scene, so here's the whole trailer:

update

I feel so much better!

The doctor gave me an inhaler for my bronchitis last week, and I can breathe again!

you make my dreams come true

from http://punethemonkey.com/

m.i.a.

I feel crummy. I've been sick for two weeks, and on Friday the doctor told me that I "probably won't be feeling good for awhile," or something like that. (dang.) What once was just a cold is now the flu and asthmatic bronchitis.

I was feeling a little better yesterday, so I set my alarm this morning, fully planning on going to school. Well, I felt absolutely terrible this morning, so I drove up to school in my pajamas at 7:30 to drop off some homework, came back home, emailed all of my teachers, and then proceeded to sleep through my classes.

I've been lying on my bed all day long trying to do homework. I can tell it's not just a normal cold anymore because I am having such a hard time concentrating, and I just want to sleep.

Luckily, I just received a little blessing through the form of a University email approximately 31 minutes ago:

"If you think you have the flu, stay home or in your residence. Contact your professors through e-mail or by telephone immediately. All faculty members have been asked to work with you to make up missed assignments, quizzes and even mid-terms."

Hallelujah.

hooray for celeb-weddings!

So, I don't usually post a ton about celebrities, and I don't even love the Office anymore, but seriously, John Krasinski makes my heart melt.

(pictured=John Krasinski with fake fiancée Pam, and with real fiancée Emily Blunt.)

I'm glad that some famous people still get married.

That's all I really wanted to say. Except that I really really like skinny ties (which John seems to pull off quite nicely whenever he's not on the Office).

Needing a pep talk?

Go Cougs!!!

So, let's be honest. I don't really like football (read more about that here), but I've always gotten tickets for the games up here anyway. Last year I hated going, but the money I spent on my Sports Pass guilt-tripped me into going anyway. So, since I'm poor I didn't feel too bad about skipping out on tickets this year.

Well, somehow I'm all of a sudden into sports? Who knew??! I love playing tennis, and I've been playing sand volleyball once in awhile, and I've even been watching all of the football games on tv! Which means—man, have I been regretting not getting football tickets this year.

Well, Dad came up this weekend for a CFL meeting, and Lauren had two extra tickets, so we got to go! And it was way fun :)

Me and my roomies (Lauren and Ashley)

Me and Dad

Helloooo October!

So, I just had a stroke of inspiration. It's called, "Let's make this the best October ever" aka

"Let's watch lots of Hitchcock movies!"

Who's with me?!

so long, farewell

Dear Elder Taylor McBride:

We've gotten really close over the past year or so, and I'm going to really miss talking to you on the phone at one in the morning, hearing your boy advice or giving you girl advice—it's been pretty great. Oh how I'll miss you. We're only two and a half years apart—I don't really remember life without you around.

But that's okay, because I'm excited for you to be going on your mission. I'm so excited for you to get some of the experiences I've been hearing so much about with my own friends being home now. I'm so excited for you to get a chance to "figure out who you are," and to be in another country. Most of all, I'm excited for you to be able to share what is so precious to us with other people that you meet.

I'm so thankful for the Gospel and for the wonderful example you are to our whole family. You'll be in my prayers.

Love your favorite sister,

Emily

home again home again

I took a little jaunt down to AZ last weekend (as mentioned in my previous post). It was pretty great, even though it was super fast.

We got Uncle Andy to take us to Saguaro Lake, which was way fun. Taylor is a stud—and our cousin Isaac obviously agrees.

And...there are no pictures of me this time...I didn't do very well for some reason. haha.

We also had parties and other stuff, but mostly it was pretty busy. And I was only there for a few days.

Here are some pictures of right after Taylor's setting apart. Here is Taylor feeling awkward with his friends:

My family:

and Taylor and me.

stung

So, on my quick-trip home to Arizona, I managed to get stung by a scorpion (it was on the carpet in my bedroom, in case you were wondering). It hurt like the devil.

Lusting for revenge, I scoured my bedroom with a black light that night, hoping to find some relatives to squash (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the ways of the desert, scorpions glow under a black light). Unfortunately, my efforts were fruitless.

It's been seven days, and I still can't feel my toe. And, as I was looking for pictures of scorpions to put on my blog, I realized that it was a bark scorpion aka "the most venomous scorpion in North America." Good ol' Wikipedia informs me that "its venom can cause severe pain (coupled with numbness and tingling) in adult humans...Due to the extreme pain induced, many victims describe sensations of electrical jolts after envenomation." Pretty sure I felt all of the above.

a moment in which my blog functions as my journal

So, I do like college life. Really I do. It's nice to be able to pick up and move whenever you want. I love taking the opportunities to start over and meet new people. It's kind of crazy, now that it's my fourth year up here. I'm pretty sure that I've never walked to any class without running into someone I know.

Sometimes it's exciting to not know what the future has in store, or even what state you'll be living in once you're done with school. But sometimes, college stinks. It's so transitory and unstable. The first time this really hit me was after freshman year, when so many of my close friends were instantly scattered all over the world for the next two years.

Years have past, and while old friends have left, new ones have come in. I have met so many incredible, incredible people, who I have shared love and tears and hopes and laughter with. And they too eventually leave—whether to move across the country to grad school or med school, or to finally enjoy the stability of their own families, or even just to move on to different circles.

At first it was hard, but I've learned that friends come and go, and there's not much you can do about it except enjoy the time you have with them, learn what you can from them, and continue to grow and meet new people. That's why I was so thrilled this summer to find this quote in basically my favorite book (Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) in a chapter that made me cry and laugh and cry again:

“So many people enter and leave your life! Hundreds of thousands of people! You have to keep the door open so they can come in! But it also means you have to let them go!” [153]

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Today I learned how to wakeboard.

I can't believe I've been missing out on something so fantastic for so long.

my brother has swine flu...

...I think I have senioritis.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Reasons why I love you:

you let us play "hop on pop" when we were little

you built us a playground and a playhouse

you are so concerned about providing for our family

you like to write

you made-up our bedtime stories

you are a great example to your four sons

you helped coach my softball and basketball teams even though I was terrible

you give wonderful advice

you take the family on cool trips

you like reading and history

you would rather spend time alone with Mom than with anyone else

you taught me that being obedient shows our love to God

you are a marvelous chef

you say what you are thinking

you sacrifice your time in order to help others

you and Mom work together as a team

you tell me about cool "old" music

you watch Hamlet, Amadeus, and foreign films with me

you help me out when I need money :)

you are the best Dad ever (seriously)

I've got a feeling

that this is going to be a fantastic year.



My social batteries have been recharged--I am ready to par-tay!

clarification

Writing articles was boring—not the football game.

Go Cougs!

guess who's a senior?

I haven't blogged for ages. My fingers have been itchy to write this past week, but with school starting, the blog took a back seat. Even right now, I was planning on writing articles (my on-the-side-job) while I'm watching the football game, but I'm having a hard time. It's super boring. So, I think I'll blog instead.

I feel like a ton of stuff in my life has changed lately, even though it's not as extreme as I sometimes feel it is:

1. I moved—and not just down the block like the last time I moved. I'm living with girls I've never lived with before, but it's great so far. They basically fit the definition of perfect roommates.

2. The boys are back! (HSM3 anyone?) All of my friends from freshman year are back at BYU. That means that I run into them on campus, I hang out with them on the weekend, and sometimes I'm the only girl running around with a group of guys...it feels good to be back to normal. haha.

3. I am back in school! I am so so glad that I took that break summer term because I really needed to just...rejuvenate I guess. I was dead. Dead tired. Now I'm back to being super excited about school, to loving sitting in my lectures (I'm not even kidding), and to being super motivated about getting my homework done early. My classes this semester:

-Basic Organ Skills: Since I've already held multiple pianist callings in church, I'm thinking I'll most likely be called to be organist someday—even if I don't know how. So now I'll know how.
-American Literature from 1914-1960 (the Modern period): I am stoked for this class. It's already so thought-provoking and we're reading some awesome books. I think that this is the period of literature that I'm most interested in, so I'm testing the waters for my potential-grad-school plans.

-The American Novel: I'm just auditing this class, so I'll just read the books and sit in on the lectures. Just because I want to know more about American lit, in case you were wondering.

-Substantive Editing: I'm still not quite sure how this class will be, but I know I'll be learning stuff that I'll really need to know for editing. I already have.

-Western Humanities (first half): I can't even tell you how excited I am about the Humanities G.E.'s that I, as a senior, had still not started. I already love the literature and the music parts, but I don't know much about art and architecture—except that I loved loved loved them while I was in Europe. This will be fantastic (I do wish I would have taken it before going to the British Museum, the Louvre, and the dozens of other museums I seemed to make it to last summer.)

-Writings of Isaiah: My teacher is really great. My thinking is that, maybe if I understand Isaiah better then I will appreciate it more, and then I won't feel so guilty when I'm reading about how much Nephi loves Isaiah :)

-University Orchestra: This is most likely my last semester in the orchestra. Which also means, this is most likely my last time being in an orchestra ever. This is depressing, so I am going to be soaking it up.

So now that I've completely revealed that I am an absolute nerd, wish me luck. It's definitely harder to work a job where you can't do homework because you don't have down-time (even though I am grateful for how much I'm learning from my job).

Time goes by so fast. How am I already a senior?

pros of moving

I just found two gift cards that I got for high school graduation. Grand total= $40.20. Booyah!

PS—I'm leaving to go home in approximately 10 minutos.
(and maybe I'll catch up on some blogging while I'm home)

twenty-five cents

I got a raise, I got a raise, I got a raise hey hey hey hey!

best of summer

Ahh, I can't believe it! Summer is over very, very soon. I finish my internship and move into my new place next week.

So, this was my first time staying in Provo for the summer, which meant no crazy trips out of the country like I've had for the past three years. But that's okay. It's time for real life now :)

Anyway, here's my list of the favorite things I did this summer:

-A week on Imperial Beach with the whole family
-Sleepovers at Megan's house in Centerville
-Manti/Ephraim Extravaganza
-Reading 14 books just because I could (and still having 4 more to go)
-Book Club with Tyler & friends
-My new bike
-Taylor's mission call
-Free M. Ward concert at the Gallivan Center
-Talking to almost all of my friends who just got off missions
-No snow
-My 2 trips home
-Having fun, new roommates
-Bonfires
-Season One of 30 Rock
-BBC Miniseries(es?): North & South, Little Dorrit, Bleak House, Lost in Austen
-Watching other awesome movies due to Megan and my Netflix account
-New Regina Spektor album
-Learning a bunch of songs on the guitar
-Sleepover with the girls from home
-Campus not being crowded

And just for good measure, a few things I didn't like:

-Saying goodbye to friends moving away
-Not being at home for a couple months of the summer
-Choosing between a hot apartment or an expensive energy bill
-Studying for the GRE
-Having insanely hard classes spring term
-Boxelder bugs attacking our apartment

. . . and I think that's about it. All in all, it's been pretty great. But, I'm actually ready for fall to start. Am I crazy?

watch this watch this!

skype

I just got off of Skype—I was interviewing an Australian psychologist about how to teach children to be optimistic.

Even though magazine editing isn't my favorite, I'm definitely getting to do some cool things.

Happy Birthday HP!

Dear Harry,

Last year I visited your "birthplace." That was fun.

Thanks for letting me grow up during the biggest pop-culture thing ever.

Love,

Emily

strawberry swing

I will always have a place in my heart for Coldplay's entire Viva la Vida album—mostly because it was the soundtrack to my time in London. I listened to it on the Tube, I listened to it when I ran in the mornings through Kensington Gardens, and I listened to it on the bus when we traveled across the English countryside. I love how quickly music can take you to your memories.

Anyway, "Strawberry Swing" is one of my favorite songs on the album, and the music video just came out, so I thought I'd share it. For some reason I think it's fascinating:

internship

So, I'm interning this summer term at LDS Living magazine. I don't know if you've seen it before, but it's kind of like a Good Housekeeping type magazine for LDS people, and it's sold at Deseret Book and at grocery stores in Utah (and actually, Deseret Book just bought them out last week so I wouldn't be surprised if it gets bigger). I actually really loved reading it when we had a subscription for a year while I was in high school.

Anyway, I'm editing some, but mostly writing (which is good because I'm already getting some good editing experience at my job right now). It's been a great experience, and I'm learning a ton. The best part is that I'm able to explore the magazine-editing genre, which is something that I've been interested in . . . and I'm kinda thinking it's something I probably won't end up doing with my life (which is okay—I'm just trying to get as varied of editing experience while I'm in college as I can so I can be more flexible later). That's not to say I haven't been enjoying it though.

I've worked on a bunch of stuff so far, but some of the bigger things are a big Christmas-around-the-world article that will be coming out in December, as well as a bunch of smaller pieces of the magazine. I even wrote an article for the news that is on the website and is emailed out to subscribers! Check it out here.

you belong with me

So, my little brother and his friends apparently had the genius idea to remake Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" music video—at my house, and in my bedroom.

If you so desire to watch this work of art, make sure you have seen the original first:

pictures for my mother:

Dear Mom and Dad:

Happy 23rd Anniversary!

Thanks for having the most incredible marriage ever.

I hope and pray that some day I might be as lucky.

This is my cousin Amy's little boy. He is getting surgery later this month, and they really need helping paying for it. I copied this message from her blog. Just help if you can! Thanks :)

http://www.teamhelpjj.blogspot.com/

I wanted to get this thing up and going so that people could read JJ's journey, but most of you already know it.. What you may not know is that JJ is barely NOW big enough that his surgeon feels that he is ready and in need of his closure surgery..For the past 2 and a half years, he has been living with his liver just under the surface of his skin. He is a rambunctious little boy and loves to play just like any other little boy.. He is definetly not "gentle" by any means... he also has bi lateral inguinal hernias.. this means that his intestines, drop down into his scrotum. This is also causing a problem because it is pushing his testicals up into his abdomen. As you can imagine, this causes some discomfort for him being that it causes his scrotum to become about the size of an orange...As any parent we just want what is best for our little guy.. we are SCARED to death to take the next step and have surgery done but it is necessary... We just recently found out that he is being denied his medicaid coverage.. as you can imagine, this will be a very costly surgery. To make matters worse, his surgeon is in Seattle and we are in Idaho.. this will be about an 11 hour drive. JJ will be in the hospital for at least a week and that is if there are no complications..This is one of the hardest things i have ever had to do, but we are reaching out for any help that anyone might be able/willing to give.. If you are able, there is a donate now button at the bottom of this page.. I have set up a fund for JJ for the expenses of the surgery as well as the trip. I know that times are tough all over right now, but any little bit would help so much and be greatly appreciated... If you are unable to help monetarily please keep JJ in your thoughts and prayers.. he has come so far. If you have any questions either comment here or you can email me directly at amyswearingen@cableone.net.. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and kindness. We Love you all!

cool video

Soon We'll Be Found

Don't get impatient. The best part is the second half.

grrr

At the airport on Saturday I was asked if I was a minor.

Seriously?

And it's not like that was the first time.

Maybe I'll appreciate it when I'm older, but right now it's kind of frustrating.

How come I feel like I'm older than 21, but I still look like I'm younger than 21?

Imperial Beach

I'm not going to lie—I'm kind of a baby. About a lot of things. One of the things I'm a baby about recently is how cold the ocean water is in San Diego. I figure, why get freezing cold and uncomfortable when I can enjoy myself sleeping or reading on the sand? But you see, I have some guilt-trippers called little brothers that get me in the water.

Once I'm in, I'm in. And I remember how it feels to float over or dive under breaking waves. I remember how, even though the water is freezing, it somehow wakes you up, way way down deep. And I remember how easy it is to fall in love with the ocean.

We stay in retro Imperial Beach, a small beach town twenty minutes south of San Diego. It's really great.

The only problem really is that it's riptide-city. Seriously. The lifeguards are constantly warning us over the speakerphone to not get too deep, and I even joked earlier this week that they perhaps get paid on commission by how many people they "rescue."

I've been pretty paranoid about riptides for the past few years. Mostly because I almost drowned (or thought I was going to—still heavily debated in my family) and a lifeguard pulled me out of the water. (But that's not why it's hard for me to get in the water . . . it really is the temperature.)

Usually when I get in, I just kinda swim around. But yesterday, I decided to boogie-board, because I hadn't for a really long time. My paranoid self was being cautious about how deep I was, but all of a sudden, I got sucked out in a riptide, with no waves to catch back in, and I was completely out of control while being pulled out to sea. Naturally, I wanted to panic, but instead, I took a deep breath and decided to be calm because freaking out wasn't going to help anything.

Anyway, the lifeguards' siren went on, and they ended up rescuing about 30 kids (including two of my brothers and my cousin Diana).

How did they rescue us? Well, they grouped us together and we held onto each others' boogie-boards and kicked like crazy. Eventually we made enough progress that a few waves helped push us the rest of the way in. And no, I didn't know anyone I was attached to. (They were stupid kids who kept letting go, provoking our lifeguard to say "If you keep letting go you're gonna f——ing drift all the way to Hawaii!")

Anyway, we were glad we were safe, our parents were glad we were safe, and I was really glad that I had a boogie-board to float on.

How come I look at everything that happens to me as a metaphor or "moral of the story"? Just a few: (1) Even though you might not regret not doing something, do it anyway. Sometimes we just forget how worth it it is to do something that's somewhat uncomfortable. (2) Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, you can't avoid trouble. You just have to deal with it the best you can. (3) The lifeguards really did know what they were doing, even though I thought they were obnoxious before. Definitely a lesson in humility. (4) It's possible—and benefical to the situation— to control your emotions. (5) Strength in numbers. Kicking by myself would have gotten me nowhere.

So yah, that's my rescued-by-a-lifeguard-story #2. Hopefully that's the end of them :)

Independence Day!

I realized this morning, that sadly, I have blogged about Arizona's birthday twice but never about the good ol' USA . . . oops. Last 4th of July I visited the Tower of London. This time I'm catching a flight to San Diego and I'll be watching fireworks on Coronado with the fam :)

Anyway, as much as I seem like I want to expatriate because I love Europe so much, I really am grateful for the United States and that I live here. It's remarkable to me that so many people were willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of this country. Ah . . . I'd love to expound, but I'm off to the airport. But, here's a quote to finish off:

"[W]e cannot fully live the gospel and not be involved in the fight for freedom. We would not say to someone, ‘There is no need to be baptized-all you need to do is live the gospel.’ That would be ridiculous because baptism is part of the gospel. How would you have reacted if during the War in Heaven someone had said to you, ‘look, just do what is right; there is no need to get involved in the fight for free agency." It is obvious what the devil is trying to do, but it is sad to see many of us fall for his destructive line. The cause of freedom is a most basic part of our religion. Our position on freedom helped get us to the earth and it can make the difference as to whether we get back home or not."
-Ezra T. Benson, An Enemy Hath Done This, p.314-

reminiscent

A year ago today, I was living here,

spending the day at Stonehenge

and in Bath.

I'm jealous of my last-year self.

And I still miss England.

Ephraim Escapades

I can tell I like alliteration a little too much when I'm trying to decide between two equally ridiculous titles (the other one was Manti Madness). Oh well—what else would you expect from an English major, right?

Last weekend a group of us went down to Ephraim/Manti to go to the Pageant and to stay at Lauren's house. It was super fun. I'm trying to do better at chronicling my life with pictures, but alas . . . I can't quite seem to get the hang of it unless I'm in a foreign country. I did take a few pictures though:

This lovely young-boy-model-with-makeup was found on what I think was probably Manti's Main Street. Yummy.

In between these pictures, we went to the Manti Tabernacle (I think?) for a lovely traditional Sanpete-Barbecue-Turkey Dinner. Deeeelicious.

Then, Lindsey accidentally closed the trunk of the car while Lauren's key was in it (and the spare was also in the car because she just moved out), so Lauren and I waited for her parents and the locksmith to come open her car. This is Lauren supposedly being angry, but I don't think she quite cuts it.

I have no idea what we were being sad about, unless it was waiting to get the car unlocked. Also, notice the redness of my lips, due to my Tiger's Blood snowcone.

After that delightful little experience, we walked over to the temple, just in time for the pageant to start. This picture isn't very good, but trust me—the Manti temple is beautiful.

Our group at the pageant. Once it started, we were definitely all lying down. And I was on the end so I was kind of freezing, but that's okay. Arizona girl survived.

The end. Well, of the pictures.

We spent the night at Lauren's, watched Michael Jackson music videos on VH1 for two hours the next morning, and then hung out at the park in the afternoon.

So basically, the trip was a success.

(Proving once again that I really really enjoy getting out of Provo on the weekends)

more photos from Callie's wedding festivities . . .

. . . because photos are what we Gilbert girls do best.

Wedding Weekend

So, I must be 21 or something, because last weekend two of my dearest friends got married: Katie Rencher (now English), and Callie Reece (now Peck).

Here are Katie and Chris. I truly truly love them together, and I even blogged about how I excited I was for them to get engaged in the first place:

(Chris and Katie English)

Since their reception was up in Bountiful, I ended up just staying the night with Megan. We went and got quiche for dinner, and then watched Cold Comfort Farm, a delightfully charming British movie (what else would you expect from me and Megan? haha).

(Quiche)

The day in between the wedding receptions, I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was beautiful and completely filled with the Spirit, even though it's not dedicated yet. I cannot wait until I get to go through the temple for real.

For some reason, the side of it kind of reminded me of the Mesa Arizona Temple. Anyone else see the resemblance?

Next, was Callie. Although Callie and I weren't best friends in high school, I still have plenty of fun memories spending the night at her house and being in Prom groups together and stuff. It's been fun getting to know her so much better since high school. She's even rescued me on top of a snowy mountain, so we're obviously forever-friends :) And, even though you can't really tell from the pictures, she was glowing like crazy.

And I know that these are not my pictures, but they are just so incredible that I could not help posting them. And for credit where credit is obviously due, their photographer's name is Adam Packard.

So, I had quite the temple-filled weekend. And it made me re-grateful for temple weddings, for my family, and that I am sealed to my family forever. If it's hard just being a state away from them, how hard would it be to be forever separated after death? I am so grateful for this gospel.

Elder McBride

My brother Taylor got his mission call today! He has been called to serve in the:

Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo East Mission

(Spanish-speaking)

He reports to the MTC September 23, and then it's off to work.

Taylor, you better soak up the ocean in Imperial Beach next month, because you're not gonna be touchin' this water:

I am in love . . .

. . . but not with a boy (unfortunately).

I am in love with Regina Spektor's new album, Far, released yesterday.

And I can't stop listening.

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad:
Thanks for being the greatest dad ever—seriously. I am so thankful to have your example in my life, and I'm so glad that all my brothers have you as their example of the kind of man they should be. Thank you for your priorities in life. Thanks for choosing to take the family to the movies instead of going golfing or watching ESPN, for taking Mom on dates instead of staying at work just a little longer. You have been a great example of service and unselfishness with your involvement in Care for Life and as Bishop. I've always felt like I could talk to you about anything . . . something I'm sure is not super-common with father/daughter relationships.

I love you so much and I'm sad I'm not at home today!

Love,

Emily

(first family picture)

a first time for everything

So, I had a pretty exciting day yesterday, a day full of firsts (well, at least two):

1. I won my first single's tennis match—fair and square. It was fantastic!

PS I'm sad that I only have one more day of class left, so if anyone wants to play, let me know.

2. I got stitches!

Unfortunately, I don't have that great of a story. Basically, I was opening up a can (the huge, food-storage kind), and the can opener didn't cut all the way through, so I stupidly try to get the lid off myself, and sliced my finger pretty good.

I didn't think it was bad enough to make a big deal out of it, so I put gauze (thank goodness for first-aid kits) around it, and hair-ties for pressure. After about an hour, I took it off and it looked pretty bad, so I reluctantly called my friend David and he took me to the ER.

It was obviously worse than I thought, because I got FIVE stitches. And I watched the doctor stitch me up because I thought it was super cool. Oh, and I got a tetanus shot too.

Anyway, I am doing great. Except that I'm a little bit typing-retarded.

Here's a pic: sorry to gross you out.

tired

So, my perfect-eight-hours-of-sleep-every-night has been rudely interrupted by school this term. Thank goodness it's almost over. 

I'm afraid I complain far too often about how busy I am. (I apologize to all those who have been listening to me whine.) The thing is, I've learned a ton the past couple months in school, I really like my job, and my new roommates are fantastic. I think it's just time for me to breathe a little. And get enough sleep so I can stop having this perpetual cold. This is kind of how I feel:

Except I'm not quite as cute anymore :)

Summer is for sleepovers

On Friday night, Lauren and I made pazookies and watched a new British miniseries:

Yes. Lost in Austen. Kinda strange, but we liked it anyway. Especially because we love all things British (we did go to London together, afterall)

Afterwards, I slept over and even sleepwalked and talked to her roommate. 

Yesssss! Awesome future roommates.

oh what do you do in the summertime...

Earlier this week, a friend asked me what I like to do for fun when I have extra time. I opened my mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say.

That's a problem, isn't it? Shouldn't you know what you like to do in your free time? I guess if you don't usually have free time, than you don't know what you usually like to do with it. I mean, I do occasionally find time to do fun stuff, but usually it's stuff that I've been invited to do that I literally put into my planner.

So, in hopes of changing my ways (and after some pondering) this is what I came up with.

Things Emily Likes in Her Spare Time:

foreign films

Boggle or Speed Scrabble

playing/singing guitar tabs online

reading

laying on a blanket in the park

RockBand

jumping on trampolines in the rain

Wikipedia

museums

buying dresses

sight-reading piano sonatas

baking

dance-parties

shoulder massages

blogs

catching up with friends

(up-and-coming-on-the-list: tennis!)

planning

I think that I'm not going to take classes anymore during summer term, which means I'll only be left with:

editing job at Preprofessional Advisement (20 hours a week)

internship with LDSLiving (10 hours a week)

My sometimes-workaholic self is worried that this makes me a lazy bum. What do you guys think?

Dear Taylor:

I'm sad that you are no longer coming up to BYU, but I know that you are staying for a noble purpose. We will just have to make up for some lost time after your mission or something. Here are some pictures of us because we are so cute:

Love your very favorite sister,

Emily

ASU aka A-Shoo

So, this weekend my little brother Ryan decided that I need to stay at home and go to A-Shoo (ASU). Yah that's right—my little brothers love me so much that they wish I would stay home when I come home. How cool is that. 

Well, I had a fun (but short) trip back to Gilbert for Taylor's graduation and Memorial Day weekend, and surprisingly, the weather wasn't hot enough to melt you to the sidewalk. Here's a quick recap:

Taylor and Me. Isn't he tall and handsome?

On the bleachers waiting for graduation to start (and yes, that face is on purpose). Also, look at the man glaring in the background. At least I'm pretty positive he is glaring. hahaha.

This is how we feel after being rained on for almost three hours (and yes, Danny is wearing an orange poncho).

Yay!

We had a lot of fun this weekend besides graduation. We played lots of Mario Tennis, played real tennis (I'm kind of on a tennis kick due to my class), got me new tires, and went and saw the new Night at the Museum movie. Overall, a great weekend. Here are a few more pics:

We like to make ugly faces . . .

. . . but we know how to be cute, too :)

I feel like I have the greatest family ever.

Dear Readers:

Thanks for commenting on my blog, even when I write about stupid things.

Love,

Emily

snakes

Grandma McBride was deathly afraid of snakes, so I'm glad that she didn't witness my dream this past week:

For some reason, I had this dream that my whole Patterson side of the family was at my house, and this "swarm" of snakes attacked. Each snake picked each one of us to slowly eat until we painfully died. And my family felt that it was appropriate to just "submit through the trial" aka let the snakes kill us without a fight. Somehow, I started talking to my snake, and I got her distracted enough that I was able to run away. I ran down the street and got my friend Lauren Nielsen, grabbed her into her car and said "Drive me to Ephraim—now!" So we did, with the snakes on our tail. During the drive I was sobbing and in shock that all of my family was dead. Lauren, being the great friend that she is, rolled her eyes and said "Come on Emily. It's not really that big of a deal." 

I'm glad that my family did not get attacked by snakes, and that they would put up a fight in real life. I'm also glad that Lauren isn't such a jerk. haha.

hair

Has anyone seen He's Just Not That Into You? Besides causing my re-evaluation on my attempts to read boys, this movie made me really want to cut my hair like Gigi's (even though I was planning on growing it out right now). Any thoughts???

So, whaddya think? Comments appreciated!

ice water

Who doesn't love ice water during the summer? I'm pretty sure everyone does . . .

. . . unless that ice water happens to be coming out of the shower-head. 

Due to some slacking on the part of my roommates and I, we accidentally didn't transfer the gas bill to one of our names when the others girls moved out. So, the gas got turned off, and we got cold showers. 

Don't worry. We are tough girls—we only screamed for the first few seconds :)

Amélie

Last night I finally found a friend with an edited copy of Amélie that was willing to watch it with me. Talk about best day of my life (thank you, Lauren). It was everything I had hoped for, and more. My main draws to it were 1. the fact that it's a foreign film, and 2. the director of Pushing Daisies, the best tv show ever, cites Amélie for a lot of his inspiration. But the best part of the movie was the message. I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Here is one of my favorite parts:

So, the movie is basically about an introvert, Amélie, who spends her days in small and secret (and quirky) acts of kindness, and how much better other people's lives are because of it. 

The little things do matter. It's hard when you have allowed your life to get so crazy that you schedule out every hour of your day.  When are you supposed to find time for random acts of kindness? At least for me, I know that it's possible to "schedule in" the service. But the trick, even more than that, is not being too busy to even notice what could and should be done. I think that's what I need to work on—noticing. 

Anyway, this movie is great. I highly recommend it (edited).

come fly with me

Phoenix to Birmingham (UK) is only $160 each way. Seriously?!

Don't believe me? Take a look yourself. 

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

I hope you have a wonderful day--even though this is the first year in 21 that you have not had all of your children with you on Mother's Day :( 

I already wrote a lot of the sappy-stuff on your card, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I'm so grateful to have you as my mother.

Love,
Emily

Tennis Schmennis

I'm taking a beginning tennis class. Too bad they don't have a class called, "I-somehow-managed-to-grow-up-without-playing-a-single-tennis-match" Beginning Tennis," because that's what I really need to be taking. I am terrible. But I want to get better. Which is why I'm taking the class.

Progress so far: my accuracy is still bad. But, at least I am hitting the ball now. Pretty much every time.

It's not always fun to do things I'm not naturally good at, but it's always good to try, right? I am determined to kick this tennis class in the butt.

clever cooking

I think I should star in my own cooking tv show, called "How to Cook with Nothing," or some variation of that. My latest accomplishment: Chicken Curry

So, I decided today to use my new curry powder that I bought recently and make some chicken curry--without a recipe (every recipe I looked at had too many things that I didn't have). Being an economical-college-student, I decided to make up my own.

-I got out my potato to peel, only to discover that we don't have a potato peeler (I recently had roommates move out). So I peeled with a knife. Ditto with the carrot.
-I looked for a pan to boil my potato in, only to discover that we don't have a pan deep enough. So I filled up a bowl with water and my potato, and cooked it in the microwave.
-I didn't have cornstarch to thicken my sauce, so I used flour.
-I didn't have a pan to boil water in to cook my brown rice, so I used a pita instead.

VOILA! I made chicken curry that was actually pretty decent. With very few ingredients and cooking supplies.

Move over Rachael Ray--of course you can cook with that kitchen of yours!

Meet my new best friends:

And yes, I really do use all of them.

Oh, the life of an editor 

(I can call myself that now).

Catch-up

Last weekend I went home—I love going home. I didn't tell the boys I was coming, so it was so cute when Ryan and Danny opened the door and got excited. We played lots of Rockband (and I can now play on "hard"), and we even had a dance-party. Also, Taylor and I went to Gecko Grill and Mom and I went to get pedicures. Overall, a pretty awesome weekend, and definitely worth the long drives.

School has started, and even though I'm excited about my classes, they are actually really really time-consuming. I have a lot of homework every night and I even spent about six hours doing homework on a Saturday in May. Lame! I think I would feel really overwhelmed, but it is comforting to know that my classes aren't going to last that long. Also, I'm learning stuff that I really need to know to be an editor. I'm taking a beginning tennis class for fun, and even though I'm terrible, I'm definitely enjoying it. Hopefully soon I'll be able to actually backhand-hit the ball—baha.

My new job is great. Starting Monday, I am on  my own (meaning that Amanda, the old editor who was training me, is now gone). I do have moments where I miss the easiness and the fun girls at the ticket office, but I'm really glad that I am where I am now. One of the classes I'm taking is already starting to help out a ton with my editing skills and confidence, and I think that after awhile I'll be more comfortable tearing essays apart (very nicely, that is :)

Friday night was the first installment of movie night/sleepover at Megan's-parent's house in Centerville where she is living for the summer. We watched North and South, which is pretty Pride-Prejudice-esque and was definitely enjoyable. I like being in normal houses with families. Sometimes the whole single-apartment-thing gets old. 

I'm really enjoying the weather—even the rain :)

Also:

I'm kind of obsessed with red lipstick right now. 

I just haven't quite decided which situations I can wear it in yet.

Joy of Joys

So, I took my last final today. That means I'm done with school...for a week! Haha.

And I got my research paper back that I wrote for Eng314. It was on the fragmentation of Rivkeh Lev's identity imposed by the Jewish culture on the female identity in My Name Is Asher Lev (and I won't be offended if that topic does not appeal to you, my dear reader). But here is the good news-- Remember how I have worked my tush off the past year to become a better writer because I felt like my writing skills just weren't cutting it? Well, here are the comments left on the end of my paper by my professor:

"Emily--This project is an outstanding culmination of your writing this semester! Simply put, an exceptional paper for its original argument, the scope of the research support, and the clear, mature, style of writing.  A. Would you mind sending an electronic copy to use as a model for future classes?"

Yah. I was/am pretty excited. I'm finally seeing the light--maybe I can cut it and make it in grad school if I still so desire when the time comes? I'm so glad my writing is improving. And I'm so proud of my essay. It just feels so good to work so hard at something and actually see the results.

Well, besides that, I'm actually kind of going crazy. I don't like going from having every-single-minute-of-my-day-scheduled-out-onto-my-iCalendar to all-my-friends-are-taking-finals-and-I've-already-read-a-whole-novel-because-I-have-nothing-else-to-do-and-feel-like-my-life-is-unproductive-and-worthless (I'm exaggerating). This would be a nice time to be in London. 

It's weird that I'm not moving out right now.

Spring Term is going to be nutso. Two intense classes + work + tennis class (which I'm actually really excited for) + being in Provo when the weather is nice = we'll see...but I'm excited anyway. 

Also, I started training for my job today and I think that this is going to be great.

Life is wonderful.

watch this

Semester in Review

So, I am officially done with my third year here at BYU. I only have one year left! Is that weird to anybody else? 

I talked about it before, but this semester was seriously out of control. Out of control. And I suffered the consequences:

(BAD BAD BAD)

-Began to fit the definition of a flake

-Lost touch with friends who are really important to me

-Stayed in on the weekends doing homework more often than doing something fun

-Hardly ever used my free tickets from work

-Only made it to the temple twice the whole semester instead of weekly like the past couple years

-Lost and misplaced a bunch of stuff

-Broke the passenger-mirror off of my car

-Dressed really poorly for the weather on occasion

But, on the other side, I did okay:

(GOOD GOOD GOOD)

-Never got sick. Never. Not once. (I think that is a record for my family and I contribute it to my good sleeping habits)

-Turned in/completed every homework assignment

-Still read my scriptures every morning (including the whole Book of Mormon in March for Bishop's challenge)

-Made lots of good friends in my new ward (and had some fun times with new roomies)

-Got a new job and an internship for Summer term

-Felt like I knew what I was talking about most of the time when I commented in class

-Went on ten times more dates than last semester

-Saw my family twice

-Rocked a research paper

-Rocked my usage exams

-Resisted buying any clothes at all until Reading Days (I have this terrible idea that I should reward myself at the end of each semester by spending money)

So yah, that's my semester in review. I guess I'm not "technically" done because I have an in-class essay final on Monday, but I can't study for it, so I think that I count as being done :)

I have a week and a half to relax before Spring term starts. Yah, baby!

Insomnia

So, if you know me at least semi-well, you probably know that in the past, I have had narcoleptic tendencies. I have fallen asleep standing up, I used to sleep through most any movie I watched (even in the movie theatre), and I constantly sing in the car on long drives because I'm afraid of nodding off. My "narcolepsy" caused a lot of frustration my freshman year here at school, even to the point of tears on occasion when I would be trying my hardest to stay awake, yet I would still drop my pencil or knock my folder off my desk.

I finally discovered a solution to the problem about a year ago: 8 hours of sleep every night. But actually, not just 8 hours of sleep every night-- 8 hours of sleep from 10:30-6:30 every day. It has worked wonders. (Yes, I realize that 1:00-9:00 is the same amount of sleep, but it makes me a totally different person).

Well guess what? The past two weeks, my condition has reversed! I cannot cannot sleep at night. Or during the day. Or anytime. I've been waking up before six every morning (even when I have 1:00 church), and even when I'm exhausted during the day and just give up, I can't even take a nap (and I am usually the queen of power naps). So, what changed? I'm not stressed--in fact I'm less stressed than I have been for a really long time. Nothing tragic has happened in my life. I'm perfectly healthy. Hopefully this is merely "temporary insomnia" and not some form of chronic insomnia that I'm developing. 

I now am much more empathetic to all of you out there who do not fall asleep as soon as you turn off the light. 

I feel like I have jet-lag right now but I'm trying to stick it out until normal bedtime hour tonight where I will attempt to take a Tylenol PM and hope for the best. 

Sorry about my ranting. This is my blog, after all :)

Is it really April?

This is what it looks like outside my bedroom window right this very minute. 

(I'm so glad I don't have to go on campus today)

also...

I can't sleep. I can't fall asleep and I can't sleep past 6 am. This doesn't happen to me.

last day of class

Today was the last day of class. Highlights:

-realizing that Sara Duke and I will no longer have class together every single day :(

-saying goodbye to my two favorite boys that I've ever met in English classes because they're graduating and moving on to bigger and better things :(

-getting technically hired for my new job :)

-rain and getting wet :)

-breaking my umbrella (kind of funny actually)

-Callie's bridal shower :)

-not having class for the next two weeks :D

Okay. I really really like change. But I really really hate goodbyes.

Easter

So, my family is really good at traditions. I miss Easter with my family: ham and "num-nums" and pink salad, Easter candy, extended family egg-toss, hiding a carrot for the Easter Bunny in a pie tin and finding an Easter basket in the same spot the next day, and all that other good stuff. But, is it terrible to say that it's been really good for me to be away from the festivities? I know that holiday traditions and the real reason behind the holidays don't have to be mutually exclusive (I am a very big proponent of Santa Clause:), but this Easter season I've been able to focus a lot more on the Savior. I've been reading the Gospels the past couple weeks, and last night I went to an incredible BYU Combined Choir/Philharmonic concert that really brought the Spirit, and Elder Holland's talk at Conference last weekend was amazing.  

watch this video:


Anyway, so the point is that I am grateful for the Savior this morning. I know that He suffered for me, I know that He suffered alone so that I don't ever have to suffer alone.  I know that life is so much happier with a close relationship to the Savior. I know that I can't do it alone. I know that through the Atonement and the Resurrection, I can have eternal life. I am so grateful for my testimony. 

On this Easter morning, let us all turn our thoughts and hearts to the real reason for this holiday of rebirth.

General Conference

Last weekend was great: my family came up and we had General Conference! Some of my favorites:

-Elder Hales (Am I putting myself in self-imposed servitude? Learn to say, "we can't afford it," or "we don't need it")

-Sis Liffreth (Reverence is respect mingled with love. Reverence invites revelation. Let Sacrament meeting begin with the prelude music--not the opening prayer)

-Elder Scott (Make a plan to go to the temple and stick to it. Leave enough time that you can take off your watch)

-Elder Uchtdorf (The more we are filled with the Spirit, the more we extend ourselves to others. We need to apply and reapply. Discipleship is a journey--not a spectator-sport. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation)

-Elder Holland (This Easter, let us rededicate that we will stand at Christ's side at all times, in all things, and in all places)

-President Monson (Turn thoughts away from the troubles around us and focus on the blessings of the Gospel. Having the Gospel as the center of our lives will enable us to meet our challenges head-on and emerge victorious)

-Elder Oaks (Be active in church meetings--not passive)

-Elder Bednar (Seek after things of eternal consequence)

Well this is more of a journal-entry post.  To read the full text of the talks, go here

Thanks Family for coming up! It was so much fun!!!

"Ticket Office People"

So I didn't realize until I got to work yesterday how much I'm going to miss this:

I love you girls.  Let's keep in touch, yes?

(PS- why the heck do we not have any pictures with morning shift?)

I got the job!!!

While I was studying at the library on Friday, I got an email that I got the editing job that I applied and interviewed for! Basically, I ran with Sara into the bookshelves and told her and we started jumping up and down. haha.

Anyway, I am the new editor for the Preprofessional Office on campus that helps students apply to law school, med school, dental school, etc. I'll be editing letters of recommendation and students' letters and stuff. Cool things:
1. I get to set my own schedule
2. Besides some office hours, I can do a lot of the work from home
3. Great pay for on-campus
4. I'm going to be editing!!!

So yes, I'm pretty excited. I start next week. Thanks to everyone who has been excited for me :)

God's Grandeur: Gerard Manley Hopkins

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

bummer.

I can't find the new perfume I got for Christmas anywhere :( And I just used it last week!

Luckily, most everything else in my life isn't bummer--I'll blog tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Dear Alex,

Even though you're busy today with school, volleyball, and mutual, I hope you still have time to have a great birthday. You are SIXTEEN--weird! Take girls on dates but don't break their hearts. Don't kill the Honda (even though it sounds like it might be dead already).

I'm glad you're my brother and that you write poems on birthday cards.

Love,
Emily

Dear Katie:

OH MY GOODNESS!!!  Congratulations on getting engaged! (and "even" telling everyone about it on April Fool's Day even though it's real).  I'm so so so excited for you guys.  Also--I have to say I am kind of proud of the fact that I was present when you and Chris first decided that you were dating.

Thanks for being such a good friend. Thanks for our bonding moments as we trekked across Edinburgh. Thanks for the awkward hand. Thanks for communing with nature. Thanks for being friends with me when we came back to Provo. Thanks for still being friends with me even after flaking out on the Phil concert.  Thanks for putting up with me bugging you about if you were getting married already.

Katie, I love you and I love you and Chris together and I'm so excited!!

Love,
Emily

(PS- I am officially the only one out of this little group who is not engaged/married)

response requested

So, I don't really understand President Obama's thinking. Meaning, I don't understand the stimulus plan, and I don't understand a lot of his other views. But, I know there are people (including some of my friends), who can explain why they understand.

Can anyone explain the 500 person entourage to the UK to me?? Seriously, why are taxes going to this???

bummer

With the "economic downturn" (euphemism for "depression"), lots of peoples lives are changing. So naturally, universities are suffering. Which means BYU cut some classes...which means my Magazine Editing class for Fall got cancelled! Boo. And I'm not postponing graduation just for that class, so I guess I'll just suck it up and take a different section (I'll still learn...it just won't be tailored to what I want to do...)

I shouldn't complain, really. I'm getting a pretty rockin' education as it is.

Hare Krishna

Every March, the Sri Sri Radha Krishna temple in Spanish Fork puts on "Holi" aka "The Festival of Colors." To be perfectly honest, I doubt very many people (otherwise known as BYU students) knows what the celebration is about, but we all think it's pretty fun anyway. The gist of it is throwing colored powder. Yep. Also, there's a band that sings "Hare Krishna, Hare Rama" over and over and over again, no matter the tune. Also, a huge dancing crowd gathers and people crowdsurf and get their shoes taken off and thrown onto the ramada. It's pretty crazy.

So, even though this is my third year in Provo, I still had not been (and from all the pictures I had seen on Facebook I felt like I was missing out). I vowed at the beginning of this year that I was going to go. I almost had to work, but fortunately got it off.

After driving for an hour and a half (and Spanish Fork really is not very far away...the traffic was just terrible), we walked for probably a mile and a half, and got to this glorious site:

The colors were already being thrown because we were late. Luckily, I went with some pretty smart boys who decided to stop and buy a bag of flour before we left Provo, and Rob and I filled up ziploc bags while we were driving. So, we couldn't buy the colored powder, but we would run up to people that still had it, throw the flour on them, and voila~ they would throw the color on us.

The boys I went with: Rob, Lehi, and Derek (they're in my ward)
Derek definitely did the best with the colors. He looks like a clown.

The back of Rob's head (and it was still a little bit pink when I saw him on Monday!)

Yay for Hare Krishna!!!

movie reviews...

I'm all about movies. GOOD movies. Like, not chick flick movies, contrary to my movie collection (I lied. Sometimes chick flicks are good). Which is why I'm probably obsessed with The International Cinema. Anyway, I've seen some really good movies lately, and so I want to write about them.

Awesome awesome:

Henry Poole Is Here: Beautiful. Even though the premise of a water-stain-shaped-like-the-face-of-God is kind of funny and weird, I definitely walked out wanting to be a better person, wanting to make my life worthwhile, and wanting to increase my faith and relationship with God. And there were some pretty funny parts too.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Another Holocaust movie...but with a twist. I don't want to give the end away, but it made me think a lot about the value of one life, and how sometimes I  am desensitized into only caring about people whose story I know (and in this case not even a Jewish life even though it is a Holocaust movie). Everyone else has a story too. The guy that cut me off yesterday has a story.  The cashier at Walmart has a story.  The mailman has a story.  Everyone has a story.  This really stood out to me at the Imperial War Museum this summer, when they showed pictures and videoclips of Jews before the Holocaust. I know that the Holocaust isn't the only time people have suffered, but since it was on such a big scale and recorded so well, it's a good starting point. (A "starting point" for what?.. I'm having a hard time trying to articulate, but that's okay because this is my blog and my blog is for thinking).

Good Night, and Good Luck: I'll be honest- I was originally drawn to this movie purely because of George Clooney (who directed, co-wrote, and acted in this lovely Oscar-nominated picture). And it's in black and white, which is cool. Umm... I LOVED this movie. Probably most of my friends would think it's extremely boring. But how cool is it when movies celebrate real heroicism, real people who have done real great things that have changed life for the better (and I know I know, they are often romanticized, but still, it's cool). I've blogged about this before. But anyway, I'm grateful for people like Edward R. Murrow, who put himself on the line to try to stop McCarthy for getting innocent people convicted. I'm grateful for the people that actually try for change, instead of sitting on the sidelines muttering.

Also, a few honorable mentions:

Ushpizin: About an Orthodox-Jewish couple in Israel and some crazy things that happen to them.  I like movies like this because I like seeing how people from other cultures live and interact.

Last Chance Harvey: Who doesn't love Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman?  Some of the most painful awkward moments I've ever seen.  And although the first half was depressing (which, after starring in Death of a Salesman, it's pretty obvious Dustin Hoffman does depressing well) it wasn't all depressing.

Bride Wars: I know this goes against all that I've said in this blog-post, but living in Provo-wedding-mania, I had to.  And it was fun (even though I dislike Kate Hudson).

Okay, I could go on and on, which begs the question: if I'm really as busy as I say I am, how do I find time to watch so many movies?  The answer: I have no idea.

Excuse me...but what happened to Spring?

Time

Condition

Feels Like

8 am

23° F
Mostly Sunny

12° F

Presentations

Today I had my last class presentation!!!  Now, I have astounding expertise (this is sarcasm) on the following subjects:

Jungian Archetypes in Superman

Passive and Active Voice

"The Reason is Because" vs. "The Reason is that"

Indefinite Pronouns in a Corpus of English Usage

Deconstruction Critical Theory (which I still do not understand)

Jude the Obscure

South African Dialect

PS- Did you know that they have Sesame Street all over the world?  And did you know that in South Africa they teach about Aids?  

this piece speaks to my soul

Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Prelude from Bach´s Cello Suite No. 1 

Temples

Today I had the opportunity to go to the Draper Temple Dedication--Broadcast (at the Marriot Center).  I was not planning on going, but changed my mind at the last minute, and I am so glad I did.  It was a wonderful experience, and I definitely want to take the counsel to "rededicate my life to God."  I am so blessed to be a member of this church and to have the knowledge that I have.  I am thankful that my parents were married in the temple, and through the covenants that they have made and kept, we are sealed as a family.  I am thankful to be minutes away from the Provo temple, and to have such a close sanctuary away from the world.  I am thankful for the temple that has been announced in Gilbert, even though we have been blessed to be so close to the Mesa temple.  I am thankful for the Savior and the Restored Gospel.

I guess that this is as good a time as any to share this video:

"Why Mormons Build Temples"

Happy Birthday Danny!

Dear Danny-

I hope you had a fantastic birthday.  You are TWELVE.  You are a DEACON.  You are a basketball-playing, cello-jammin' machine.  You are the coolest.

Love,

Emily

(PS- I'm glad that once upon a time, Taylor and I insisted on your name, and threatened to call you Daniel anyway if Mom and Dad picked something else)

shopping secrets

When I go to Costco, I don't get a cart.  That way, I have to carry everything, which reigns in my spending (and makes my arm sore in the process).

Your Love Is Strong

It's been awhile since I've posted some song lyrics.  Sorry if they're boring to read...if so, just go listen to the song (I'll YouTube link it). While I was driving yesterday I was listening to one of my very favorite artists, Jon Foreman (Switchfoot guy who came out with a solo album last year). 

Your Love Is Strong

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong....

Anyway, it continues but that's my favorite part.  I really really really love this song.  It's kind of along the same lines as a poem I've posted before by e. e. cummings.

(I also highly recommend "The Moon Is a Magnet," "Baptize My Mind," "Learning How to Die," and "March (A Prelude to Spring)," even though really the whole cd is fantastic)

Stress

The closing hymn for Stake Conference last night was "Come Come Ye Saints." We got to the line that says, Why should we mourn, or think our lot is hard? and BOOM, my conscience (or perhaps the Spirit?) jumped on me.  So, I have been kinda whiny to my mom and a few friends about how hard this semester is (especially these past two weeks).  I'm not gonna lie that it's true, but so what?  Seriously that's nothing!  So what if I memorize so many grammar terms that I feel like my head is going to explode!?  #1 I'm getting a wonderful education here at BYU #2 I'm doing something I find enjoyable (yes yes, perhaps I do somewhat like grammar) #3 I have been blessed with a mind capable of handling it.  Who's to complain?  I'm healthy and have not had a shingles-attack, I am actually doing really well in my classes, my roommates and friends are awesome and really supportive, my ward is great, I have a good job (while people all over the country are getting laid off) and I love the girls I work with, I have my own room, I have food in the cupboard, I have a car with gas in it, Dad found my missing iPod, I live two minutes away from the temple, and I have a little brother who called me last night to tell me that he lost his first tooth.  

I have always loved D&C 122:5-9, where the Lord says that even if all the most terrible things you can imagine happen to you, "know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.  The Son of Man hath descended below them all.  Art thou greater than he?.."

Sometimes I wonder how Joseph felt after hearing that.  Perhaps he got a BOOM of a conscience like I in a small way experienced.  And the thing is, he really was going through tremendously hard things.  He was in prison for heaven's sake, a bunch of his kids died, and he had been persecuted since he was a teenager.  And my life is hard?  Still, the Lord gently and lovingly reminds him that Jesus Christ still suffered more.  Which is why we are able to turn to Him.

So, how about this.  My life has been a lot more difficult than usual (because I've had a pretty easy life), but it's still good.  I'll make it through this semester and come out on top an English Extraordinaire! 

Today:

I win the award for not dressing appropriately for snowy weather.

A Weekend of Adventure (...jk)

This weekend, I did....TONS OF HOMEWORK!!  Yay!!  (Actually it's really a good thing because I was feeling really overwhelmed on Friday because of how much I have going on these next two weeks).  

So, interspersed between my FIFTEEN HOURS of homework (yes...I'm lame and just counted), I:

-spent my giftcard money at Target on things I really needed (socks, underwear, hairspray, etc)

-dreamt that I sleepwalked and lit matches, so Mom and Dad were worried and trying to figure out how to keep me from sleepwalking

-went to Tucano's with my roommate (I got a free meal for my birthday that expired yesterday and we had been planning for weeks to go), and encountered a 2.5 hour wait...so we left and I didn't use it for the second year in a row :(

-went to Stan's Diner instead (my parents' favorite place when they were dating that I had never been to before, so we decided to go in their honor)

-worked the Choir Concert at the Provo Tabernacle

-purposely didn't set my alarm this morning 

It's funny.  Usually if I do homework all weekend I feel like it was a bad weekend.  But I am actually really really relieved that I now have a manageable amount of stuff to do (including two papers, two presentations, and two tests), but hey, I can do it, right?  Seriously this semester is out-of-control.

...But I still love school.

Living Legends!

So, for those that don't know, Living Legends is a performing group here on campus that is composed of three sections: Polynesian, Latin, and Native American. They perform traditional song and dance, go on tour, and stuff. My roommate, Crystal, who is half Samoan (and half Black) is in the Polynesian section. They had their performance last week, so Lindsay and I went with a couple other people. It was pretty fun. And the Polynesian section is definitely the most entertaining, in my opinion. I seriously do not understand how it is possible to move your hips like that. Wow.

The show was interesting because they outlined different "seasons" in the lives of their ancestors, which included seasons of "prosperity," "war,"...and I can't really remember the rest. Anyway, it was interesting, because especially in context with our religion, at times the descendants of the Lamanites were a "fallen" people, but that doesn't mean they need to be anymore. Like the Young Ambassadors, they ended their performance with "I Am a Child of God."

By the end of the performance, I was actually a little jealous that these guys were able to find a way to connect to their heritage and to their ancestors through these traditions. Maybe it seems even cooler because their cultures are so different from ours, while Europe isn't quite as different. I don't know. But I do know, like I've said before, that I really just felt connected to my roots back in England. I almost feel silly and kinda superstitious for saying that, but then again, we've been taught to search for those roots, that we should "turn the hearts of the children to their fathers," so maybe it is legit?

I'm kind of just rambling. I feel like I have too much craziness on my mind to really think much of this through, so it's nice to have a blog to spew it out for later reminding.

Anyway, here's a pic of us roomies:


Ps- I learned in class a couple weeks ago that "American Indian" is currently the "politically correct" term (and "Native American" is old news). But I feel like it's weird to write American Indian when for years I was taught it was wrong?

Who vs Whom

Yesterday in my English Language: "American Usage" class, my teacher showed this:

(Definitely one way to make learning the difference between Who and Whom more exciting. PLUS-this clip is a whole lot funnier to me now)

21 is...tons of fun??

My birthday was last Thursday. Yay!!!! Well..kind of. I guess that birthdays aren't really that exciting anymore with the age factor, but at least it's a reason to party! (PS I'm glad I'm 21 because honestly...I kind of feel like I'm older than I am sometimes. Like, when I would say I was 20 I would think "Really? I'm really that young?" Okay, back to the story).

I went to class and work, so I was busy from 8-5 (except for a short break where my phone screen died and I went to the phone store). Not that exciting. Except that my phone died and came back to life an hour later two different times.

I went to dinner at Pita Pit with the girls from home. Here are some pics (Contrary to their faces, Tara and Cal actually did like their pitas. Haha)

After dinner, Amelia and I ran over to WalMart because Mom said that she had ordered a goofy birthday present for me. Well, remember when I posted about the picture of my brothers?. Yah, I have the coolest mom ever. (It is on the back of my door though, not on my ceiling...I haven't quite decided which is better.)

I got back to my apartment, and my roommate, Lindsey, had made cakes for my party. AND decorated them with jelly beans. And decorated with streamers too. I like her a lot :)

This is a pic at the beginning of the party. We kinda forgot to take pictures. Too bad, because there was some pretty fun dancing going on. And a lot more friends that came that I didn't get pictures with.

Oh yah.  And I got some pretty sweet bday gifts from Tara and Cal (including High School Musical Earrings and socks that say "Tom is my friend").  Basically the coolest thing ever.  haha.

Anyway, I had a "happy" birthday. Thanks everyone for making it great!!!

What about... Time?

How come I never have time to blog anymore? On top of school and work, I'm frantically searching for housing for next year (it's already filling up!) and applying for internships and stuff. Yikes! So...I've been waiting to blog long enough. I'm taking a break from my homework..

I like my new roommates:

Glorious Gilbert

I'm sitting at Sky Harbor Airport waiting to go back to Provo (yuck).  Coming home this weekend was definitely awesome.  The weather was beautiful, I didn't bring homework with me, and my family is great.  Some highlights:

-Going to In-n-Out and noticing how almost everyone was in sweatshirts and jackets (and it was in the 60s!) Gotta love AZ

-Taking Ryan on a "date" for his birthday: Hotel for Dogs and Baja Fresh

-Sacrificing sleep to go to Danny's basketball game at 7 (that was changed without him knowing).  So I didn't get to see him play :(

-Ryan's football game (where he pulled off three flags!)

-Birthday celebrations for me and Ryan

-Wonderful homemade cooking

-Seeing some guy friends from high school who recently got home from their missions (Eric Oborn, Justin Heninger, Philip Snow, and Dan Ray)

-Seeing Graham, Chelsea's baby finally.  I don't think I had ever so profoundly felt the miracle of life before.  I mean, Chels is my best friend from high school, and last time I saw her, she was barely pregnant.  I can't believe that such a perfect little body developed inside of her.  It's just so cool!

-Dad finding my iPod that we thought possibly got stolen over Christmas break.  haha

-Planning Taylor's schedule for summer term at the Y, and signing up for the same class!

-Basically just hanging out at home!

(Mom and Dad: thanks for buying me a plane ticket home.  Best birthday present ever!)

Praise the "Winter" Weather

Dear Arizona,

The longer I am away and in snowy Provo, the more I am grateful for you.  Happy 97th Birthday.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Dear Ryan,

I hope you had a wonderful birthday.  I can't believe you are 7 already!  I had so much fun on our "date" this weekend and I love being home so I can play with you!  I love that you are a Valentine's "baby" and I'm so glad that I get to be your big sister.

Love,

Emily

Valentimes

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentines yesterday...even if you didn't have a Valentine.  So, I've only had an actual "Valentine" a couple of times.  But that's okay.  I know that Valentines Day is better when you actually have a Valentine, but even when you don't, you can still like Valentines Day.  You don't have to be sour and hate everyone around you that's in love (which would make for a miserable existence in Provo).  It's about LOVE, and romantic love isn't the only love out there.  I feel like something I've been blessed with in my life is the ability to love others easily.  So basically, I guess I'm just trying to say in a non-hippie way, let's all love each other and not be bitter about the 14th of February.  Happy Valentines Day!

Dinner!

On Sunday Lindsay and I made dinner...for 6 boys.  haha.  We decided to make Chicken Parmesan, and I have to admit, that it turned out really well.  Anyway, Mike and Lehi (our FHE brothers) wrote us a note on our fridge with our magnets:

Talk about awesome.

(A round of applause for me and Lindsay)

Oh brother.

I want to blow up this picture poster-size to put on my ceiling so that it's the first thing I see in the morning.

Footies

I like wearing my footie-pajamas because I feel like I am wrapped in a blanket always.  (And yes, I am turning 21 in less than 2 weeks)

Ode to London Study Abroad

Tonight we had our first "real" London Reunion, with Professors/families and all, and it was fantastic- and definitely got me missing London.

I knew quite a few girls that had gone to London before me, and filled me full of exciting dreams of the weeks ahead.  But to be honest, I always thought it was a little bit funny when they talked about how much they missed it and how much it really changed their life, etc. (And secretly I was thinking: Well I've been to Africa and if something is going to change your life, that definitely will.  London will be more like a big vacation...but with some schoolwork involved).  Boy was I wrong.

London really did change my life.  

-Most of my best friends and the people I see on a regular basis are from my London group.  And I think that they will be the friends that I will probably keep in touch with the best when we're all off and settled.  It was kind of funny because tonight was a "reunion," but I already caught up pretty well with quite a few.  Also, I made friends with a lot of people that I wouldn't normally have become great friends with had we been placed in each other's paths here in Provo.  It's different experiencing crazy things outside of normal life together.  It's amazing how close it can make you.

-I truly deeply love my professors and their families.  Can I just tell you how awesome it was to be in a college setting, but still with families around??? Rare indeed.  And getting to know these professors has definitely affected my relationships with my professors now, especially because it is so easy to objectify the teacher, have a scapegoat for your procrastination and laziness.  And this has contributed to me actually really like the idea of being a professor someday?

-I seriously think I felt a closeness to my ancestors that I have never felt before.  I've always admired my grandmother's passion for Family History but haven't really been too interested myself.  But something about being in different parts of Britain, where generations and generations of my family lived, kinda was cool.  Like, I finally realized their blood is flowing through me.  Does that even make sense?

-School is a lot more exciting now.  I LOVE English literature and actually having some idea of what they're talking about now!  I LOVE that I saw Stratford, the Bronte's house, Wordsworth's Cottage and the inspiration of the Lake District.  I LOVE that I stood like a "groundling" in a modern-day Globe Theatre.  It just makes it all so much better.

-It was great learning more about so many cultures.  Especially with being able to go on my trip afterwards.  It's just so COOL how long some of these places have been around, and how city to city varies so much.

-I have a greater appreciation/obsession for the arts and history.  And now I have friends that share my obsessions.

-I learned that I would love living in the city.  One of my favorite feelings was being "alone" on the Tube or walking the streets, but being surrounded by tons of people at the same time.  I think some of my favorite memories will always be listening to Coldplay's new cd on my iPod on my alone-adventures.  It was pretty empowering to be able to navigate myself.

-As I have blogged about before, I really needed some more confidence in my "English" capabilities.  I finally started to feel like I knew what I was talking about (at least most of the time), and seriously, the whole confidence thing has helped a ton in my papers, and in my love of English in general.  I love school...even though it's kicking my butt right now.

-A lot of kids go off on these experiences and come back feeling like they have "found" themselves.  I think I was already "found" when I left.  But...I think I became more confident in the me that I already knew.  It was AWESOME to go not really knowing anyone, and come back with tons of new friends.  That is one of the main reasons I felt like it would be okay to move on my own this past semester.  And I am SO glad I did.  (Which is probably a whole new blog post in and of itself).  I think it's one of the best decisions that I have ever made.  I feel like I'm finally okay to live the rest of my life as "me."  I'm confident that, no matter what happens in life, I'll be okay (as long as I continue to stay close to the Lord). 

So yes...it was only two months.  But, even though I couldn't quite explain it like I wanted to, just trust me when I say:

London really did change my life.

bummer

How come ALL the boys in my classes are married?

buuuuurn-out

I'm in serious burn-out mode right now, which is NOT good. I can't concentrate, I'm lacking motivation, I'm even having a hard time falling asleep at night (which is not normal). I have a test tomorrow, a four-page big essay due next week, and three novels to read in the next couple weeks. Definitely not a good time to burn-out. I just need to make it through to next Thursday and hopefully a few days of being lazy will charge me back up (especially since I'm going straight through until graduation next April). AHHH!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Reasons why I love you:

you are still sane even with five boys in the house

you like to read

you can do sudoku (which I can't!)

we traveled on trains in Europe

we rode a gondola in Venice

you're beautiful

you are a great baker

you blog

you put recipe links on your blog

you talk to me on the phone everyday when I'm walking home

you let me watch movies on your bed with you and Dad when I'm home

you used to be a legal secretary

you met Dad because you were close to the Spirit

you worry about me

you like to wear slippers

you're the best Mom ever!

I love you and I'm excited to come home next week!

Feet Shrinking

I think my feet shrink when it's really cold outside?  The other day, I wore flats to school and they kept falling off on the stairs.  I would kinda trip, laugh out loud, and then the other people around me would chuckle too.  

PS-This is my 20th blog post for this month.  I think that's a record (excluding my London blog)!  You'd think I'd have a lot of free time on my hands or something...

50 Random Things About Me

1. I used to hate yogurt and now it's one of my favorite (and most frequently consumed) foods

2. The first time I held hands with a boy was on top of the Empire State Building

3. One time I threw up in school during an Aids presentation...my teacher thought it was because I was homophobic

4. I have never broken a bone...but I did sprain my wrist when I fell off a swing in 5th grade

5. I talk in my sleep

6. I used to dress my little brother up in girl clothes

7. The first time I ever remember snow falling was here in Provo my freshman year

8. I read the whole Work and the Glory series twice before I was 14

9. I have (or am a member of) 12 blogs...yikes!

10. I wear footy-pajamas frequently

11. I sucked my thumb until I was (at least) 9

12. I can wiggle my ears

13. For "two truths and a lie" I always say that my great-great-uncle invented tater tots...as a truth

14. I really really like Boggle and Speed Scrabble

15. I firmly believed that I hated poetry until I encountered e. e. cummings

16. I go to bed at 10:30 and get up at 6:30 almost every single day

17. Sometimes I forget I have a phone for hours at a time

18. I really like baking cakes and pies, but don't very often

19. I don't mind spiders, but cockroaches make me want to vomit

20. It really bothers me when people eat noisy foods with noisy wrappers in class

21. I don't like going shopping unless I'm planning to buy something

22. I have only one shopping addiction...buying dresses.  I'm embarrassed to say how many I have

23. I really like watching movies in the dark in my bed by myself on my laptop with headphones 

24. I don't have a middle name

25. I have two minors

26. Cottage cheese will forever remind me of washing out baby brothers' old bottles that I would find under the couch

27. I never had braces or wisdom teeth, but I also don't have permanent upper canines (yes they're still my baby teeth, and yes, they are loose, and have been since elementary school).  In the next few years I will have to get implants

28. I hated the flute and cried multiple times about it my first few weeks of playing in 5th grade

29. I quit ballet in elementary school because I didn't like the new teacher

30. When the preview for "Nightmare Before Christmas" started showing on tv, it freaked me out so much that I ended up sleeping on the floor next to Mom and Dad's bed for quite a few nights

31. I used to have nightmares where my marching band directors made me sit up all night long (which I really did)

32. When I was little I thought Root Beer was "Fruit Bear"

33. I used to think that babies were birthed out of the mouth

34. I am extremely scared of heights if I'm not strapped into/onto something

35. I am kind of obsessed with how cute my little brothers are

36. I always fall for nerdy boys (often with glasses)

37. I once ran my dad's truck into the back of a Semi

38. I have allergies in Arizona but not in Utah

39. The little boy that I played dress-up-wedding with when I was 5 became one of my best friends in the dorms

40. Growing up, I had three best friends move to Utah

41. My first semester at BYU I regularly ditched three classes and still got straight A's...like that is still possible

42. I can't help but schedule out every hour of my day, if not in my planner at least in my mind.  I'm still flexible and change things around, but it immediately starts a new planning process of rescheduling in my brain

43. I have never seen an episode of Friends

44. I'd rather have the stomach flu 10 times than have shingles again once

45. My brothers secretly want me to get married in hopes that they'll inherit the car Mom and Dad let me drive

46. I filed my taxes this week for the first time ever

47. I Wikipedia EVERYTHING that I am curious about

48. Contrary to what most people that I encounter seem to think, the fact that I am an English major does not mean that I enjoy writing research papers

49. My dad calls me "Bug"

50. It's time to stop procrastinating writing my paper

this weekend...

(This blog is also intended for journaling-purposes, which means I reserve the right to recount the trivial details of my life):

My Weekend!


Friday:

I got home from work and my roommate Lindsay said she wanted to eat at the Cannon Center (where she works). I thought that was a good idea, especially after her Freshman friend offered to "swipe" us in. So, we got a free dinner at the brand-new-humungous Cannon Center and ate dinner with the Freshman. I like Lindsay a lot.

Then I decided to go to Target to return a Christmas present that hadn't worked out. Lindsay came, and even bought a pair of heels for $6.50! I managed to leave only having bought toothpaste and garbage bags. That's always a challenge for me at Target (but their clothes aren't that cute right now which helped out a lot).

I dropped tired Lindsay off at home before I headed over to Lauren and Rachael's for a game night. I'm over at their apartment enough that I know a few people in their ward, and even more people came and ended up being pretty fun.


Saturday:

I went to Dani Andre's baby shower (I went to Africa with her and Tyler).  It was kinda weird being at a friend's baby shower, but at the same time, I know she's going to be a wonderful mom.

I finally cracked down and finished a paper that I was struggling with for a few days. It felt so good to actually finish something due on a Tuesday on a Saturday afternoon (which I don't feel like happens often).

After my homework was done, I scoured the apartment 'til it sparkled (well...kind of). I borrowed a vacuum since ours doesn't work too hot, swept and mopped the floor, and did a few loads of laundry.

Next was dinner for Amelia's birthday. We went to Pizza Factory (her favorite), and Tara and I felt frugal and just bought breadsticks (so good that Max's aunt termed them "crack-on-a-stick") and definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Then we headed back to Amelia's apartment (my old one) and I stuck around for a little while for her party. Since it was early, not many people had shown up yet, but that didn't stop us from having our own dance party.

I raced to Lauren and Rachael's to watch Miss America. They know Miss Utah--I know Miss Idaho. Even though neither of them got picked for Top 15, it was still fun to watch. I haven't watched it in years, and it's interesting that I'm the same age as those girls now (or even older than some). We definitely made fun of some of their dresses.


Sunday:

After sleeping in 'til 10 (which I rarely ever do) I talked to my brothers on VideoChat. They are so funny. I can't wait to go home in a few weeks.

Church was great. I love love LOVE my new ward! Everyone is so friendly and I already feel like I belong where I am.

After Church, my friend Kelly picked me up to go to dinner at his aunt's house. They have open invitations to all of Kelly's friends every week for Sunday dinner, and I finally decided to take up the offer. It was so nice being in an actual home, eating homemade food (that wasn't homemade by me), and listening to the pretty interesting/funny comments from his family. Especially because his cousin just got his wisdom teeth out and supposedly had been running around yelling "I'm Pippy Longstocking!" and putting everything on his head. hahah.

When I came back, Lindsay and I made some homemade brownies with chocolate/peanut-butter frosting for our Visiting Teachees. They were SO rich but way good. It's fun having a roommate that likes to bake.

I'm excited about our new Visiting Teaching assignments, my new Visiting Teachers, and my Home Teachers. Seriously, my new ward rocks (and so does everyone in it :)

After hometeaching we headed across the icy parking lot, in the snowy-rain, to our ward's Fondue Night. By the time we got there the Fondue was mostly gone (which is okay because I was way too full anyway) but it was so fun getting to know more people in my ward. The room was sooo crowded.

I got back at like 10ish, and went to bed at 10:30 (like normal). Yes, I know that 10:30 is not a bedtime for a normal student, but I love it.

Free dinner + Target run + Game night + Baby Shower + Finishing a paper + Clean apartment + Birthday dinner + Birthday party + Miss America + Sleeping in + VideoChat + Church + Real Sunday dinner + Making brownies + Home-teaching/Visiting-Teaching + Fondue Night= Successful weekend. Who says you can't have a social life if you go to bed before midnight?

bloody blood blood

Yesterday I did something for the first time ever: DONATED BLOOD!!! I got on the chair and got really really nervous, my only consolation being the thought of possibly helping to save someones life. Even though it didn't really hurt that much, I definitely-accidentally cried a few tears when they stuck the needle in-- It was kind of traumatizing. Once the needle was in, it wasn't that bad, and pumping out that blood was not a big deal. Besides being light-headed for a few hours, and a tender spot on my arm, I'm good as new...and pretty proud of myself. I was scared, but I did it anyway. And now that I've gotten over my fear, it won't be a big deal next time!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mia!

I'm glad you didn't really get sucked up into space by aliens.

water

It's interesting to me how something can be so welcome in some situations, and so dreaded in others.

I don't like water when it's mixed with old snow and inches deep on the street.

Sylvio

Today I was reading through my Mozambique journal. I feel like posting about Sylvio today:

"A new baby showed up at one of the orphanages because his mom died. He was in the worst state that I’ve ever seen a little kid in- he is the skinniest, tiniest thing ever, his eyes are sunken, his hair is sparse due to malnourishment, he had little scabs from a skin disease all over his arms, and he has folds of skin just hanging from his neck and arms with seriously zero fat holding him together. We eventually found out he’s 2 but he wears 6 month-old clothes and they basically fall off. Anyway, I spent a lot of time with him, holding him and trying to get him to smile, and on the last night at that orphanage, I got assigned to feed him. He probably ate 2 spoonfuls of mush in the 45 minutes I tried to feed him. I honestly felt so hopeless because he would not eat. Finally, Tyler, took over for me and I broke down and cried for a half hour. Out of all the experiences I’ve had in Africa over the past two years, this hit me the hardest for some reasons. It was really hard for me to understand why—why am I so blessed, with millions of things I don’t even need, and these poor kids have no parents, and who knows if kids like Sylvio are even going to make it? After a lot of “soul-searching” and praying, I feel al ot more at peace, and I realized that I know Heavenly Father loves all of His children and has a plan for each of us. Even though so many people’s lives such, I have to have faith and just try to help in the small ways that I can. It doesn’t make sense for me to have these incredible experiences and then just come home and forget about them. I’m so grateful that I’ve gotten to go twice now, and I honestly don’t think I could not ever go back. But, that will be sometime in the future, so for now I need to find people and ways to help here :) "

I need to be better at remembering.

tv

I'm sad that they cancelled Pushing Daisies. Ned is so dreamy.

Sundance!!!!!

So, my friend Lauren volunteered at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, which means that she got a few "voucher" tickets, which means I got to go to Sundance for free, which means I have some really cool friends. I decided to bring Kylie (which was a really good idea because she is really fun), and so me, Kylie, and some other friends named Peter, Abby, and Kat, headed up at 10 really excited to wait in line all day.

After some adventures with my directions and my direction-reading-capabilities, we finally got to Eccles Theatre (at Park City High School...supposedly Sundance put a bunch of money into the auditorium because it was super nice and had a balcony and everything).

So we got in the Wait List line and waited and played cards for a few hours. We got our number tickets and they told everyone that usually they only let in about 50, and we got 63-68 so we all got pretty disappointed. But, we came back at the designated time and waited some more. We got really lucky because they let in 75 of us. Seriously, the anticipation was crazy. We ran into the theatre to the movie starting, and that was that! We were in!

Afterwards there was a Q&A with the director of the film, John Krasinski (featured below). How cool is that!! And also when we were waiting for a bus we saw Robin Williams drive by.

We got on the wrong bus and ended up waiting outside in the freezing cold for a little too long for the comfort of my feet. I don't think they've ever hurt so bad. But that's okay, because Lauren made us homemade pizza at the condo she was staying at. We got home at about 9. Talk about a long day. But it was totally worth it.

Moochers

So, it's been pretty cold this week. And we haven't even turned on our heater. AND it's been in the low 70s in our apartment. We're just soakin' it in.

(Benefits of being on the third floor)

Shout Out!

This is just a shout out to my cousin Dane, who is on the Biggest Loser this season (Tuesday nights).  We're rootin' for you!

Good News

The past two days I have been back-to-normal-happy!  I think I'm okay!!!

no more meds

Once upon a time, I got Shingles in London.  Boy, was that an adventure.  Anyway, for the past semester I have been taking an anti-depressant that is often used to treat nerve problems that can come on after Shingles (for me, it was either pins-and-needles, or really itchy).  I have finally recovered enough (yay!) to stop taking the medicine, which I did this week.  And holy cow does my body react strongly to meds, or the lack of.  The past weekend my body has been freaking out because those happy-hormones that have been artificially created (which were never really needed in the first place for that purpose) are now nowhere to be found.  In other words, I have been crying a lot.  Today I'm tons better, but lets keep our fingers crossed that my body sorts itself out soon, and I am back to the always-happy Emily that we all know and love.  (haha)

Christmas time...was...here

So, I (obviously) went home for Christmas, and it was fantastic. I stayed in my pajamas for days on end, and spent a lot of time with my family. It seems that each time I go home, I want to spend more and more time at home, and less and less time finding "fun" and "social" things to do. AND, each time I go home, it gets harder and harder to leave. But it was still SO worth it to be home. I love my family so much!  

Some highlights:

decorating sugar cookies

...and eating them

getting presents from Santa

playing lots and lots of Rock Band

and just being excited about the Holidays!

PS- I do have two other brothers who somehow don't end up in as many pictures as Danny and Ryan.  They just must not be as photogenic.  Haha JUST KIDDING!  (They are very handsome). 

"your MOM goes to college"

Well, Semester Winter 2009 is officially underway. And it's going to be nuts (but great). I avoided the approximate $500 to buy books from the Bookstore by buying most of them online (hopefully they'll get here soon!) and managed to only spend about $220!

My classes:

English 314: Writing about Literature
English 345: Literature and Film
English Language 322: English Usage (ie: who or whom?)
English Language 325: English Grammar
English Language 351: Editing a Student Journal (actual hands on experience...I'm joining a journal staff)
Music 190: Music Fundamentals (which I think I'll be able to test out of next week! yay!)
Music 117: Beginning Guitar

Plus almost 20 hours of work every week, and Institute, since I'm not taking a religion class this semester. And my requirement to sleep 8 hours every night...(breathe in, breathe out).

Overall I'm really excited. I love school. haha. And I love that all of my classes either count for my major or one of my minors. And I'm just really excited about school, and that I'll be taking actual editing classes in the Spring, and I'll hopefully get an internship sometime in the next year. Good thing I'm excited because before school started I was incredibly homesick. (I still am a little, but at least it's tolerable now).

Guess what: I found out a couple days ago that I am actually a Senior according to my credits. Weird!!!

Never Again...

...will I attempt to walk to church in heels when it's:

16 degrees ("feels like" 6)-->completely solid, slippery ice probably 3 inches deep on most of the walk.

Why do I have to have such a great family?

I've only been back in Provo for 3 hours and I'm already homesick.

Glasses

So, while watching Dick Clark's New Year's Celebration on Time Square, this is what I wondered about:

time for some goal setting!!

A quote for motivation:

Many persons have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
-Helen Keller

2008: In Retrospect

This was really quite the year. Probably the most exciting year of my life so far?? In summary...

In 2008

I RUINED or lost:
My Headphones
A Picture Frame
An Essay Contest

I EXPERIENCED for the first time:
Skiing
Rock Band
Buying High Heels
NBA Game
Sleeping on Trains
A Gondola Ride

I TRAVELED to:
England (all over)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Berlin, Germany
Vienna, Austria
Venice, Italy
Lucerne, Switzerland
Paris, France
Provo/Gilbert multiple times

I READ (and loved):
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
Leadership and Self-Deception
The Glass Castle (Jeanette Walls)

I OBTAINED:
A New Apartment
Shingles
Food Poisoning
Mad Baking Skills

I SAW:
Pushing Daisies
5 Movies at the International Cinema
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Australia
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
High School Musical 3
Bolt
10? Plays
1 Opera: Don Giovanni
1 Ballet: Giselle
The Mona Lisa
The Rosetta Stone
Stonehenge

PLAYLIST:
"The Way I Am" & "Giving Up" Ingrid Michaelson
"Fools Gold" Katie Herzig
"Tower of Sand" Chris Merritt
"When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" Rooney
"Life in Technicolor" & "Viva La Vida" Coldplay
"Vienna" Billy Joel
"One Step at a Time" Jordin Sparks
"Love Story" Taylor Swift
"Snails" The Format
"Come Out of the Shade" The Perishers
"The Real End" Rickie Lee Jones
"I' Yours" & "If It Kills Me" Jason Mraz
"Crush" David Archuleta
"The Moon is a Magnet" Jon Foreman

I EARNED money at:
Teriyaki Stix at the Cougareat
Dad's, "The Ad Department"
The Fine Arts Ticket Office at BYU
accompanying on the side

I CREATED:
Poems
Songs
New Friends
Billions of Essays
A Blog

I was TAUGHT/learned:
Life is much healthier de-stressed
"Early to Bed and Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise"
the International Phonetic Alphabet
I love Ethnic Food (ie Indian)
British and American Literary History
Better Writing Skills
Stronger Reliance on the Savior

Merry Late-Christmas

Well, Santa has come once again to the McBride household and apparently no one was naughty this year because he left us all happy!  

I've always loved Christmas, but it wasn't until the last couple of years that I've understood the awesomeness of the family-gathering part of the Holidays.  It feels so good to be home!

Changing History

Last night, Alex and I happily crashed Mom and Dad's date to go see "Valkyrie" (obviously my parents love me lots...especially when I come home, because crashing their dates is usually no-bueno). My favorite kinds of movies are usually historically-based, so I was excited. I wasn't disappointed either. I won't reveal too much of the plot so I don't spoil it (even though the outcome is kind of a no-brainer if you know anything about Hitler and WW2), but anyway, I recommend it.

On the way home we were talking about the movie, and Dad brought up the quote: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" (Edmund Burke). It's scary thinking about how powerful and unstoppable Hitler was, even when he was doing terrible, terrible things. I think sometimes we rely too much on the idea that in this day and age, right will win, bad people will be kicked out of power, and everything will work itself out. I think sometimes we rely too much on that and let it prevent us from taking action.

I have had this problem where I tend to think that individuals are too insignificant to really make much of an impact on their own, and lately, it seems more and more that I'm totally wrong. Look at Hitler. But on the other hand, look at Oskar Schindler. Abraham Lincoln. Martin Luther. George Washington. Joseph Smith. Yes they all had a lot of help to accomplish the things they accomplished, but if it weren't for them, history would have turned out a lot different.

Today in Relief Society the lesson was on Elaine Dalton's talk from this past Conference, "A Return to Virtue."  Throughout most of the lesson I kept thinking about that quote that my dad brought up.  The world today is pretty scary, and if we're not taking a stand, then really what's going to stop "the triumph of evil?"  I don't seriously think I'm going to make it into history books or even Time's Most Influential People, but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference.  

I don't really know where to start or exactly what I'm trying to say, but what I do know is that my opinion about making a difference is starting to change, and it's time to stop the complacency and do some good.

PS/Apology to my few blog readers: Sorry that so many posts lately have been religiously/philosophically oriented.  I guess I must just like to use my blog as a place to think or something?

A Spoonful of Humility

So, I kind of have this fear of driving in snow. It all started with my first experience last year, when I walked out of Target into falling snow. I tried to get home as quick as I could, but by the time I was driving South on 9th and almost home, the snow had piled up and I was skidding. Basically, it freaked me out. And as hard as I try, I don't naturally usually like being in situations where I feel out of control (riding horses, sometimes tubing on the lake or sledding down steep hills, etc). And then another time last year I couldn't get out of my underground parking lot for like 45 minutes (okay okay...I'm probably exaggerating, but it was a long time) until someone finally walked by and told me that if I backed up and gathered up speed it should do the trick (which it did...thank goodness for good thinkers). Anyway, this post wasn't necessarily supposed to be about all of my adventures driving in snow, so I'll cut to the chase: Even though I usually avoid it, I am quite a bit more comfortable and safe-feeling than I used to be.

A couple nights ago, after driving in the snow so much this past week, I was feeling a little too confident in my driving-on-icy-roads abilities, (and kind of stressed with all I had to do before I flew out the next day). I was driving a little faster than usual for me in the snow, and at a red light I was almost not able to stop, and had to kind of go into the next lane in order to avoid a fender-bender. It wasn't really a life-threatening situation, but it did leave me jittery. I had gotten too comfortable with something that I should have been more careful about.

Something that I continually struggle with is complacency and feeling that I've got things covered. What a joke. There wouldn't be Church, the Holy Ghost, the Sacrament, and most of all, the Atonement, if that was the case. It's so easy to get caught up in how great life is going and start feeling a little too confident in our abilities. After a little bit of that, then BOOM: there comes the trial, the almost-accident-on-the-ice, that probably could have been avoided altogether if we had humbled ourselves enough to put our complete trust in the help and safety of the Savior. Yes, we are Divine Creations of our Heavenly Father, but at the same time, we paradoxically have the ability of being "less than the dust of the Earth." We NEED the Savior. We NEED His Atoning Sacrifice. We NEED Him in our lives.

So, as a little Christmas thought: Remember who you are...and how much more you can be with the Savior's help.

Home Snowless Home

It feels great to be home and out of the snow.

And my flight left at exactly the right time, because while we were taking off in Salt Lake a big storm came in and everyone had to literally wait for hours because of delays and what-not. So yes, good timing on that one.

Usually I don't mind the snow, and we hardly had any in Provo this semester, but the dumping this past week (especially with moving apartments) was a little over-kill.

It feels great to be home and out of the snow.

and the numbers are in!

So, I did a rough count of the number of pages I wrote this semester (mind you, this is not including the many pages written in class of short essays and exercises) because I've been kinda curious.  And it's looking to be about 113 pages.  Yes, 113.  Time to do a little dance in celebration of handing in my last paper today!!

Look How Cute We Are:

Procrastination...

So...I think these are a little bit stupid, but sometimes they're just really fun to fill out.  Plus, it's always a good reminder to remember to not take things for granted.

Have you ever....

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo, when no one was home
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (almost??? it was closed!)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language 
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (almost top again...haha)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (does teaching piano count?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy(blanket)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (I've never been so smashed in my life. haha)
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Book of Mormon or Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (do fish count?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (umm...I definitely don't own mine)
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Countdown!!

ELEVEN DAYS 'til I go home! Yay!

isn't it funny..

That I've never had a problem with spelling or dyslexia in my life, and now that I'm taking the first class for my editing minor, I am constantly using the delete key?  Haha.

The Reason for the Season

So tonight I went to perhaps the biggest BYU School of Music event of the year: Celebration of Christmas.  Every year, all the performances sell out weeks early, but with my nice little job hook-up, I bought tickets in time!  yay!  I had never been before but everyone who knows me knows that I love choir and I love orchestra so put them together and: Emily is happy.

Seriously the music tonight was so beautiful.  I loved hearing the Orchestra especially (yay Sleigh Ride)!  And the combined numbers were awesome.  But the best was saved for last:  parts of Handel's Messiah, and then this special song that I guess they sing every year (Carol of Joy?  I don't really remember).  Anyway, during the last few minutes I maybe kinda started bawling my eyes out.  

Last Christmas season I was pretty much scrooge-mcgrumpy-pants because I was really homesick.  This year I've realized that even though it stinks being away from family for most of the Christmas season, I can still enjoy it here.  I've decorated my apartment with all kinds of trees and lights and nativities-from-Mozambique, worked hard on making the perfect gifts, listened to lots of Ella Fitzgerald and Charlie Brown Christmas albums, and all kinds of other festive activities.  But...even though all that stuff is fun and I love the Christmas season, it just really seemed to be lacking the "magic."

I thought that maybe it's just because I'm growing up and there's not quite as much anticipation about what Santa's going to leave me under the tree, but it hit me tonight that I've been missing the key all along.  Although giving gifts, singing carols, and baking cinnamon rolls for people are all good things in-and-of-themselves, t