Granny's Are Pernonin'

If ya need a laugh for the day, this will for sure do it for ya. Haha I'm still laughing :) 

25 Things I Hate About Facebook

Enough said. 

POP ROCKS.

Ha this is an 82 year-old trying pop rocks for the 1st time. 

LOVE IT.  :)

P.S. Apparently someone from MSN reads my blog since they put this video up on their home page shortly after I posted it on here. Hehe 

Awkward and Awesome Saturday!!

Awkward:

• Saying "Aww thank you!" to a compliment, only to be told the compliment wasn't directed towards me. 
• Being completely pat down and having my hands drug tested in the SLC airport. 
• Having a guy walk up and start talking to me at the gym, whom I recognized, but had no idea what his name was. 
• Riding the shuttle to the SLC airport at 5 a.m. with five other college students that I didn't know, and none of us saying a single word the entire way there. 

Awesome: 

• Getting to fly home and not have to drive.
• Turning 19... Boo-yah!
• All the free food I've been eating at home. 
• Thanksgiving dinner 
• Running in the foothills with my lil bro 
• Being home with my wonderful fam 
• All the sleep I've been getting 
• Catching up with friends that I haven't seen in awhile 

Eggcellent Surprise

Yes, I did this to my roommates' eggs. End of story :) 

What Are We Missing?

I've heard this story a couple times, but recently heard it again in Chemistry the other day. I know it's a tad long, but it is very interesting and I promise it will be well worth your time to read it. 

A Violinist in the Metro 

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. 

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. 

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. 

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. 

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. 

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. 

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. 

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100. 

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? 

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: 

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Da Boys

Meet my little brothers - Alex and Zach. They're twins . . . just born three and a half years apart. Because they are so inseparable, we used to just call them "the boys", until we eventually just combined their names and called them ZALEX. 

Alex (on the left in the first picture and on the right in the second) is fourteen and is a total lady's man.  

He is my running buddy but is definitely more talented and faster than I am. He also loves playing lacrosse and cuddling with his mama. 

Zach (vise-versa of Alex) is almost eleven. He's my little man. Him and I are on the same brain wave and we understand each other very well. It's sometimes funny how much he reminds me of myself. Zach is awesome at soccer and will go far in that sport if he sets his heart to it. 

I personally think the two of them are the cutest things around and I've definitely missed them since I've been here at college (although I must admit I don't miss the pee on the toilet seat). Haha but really they are a whole bunch of fun and I love them a lot :) 

Awkward and Awesome Saturday!!

Awkward: 

• The fact that I still haven't memorized my ID number and have to look it up every week for my chemistry lab.
• Opening the door for a guy I thought was trying to get in, apologizing for just having a tank top on, only to realize it that was an RA just coming around to make sure the door was locked. Ooo I'm just going to go back inside now. . . don't mind me. 
• Working with a random girl on a chemistry lab, her going in to ask the TA a question we had, waiting forever for her to come back out, only to then watch her walk out and leave. Umm hi did you forget you were going in to ask him a question WE had? 
• Overhearing this on campus: "You should be a sports bra tester - you're totally cut out for it." 
• The very large women in our theater who wore her wedding gown to the Breaking Dawn midnight premier. 
• Seeing two guys in a distance walking my direction, guessing their ages to be 11 and 14, only to realize as they got closer that they are both 18 year old guys in my ward. 

Awesome:

• Getting a 100% on my Book of Mormon test. 
• To give you a better understanding as to how excited I was to get a 100%, I got a 71% on the first test = lowest grade I've received here at BYU = worst day here at BYU. 
• Midterms are over! Now for the finals :/ 
• I turn 19 on Thanksgiving day . . . although inside I feel like I'm 24, I definitely don't look like I could even be 19. I suppose this will be a blessing in the long run though. Yay for great genetics :)  
• The Breaking Dawn midnight premier. I'm not a fan of the Twilight series, but I'm not an anti-fan either. I haven't read the books, but I will admit I like the movies - bad acting and all. 
• My roommate had a birthday on Thursday = PARTY
• Running into one of my best friends yesterday (from where I used to live before I moved) that I haven't seen in years!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for sleep . . .
. . . except when it causes me to sleep through my 8 a.m. class.

Sorry. . .

Sorry for the lack of post today. Sometimes I have to choose midterms and papers over blogging. I apologize to everyone. Please forgive me. I promise I'll be back soon.  :)

Some Days . . .

Some days, I can no longer stand. . .

. . . on these days, I kneel .

I kneel for as long as I need to. I kneel until I feel my Savior's comforting hand reaching down to help lift me back up. He is always there for me, and I am so grateful for that. I know that all I can do is put my faith in God and trust that he's watching over me and has a plan for me. God is perfect, and he has perfect timing.

Sadly, half the time I'm just too impatient to remember this. But I'm trying . . .  I'm trying.

My Dream

One of my major goals in life is to learn how to play the cello. Watching this video amplified that dream even more.     I love it  - it's so beautiful and inspiring. 

You Are a Masterpiece

Never forget how incredible you are.

Awkward and Awesome Saturday!!

Awkward:

• Our washers are moody here and sometimes steal our money. When that happens, we're supposed to walk to the central building and ask for a reimbursement. Hi umm . . .  can I have 50 cents back please??  
• Walking around the library by myself while carrying a map and wearing a pair of earphones. Nothing says, "I'm a freshman" like doing the audio library tour. 
• Hearing somebody call my name in the cafeteria only to realize after looking all around that they were shouting for a different Emily. THERE ARE TOO MANY EMILY'S IN THIS WORLD PEOPLE! 
• Being kicked out of a group study room in the library that I didn't reserve. 
• Falling asleep in the library with my laptop on my lap only to wake up to a stranger next to me saying, "You studying for nutrition too?" Umm hi . . . nice to meet you. Wait. Were you looking at my screen while I was sleeping? Creep. 
• The fact that 3 of the 5 posts above occurred in the library.

Awesome:

• The classical music section of the library. 
• Even better? The classical music section of the library playing christmas music. 
• The helium tank my roommate's mom sent us in the mail. (Did she really think we'd use it to blow up balloons?) ha I guess it's a nice thought :) 
• Getting to go do service this morning. It was a great way to start off my day :) 
• Making a wish at 11:11 am AND pm on 11/11/11 (Does that make my wish 11 times more likely to come true?)
• Getting to observe kindergartners through a hidden observation window. For the first time in my life I literally felt like a fly on the wall . . . and I loved it :) haha 
• One of my roommates laughs at EVERYTHING I say . . .  she probably doesn't even think anything of it, but to be honest it always makes me feel so good that at least one person thinks my sarcastic remarks are funny.  
• Blind date tonight! I'm just going to assume it's going to be awesome :) 
• My little brothers bought my mom rollerblades for her birthday. Yep! She's officially a Roski Rollerblader now :) 

And as a bonus post just for you:

My NOT Awesome List:

• I'm out of canned peaches. 
• Having all my midterms in the same week. 
• Having a non-stop headache since I can remember. 
• Did I mention I'm out of canned peaches?

Comment below with you own awkwards and awesomes!

I Need A Hero . . .

In the spirit of 11/11/11, here is my wish (I wrote it in poetic form). Please play the song as you read - they're intended to go together :) And don't forget to make a wish yourself!

I need a hero.

I need a hero who understands me.

I need a hero who will love and respect me. 

I need a hero I can open my heart to, without being scared he'll just hand it right back.

I need a hero who will be there for me through the thick and thin, and through the joys and pains of life. 

I need a hero who will hold me all through the night, and carry me in his thoughts through the day.

I need a hero who will love me most when I least deserve his love. 

I need a hero who will catch my tears as they run down my cheek. 


I need a hero who will appreciate me. 

I need a hero . . .

--------

. . . And when I find my hero,

I will understand him.

I will love and respect him.

I will listen when he opens his heart to me, and make sure he knows I'll never leave.

I will be there for him through the thick and thin, and through the joys and pains of life.

I will be there with him through the night, and keep him in my thoughts through the day.

I will love him most when he least deserves my love.

I will catch his tears as they run down his cheek.

I will appreciate him.

I will be his hero.

My "Aha" Moment

My entire life, I have always been a perfectionist - especially when it came to school. In high school, I would not accept anything lower than a 97%. That being said, I have never considered myself naturally smart. I have always believed that I only did well in school because I worked hard and spent many hours studying. When I came to college, I knew that school was going to be even more difficult and I would probably be spending countless hours studying in the library. Oh how true that was. But what made it even worse was that even with these long nights of studying, I still wasn't doing well on exams. One day, as I fell into bed with not a single ounce of energy left in my body, I knew something needed to change. My stress levels were so high, and I was constantly feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. This is when I had my "aha" moment. I realized that no matter what I did, I had no control over the outcome of things in my life; all I could control were my efforts. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it completely turned my life around. I learned that as long as I knew I tried my best, it was okay to accept whatever outcome came my way. If I did poorly on a test, but knew I had studied as much as I could, then I was okay with that. No longer did the outcome matter, just my efforts. I know that God will lead my life in the direction it is supposed to go as long as I am doing my part. I have been so much happier since I've taken this approach in my life, and I challenge you to try it for yourself.  :)

Trick-or-Food!

Remember how I mentioned trick-or-treating on my Awkward and Awesome post? Well here are the pics to prove it. I had not been trick-or-treating in years and the idea of going did not even cross my mind. But when all my roommates and guy friends said they were going, I decided to join in on the fun. Let me tell you though - it was SO embarrassing. The only thing that kept me motivated was the fact that I was getting free candy, and as a poor college student, you'll do just about anything for free stuff. In fact, when they opened the door, I wanted to shout, "Trick-or Food!" just to see if they'd donate something to my "Poor College Student Food Bank".  I'm actually thinking about trying that next year . . . what do you think?

Photo Credit: Kendra K.

Ice Cream, Ice Cream! We all KISS for Ice Cream!

So here at my apartment we have a little rule: "If you kiss a guy for the first time, you bring home a gallon of ice cream for your roommates . . . If it's your first kiss EVER, you bring home two gallons of ice cream." Good rule, right? Ya we think so too. Anyways, say hello to Luke and Emily! They're way cute, right?

As you can imagine, we all were very excited about these two, because we knew ice cream would soon be on the way . . . or at least we thought. The second Emily would walk in the door from a date, we would shout, "Ice Cream?!?" and she would always say, "No." After many episodes of this, my roommates began to lose hope in them. But I decided to take an awkward and persistent approach instead. Every time I was around Luke, I would bug him and be as invasive as possible about getting him to kiss Emily. Finally one day, I saw Luke walking up the stairs towards our apartment and I said, "Did you kiss Emily yet?!" He responded with, "I don't know, ask her." I was so excited by this response, I cut in front of him and ran up the stairs to Emily as quickly as I could. When I asked if she had kissed Luke, she said, "What?" Then Luke walked into the kitchen behind me and said, "No, I was just kidding." I was so mad that they tricked me, I grabbed Luke by the shoulders and said, "Luukkke!! I want some ice cream! Please kiss Emily so I can have some ice cream!" Right then he said, "You want some ice cream?" and then grabbed Emily and kissed her in front of all of us five roommates plus one of our guy friends! As we were all screaming and cheering with excitement, Luke bent down and pulled ice cream out of his backpack for all of us. It was a great night and one that I will always remember.  :) 

Photo Credit: Luke R.

Just a Thought for the Day

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. No matter what your personal religious beliefs are,  here's a great video that I wanted to share with you. Please take a moment and watch it - you won't regret it.   :) 

Awkward and Awesome Saturday!!

So there's this little thing I like to call Awkward and Awesome Saturday...it's pretty self-explanatory. But just in case you're one of those individuals who never understands self-explanatory stuff, don't worry, I'll clue you in. Basically it's just a post about awkward and awesome things that happened to me this week. Feel free to comment below with your own awkward's and awesome's...I'd love to hear them!

Awkward:

•  Laughing so hard snot came out of my nose . . . right in front of a boy. 
• Putting on my grey down jacket (i.e. my puffy toasted marshmallow) and walking outside only to realize it's a nice sunny day. Overdressed much?
• Being late for my 8 a.m. class. This wouldn't be so bad if my assigned seat wasn't in the middle of the row. Umm excuse me...pardon me...I'm so sorry....Yes, I did sleep in....Yes, I know sleeping in is bad. Come on people be nice and stop glaring at me. Just pull your knees in and let me through.
• Trick or treating. Hi Sir....Yes, I know I'm too old, but I'm also a poor college student, so please just give me some candy...or some food would be nice too. 
• Walking into the wrong chemistry class and not realizing it until the lecture started. 
• Playing music off my laptop in the quiet zone of the library, only to realize AFTER I turned the music all the way up that I plugged my earphones into the wrong hole. Oops. 
• In the last post, I was trying to figure out if "BEAR with me" or "BARE with me" was correct. I was pretty sure it was "bare", so that's what I went with. But later on after looking it up, this is what I found: “Bear with me,” the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. “Bare with me” would be an invitation to undress. Yeah . . . I apologize to those of you that read the post before I fixed it. Please know that no such invitation was intentionally given out. 

Awesome:

• Going home last weekend!! I loved it so much - I didn't want to leave.
• Being sent back to Utah with a cooler full of food from my mama. . . .thank you! :) 
• Clothes shopping with my mom. New clothes + spending time with my mom = pure happiness. 
• My roommates . . . they make me laugh and smile everyday.
• Our quote wall . . . ha oh the things that are said here.
• Our secret quote wall . . .  :) 
• Canned peaches....end of story. 
• While I was at home, my roommates decorated my wall and left brownies (YUM!) on my desk. 

Yes I know! It's only the second post and I already figured out how to upload a picture on here. It's your lucky day :)  

Photo Credit: Kendra K.

Peaches

Hey everyone! My name is Emily and I have NEVER blogged before, so please bear with me. Just a little secret...I have always been technologically challenged. I'm telling ya people - like major difficulties. So figuring out how to create a blog is a huge step for me. If you're really lucky, a picture might just pop up on here some day...like I said, if you're lucky. Just don't hold your hopes too high. Baby steps, right?
Anyhow, for starters I thought I'd tell you a little bit about myself. Here are some random facts:

• I grew up in Idaho, but I'm currently living in Utah as a student at Brigham Young University. 
• I'm trying to get into the nursing program, which is very competitive here... (can't we all just be friends??)
• I LOVE peaches...especially canned ones...I live off of those here (is that dangerous?)
• I love running, road cycling, and mountain biking. 
• I'm a grammar freak (it's TWO, TO, and TOO; THEY'RE, THEIR, and THERE; YOUR and YOU'RE, and lastly my favorite - it's "My friend and I"....NOT "Me and my friend") Ha have I proved my point?
• I grew up with three brothers (so as you can imagine, living with five female roommates has been an adjustment)
• I love my family - more than anything in this world. 
• I love my faith and my religion. I would not be the person I am today without it. 
• I am surrounded with wonderful people who inspire me to be a better person everyday. 

Welps before I get too sappy, I better stop. I hope this first post wasn't too boring. I promise I'll get better (ha let's at least hope I do). Ta ta for now :)