You're Still Here and I Love You For It!

Wow! Seriously! Y'all are STILL following my blog? I am amazed and VERY impressed! But most of all thankful! Thank you for sticking around while I get my act together! I LOVE YOU ALL!
For reals.
Things have been a whirlwind! I can't wait to catch everyone up.
Wait...what WAS my last blog entry? Hold on while I catch myself up...
Yikes.
It's been a while.
The quick and dirty:
I moved out of my parent's basement and into a FABULOUS little apartment with a FABULOUS roommate that I can't wait to introduce y'all to! (Don't know where all the "y'alls" are coming from but I regret nothing.)
Got a "promotion" at work that is keeping me run off my feet (I'm the Accounts Receivable gal at Froghair-Check us out at froghair.com)
Got my computer fixed
Got my camera fixed
I've been called as a Relief Society teacher and I love, Love, LOVE IT!
Went on an incredible trip to Boston (Pictures coming soon!)
Rediscovered my Pinterest addiction. (Seriously. It's a problem. :)
PAINTED said new FABULOUS apartment (Pictures also coming soon!)
Joined a writing group and let people actually read my writing. SCARIEST THING EVER! Yeah, I'm working on a novel. Say what? I'll fill you in on it more in the future. For now I'm working on the hardest part: the rough draft. And then the next step gets even harder! Editing!
And just been having all kinds of crazy adventures that make me realize how hard life is and that it isn't going to get any easier the older I get so let's do this thing!
Thanks again for not giving up on me. I don't make any promises about updating daily or weekly but I will keep writing. I'm constantly amazed at how BUSY my life is. And I don't say that to brag either. I'm seriously a busy lady with callings and activities and other responsibilities.
Hope you're all doing well! I can't wait to share more!
Love, Love, Love to you!
Em

Friday Findings August 17, 2012

Hello lovelies! It's FRIDAY! LOVE this day! I am excited to share my findings with you today and today's finding features the wonderfully talented Lindsey Stirling! She's the only hip-hop violinist I know of anyway! Her speciality is song covers. I found her a while back on YouTube and became a fan that way. Then a few months ago she sent out a call for extras in a music video she was shooting at a nearby town and I said, "What the heck." and went.
Here it is in all its glory. It was an intense night of shooting and I was just an extra in the crowd! I can't imagine the kind of energy it takes to perform live for hours at a time!
P.S. If you liked it you might want to check out her Zelda medley as well!
Enjoy your Friday!
Em

Friday Findings August 10, 2012

Random post today but today's Friday Finding is BANGS! Mine, to be precise. And they work too! At least I like 'em.

Yes. They happened. 

Having curly hair you would think this wouldn't work. And I thought that too, but I took the plunge and just did it. (I'm currently experiencing a season or three of changes. Oh boy. More on that to come in a REAL blog post. Seriously. One day...soon?)
So, why do YOU care that I got bangs? Well, you don't have to. I'm not fishing for comments on my new hairdo. I'm just saying...when's the last time you discovered something new about yourself? If you're like me you think you've got yourself all figured out and then, just like clockwork, BOY are you ever proven wrong. So why wait? Go out and try something this weekend you've always wanted to, or maybe something you've sworn never to do just to shake things up. (For me it was sushi. Don't like it, but I tried it and I lived.)
Go head. Take the plunge and find something new about yourself today!
Em

Real life...

I wrote this post a while back and then never published it for some reason.
Weird.
ANYWAY, without further ado, please enjoy:

I've been texting back and forth with a good friend tonight and we talked a bit about worry.
I do it.
A LOT. Probably more than I ever let on.
A brief example of today's worries:

Is my phone alarm going to go off tomorrow morning or will I be late for work?
What if a tire blows while I'm on the freeway?
Am I going to say something incredibly stupid while I'm on the phone at work today and screw something important up that my boss was counting on?
What if the paint I pick for my new apartment is too dark?
What if I never have enough money to buy my own house?

And so on and so forth.
You know what worrying does for you? NOTHING. It accomplishes nothing and it certainly does nothing for my mental or physical well-being. And the most ironic part of all? Worrying is comforting to me. It's familiar. It's just something I DO. For example, life has been insane and after months of stress and worry I realized I needed to do something nice for myself and so I scheduled a massage. Now, massages are NOT necessities, in fact this was a total luxury purchase, but I had been in work/production/moving mode for so many months that I didn't know how to relax. So I scheduled a massage and hoped that the masseuse would help me relax. The lady was wonderful, but started to scold me a few minutes after working on my back, neck, and shoulders.
"What have you been doing? Your back is like a brick wall! It's like armour back here!"
In my head I'm going, "I KNOW. That's why I came here."
She worked on my back for quite a while but eventually had to quit before she got all the knots out because we were out of time. As I was leaving she told me, "Other ladies come here to get pampered. You need to come back because you need to take care of those knots. My hands and arms are sore from working on you!"

Like I said, worry does nothing for you. It's not a good motivator and it takes me so long to relax after I've been in high stress mode. However, what always happens when I start feeling more relaxed (and rational) is that I can usually get a good grip on myself and talk myself down. The worries I had in the beginning seem a little silly even:

If your phone doesn't go off then you will be late and that's just how your day is going to go. Whatever. Move on and make up for the lost time later.
If your tire blows you already know how to change a tire like a boss. Do it and get on with your life.
You're still learning how to do your job. You might mess up. Hey, in fact I can GUARANTEE that you WILL mess up at one point. You are not perfect but you are a dang fast learner and you will know better for the next time.
So don't paint the entire room. Just paint one wall and see if it works. If you don't like it then guess what? You can buy more paint and fix it. (Le gasp!)
Then you never have enough money to buy a house. There are plenty of other options like renting, leasing, etc. YOU HAVE OPTIONS.

In closing here is something I am trying to remember and hope that you will too: Life is so much better when you aren't letting worry dictate your every move and your every emotion. Try taking a little time for you and do something you love whether it's painting your toenails a fresh, new color, reading a favorite book (Hello old friend!), or impulse buying that cupcake that looks so yummy. (Yes, they're not good for you, but saying yes when you usually tell yourself no is good for your soul. Honest.)
You don't have to try and schedule a full blown vacation. (That might be more stress than it's worth.) Just be nice to yourself in little ways. It is so important that you make and (MOST importantly) take the time for you! I'm pretty sure you already make the time for everyone else in your life and do what they need and ask of you. Guess what? You are just as important as they are. Treat yourself like you treat everyone else and let me know how it goes!
Until next time!
Em

What's something nice that you do for yourself when you need a little pick-me up?

Friday Findings August 3, 2012

Hey friends! Wow. I almost forgot about Friday Findings! It's been a heckuva week with moving and other fun adventures. I will start REAL blogging soon! As soon as my computer gets fixed anyway. (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!) I have lots to tell you and I can't wait to share!
In the meantime here is my Friday Finding:
No, it's not a YouTube video today. Yay? Boo? Do you guys like those things anyway? Today's Friday's Finding is a book: What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor.
I initially checked out Keary's website (http://www.kearytaylor.com/) a while back on the recommendation from a friend and I was so intrigued by her stories. Then she announced that she'd written ANOTHER book (What I Didn't Say). I'd wanted to read it as soon as I read the synopsis for it. It comes in two versions: an ebook or you can get an actual physical copy.
I coveted this for a while and when Keary offered a sweepstakes to win a signed copy of her book I jumped at the chance and promptly forgot all about it...until she emailed me to tell me I WON! It was a wonderful surprise and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. We emailed back and forth a couple of times and turns out we went to Jr. High together and even ran into each other at this year's Life, The Universe, and Everything Conference and didn't even realize it! Sigh. My one brush with fame. :) Anyway, when the book came I sat right down and read it all in one night.
What I Didn't Say is a wonderful contemporary YA novel that explores the life of a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone. Jake's Homecoming night accident changes his life forever. He struggles in learning to live with his new set of circumstances, regrets all the things he didn't say, and eventually finds that losing your voice isn't the worst thing that can happen to a person.
I don't want to really give away anything important but just know that Keary balances the book's emotions wonderfully with highs and lows and I loved the subplots running through the novel as well. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth that this book provided and found myself laughing out loud as well as tearing up in a few places. (I also later had to apologize for shouting at my mother for interrupting me at the middle of the book climax. I was pretty wrapped up in it.)
So, in closing I would definitely recommend this book. It's definitely for a little older YA crowd but check it out!
Oh wait...remember how I said no more YouTube videos...well, I lied. Not exactly lied per say, but changed my mind twenty seconds ago and am including the book trailer from Keary's website. Enjoy!
Em

Friday Findings July 27, 2012

Holy Cannoli! How is July almost over? Man alive. Well, today's finding is another video from YouTube. (LOVE that site...obviously. Maybe too much. Hmmmm. Don't worry. I'll throw some variety in here sooner than you think.)
There are some crazy-talented people in this world and Danny Macaskill is one of them. The site where they shot this video is also amazing and whoever did the cinematography is super skilled! Just enjoy. (P.S. My favorite part just might be around 1:07)
Enjoy and have a GREAT Friday!
Em

A Prequel to Adventures in Moving

Hello friends,
Yes, it is just about that time! The time where I get to move. Again.
Wow. I feel like I do this a lot, and yet I'm surprised by the process every single time. Seriously though, in the last eight years I have moved a grand total of twelve times. This includes moving to school, back home, all the times I moved cities on my mission, back to school and back, then moving out after graduation, and then moving back home when I lost my job and my income.
Wow.
I should write a book about moving and how to do it as a single. It mainly involves boxing a LOT of stuff up and leaving it at your parents house. Ha ha! Although I am TRYING to not do that this time. As the time winds down my list of things to buy keeps getting longer and longer (box spring and mattress, towels, laundry detergent, socks, etc).
I can't wait to keep you in the loop of my upcoming adventures and I will hopefully have pictures to come soon IF I can get my camera fixed. It got dropped over the 4th of July weekend festivities and I'm trying to get that taken care of asap.
Any tips on how to move quickly and efficiently? Thanks!
Em

Friday Findings July 20, 2012

Um...so I REALLY apologize if you absolutely hate this song, but oh man. This is probably the best thing I've seen all week.

Karma? Hope so!

So, remember how I sometimes give stuff away on my blog? This is something I will definitely keep up in the future because now I know how you winners feel! I entered to win a copy of Keary Taylor's brand new "What I Didn't Say" and I WON! We've emailed back and forth and it should be arriving in the next few days. I seriously cannot wait.
Man, I am such a blog stalker. I've followed her for a while because the writing process fascinates me and she's pretty good about posting trivia relating to the life of a writer. When she announced she was writing a new book and then announced it was done in a matter of months I KNEW I needed to read this book. However, limited resources (Aka, an ebook reader and reliable library) kept me from checking this book out. Now I will have one of my very own. So, sigh. This is a very selfish post, but I was just pretty darn happy about winning. Here's a link to her blog and the post. Have a lovely day!
Em
http://www.kearytaylor.com/2012/07/what-i-didnt-say-giveaway-winner.html

Friday Findings July 13th

Partay for Friday the 13th! I guess I should share something slightly spooky or Twilight-zoney, however today I am sharing my favorite finding of the week.
Wisdom teeth aftermath.
There are two videos so I put the shortest one first. It's pretty hilarious but my favorite one is the 2nd one. (30 min long! And people from Utah you'll prolly recognize a lot of the scenery!)
Enjoy this and happy Friday!
Em

Friday Findings July 6, 2012

Today's Friday Findings is brought to you by YouTube and Benedict Cumberbatch! Yes! That's right! Step right up and check out "Cabin Pressure"! A BBC comedy radio production staring most everyone's favorite detective! Only he's not a detective, he's an airline pilot.
Who works for a one jet company.
For free.
Cabin Pressure follows the adventures of the four employees of the airline company and makes me laugh out loud ALL THE TIME. Which is too bad because it means I can't listen to it at work.
Check it out here and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and do!:

Crafty Crafts and Perfectionism...

If I'm being perfectly honest, I've always been something of a perfectionist. I agonize over my creative creations whether it's a paper for British Lit, frosting a cake, or if I'm tackling a brand-new sewing project. Just ask Mikelle about my meltdown over the apron I made for Tuima's Christmas gift. I don't know what it is about crafts that gets me so anal about details. It's all about being creative and not following the rules right? Sigh. This is a lesson I still need to learn.
Funny enough I LOVE doing crafts whether it's sewing a quilt, making satin flowers pins, or modge-podging the crap out of something. I love sitting back and looking at what I made and going, Wow. I did that? Cool!
Also, as mentioned before, Pinterest is NOT helping matters any. I have a Loooong list of cool stuff I want to make.
Anyways, I just wanted to give an example of my perfectionism at it's best...worst?
Anyway, Ere and I planned out a crafty craft night a week or so ago and just craft whatever the heck we wanted to.
This obviously required a lot of craft supplies as well as chocolate. So we met up at our local Hobby Lobby store and I proceeded to corrupt her from there. (Seriously. Once you get into this crafting thing it's pretty hard to quit. Oh, and p.s. (because I love you all)...if you sign up for Hobby Lobby's weekly email they send you a list of all their sales for the week as well as a coupon for 40% off 1 item of your choice each and EVERY week.)

We split up for a bit as she got her stuff and I got mine. She'd found her inspiration for her collage frame at a local Farmer's Market and I got my idea of putting a quote in a glass frame from a sister's roommate. I already had the frame I wanted and just needed to buy vinyl for the lettering. I didn't know what exact quote I was going to put in the frame, but figured I'd eventually figure it out.
Once we arrived home Ere was able to proceed right away with hers since she already knew what she was doing.
My project....
Yeah....
Here's the other thing about crafts. I cannot make them up out of my head. I NEED an example to look at in order to make sure I am doing it right, that everything is straight, that it doesn't look stupid etc. which is yet another reason why I love Pinterest.
Only this time I had nothing to go from because I was making it all up in my head. All I knew was that I wanted to place a lovely quote in vinyl in my glass see-through frame as well as a silhouette of a bird or a flower. However...which quote or picture was anybody's guess. Ere was WONDERFUL and listened to me read through several dozen of my favorite quotes as I narrowed it down and finally picked a piece from William Butler Yeats' The Stolen Child.
Next came an hour and a half of downloading fonts to find the perfect one.
No joke.
Couldn't find one I liked to save my life. I don't know what it was. They were either too curvy, or too skinny, too bubbly, too swooshy, too pokey, too small, super tacky, way too hideous,  and so on, and so on.
(Seriously, Ere has the patient of a saint. She listened to me whine and moan and just be generally indecisive and picky without ever complaining herself.)
I eventually realized I was getting WAY too invested in fonts so I decided to move on and try and find a picture to include with the quote. Another hour and a half later with no luck of finding the right one (Midnight had come and gone at this point) I just had to call it quits for the night.

The creative zone approximately 11:45 p.m. 

Jess put the finishing touches on her project the next morning and it looked AMAZING!
I however was still looking for a font and a picture.
After finally narrowing it down I was SO ready to print it out on our super awesome Silhouette CAMEO...only to discover that the fonts I'd so meticulously downloaded the night before were not an option on the family's computer.
Wot?
And perhaps they were, I just was not in a good place mentally to figure out how to get them to work.
So...several more hours went by as I narrowed down my font choices AGAIN, going back several times to fonts I had already crossed off the list. I just wanted it to be perfect. There was so much pressure (from myself only) to get it right. Anyone else like this...ever? Please?
THEN it was time to find a picture. (Ere had left long before this point so it was me and my neurosis all alone with options.) I scrolled through the hundreds of pictures of birds and flowers with a speed that left my poor dad scratching his head.
"Why didn't you pick that one?"
"It's not the style I want."
"What's wrong with that one?"
"It just doesn't look right."
However, I must make mention that without my dad this thing never would actually have gotten finished. He's the one that helped me set up the vinyl cutter and made sure it was working properly. Thanks so much for that!
We FINALLY got everything through and printed only to find that I had set the wrong setting on the cutter and it didn't cut all the way through the vinyl.
Whoops.
It was ok. I was so close. This was NOT going to get me down. I simply cut out the whole line of text in one block of black vinyl, lined it up with the grid underneath, and then, armed with a pin, a pair of tweezers, and a very bright light, proceeded to re-cut out every single letter by hand with the pin and peel away the surrounding vinyl leaving only the letters behind.

This actually ended up being a really great thing because I was able to line all the words up perfectly. Ugh. Can you imagine what a pain it would have been if I'd tried to put down every single letter separately? Gross.

I will admit that the tulips were a BEAST to cut out, but I rather like the end effect. 

And TA-DAAAA! Forty-eight hours later it was FINISHED! I am SO pleased with the final project and my perfectionism streak is satisfied as well. I can't WAIT to hang it up in my new apartment!
In closing, I want to apologize for the "Me Me Me Mine Mine Mine". I am just proud that I was able to even FINISH this in one weekend with all the hang-ups that occurred. We're not even going to talk about the previous week's jean skirt project that is sitting in my closet balled up and stuffed in the back. We're just not. 

Friday Findings!

Hey everyone! So...here it is. The first Friday Findings post! (I realize there are only two hours until it's not Friday anymore, but today it's sort of a "better-late-than-never" sort of thing.)
This week features a YUMMY recipe that I discovered on Pinterest. (My downfall.)
It's called Tunnel of Fudge cake. Behold the yumminess!

So, my dad specifically asked for something similar to this for his birthday. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: So, Dad. You told me before what you wanted for your birthday but I can't remember.
Dad: Oh, it's ok. I don't think you can make it.
Me: Wot? Excuse me?
Dad: I mean...!
Me: Challenge Accepted!
Sister: Ha ha ha! Look at her face! That is a serious face. 

So I did a little digging around and found a recipe that was close to what he remembered from a favorite childhood dessert and found this recipe. It's pretty easy. You just throw everything together and go from there. All the ingredients are common kitchen ingredients. The only expensive part would be the walnuts, and I was assured that the walnuts are a must.
One thing to keep in mind when making this. It only takes about 45 minutes to cook but THEN you have to let it cool for three and a half hours for the fudge in the middle to settle/form. Here's a few pictures of the experience:

If you want to try it out you can find it HERE on Pilsbury.com. Thanks for checking it out! Have a wonderful day! See you next time!
Em

Winner for P&P!

Hey everyone! This is a super quick and short post to announce MELISSA is the winner of the DVD's. She's been contacted and I will get it to her asap! Thanks for the new followers and I can't wait for our next contest!
Em

New Friday Themes!

Hey lovelies! It's so nice to see you! And for those joining me from my guest post at Untypically Jia I am so glad to see you! Welcome Welcome Welcome!
I'm in the middle of making new goals and one of them is about Friday! Every Friday I will either post a "Friday's Finding" or "Follower Fridays". 
Friday's Findings will be a post about something new I found during the week whether it be an awesome song (Like THIS post for an example), cool book I read, or funny YouTube video.
Follower Fridays will be where you benefit. Follower Fridays is where I announce free giveaways like I did with Edenbrooke.
And TODAY is going to be a....
FOLLOWER FRIDAY!
Guess what today's prize is?
A brand-new, unwrapped Blu-ray+DVD combo of Pride and Prejudice. (The Keira Knightly version)

(See? See? So pretty!)
All you have to do is follow my blog. I will give you until Monday.
High Noon.
MST.
You're eligible if you're a brand-new follower. You're eligible if you've been with me from the beginning! AND...If you win I will send it to you absolutely FREE!
Yay!
Here's to beautiful times together! Thanks!
Em

Feel All the Feelings...

Things have been a little hectic around here the past few weeks. I got promoted at work and now have to drive to a neighboring city for work but I love what I do. And I will tell you more about it once I get my feet solidly under me!
I just wanted to share a new beautiful song I am utterly obsessed with by Ingrid Michaelson called "End of the World". It was inspired by several zombie apocalypse-type movies she'd watched and it's about finding the one you love as the world as you know it ends... I can picture what's going on in the song so clearly in my head. It makes me want to write a novel just for this one scene.
(Warning-this song is extremely addictive. I must have listened to it over 30 times in two days which lead to dreams about the end of the world which were strangely beautiful.) Hmmmmm.

So...Guess What

I am a Geek Girl and I DON'T CARE!
I think I've known this for a long time, but it's really hitting home as I sit here watching my VHS of The Empire Strikes Back. I can quote just about every single line from this movie AND hum along to any of John William's BRILLIANT songs. (Seriously, there's just something amazingly EPIC about The Imperial March and The Asteroid Field.)
If I'm being perfectly honest...the love of the sci-fi started a LONG time ago (in a galaxy far, far away....)

This is me just not quite believing I'm holding a real Star Wars movie in my hand! Up to this point I'd only ever watched our straight-from-TV copy of Return of the Jedi (commercials included). Imagine my glee when my parents told me there were MORE Star Wars movies. It seemed too good to be true.
(Author's note: I am typing this up as my family is watching The Empire Strikes Back.)
I wish I had a tape recorder going right now so you guys could hear my family debating about whether or not to fast-forward through all the Luke/Yoda moments. One person wants to skip them all, but everyone else is protesting. "That's...That's where all the great philosophical stuff takes place! They're crucial scenes! Yoda's whole, "Try not!" spiel! You can't skip that! Etc."
It's three against one which means we're not skipping any of it. And it's almost midnight on a weeknight. (Our 'No TV on a school night' hasn't been enforced for years.)
Worth it.
One of my sisters firmly believed for YEARS that dad was Han Solo and worried what mom thought every time Han kissed Leia. She eventually figured he must have made these movies before he met mom so it was ok.

Or the time I sincerely believed that Darth Vader was in my parent's bedroom, waiting there to kidnap me. Give me some credit. I think I was six or seven and my dad sounds like this when he snores. (Ha ha! Love ya, Dad!)
So yeah, geekery has been a big part of my life. Basically, this whole post is just to say, The Empire Strikes Back is pretty much my all-time, hands-down FAVORITE movie and I'm ready to watch it again. Anyone care to join me?
Em

The reason for my absence....

Hello lovelies!

Just wanted to let you know that I am still alive and well! Work is keeping me pretty dang busy and a new calling at church is threatening to run me right off my feet but I love it all the same. 

Just wanted to give you a heads up! I am now Auntie Em! That's right! The newest member of our family arrived May 19th early in the a.m. and she is getting so much love!

Meet Rosie Ray!

The family made a party of it and camped out from about 10:30 p.m. to 5:15 a.m. and we couldn't be more thrilled! Welcome, welcome to you my lovely little niece! You are going to be so loved!

Woah, what the-

So I know I lured a whole bunch of new followers with the promise of a book giveaway and then abruptly dropped off the face of the earth. My apologies to you all but a GREAT BIG Congrats to Jana for winning a copy of Edenbrooke! 
One of the reasons it's taken me so long to get a new post up is Blogger recently CHANGED a whole bunch of blog stuff, from the way the post page looks, to the layout of "Blogs I Follow", and it's just really weirded me out and made it hard for me to learn my way around a site I already had down pretty well. 
Change is hard but I am persevering!
Yay. 
So...catch up...
I participated in a Single's Ward activity night where those who had served missions put together displays of both both cultural and spiritual reminders from our missions.
In our church the guys serve two year missions while the ladies serve 18 months. You fill out an application explaining any special skills you have like speaking a foreign language etc and send it into the Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT. You then have to play the waiting game while waiting for a big white envelope that will explain where in the world you will go. I was assigned to the Texas Houston East mission. 
It was SO much fun pulling out all my mission memorabilia and I got so super distracted going through old photos of mission companions and ward members, reading old journal entries, and flipping through mission planners that I was almost late for the evening!
Here's what my table looked like:

 
I even brought treats! The cookies on the bottom left side are a favorite from a family in my last area. We call them Texas Hurricane cookies as the recipe was given out during one of our hurricane evacuations during my time in Texas. I set out my mission scriptures, my official call, my mission plaque, our teaching manual (Preach My Gospel), our mission rule book (aka the White Handbook) my name tag (ALWAYS worn while a missionary) as well as one of the Helping Hands t-shirts I received while cleaning up after Hurricane Ike and the pamphlets we would hand out on the street when contacting potential investigators. 

Other tables that night included displays from Africa, Japan, the Ukraine, and Germany. It was so much fun going from table to table and checking out all the cool stuff people had brought back and hearing even cooler stories from each mission.

That night I realized how grateful I was to have experienced time as an official missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All of my mission stuff had been sitting in a box in my closet since my last move and getting it all out and reading through old letters, flipping through mission planners, and basically taking a walk down memory lane was so rewarding. 

Serving as a missionary gave me a chance to make new friends for life. (And although I may be terrible at keeping in touch with the people I met, I pretty much think about you guys everyday! Both missionaries, church members, and investigators alike!) The 18 months I spent in Texas with everyone were life-changing and I absolutely cherish the time I spent there. 

I realized that I'd like to go through all my Texas keepsakes a little more often. I find it incredible that I've been home for (almost) three years! I love seeing everyone's updates on Facebook as well as emails and texts. I definitely consider the people and missionaries of Texas to be an extension of my family!

Serving a mission means leaving friends and family behind for eighteen months to two years. As a missionary you definitely look forward to coming home, back to the family and friends who have been so good about keeping you in the loop (FYI, missionaries LOVE letters no matter who they're from!) The work can be terribly difficult some days and it's hard to avoid counting down the number of weeks and months left before you get to return home. 

But then, before you realize it, your time is up and it's time to pack up your belongings, say goodbye, get on a plane, and fly back to the life you knew before.You arrive home to hugs, tears, and familiar faces but you find there's an ache in your heart as well whenever you think about the wonderful people that you left behind. 

You go to the Stake President's office the day you arrive home and you talk about your mission when suddenly, before you're ready, he tells you to take off your missionary tag and just like that, you're no longer an official, set-apart missionary.
You work on getting back in the swing of things, and you keep discovering that you're changed forever. (For example, it's an adventure just going to the store by yourself for the first time in 18 months!)

As the weeks, months, and years pass you listen for news of your friends back in your mission area and celebrate their triumphs as well as mourn their losses alongside them. The mission adds a new depth to your life and you are never the same again. 

In closing, I wasn't planning to write all of that. I started out just wanting to fill you in on my comings and goings and apparently my mission is a big part of that. Thanks to everyone who supported my decision to go and who showered us with love while there!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!
               -Em

Blog Follower Giveaway! Woot!

Hey peeps! Guess what? I'm trying something different and offering a BLOG FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY! That's right, for those of you that follow my blog you have the opportunity this Wednesday to win...

Julianne's mom gave me a copy of this book a few weeks ago along with a very sweet note. She thought I'd really like Edenbrooke and wanted me to read it and then pass it along to someone else in order to get the word out about her daughter's new book. I was more than thrilled to have a brand-new book in my hands as I LOVE TO READ and am always on the lookout for new stories. The gorgeous cover didn't hurt either. (I know the saying goes, "Never judge a book by its cover" but I totally and forever will ALWAYS  do just that.) By the fourth chapter I'd absolutely  fallen in love with this book, the clever dialoge, and witty characters.

Edenbrooke begins with Marianne Daventry attempting to escape the unwanted attentions of a rather enthusiastic (and entirely too old) suitor. Having recently lost her mother and now living in town, separated from her father and sister, Marianne finds her current situation lonely. She sees a surprise invitation to visit her sister in the country as just the thing to lift her spirits while her grandmother sees it as a fine opportunity to make a smart match. Highway robberies, mistaken identities, and kidnappings certainly keep things from becoming too dull. Where's a girl supposed to find time for love?

I think if you're into British Lit you'll really like this book. It's written a little less formally than Jane Austen's novels but keeps enough of the "slang" and customs of the time to make you feel like you've stepped inside the Regency era. Julianne Donaldson does a fabulous job at subtle writing. I've found that a lot of first-time authors bash their readers over the head with clues and foreshadowing just to make sure that the reader GETS IT. Not Julianne. She did a fabulous job building characters, weaving plot and subplot through the chapters, and writing believable dialog, (not an easy thing to do either)! All in all, a fabulous book!

If you'll recall I was given Edenbrooke with the stipulation that I pass it along. Well...like I said, I loved it so much I just couldn't bear to give it away. So I went out and bought a second copy which is what you'll receive if you're the winner of the blog follower give away! You can try to find yourself a copy, but Fair Warning! I received an email on Friday informing me that Edenbrooke has SOLD OUT at Deseret Book! You can find it at Costco and  Barnes and Noble here in Utah and New York. BUT...if you follow me you'll have the chance to get this book for FREEEEEE!

(See the book I'm holding in my hands? By Wednesday this could very well be YOUR VERY OWN COPY!)

Following my blog is easy! Just click "Follow"at the top left hand of the screen. Feel free to follow with your screen or blog name! However, anonymous follows are not eligible for Edenbrooke because I have no idea who you are! The winner will be chosen at random with the help of Random.org. If you win I will ship this book to you free of charge! (Just to be fair this giveaway is available to my international friends as well!)
You've got until Wednesday at 12:00 MST to follow my blog publicly and I'll announce the winner soon afterwards! Good luck! I can't wait to see who wins!
Em
P.S. Check out Julianne Donaldson's website HERE. 

April Happenin's

Hey hey hey! Yes, TWO posts in a day! Ha ha! You are so lucky. Just call me magnanimous.
So...APRIL. LOTS of fun and exciting times! First of all, Tuima came home from French Cooking school in Boston. PARTY TIME! Here's a couple of pics from our "Jane Party". A Jane party includes LOTS of tasty food with incredibly nerdy conversations. We stopped by a FABULOUS little restaurant in Provo called the Nicolitalia Pizzeria. Ha ha. I thought it was Italian, but turns out, it's a Boston-themed restaurant. You know, just in case she was missing Boston in the few days she'd been away. Here's a few pics of us and the amount of napkins we used per person/dish.
Tuima's neat singular napkin...

Ere used a few more than that...

 

And Andy?...Well, he used a few more than that. 

Ok, ok. In Andy's case it wasn't his fault. The napkin holder made it REALLY difficult to pull out napkins. The rest of the night was spent laughing and watching the brilliant Joss Whedon's Buffy. 

Of course, with Easter fast approaching the only thing to do was make as many Easter themed treats as possible, as it only comes around once a year. Tuima came up with a fabulous idea: Sheep cake pops! Just you wait:

I hope Tuima wasn't too appalled that we just used a cake mix!

 Toss in a block of cream cheese and mix it all up and until it gets to be about the same consistency as Play-Doh. Yum yum!

Tuima's fabulous sister volunteered her talents and helped give our little sheepies their pretzel legs. 

A quick stint in the refrigerator and they were ready to stand on their own little feet. A lovely white chocolate bath and and a little coconut dusting and these guys are ready to go!

Here's our little flock, complete with the black sheep of the family.

 Now, our Easter eggs weren't such a hit, but they tasted just fine.

The three of us got together that weekend and made more tasty Easter treats! This was just the beginning of a lovely, LOVELY evening and began innocently enough...I mean, what harm could BAKING do?

                                   

(FEEL the creativity power! Ere FREE HANDED that bunny!)

                               

And from there? An inevitable flour fight.

I didn't even escape unscathed. Le sigh...

Now...as was mentioned before, Jane is currently being all cool and attending a fancy-schamncy cooking school in Boston. While there she gets to mingle with all sorts of amazing people. One of her colleagues is an incredibly amazing world-traveler foodie who just about freaked when he heard she was from Provo. He made the claim that the best restaurant he'd ever eaten at was in Provo, UT called Communal. Of course we HAD to check it out. And WOW. Wow wow wow. A little hipstery for my taste, but INCREDIBLY tasty and WORTH the price. We were able to sit at the bar and watch the cooks at work. Tuima was in Heaven of course watching these guys sling sauces around, braise pork loin, sprinkle spices over steaming dishes, and duck and weave around the kitchen like a tornado on steroids. The idea of Communal is to have each person order a different dish and then share with your party. We started off with a fennel tart garnished with tomato jam, creamy Gouda, and grilled spring onions. The next dish included roasted sweet potatoes and molasses glazed apple and THEN the main dish...the main dish consisted of the most absolute, hands-down, flavorful pork belly in the world.
THE. WORLD, people.
Next stop of the evening was Sparks. A dry bar/lounge. I'd give it 3.5 stars. The service wasn't that great, but it's a fun place to hang out with friends. They've got a pretty nice selection of virgin drinks. Definitely on the sweet side. It was a nice way to top of our savory dinner.

Last stop of the evening was The Cabin. (SO FUN!) Of course, we came prepared. LOTS of chocolate!

The flour fight was only the beginning. Tuima taught us the basics of boxing and Ere showed us some pretty awesome Tae-Kwon Do moves as well.

We finished out the evening doing what we do best. LOTS of creativity!Writing and drawing and talking. Thanks ladies for such an awesome time! Let's do it again soon!