Blessing number 5 :)

Blessing number 5

 Service and POPCORN!

 Every Friday at the institute they hold a "Food and Forum" which is a mini-fireside followed by lunch. Today was the first time that I went, and it was a very good experience, so I think I'll be making it a regular thing.

We talked about service because a couple had just gotten back from their mission in Nauvoo. They shared some really awesome stories about families that had been converted. They also told us that in all the years they've been doing the Nauvoo pageant they haven't been rained out even once! Craziness I tell you!

Anyway, after the speakers were done we moved into the gym for hamburgers. The refreshments were leftover from the Halloween dance, which was fine by me because it was absolutely delicious popcorn from the Popcorn Shop!

Have you ever heard of The Popcorn Shop? It's an awesome business here in Poky that makes every flavor of popcorn imaginable. My favorite is Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake :) The first time you go in you get a free cup of popcorn free, which rocks. 

The flavors were Tutti-Frutti and Pumpkin Pie :) I actually don't know if Tutti-Frutti was a flavor, but that's what it tastes like. That one's pretty cool because it's orange and purple for Halloween :)

After the lunch was over a bunch of people started grabbing the leftover bags from the buns and stuffing them with the popcorn. Kenna, Mystie, and I decided that it was a fabulous idea because this popcorn is usually pretty expensive. Here's what we came away with:

Just so you know, bags this big at The Popcorn Shop cost upwards of $10, so this is a huge treat! YUMM!

Blessing number 4

I would definitely have to say that one of my biggest blessings in life is music! I posted another blog about my dear friend Bob a couple of weeks ago, so a lot of this might repeat. Read on anyway!

Bob and Me :)

It's funny, I was really bored on Tuesday while Kenna and Mystie were at class, so I pulled out my violin and started playing. From MEMORY! I didn't have a hymn book in front of me or anything and I must've played 30 songs. I don't know what got into me honestly! I used to never do that, but I all of a sudden have this HUGE desire to play almost constantly :) I love that feeling. One of my good friends, Derek, came over and was kind enough to just sit there and let me play. I asked him his favorite hymn and then played it. Bob and I played for a couple of hours I think.

I used to never play in front of people (especially solos!) unless it was family, but I played for these people that I've only known for a few months...and I loved the feeling.

Now, one of my favorite church songs is called Believe by Cherie Call. Here are the lyrics if you're interested...

I've Been There And I've Seen With Those Eyes
Green With Envy, Dark With Anger
Or Just Plain Blue
And I Know The Last Thing You Really Want To Hear
Is Just What I'm About To Tell You
But You Have To Hear The Truth
I Know It's Stylish To Be Cynical These Days
So There's Only One Thing Left To Do

Believe
Sometimes Traffic Lights Are Green,
Sometimes People Keep Their Word
In Spite Of Everything You've Heard, It's True That
Sometimes Nice Guys Finish First,
Sometimes True Love Really Lasts
Sometimes All The World Can Change
If Only You Believe

Still You Say The Phone Rings Every Time You Want To Take A Bath
Or Take A Nap, Or You Just Need Peace
But Tell Me This, Did You Really Want To Be
So All Alone As You Are Now?
Don't You Need A Friend Who Knows
It's In The Way You See The Glass
Once You Know That It's Half Full, It Overflows
Every Time That You

Believe
Sometimes Christmases Are White,
Sometimes Wedding Days Are Clear
Sometimes Rain Falls Right On Time
To Wash Away Your Tears
Sometimes Cornfields Touch The Sky,
Sometimes Sunsets Make You Cry
Sometimes You See What Jesus Sees
When You Look In The Mirror

And Love Isn't Something That Is Just For Everyone Else
It's For You
Believe What I Say Is True
In Spite Of All The Ways You Feel Right Now
You've Got To Find Out Some Way Somehow To

Believe
Sometimes The Good Live Long,
Sometimes Kindness Reaches Far
Sometimes You Hear Your Favorite Song
Right When You Get In The Car
You Don't Have To Move The Sky
But You Can Chase The Clouds Away
You Don't Have To Change The World,
But You Might Do It Anyway

Believe
Believe Sometimes Nice Guys Finish First
You Don't Have To Change The World,
But You Might Do It Anyway


I bolded my favorite line in case you couldn't tell :)

I'm getting behind!

I'm starting to get behind on my blogging...I forgot about my goal to blog every day in November to say what I'm grateful for...so I guess I'm starting now! Hold on, it could very well be a wild ride :)

Blessing #1

My roommates! 

This one is Kenna and we went to the Halloween 

Party as an evil greek goddess and a good greek goddess.

We have our differences, but we always end up

getting over it the next day at the very latest.

I have been very VERY blessed to have Mystie and Kenna as roommates.

Blessing #2

Our ongoing war with Apartment #10

For awhile Apartment #10 and I didn't

really get along (boy problems...)

but now we're on good terms and the war is back on!

The writing on the window came from

the girls living in the Collegiate House

but my roommate is the one who put the 

Facebook Like icon under it.

Did I mention I love my roommates?

Blessing #3

My family.

They love me even though I have

moments like this...

Yes, I am standing on a scale...

in my workout clothes...

eating chips...

Gosh, even I wouldn't love me most of the time!

Seriously, I have the greatest family in the 

whole entire history of families!

Frightmares!!

My best friend Carley has been talking about going to Frightmares at Lagoon all year. I was pretty skeptical about the whole thing because I hate spending money; however, my roommate's mom set her up on a date and she then talked me into joining them. I started getting really excited about it, but then I realized that I would have to ask a guy on a date...

It took me an entire week to get up the courage to ask anyone. The last time I asked a guy on a date it was to TWIRP and he was already my boyfriend, so it wasn't hard. I would pace in front of my door for a good ten to fifteen minutes before I could even walk upstairs to the apartment this guy lives in. The first two times I went he wasn't there and the courage that I had built up depleted and I had to start back in square one. Finally, on Monday my roommate told me that I had to ask him or he would already have plans. So I did my normal pacing from the kitchen to the front door and back, then I finally went up. He was there! I swear, I have never been so relieved in my life to hear someone say yes! WHEW!

Yesterday was the big day. My roommate's date wanted to leave at 7:30...which was WAY too early in my book. We were going in a big group with some of my friends from Soda and they weren't planning on leaving until 8:30, so Mystie and I tried to stall by starting off with breakfast (we made French Toast and buttermilk syrup mmmm). It didn't take us nearly as long as we figured it would, so we were out the door a few minutes after 8. 

It started raining when we got passed Ogden and I was thinking that this might end up being a very short date, but it stopped right around 11, when the park opened. I asked Carley where they were and they were just barely in Preston, so they had another two hours before they were even going to get there. We went on in and rode some rides until the other group got there. 

Frightmares is pretty cool because not only do they have all the regular rides (except for the big Ferris wheel and a couple other minor things), they have haunted houses. The haunted houses opened up around 3, which is also when the sky decided that it wanted to rain a little more. We were freezing! Especially my date! He just got back from Ecuador in August and he packed about 4 jackets and a heavy winter coat for the trip. The other group we were with didn't stick around for very long after it started raining, but we decided that we were already wet, so we were gonna endure to the end :)

The haunted houses are rated from 1 to 4 spiders depending on how scary they were. We went in Lockdown first, which is supposed to be 4. The story behind it is that it's a mental institution. The scariest part for me was when you walked into the room labelled Death Row. There was a jail cell set up in there and as you walk by it the crazy person behind the bars slipped right through them and got right in your face. Overall though, it wasn't that scary. The scariest one was the Fun House! It was way cool! They hand you 3D glasses when you walk in and the whole thing is painted with glow in the dark paint. Most of the clowns in it were wearing black that blended in with the walls so you couldn't even see them when they were walking right beside you. They also had a guy at the very end with a chainsaw, which Mystie wasn't very fond of. 

I think I would have to say my favorite rides were the Samurai, the Spider, and Wicked. I never thought I would ever say that about Wicked, but it's way cool! The last time I went on it I was sitting on the edge, which is not over the track and it was definitely a different experience. It was super scary, but way fun. 

I forgot my camera, so I only got two pictures and they were on my phone, which isn't the best quality. These pictures were taken on the Carousel. Bracken and I were at the front of the line and we had decided to go on the rooster and zebra, but of course when the ride stopped they were on the opposite side, so we had to book it to get 'em. 

This is Bracken on the rooster. He is seriously so much fun!

I'm ridin' on the zebra! That's Bracken's big coat, by the way. I somehow made it all the way to Lagoon without a jacket!

Overall, I would definitely say that it was well worth the money. We had so much fun! I think we went on every ride at least once and braved our way through every haunted house.

A few things I've been up to...

About a week ago my roommates and I went to 

an event here in town called Rail Jam. 

Barrie's Sports constructed a big ramp

and covered it with carpet and put a little snow

right before this rail thing.

I didn't even think to pull out my camera

during the competition, but when we were all waiting

to hear the results a few BMX riders came

out and did some tricks. 

This picture is of a professional

rider named Colton. This dude was CRAZY insane!

I'll never understand how a person can

go off a jump and just flip all over the place. 

Pretty sweet huh?

Also, at FHE on Monday we decorated sugar cookies.

We wanted something that wouldn't

take a long time because it was Mid-term week

and we ALL needed to study.

They decided to judge the cookies and everyone

got some title.

There was one that was named Tallest

because the guy put a bunch of 

Candy corns on it standing straight up 

and then put another cookie on top of that

with more candy corns.

Mystie's was named 

Most Likely to Star on Wheel of Fortune

because Mystie put all the candy corns in a circle 

just like on wheel of fortune.

Mine won Best Design!

Cute little turkey isn't it?

Then, yesterday Mystie and I got invited to go

to the corn maze in Shelley.

You were supposed to go through the maze

and find all the different check points

and punch them on this card that 

would give you some discount at whatever

store or restaurant was listed.

We got one of the check points then realized

that all the places were in IF, so we

just decided to get ourselves thoroughly lost

then find our way back out. 

WAY more fun.

On the way into the maze they mark your hand

with a marker. Guess what happened

when I fell asleep last night?

Can you see the two marks on my cheek?

Look familiar Maci?

Bob and me :)

For those of you who don't know who Bob is,

He has been very special in my life and 

sometimes I love him more than anything else

because he makes everything disappear.

Cute, right?

Bob is my violin. Sorry to burst any bubbles!

I've been playing the violin since I was in fifth grade

when I joined Mr. and Mrs. Mann's orchestra.

I was hooked from the very first day!

I'll be the first to admit, I was never the best at practicing

but that doesn't mean I didn't love it.

I got Bob when I was going into 7th grade.

It was a HUGE surprise. 

I had been playing Lindsay's little half sized violin

and it was clear to everyone that I was quickly outgrowing it.

Mr. Mann brought it up frequently that I needed a bigger one,

but I avoided the topic because I knew it was a lot of money.

Then, one day we got a huge box in the mail, and 

SURPRISE! A new violin!

He got his name when I was in 9th grade...

to be honest I think it started as a joke

But BOY did it stick!

When I was playing in the orchestra for The Secret Garden

I remember Tanner Davis seeing me walk through

the doors and he said, "BOB!!! Oh, and Emma!"

When we moved away from Moscow I was disappointed

to learn that there was no orchestra program.

My formal training stopped there (can you really call it formal training?)

I never had a private teacher, that surprises a lot of people.

I tried to keep up on my skills by playing in the Community Orchestra

or in church, and in the orchestra for school musicals.

When I was packing up everything to leave for college

Maci walked into my room and said, "Are you taking Bob?"

A flood of emotions overcame me and I

all of a sudden wasn't so sure.

I hadn't picked up my violin for 3 months.

I didn't think I would ever have time for it, 

and I was 100% ready to leave him in Soda.

...or so I thought.

I brought him.

I couldn't leave him.

Then, a few weeks ago I was singing in 

the Women's Institute Choir and we came

upon a part in I Know That My Redeemer Lives

that split into a congregation part and a choir part.

Brother Lee admitted that he didn't know what

we were going to do for that part 

and before I knew what I was doing my hand was in the air.

I told him that I would play the congregation part

and he gladly accepted.

I just got back from another rehearsal

and I'm so filled with the spirit!

I love the way that playing Bob feels!

Sister Lee, our pianist, turned to me

after one run-through and asked how long

I'd been playing.

I told her that I hadn't played since my 

freshman year and she said, "In college?"

"Oh no, in high school."

"Are you in the ISU Symphony?"

THAT was sure a confidence boost!

Bob and me, we're a team :)

Today is SO Monday

This weekend was a little hectic for me, so I was hoping this week would just roll by and let me relax a little bit...

WELL! Are you ready for a fun story?

I woke up this morning, turned off my alarm, and apparently fell back asleep.

I woke up again when my neighbor came to pick up his girlfriend

who stayed with us for the weekend.

I picked up my phone, saw that it was 9:27, and said,

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" 

(Class starts at 9)

I have never gotten ready so fast!

I was praying the whole way to Chemistry that I didn't miss the beginning of class quiz

(I had little hope because he hands it out at 9 and we have to hand it in by 9:15)

I walked into class, sat down, and looked at the clock.

9:33

I seriously got up, dressed, and to class at least a quarter of a mile away in 6 minutes!

SCORE number ONE!!!

 Then I saw that the quiz had already been handed out :( 

BUMMER!!

I just kinda sat there until they were done talking about it.

Inside I was beating myself up because I couldn't believe I slept in...

THEN...

Mr. Long came around to collect the quizzes.

He stopped in front of my desk, put a blank quiz on it, 

(which surprised me because he said absolutely NO making up quizzes)

 wrote my name on it and then added a plus 10 to it.

I was pretty much dumbstruck for a minute there...

When I finally realized what he did I told him that it's not fair

to everyone else and that I didn't deserve the points.

He looked at me and said, 

"You already know the stuff, you get the points."

SCORE number TWO!!!!

Then I got home and started doing my chemistry homework 

and was almost late for my Calculus class. 

Did I mention, TODAY IS SO MONDAY!!!!