Everyday Emmi

I am grateful for pretty things.
Let's face it, my apartment is dull, so when anything pretty gets hung up it's all any of us can look at.

Here are my latest endeavors:

You know those days when your pink eye comes back (boo) and then you go to Student Health and they give you eye drops that make everything better?

I'm grateful for that!

You know those days when you know the worst part of the flu is over because your appetite comes back in FULL FORCE?

Or those days when your pink eye decides to clear up so you can wear your contact lenses again?

How about those days when you quite possibly didn't get all the way through Othello (like not even close) and then your English class is cancelled?

Yeah, I'm grateful for those days :)

I just hope my English teacher didn't cancel class because she came down with like...tuberculosis or something like that.

Yeesh, I've got some serious catching up to do!

I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with my family.

It's crazy, I had never even met little Hyrum, but I had all this love for him saved up inside. When I finally got to hold him for the first time it all bubbled over and I was so happy this special little red-head was going to be in my family for eternity.



It was especially nice that Logan and Rachelle and the little girls were there to help us decorate for Christmas this year (sorry, didn't have my camera with me). Most of our ornaments ended up at the bottom of the tree, but I was just happy that I didn't have to do it all myself.
*I spend way too much time trying to make the placement of the ornaments random, which, if you took McMurray's stats class, you know is impossible...it makes for a very tiring activity*

I also love just playing games with them :)
I even beat Logan a few times at Blokus until he figured out a good strategy which totally trumped mine.
*sigh* Such is life.

I am grateful for the teachers I had in high school.

I went back to the high school today and sat in on my little sister's seminary and calculus classes (yeah...nerds do that).
It made me realize how much I really miss my old teachers.

Brother Hegemann is super awesome! We had a great discussion about judgment and then finished the hour with a discussion on gratitude.
I sure love talking about gratitude :)
We truly are blessed to be living here aren't we?

Mr. McMurray was my favorite teacher in high school.
He has a really great method of teaching and I seriously miss his classes.
I took two math classes my senior year so I wouldn't miss anything haha
I sat in his class for twenty full minutes right in front of his face before he even realized I was there...
After he was done lecturing we sat around and talked about all the good times we had in his class.

There really is no better math teacher than McMurray and no better seminary teacher than Bro. H.

I am grateful for dreams, both conscious and... unconscious.

I was raised in a family who strongly believed in reaching for your dreams, and I'm grateful for it because it has made me a hard worker.
I believe that if you don't dream, your life is practically not worth living.
If you don't have something to reach for, you will never grow.

I am also grateful for the dreams you dream when you're asleep...I don't know why. Maybe because they're entertaining.
I dunno what I ate last night, but I had a seriously weird dream.
I was sitting in a high school type class and Michael Jordan walked into the room, but instead of freaking out because I just saw Michael Jordan, I ran around the room trying to elude him.
Apparently Michael Jordan had a bad gall bladder. He knew this because he was having referred pain in his right shoulder (oh the fun things you incorporate into dreams when you've been studying for A&P).
I was the only person in the entire world who was a compatible donor for him, so he was after me.
He and his minions almost caught me...but I was victorious!

My friends and I then devised a master plan just in case he tried to get me again.
The next day he showed up again and I shouted out UTES UTES UTES (which is weird because I couldn't care less about college sports). My friend held up a credit card swiper thing and I swiped a student ID card, which opened a door on the opposite side of the room.
I dove into a getaway car again and my driver drove us away.
Michael Jordan was also in a car, hot on our tails.
Unfortunately for him, he got in a turn lane and we lost him for good.
Me and my gall bladder were safe and sound.

Yeah...don't ask me where that came from.

I am grateful (one day I will stop trying to spell that greatful...oh bother) for poetry.

I have always been absolutely fascinated by poetry and have always had an urge deep inside me to write my thoughts...but I don't have a fabulous gift for it.

Every now and then I will get lucky and get my thoughts just right, but it doesn't come without some help.
My little sister and I have been emailing back and forth some poems we are working on and in this way we give each other comments and suggestions.
Thank goodness for email....Maci and I are both very strong willed and we think we're right the first time, every time, so it can be difficult for either of us to give the other constructive criticism right to their face. Email is the perfect media to have some distance between us when we tear each other apart haha

I think one reason I love poetry so much is because it's a very musical form of writing.
In honor of this Thanksgiving season, here is one of my favorites:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done


Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly
And you will be singing as the day goes by


When you look at others with their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high


So amid the conflict whether great or small
Do not be discouraged God is over all
Count your many blessings, angels will attend
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end

Today I am grateful for the environment I grew up in.

Sometimes us kids HATED each other.
But even through the bitter words and fights, we ended up as best friends.

I will always remember the scripture we had hanging on the wall under our school pictures:
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs....22? 19? (somewhere in there)

Christ was always a part of our home, and I thoroughly believe that is why I am who I am today.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Today I walked out of Organic Chemistry and realized I don't have to go back to school for a week XD
I'm grateful for Thanksgiving break.

Yay!!!

I know I have said this a hundred thousand BAJILLION times before, but I am so grateful for GEO and the experience I gained while working there. The kids and employees there are absolutely amazing.

Today I walked into my meeting at Seasons of Hope and I saw my old boss and her two sons.
I was almost in tears I was so happy to see them, after all I worked very closely with them for at least a year.
I ran to help my coworker who was watching them and I was so impressed by how much they have grown, yet they haven't changed in so many ways.
They still have the same habits and catch phrases, yet there were some new ones as well.
The best gift came when I asked the boy I worked with the most what my name was.

He looked me in the eyes, pointed at my chest, and said, "Miss Emmeria." (He never could quite say my name)

AHHH how I have missed that!

I am grateful for the Organic Chemistry Student Solutions Manual at the library.

I am also grateful that the library is open until midnight so I have time to get there every now and then.

I am grateful for my lazy Tuesday :)

I have every other week off of A&P lab, and I never work on Tuesdays, so I get a lazy/study day.

I'm thinking about tidying up the apartment a bit before I take a nap...or maybe it's nap then clean.
Who cares! I have the whole rest of the day!

I am so beyond grateful for my nieces and nephews.

They have taught me how to love someone more than I love myself.
Gwen is a little spit-fire, but she is a great older sister. I love the way she argues with me over who loves who more :)

Phoebe is a tender-hearted sweetie. She is pretty soft spoken a lot of the time and totally devoted to her little animal toys.

Little Greysen was born the day before my birthday, and therefore holds a special place in my heart. He was my first nephew as well. He has a smile that melts my heart and he is just so stinking cute!

Isaac has another one of those smiles...he uses his whole face! He definitely looks like an Owen, which makes him absolutely adorable ;) He turned six months old today! How absolutely crazy is that??

And finally there's little baby Hyrum. It's still hard for me to believe that Nate is a dad! I am so excited to meet Hyrum for the first time! It's crazy how much I love him when the closest I've gotten to seeing him are the pictures my family sends me. He's already a month old! Time flies...

Gwen, Phoebe, Greysen, Isaac, and Hyrum...your Auntie Em loves you more than words can express :)

I know it's past midnight, so technically I'm a little late posting this, but it's been a crazy super busy Sunday (like most days of rest, you know what I mean?)

I have been thinking a lot lately about science and religion.
I have been told that the two cannot coexist and that science has no room for a God.
I disagree completely.

The further I get into science the more I realize how much there is a need for a higher being.
No one will ever be able to convince me that the human body just happened to form the way it did.
NO WAY!
I just learned in A&P that there is one specific neurotransmitter that causes constriction in one part of the muscle and relaxation in another even though the two muscle types are the exact same and even in the same organ.
It's all because of the kind of receptor the neurotransmitter binds to.
Did that happen by chance?
NO WAY!

All of the things that I've been learning in OChem have opened my eyes as well.
The world we live in is so complex!
Medications can have a completely difference effect if two bonds in a molecule are switched, different types of bonds show up at different places in an IR spectrum because of how far they bend and wiggle, different substances are either healthy or unhealthy depending on what kinds of bonds form and orbital overlap...
So yeah, you're right, this is all a matter of chance. *Sarcasm!*

I am grateful for the knowledge I have.
I am grateful that I know there is a God and that He is a master of science.
We could all learn a lot from Him.

Today I am grateful (once again, I tried to spell that greatful) for cross stitching.

I know a lot of people who don't understand why I cross stitch, and I have given the question a lot of thought.
I can hardly put words to it...I just love it!
I love that my mom and siblings all taught me how to cross stitch.
I love that it's a totally artsy thing and I'm not artsy at all.
I love that you can create a lot of detail with basically just X's.
I love that I  can create something breathtaking out of nothing.

And also, cross stitching is very therapeutic for me.
I stitch to remember...and I stitch to forget.

I remember all the good times I've had while cross stitching.
I remember conference talks I heard while cross stitching.
And specifically for the cross stitch I'm working on, I remember Christ and all he has done for me.
I know that he is looking over me at this very moment and he is proud.

As I stitch I forget about the negative things people have said.
"It's so tedious...and you don't have much of a result."
They become less and less meaningful to me as I realize how wrong those words are.
It becomes okay that people don't understand because I don't understand their hobbies either.

I really lose myself in my work:

Today I am grateful for all of life's little everyday miracles.

This morning I totally forgot that I had to work, so I was late.
As I ran out the door to my car I noticed a bunch of cars had frost on the windshield and I was upset that I was going to have to scrape my windshield and be even more late.

I turned the corner to my car and saw that my car not only had no frost on the windshield, it was the only car in the entire row with no frost.
And it was sitting in the shade.
As far as I'm concerned, that's a miracle.

Also, today I am very grateful for the men and women who have fought to give me the freedoms I enjoy today. My life would be completely different and miserable without them.

Today, I am grateful for the Deseret Industries :)

Lately I have literally been bursting out of my jeans...I have had holes form in the corner of the back pocket and also half way down my inner thigh...I have no idea how that happened haha

I really hate shopping for jeans. It takes a lot of time and patience and they all look really similar but fit completely differently.
And they cost a butt ton of money.
Anyway, usually I have to spend at least 20 dollars on a pair of jeans, which kinda drains my budget of any and everything for the rest of the month :P
Today, however, I went to the DI and found a pair of jeans that I didn't hate and was also able to buy a couple of books :)

I am very grateful for a good book...





And I couldn't get enough! The second I finished it I was on eBay looking for the next one because I CAN'T wait for it to get turned back in to the library. It's fantastic, I seriously recommend it.

I had someone tell me today that they didn't like it much and I was flabbergasted...
I guess I'm just into alien-y supernatural books.

Pros:
I really enjoyed the story line
There was a beagle in it :)
The bully at school gets taught a lesson!
Quick, easy read
Lots of action
And a cute little romance that's not absolutely disgusting to read

Cons:
It ended...
...And I guess there was a little bit of language, but not nearly as much as in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

Today I am grateful (does anyone else always want to spell that greatful?) for the power of prayer.

I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that really touched me.

In May I started praying every morning and night that Bren's paperwork would go through so he could be sealed to Witney.
I would guess that it was sometime in August or September that I stopped for whatever reason.

Just the other night I was writing in my journal and as I signed my name and wrote my acronym PUSH, I thought back to this post.
I realized it had been quite some time since I prayed about Bren's paperwork and I felt horrible.
I knelt and prayed once again that the paperwork would get done and that Brendan and Witney could be sealed for time and eternity.

The next day I got call from my mom.
The paperwork is getting done and sent.

Guys, whatever you do, always always ALWAYS

I am very grateful for Ed Snell's Pharmacy!

I am so grateful for the internet!



It's crazy how much I rely on the internet to make it through the day.
I don't know where I would be with Organic Chemistry if I didn't have it.
I look up things like Nucleophiles and Strong Steric Bases all the time.

It's also one of the ways I stay in touch with my family.
At least once a week there's a new picture of my nieces or nephews going up on Facebook.
It's so nice to be able to see them grow up even though I'm not with them physically.

It's also where I find a lot of the recipes I use.
Without the internet I would be eating Ramen Noodles, Macaroni and Cheese from a box, and Spaghettios for the rest of my college career!

Oh, and it's also how I do Family Search Indexing, which is kinda my favorite thing :)

Man, it didn't take me long to find something to be grateful for today!

Though it's not exactly zero degree weather outside, I was freezing on my way to institute, so I was dreading the walk back to my apartment.



I noticed my friend Zach (who is also in my institute class) walking by himself out of the institute building, so I figured we could walk together and make it a little less miserable.

Guess who drove to institute this morning? Zach


Guess who got a ride back to her apartment instead of having to walk? ME!


I am very grateful for the friends I have made here in Pocatello.
They help me keep my head on straight.

I love you guys!

I am so grateful for indoor plumbing!



Our toilet was clogged for about two days despite my best efforts to unclog it (I finally got it and I kinda felt like a champ).

During those two days we had to schedule our potty breaks around when we would be out of the apartment or risk the public one downstairs ;P

Let me tell you, I never thought I would be so grateful to hear our toilet flush!

Also, can you imagine having to go out in the middle of the night during January to use an outhouse? NO THANKS!

It's November again, so you know what that means!
A whole string of my favorite thing, gratitude posts :)

Today, I am very grateful for my awesome lab professor, Dr. Holman.
He is an amazing teacher and has really helped me to understand all of the concepts I learn in lecture.
He's also one of the funniest men I have ever met in my life.
Last week he had a cold and started losing his voice, so I gave him a cinnamon candy and he went on lecturing.
He lectured for another 20 minutes or so and then declared that he needed someone younger and faster than him to run and get him a Diet Dr. Pepper.
Without missing a beat he slammed $1.25 on my bench top and said, "You! You look younger and faster, Go! It's C3 in the machine downstairs."
Well...the machine was jammed, so I told him he was SOL until they fixed it or he found another machine and he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Do you know where the engineering building is?"
He didn't really make me run to the engineering building, but he had me worried for a second.

Later he came down to help run the NMR, which wasn't working right.
I was waiting in line and right after he passed me he stopped, backed up, and handed me five quarters. "Try again," he said.

This week I asked him a really stupid question (well....he thought it was really stupid) and he said this to my group, "I really appreciate you guys. Every time I'm around you, you make me feel really good about myself."

I love the way he keeps me laughing for 3 hours straight, yet I walk out of his class having learned so much.

This is also the first lab I have enjoyed going to.

Dr. Holman, thank you!