The Day We Switched Coats.

My mom and I are like best friends. We have the same personality and we know exactly what each other is thinking without saying any words at all. We can share our clothes, our shoes...but not our shampoo. Apparently Paul Mitchell is too expensive for my hair. Excuse me. Otherwise, we are practically the same person just 26 years apart. We keep each other out of trouble. Actually, I keep her out of trouble. I'm too sneaky to keep out of trouble. She tells people that I act more mature than her at times. I like to think that it's true but, if that's true, it's kind of sad.

Today, my mom and I spent the whole day together. Well, we have spent the last week together but today was different. There wasn't any shopping or errand running involved. It was just my mom and I out for the day. We went to West Point and walked ALL over post. Seriously...I have the blisters to prove it. We got lost in the Military Academy and panicked when the guards saw us. My mom said, "Do you see a way to escape?!" and, sure enough, we managed to find a way. We then lost the car and ended up hitting the panic button to find it. We started driving home over the mountain. We took this road, 218, that's pretty curvy and narrow. My mom asked if I wanted to drive. Of course, I said yes. She pulled over and I got in the driver's seat. We weren't even on the road five seconds and she's bracing herself yelling at me about not turning the steering wheel when I'm supposed to or something. Chill out, man. Then she says she's getting sick and to slow down. I had to pull over. She made me get out after that and I had to sit in the passenger's seat for the rest of the car trips. She was telling the story over dinner and told my grandma that I only lasted three minutes driving. I told her it would have been even less if she at least let me drive the speed limit. Anyway, from that horrible driving experience, we went to Dunkin' Donuts because my mom was complaining that she needed a coffee. From there, we went to the trestle. It's one of my favorite places here. It's a place that my dad used to take me all the time when I was younger. You can see deer and turkeys on the hills and I used to love watching them when I was little. Today, I wanted to take pictures of it. I was taking pictures of the trestle when I heard my mom walking away from me. I turned around and just started taking a bunch of pictures because I knew she was up to something. I was right:

She walks away.

She heads to the tree.

She puts down her drink.

Pulls up her pants.

Pulls on a loose branch.

Pulls on the whole tree.

She catches me taking pictures.

And down she goes.

*Insert break where I'm dying of laughter*

She picks up her coffee.

And walks back smiling all proud of herself.

My mom isn't super weird, I promise. She just likes to have a good laugh once in a while and she's definitely not afraid to be goofy. She knew I was upset about her freaking out while I was driving so she gave me something good to laugh at. I love my mom. I can't imagine spending this beautiful day with anyone else. Today, minus the driving incident, was perfect. It was the day we switched coats.

 

 

The Post that Searches for the Silver Lining

"I had a dream I was dating Jon Hamm."

"Oh yeah? How was he?"

"How was he?....ohmygosh."

I've been in New York for a full week now and I must admit that I'm bored. I knew this trip wasn't going to be a "fun" trip but sometimes the boredom gets to be a bit much. I keep thinking, "what would I do if I were home?" which has led to many Friends & Pretty Little Liars marathons on my computer. I'm really excited to find out who 'A' is. I'm so close to that episode. Don't ruin it for me.

I really do enjoy being here with family. Really, really. I love that I can walk down to my aunt's house or go visit my uncle and his wife for the day (they saved me on Saturday and we went to Barnes and Noble where we drank steamers and looked at photography books for two hours). What I don't like is when I get home and my mom and grandma insist on watching some TV show that advertises a bunch of products that you can buy in "four easy payments." QVC it's called. As baby mama would say, not to be dramatic but I would rather shoot myself in the face than watch that channel.

So I've been looking for ways to entertain myself. I take an extra-long time getting ready in the morning. I wake up at 6:30 every day. While listening to Usher tell me how I've got it bad and Taylor Swift remind me how I remember everything all too well, I begin the process. My hair is almost dead from the curling and straightening its been through over the past few days. Oh, and I've tried new mascara and new eyeliner. I also learned that it's important to make sure you have make-up remover if you're going to try new things. Whoops : ). But it's all okay because I turn out gorgeous by 9:00. If I'm lucky, we go run errands until lunchtime. Then we come home and QVC comes on and I go upstairs. I should really do homework but the motivation is never there. I always say that. Maybe something is wrong with me. OR they need to let me take my major classes and forget about foundation class requirements. Just saying. My uncle asked me today why I knew so much about genetic mutations. I told him I took an Understanding DNA class. He asked my major. I said Psychology. Silence.

I do love the opportunities I have had to Skype with Amanda though. Today we Skyped for a few hours. I miss that girl tons. That little quote at the top of this post was from that conversation. Nobody else gets our jokes and that's okay because we just crack ourselves up. Papa Cherrington came over to say hello, too. He wants to know why I traveled halfway around the world to sit in a closet and do homework. When I come up with a good answer, I'll let him know. By the way, I'm not in a closet but the best wireless signal is in the small room upstairs.

I feel like I need to mention that good times have occurred on this trip. It probably looks like I just complained minutes on end but I'm just having one of those "bored" moments. I really have had some good times! I finally got over the worst cold I've had since October 2009. I had an amazing Thanksgiving with the family. I had a great experience down in the city at Grand Central Station (and with that I'm thankful to be alive, too). I love the laughs that have happened with my grandma, aunts and uncles. I'm thankful I got to catch up with my two cousins that I never get to see. I had a great Black Friday (and Sunday) with my mother and aunt. And, today, I had a great time going out to lunch with my mother and making cookies into the late hours of the night. Mint chocolate chip cookies, yuuum!

I have a feeling this week and the next will be a lot better. Like I said, I was really sick last week and the only times I got to leave the house were when I had something important to do. Now that I'm better, we are planning on getting me driving and going down to the city. I'm just in love with that city. Let me live there forever and I'll be happy. With my Channing Tatum clone of a husband, of course.

How Great Thou Art

I am by no means an emotional person. I know there are about three people reading this going "uh, yeah huh!" but they're stupid because I'm really not one to show my tears. I have to reaaally be hurting to be crying and I mean REALLY hurting. Or at least that's how it used to be because, today, I got emotional twice. Two different things made me emotional. Two. That's a record for one day. I have no idea what is happening to me but lately it's like "Ohhhmygosh, a puppy looked at me. I need a tissue." It's not even that time of the month.

The first time I got emotional today was when my mom came home from cleaning out my great aunt's attic. They had to clean it out because of some damage from Sandy. Apparently, it was a lot of work. Thank goodness I had homework, eh? Anyway, I don't know where she found the package of pictures she brought home afterwards but I'm pretty sure it wasn't up there in the attic. Slacker. The pictures were of my mom's bridal shower. I was looking through them and I found a picture of my dad's mother, MeMe we called her. I saw the picture and I got attached to it instantly. I loved MeMe so much. My parents could leave me with her for weeks while my mom was TDY and I wouldn't complain or get homesick. She was my favorite. Now this picture of her wasn't a particularly good picture but I loved it anyways. Tears filled my eyes. I couldn't stop looking at it. I haven't seen her in so long and most of the pictures we have of her come from around the time that she was sick. But in this picture, she's smiling and happy. I don't think my mom is going to be able to get that picture back from me for a looong time.

The second time I got emotional today was when I came home from my uncle's house. My mom was out with her friends so it was just my grandma and I for a while. I had a lot of homework to finish up so I went upstairs and left her alone to watch TV until my mom made it home. I was writing a paper when I heard a familiar song coming from downstairs. My first thought was, "hey..that sounds churchy." So I started heading towards the stairs to see what was happening. As I got to the bottom, I realized the song was "How Great Thou Art" and my grandma was sitting in her recliner humming along. When she saw me she said, "Emily! Oh, this is my favorite hymn. I love it! If I were home alone I'd be singing along." I looked at the TV and saw the words going across. I told my grandma that I loved this hymn, too, and that she should sing along anyways. She told me that she doesn't like others to hear her sing. I told her that I'm the same way and that I rarely sing along with the hymns in church. My grandma then says in a low voice as if it were a secret, "I'll sing along if you sing along with me." I loved the look on her face when she said this. It was almost hopeful. So there we were singing along to How Great Thou Art in the living room. When it was over she looked at me and said, "Thank you." In that moment, tears filled my eyes for the second time. I don't know who it impacted more but I'm so very grateful that I was home to experience that moment with her.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been back in New York for a week now. I've been having a good time minus the fact that I've been  dealing with the worst cold I've had in forever. No joke. I think it's almost gone though. Fingers crossed.

Since I've been back, I've already navigated through Grand Central Station during rush hour, braved the pre-holiday madness at the grocery stores, ate my favorite New York pizza, and walked all through Cornwall taking pictures. I just love it here.

My absolute favorite part about being back in New York right now is the fact that I get to spend time with the ENTIRE family. This almost never happens. One of the cousins is always off at school or working in the city or just off living life away from the safety of the Cornwall bubble. Holidays are the only times my family is ever fully together. It's the best.

Thanksgiving was yesterday and we all had a great time. I'd list all the many things I'm grateful for here but the list would be too long and I don't think anyone would actually read it. Instead, I'll just say that I'm thankful for my many friends and family members that are always there for me. I don't tell them enough how much I love and appreciate them but they really are what's most important. No matter how far apart we are, I know I can always count on them to be there. Even if it is via Skype : )

Got a Secret, Can You Keep It?

Swear this one you'll save. Better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to the grave. If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said 'cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

I have a new addiction. Can you tell what it is yet? It's Pretty Little Liars and I'm getting really antsy because I just finished the first season and I know my mom is on her way home with the second. It's just taking her forever to get here! Is this sad? 

I'm pretty sure that last part, the "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead," is a quote by Benjamin Franklin. Unless he said "three can keep a secret if two of them are dead." It's one of those but I remember writing about it in AP Language & Composition one year. My teacher totally fought me on it and I got a B. Sad story but here's a sadder one. I just now realized why that class was called APLAC. 

Ah! Mother just got home. She says she got the movie but it's stuck in the car. My dad picked up firewood on the way home and my movie is under it all. I'm a tad upset. Well, wish me luck in my Pretty Little Liars marathon!

Ya Live, Ya Learn.

I believe it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. That's what mistakes are there for, right? You learn from them and become a better person in the long run. I have to believe this because you can't imagine the number of stupid things I have done so far in my life. I'm not saying I was super bad or anything. It's not like I went to Vegas, drank a bottle of vodka, married my boyfriend in the little pink chapel and forgot about it all the next morning. What I am saying is that I have done little things that would not even occur to a normal human being to do. BUT I have learned from these mistakes and I don't plan on repeating them because, ya know, if you make a mistake twice, it's no longer a mistake. It's a choice. I just love Lauren Conrad.

With this being said, I will write about something that happened tonight. My mom is selling a bunch of things that we no longer use. I decided to sell my old Nintendo DS. The problem was that I couldn't find the charger for it. I started looking everywhere for this charger. While doing this, I came across an old list that Amanda and I had made two years ago. It's titled "What Not to Do...Ever." Listed from 1 to 43 are the mistakes that we had committed until that point that we thought were most noteworthy. I'm only going to share a few of them. There's still some sting behind some and others are just too embarrassing. Without further adieu, here are some of the lessons we've learned:

1. Smart cars were meant to hold two people, not three.
2. Camping in short shorts, a tank top, and no blankets is not okay.
3. If you find yourself at a bar, do not sit next to an old, drunk man even if it is the last seat left.
5. Be aware of the number you are sending a text to. Mixing up contacts can be embarrassing. Especially if you end up texting your coach when you meant to text your boyfriend.
11. Some people were just meant not to have Facebook profiles. Do not mess with that.

15. Leave your teacher's sons alone. Alone alone.
18. Do not wear heels to graduation. Why? See picture.
19. Do not drop a bottle of soda on the pavement in a tourist hot spot. Ever play jump rope with a spraying bottle of soda? Ever have people taking pictures of you as you are playing jump rope with a spraying bottle of soda?
20. Never go ice skating. End of story.
24. Make sure you check the address you put in the GPS. There is a chance that it is taking you to the wrong destination.
27. Playing 'dealbreakers' with a guy is not the best idea.
32. Remember to bring your passport. Even if you are only going to France.
33. Do not take questionable food from anyone even if it is from the nice lady at church.
34. Bodily functions should wait until after the silent parts of a movie. Especially if you are in a theater.
35. Locking the steering wheel of your car in a place where no one will ever find you is quite possibly the scariest thing to happen to someone. Ever. Don't try it.
36. It's probably best if you don't ask a guy why he is flirting with you if he has a girlfriend.
37. Try to be aware of when you're being asked out on a date. Otherwise, you will be going on one...accidentally.
38. Keep track of your car keys when taking pictures under the state border signs. If you lose the keys in that grass, I wish you good luck in finding them.
39. Sharing drinks with another girl's date isn't smart.
41. Rexburg police have nothing to do. Make sure you park in the right places or you may find an orange envelope on your car in the morning.

You may be thinking that these aren't real mistakes and yeah, I guess we could have done a lot worse in life but my point is that mistakes are to be learned from. And, believe me, we learned from these few instances. So, it's okay to make mistakes. Go make as many as you like. Unless it's the really consequency kind. You shouldn't make those and that is why they teach you about them in school. Okay. Now go have fun with life and don't be scared of messing up. You may just have a funny story later! :)

Boots, Obama, and Silver Bells

the facts from the past the week:

new york still exists
i have one month left of being a teenager
my mom found me 'hunter' boots on ramstein yard sales
christmas lights have been hung
i had my first job interview
obama won the election but amanda doesn't think it's official
i watched 'charly' and didn't cry
amanda's house has more corn than a field
i found a legit pearl in my dinner
my mom tried using ten pence as a quarter
i stuck a sticker that said "eat me, i'm smooth" to my dad's back and he didn't notice
that sticker somehow made it to my mom's purse and she sported it around town
silver bells sung by lady antebellum made me emotional
i tuned my guitar correctly for once
i'm printing out more recent pictures to hang in my room
i've been watching once upon a time and pretty little liars
i made the best taco soup or so my mom says
the leaves have disappeared
i made good money selling my old things
i feel it's been too long since i've been to h&m
i'm reading a good book for once
i now babysit for a family on a regular basis
i'm on the hunt for a polka dot pullover sweater
i discovered i like hazelnut flavored coffee creamer in my hot chocolate
my mom says a broadway show may be my birthday present
i should be doing homework but all motivation has been lost

Bags of Memories

You know how you always stuff little things into the little pockets of your bags? And you forget to clean them out before you start using a new one? Well, I don't know about you guys but I have that problem. I recently cleaned out all of my bags that I have and, when I say all, I mean all. Keep in mind, I have enough bags to put a small handbag shop to shame. You can only imagine the amount of things I found. Talk about a walk down memory lane. I found my old bus passes from sophomore year and junior year. I found a note from Amanda dated December 17, 2007. Oh, the things we worried about back then, hahaha. I found the clear nail polish that I used to pull out and use during Mr. Paulson's history class because heaven knows if you didn't have something to occupy yourself with, you'd be snoring within fifteen minutes. I found starburst flavors that I'm pretty sure no longer exist and two miniature, blue candy canes. I found earrings that I was given for Christmas one year. They were still in the package. In one bag, I found a pocket that was full of bandaids and I remember exactly why they were there. In another bag, I found the wallet-sized yearbook pictures with little messages on the back from the friends that gave them to me. October of senior year I thought I was dying. No really. Dying. I've never been so sick with the flu in my life. I couldn't even move without hacking up a lung and of course this all happened during senior pictures. Well, anyway, I found my stash of cough drops in the bottom of the bag I used that month. Oh, and a little note that said "Chemists do it periodically." I liked to pass that to Amanda during AP Chemistry. Obviously, I belonged in that class. I found a Snapple lid with my favorite Snapple fact ever. "Elephants are capable of swimming 20 miles per day." Is that not amazing? One of my lovely friends loved to update me on their swim times. I showed them this lid and the reaction was great. I kept the lid. One time, in AP Psychology, Mr. Tarnowski said he would give us extra credit if we could draw all of the wrinkles that were on a lady's face in a movie we were watching. Yeah, I found that little sketch of mine. I also pulled the cutest pens out of one of the bags. You know those miniature RSVP pens? I'm so happy I found those. They all still work, too! Woooot!

I can't remember what else I found doing this but I do know that I ended up making $26. Yeah, and in all ones, too. Student store lunch anyone? You always needed ones on hand for that.

I invite you all to clean out your old bags if you happen to have the same problem I do. I promise it will bring back a memory!

A Star on the Wrapper

I'm not a risk taker. Well, when it comes to my hair I'm not a risk taker. Never will you ever see me putting neon colors in my hair (even if it's temporary) or going all Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus on it. Nope. Can't do it. I don't have the guts to do such things to my beautiful hair. Yes, I just called my own hair beautiful. The hairdresser said it herself first though. She said I have beautiful, thick hair. She also said I had enough hair for five people. It makes drying and straightening it quite tedious. Anyway, I was asked if I wanted a trim or a cut. I said a trim. Sounded the safest. I was asked if I wanted to keep the layers and have it thinned out. Yes and yes. Then the whole process started.

I've posted before about how much I hate getting my hair cut. It's just not a fun time. First comes the hair washing. There's something about someone massaging my head and ugh, everyone says it feels so good. I just feel all awkward. Then the actual cutting starts. Something different happened this time though. As I'm sitting there staring at myself in the mirror noting how unflattering the cape was on me (really, nobody can make that look good, I don't care who you are), a lady walks in with two puppies. They were the cutest little things I ever did see! So adorable. They were little, fluffy, white fur balls. They were eight weeks old! The lady who had them asked if I'd like to hold one. Well, duh! So I sat there holding a puppy as my hair got cut. The hairdresser just smiled and talked to my mom, who was also there getting her hair cut. I seriously just sat there stroking the puppy and picking off any hair that fell on it. The sweet thing just fell asleep. I was off in La-La-Land totally disregarding my surroundings and, before I knew it, my hair was done! I think someone should bring a puppy in every time I get my hair cut. I'll be honest though and say you can't really see a difference from before my hair got cut and after it got cut. I kind of like it that way. Nothing to risky!

Told you. It's okay, you can laugh. The only real difference is that there are more layers, its more flippy at the bottom because of where it hits my shoulders when I sit up straight, and it's a bit softer and healthier now that the split ends are gone. I forgot to ask to have my bangs cut. I'll just keep pinning them back until I can go have them cut. I still can't get over how cute those puppies were though. I wish I had a picture of that!

P.S. I ate a Tootsie Pop while doing my homework today. I was chatting with Amanda at the same time. She told me that if there was a star on my wrapper, I could win a free lollipop. There was a star on my wrapper! I then started going through all the Tootsie Pops in the halloween bowl and unwrapping them. I did get a look from Papa while doing this but, hey, free lollipop? That's worth it. Every one of them had a star on the wrapper. Sketchy. I decided to Google this madness. Turns out it's just a rumor. So there I sat...disappointed and with nine unwrapped lollipops.

Mitt Romney, Ohne Romney.

I really only do these quote posts for my own benefit. It's so fun to revisit them after time has passed. They just crack me up all over again. These quotes all happened as I skyped with Amanda tonight. Yes, we live 10 miles apart and we skype. Skype just beats a telephone. I don't have to hold the phone and we can Facebook stalk people while talking this way. Good reasons, right?

"You know how chocolate covered pretzels taste really good?" -Amanda
"Yeaaah..." -Me
"Well I've discovered that if you put a pretzel in your mouth and stuff an m&m in there real fast..." -Amanda
"hahahha, why don't you just buy pretzel m&ms?" -Me
"....ha, 'cause I'm dumb." -Amanda.

"How am I supposed to get home? There's no subway. What am I supposed to do? Take a taxi?! Do you know how expensive that is? There's my plane ticket back to Germany right there." -Me
"Are there even taxis right now?" -Amanda.

"I was at the commissary and this lady tells me she's a paraprofessional so I ask what that entails. She says she follows kids around all day and tells them to do their homework. I told her it sounds like babysitting. She said it was." -Amanda
"You know what I picture when I hear paraprofessional? A paraplegic." -Me
"That's not funny. Stop laughing. The last thing you need is karma to come around and put you in a wheelchair." -Amanda
"That's what they get for using buzzwords." -Me.

"I need to show you something. I'm dying. I shouldn't be because I like Romney...but I'm dying. -Amanda
Here is what it was:

"I think he has Utah and Idaho locked down but that means nothing. Your state is important. So if he loses, I'm blaming you specifically." -Amanda.

"My mom really wanted to name me Mandy but they told her that it wasn't a real name." -Amanda.

"Oh, so you know that exam I spent three hours on? Well. In the instructions it said it was closed-book but in the syllabus it says that every test will be open-book so of course I used my book. Not everyone did though and now the teacher is voiding everyone's exam score. So upset." -Me.

"I thought that word was 'uncanning' like -ing. I was kind of blown away when I found out it wasn't. -Amanda.

Fifteen Facts.

- I can't get into an unmade bed. I will make my bed at 10pm just to go to bed 15 minutes later.
- I like to pretend that I know how to play the guitar. I really only know four songs. And I can't even tell you the chords I'm playing when I play them.
- There's this stuffed animal on my bed. His name is Sherlock. He's a basset hound. I've had him since I was five.
- Black Friday is coming up soon. I participate online. I can't take large crowds of people.
- When I was little, I took ceramics classes, drawing classes, cooking classes & swimming lessons.
- I only really like Kraft mac and cheese. I find Velveeta to be a bit dodgy. I'll still eat it though.
- When I was in Kindergarten, the fifth and sixth grades at my elementary school made a haunted house for the younger grades to walk through. I was dressed as a witch that year. Broomstick and all. Do you see where this is going yet? Walking through the haunted house, I whacked one of the kids that jumped out to scare me with my broomstick. Self defense, man.
- I really do miss high school. Only because I miss not knowing much about consequences and I liked not having to make big decisions. It was like life was on a one-way track. With guardrails.
- I just completed my collection of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. last week. Finally. I was missing Season 3 for years.
- Whitening strips only hurt one of my teeth. I thought it might be a cavity but it's not. I don't know what I'm going to do about that.
- I think I was about ten before I actually started liking Disney movies. Finding Nemo got me.
- In first grade I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. A cowgirl I said. Now I'm living in Idaho. Still no cowboy boots but I think I'm getting closer to my first grade dream.
- I still ask my Magic 8 ball life's most challenging questions.
- I love living in Europe. I really do. But I'm ready to go back to New York. I've lived here so long. I want to be by family. I want to know what it's like to be able to visit my aunt or grandma whenever I want or go to family birthday dinners and, you know, malls.
- I have an obsession with webcams. If no one is around to take a picture with me, I grab Rocky. He enjoys being in my pictures :)