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