Top Ten 2013 Memories

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Since 2013 ended 7 days ago, I've been thinking back over the year remembering all of my favorite things about it and decided to share them!

10) Seeing my big sister graduate from college in May! It was definitely a bit emotional and super special!! I was so proud of her and may or may not have teared up watching her walk across the stage to get her diploma. 

9) Seeing Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson at the beginning of August! I saw Ms. Clarkson in 2012 when she toured with The Fray (which was just an unforgettable show...) and she was even better this year. Seeing Maroon 5 was a dream come true! They a phenominal live performers and really know how to put on a great show. I went with 3 of my best friends from high school and we had the best time all back together again!

8) Seeing Michael Buble for the second time in September!! I saw him perform 3 years ago with my mom, sister, best friend and her mom and grandmother and have wished to see him again since we walked out of the venue. When I heard he was coming back in September of this year, I knew we had to go again! This time I went with my best friend, mom, and one of her friends. It. Was. Amazing. We had closer seats and the atmosphere was unbelievable. 

Heart confetti fell as he covered All You Need is Love and it was beautiful.

One day I'll have a picture next to human Michael Buble instead of poster Michael Buble.

7) Spending 11 days away from home in June. I went to my old college town to visit a few friends who stayed for the summer break. It was nice to get away from my city and see friends I hadn't seen in a while. Also, I had my first college bar experiences and for the most part they all ended well with only a couple cringe worthy memories. 

Taken during or after (??) we watched the first Lord of the Rings movie while playing a LOTR drinking game I found online...bad choice.

6) Getting a full time job in September! This fall I had the opportunity to take a break from school and refocus my life on something a bit different. I almost passed it up, but my parents were actually the ones who suggested the time off and I figured that if they supported it, I might as well give it a try. So far, I enjoy it most days and enjoy the paycheck every two weeks even more!

5) Seeing and meeting Lawson at the beginning of September!! For those that don't know (which will probably be most of you...), Lawson is a UK based, four piece band doing their best to break America. I fell in love with their music and then with them at the beginning of 2012, and when I heard that they were touring North America I knew I had to get tickets to the Chicago show. Along with one of my best friends, I experienced an AMAZING show and had the opportunity to meet with them after. It was actually really cool because they made everyone under 21 leave the venue (it had a bar in the back) fairly soon after the band came out to greet everyone, so the overage fans got a bit more time with them. Olivia and I each had a beer while we waited our turns and it was so much fun seeing them interact with their fans. I'm not usually the person that gets the opportunity to meet the actors or singer she admires, so to have that chance was so surreal. All four of them were so sweet,  fun to talk to, and they all kindly autographed the liner notes of my cd of their's. And I still have a hard time believing it happened! I'll stop raving about them now, otherwise my fangirling self will never shut up. But seriously, they are great, and you should check out their music. (Don't let their boyband good looks discourage you....think more The Script and less One Direction.)

Waiting in line like crazy fangirls paid off...we were basically front row for the show!

Adam, the drummer. He looked so tired, bless him.

Joel, the lead guitarist. He spent the whole show raving about how much he loved Chicago.

Ryan, the bassist. He was stood on the opposite side of the stage we were next to, so we didn't get to see much of him :(

Last but not least, Andy the lead singer. Olivia spent all night swooning over his Liverpool accent ;)

4) Grandpa's passing at the end of October. It seems strange to have a family death in a top ten list of memories, but here you go. It was hard to say goodbye, but I knew it was his time, and I'm thankful that he is no longer in any pain. Most people don't know that I'm actually named after him; his name was Emory, so my mother made it more feminine and named me Emma, although she'll now tell you she wishes that she had just named me Emory haha. Either way, I'm lucky to be named after such a great guy.

3) Big brother's wedding at the end of September! Okay...big half-brother. Whatever. My dad, sister, brother-in-law, and I ventured up to Baldwin, WI, to see him marry his beautiful fiance. It was so much fun being there and meeting his old college friends and aunts and uncles from his mother's side of the family. Not to mention the fact that I caught the bouquet! (Well, I actually was the only one to reach for it when it fell on the ground...there weren't many single girls at the wedding apparently.) I think my favorite parts were seeing their first dance, drinking whiskey with my dad, taking sibling pictures, and sharing a dance with each of my brothers at the end. It was a special day, I was happy to welcome a new sister-in-law to the family, and I'll remember it for a long time!

Brother-in-law, big sister, biggest brother, newly married sister-in-law, newly married big brother, me!

Third, second, fourth, first

2) Beester's wedding in August! After getting engaged in 2011, she finally got married!! I was so thankful that everything went smoothly and it couldn't have been a more perfect day. I was proud to be her maid of honor and had a fun time seeing both families come together to celebrate such a happy occasion. All day I was wanting to pinch myself because the whole thing was so surreal! She looked beautiful and so overjoyed about starting a new chapter of her life. And my ballroom dancing new brother-in-law finally got me to dance with him, so there were smiles all around. 

At dinner a couple nights before the wedding.

Getting ready...strapless dresses make for naked looking pictures.

Siblings!

All three older than me.

1) Turning 21 in April! I'm not one that thinks going out every weekend to get drunk is a fun past time to take part in, and I was never interested in drinking before I turned 21, but I was pretty excited when April 3rd rolled around and I was finally considered a, as I like to call it, real adult. I had a nice dinner with my family at a neighborhood bar and grill, my first drink was an amaretto sour, I went out with my sister and her then-fiance to Applebee's (of all places), had two drinks there, went home to bed, and woke up with no hangover remembering every minute of the night. Not everyone's idea of how a 21st birthday should go, but to me it was perfect :)

Birthday's were made for free desserts.

So that's it!! My top ten memories of 2013 all in one neat package. I hope I didn't ramble on too much!

What were your favorite times of the last year? Let me know!

Until next time neighbors :)

PS. One special bonus memory because I can never stick to a normal number. Plus, I couldn't not mention this! At the beginning of December, I went to Purdue to see some of my friends in the Purdue Christmas Show, and afterward my best friend surprised me with news of her engagement!!! Even though I had kind of already figured it out (darn facebook), I was still so happy to have confirmed news. She made everyone (her family and friends and her fiances family and friends) keep the news quiet until she had the chance to tell me in person, which just blows my mind. Everyone had to keep it a secret for two whole days!! Amazing. I'm so happy for her and can not wait to be a bridesmaid in her fall 2014 wedding :)

They're in love.

2014

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Happy new year!!!

I'm not usually one to set a lit of resolutions for myself as I have absolutely zero willpower and can hardly commit to anything (I mean....just look at the last time I posted anything on here!) However, I feel since I am an adult now, maybe setting a few resolutions and goals for myself this year might not be such a bad idea. In an effort to keep things simple, I've decided to set five challenges to work on in 2014.

Saving - Back at the end of September, I began my first full time job, which was quite a scary, but rewarding, step in my life. Due to the kindness and love of my parents, I still live at home, so I don't have to worry about most "real life" expenses (ie rent, bills, car payment, you get the idea). I know how lucky I am and decided that, in addition to paying off some school tuition and saving some of the money, I was going to go a bit crazy with my first few months of paychecks. I was reckless and selfish, but I knew that I could allow myself to be as long as I set myself a time limit. However! All of that is ending now. With the new year comes a new sense of responsibility with my money (which was the plan all along), and I have a few key savings plans to focus on:

1) An all-around saving account: Obviously, saving up money so that I can one day move out and start my own, independent life is my number on priority. Now a big chunk of my monthly earnings will be going towards my "Don't Touch This Money Or Else You Will Never Get To Move Out" piggy bank :)

2) Paying off school loans: Even though I haven't graduated (and won't be for the foreseeable future), I will have to begin paying back loans. I'm not even sure how much per month I will be paying, but it is something that has to be done, so I won't be complaining about it one bit.

3) A big, fancy present for me: Last Christmas my uncle very kindly gifted my family with a Nikon D3100, and I have loved learning about it over the last 12 months. I've decided that I want a DLSR that's all my own, and realize that it will be a quite expensive investment. I've worked out the numbers in my brain box (okay, okay...with the help of a calculator...) and figured out that I can be the proud owner of a Nikon D5300 by September! I make about $40 a week babysitting for a family here in town, and I've decided to set the $160 that I make each month aside and save it up until I have enough to buy the camera.

Organization - I'm not on to keep on top of keeping my room clean and organized (it looks absolutely terrifying right now), and that is something that needs to change this year. In addition to keeping up with the laundry each week, I want to sort through the clothes, books, and random other things around my room to see what can be gotten rid of. Another aspect of organization I'd like to tackle is blogging. I think of new post ideas everyday, but never take the time to type them. I'd like that to turn that around this year.

Driving - Okay, my deep, dark secret had to come out sooner or later, so here it is: I don't have a drivers license. I know, I know, it's crazy. You can stop giving me that look now. I am 21 years old and can't drive. Insane. Maybe one day I'll explain, but for now all you need to know is that I hope this changes in 2014.

Living - That may sound like a silly resolution, but between work, my laziness, and a slight touch of social anxiety, I don't get out much. (Although my not being able to drive also has something to do with it.) I just happen to be a naturally homey person and usually "going out" is the last thing I ever want to do with my time. However, I know that I can't say no to my friends all the time, so this year I am going to start saying yes to more invitations to hang out, go to movies, and be all around more sociable. 

Love - Not romantic, find a life partner, fall in love love (although, I'm not going to lie, that would be nice haha), but love for myself. The past couple years have been hard on my self confidence and self worth, and it's time to change that. I need to work on overcoming the challenges I've experienced since the beginning of 2012, and gaining a more positive outlook on my life and start loving who I've grown to become. 

So, those are my 2014 goals and resolutions!! I'm excited to look back in a year to see how many of them I stuck with :) What did you resolve to change this year?

Have a happy week!

Thursday Inspriation

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I'm thinking that I need some sense of normality around these parts in my small internet neighborhood, so I thought I would try my had at sharing something I found inspiring each Thursday! We'll see how this works out :) I was inspired to try this (...see what I did there??) after I found something that I feel like I HAVE to tell others about. 

I've spent all day reading the blog of a young woman who I believe is one of the most amazing people on the earth. She embodies what it means to spread the love of Christ and should be an example to all of us. At the age of 18, she went to Uganda to perform missionary work as a kindergarten teacher and now, at the age of 25, permanently lives there after having adopted 14 young girls. She continues to help feed, teach, heal, and love the many people that continue to suffer and need assistance there.

Reading her blog made me want to be better. Better at giving, better at listening to my call in life, better at helping, better at being kind and patient and caring and helpful. Just better. I know that we shouldn't compare our own lives to the lives of others, but instead we should learn from them to help us grow. What I've learned from Katie is that we are not just living for ourselves...we always have others depending on us, whether we realize it or not. We should be better because those people need us to be better.

Since finding, and reading every post of, her blog I have thought of her almost every day, and when I do I say a prayer for her, her children, the hundreds of people she helps on a daily basis, and the people that have their lives positively improved by Amazima Ministries. I highly suggest reading her blog; she's so well spoken, I read the entire thing in one sitting. 

Be inspired. Make a change. Improve your life.

What have you found inspiring this week?

Have a lovely Thursday, neighbors :)

Emma

Happy Friendiversary

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Way back, a long time ago (....okay 3 years ago, so not that long ago), in 2010, I was going through a lot of massive changes in my life. In June I graduated from high school and would soon be off to Purdue University for my freshman year of college. Looking back, I had a pretty perfect set up: I was living in an apartment style university residence hall, which meant that our room had its own kitchen and bathroom, not to mention a HUGE walk-in closet, and my roommate was my best friend from high school. I absolutely loved living with my best, having freedom to make up my own schedule, getting involved with many campus organizations, enjoying various sporting events, and going to class. One class I really, wholeheartedly loved was choir (...okay, it was technically a class because we didn't receive credit for it.) Our director was amazing and I was singing with some of the most talented people I'd ever met. The first week of choir was intimidating for someone with social anxiety like me, but I loved the atmosphere and energy that I felt being in our rehearsal room. The first rehearsal during the second week of school was especially exciting because the kids who auditioned during the first week of school were there for the first time, joining everyone who had auditioned over the summer. 

Before we got started, a girl came up to me and commented on the shirt I happened to be wearing. I had tie-dyed it the week before at an event hosted by my residence hall. This girl said that she lived in the same residence hall and we talked for a bit about where we lived before our director got rehearsal started. Since that day, Angela and I stood next to each other in rehearsal, ate more and more meals together, and learned how similar we were. 

Three years ago on September 14, 2010, is when we became friends on Facebook, which why I chose to celebrate our friendship today. We became such fast friends that I quickly forgot what my life was like before she was part of it. Adding her to my list of best friends just felt right and natural like we were destined to meet and be a part of each other's lives. To be honest, it's hard to put my finger on the exact moment I considered Angela to be my friend, she just was one from the start. As the semester went on, we had the chance to spend more time together because of our choir schedule; we ate dinner, went to rehearsal, hung out when we could during breaks, and walked back to our res hall. By the time it was the weekend of the show, we had become so close that our other friends in choir were completely shocked to find out that we just met at the beginning of the school year.

(Minnesota football game, October 2010)

Angela and I roomed together sophomore year, and we weren't already close, living together definitely strengthened our friendship. There were many nights spent staying up late, both because we were studying and having fun. I have been pretty blessed to have had the opportunity to live with two of my best friends and come out on the other side still friends. Ang and I hardly had any problems...I think the only thing that bothered her was my tendency to ignore my alarm in the mornings haha. Due to personal live happenings, I was unable to return to Purdue for the second semester of sophomore year. Having to tell Angela that I would not be back was one of the most difficult Skype conversations I've ever had to make. However, we didn't let that change our friendship; we were constantly in communications: texting, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. We even continued our habit of sending handwritten letters to each other. In late January, Ang and our friend Ryan came to visit me, and I went to Purdue a couple of times. I'm very proud and extremely thankful that we didn't let anything get in the way or ruin our friendship.

(Snow Day 2012...we should've been doing homework, but we cuddled in sweats and did nothing instead)

Angela has become one of those friends that I can tell anything to and I know that she'll listen, keep my secrets, and give me advice. I also know that no matter how many times I bring up a topic to gush, complain, or worry about, she will listen to me every time. We can be in deep, let-me-pour-my-heart-out-and-cry-because-I'm-so-stressed-out conversation one moment, and in the next we'll be dying of laughter. When something happens, she is the first person I want to tell about it. I trust her opinions on everything from boys I like and clothes I'm contemplating buying to problems I'm having in school and what I should do with my life when I'm older. She is kind, beautiful, generous, wonderful, courageous, strong, full of life, and just all around lovely. I am indescribably thankful to have this amazing girl in my life and know we were meant to become forever friends.

(Football game, September 2012)

In celebration of 3 years of friendship, I have chosen 3 of my favorite memories together :)

On night, while walking home from choir rehearsal, we realized that our coats and gloves were opposite colors and that made us so much more excited than it probably should have. That was also the night we sat and waited for a bus home that never showed up, so instead of being annoyed, we made a little adventure out of the walk home.

During the summer between freshman and sophomore years, Angela came to visit me in my hometown. It was so fun to take her around and show her some of my favorite spots in town. We shopped, watched Harry Potter, and went to the zoo (which was my favorite part....I'm such a sucker for the zoo!)

Last December, I got to see her for the first time since June. My mom and I went to see the Purdue Christmas show and afterwards I waited for my friends to come out. A few days before going down to see her, I went through a few hard days, so having the chance to see Angela and my other friends really lifted my spirits, making me smile and be happy for the first time in a few days. The pictures we have from that day are some of my favorite pictures of us :)

Happy 3rd Friendiversary, Ang. 

Thanks for being my best friend, favorite Schkype buddy, and definite soulmate.

Ps, a fourth favorite memory because I can't resist!

Going to volleyball games!!! So much fun and finally meeting Purdue Pete was a highlight of my life :)

Life.

Life is a funny, funny thing.

I started the summer out thinking that I would have endless amounts of time on my hands, devoted to cultivating a blog where I could record some of my life's adventures thus far and making silly videos on YouTube that would showcase new adventures I would experience and to complement blog posts. You don't have to look at my blog for too long to realize that my plans did not turn out the way I thought they would. Sometimes life just happens, progressing faster than you expect leaving you wondering where in the world summer went. Between being fortunate enough to find summer work and my older sister planing a wedding for early August, life took on a life of its own. My plate got too full which meant I had to take a step back, reassess, and prioritize the goals I wanted to accomplish over the next months. While I wanted to put this blog and YouTube at the very top of this list, I knew deep down I couldn't. I had other important things that had to be put first, and as much as it broke my heart to neglect something I felt so passionate about, I decided the right thing to do was to focus on work and the wedding. After all, I knew the internet wasn't going to disappear over the summer.

Now with August nearly over, school has reared it's mostly ugly, but sometimes fun and beautiful, head, my job is over for the time being, my sister is married, and I'm ready to get this blog back in order, with occasional appearances on YouTube.

As I said in the very first (I think) post, I hope to make my little corner of the internet a wonderful, inviting, safe space, a neighborhood, if you will, where we can visit, share stories and ideas, and have a nice time.

Has life ever gotten in the way of something you were passionate about? Tell me about it in the comments :)

Have a safe weekend neighbors!!

A Good Tired

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You know that feeling when the end of the week arrives and you're absolutely worn out, but you think back on everything you did during the last 6 days and you are so happy and proud that the fact you're worn out doesn't even matter anymore and you just feel good? That was me on Friday evening. I got home from work feeling tired, but very accomplished at the same time.

It reminded me how lucky I am to have so many exciting things happening in my life that cause me to feel "good tired". Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love time to myself, lazy days lounging in bed while reading, watching tv, or getting a few extra hours of sleep, but those days definitely need to be balanced out with busy, hard, productive days. And believe me, last week was full of those days. In addition to starting a job, I helped out my church's youth group with their mission trip (which I'll talk about in another post), so my days were spent at work and my mornings and nights on the mission trip. I had roughly an hour to myself every afternoon when I got home from work that I used to shower and pack work clothes for the next day, which was difficult for me because I'm such an introvert that I need more "me" time than most people. Despite that, I had a fantastic week and wouldn't have changed it for anything.

I'm excited to share the experience of the mission trip in an upcoming post!
Keep an eye out for it :)

Let's make today great, my fellow internet neighbors!

A Letter to Daddy

[I know I'm two days late with this post, but since I spent Sunday with my dad and not on the computer and Monday at work, I think you all will understand!]

[Dad and I at the zoo, Summer 2012]

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day! Thank you for being the best guy I know and such an inspiration in my life. The list of things and lessons you have taught me during my short 21 years of life longer than you probably know. Because of you I know how to make French toast, can watch endless hours of the History, Discovery, and Science channels, have fond memories of days spent at the park fishing, and can water and weed a tomato garden like a pro. The best advice you've ever given me is that the answer is always no unless you ask and I know that my faith wouldn't be half as strong if I didn't have yours to look up to. 

I appreciate the time you take to answer all of my silly questions about the world around us and the generous laughs you give to my jokes that probably aren't that funny. I love the time we spend together in the evenings watching Jeopardy and I love even more the time we spend watching "my" TV shows and movies. 

Thank you for constantly making me feel special and loved.

I hope to spend many more Father's Days with you!

Love,

Bug

[Dad with me and my older sister, Father's Day 1995]

PS. I promise you'll get your gift as soon as I find time to go buy it. Yay procrastination!