Drum Roll...

So I love Kinsey. She told me to say that.

The point of today, is to share some really exciting news! Drum roll please. I had to write a Representative Profile for my COMM 111 class. It was a really good project, but it was really hard, and slightly extremely stressful. I wrote about a family from Rexburg who has two children with Autism. It is an amazing family, and the spirit in their home was so strong. So I spent time making observations of the family for about an hour every week, and did a bunch of interviews. It was so cool!

Then came the daunting task of actually writing it and putting it all together. I was really nervous, but I just kept praying, and occasionally taking a swig of caffeine... that seemed to work out pretty well. So 13 pages later, I turned it in. It was a relief and a half. Then came the day where we get our papers back... that was scary. At the beginning of class my professor kept talking about how there are good writers and bad writers in our class. I started freaking out, and figuring out all the ways that I added up to a bad writer. Then he handed my paper back. With trembling hands, and a slightly accelerated heart-rate, I flip to the back page, praying that it was a decent grade. My eyes bulge a little as I read 400/400. My heart stops a little, and a huge grin spreads across my face. It was a good moment in time. Then I quickly scan across the comments, my eyes lingering on one line: "This should be published." I'm pretty sure I had the strong desire to turn the atrium of the Spori Building into a stage, because I was about to burst into song and dance. It was freaking amazing!!! I was basically ecstatic. Amen.

So, I'm going to see if I can pull a string or two, and see if I can get published!! How sweet would that be?! To be published as an undergrad?!?!?! Freakin' sweet! So that was the good news of my week. Thank you, and goodnight.

I'm Not Going to Blog Today

I won't do it. I'm not blogging today. I'm not going to waste my time today. I'm not going to lose that much time when I have so many other things to do. I'm not going to pretend that I have two books to read, two book reports to write, another blog to write (for school...), a text book to read, two final presentations to come up with, and three other assignments for Interpersonal to do all by the end of this week. I'm not going to pretend that I have actually started any of them... oops. I'm not going to pretend that I have all of this time. I'm just not going to do it. So dear readers, you're just not going to get anything clever, witty, or awkward today, seeing as I am full of all of those...endearing things.

However, comma, I will take a rain check. I have many-a- story that one day in my new life that will start next week, I will be glad to write. And by new life I mean a life where I pretty much have nothing to do. Beautiful, sweet, lovely nothing. And by nothing I mean no homework. But I'm not talking about that now, because let's face it, I'm just not blogging today!! Thank you, and goodnight.

Kinsey

Kinsey is my roommate. She is nice. Except to me. Ok, Jk. She is nice to me too. We just like to play this game called be really mean to each other, and then laugh really hard. But don't worry. I like her. We have dance parties to Love Shack a lot, and it brings joy to my heart. We love to eat Pasta Roni together. We love to guzzle down peanut butter as fast as we can together too. It is another moment of happiness. We like to play with our bangs, and make them attractive. We like to make awkward moments with attractive men. Well, I like to make those moments, and Kinseth just likes to laugh at them. In a nut shell, she is one of my favorite people of all time. And I will love her until forever. Amen. Thank you, and goodnight.

Happiness in Letter Form

Dear Emmilie,

Congratulations! You have been selected to participate as a Full-Service Food & Beverage Cast Member on the Disney College Program in the Spring 2009 Season. This is a great opportunity for all students, and we are proud to offer this opportunity to you! This program will allow you to gain academically oriented work experience - the kind that professionals in every field agree provides participants with the tools they need to compete effectively in today's job market.

As a Full-Service Food & Beverage Cast Member, your hourly rate will be $7.21 and your responsibilities may include: greeting and seating Guests in restaurants; managing a seating chart and resolving Guest situations; utilizing a computerised reservation/seating system; cash handling - both manual and using computerized registers; rolling silverware, folding napkins, and keeping areas stocked; light cleaning; multi-tasking; standing for extended periods; and working outdoors.

We are excited to have you on our team! We look forward to the magic you will bring to the Walt Disney World Resort and are thrilled about the opportunity we have to include you in our Disney family! we are sure it is a journey that will change you!

Walt Disney World College Recruiter

"How Great It Is"

So I just finished my final project for my Interpersonal Communications class. I had to write about a huge life-changing event from my life. I wrote about a very dark time in my life when I was very sick. It is always difficult having to go back over those memories, due to how painful they are. Yet, I cannot get over how amazingly wonderful my life is, and how blessed I truly am. I have the Savior in my life, and knowledge of the true church. I have a testimony, and the knowledge that I am a daughter of God. Life is great! I have amazing friends who I adore, and have such a good time with. I have an awesome family who are so wonderful. Life is Great! I go to an awesome university, and am able to study Journalism. I have a temple in walking distance, and so many other spiritual resources. I get to laugh every day!! LIFE IS GREAT!!! I’m so grateful for opposition in all things, and for experiencing the bad so that I can more fully appreciate the good. I love my life, and am so happy! Sure, trials come, but How Great It Is!!! We get to live on this earth, and prove ourselves worthy!! We have agency!! We get to share the gospel, and build our father’s kingdom!! We get to have families, and learn new things every single day! How beautiful this life is, and how grateful I am for mine! Thank you, and goodnight!!!

Confession Session

Okay, so I do in fact have to confess. I heart kid movies, probably a little too much. Pretty sure that one of my favorite movies ever is Horton Hears a Who. For real life. Every time I see it I laugh the entire time. It's brilliant. Um, Steve Carell? Answer=Yes. I love it. And I can't wait to buy it on the 9th... that's all. I also love Pixar films. Yes, I know that I have a problem. Don't even worry about it. Kung Fu Panda? Skadoosh.

Last night just exacerbated the problem. I saw Bolt with my family. I went into it expecting it to be stupid, but I laughed the whole entire time. There were a few parts that I laughed so hard I cried. There was one random guy in the audience that laughed at all the same parts as I did, and kept laughing with me at those parts long after they had past. I was glad that I was not the lone freak who found way too much pleasure in a film about a dog who thinks he is a super hero. Yeah...

But here is the best part of this little eccentricity. I DON'T CARE!!! I love these movies so much, that you can mock me all you want. I don't car how many times I see the cat from Bolt get a frying pan chucked at it, I will still laugh for like eight minutes. I don't care how many times I hear Steve Carell say, "That happened..." I will laugh for another eight minutes. I don't care how many times I hear Jack Black say, "Skadoosh." It will still bring a smile into my heart and onto my face. So mock away. That's all I have to say. Thank you, and goodnight.

Dishwasher, My Lovely Dishwasher, I Cried for YOU!!

Stop. Right Now. And look at your dishwasher. Yes, that lovely little appliance that is so easily taken for granted. Now, with me, I want you to say, "Thank you." Yes, say it out loud. Why this seemingly ridiculous routine? Well dear readers, I am here to tell you about how the other half lives. Yes, there is a group of terribly unlucky people who have no dishwashers to speak of. And my heart weeps for them a little every day, as should yours.

Let's start at the beginning, a place that Julie Andrews believes is a very good place to start. So in the tradition of Ms. Andrews, I would like to take you with me to apartment 203, in a nice little apartment complex called Kensington Manor, and yes it does sound better if pronounced with a British accent. Apartment 203 is a nice place. It has many redeeming qualities, however, when I moved in there this past summer, the dishwasher was not one of them. Occasionally, it would leak, and that was just no good. But of course, being the slightly lazy students that we were, we just tried to live with it rather than take matters into our own hands. (This lazy attitude came into play only after the repairman supposedly fixed it, but amazingly, water still leaked...very strange.) So the Summer tenants carried on, and lived with the wretched leak.

Fall was a different story. The fall tenants would have none of that nonsense, thank you very much. And many a request was sent in to the new manager. After a series of unfortunate events, the final of which includes our kitchen being flooded, we decided to just stop using our dishwasher completely. And that was the worst day of my life...almost. For about three weeks we lived without a dishwasher, and let me tell you, I may or may not have wanted to cry myself to sleep. Luckily our manager ordered a new one for us, and all that we had to do was wait patiently for one. That whole "patiently" thing did not work out so well... But whatever. Sadly, our dishes began to pile up, and pile up, because let's face it, who really wants to do that many freakin' dishes by hand??? But then one day, it just became too much. So I spent three hours doing the dishes, which is awesome and all, but I had my fun, thanks, and never wish to do that again. EVER.

But then, something wonderful happened. I was sitting in my Psychology class generating more and more feeling of animosity towards Eysenck and his crap theories, when an unfamiliar numbers calls my phone and leaves a message. (Luckily my phone was on silent...we had already had THAT adventure in that class) This is always exciting when this happens. Maybe it was an attractive man that wanted to talk to me. Today, it was my manager, telling me that our dishwasher was coming tomorrow. There was much rejoicing in the land.

This is where the dirty deed happened. (No pun intended...) And as you can see, our dishes took a heavy toll. I promise we are never that messy, only when our dishwasher is well, crap. Or in this case, gone.

But low and behold!!! A joyous gift!! Our lives were saved that fateful day. I don't think I have ever seen six girls happier about a new appliance before in my life. It was a beautiful thing to behold.


And that's not just any dishwasher... It's MY dishwasher. Kinsey and I had a few moments of great rejoicing. Oh, happiness in a cardboard box, delivered right to our living room.

This is one for the scrapbook of my life. Happiness in 3-D. Indeed.

This was the alternative dishwasher, along with all of my other roommates... It's art? Yeah, I've got nothing.

This is pure, unabashed joy and affection. For life in general and of course, for dishwashers everywhere.

So now we have joy in Apartment 203 again, along with clean dishes. You heard it all. You know of the suffering, the heartache, the anticipation, and the joy when that new dishwasher enters your life. So count your blessings. Be grateful. And now, after hearing this tale, I have only one question left for you dear readers: Have you hugged your dishwasher today? Thank you, and goodnight.