And more injuries. . .

I ran into a tree branch yesterday while playing with my nieces and nephews, and now I have a slight cut on my forehead. I feel like Harry Potter, except that while his forehead scar symbolized his mother's love and his triumph over a dark lord, my cut simply symbolizes that I got bested by a tree.

And my mother has now admitted that I am indeed a klutz. She thought for years that I was graceful, simply because I apparently did well in my ballet class as a child. But since I started pointing out to her all of my falls and injuries, she has now admitted it - I am indeed a graceful klutz. And proud of it.

Adventures in Renting

So, on a Thursday in July, I came home from work and noticed that my A/C wasn't working any more. Now, keep in mind, this was the NEW A/C unit that that installed the end of June. It barely lasted a month. It was blowing air, but it was hot. I quickly sent off a note to my apartment complex to put in a work order. I hoped that they would get to it Friday, but when I got back it was still warm. No word through the weekend (which, thank heavens, was a rainy weekend which kept temperatures down, otherwise I might have moved back into my parents house for a bit), so on Monday I contacted them again to see what was up. They said that the repair man was at my apartment now, and he should be fixing it.


The remainder of this story can be told by the notes that I found on my door each night, from the repair man.


MONDAY:

I determined the problem with your AC is on the roof, but I cannot go up there in the rain and lightning. I will put it first place for the morning. Thanks, Brian


TUESDAY:

Your AC was out of refrigerant, which should not have happened with the new unit. I re-filled it and it is now working good, but please let me know if it happens again, and I will do my best to solve it quickly. Thank you, Brian


Update: I came back @ 2:00, the refrigerant has all leaked out again. . . I will contact our specialist and let you know what we decide. I am sorry for the delays. -Brian


WEDNESDAY:

I have found the leak and am going to get parts. I have to go to Orem, and am not sure if it will be in stock or have to be ordered. Please know I am doing my best to solve this for you. Thanks, Brian


At this point I felt the need to leave a note for HIM, telling him that I understood and appreciated all that he was doing to help with my conundrum. I wanted to leave cookies to suck up to him and make him feel better about himself, but I was worried he might think that I spit in them, so I just made sure the note was extra nice.


THURSDAY:

A/C is working now. I need to fix a pipe, and your furnace door that I broke. I will be back in the morning. You may use the A/C. Some water may drip inside the closet, but it's not a big deal and I will have it solved.
Thanks, Brian


FRIDAY:

Everything should be working right. If something should go wrong please feel free to call the emergency line and I will do my best to solve it. (please don't tell others I said your A/C will count as an emergency, I usually don't count them as such) - Thanks. Thank you for your patience while I fixed it. -Brian

- We added all new oils to your A/C with all the modern gadgets - it should be the best in the complex now.

Note, on the front of all these notes is a printed page with an option to check whether the work was completed or not. He had a huge circle around "work completed" with a big smiley face. I think he was just as glad to stop coming to my apartment as I was to finally have my air conditioner working.

Happy August!

So, while I was gathering the pictures for last week's post, I saw this one from my family's trip up in Vancouver:

Two years ago exactly, my hair was that short. I was astounded by how long its grown since then, and I tried to find a picture of how long it is now to compare. I discovered that I haven't really had pictures taken of me in months (unless you count the work photo they took when I started here, which I still haven't seen. . .), except by my sister Sarah. And in each of those photos, I am generally wearing a hat or have my hair in a ponytail, since there are always little kids present and I have learned from years of aunt-hood never to have my hair down when playing with toddlers. So, the only picture I found to show how long my hair has gotten was from our recent family outing to the zoo (courtesy of Sarah's blog):

Not one of my more flattering pictures, but the kids sure were entertained. And you get the idea of how long my hair is now. I wanted to get a picture of me getting eaten by a dinosaur (its Zoorassic Park this year at the Hogle Zoo, which means there are moving dinosaur statues scattered through the park), but I thought that would be crossing the line into being silly.

Memories

So, I went to see Harry Potter yesterday (because what celebrates the pioneers quite like watching a movie about wizards and magic. . .), and they had a trailer for whatever new Twilight movie is coming out. I wanted to gag and run out of the theatre, but I also didn't want to miss Harry Potter starting, so I had to sit there, enduring pure torture. It made me think of the beautiful time two years ago when my roommate Emma, my sister Jenni and I burned a copy of Twilight. Since Emma is moving home soon, I thought I would pay tribute to her through reminiscing of that fun time in the summer of 2009.

So, we first decided to rip the book apart, then we stabbed it. Apparently this was in keeping with vampire lore (in the Twilight series, because lets face it, Twilight vampires are different than every other kind) on the appropriate way to kill a vampire. I really didn't intend for that to happen, it was just really cathartic ripping the book apart.

We then set it ablaze in our parking lot - I think if I wasn't morally opposed to burning books, I might make a habit of it. It was a really beautiful sight. . .

Here are Emma and Jenni, reveling in the flames.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Emma had to check to make sure it was really dead. . .

And then she celebrated our victory!!

Thanks for the memories, Emma. You're a dear friend, a wonderful roommate, and I will be forever grateful that we were randomly put together to survive that awful basement.

Stop the torture!

Whoever decided that it was a good idea to use "Its a Small World" as the song on an ice-cream truck deserves to be tied up, dragged into the street, and pulled behind said ice-cream truck for an entire day. Maybe then they would learn the error of their ways.

Just sayin.

The critters are after me

I know, I haven't blogged in forever. I could give an excuse how I don't have internet in my new place (which is true), but the truth is, I've gotten off the habit. If you can call my periodic updates a habit.

Well, here's the update all three of you that read this blog have been waiting for - an update on my new apartment! It's great, I love the high ceilings, love my balcony, and love how close it is to work. But, I have a few neighbors who have it out for me.

On my first Saturday living in the apartment, I enjoyed the fact that I could open up the windows and feel a wonderful breeze blowing through the apartment. I went into the living room to grab something, and there he was - a bee the size of a small child. I was amazed that he could even stay in the air! I might have freaked out, but I kept going about my business until I saw him go to the door. I quickly went and shut the other door so that he was stuck between the screen door and the real door. I tried to help him get out from between the two, but he wasn't moving, and I wasn't about to let him back in. So, I left him to himself and carried on. Later I went outside and noticed a small hive on the door, so I knocked it down and hoped that meant the end of my unfriendly neighbor.

The next morning as I left to go to church, I opened the front door (which is on the OTHER side of my apartment), and flying right at me, in full attack mode, was the bee! Now I know what you're thinking, it was probably another bee, it wasn't actually attacking me, it just was an odd coincidence. I don't believe you. It was the same bee, and he was mad and out to get me. I quickly closed the door, ran into the back room until I calmed down, then sheepishly went back to my front door, realizing how idiotic I was being, considering I belong to the more dominant species. . .

Well, last night I was going into my apartment, and I noticed a spider on the top of my door frame. I went ahead and unlocked the door, and right as I opened the door, the spider LEAPT from its spot and jumped onto my door, trying to get into my apartment. So again, I showed great maturity as I ran into the apartment and slammed the door to keep that stupid spider from getting inside.

I don’t know what is up with these critters wanting to get into my house - the AC isn't working, and its not like I have anything interesting for them to do inside. All I know is, I'm perfectly content living next to them if they stay outside, but if they want to get inside, this means war.

Age is Earned!

Two weeks ago, I went to the C-town singles ward that was newly formed, as it was exciting to see the process of a brand new ward come together and start out. Our first hour was spent mingling through forced "get to know you" activities. Which, luckily, weren't too bad considering we were in a church on a Sunday. So, a young man introduced himself to me, and asked what I do. When I told him, he asked how old I was. I was kind-of surprised that he would ask me my age right off the bat, but I'm used to dealing with awkward questions when talking with men, so I responded. "27! What?!" was his response. "I thought you were going to say 19!"

Now, I ask you, how is that a compliment? Everyone tells me "you should be grateful, you'll enjoy that when you're older." I don't believe them. I know that nobody really wants to look older than they are, but age is something we should be proud of. We have earned each one of our years, and each year represents lessons learned, challenges faced and overcome, triumphs, new friends, and amazing experiences. I want to be recognized for all of these! When somebody tells me I look 19, I think, really, I look like a teenager? What connotations come with teenagers? Being a ditz, inexperienced, unknowing, and unrealistic. If you're going to say that I look younger than my years, at least put me in my 20s. Stop saying I look like a teenager. I am in my late 20s, and while I'm still VERY young, I at least have gained more experiences than a teenager. (Sidenote: I have friends from the MPA program who try to avoid telling people they have a Masters degree, just so guys don't think they are "too old." I'm the opposite. When I mention I have a Masters degree, it's not to brag of my achievements - it's so people will stop and think, huh, maybe this girl is NOT a college freshman.")

End of rant.

Updates

So, I got a job. A real job, with grown-up pay and benefits. I can go to the dentist again! And because I have a real job, I also found an apartment with a beautiful private balcony, and tall pine trees around the complex, and a pool! I'm excited to feel like an adult again, and to have windows again :)

Ways to Stay Awake

So, I remembered this story as I was trying to fall asleep the other night. A difficult attempt most nights, but especially difficult as of late. Anyway, I thought I'd share this, instead of sharing anything from my current life. Because its my blog and I can do what I want.

Once upon a time I was a lowly grad student, working as a TA in order to pay the bills. Or at least pretend to pay the bills, because lets face it, the income from that job barely covered food and gas money. Anyway, it had been an extremely long semester, what with catching the swine flu, then pneumonia, then playing catch-up ALL semester from my 2 weeks of illness. I had never really worked to the wire during finals, but this week of finals was different. So, it was Thursday night, all finals were due Friday, and I also needed to complete my TA work by Friday evening as well. Luckily, my TA work was very easy - grade a bunch of tests using an answer key. I decided to pull my first all-nighter and grade papers through the night, finish my last final in the morning, and then crash at 5 PM when everything was finally in. How did I complete this feat, you ask? By watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." All night. Its amazing how much grading you can get done watching Buffy, and also how the scary elements of that show really help you stay alert (since you never know if a sound you hear is your roommate breathing or a vampire sneaking in to attack you).

Anyway, moral of the story - Buffy can help you do a lot of things. Survive work, stay up all night, slay vampires - anything you need.

Ah spring

After church today, I was a good girl and went to ward choir (because I've been skipping lately and felt guilty for not supporting). As we were singing, I felt something fall into my hair next to my ear. It felt like a piece of paper, and since the boy's row sits right behind us, and since I'm very used to the way boys act when they are in choirs, I assumed someone had been throwing something and it landed in my hair. So, I reach to pull it out, and instead, my fingers circle a wasp. Yes, a wasp landed in my hair, and it was super mad at the way I handled it. It flew off in a huff, I had a minor freak out, and all the choir was trying to figure out what happened. My thumb did hurt for a bit afterward, but a little cold water helped the finger to stop hurting.

All I can say is, who gets bit by a wasp in a chapel, in March?! Just special people like me.

Celebrity Crushes

I'm not really one to do normal girl things, so I thought I'd try it out and do a very girly thing - share my celebrity crushes/men I think are beautiful. Because I really just like looking at these men.

My first crush was on Gary Hobson from the TV show Early Edition, played wonderfully by Kyle Chandler. I still want to marry a man like Gary Hobson (just throwing it out there).





















I also have worked hard to develop a reputation as a geek (despite the time that Emma tried to kick me out of our geek club made for 2). While for the most part I love science fiction because of the great story lines, the space battles, and the fun adventures, I have to admit, there are some incredibly beautiful men in science fiction. Here is Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1:






















And Joe Flanigan from Stargate Atlantis:





















And from the fantasy world, there is Prince Caspian, played by Ben Barnes. If any of you could track him down for me, I would be forever in your debt.






















And finally, there is the oh-so-wonderful Matt Bomer, star of White Collar.

Please please read this

Dear friends, as you know, I'm hardly ever serious on this blog. But, I do want to share a link with you about a topic that is very serious - emotional abuse. I have seen too many friends and family in emotionally abusive relationships. Some have gotten out before they were married, and others lived through an abusive marriage that broke the person that they originally were. Emotional abuse will break your spirit, and each of you is too precious to ever be broken like that. If you are in an abusive relationship, please seek help. And know that I will be praying for you and will be there to help in whatever way I can.

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/19757/Recognizing-emotional-abuse-in-dating-relationships

Why editing is important

There is a book that I have been helping find images for, and it has been the constant stress of work for the past few months. The man who wrote the book (a 94-year-old who loves to remind you that he might not be around much longer) keeps pestering my boss on the status of the book, who then pesters me, and I in turn pester the editor who always responds "next week I should have a working proof." 2 months after he first said "next week," I finally got a proof!!

When I was looking through the proof, I came to one picture that we had not actually suggested for the book. I want you to picture this image - two Korean women, one holding a bag of groceries, her head tossed back in laughter, the other standing in a doorway, holding a toddler in her arms, smiling at the other woman. The caption? "Humanitarian project in DR Congo."

Thoughts from Work

So, I haven't been posting as of late because work has kept me busy and squashed out any desire to get on the computer when I go home. To remedy that situation, I thought I'd share with all of you some random items from today at work.

• While walking from the parking lot, I realized I put on two different colors of knee-highs: one beige, and the other probably sun-tan. Not a huge difference, but one leg looks much more pink than the other. Reason #53 why I don't like the rule that I need to wear nylons.
• I smiled when I got into my motorpool car and heard a Spanish love-ballad blaring from the radio. Pretty great - I listened to the whole song.
  
• I've been helping with an insert that will be published in the Ensign this June. We've been pouring over it and discussing it for MUCH to long, as evidenced by the final caption the Ensign wanted us to write. The section of the article is on family finances, and the picture is clearly a couple working on their finances. My suggestion for a caption was this: "Husbands and wives should work together on finances to avoid the leading cause of divorce." I don't think the Ensign will go for it. . .
  

My mind is a blank.

I've decided I want to try my hand at composing music. I've been wanting to for years, but I have one hold up - I never can think of any lyrics, or even a good topic to try. I like thinking of melodies, I'll make up stuff on the piano, but I draw a blank when it comes to lyrics. So, the big question is. . .
Does anyone want to help me with lyrics? Or does anyone have a poem they want me to put to music? Please realize it will probably never be very good, and I might never share it with anyone, but if you have ideas to help me jumpstart my attempt at composing, I would appreciate the help.

Greetings!

I'm teaching my parents the joys of igoogle and google reader, which has lead them to finally reading my blog, which has lead to the confusion about my blog title coming up as "Defying Gravity." So, to help my parents, I changed my blog title so (hopefully) it will appear as "Emily's Ramblings" in your newsfeed. Which, if I do say so myself, is probably more descriptive of what this blog actually entails, because I've never really determined a purpose for this blog. Which actually suits me best.

Ummm, that's about it. I mostly want to post this so my name appears in your feed reader, or however you get updates that I have posted, so that I can tell you "Hi!" and that I'm still around. So Hello, faithful reader, I think you are swell.

Sundance Anyone?

For the first time ever I want to go to the Sundance Film Festival. Not that I haven't thought, wow, it would be cool to experience the Film Festival and see cool stars, but I found a movie that I really want to go see. Its a film set in Armenia!! Who wants to come with? Here is the link for more info:

http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/here_sundance2011

Or if that doesn't work, the film is called "Here." And its set in Armenia. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

Why I don't (shoudn't) remember my dreams

Okay, I'm typing this up at a very early hour in order to remember the ultra-bizarre dream that just woke me up. So if it makes no sense, you can blame the time, or the fact that it is a dream and is not supposed to make sense.

My sister Sarah and I were writing a book on vampires (first clue that this is odd - it would make much more sense for me to be writing a book about vampires with my sister Jenni, or my roommate Emma. Sarah and I would much rather write books together on non-demon related topics. Just sayin.) So, conveniently, there is an entrance to the vampire world just around the street from our parents' home. She and I go driving around the neighborhood arguing over which green house it is (the only information we knew was that the demon entrance was from an old house that had been painted green. And who knew there would be three green houses on one street). Well, we finally find the home, and I'm pretty sure there was an outdoor entrance to the basement, because we never broke into the home, we just found ourselves walking in a very well-light basement towards a door labeled "Vampire World." (thank you, vampires, for making the entrance to your world so clean and easy to find)

I think at this point we went back for our supplies, then went back to the door. As we were heading back, just as Sarah reached the door, a vampire came after me. I tried to go running to the door, but was wearing heels and couldn't make it in time. Sarah did not come back to help me (but she did hold the door for me, thanks Sar); so I had to fight the demon alone. What did I do? Slapped it. That's right - in my dream, I fought a vampire off while wearing heels by slapping it in the face, then running towards the open door held open by my sister. Then I woke up.

And this is why I don't allow myself to remember my dreams. I don't want to think about what all my si-fi watching does to my unconscious self.