Grand Canyon - 1 month late!!

Okay, so here are a few of the favorite pictures from my Grand Canyon adventure with my family. Because I suppose every once and a while I need to blog like a normal person about what actually goes on in my life. We started the trip with a stop at the Freemont Indian Museum, where we saw petroglyphs and got to play inside a recreation of a pit house - cleverly named because it is much like a pit. And a house. A pit house!















The next day we made it down to the Grand Canyon, where I forced my family to go on hikes that wore them out. Here is a picture during one of our breaks (where my little sister is thinking, how can Emily and I really be related? I think the same thing when she talks about Anime. And I love her anyway.)
















Good thing I had my favorite man along on this trip to save me from a horrid death of falling into the Grand Canyon. Odd thing was, we both dreamt of falling in at a later time . . .

















Look at that view!















My favorite part of the day started when the sun went low in the sky and was casting shadows throughout the canyon. Incredible.

I've come out of my haze

I started a book series after I graduated, as sort-of a present to myself for being done forever from school. Then I found out that I needed to take a one-credit class in order to stay employed for the summer. One-credit should be easy, I thought, so I continued to read my series - which ultimately turned into me shunning all external responsibilities and working as little as possible in order to spend as much time as possible reading. I finally finished the series today, and feel as though a haze has been lifted. I admit, I have a problem - I get WAY too involved in books. It might be a coping mechanism (you don't want to hire me, Mr. Hiring Department that won't even call me for an interview? I'll just read this book, where I will live vicariously through a 12-year old boy who is slowly taking over control of the entire known universe, and will mentally picture taking over that hiring department and making them pay for not giving me an interview), but I think it really just comes down to one thing - I LOVE STORIES. I was recently discussing with a roommate about activities I like, and I had a hard time pinning down what it is that I like to do. The truth is, I like anything that involves a story, whether that is talking with people and learning about their life, or enjoying fictionalized stories through books, movies, or TV. I also like exploring and doing crazy adventures (such as dressing like hobos and eating beans by the railroad tracks), because it leads to stories (or I can pretend that I am in a story). And yes, maybe most of the stories I like have a fantasy twist to them, but what can I say? I like fantasy.

So, dear friends, I am out of my haze, and have promised myself that I won't get back into any book series until I have finished that one-credit class (which I now have three weeks to do 48 hours worth of work), and possibly found a job.

Oh, and Grace, I PROMISE I will get pictures from the grand canyon uploaded. And possibly some graduation pictures. Soon.

Disturbing - to me at least

"What is this," you are saying, "Emily is posting 3 times in a week? She averages a post a month!" Yes, this is true. I'm trying to be better. And I also was just sitting here wasting time applying for jobs and thought I should do something productive, like flipping through the channels. And I came across one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen: a show on the travel channel on the top places to pig out. The section I watched was on the Vermontster at Ben and Jerry's, which is basically just a huge tub of ice-cream that you try to eat in one sitting.


I couldn't stop watching, it was so disturbing watching people try to eat all of this. One girl fell into her ice-cream, a few people got sick, and it was like watching the fall of civilization in a five-minute TV clip.

When it comes to food, I have realized that quality really doesn't matter to me - its quantity. I'll eat just about anything if its in a small quantity. The larger the quantity, the less I'll enjoy it, even if its something I adore (like death-by-chocolate ice-cream, which I might eat after I finish this post complaining about food). So, if you love me, don't make me eat large quantities of food. Instead, use me as a guinea pig for all those recipes that you've been meaning to try, but don't know if anyone will enjoy. Guaranteed, I'll eat it. I just might only eat half a serving.

Vote for Julia!

My dearest friend Julia is competing in a bloggerbrawl, and needs your vote! Here's the link:
http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/blogbrawl/?id=14730. You can vote on every type of computer browser on your computer (Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc.) Just if you want to ensure my joy in watching Julia win :)

Puddle Jumper, the Final Chapter

So, this blog entry has been a few weeks in the making. It all started on a beautiful spring day, when one of my dear friends was getting married. Brooke and I hopped into my loving yet faltering car, and somehow made it to Salt Lake and back. The freeway was fine - it was in the city that I wanted to cry and give up. Lets put it this way: going through intersections, I think I saw a turtle turn to me and laugh as he sped past me. My car just refused to get into gear.

The next morning, a not-so-beautiful rainy day, my car would not turn on. It wasn't the battery or anything, it was turning over, but the engine was just not engaging. So, as I walked to work, I realized that this actually was a tender mercy from the Lord. Not that my car was dead, necessarily, but I realized that I had been praying for my car to last through graduation. And it did last through graduation, plus a weekend. I honestly don't think my car would have made it that long without the Lord's answer to my prayers.

Anyhoo, long story short, I was able to find a new-ish car (2001 Toyota Camry), and I'm getting a really good deal on it. It will be great. And I'm using my wedding fund to buy it, so maybe the fact that I have no money to get married will mean I meet the guy soon. . .

Anyway, tonight I realized that my car is just sitting in my driveway wasting space, so I posted it on craigslist to see if there was anyone who wanted it for parts. First, I tried turning it on again, and it actually DID, so I felt no guilt as listing it as a running car, and being completely honest about its otherwise crappy status. Within 10 minutes, I got a phone call, which went something like this:

"Hi, I'm looking at the ad for your Honda Civic."
"Yes, that's mine."
"You have it listed at $300, would you be willing to take $200."
"Uhhh, yes."
"Okay, we'll buy it."
"Seriously, you don't want to look at it or anything?"

No, they didn't. They're up in Ogden, and I think they could hear "honest sucker" in my voice, so they bought my car. They drove down to C-town to get the title from my mom and give her the money, and I drove the car up to Orem to leave it at his parents' house, and AAA will take it the rest of the way. I barely made it up to Orem, so I think $200 is okay all things considering. All I can say is, my negotiations teacher would have been laughing at me that entire conversation, and probably would have gone into the system to change my grade down a notch for failure to even pretend to negotiate a simple car sale. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you will never see me working as a saleswoman.

"Stop Eating the Paste" Special

I was reminded today of two of my greatest talents, and in an effort to not hide my light under a bushel, I will share these talents with you now. The first is falling. Anywhere. I was walking up the stairs in the Tanner building, and about halfway up decided to call my friend Sarah, whom I was about to visit. As I brought the phone up to my ear, my foot completely missed the step and I fell UP the stairs. And landed full force on the top landing. For those of you who have been in the Tanner, you might recall that the main atrium has the potential for great acoustics - I am fairly certain that the "thump" my body made hitting the floor could have been heard by all. Yes, its a talent I'm sure you all wish you had.

The next talent is my great ability to learn. I have been attending this college for two full school years, and I have finally mastered the ability to refer to the JFSB by its proper name. My usual name for it is "the building sort-of south of the tanner, it has a weird courtyard, its by the library but not too close, its confusing inside, has some sort of spiral staircase inside; you know what I mean?" I still think that's a better way to distinguish between the JSB, JKB, and JFSB, but who really wants to listen to me? I'm the type of girl who falls up stairs.

In actual news, I have a job interview Thursday. Wish me luck!!

Dating and the Job Hunt - Same Thing

Today as I anxiously awaited a phone call from an organization I want to work with (which I did NOT receive, so it will be more waiting tomorrow), I realized that there are numerous similarities between dating and looking for a job.

In each case, you are looking for the perfect fit. For some, it is an easy match, it is as though the answer just falls into their lap. For others, it requires some searching and a deal of rejection before the right fit comes. Its all just one disappointment after another, until finally, FINALLY someone that you want wants you as well.

The way you go about finding is similar as well. You must use various methods, and you'll never quite know which one will work out in the end. In the job search, most people secure their jobs through networking. In dating, its called having mutual friends. Rarely do you find the blind dates working out, but they do happen, as you sometimes find those people who really got a job simply by sending out their resume without having met the organization first.

Going back to the rejection aspect, the rejection can come in the same way as well. In some cases, its a direct rejection. Within 48 hours of submitting my resume to the FBI for a writing editor job (which I wasn't terribly in love with, so this didn't hurt too much), they told me I didn't meet their requirements. Good. Easy. I was able to get over it fast. A week later I got a rejection letter from a food bank I had applied to the previous MONTH, saying that while they were impressed by my qualifications, they had offered the position to somebody else. You know what that really meant? They really weren't impressed enough to even meet me or interview me, but they wanted to let me down gently. Plus, I had to wait a long time to receive that rejection; they could have just ignored me and pretended they didn't get my resume, I would have been fine with that. Does this sound like the dating game to anybody? Yes, rejection can come directly or indirectly in BOTH arenas.

And there are the times you get your hopes up. You submitted your resume, you know you fit. When will they call? You figure out a time frame in your mind of when they should be done reviewing the applications, calling your references, etc. You have it narrowed down to a 2-day window. You wait anxiously by the phone. . .no call. Did you read them wrong? Did they not see what an amazing fit you are? You think to yourself, should I call them, ask about their timeline? If I call, they will realize I'm interested, but if I call too much I'll appear like a stalker. However, they might be one of those organizations that only calls if you call them first. How do I know which type of organization they are? All this debate over whether or not to place a phone call.

I also was pondering which rejection cycle I would like to get out of first. Because I am an established expert at the dating rejection, and I am becoming quite adept at the job rejection. I'm pretty sure dating. Yup, I'd like the dating rejection to stop. But a job would be nice, too. Because I like food. So, if you know someone who wants to buy me dinner, or who wants to pay me so I can buy myself dinner, send them my way. I'll even give you my resume if that would help.