Emily

Birthday fun...

2006-11-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

I have to join and say I know it's been forever since I posted but I finally feel like I have something worthwhile to report so here goes. My 22nd birthday was yesterday. I know...very exciting ;) But it was a good day. Zora made me some very cool pictures that he framed and bought me some very cool wine glasses that we had been wanting to get. My dad also bought us all tickets to go see Blue Man Group on Tuesday night (Dad, Linda, Anna, Zora, me and their foreign exchange student Yes Na)! It was an awesome night. The opener was Tracy Bonham who is an amazing singer and plays the violin along with some of her songs which was compelling to me. If you've never heard her I highly recommend it. Then Blue Man came on and if you don't know what they do they're like a percussion rhythm kind of group that uses wierd things as instruments like pvc pipe and my favorite long plastic swish things...not exactly sure what they were. They also have great digital effects and hilarious "rock movement" clips that make it a highly entertaining show. I wish I had some pictures to put up, but they wouldn't allow cameras :( Anyway, all in all it was a very fun night and if any of you ever have to chance to see them live do not pass it up. It's well worth it.

I'm getting old

2006-09-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

So I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday because my left knee was causing me a lot of pain for no apparent reason that I could think of at least. So I went to get it checked out just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. Well it turned out being more than what I thought it was, but still not anything too serious. Apparently I have bursitis in my left hip and knee. I have had problems with the hip for a long time...probably around the last 4 years or so but the last year it has gotten much worse, but I never thought too much about it. Anyway, the doctor said that the fluid sacks around the joints in my hip and knee are inflamed, so for the next couple weeks I have to take a prescription anti-inflammatory to see if that helps, but if it doesn't then I may have to have a cortisone injection directly in my hip which would not be fun at all. She also said I may need some kind of physical therapy as well. So I'm crossing my fingers that the medication will take care of the problem and I won't have any more problems with it. So yea, I feel like I'm 21 with the leg of a 70 year old or something.

Prayer request

2006-08-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted but I have been extremely busy with my job and everything else. Anyway I wanted to put out that a good friend (and former manager) of ours died last night of cancer. She went into the doctor not much more than a month ago and they told her that it had come back and had spread to her throat, lungs and soon to her stomach. She had breast cancer about 20 years ago so had a double mastectomy, then about 3 or 4 years ago it came back in her throat, but treatment had always been effective. Anyway, her name was Chris Thompson so I would appreciate prayers for her loved ones and friends as they face this time. We will probably be heading home sometime this week for the funeral so keep us in your prayers as well.

Meet my class...

2006-07-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

These are my daycare kids...thought I would let you see how cute they can be (sometimes)This is Tristyn (behind the slide) Ashley and Dante
Then below is (l-r) Megan, Kate and Travis
This is the whole group (minus one who did not get to go)

This is Carter...this is the only face I could get him to make for the camera
And finally Ella and Tasia.
If you can't tell we went to the park today and had lots of fun. I actually got off at 1:30 because we were low on numbers. Anyway those are the monsters that I put up with everyday...just kidding most of the time they are fun.

First day on the job

2006-06-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm relaxing on the couch after the first exhausting day of rowdy 3 year olds. I had a blast but this job is definitely going to be a challenge. I spent an hour or so doing some research on transition activities and filler activities to keep them busy when there's nothing on the "schedule". This afternoon they were wild and I mostly think it was because they were bored. So I brushed up on all those fun games we used to play when we were kids like red light/green light, london bridges, and I spy. I also learned a bunch of new little songs and rhymes to keep their hands busy during group time and whatnot. I'm probably going to go to the library tomorrow to get some lesson plans and such because I only work the morning. All in all, it was my first day so it went about as well as expected. The kids are going to take a little while to get used to me and how I do things and to test what I will let them get away with. I'll give you an update in a week or so when I have actually been on my own and have a little more control.

Welcome to the world of the employed...

2006-06-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

So I am proud to announce that I am the newest 3-year-old teacher at Play and Learn Children's Center here in Ames. I went for an interview this morning and she hired me on the spot. I have up to 8 kids in my "class" but usually only about 6 at a time. (You never know in the world of Daycare) I get to do my own lesson planning and activities and get to go on field trips and all the fun stuff. I am waaay excited and I thank God for this wonderful opportunity to get great experience and a really good thing to put on my resume when I get done with school in a couple years. But anyway, I start next Wednesday with the old teacher so I can see kind of how she runs things and then in a week and a half I will be on my own.

Wierd neighbors get wierder

2006-06-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

So I've become somewhat of an insomniac lately, I just have a lot on my mind and that always makes it difficult for me to sleep. Anyway as long as I was up I thought I would tell you all about my eventful evening. So I was sitting in the computer room talking on the phone and Zora had gone out to put the car in the garage and I could kind of hear a ruccus going on next door (the wierd neighbors) but I didn't really think too much of it I just thought they were messing around. Then I heard Zora come back in through the front door which I thought was wierd because the screen door was open. He came into the room and said that there were 2 guys next door that were fighting (like actually beating eachother with like a drainpipe or something) and that one of the guys had a shotgun and was yelling at the other one that it was loaded and the woman had come out with a baby and was trying to get them to stop. Then he proceeded to ask me if I thought that he should call the police. I just looked at him like are you kidding? Some guy has a gun next door and you're wondering if I think you should call the cops. So anyway he called 911 and reported it and I guess someone else had already called them and they were on their way but there ended up being like 6-8 officers with an ambulance and everything that showed up and wanted our statements and all that good stuff. I guess the good thing is if this doesn't get them evicted then I don't know what will :)

Sorry I need to vent...

2006-05-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I really needed to get this all out of my system because I'm really kind of upset about it and it's just kind of a ridiculous story so you all can share it with me I guess. So the other night...I believe Sunday...my phone rang at about midnight and that does not usually happen so I was kind of surprised. Zora was out in the living room and I was in bed reading so he got up to answer it and I asked him who it was and he looked at me kind of confused and said it was Brett (his friend and former roommate from Sioux City) We were mostly confused because he was calling my phone instead of Zora's. So anyway I got up and went out there while he answered it and he asked me if Amanda (my latest roommate) still talked to Anthony (her ex)? And I was like well I don't know I haven't talked to Amanda since I gave her my last rent check and we didn't talk about him. So Zora continued his conversation with Brett and when he got off the phone I asked him what that was all about and he looked at me kinda funny and he said that apparently Amanda (who is in Sioux City for her sister's graduation at the moment) has been telling people that I have been cheating on Zora since I moved to Ames. Now just so you all know this is COMPLETELY ridiculous, you all know that I would never do anything like that to anyone let alone the guy who it looks like I will spend the rest of my life with. But anyway, she apparently told someone who knew both Zora and I and it spread throughout a bunch of people that he went to high school with including, but not limited to, his ex-girlfriend who he broke up with to be with me. Now I am not one to really get that upset about what people think of me or care that there's a stupid rumor going around that I was unfaithful because both Zora and I know it's not true and that's all that's important really. What I'm really upset about is the fact that Amanda was supposedly one of my "best" friends and I have never done ANYTHING to her to make her want to hurt me intentionally like that. I mean it's competely vindictive and it really upset me that she would do that to me. I have not really had good luck with roommates, my first roommate stole a bunch of my clothes, another one moved out and trashed the place, and now this. I just don't understand how someone can be so intentionally mean for absolutely no reason. So there...I feel a little better getting that off my chest.

My life for the last week

2006-05-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Zora making a peanut butter sandwich on the coffee table in the living room...those were his mom's really nice leather couches that we got from her because she was moving too and needed someone to take them off her hands.
Obviously the kitchen...it's kinda hard to see but the table is a nice round glass one...also from Zora's mom.
This is the 2nd bedroom...I'm standing on the guest bed and that's the fouton to the left.
In response to Sarah's comment about my wierdo neighbors I thought I would at least share the most updated pictures of our new place. We got moved in with all of our furniture last Thursday and have had a week of unemployment to clean it and get settled. I haven't figured out a way to get pictures of our neighbors yet (I swear it's a family of bums that live off of one person who lives in this nice apartment, they even have an old van with a cardboard window) Anyway, I still am jobless, had an interview at Target on Tuesday but I haven't heard anything back from them. Zora, on the other hand, now has two jobs; he's working in the shoe department at JCP which is what he was doing in Sioux City and had an interview this morning at Target and they hired him as an overnite to unload trucks, so he will be working from 10pm until sometime in the early morning hours estimated from 4am-7am. But we're going job hunting for me tomorrow in the morning after he gets back from peeing in a cup at Target.

New apartment

2006-05-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

We're on our first full day in our new place...pretty exciting. Everything is cleaned up and put away and we're settling in nicely. Now all that's left is a little shopping. Thought I would show you all some pictures though. Enjoy!

Hope you get a good laugh...

2006-04-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would take you all on a walk down memory lane...we were pretty cute back in the day :)

Waiting for the laundry...

2006-04-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting at my dad's house doing laundry and was checking my internet stuff and felt the need to write a blog. I feel like I haven't really been able to share what is going on in my head and I think that I should start doing that because this is a safe place to do that I guess. Anyway for the last 4 or so months I have been going to counseling and been on medication for depression. I think it was triggered by the transition of moving away from most of what I was familiar with and starting out more or less on my own. I actually love Iowa State and really enjoy living in Ames and I have made friends...so on and so forth so it still perplexes me why I became so depressed. I have come to find out that there are a lot of things in my life that I just wasn't really taking control of and that by taking more control of them it has made a huge difference. I also have come to see that depression is not necessarily something one can control and that it is not something that I did or am "making up" or using as and "excuse" for things that I felt were wrong. I am working on being more organized and not procrastinating (emphasize working on) and I have been going to the gym and being more physically active. I also have had a lot of problems with my sleep patterns and that is gradually getting better as well. Now, I am not a patient person and this has been a huge struggle for me in waiting for results or I guess you could say feeling better. I can tell a major change but I still have a lot of work to do. I have started going back to church because it has become a peaceful and rejuvenating place again (I have had a lot of issues in the past with this) but I have come to that after realizing that my personal faith has remained strong in spite of any resentment I have towards the establishment or the group of people that I had started to link to the "church". This is a recent development but I think that it is one thing that has really made a major change in my attitude and my energy and my outlook on life. It's really a great feeling to know that when nothing else seems good that God is really still there waiting for you to come back to Him. Anyway I think it's about time to go check on my laundry and hopefully head for bed soon. Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend.

I was waiting for something interesting to happen...

2006-04-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well it hasn't happened as of yet, but I feel like I should have something exciting or at least insightful to talk about in my blogging. But I feel bad for not posting anything for so long so I thought I would share some of what has been going on in my mundane life. I am definitely excited that I only have a week and 2 days of classes left, then 2 days of finals. I am so ready for it to be done but it actually flew by. I have one more assignment to complete and I was going to work on that tonite, but after doing 2 others I just couldn't make myself do another one. I also haven't finished reading the book that I'm supposed to do the paper about, but that's really not relevant, right? Other than that...I have about the same time until I move into my new apartment. We're moving my stuff on the day before my finals so that will be exciting. I love being in a new place. The most exciting part of it all is that I will have my own washer and dryer in my apartment so I don't have to save quarters or plan out when I'm going to do my laundry. You don't realize how nice it is until you lose it. Zora won't be moving his stuff out until May 17th when he gets done with school and that's when we get most of our real furniture because his mom is moving and giving us a lot of her stuff which is awesome. So anyway, just thought I would let you all know what was going on with me.

Recovered!

2006-03-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Update on the earring: we found it! There was so much hair and other gunk down in the pipes that it pretty much would have been impossible for the earring to get through all of it, but it took a while for us to dig through it and finally hear the plunk of the earring falling into the bucket. Anyway I was excited.

Bathroom sinks and diamond earrings...

2006-03-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

This morning was one of those typical mornings of dragging myself out of bed 45 minutes before I'm supposed to be somewhere (a Dr. appt today) therefore forcing myself to rush in getting ready. Well my wonderful boyfriend gave me 1/2 carat diamond earrings for Christmas and obviously I wear them every day but I take them out at night because they bother me while I'm trying to sleep. Usually I put them back in in my bedroom when I get dressed for the day. Well, this morning I just grabbed them off the nightstand and took them into the bathroom with me. As I'm sure you have figured out by now, I dropped one of them and to my horror it slipped right down the drain. Of course I didn't have time to do any extensive searching but I did take the thingy out of the drain and pick thru the hair and whatnot that was clogged in the drain with my tweezers, but to no avail. So I'm really sad today, but my dad is coming over tomorrow morning to help me take the pipes apart and see if it is stuck in the trap or in the pipes somewhere...so keep your fingers crossed. I'll let you all know if we find anything.

Oh kids...

2006-03-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

So I have a funny kid story, but it's not my kid or even a kid I know, but my teacher told it to us in lecture tonite and it was absolutely hilarious. So my teacher's name is Sean and his wife is the head of the sunday school classes at their church. One day she asked him to come and try to help them get the kids to behave better when they are altogether as a large group (Sean is a school psychologist and specializes in behavior problems) So he went and dressed up in a robe pretending to be a prophet with the whole act and everything. He started out by asking the kids what the rules were. He got all the expected answers...don't hit, don't slap, don't kick. Finally after that point was overdone, he tried getting them to tell him something else. They had gotten the point about not hurting other people what was another kind of rule that they had heard about. After a couple minutes one kid piped up and shouted out "Don't commit adultery"

Spring!

2006-03-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

So it's not usually anything to get excited about, but I was really pumped today when I got out of class and it was raining, I mean an all out thunderstorm! It was still pretty chilly with the wind and all, but I'm taking it as a sign that spring is finally on it's way and it will start to get warmer soon. I have "spring break" next week and it would be very nice if it would at least be sweatshirt weather. I'm more than tired of winter and if I have to walk through one more drift of snow I might have a breakdown. That's about all that's new with me, I need to get back to studying for a test that I have tomorrow night...wish me luck!

Wish the weekend would never end...

2006-03-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well I already tried to post this one once but "there were errors" apparently, or at least that's what the program told me. So anyway, I had a really fun carefree weekend and I was a little bummed when I woke up this morning and I realized I had to get up and go do stuff like class and go to work in a couple hours. My boyfriend, Zora, and his friend Travis came up for the weekend and we seriously did nothing interesting. Saturday was spent getting my oil changed and then going to my dad's house to work on laundry (because I was out of quarters to do it here at my apartment) and playing Mario Cart (Double Dash) and Mario Party 6 on Anna's Nintendo Gamecube. Honestly though, this was the most fun that I have had in a while. There is something really funny about choosing a man-eating plant and a ghost as the drivers of a huge pink cadillac in a race where you can chuck giant bananas and spikey blue shells at your opponents. At 21 years old, you would think that I had outgrown such simple pleasures, but fortunately I have not grown up that much yet.

Just another Wednesday

2006-03-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well I really wasn't planning on creating this but I wanted to post a comment on Sarah's blog and it wouldn't let you do it unless you created an account. So here I am. Well it's just a typical Wednesday here in good ol' Ames. I'm working on getting my assignment done for my class later this afternoon while getting ready and eating waffles. I am well rested after taking some tylenol pm and a couple frantic phone calls to my boyfriend and my mom because I was having what seemed like a nervous breakdown last night. But I feel much better today. It looks like my problems are nothing compared to sick, pitiful 3 year-olds. Anyway better get on my list of things to do.