Project, soccer, off to Cusco-topia

Sorry I haven't blogged! Didn't think anyone really read this thing. :) Well we're out of Trujillo and back in Lima for the night. Our work is finished. The project in Trujillo went really well and I had so much fun doing it! Throughout the two weeks in Trujillo we went around handing out Adolescent Risk Behavior surveys to schools. We'd go into a classroom, introduce ourselves, and then hand out the survey and answer any questions the kids might have. I wasn't too good at the answering the questions part at first because of my spanish, but I soon got better and could communicate using the few words I know or just pointing and hand guestures. I really wish I'd known more Spanish especially in the classroom setting so I could get to know the kids and the teachers more. Anyways, we handed out this survey on behalf of the University of Utah combined with the University of Cesar Vallejo. It was a lot of fun getting to work with the med students there. They joined us on one occasion to hand out surveys and another to help compile data at the end! They were so fun. We even ended up going to a Karaoke Bar with them last night as a final goodbye in Trujillo. It was a blast! Nothing like seeing us Gringos try and sing in Spanish and them singing Whitney Houston's "I will always love you". Definitely a blast!!

We entered data into the computer A LOT! We'd spend hours upon hours doing it each day. It was nice to have the med students help out the last day so we could finish compiling the data! About 2,500 surveys done in all! It'll be interesting to see what the results hold and then we'll go from there! Despite all the work, we did have some fun! I FINALLY got to do my favorite thing in the world: play some soccer. One morning when we weren't at schools we went to Huanchaco! It's winter season here in Peru so guess who was at the beach?! NO ONE. haha It was fun though. We asked a guy with a restaurant if we could borrow a ball and started a small game on the beach! Playing soccer on the beach is HARD. Definitely got a workout. But that was just with our group which was fun. Then we took a break for a while and then ran over to a soccer court on the beach! Reminded me of my futsol days playing on the hard ground! I was so excited about it! And I got to finally show some Peruvian's what I'm made of! We mixed up the teams and in the end I ended up with four Peruvian's on my team. At first I was shocked that they were nice enough to give me a chance and pass to me. Then I proved my place as a valuable asset on our team :) 2 out of our 3 goals! And I schooled some kids as well. It was so much fun!

I also got to play some soccer after we were done taking surveys one day. A little boy, in my head I called him Chancho because he looked just like that cute little boy on Nacho Libre, was left at school from the morning session and playing with a ball looking all sad so I went and played with him for a bit! Sure enough people gathered and watched the Gringo who could actually play. haha It was so fun! I love how much the people here LOVE soccer. It makes me feel at home. The city and the honking horns may not be familiar to me, but at least there's still soccer :)

Tomorrow we head to Cusco!! Talk about tourism city of Peru. I'm super excited though! It'll be fun. For reals though whenever I think of going to Cusco I can't help but think of the movie Emperors New Groove. "Welcome to Cusco-topia, my ultimate summer get away... complete with waterslide ;)"

Pictures of everything on my facebook!

Religious blog

 I'm one of the only ones of my faith, here which is a huge difference for me, but it's amazing how much being on this trip has reinforced my religious beliefs. Being a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has totally blessed my life wherever I go. It has helped me look for the good in everyone and it has given my life a true purpose. It's one of the few churches I know that answers with confidence, and I believe I have received confirmation through my spiritual experiences and the Book of Mormon, the three utmost important questions in life: 1. why am I here or what is my purpose? 2. Where did I come from? 3. Where do I go after this life? Knowing the answers and having a testimony and a confirmation from the spirit of God poured out onto me testifying of the truth of these things, it's truly remarkable. I know that I am a daughter of God and through that knowledge I can see others as such. Sons and Daughters of God. Everyone! Whether in Peru or back in Salt Lake. Whether of my belief system or not. It helps me draw connections and relate to those around me. And I can stand by my beliefs because of those confirmations of the Spirit that I have received. Because of the experiences I've had that have helped to strengthen me while in the LDS church. It truly brings a light that cannot be provided elsewhere. A light that penetrates even the thickest darkness. The gospel of Christ can bring peace into your life and make you whole. I know in my heart that is is true. That the knowledge of his plan for you obtained by study and faith can complete your life. And I will try with all my might, mind and strength to live His Gospel every day. I know that He lives and loves each and every person and he blesses our lives daily. He is not asleep. He cares about us. His hand is stretched out toward us still, beckoning for us to choose the path He has set for us to get us through our trials so that we might grow and become more like Him. No cause is lost. No person not worth it. There is a great difference between joy and happiness. And I know that the Gospel of Christ has been restored to the earth through the LDS church. It can bring you a kind of happiness that will never go away, but can stay with you and change your life forever.

Trujillo

Loving Trujillo. Got to meet the Mayor yesterday, so that was super cool! He's not only the mayor, but also the founder of the successful university, and the President of the University. Apparently he's running for President of Peru in a few years and is pretty confidant he'll win. So it was really neat! I've pretty much got all the hook ups in Peru now. haha After that we explored the town square which is kind of a drastic difference from the rest of Trujillo. It's very interesting and separate from the rest of the city. But I loved the colors and architecture and the amazing churches! It's also amazing because Trujillo was the first Peruvian city to gain independence! Today was like my favorite day in my whole life. We went to a school for little kids with the nursing students here and helped teach the kids how to wash their hands!! They were sooooo adorable. Now I know how my sister felt about wanted to not come home when she went to Ecuador because she wanted to spend all her time with them. This may sound churchy of me, but you can really see the light of Christ through each and every one :) So pure and innocent, recently taken from heaven and sent here. I loved them! I used what little Spanish I know to tell one that I had her same name or that I have a sister that's 5 years old.  It's been amazing here and I've loved getting to know the nursing students and the administration at the university! They all say we're so "bonita" (pretty) but really they are so much more gorgeous. They all have such beautiful hair and skin  and I'm in love with their chocolate eyes. We also get stared at. A lot. I don't think Trujillo sees many tourists around. I just try and make it fun and say Hola to them or wave at los ninos. :) Tonight we went to a dance/music concert put on by the University for Fathers day! It was great! We sat in the back and one of the ladies there brought us up toward the front and the next thing I know we're on the front row!! I feel so undeserving! I don't think I'm much into getting all of the attention turned to us. Even Caesar (the Mayor) showed up towards the end and greeted us all with hugs and hand shakes! It's a huge honor. I just don't feel that deserving!

. Tomorrow I think our schedule entails taking around surveys about the general public health and see what communities are facing what sort of health issues and gathering some data! It's been definitely an eye-opening experience here to what the rest of the world is like, but I've loved learning so much about the Peruvian culture and the people. I'm sorry I don't have many pictures on this blog, but it's near impossible to upload them at our hotel! I've tried many a times! haha

Pucllana

Our quaint little room in our quint hotel

love the colorful buildings here

ADOBE RUINS

Huaca Pucllana: aka awesome adobe ruin capitol of
sacrifice centers and ancient administration. 

Amazing pot with a shark on it. Such skill! I couldn't help but think of the
TV show "River Monsters" when I saw this and learned about
the shark's relationship with the ancient people who used to live here.

saw this and thought, my mom would appreciate these. Pretty!! 

hair in face

The group (minus 1) gettin' their swag on at the ruins

the famous Peruvian hairless dog.

Alpacas. Not to be confused with Llamas.

isn't your first thought when you see these guinea pigs, "YUM!!"??
yeah mine either. I will not partake. 

they close down this street every Sunday for bikers!!

At the church there are litterally (haha get it) hundreds of wild cats!! 

una iglesia

"Hola, Lo Siento, Gracias." The words I've said most often today. But I'm already beginning to remember more of more Spanish from school! Like "Cuanto Cuesta" for when we went through shops! Today has been a fun day though! Can't wait to see more of Peru with Trujillo tomorrow!

Language Barrier

Mom and Dad would be so proud. No matter how much I wanted to, not once on the plane did I sing to my iPod music out loud. I've come so far. But I can't deny the occasional mouthing of the lyrics. And the slight sway of the head to the beat. I can't help it! Plane rides are so odious. (Except for those sweet Euro 2012 games I watched on the first plane. (Netherlands, ya let me down)) But alas, I'm alive and well in Peru!! Just getting all together and getting to know the group more, it's been fun! I just hope I make it through the weeks I'll be here. It'd be a straight up lie if I said I was comfortable speaking Spanish. At all. I can pick up bits and pieces here or there but all in all I feel like I'm back in the days of my youth. Clinging to others for dear life as I venture out into the world. I can't help but reflect on our family's trip to Europe and how every 5 seconds we'd turn to my French-speaking father for guidance. Yes, I should have put in more of an effort in the last month brushing up on Espanol... or I should have at least bought a Spanish book to read on the plane. But hey! I've been fine the first 3 hours, what could go wrong?! Just worried for when I'll be "working" (not sure what that entails yet) in Trujillo.... I may be in trouble. This is definitely my most dreaded fear at the moment. Being lost and alone in the city yelling, "Donde estas me amigos!!" Which would be scary because that's one of the few phrases I even know. And I'm not even sure if it's gramatically correct! I could be laughed at by all of Peru. How embarrassing. But enough of that!

Here I am in Lima!! It's our first night here and I'm thinking it's gonna be pretty fun! Driving through the city, for the short time we did, got me super excited!! There were some cool statues and stores we drove past, and the beach! And of course I saw my one and only true love... a soccer field. More like a futsol field, but you get the point. All I want to do is go play now!! But tomorrow we have a fun filled day of seeing Lima and then off to Trujillo on Monday! Pictures to come of Lima next time! All is well here and I'm just excited to learn as much as I can about this awesome place!

Welcome back, Emily.

That is what my blog should have said to me today because it has been soooo long since I last blogged!! Wow. I realized that one of the main reasons I was blogging was because of my friend and when I started to stop blogging was when he left to Brazil. That's pretty pathetic. But true! Now I'm back on the bandwagon. Life in provo couldn't be more normal. Without much going on besides school it's grown rather dull as well! I just need a break or something or someone exciting to happen to my life. I have a huge milestone coming up in a week! I'm turning 20! I never thought turning 20 would be such a fear of mine. I feel so under accomplished to be 20. I mean, there are so many more successful people who are so much younger than I am that have accomplished so much! What have I done in my 20 years? Not much.Which is why I really needed something exciting to happen. So I applied for a Global Health program in Peru! This would be an amazing opportunity for me to just find myself and get my drive for life back. Floating through life wishing for something else is no way to live. I've gotta go out there and get it! I'm hoping this will be a good first step for me.
The other fear I have about turning 20 is that it's such a jump form 19. So many of my friends are now getting married or going on missions or making these life-changing decisions which are bound to be soon around the corner for me. AH!

ANYWAYS. Here is a montage of pictures since the last time I blogged. I've done a lot of growing up, I've  had a lot of fun with family and friends, and I've enjoyed being 19 while it lasted!

My niece is just the cutest thing you've ever seen. And she has my name down!
*favorite aunt award*

I camped out for the BYU vs Gonzaga game!
Cold but tons of fun!
(my grey blob is a great fashion statement)

I babysat for the siblings for a bit! Marquel is so old!

front row seats to a game we won by like 40 points. Still fun. 

Jazz vs the Kings game!

Jimmer. Still just as obsessed with him
as I was when he played for BYU.

I still have some awesome friends from High School that I
do cool stuff with sometimes. 

I still do stupid things

I have fun roomies

sometimes I go to vegas. aka mini golfing in provo

I still make it to occasional concerts 

oh and I'm still as cool as ever.

Halloween

I generally love Halloween. I love the idea of dressing up and little kids in costumes having the best nights of there lives filling their little pillows with sweets. I love the amazing smells of fall and of Halloween sloppy-joes and cheese fries cooking at the parents house. I love carving pumpkins and not getting the smell from my hands for a few days. I love getting together with friends and watching a good scary movie to get the adrenalin going. But if there is one thing that drives me crazy it's those people who think they can change themselves for one night. "That's what Halloween is all about". It breaks my heart to see those good girls I know who have amazing values every other night, compromise themselves for 'just this once'. Dressing like a slut for one night could maybe get you a guy... but is that the kind of guy you want? What about one who respects you for who you are? So girls, respect yourselves. Respect yourselves and earn some respect this Halloween season. Sorry for my ramble, but I feel it had to be said. Other than that, I'm super excited for Halloween and to go to some parties, watch some scary movies, and then go home and take my sister trick-or-treating Monday night :) 'Tis the season. Make the best of it!

General Conference

General Conference is so amazing. I've never really appreciated it fully until now in my late teenage years. I regret that it has taken me this long to realize how important it is. In living prophets we talk about how the words of the prophets and apostles are just as important, if not more important, than the Book of Mormon or any form of scripture for that matter. With that in mind, I went into this conference with a different mindset to listen to all the sessions and really see what the Lord wants me to know and what He wants me to do in these latter days. The experience is unlike anything. I got so much more out of each talk in each session of conference. 

The one that hit home the most though was President Uchtdorf's talk on the Forget Me Not's given in the General Relief Society meeting. This talk filled my soul. Literally. I was going through a pretty hard time with school and nothing seemed to be going right. Then Uchtdorf said not to get caught up in looking for that big rose and forget to notice the beautiful forget-me-not's along the way. I need to enjoy life for what it is. I need to take time to appreciate my little successes along the way. And be grateful for what I DO have. I have so much. I have friends who know the Gospel of Christ and inspire me to do good. I have a family who loves and supports me no matter how well I do on a test, or how many boyfriends I've had in my life. Most importantly I have a Savior. The Savior of the world who knows and loves me. My Savior who has died for me and will stand by me at the judgement seat. I know of His Gospel and as long as I stand on those grounds, I cannot fall. So I have decided to enjoy my little moments and to try harder in this life. Just skating by won't cut it and it won't bring me very much happiness either. Today is the day I stand a little taller and be a little better. 

Lastly, I am learning this song on the guitar. It doesn't really relate to this blog, but I'm kind of in love with John Allred's version of it and it's my new favorite song to play :)

Some may find it odd that I would do a blog on General Conference. To them I say:

 "And we ^atalk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we ^bprophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our ^cchildren may know to what source they may look for a ^dremission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26).

Let us never forget who we are as Christians and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

Epic Weekend

I'm SO obsessed with her voice right now... it's ridiculous. I thought I was over this He is We trip. Apparently not.

This weekend was like an epic win in and of itself. I went home for a bit on Friday and this happened: 

So cute.

Friday night we went to a dance party at the king. The DJ was suffering at first, but before you knew it, it turned into a pretty sweet night! Just gettin' my dance on in the middle with friends and some attractive men of course. haha Pretty fun!! After the dance we just messed around a little and played ultimate and went on a Rancharito's run. The boys all got stuff, but I wasn't feelin' a breakfast burrito at the time. I just wanted to go to another dance! Maybe this weekend :)

Saturday came and Camie and I hit the pool. I don't know why I enjoy hitting the pool so much. Even though that's the place where I lost my sunnies. They were pink aviators and I miss them a lot... After we went to the pool Camie went to work and I got ready for the football game! Then Annalise and Harumi came over!! We made Daily Grace's funfetti brownies and obviously, with us cooking, they turned out delicious! 

The football game turned up unfortunate, but at least we got to make awesome food. Hopefully this week will go better my men in blue. 

Saturday night was quite the night. We went up in the canyon with Charlie and his friends and did a bonfire with some random people, so that was pretty sweet. THEN on the ride back. Oh my goodness. Completed my whole life. So there I was jamming out to the music and singing it to all the cars we were passing when who should I sing to next??? BRANDON DAVIES. Yes, that freaking attractive man from the basketball team...(who was kicked off last season for some wrong choices...but forgiveness is key right??) And he gave me a little cute wave with a corny smile, so I did one back and kinda laughed to myself. And then 5 seconds later I realized who I just car-flirted with. Brandon freaking Davies. So great. AND he was driving a shiny black SUV. So hot. Anyways, that pretty much completed my soul and now I can die happy. 

EPIC WIN. 

YouTube

I had an epic win this week. Look back one blog post and watch "All about Us". You see that amazingly attractive man in the video? Yeah, we're friends on facebook now. I like to call him YouTube man. Let's just say posting comments on youtube videos can payoff sometimes. So yes. Take a look at his beautiful face and check out how epic I am. Be jealous. Very jealous. Thank you.

just some videos

Epic Win

Yes, I changed the name of my blog. The other one was just bugging. Also, people say "epic fail" all the time. Why don't they say "epic win"?? That is so much better. So that is the new name of my blog. Epic win. AND most of my life is an epic win so it's quite appropriate. Here's a picture representing my epic wins in life.

byeeeeeee

I say goodbye to two great friends this week!!!
One is ky who is heading back down to SUU :( The school is just so far away... it's dumb. haha no offense. But really. It's bittersweet. I wanna get back to school really bad, but I'll definitely miss everyone while I'm gone down there! (shh we all know I come home every 2-3 weeks anyways). But here's me and Ky!

The other is Carson is leaving out for two years!! He's been an amazing friend to me and I will definitely miss talking to him a lot. But I know the mission is the best place in the world to be right now and only wish that I could be heading out somewhere right now to serve the Lord too! Good luck Carson!! You'll do amazing things out there for the people of Brazil!

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Powell song

We'd listen to this ALL the time on the boat when I was out with the guys :) At first I was like, hmm gangsta music...but it has grown on me! Now every time I hear, "we could be anywhere in the world, but we right here" I think "mmmm Powell :):):)" and sunshine. It's fan freaking tastic.

Alicia's wedding!!

I can't believe it. My good old pal Alicia Torres is now...Alicia Cravens. It's crazy to think that one of my good friends from High School is now a Mrs. All of us are just in fear thinking, who's next?! haha I can tell you one thing. It will not be me. I am totally not ready for that quite yet. Some people just are I guess! I am very happy for Alicia. She's met the man of her dreams, David, and will be very very happy!! Here are some awesome pics celebrating my great friend Leeshy :) congrats girl! Love ya!!

Alicia, Me, Bree....and Andy...in Balboa California!!

Choir was quite the event. This picture makes me laugh...really hard.
I'm on the left, then leeshy, then lisafer, then BREE!! haha Bree's face gets me every time
"Blow Gabriel Blow!"

this is on the choir trip. SUCH an amazing week.

Alicia and I at graduation

with the lovely couple at the reception :)

Aww...Leesh looked absolutely beautiful coming out of the temple!!
I will never forget these girls wherever we end up going in life!