Christmas post

I am such a blog slacker around the holidays. Yes, this is the longest I've gone without posting a blog! I am very sorry for that. Not only for all of my fans out there(sarcasm) but for myself. haha But anyway... MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Yes Christmas was great. Christmas was fantastic. (prepare yourselves for this blog may be very long).This break really has been great! Christmas Eve in itself has to be my favorite part about Christmas. That night we all go to a movie with our family and my dad's brothers families. This year we had a choice and since I have already seen Tangled (and I love it a whole lot) and I didn't want to see Narnia so I went to Tron. And let me tell ya, I had my doubts but all are pacified now! I loved it! I thought it was sooo cool! After the movie we all went to Pizza Factory and ate and did a cute little gift exchange and then went our separate ways. This year Bee and Ness got to come home with us and spend Christmas eve here! It was so fun! We had chocolate fondu, had a pool tournament, played a game we like to call "Come into my Den", and then played board games the rest of the night. 

My little niece Madison! Adorable? I think yes :)

Christmas Eve Pajamas!! We coordinate

Marquel :) What a doll!

The next thing I hear when I wake up is "Em, wake up I have to go to the bathroom!!" haha We all sleep in one room and the oldest one has to take the others to the bathroom so they won't prematurely see what Santa brought them. I was lucky number one this year. But that was ok :) It was fun!

Christmas! 

Natalie making a grand entrance into the festivities! This is nothing
compared to our performance of Wicked that one Christmas...

Madison and I :)

cute little smirk!

Marquel got a kitchen and Bradford was her worker!

 Christmas day had it's traditional luster and was a fantastic day of giving and receiving gifts. I got a way sweet TV for my room!! But I'm too nervous to take it down to college so until I move off campus, it's staying safe in my room :) Santa also got me an ihome! How nice of him! haha I love it! After the Santa party we all have a big giant humongous breakfast!! It's was so good and we do these little poppers where we all get crowns :)   So fun. Then we went back downstairs for presents and Nat, James and Madison came! They are all so amazing. I love having family around! After presents we played Nat's Michael Jackson dancing game for the Wii!! I am not a dancer by any means, but playing this game was hilarious!! Bradford and James were just hilarious and were actually really good at it! Crazy. Then that night I was about to go to bed early until I realized that finishing off the night with a hot tub run would be the perfect thing! So I was going to get in with Marquel and she ran upstairs to get her swimming suit on so I got in. I sat there for quite awhile just enjoying the hot tub and wondering where in the world Marquel was. Suddenly I hear this whimpering behind me by the door. I look over and Marquel has tears streaming down her face and she points down to her pajamas that had been put on her instead of a swimming suit and says "I got this!!" Despite the fact that she was bawling I thought it was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. What a cutie! I told her we'd get in another day this week together. Then after I was done with the hot tub I come in to see her climbing up the outside of the banister up the stairs. She was only about a foot and a half off the ground but she was yelling, "Someone help me!!". I look over to find my brother like this playing nintendo:



He couldn't hear a thing!! I guess his new headphones work... :)


The first day after Christmas was a good one! I was up early and went with Kyle to Buster's farewell in Riverton! He did such an amazing job and Kyle and I had fun as well :) So good morning! Then I went to my ward's sacrament and topped the whole day off with another farewell with Ky and Syd :) Great day. Sunday night guess who got here?! Michelle, Chris, and Zachary!! My sister lives in Michigan so we don't get to see very much of them. It's always really awesome when they come out! Zach is just a little bundle of joy. 

Zach!!

Then today I slept in...for a long time. My parents would be sorely disappointed if they knew the real time I woke up today... (12) Then Tay, Hunt, and I played XBOX kinect that we got for Christmas and a game called Ticket to Ride (which I ALMOST won in...so close). Then Tay and I went to Joy luck for dinner! Yum! 

clearly the break has made me a happier person.

Joy Luck!!

Marquel crashed tonight on the couch! So cute :)

Tomorrow is going to be full of friends and the sibling exchange of gifts while Michelle is here! I just love it all!!!!!

A Pizza.

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping at Gateway mall. As you walk through this outdoor mall you sometimes see some homeless people sitting by the curb. Yesterday I saw a man who was all bundled up, had no teeth, and looked poorer than anything and something just hit me. We go by these people every day and think, "well gee that's sad, but if I give them money they might just use it to buy drugs or alcohol with and they might not even be poor at all...maybe next time". Well sometimes we don't leave it to next time. We use repeated excuses and judgmental views to just get by without feeling awkward. We have no right to judge these people. And if they do use our money for bad things then that's on them. We can't control their choices but we can control ours and our decision to act. It is better to give than to judge and end up not giving.  So yesterday all of these things went through my mind as I passed this black man with no teeth. I looked at him and just passed by feeling awful at my inaction. Then I stopped my mom and told her to wait a second and I turned around and gave that man the last half of my coveted CPK pizza I was saving for later. I didn't really know what to say cuz I'm quite shy around strangers so I just said Merry Christmas! I could see in his eyes that he appreciated it a whole lot he said thank you and some other things I couldn't understand from his accent/tone of voice. Then I turned and walked away. That was the best feeling I've had in a long time. Better than taking a long hot tub break. Better than getting a good score on any test. Better than seeing that first good snowfall. Better than anything. Giving that pizza helped me more than it helped that man and I can be sure of that! And it was just a pizza! I am so blessed. I can't be more thankful for everything I have in my life. My family, the gospel, friends, a home, food, a bed, etc. Everything! How lucky am I? Too lucky. It's not fair that I get all of these blessings and that man is there on the corner of Gateway Mall every day. I really learned a lesson yesterday that I hope will stay with me forever. Whenever you see someone, anyone in need, don't hesitate to help. No matter what. And the Christmas season is the perfect time to be reminded of that amazing lesson :)

Things I love about home :)

Here are some things I really love about home :)

1. I love being alone in my room and having my giant bed to sleep in!

2. I love how I walk out of my room and Marquel is laying down right outside my door waiting for me :)

3. I love watching Marquel run up to the door in her pink coat with her hood on to deliver Christmas gifts.

4. I love going to Jon Schmidt and looking to my right and seeing none other than the one and only Kyle Lemperle! haha what a cool kid :) 

5. I love being able to go into my room, stay up late, write letters send super long texts that use only song lyrics, and then having a good cry every once in a while. Yes a good one because it can be cathartic to just have a good cry. It's good for the soul :) 

6. I love when there is new snow outside when I wake up. 

7. I love spending a whole day just shopping with my mom. She rocks.

8. I love that I went to our Christmas party and played the Ocarina and everyone thought I was a fool and I ended up just laughing the whole time!

9. I love eating grandma's amazing dessert at the Christmas party :) 

10. I love eating home food!

11. I love playing Nintendo with my brothers.

12. I love going to the mall and seeing my sister Natalie and her daughter Madison! 

13. I love being able to hold baby Madison for the longest time at grandma's party! 

14. I love watching Marquel dance around and say weird things... 

15. I love how everyone is so busy that we can never hang out! Joke. I don't like that. haha

16. I love the following picture :)

17. And of course I love being out of school and just hanging out with family and I really, really hope we can play the name game soon with my extended family and I can play some Nertz with my good friends :) 

Cute moment!

As I was going to bed I was thinking about my great post about tonight (that I'll write tomorrow when I can post pictures) but first I thought I'd take a moment tonight and mention something that made my life complete. So yesterday Hunter says to me, "Hey Em, do you have a boyfriend" and I say "Oh nope!" And he says, "Why not? You're really cute!!" Nothing else he could have said could have made me smile so much at the moment. What a cute brother! He never says things like this. It takes me going away to bring out the cutest side of him. A few months ago when I came home to visit he said to Taylor, "Don't be mean to the girl we all miss!" oh the things kids say that make my day :)

T.H.E

So about a year ago this Christmas my brothers and I started a band. I never thought I'd be cool enough to be in a band but TA DA!! haha I am. So our band is pretty cool. We perform all over the world. We first got our career started by traveling in our measly van but soon progressed to get a helicopter, a boat, tour bus and now a hover craft. We don't tour too often, but when we do we earn about 20 million dollars and we always double our fans. But of course, it's not just us we also have our entourage to help us increase our fame and fortune. Our band includes me the stupendous singer, Taylor the dreamy drummer, and Hunter the gutsy guitarist :) We have performed at the zoo, the haunted mansion, the skyscrapers of New York, and of course on a pirate ship. Yes we are really cool. Yes we are seriously good. Yes this is on LEGO ROCK BAND on the Xbox. :) T.H.E. for life! (yes, it looks like the word "the" and we love it)

HOME

At last I am home :) It took a lot of time to get here today but I made it. Shocker. Today was a pretty good day. I did alright on my Stats test and it was definitely a satisfactory score that I'm perfectly okay with. After the test I went to the bookstore and got some amazing gifts for my siblings! Then I raced home and said some sad goodbyes and missed out on some goodbyes sadly and then ran to my car and drove! The freeways were packed and I had to get back quick! I got a surprising call from one Aleesha Flandro today. I was like what?! Aleesha and I were the last two standing from our original club team with UFC and we have been soccer friends for a long time. She called and told me that some people from our old club soccer team were meeting up at Wingers for dinner! So luckily they changed the time so I could get back to Bountiful and be there and it was so fun to see all of them and catch up! And now I am finally home! Alas. I am so happy to be home and I'm happy for the things that await me in the next 3 weeks. :) But I'm sad to be leaving all of my friends/ FHE family :( I will really miss them a lot. No joke. Well, Happy Holidays! Oh and I'm seeing Tangled tomorrow and I am SO excited!!

Things have a funny way of working out

^ it's true and strange. My Geology teacher says with the assignments my bad test score won't impact me too much. My Book of Mormon teacher is adding on extra points or not putting the final on our grade at all and the American Heritage test has a curve anyway. Everything is looking up! I freak out way too much over this. At this rate I'll be in a hospital bed by next year and everyone will be feeding me jello. Which wouldn't be too bad in all actuality. haha So today turned around a lot. I am finally getting really excited to go home! I decided to take a longer break from studying today than I usually do and just take everything in. Then Markie and I took pictures with my webcam again :) Gosh why are those things so fun?! Then we went and spent most of my money on my card at the creamery! I got a lot of food. Not healthy food of course!! "She's probably in the corner eating carrots" haha good times :) Anyway life is better. And things are looking up. I just have my Stats exam and then I'm home free! Literally! Any of you who want to go to Joy Luck Friday night give me a call cuz I'll be in B-Town!! (or Bounty town for some of you :) haha) I'm just so excited to spend Christmas with the family. We always have the best times! And this year Bradford and Jenessa are sleeping over! I can't wait for the movie on Christmas Eve, the Gag gift (who has that by the way?), the fondue, maybe a sequel to mine and Nat's Wicked performance... and being with the fam. Being with family and just loving every minute of it is always one of my favorite parts of Christmas! And Marquel is probably going to be the best thing ever to watch on Christmas this year! She's finally old enough where she gets what's going on and will get all excited for Santa :)
So I have this new app on my phone that I'm now in love with. (Bee, Shell: look it up) I got it for free and it was only on sale for 72 hours being free and it is my favorite thing ever! It's an Ocarina! Like from Zelda! I used to just try and make up songs or figure out how to play familiar songs but now I found a website that has a songbook for me to play from!! It's probably the thing that makes me happiest down here at college. That and quoting Kid History with the roommates!! I quote that non-stop I swear. All the time I'll be like "Don't punch our car" "It's green!!" "...stop what?...." "are those my friends?!" "I'm gonna tell a story about you k?" or my personal favorite..."And Randy cry and he didn't have any friends...and didn't have...any Barbie toys...that is really funny." It's so cute I can't stand it!!
Also today we took family pictures :) Nothing better than family pictures, nothing worse than saying goodbye to these people. I have loved getting to know all of our FHE brothers and Ryan is always an awesome friend to me. I am going to miss them a lot while they are gone. We pretty much hang out with them every minute of every day and then every weekend. I have no idea what I'm going to do now!! I will have no life. haha We have grown closer to them than most of the other people in our ward have with their FHE people. I just love those guys. And then Kelcey and Rachel... man it is going to be SO hard seeing them go. They have both been amazing roommates and have been awesome friends to me. Although I'm sure we will see them around, it's not going to be the same and that's just really sad. It breaks my heart. Here are a few of our family pictures :)

hahaha yeah... I rock. 

complain complain. You don't have to read if you don't want to :)

Yeah I'm going to complain a bit in this post. I just gotta get it out of me. My Book of Mormon teacher seems great and I like her in person, but her tests are the most ridiculous things of my life!! I hate them so much! The smartest kid in class got a 74% so seeing as I am less smart you can see where my score lies. In a black hole. That was the worst thing ever. All of the questions were confusing, poorly worded, spelled wrong, and had multiple answers. To prepare for this test I spent the whole day rereading the Book of Mormon. I read from Jacob to Alma 30 in one day. The material could not have been fresher in my mind and yet I'm left with this score. Tests like this should never exist. Not ever. In any school. Especially a school like BYU where that type of material should be the clearest and most well understood. Ah! I am quitting school now. BYU is just a bit much for me I think. Everyone else gets 95% on their Book of Mormon tests because they were blessed with a good teacher. Somehow I have the worst luck ever here at BYU!! No matter how hard I study it's just not enough. I don't even know why they let me in if I was just meant to fail here. haha but really. And I know everyone will reply and give the whole "you are fine. This won't even matter by next year. Don't stress yourself out". But I'm not like that. This does matter. Especially to me. I just have to pray that I'll get through this crap and be able to survive and get a job when I'm older with my 1.5 GPA... haha ok time to switch tones here. I'm sure everyone is SO sick of me complaining to my blog about school. It's pathetic I know. haha. Don't everyone think I'm turning into a depressed freak. I'll be fine I'm sure. Just don't talk to me about school. I know that life is much more than this, it's just that my future and my chances of becoming a PA or a nurse or a doctor or whatever in the heck I want to be are hindered by this all.
SWITCH
Besides all of that, today was a fantastic day. I got such an amazing look into the Book of Mormon. Reading it fast and in one sitting is a whole new experience! Instead of getting confused at the groups of people and not remembering what you read last, it's just one engaging and long story! It's so much different. I loved it. I'll probably read the rest of the book in one day after finals are over :) I also went on a WICKED craze today. I love the play WICKED. I have seen it 3 times and my mom thinks that's enough, but I think it's way too little! When I'm older I want to work on Broadway or something so that I can go to Wicked every night of the week. Like work backstage or do the lights. My GPA will qualify me for that... Or I'll just be in Wicked. That's easy to do right? haha Anyway I wore my Wicked shirt all day and right after I put it on I burst into the kitchen and started singing Defying Gravity to everyone there. I. love. wicked. Then just before my test I blasted Defying Gravity to wake me up and get me pumped and feeling good before the meltdown. Weird how the best and worst parts of my day lie in the space of one hour of each other.... anyways. Here are some pictures I just never put up.

 

Camie and I at the concert. I really like the confused look and Camie is just staring at my face.... haha But Asian face is good too... :) --->

  this is the guy Rachel thought was so cute... I just thought he looked like Jim Halpert from the Office... Go JIM!! 

 The Allred stage :) So cute with the
wreaths. And John himself! haha doing his thing that makes all the girls sing :) (I should write poems for a living).

 Us at IHOP at 1 am... yeah Camie looks upset!

Camie sure does love her Asian face...

yeah...this is our Bishop's car...sooo cool. 

Ugh

The word of the day: UGH. Today was no fun at all. I hate days like today. Number 1: I had to sit through 3 hours of presentations for Student Development today. And Number 2: I did quite poorly on my Geology test. The easiest test I have! Apparently I gave it too little of attention than it deserved. I just hope I can still graduate college at this rate. haha Only joking. I have just always been so focused on "the grade" in everything I do in life. The process doesn't matter much to me as long as I get results. That's probably a bad thing... I need to buck up and improve my college study habits. That's for sure!! Starting with me rereading all of Jacob to Alma 30 for my test tomorrow. That's a lot of reading. But i think it will help me a lot. I hope. I just need to do amazing on all of the rest of my finals and then my confidence will be back up. As for now though, I am in the depths of despair over he loss of that test and just a poor showing of what I know and as Rachel says I am indeed "grumpy". Sorry kids. I will be back to my normal self when I get a good grade on this next test. haha It shouldn't mean that much to me but I mean really. School is the only thing in my life right now. I don't have a giant social life, no boyfriend, no job, no soccer and just nothing else to focus all my attention on but school. I need to do better at this. Next semester will be different for sure. Well here are some random pictures to enjoy :)

His voice makes me melt like a popsicle on the fourth of July!

It's true. His voice makes me melt. Whose voice you ask? John Allred. Yes his voice gives me a musical euphoria that just makes me want to smile. haha But really. I love it! Friday was his Christmas concert and they did amazing! During one of their songs the mustache man (whose name we found is Nate) came on dressed like Santa and started dancing around! It was hilarious. I requested that John play Hallelujah on facebook and guess what.... he did it! Then towards the end of the song he stopped playing the guitar and just sang a capella and the room was DEAD silent! It was just awesome! Man. I wish he had concerts every day. After the concert I text him and said good job and thanks for playing the song and he said "thank you so much and anytime" So anytime... pretty sure I have a private Allred concert in my future... haha joke. But after the concert we just hung around and talked to the whole band and everyone and it just made us realize that we really want to be their friends. They are so amazing and fun and cute we just wish we could hang out with them every day. I'll get working on it. haha Anyway, after the concert we headed home and stopped at IHop! Got home around 1:30 and it was just such an amazing night. (future pictures to come)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jAIQ51pWWgo
(this is the band behind Allred and their friend the mustache man. The one on the left is Tanner the drummer and the one on the right is Tate the guitar guy :) and of course the main man is said mustache man Nate. They are so much fun to talk to! Please become friends with me. haha)

Saturday was a way fun day as well! Considering that all day Friday was spent burning my mind with reviews all day I thought I could take a break Saturday during the day :) So around 1 we headed to Temple Square with the ward! We went to the Joseph Smith movie, walked around temple square and grabbed a bite to eat and then enjoyed the lights :) The lights on temple square are the most beautiful things ever. I just love going! Granted, it is much prettier when it's snowing. But it was great :) It reminded me of the last time I went there. It was last year when my choir performed at the church looking thing on temple square. That was such an amazing night! After we sang we took pictures with best friends and then I walked around temple square with the family in the snow. It was amazing. And I didn't slip as much as I did the time before... haha Ky don't give me crap for that. ANYWAY after temple square I went with Geoff, Ryan, Markie and Rachel to the Cheesecake Factory! Yay! It was both delicious and we had an amazing time. Geoff is the most not boring person ever and I thoroughly regret saying he was because I've gotten crap for it ever since! I'm sorry Geoff. And Ryan thanks for carrying me across temple square. haha The biggest thing of Saturday night that made me both laugh and smile the most ever was our dance party. On the way back to Provo me, Rachel and Markie had the best dance party ever in the backseat!! It was wild, crazy, and fantastic. Words can't even describe the craziness.

Sunday! I know this is a very long post and I apologize but all of my posts have been awfully serious lately and I just needed a long fun one!! Today I went home and did Gingerbread houses with the family! We do Gingerbread houses every year and it's one of my favorite traditions ever! This year I did a Glee/ Allred one. I would have done another Harry Potter one, but I already did that last year! Anyway, this weekend was a blast and I love my family. Even though they all went and got amazing at Halo while I got left behind. Over Christmas break my skills will increase and I will win. Period. Time to get to finals! Bring 'em on. :)

One more Allred video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKpkhhKhy7U&feature=player_profilepage

Quotes

So I have a few quotes in life that I've been reminded of quite frequently lately. One that has been playing through my head is the one from Kung Fu Panda (sounds corny I know) but it says:

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, but today is a gift (that is why it is called the present)"

I just love that quote! How true it is! Today is a gift and living for today is a gift. I keep living for the weekends or living for when finals are over or living for summer even, but really I should be looking forward to each day. Because today is a gift. What an awesome lesson to learn :)
Another quote ringing through my head is one my mom used to say all of the time:

"Supposing today were your last day on earth, the last mile of the journey you've trod; after all of your struggles, how much are you worth, how much can you take home to God? Don't count as possessions your silver and gold for tomorrow you leave these behind. And all that you're left with to have and to hold is the service you've given mankind".

I love this one too! I've grown up with it my whole life and I'm grateful that my mom instilled this quote into me. It has stuck with me for a long time and every time i recite it in my head I think of all the things I could do to make life better and to really live for today and serve now.

Wednesday is over. Alas!

Thank goodness Wednesday is over. It was a day of much trial and tribulation but thank goodness it's over. We passed cleaning checks and now my room looks fantastic, I spoke my mind a lot...., finished my Book of Mormon paper, watched all the music from the last episode of Glee again, AND my bff kylee got a blog :) Kylee: you're awesome and I really appreciated your text messages today :) But I'm glad today is over. I should be studying and doing homework now but I needed a quick break from the particularly hard and emotionally trying day. Tomorrow is a new day though! YES! And I decided on what I wanted for Christmas. I'm being completely original and asking for... a puppy!! I've only asked for this the last 5 years and I figured that I should ask for something different...but then I got thinking...my life is pretty great as of right now. I am happy. I have awesome friends who are always there for me and an amazing family that I'm so glad I can spend the eternities with. What more could I want? A puppy. That would make life perfect!! Like a little friend that can be with me at all times. I can cry with him, play with him, tell him all my secrets and he won't tell anyone, and it can be my pride and joy in life :) I don't have any amazing skills really, but one thing I really am good with is animals. haha I can't help it that they love me so much and I just get them! So here are some pictures of some puppies I found on KSL tonight. Mom and Dad: please take note and really dig deep in your heart and think of how much I'd come home if we had a puppy.



This one is one that Bradford shared with me... (ps I know that Chris has me
for Christmas so...hint hint... this is what I want!!)



"It is time..."

In the words of Rafiki, "it is time..." Time to ask questions and be bold. Time to clear my mind. Time to get sucked in to really studying hard for every single class! Goodbye world. It is time to be my best and pray that finals go well next week. Wish me luck!

Christmas music :)

I absolutely LOVE Christmas music. Especially sung by a choir. The best songs and the best times I ever had in Choir were around the Christmas concert. It's just beautiful music that actually has amazing messages. On our choir CD from Senior year I just go back and listen to the 3 Christmas songs on there over and over again. :)


This is the University of Utah singing Carol of Joy. Last year when we first got this song for our choir to sing I looked it up on youtube and found this gem!

Christmas music just makes everything better. Finals, school, boys, stress, whatever the issue Christmas music will heal it! The spirit of Christmas has a sort of power to it that I just love. This video explains that pretty well :) This is our boys choir singing "innkeeper" at our christmas concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxdEHS7F84
(couldn't figure out how to post two videos on one blog :))

So enjoy the christmas season everyone! Take it all in :) It's my favorite time of year and the music just makes it so much better! Be innkeepers in your own lives and take in those who are less fortunate. I know that I could do a lot better at this than I am right now! But I just love a the family and friends who make me who I am and help make me a better person day by day. I definitely enjoyed being the fam and my friend Carson last night and watching the Christmas Carol and listening to the music and the message to live for today and be the best possible. We don't want to be as Marley's ghost building our chain that pulls us down link by link. We are so blessed and I'm so happy that Christmas is right around the bend :)

Webcam fun :)

Oh my gosh! I forgot to put these on here today :) So I DID have something original to post about before i chose Lost... although Lost was a great choice. We took a lot of pictures on my webcam :) Ta da!! Oh plus some that Marquel and I took over the break!

 It's raining on me :( haha

 Markie is in the movie How to Train your Dragon

 Transformers, robots in disguise

 that artist is so good!

 meh

 haha

 hahahha

 I just love her a lot :)

 This was her favorite one to do!

Twinner faces :) If you look closely you can see her gum!