Holy Moley, Busiest Week Ever.

I am Exhausted!

I am honestly so happy that it is finally the weekend. This week feels like it has lasted forever. I had about a billion and one things to do this week and I have a feeling that things won't slow down until Spring Break. I certainly haven't had the time to write, so there a ton of things for me to tell all of you about! 

First of all, I am a member in training for the music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota. Everyone that knows me well is probably looking at the statement with very quizzical looks on their faces because sorority/fraternity life is not for me. That is the great thing about Sigma Alpha Iota though. It has more of a club atmosphere and it is made up of girls who are music majors, involved in a music group on campus, or just have a passion for music. Technically I won't be a full member until I take my test in 6 weeks and am formally inducted. All of the girls in the club are really amazing, passionate people who have a knack for music just like me! I really think I have found my place with them. 

Second, next week I will be on Wind Ensemble tour in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for two and a half days. We are playing 4 concerts (yikes!) at different schools in the area to kind of showcase what we do. Then the following week we have our spring concert at school and then that weekend we have our recording sessions for the CD we are creating. The Ouachita band program really provides us with some phenomenal opportunities to play and perform. 

And the final thing is a bit off topic of the rest of these. I have noticed lately that I have been getting really emotional about community service projects and campaigns. I'm not really sure why though. I have been a volunteer for community service projects for several years now and I have always enjoyed it but this year I have just really felt a bigger impact from it. As you know, I am a Big for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program and a tutor for the Peake Partnership. I love knowing that those kiddos look to me as a mentor and as someone who they can confide in and get help from. I think as I get older, I become more aware of the needs that people within communities have. I've been noticing more commercials on tv for hunger campaigns and I saw a commercial today for a community service project and I actually teared up a little bit. I love knowing that people are beginning to recognize problems that need a solution. My heart is so fulfilled by reaching out to my Little and my kids that I tutor, but also just realizing how involved other people in my school, my community, and my country are becoming in helping those in need. 

I encourage anyone who wants something extra to do with their time to get on board with volunteer work or community service projects. You can make a difference in someone's life with the simplest of gestures and it may even change you.

That's my life update for this week! ~E

P.S. I think I'm going to start posting a picture of the week too! So here's this week's. 

Reminiscing on my Faviana Prom Shoot 

Recurring Dreams

I really like this topic because I used to have recurring dreams when I was younger and they were more often than not nightmares rather than dreams. I'm going to write about the three that I remember the most vividly!

Pee Spider?

Ok this one may be too much information for some of you, but this is the dream I had the most in my childhood. Like a lot of children, I had a problem with wetting the bed. This dream that I had always occurred when I was about to wet the bed. In my dream, I would wake up and walk the short distance to the bathroom and I would start to use the bathroom, when a giant tarantula came out from behind the door. The spider would then tickle me to death! Every time that I would be tickled to death in the  dream, I would then wake up in reality and would have wet the bed. After a while, my subconscious learned that the dream would happen when I was about to wet the bed and I trained myself to wake up before I would wet the bed. I had my tonsils and adenoids removed and after that I no longer wet the bed, because I was able to wake up when I needed to go, and with the tonsils and adenoids gone, the dream never happened again! 

Killer Clown!

The second of my recurring dreams is certainly the most vivid and personally nightmare-ish. I'm not afraid of clowns by any means but this dream just frightened me beyond belief. This dream recurred a lot during my middle school years. In the dream, A (my sister) was having a sleepover with a bunch of her friends and I went in to check on them while they were sleeping. When I walked in, I saw that the closet was cracked open and the light was on. So, I opened it the rest of the way and at the top sat a terrifying clown. I screamed and ran out of the room and the clown started to chase me around my house. I yelled at my mom asking her what to do about the clown chasing me and she told me to run to the dollar store and get some paper towels. What? In the midst of a killer clown chasing me she wanted me to get paper towels? Good advice, dream mom. So as I run outside to escape the clown, I go towards my neighbors yard and they had furniture outside because they had been painting it. I went to hurdle over the furniture and it came to life and tried to bite me! So not only do I have a killer clown after me, but also a dining room table and chairs trying to eat me? After the chairs tried to bite me, my dream would end and I would wake up in a panic. I never figured out the reason that I had that dream but it was super frightening. 

Marching Stalkers?

This one I don't remember as well as the others, but this one was recurring when I was really young. I would be sitting in my bedroom or the living room and I would hear this beat, like the ground was shaking because a bunch of people were marching together all at the same time. By the second or third beat I would know exactly what was happening. I would frantically start running around my house and I would gather my mom and sister and tell them what was going on. After a little while there would be people starting to walk past the windows of the house. Except they seemed like monsters even though they looked like people. We would lock all of the doors and close all of the window blinds but we could still see their shadows. My sister and I would then get in the bathtub to hide and my mom would get underneath her mattress. At some point, the monster/people would break into the house and right before they got to where we were hiding I would wake up from the dream. The scariest part about this dream is that some times when I would be taking a bath I would hear loud beating noises and be afraid that it would be happening in real life. 

I can't remember the last time I've had any of these dreams, but they used to torment my childhood and make me afraid of having nightmares at all! I'm certainly glad that I don't have any of these nightmares anymore! 

A Letter to my Momma

Dear Momma,

I didn't realize that college would make me appreciate you more, but it has. Like a lot. I didn't realize that I would miss hearing the "Garage Interior Door Open" every day around 4:30 and excitedly getting to tell you everything about my day. I didn't realize that I would miss asking you "What's for dinner?" every night when you got home and you sarcastically answered that that is all I ever ask you. I didn't realize how much I would miss sitting in your floor with Winnie while we chatted about anything and everything. Seeing you last weekend made me realize just how grateful I am for you and the love that you show me. I'm thankful that you bought me groceries because eating in the caf every night is just not ideal and they don't always have the best food. I'm thankful that I just got to talk to you about all the details of my busy life and to hear things about people from back home that I don't get to see very often.  I'm so thankful that despite your bum back, you drove over 2 hours to come and hang out with me for a few hours, just to turn around and drive back home in the same night. 

I think I've always known it, but moving away from you made me realize that you always have been and always will be my best friend. Your compassion and generosity are unending and you never cease to amaze me with how strong you are. Whether it's working with your kiddos at school day and running your home kiddos around or working around the house all day, making lesson plans, and cooking, you always put others before yourself and especially your babies (that aren't necessarily babies anymore.) Your hugs and kind words are what make my heart whole when I'm down and you have pushed me through so many obstacles along my journey. Without you encouraging me to be the best me there is, I probably would have given up on so many activities and opportunities. Often times, you give me and A everything you have and more and I can't be more thankful for that. You are humble yet strong-willed, firm but forgiving, and most importantly, you are beautiful and so very loving. Thank you for all of the lessons you have taught me so far and I'm grateful to know that you are just a text or phone call away when I need a recipe, a cure, or advice. 

I love you so very much Mom. 

      I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, your baby I'll be.  ~E

The Disaster Trip

So as most of you know, I posted a few days ago that I was having a hard time thinking of topics to write about. So, I went on a Pinterest quest for things to blog about. I found this awesome list of 600 blog posts! Creds to KludgyMom. So with this list, I propose that I won't have a day without a topic for a while.

The Disaster Trip

My first topic that I thought would be fun to write about from the jumbo list is "this trip was a disaster." Last summer with my dad's side of the family, I went to Kansas City, Missouri for a few days vacation. We had plans to go to the zoo and aquarium, Worlds of Fun, and great bbq restaurants. I absolutely love vacations with my dad's family. Especially now that V and I are in college and we don't get to spend as much time with my dad's family. For it being the beginning of July, the temperature was reasonable and not unbearably hot. Upon our arrival to Kansas City we were attempting to plan out exactly how we wanted our days to go and the weather channel announced that there was potentially going to be extreme thunderstorms and really bad weather all day on the day that we were supposed to go to Worlds of Fun. We were kind of bummed out and so we decided to just see what the weather would be like when we got up. The morning that we got up to go to Worlds of Fun, my dad checked the weather app on his phone and saw that there was only a 30% chance of rain and it wasn't until the mid to late afternoon. We were really excited because almost all of us except A are roller coaster junkies. The weather was awesome! There was a slight breeze and we got to the theme park right when it opened so we would have time to do everything that we wanted before the small chance of rain in the afternoon. We were having a blast riding all of the awesome roller coasters and other rides. We rode a 300 foot tall swing and it played the Harry Potter theme song as we rode (I was basically in Heaven!) As our day went on the skies started to get dark and we figured that it would probably good to start wrapping up our day at the park. Earlier in our day my dad, A, T, and I rode this ride that simulated a tornado and it was really fun so we had my stepmom and V come over to try it out with us before we headed out of the park. We waited in a fairly short line and got on the ride when people came running into the building saying that we were going to have to shut the rides down because the actual tornado sirens were going off and they needed to take us to safety. Everyone was escorted off the ride and we followed the workers to where we thought the safe place was. Once we got inside we sat and were ready to wait out the siren. We weren't worried because we get tornadoes every now and then in Arkansas so we knew how to stay safe. However, after a few minutes, a manager came in and told us that it was not the right safe place location and that we had to move. By this point, it was pouring  rain and when I saw pouring, I do not exaggerate. It was a torrential downpour. As we ran through the rain we got to a bathroom that was a safe place but it was already full so we had to move once again. The next place we went to was a closed stand with a metal awning. Metal. People were yelling at the workers of the park and the workers kept saying that they had never dealt with a Stage 4 and so that made my parents and A really anxious. (She's really afraid of tornadoes too.) We were told to follow these workers after they got directions and so we were literally running through this amusement park with the paths and streets flooding and we get stopped midway only to find that the location we were headed to was already full as well. At this point my stepmom was really frustrated and nervous for us and so she joined in at yelling sarcastic remarks at the workers. A was on the verge of an asthma attack because she was running so much and she was scared. Finally, we get to an underground theater where we got to stay. We were completely drenched and all they could offer to give us were paper towels and some trash bags. We weren't allowed to leave because there were tornadoes touching down within 5 or 6 miles of us. SO we sat and waited, soaked to the bone and freezing cold. After what seemed like hours of waiting the sirens stopped going off and we got cleared to leave. It was still pouring rain so we ran out to the exit and got in the car as quickly as we possibly could. By the time we got back to our hotel we just wanted food and hot showers. We were exhausted and just glad the day was over and that we were safe. 

The next day we got up and went to the zoo, but most of the animals were not out because of the storms the day before. They were all scared and so the zookeepers had to put them up and take care of them I suppose. If you haven't ever been to the Kansas City Zoo let me just tell you, it is HUGE! We walked around for hours and hours. They even have a ski lift that takes you from the "Asia" section to the "Africa" section. After we went to the zoo we went to the aquarium and it was huge as well! Then of course we had to hit up some awesome bbq places. My dad and stepmom had been raving about Jack Stack bbq the whole time we were there and it was pretty amazing. So in all honesty the trip wasn't actually a complete disaster but the tornado and torrential downpour was kind of dramatic and unexpected! 

A letter to my babies competing this weekend

THE  NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING COMPETITION

It's that time again already? I can't believe that exactly one year ago I was flying to Orlando, Florida for the NHSCC with my best friends/teammates. It felt like such a dream to be able to go to Disney World as a competitive cheerleader and yet there I was, missing school for around 5 days and competing on the NCA Nationals stage. A combination of two of my favorite things, Disney and cheer, and I was basically in heaven. We certainly struggled to get ourselves a spot, but I can truly say that my teammates and I worked our butts off and managed to win 4th place in the nation last year! I don't think I have ever been more excited than the moment when the announcers called out my high school's name to receive 4th place. I felt so proud, so loved by all of my teammates, and most of all humbled, because as the captain of the cheer squad, I knew that my team performed better than we ever had and we earned the spot that we got with blood, sweat, and tears.

Considering the majority of my teammates from last year will be returning to Nationals this weekend, I just want to remind each of you sweet girls some things that I would have told you if I were to be there with you at the competition.

1. For you seniors, it is the last chance to prove to the nation what your team is capable of. As leaders, you have got to encourage the younger girls to give it their all, as if it were their last performance too. By now all of you probably hate the competition routine with all of your guts and you know what, that's a good sign because that means you know it by heart. 
2. Juniors, you guys are my babies and I know that you guys are capable of doing ANYTHING you set your mind to. If your spirits are up and you've got your "I'm gonna win this" faces on, well then that's just it, I know you can do it. 
3. Sophomores, I know that I never had the opportunity to cheer with you, but going to Nationals is probably a terrifying idea. If not terrifying then definitely intimidating. The best advice that I can give to you is to trust in your upperclassmen. They have done this before and the advice that they can give you about doing your best, staying calm, and having faith in yourself is the best advice you can follow because believe it or not, they were in your shoes last year and they know exactly what it feels like. 
4. Pray before each time y'all step out on the map. Those of you who went to Nationals with me last year know how satisfying and stress-relieving that was right before we stepped on the mat. Just knowing that God was in control of the whole routine and that he was watching over us with loving eyes for protection gave me this surreal sense of peace that made me able to complete a nearly flawless routine. 
5. Encourage one another. Remind each other of the importance that each member has to the team as a whole. In big events like this, it is extremely easy to get discouraged by the smallest mistake and yet when you step off that mat, you will be surrounded by the love of your teammates. 
6. Cherish your time there. For some people like me, going to compete at Nationals was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Like I said before, I had only ever dreamed that I would get to cheer in Disney World. By the end of my time at Nationals I was so exhausted and ready to go home, but every time I think about all of the opportunities that I had and memories that I made, I can't help but get a big ol' grin on my face. 

For all of you girls that were my former teammates, I love you dearly and I am so proud of each and every one of you and your accomplishments. You guys have grown so much from when I first met all of you and started cheering with you and with some of you I have some of the greatest friendships with. I know you guys blew last year's state competition scores out of the water with this year's placement and I have faith that you can push further at Nationals too. Chase those white jackets ladies and bring home another trophy! Have fun, be careful, and don't enjoy Disney too much without me ;) ~Em

P.S. If there is any way y'all could sneak me on the plane, let me know cause I would gladly last minute "chaperon" for you! 

What To Write About?

It's Been WAY Too Long!

Hi guys and gals! I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not blogging in almost a week, but I just haven't had any idea what to write about! I guess that I need to just make myself a list of good blog topics. My world is about to get extremely busy and I'm not sure how to feel about that. Like I've told all of you before, I'm taking 17.5 hours this semester and I know that I'm going to start having more and more homework. On top of that, I volunteer for Peake Partnership and I tutor two young girls in math once a week and I have a little sister through the Big Brother, Big Sister program that I get to hang out with once a week. I've got band rehearsal two nights a week and basketball games to play a usually twice a week. Plus, I am trying to find a job because I'm tired of feeling like I don't have the money to go out and do things with my friends or binge on groceries every now and then. That being said, I will probably have a total of zero extra hours to do anything. 

Last week, I got some exciting news! I was asked to be a member of a brass quintet for Ouachita and I also got asked to do a gig at a church on Easter. The Easter gig is actually a paid gig so that is really exciting! As you all know, I'm not a music major but I do love to play my trumpet! That being said, gigs are usually offered to students who need the experience as music majors. My lessons teacher recommended me to the teachers who needed people for the gigs and I am so honored to be able to participate in these performances. Speaking of band, things are getting crazy with band this semester. I am a member of the Wind Ensemble this spring and we have a spring concert, a tour in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and we are getting the opportunity to record some music for a CD! I am also a member of Tiger Jam which is a pep band for basketball games. With all of these music programs that I participate in, I'm kind of starting to feel like a music major! I have several music major friends so I am totally kidding because I know that they are extremely busy all the time so kudos to you guys! 

If there is anything that you guys would like for me to write about whether it be advice, stories about myself, etc. please leave me a comment on the link or under this post so I can have ideas for posts! Thanks for letting me spill my guts and talk about my life and whatnot! I appreciate the support and reads that I get from all of you! ~Em