It's Ok Thursday

It's OK that

* I've spend the last 3 days at the Hilton selling merchandise for 7 different bands

* I almost lost hearing last night after some great concerts

* I've gotten 14 hours of sleep in 3 nights

* I danced with 4500 other teens doing the cha-cha slide, the chicken dance etc

* I walked around with an all access pass and helped behind the scenes

* I forgot my camera and only took pictures with my blurry iPhone camera

You might be homeschooled if...

This video

O

MY

WORD

I have no words!

Teens that broke barriers in 2011

Today, this was one of the highlighted stories on my email newsfeed. It was about 40 teens who broke barriers in 2011 and did the impossible; teens who changed the world.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

E

Flashback Friday: My 16th Birthday

Two years ago: My 16th Birthday

Olive Garden

My favorite :)

It's OK Thursdays

There are alot of things that I'm ok with this week:

* that i'm turning 18 tomorrow

* that i'm having one last day of childhood today and being a total goof

* that i haven't gone to bed before 1am this entire week

* that i drove around town with a friend, jamming to music just for fun

* that i still have presents to wrap and gifts to buy and Christmas is in 3 days

* that my room is a total mess because of wrapping, parties, and family time

* that i only have one semester of high school left

* that i spent alot of money on a pair of Miss Me's on Sunday. I LOVE them :)

Happy Thursday!

Love,

E

Surprise! Happy 50th Dad

Tonight, I hosted a little surprise party for my dad in honor of his 50th! It's late and I'm tired so I'll do a big post tomorrow! :) I gave him a pretty good gag gift though!

Yes, yes I did give my father that. He opened them up and threw them across the room at me! :) I sure love him!

Only 4 days till Christmas,

Emily

ps- check out this giveaway! it ends on the 27th :)

Monday Randoms

I haven't done one of these posts in a looooong time! my apologies. So, here we go! Get ready for this, it's going to be long!

~Christmas Break. It's finally here. I can't believe my last fall semester of high school is done! Time flies.

~2011 is coming to a close. It's the 19th of December. Time flying by again. But honestly, I'm ok with it. I'm ready to be done with High School.

~I picked up my final check at the ziplines today. I can't believe that the 2011 season is coming to a close. I won't be working there again until Spring of 2012. I will miss it for sure! I'm blessed with wonderful bosses and I've made some of the best friends, and big brothers that a girl can ask for. It was a highlight of my summer/fall/2011 for sure!

~Tonight, we went to Dixie Stampede for their Christmas Show. The show is good but the food is incredible. I ate all of my food, plus some of my siblings. I enjoy food, what can I say :)

~Speaking of food, I eat alot and that being said, I need to get in shape. I'm tired of being tired. I'm tried of being out of breath and having awful cardio. I just wanna feel better and get fit. I bought the C25K app this summer and did nothing with it. It sat on my iPhone. I looked at it and refused to try it. But, after talking with multiple poeple and reading blogs (Dawn, Mary-Kay, and Katie) I've decided to give it a go! It's a 8-9 week program, so hopefully by Spring I'll be running a 5K!

~I had coffee with Addie last night! literally love the girl! O and she agreed to run a 5K with me. She'll push me and that's what I need.

~This week I found out that one of my guy friends in going to Israel with me. That means my friend Emily, myself, and Malachi will be going! I am SO excited! There is also a group on facebook for Israel2012, and I got to connect with some of the other High School seniors who will be going. I can't wait!!!

~I love Christmas break because it means staying up late, sleeping in, drinking hot chocolate, coffee, and watching Christmas movies!

~On Friday I turn 18. I'm old. I don't plan on doing anything crazy.

~NBA starts in 6 days.

~Because my birthday is this week, my inbox has been flooded with all my free offers for Starbucks, Cold Stone, Fuddruckers etc etc etc. More reasons that I need to run a 5K

~I bought my first pair of Miss Me's last night at Apricot Lane! I've been wearing them today and I LOVE them!! They were totally worth the money I spent. I also love the back pockets and the way that they sparkle. Butt bling ha!

~My car is almost to 90,000 miles. Random fact from the queen of random.

~I only asked for 3 things for Christmas/Birthday combined. They were 3 pairs of shoes. One of my favorite quotes is from Marilyn Monroe. "If you give a girl the right shoes, she can conquer the world"

Happy Monday!

Love,

E

Dare to Dream

Melissa, over at The View from Five Two , is talking about Voicing your Dreams today! This post was really perfect timing for me. I'm at some major crossroads in my life right now. I'm a senior in highschool, i'm applying for colleges etc etc etc In fact, this afternoon I had my big admissions interview at College of the Ozarks, CofO. Michael, my interviewer, asked alot about me, my character, values, family, and my dreams! I love when I have the opportunity to share my dreams with people. It's not something that I'm open about because I'm scared. I'm scared of the unknown, of failing, of people thinking less of me, and of it not happening. This part in Melissa's post really hit home.

However, sometimes I'm not completely honest with myself. I don't voice my goals and dreams. I tend to bury big dreams way down deep, so that if I never attain them, then it's no big deal. No one will ever know that I never reached my dreams, because they never knew what those dreams were. Often, I tell myself I'm not good enough for those dreams, I'm not good enough to ever reach them. I tell myself that my dreams are for people who are better, smarter, more creative, etc. etc. etc. than me.

This post literally could not have come at more perfect timing. I'm scared about voicing my dreams. I really have been. But today, I was challenged to share some of my dreams with you. I'm being very bold here :) I have two big dreams in life. They are vastly different. I'm really not sure where they came from, but just pieced together over time I guess. Here we go....

My first dream is:

I've been applying for International Business to some different colleges. I'd love to live in a big city, and work for a big business corporation. Cute clothes, car, phone, a little penthouse overlooking the city. I would love to travel the world and visit some beautiful places in Europe, while being a successful business lady! This sounds crazy but business is what I love. It's what I'm good at and what I enjoy doing!

Dream Two:

My other options I've thrown around, using a business degree would be working with a ministry, such as Convoy of Hope, YWAM, etc and do the business work. I've always wanted to go to Thailand and work with a human trafficking ministry. In fact, there is a really cool program through YWAM Thai, called Business as a Mission (BAM). It allows you to take classes in business, marketing, planning, accounting etc all with a missions focus.

I know that these two dreams are vastly different but they are two things that I've thought about. In fact, my Thailand dream will be one that I will be blogging about in the near future, a 2012 resolution :)

Thank-you for allowing me to share tonight!

Tonight, this is what

I'm going leaving you with!

Another fav :)

Happy Friday Everybody!

Love,

It's OK Thursdays

Today, I'm linking up with Cait and talking about It's OK. This is my first time participating and i'm very excited!

* That my senior year is flying by. My 1st semester of high school is almost done

* My CofO interview is tomorrow which is the final step in the admission process

* It was 55 degrees in Branson yesterday

* I'll be 18 in one week

* I leave for Israel in 85 days

* I graduate in 142 days

* I have my graduation party planned. Date, location, and invites done.

* That somedays my hair goes into a ponytail.

* I have less sleep because it means staying up late with the people I love the most

* I have over 50 Christmas movies at my house to watch

* That I've had Starbucks 6+ times in the past 10 days

What are you ok with?

Happy Thursday!

Pinterest: The Truth

The Truth about Pinterest!

It's been a little while since I've done a Pinterest post. But not because I haven't pinned hundreds of things over the past couple weeks. Literally. I'm addicted. There is a pin for that. In fact, there is a pin for everything; a pin about pinning, a pin about being addicted to pinning, a pin about Pinterest, you get the idea.

*I have 123 followers HOW?? I have no clue how that happened. I'm struggling to even get past 100 followers on Twitter. I'm love it though! Makes me feel all famous and stuff.

*I have 33 boards ranging from DIY to Quotes or Bridesmaids Dress and Coffee. Variety is the spice of life I'll say. Isn't there a pin for that?

* I have 287 pins

This about hits the nail on the head!

too funny!

Story of my life :)

Truth.

Happy Saturday!

Love,

E

Flashback Friday: Hannah's 12th Birthday

My little sis, Hannah turns 14 on Monday! I can't believe it. These pictures were taken in Springfield, 2 years ago for her 12th birthday. Time flies.

Tumble!

Thanksgiving 2011 Recap

Thanksgiving 2011

This recap post is a little bit overdue. I apologize. These past couple weeks have been crazy! anybody else?? Now onto the post...

I LOVE Thanksgiving! Every year our family hosts Thanksgiving at our house. We have been hosting it since we moved to Missouri in 2003. We have at least 20 people, if not more. This usually includes college students, cousins, extended family, and friends. It is definitely a highlight of my year. Our celebration begins Wednesday night and lasts till Saturday afternoon. Everybody begins to roll into town on Wednesday. Wednesday is our baking/prep day for things like pies, and casseroles etc. Thursday morning we cook everything including the Turkey. We t-r-y- to eat by 2pm. Thanksgiving is a fun time for hanging out, laughing, big breakfasts, lots of coffee, late nights, and memories. Enjoy the pictures :)

If the noodle sticks to the wall,

it's ready to be drained.

Tip learned :)

Noodle Girls!!

Wednesday night tradition!

Italian night complete with Eggplant Parm!

This year we had 21 for lunch.

I feel like the Duggars ha!!

Music. Hanging Out. Talking. Singing.

We kinda started a tradition in 2003 when we moved here! That we would shoot guns after we ate lunch and before we ate pie. Can you tell we live in the Ozarks? :) We live on 5 acres of wooded property. Every year since then we go out back, and shoot milk-jugs, cans, etc.

Annie Oakley :)

Celia!

Aaron! Look at those guns :)

This is a scary picture.

Reasons i should NOT have a gun :)

Cousin Love!

:)

Scarf Tutorials for your Friday!

We've made it! The weekend is almost here!! I am SO excited. I've got a full weekend planned, including getting up tomorrow morning at 6:30 to help at the Convoy of Hope Christmas Bash at Church! I LOVE this time of year. O and it's December 2nd. I can't believe it! I'm loving that my senior year is flying by! Only 155 days till graduation! I can.not.wait.

This tutorial will change your life! 30 ways how to tie your scarf! Do yourself a favor. Go watch it! You can also go to Wendy's Website for lots of fun tips and tricks! My new favorite type of scarf is the "Infinity Scarf". I just bought a super cute one from Target, similar to the picture below!

Happy Friday!!