Good Luck Charms

December 9, 2014

#75 - Go to a Jazz Game

Everyone needs friends that are willing to make adventures happen no matter how normal or crazy the adventures may be!  I'm lucky enough to have friends from all parts of my life who are willing to help me.  

For my birthday, Susie gave me a ticket to a Jazz game.  She had coordinated with Whitney and Chelsy so the four of us could have a fun night out on the town together.  I loved it!  The four of us took TRAX downtown so we wouldn't have to worry about finding or paying for parking.  It was my first Jazz game so I was very excited!  I didn't even let the fact that the Jazz was on a nine-game losing streak put a damper on my excitement.  Our seats were in the upper bowl but lets be honest, with the size of the jumbotron upper bowl is just fine.  Turns out the four of us are good luck charms for the Jazz because they were able to beat the San Antonio Spurs in a close game.  Maybe the Jazz should provide us with season tickets so we can help them improve their W/L record.

Exciting adventures are made ever more wonderful when I get to complete them with people that matter to me!  This was my first Jazz game but hopefully it won't be the last.  I also hope that it doesn't take another 30 years to make it to the next one!

-Em

Bleeding Love

December 3, 2014

#84 - Donate Blood

If you have been following my blog, you might remember when I donated platelets for adventure #55.  This adventure goes right along with that but I got to donate whole blood this go around.  A little known fact about me is that I have a dream to become a licensed phlebotomist.  It may be weird but the process of drawing blood has always fascinated me.  During college I worked in a health clinic and on a few occasions got to help the nurses with blood draws by holding the vials.  Someday that dream may become a reality but until then I will just stay on the giving end of the donation process.

This adventure was completed with the help of a blood drive held in my YSA Stake.  I made an appointment and got to head straight to the church on my way home from work.  The wait wasn't long at all to get through the question portion of the screening.  Before I knew it, I was laying in the oh so comfortable chair/lounger (don't know how to categorize it) and the donation part of the process began.  I have always been a good bleeder so donating doesn't take me long.  My competitive nature came out when a girl donating next to me was bragging about how long it had taken her to donate.  Her worker said that it was the fast time of the night....Challenge Accepted!!  I made sure that I was squeezing their little stress ball consistently so the blood could flow.  In the end, I smoked her time!  She was over 5 minutes and I was able to donate in just under 5 minutes.  Pretty sure something about my great bleeding ability should make it onto my resume.  That's a skill people are looking for, right?

Bleeding like a champ!

Just like with the platelets, I feel lucky to be able to help those people who need blood.  I have plenty, needles don't scare me, and it doesn't take much time.  Hopefully I never have to be dependent on someone for blood but if something happens, I would pray that there are other people in the world willing to give.

-Em

Pie Night

November 22, 2014

#79 - Throw a Party

Back in the good old days of college, we hosted a pie night at our apartment.  It was the week before Thanksgiving (if I remember correctly) and we wanted to make sure the pie didn't feel neglected. Lots of times by the end of the Thanksgiving feasting people are too stuffed to truly enjoy the pie. Because of this predicament, Pie Night was born!

Needing to host a party, I decided that it would be the perfect plan to bring Pie Night to SLC for all to enjoy!  Don't get me wrong, I know that we are not the only people in the world to host a pie night nor will we be the last.  It was just a great excuse to have people over and have a great time together all while eating delicious pie. Pie night also gave me the opportunity to work on another adventure list item of cooking 5 new things.  My Grandma Hammon makes amazing cream pies and I have had her recipe for year.  This gave me the motivation I needed to try out her recipe for the first time. Because I knew the day of Pie Night would be crazy/busy after working in the temple from 10-4, I made the pie crusts on Thursday.  This left Friday night for me to make the cream filling for a Banana Cream, Chocolate Cream, and my personal favorite...Coconut Cream.  That just left the assembly and whipping the cream for Saturday when I got home from the temple.  The pies were good but not quite as good as when grandma makes them.  Looks like I will just need to practice!

Along with the cream pies I made two chocolate, caramel brownie pies.  I was pleasantly surprised with how well they turned out; especially since they were a Pinterest recipe that I had never tried before.  It took a little improvising but in the end it all worked out.  My overachievingness (that's a word, right?) tried to come out and play when I was going to attempt a made-from-scratch apple pie when I got home and before the party at 7:00.  Since I hadn't made a trip to the store to buy all the ingredients, I decided to let my dear friend, Marie Callender, take care of the Apple pie.  She did an okay job but I'm pretty sure I could have done better! ;)

With contributions for my wonderful friends, we ended up with quite the spread for this Pie Night adventure.  I was a little concerned that people wouldn't show up and Whitney, Susie, and I would get stuck with lots of pie.  We ended up with a good turnout but still had way more pie than any of us could eat in one night.  In addition to pie, we had some singing and guitar playing, whip cream flinging, "Pie Games", and fun stories!

Pie Games

Stuart's delicious cheesecake with a mixed berry compote!  :)

Pie night kept of giving the next day when I was able to take pie around to friends that had to miss out on the deliciousness the night before.  Someone else had brought a banana cream pie so my creation never made it out of the fridge for the party.  But it didn't last long on Sunday when I farmed the pieces out to friends.  This adventure made me grateful for all the wonderful friends and people I have been blessed to have in my life! 

-Em

Which Way Home

November 19, 2014

#105 - Watch a Documentary

Lots of documentaries on Netflix with pretty much any topic imaginable to choose from.  I thought about watching the documentary about the killer whale at Sea World or a documentary on pubic education.  Instead, I chose to watch a documentary titled "Which Way Home" about children who attempt to immigrate to the United States.  It was fascinating and heart-breaking all at the same time. I would recommend this to anyone but especially those that have the opportunity to work with young people from other countries/cultures.  

Here is the synopsis from the website whichwayhome.net....

SYNOPSIS

As the United States continues to build a wall between itself and Mexico, Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the United States.

The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call "The Beast." Director Rebecca Cammisa(Sister Helen) tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year-old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow.

They are the ones you never hear about – the invisible ones.

I'm sure that this documentary would pull on the heart-strings of most people but it especially hit home for me.  While I don't know of any particular students that have come to the US all alone or in the same way as the children in the movie, immigration is a real thing in their lives.  They worry about their parents not having papers.  They worry about not being able to go to college because they themselves don't have papers. They worry about their family members who are still back in their home country.  They worry about where their next meal might come from.  They worry...

Looking back on my life when I was in middle school, the biggest worry I had was whether or not to wear overalls.  It breaks my heart to see the struggles and worries that these students are experiencing on a daily basis.  Life in middle school is hard enough before the added pressure of worrying about papers, jobs, food, or even where to sleep.

When life seems too hard or my trials feel overwhelming, all I have to do is come to work and look at the students around me.  That is when I realize how truly blessed I am and how small my trials are in the big picture.

-Em

Shake It, Shake It

November 17, 2014

#22 - Zumba Class

A couple years back I went to some Zumba classes with my roommate Sarah O.  The teacher was fantastic and made the hour long class fly by because I was enjoying myself so much.  Unfortunately, the place we were going was not close or convenient to our house and it was winter so I didn't keep attending.  Because I enjoyed Zumba before, I decided to add it to my list of adventures and get myself back into a Zumba class.

Chelsy told me about a great Zumba instructor at her gym that teaches on Monday nights.  She was able to get a buddy pass for me to join her one Monday when she wasn't in charge of FHE.  We made it through the check-in process with plenty of time to spare.  As we were waiting for the class to start, we saw our former Bishop's wife, Konnie, waiting for the same class.  Our bishopric had changed back in August so it was fun to catch up with her about life after their time in the singles ward in the limited time we had before Zumba.

It came time for the class to start and we all claimed our spots in the room.  Nothing like being in a room with mirrors on all the walls and people watching you dance to make you feel self-conscience about your Zumba/dancing abilities.  I positioned myself in the perfect spot where I could see the instructor but didn't have to watch myself in the mirror.  An hour later after lots of hip shaking, shimmying, and jumping around the class was done.  Chelsy had been right about the instructor.  She made it fun and exciting so the fast-paced 60 minute class flew by.

Didn't get a before shot so this is us in all our sweaty, Zumbafied glory!  A fun evening was made even better by getting to catch up with Konnie!!

-Em

Two Left Feet

November 14, 2014

#33 - Go Dancing

Once again I was able to find a loop hole to my own adventure list.  This adventure was originally set because I told my roommate, Chelsy, that I would eventually go dancing with her.  I had the best of intentions to make that happen even though I am not really big into dancing.  Time was running out before I turned 30 so I found another solution to this adventure.  Every year our Young Single Adult ward hosts a Big Band Night dinner/dance for the senior citizens in boundaries of the family stake in our area.  Our activities committee goes all out and makes this a wonderful event that the older members of the family stake look forward to each year.

I took advantage of this night to complete my "Go Dancing" adventure.  My friend Kyle was a real champ and I was able to convince him to dance with me.  We definitely weren't the most graceful out on the floor but it was a nice laugh for the both of us.

Maybe someday Chelsy will be able to convince me to go out dancing for real.  Until then, I will just keep up the private dance parties I have in the car or when I am home alone because those are lots of fun!

-Em

Playing Hooky

November 14, 2014

#50 - Tour the State Capitol

I have a confession...I have lived almost my entire life in the state of Utah and had never visited the Capitol building!  On the other hand, Jenn, who is from Washington, had visited it multiple times during summer visits to Utah.  Seemed a little weird that the out-of-stater would be teaching me about my state's capitol but that is how this adventure went down.

Jenn and I decided to celebrate the end of the trimester by completing a few adventures from my list. We got our grades done early (Jenn's were done before mine) and then skipped out of work and headed downtown.  Upon arrival we learned that guided tours of the capitol building happen on the hour.  We got there and had 40 minutes to wait until the next guided.  Not wanting to just sit around waiting, we decided to take a self-guided tour.  Maybe we didn't learn as much as we could have about the state but we had a fun time.

I found myself a boyfriend...Tall, Dark and Handsome!  ;)

#95 - Discover One New Place in Utah

Since beginning my adventure list, I feel like I have discovered lots of new places in Utah.  Not sure why this one got the "official" title of being my new place but it did.  After finishing up at the State Capitol, Jenn and I headed to the Beehive House.

We walked in and were instantly greeted by a companionship of sister missionaries who both happened to be from Japan.  They asked us a few questions to get to know us; one of which was whether or not we had been to the Beehive House before.  When I told them that I had lived in Utah my whole life but never visited this place, I could see the the wheels start turning in their brains.  For a brief moment I'm pretty sure I had a golden aura around me and they saw great potential in me.  Then I went and crushed those hopes and dreams by telling them about my mission to Spain.  In a blink of an eye they had just lost their golden investigator.  Sorry ladies!!

The tour was good and really got me thinking about the beginning days of the church in Utah.  It also gave me a brief glimpse into the life of Brigham Young.  All the stories about how his family and the gospel were the top priorities for him.  He was a very busy man and had to make a deliberate effort on how he spent his time.  This made me evaluate my life and the things that I give precedence to on a daily basis.  Nothing like a little personal evaluation to help you see that things need to change a bit.

Writing about this adventure two months after it happened once again gave me a chance to contemplate my priorities.  How quickly we forget the lessons we learn when life is going well!  Just another chance for me to decide where my time would best be spent to help me achieve my goals and dreams!

-Em