the facets of life (an explanation).

i think a lot of people describe life in linear terms; yes or no, white or black, up or down, left or right, and so on.  this, i feel, is almost never the case.  in fact, life doesn't follow patterns, either.

life can be turned upside down, ripped in half, shredded to bits, patched back together, and yet never strong as it was originally.  we've all experienced this, part of life is learning how to handle disappointments and failures.  on the other hand, life can be reinforced, built to last, and withstand all heartache and bumps in the road.  

naturally, our first instinct is to gravitate toward the first side of this, and having our own pity party.  of course this doesn't help our case much, rather, it hinders us from progression.

but not only is there the physical aspect to describe life, there are the multiple facets of emotion, which are all strung together.  if one emotion is tampered with, it consequently affects another.  even subconsciously, if one string is pulled, it is felt from all surfaces, sometimes causing a chain reaction.

i think with this explanation (my own), you can begin to understand why some situation may seem small and unimportant to you, when your friend irrationally reacts to it.  or, per se, the tables turn, and you happen to be the over-reactor.  

lesson #1.  its times like these where you just need to take a step back, breathe, and let things fix themselves.

lesson #2.  don't think of life in terms of absolutes.  "I'll never get there", "it always ends like this", "i can't fix my life", etc.

remember the Lion King?

of course you do.

does the circle of life ring a bell?

it's a circle for a reason, and i would care to argue that it's rather a sphere than anything else.

highlights.. and lowlights

Christmas was eventful.  And ever continues to be, at this point.

*Best present by far, was being the recipient of a bass guitar.  A black and white Fender Squier.  It sounds lovely, can't wait to start jamming.  Can't believe this is my third instrument already.

*Skiing has taken place almost every day for the past week and a half, even though Utah has not received a single snow storm this year, absolutely ridiculous.

*Got in quite a bit of trouble yesterday.  Always seems to happen when I feel like I'm doing everything right for once, but then I happen to mess it all up, even though I want to make it all right.

*Besides getting privileges revoked, things turned around when I received my ACT scores back today.  First time ever taking it and not feeling great about the whole thing either, I consider 28 a great start!  My goal of 33 isn't too far away :)

To top it all off, I like getting ready for the day sometimes.

winter oddity?

it's been an odd winter season, for a few reasons.

*living in the frigid climate of (semi) northern Utah, we usually have about 2 feet of snow in the valley by this time of year.

season of 2011? absolutely none.  we haven't had a single large dump.

*new environment of school. trust me the list is never-ending on that topic.

*as if i believed school was my #1 priority before.. now it REALLY is.

*after Christmas break, i have almost the whole month of January off for a school project.  Back to Boston once more, promise more details will come later.

*Finals are this week. 2 hours per class, split among 3 days.  It's stressing me out.

*I don't feel like doing anything creative.  Harp, writing, or reading.  Bad, Emily.

*I have the sudden urge to be like all those other girls to spend who knows how long, taking photos of themselves until the perfect one comes out, all with that fancy camera.  I guess that's not me, cause it hasn't happened even though the camera is in my possession.

(this is the best i got..)

last, and DEFINITELY least,

all. i ever feel like doing. is coming up with witty facebook statuses.  what can i say.  it's been a weird season.

mistletoe?

Facebook status last week:

"I think I'll take advantage of a mistletoe this year :)"

36 likes. and a couple offers.

Yesterday:

mom came home with some mistletoe for me.  she thought i better have one ready after she read my status.

it's quite large.  don't mind the sunday sweats, either.  it's 20 degrees and snowing.

injuries.

sometimes you think that parts of your life can slip past you, and that you can simply breeze by.

like a seagull. 

or, maybe like when you know you need to clip your toenails. but you just don't want to reach down there to get the job done.

i think that is kind of how i feel about thinking about college. growing up. i know that i need to spend time to really think about what i want to do. and i always thought i knew. but when it comes down to the nitty gritty details, i don't want to think.

along the same lines, teenagers think that they can cruise their way through high school, not have to worry  and stress about schoolwork, and still expect to get by without any injury.

I definitely slipped into thinking like this.  and what do you know.  i'm injured.

Monday came and went last week, and I started my pre-season track workouts with my coach.  After my first workout, I was extremely sore and tight, but hey, that always goes away, right?  Psh, I'll be fine.

The NEXT Monday. (yesterday). at practice again, and still tight as can be.  coach isn't there to discuss my capabilities, and so i do the workout.

next thing you know, i have a pulled quadricep.

(also known as THIGH. yum.)

yes, that extremely large muscle in your leg that enables you to walk.  bend down. sit. what have you.

my mindset was engulfed in the notion that yes, i could weasel my way though the next 6 months sneakily, without something terribly disappointing happening.

well. i learned my lesson.

i wish i was a boy.

i hate being a girl.

besides the obvious of the monthly occurrences and even the thought of bearing children (nasty), being a girl is absolutely horrendous.

#1. we have hair.  that has to be given daily attention in order to control.

#2. make up? so not worth it. no one really notices anyway, unless you slather it on until you can't tell what color your skin is any longer, bronze, or peach.

#3. "Hey gir--" oh wait. we hate each other. i'm not supposed to talk to you. seriously? get over it already!

#4. i don't care who your boyfriend is.  i'll be friends with him if i want to, AND you don't own him. and just the fact that he is captain of the football team student body president baseball star starting varsity basketball point guard DOESN'T make you any better in the eyes of other people.  moral of the story, don't be shallow.

that is all.

24 hours isn't enough.

excuse my ignorance.  the past few weeks have been.. well. on the busy side. for a lack of anything better to say, (and my excuse for not posting anything) here is the agenda for the next two weeks of my life.

tomorrow:   government memorization.

saturday:     play harp at the hospital for a program my friend and i are starting. (details later.)

sunday:       give 5 minute talk on humility in church.  thanks, father.

[thanksgiving break.  thank the heavens.]

monday:     essay on the Scarlet Letter due for English. haven't started.

tuesday:      play harp for a social event for an organized group of older ladies in my church.

wednesday:            government project due. haven't begun to think about it yet.
wednesday again:  play harp at my youth group's weekly activity at an old folk's home. lovely.

friday:        speech for government. memorized. awesome.

saturday:               ACT. first time taking. scared for my life.
saturday again:      play harp at the Christmas Home Show.

not to include all the time needed to spend practicing for all my little harp performances that i don't have time for, the track practices that i'm supposed to be starting to go to, the other time consuming homework that would lengthen this post from here to Timbuktu, etc.

24 hours is not enough time to eat, sleep, think, do homework, spend an hour with a tutor every day, run with my coach, and go to 8 hours of school.  NOT. HAPPENING.