12 days

In twelve days my best friend in all time is coming home! 

Ahhhhhhhhhh

Guys, I'm so stinkin excited.

That's all. Haha here's weird/funny/cute pictures of us 

Different Paths

Don't you think it's interesting how once you think you have life figured out and feel all high and mighty and then suddenly it's a swift left punch to the gut and youre on the ground like where did my life plans go?

Take my college experience for example. I think I was the happiest human when I graduated from dear old AF high. I was set on moving up to idaho and moving in with my cousin. Life couldn't get any better right? 

Turns out idaho just isn't for me. At first I was angry. Why didn't it work out for me? Everyone else seems to have it figured out and I have no idea. 

Fast forward and I'm living in provo. I LOVE it here. I have my very own room for the first time in my life! My friends and family live close by, there's nickel city right down the street, yougurt land. Rexburg if you had any of those things you might have worked out

Okay next example- you know where you make your first friend in elementary school and you're like there's no way we are ever not going to be friends. But then  they move, you go to different school, and you fall apart. The thing is though you make new friends. You move on. And lately I think that's been my biggest lesson. Moving on.

In a way it really does bite. Changing schools- bites. Paying rent and growing up? Sucks. BUT there is so much in life right now that I absolutely love. 

For example

Provo. Heaven bless you. You are a thousand times better than tiny rexburg. I can actually walk to three different grocery stores without completely freezing my butt off. 

Thank you provo for having citizens. 

My room. It's crazy how having your own room can change things. Not that I didn't love sharing late night stories with my sister or even Caroline when I was up at idaho because I loved that. But having my own room at the end of the day is seriosuly the greatest thing. I love playing my guitar in my room by myself not ashamed that I sound completely horrendous. My room is my sanctuary. Did I mention I have my own bathroom too? Glorious.

Music. Music gets you through. 

Missionaries. I love all my missionaries. Monday's are a joy and much anticipated  :)

Books. You are my escape on those rainy days. Thank you.

Last and most effective prayer. Prayer is so real. Prayer heals. 

Anyways, the point is, you can do it! Life may not go as you planned but that doesn't mean it's not absolutely beautiful. You're living, and this is life-- so crazy and unpredictable. But that's what makes it fun

Loves,

Em

ONE MONTH

I remember the day we said goodbye like it was yesterday. October 2nd. You had just been set apart as a missionary. We talked for an hour or so on your doorstep. That was me trying to prolong the conversation because I was afraid of what was to come next.

The moment finally came and we had to handshake our goodbye. That was hard. Really hard. I walked home. I surprisingly held everything together till my face lost yours and my foot stepped off those steps. 

Fast forward two years. You should be home, but you extended your mission you little punk. That just shows how much you truly love the Lords work. I thought this day or time period would never come. 2014 seemed liked a light year away to a seventeen year old girl in high school. But now I'm nineteen and you're twenty one. 

I cannot wait till we're back at our adventures again. I've missed it more than words could ever know.

Love you the most,

Emily 

Harry Potter Tag

Some of you probably don't know this but I'm obsessed with this youtuber named Ginger Wesson. She's hilarious and she loves Harry Potter, so of course I love her. She recently put up a video of her asking all her opinion on the Harry Potter series so I thought I'm bored! Let's give it a shot.

Your favorite book? 

My favorite book would probably be the last book: The deathly hollows. I feel like I could see everything coming together. I looooved it even though it was so sad!

Favorite movie?

The Prisoner of Azkaban. I freakin love Hermione and I loved her role with the time turner. Obessed. 

Least favorite book?

Definitely Order of the Phoenix. It was just soooo long. I wanted Umbridge to just die. She's terrible. Ugh.

Parts that made you cry? 

When Fred dies. So many tears 

If you could date any Harry Potter character who would it be?

You may be surprised, but I have a huge crush on Malfoy. Haha, sue me.

Favorite character?

Hermione obv. McGonagall is a close second though.

What would your patronus be? 

I'd like to say a fox, but who really knows.

If you could have the resurrection stone, invisibility cloak, or the elder wand which one would you choose?

The invisibility cloak DUH. Did we not learn anything from the three brothers.

What house would you be in?

Well I think gryfffindor. But pottermore thinks ravenclaw. Take your pick. 

If you could meet any member of the cast who would it be?

Emma Watson. She is Queen.

Have you played any of the video games?

Um yes. I beat the video game thank you very much. I was actually asked to my very first high school dance while playing my Harry Potter video game. Remember that Jaylee?? 

If you were on the quidditch team what position would you play?

Seeker. I'd rather be fast and on the lookout than being whacked by fast moving objects. 

Were you happy with the ending?

No because it ended. 

How much does Harry Potter mean to you?

Uhh, do you even know me? For my sixteenth birthday I was flown down to Florida to go to Harry Potter world. I have multiple shirts, a hat, wand, shoes, sweatshirt, and two necklaces. Including a time turner. 

Well I hope that explained how big of a nerd I am. 

Not even mad,

Emily Jean Granger 

Honest

I've had this idea creep inside my brain and I can't seem to scare it away so here I am typing it out.

The idea is- what if we were all completely one hundred percent honest with each other from the day we could talk? 

Johnny from second grade would know that you had a fat crush on him. Stacey would know that you absolutely hated her guts for stealing Johnny's heart. 

Here I am with all these feelings and thoughts I've had about people and I wonder what would've happened if they would've known. What if a tragic accident struck and I no longer had the ability to tell them all the great things I loved about them? I can't do that. Why should I? So here I am Sunday Evening being 100% honest with you. 

I wish I would've told Brayden that I thought he was the coolest kid on the block. I wish he could've known that.

I wish my mom would know that I love her so much, but I need some time on my own sometimes. I never meant to hurt you.

I wish Hannah knew how beautiful she is and is becoming. 

I wish Jaylee knew how compassionate and understanding she is. Her light shines out of her face like the sun. Has since I met her in the sixth grade.

I wish Connor knew how rare our friendship is. I've been searching for something like it, but I haven't even gotten close. Can't wait to see you.

I wish Mikey knew how sweet he is for a twelve year old boy.

I wish Ella could know how funny and spunky she is. And how everytime I loook at her I see a mini me.

I wish Caroline could know how much I love our cousiness. You bring out the crazy in me. Thank you for that.

I wish Austi could know how much I look up to her as an older sisterly figure. I can't wait to read your book. I know you're going places. Keep on dreaming because you can do it:)

I wish Sydnee knew that life will get better. I wish she knew how much I wish her well. I'm so happy for the chance I met you in Idaho. You make me wish I took drama in high school. 

I wish my dad knew  how much I appreciated the time he would spend out in the backyard with us kids.

I wish Megann knew how awkwardly awesome our relationship is. Can't believe you're coming home so soon. I can't wait to hear from you in real life. 

I wish Martha knew how amazing she is. She is a miracle worker and I don't think she has a clue of how big of an impact she has. A great influence at that.

I wish Scotty knew how much I love him and how looking at your picture brings me joy because you're adorable, but also sadness because I miss you so much.

I wish Tyler would know how great of a missionary he is. I love reading your letters. Jersey is lucky to have you.

So there are some of my honest secrets that are not so secret anymore. I can't risk another day without telling the people  I love most what I love about them. Why should I? Why should you? People need to hear they are loved. They also need to hear why. 

How crazy it is to know everyone around us have all these things to say, but we all hold back. Because we're afraid, or it's weird, or what if they don't feel the same way. But what if they do? What if they need to hear that. They need to know there's someone out there who appreciates them. What if we told everyone we ever knew we had a crush on them. And even if the feelings weren't mutual they'd take it as a compliment to be liked as the person they are. Life would be so different. All I wish is that you don't keep all your feelings bunched up for too long cause one day you'll explode with feelings and you'll be sitting around a campfire with thirteen cats wondering why life is the way that it is. 

Tell someone why you love them today.

Always,  

Em

Under Attack

So if any of you are my close friends you know that last week I spilled boiling water all over myself. Yes, I was making hot chocolate. And yes, I will never make hot chocolate again.

Pretty much my hands are covered in burn spots, but the worst is my thumb. My left thumb has a GIANT blister. It takes up about half of my thumb so I call it The Phantom of the Opera because I like to think I'm clever. 

Then just this morning I woke up with no joke twenty bug bites alll over my feet and ankles!! Ughhhhh, I will spare your eyes the pictures. 

My body is under ruthless attack. It's alright though I will prevail. Hahah, bless my soul. 

Happyish Tuesday sincerely,

Sacbbed, burned, & bitten

wordisms

You know those people you'd like to spend most of your time with? The people who seem to make you laugh over the stupidest things, or one moment they're making fun of you and the next second they're telling you all the reasons why they love you. These people are called your best friends.

My purpose of this post is to share with you the wordisms I've picked up from these crazy people I call friends.

Let's start out with Martha. Martha has clearly got her own wordisms and after spending a lot of time around her these are some of the wordisms I've picked up.

-excellent. But not just excellent. You have to say it a certain way like, exxxxcellent. And then your face has to look like you just came up with the best secret agent plan ever.

-perf. Now this was already kinda part of my vocabulary, but Martha resurrected it.

-heyo. This is her way of saying hello... Yeah, weird I know.

-lady. After hanging out with her for awhile I've totally picked up this wordism. "Hey, Lady!"

Moving on to Austi. Austi doesn't really have specific words, but she definitely has her catch phrases.

nailed it!- This is such an Austi saying. If you've ever hung out with her then you would know that she will probably say this phrase about five times every couple of hours.

girl. She may not know this but she starts out a lot of her sentences with girl. "Girl, please."

let's be real here though/if we're being honest. Austi says these sayings almost as much as her signature "nailed it!", but not quite to that extreme.

So I am worst and totally forgot this one. After talking to her last night I remembered that Austi talks in bullet points. 

For example:

A)

B)

C)

Or she'll be like first of all, second, and third. Haha I love this girl. Apparently she is this way because she talks to Asians at work.

Jaylee. hmmm, Jaylee doesn't have that many wordisms. She tends to speak proper human english. But they're some words she tends to go to often.

yes ma'am!- Shepherd is the Queen of this phrase. If you ask her something this will be her response. If you accuse her of something this will be her response.

So this isn't really a wordsim, but she is the friend that is always asking you a billion questions. haha, so ???. Yep, Jaylee.

Okay, last but not least Connor.

Fiend. Say this all the time. Can be used as a verb, noun, proper noun, adverb. "What the fiend?"

Shmee. You just say this if someone is being stupid or frustrating. "This girl is being so shmeeish."

O.My.Rowling- Used to describe your absolute shock.

Hahah, reading over these make me laugh. Choose your friends wisely, you never know what crazy words or sayings you'll be picking up.

em

What is Good? What is Popping?

Well ever since school has started I've had a bit more time to myself!

Well except for last week... Haha I hung out with my mains last Saturday. We went to see "If I Stay" which was so good. I had read the book and actually saw it earlier that week... But we still all bawled. So good and Adam's smokin

After drying our eye ducts we headed over to the cutest little cafe. We ordered our food and chit chatted like normal women. Austi's meal was the best. On the menu it was named three cheeses. Lol when it came out it was literally just cold cheese and little pieces of ham stuffed into a sandwich. Me and Marth died. Well I died, and Martha offered Austi her sandwich like five times.

After finishing up our dinner we obviously had to order dessert. Austi and Marth both ordered the famous Nutella Shake and I ordered the classic strawberry and Nutella crepe. Diiiiivine

Skip forward to today. 

Shots. Shots. Shots.

But

Those three little nasties were worth it cause look what is real!

Ahhhh!!! Can my call just come in the mail?! So excited to see where the next year and a half of my life will take me. 

God is good. 

Love,

Em

Summer '14

Holy cats. Life is crazy. But it's oh so good.

This summer was probably the most eventful summer of my lifetime. And no I didn't travel far. Honestly. The farthest I went was probably two hours away. None the less, this was one of my craziest and favorite of summers.

I made so many new friends! My new singles ward was my own little safe haven. So many fantastic people meet together in that old red brick building every Sunday. 

I got called as a second counselor of the relief society for this ward. When I was first called I was scared out of my pants. First of all, I'm literally the youngest person in this ward. Second, I know nobody. Fact- I sat by myself every week. When I was sitting across the room from the stake relief society second counselor my first week of being called she looked at me and said is there anything you're nervous about? 

I looked up and said honestly Sister Whitman I feel awkward reaching out to people because I still feel like people should be reaching out to me. The words that came out of her mouth changed my perspective from there on. She looked at me and said then you go out there and be the person you'd wished would've approached you. 

That calling ended being my favorite calling of all time. I grew to love all these girls so much. I wanted to help out in anyway that I could. I loved going to church each Sunday and looking over at all the bright smiling sisters. 

At the end of June we went up to my bishops cabin in Schofield. And when I say cabin I really just mean wooden mansion. This was my favorite weekend of all time. I finally let my guard down and was my crazy super spazzing wacky self. Woah, no one saw it coming. Ha, Emily put that away. I pretty much attached myself to the first counselor's hip who just so happened to be Martha. She was my saving grace. We did everything together. We bonded over slo mo videos, Harry Potter, and watermelon. The next day Martha's best friend, who also happens to be the relief society president, Austi came up to the cabin. I was always kinda scared to be friends with them because they already seemed inseparable (turns out I was right. I'm just that annoying friend that tries to put her two cents in every so often.) Lo and behold 24 hours later we're the best of friends. We all went horse back riding, shooting, and planned that evenings game all. Austi even felt comfortable enough to push me down the stairs, so I mean the friendship progress was real. 

That night me and Austi stayed up till two in the morning. We just talked and talked about EVERYTHING. I was in literal awe with Austi's answers and stories. We would've probably talked through the night if our trusty friend Grace didn't call us out for talking at two in the morning. Sorry to keep you up! 

Moving on to July. Oh July, you really did start out with a bang didn't you? Let's just say that after the second week of July I had been sleeping over at Martha's and Austi's houses. They later got nicknamed my Mama Marth and Aunt Austi. And yes I still call them by these names:) I moved out to Provo a week later in the perfect complex.

Later in the month of August Austi moved. Before her big move we had a music night. Probably one of my favorite memories from the summer. All my favorite people, good music, and even bigger laughs.

I bought my first guitar, learned my first song, and bought my first personalized guitar strap. 

I really gained my motivation back this summer. Which was awesome. I feel like I haven't been truly self motivated ever since my beginning year as a senior year in high school. 

I dyed my virgin hair! What. Biggest life changer right? Haha it was a big deal for me though. 

Being isolated from my family and most friends I dug deep and decided that the mission life was my next step. I know what? I never thought a mission would fit into my life plans. But God sure showed me. I honestly can say though I've never been so excited to get out of little ole Utah to go serve. I am not saying I did this but. Okay I did, I literally watched two hours of YouTube videos of sisters opening up their mission calls. I know, I'm a nerd. I've also spent loads of time stalking down missionary blogs, outfits, and tackling my PMG. I submit my papers next week and I am pumped! 

Guys, life is so so crazy. But it's so awesome. I've never been happier. God lives and loves you. Do something crazy. Dye your virgin hair, move out, and get your own phone bill. It's the best way to really get to know yourself and grow. 

Love times a thousand, 

em