sugar cookies.

Today I was talking with my cousin and she mentioned that she was thinking about making sugar cookies... This lead me to become Betty Crocker and make some myself! They turned out perfect and here are some pictures just to prove that I can make cookies from scratch (Josh thinks they came from a box...) I promise, I made them from scratch.

Wheat Sugar Cookies.

Thank you AllRecipes.Com for the recipe! (:

november

We have had quite the weather this November. From a windstorm that knocked out the electricity for about a day, we had branches covering our yard and found out that we build a pretty sturdy fence.

Now we have Snow! I am not a big fan of this cold, wet, white stuff that makes driving ridiculously dangerous. Stryker loves playing with his frozen, snow covered soccer ball outside; he has been running around all morning with that thing in his mouth. He is so funny, snow all over his face, and just frolicking through the coldness.

You know you're old when... (actually, let's use the word 'Mature')

You are sitting at home while all of your friends from high school are out dressed in Halloween costumes and party-ing it up. Yep, that is exactly what I am doing. What else am I doing? Hmm... besides writing this blog about how old ( I mean "Mature") I feel... I went to the craft store earlier today and bought most of the supplies needed to make home-made Christmas cards this year for family and friends. I would be working on the cards, but I forgot a few of the neccesary supplies that are used during the first steps of card making.. A hole punch, some glue and I still need to find the perfect stamp or stencil or some sort of design that I want to make the main focus on the front... Pretty important things for card making that I can't believe I forgot. Well, I guess that plays into the 'Mature' me. (= I have also recently found myself pretty interested in politics and just thinking about some major long term goals. And since it is now past 11:00PM I should be getting to bed so I can get that mature/ much needed beauty sleep. Night All. & Happy Halloween!

100%

Yep! That's my last math test score!!! I am hoping that I can keep this rolling throughout the next few weeks and then few months until I am completely done with math (forever!). Our instructor has been warning us about the next chapter though... hopefully I will catch on quickly like I have with the first two. (= It feels so good to finally understand math. I have always dreaded it and have been scoping out our friends to teach our kids (in about 20 years) how to do math and to help them with homework... well, who knows at this rate I might be able to do that myself! (=

Just one of those days...

Do you ever have those days where you just feel like you have so much to do, so many things that you want to do, and just feel inadequate??? Well, that is how I am feeling today... There is really no reason that I feel this way today, I had a good lunch with my sister and fun last night with my cousin at the Lady Antebellum concert. I have a great life, loving family & some really great friends. I am finally in school and have a job waiting for me. I live with my great boyfriend and have our furry children at my feet.
There are definitely things I want to do better at and get in the habit of doing--- such as working out, eating healthy and having productive days. I just need to get the bite of motivation. Hmmm... I need to get everything organized and just get STARTED. That seems to be the hardest thing for me, to just simply get started. Well, now that I have written this blog I feel a bit better and have laid it out for myself. I just need to get Started and everything that I want to accomplish will happen.

College Life. (=

So I have completed my first week of college and I think I made a very wise choice by only taking two classes to start. I am currenly enrolled in Math 60 (it has been 7 years since taking any math) and English 101. My math class is a "lab" so I can move at my own pace, and I have already taken my first test and got a 99%!!! This is a FIRST for me! I was so happy and I think this is definitely changing my attitude towards math. (I have previously Hated it.)
I had my first English class this Saturday, I am sure it will be an 'Easy A', but the patience that I am going to need will be another story... The instructor was an hour late and then MIA for the next hour. He informed us that this will be his last semester of teaching since he has been teaching since 1986! Yep, sounds like he is overdue for a retirement.
Well, now that I have talked about my classes I should get going and get some of my homework done so I can continue to move forward and get it done!

Some Recent Pictures.

Emery & Marisa @ the Puyallup Fair.

Emery @ Lost Mountain Lavender for the Lavender Festival.

Andrea & Emery @ Andrea's Bachelorette Party.

Marisa, Anna, Brittany & Emery @ Uncle Neal's Memorial.

Emery & Sonnie @ the Sounder's Game.

First day of COLLEGE!!!

Yesterday (Monday) was my first day of class & I had my favorite... Math... NOT.
...But, it turned out GREAT! I am not a big math fan, but I think I have a great instructor and will be moving right along with schedule since this is a lab class and I 'may' be able to finish all of my classes earlier than expected. (= If everything goes as planned, I will have my tests every Monday and might be able to start my next class in 6 weeks instead of 8! AND since it is a lab class and I started in such a low level the book I purchased is used for TWO of the classes I need, so I will be able to work on everything early and during our 2 week break between Semesters/Quarters (8 Weeks of classes, 5 Semesters each year).
I am actually looking forward to finishing chapters and finally learning this stuff the right way. (= I was even the first person to turn in our extra-credit problem and got it right the FIRST time! Hopefully this will continue throughout my class. This may be the first time in my life that I get an 'A' in Math.

Officially 25... & Looking forward to the next 4 years.

So I have officially hit the Quarter of a Century mark! I had a bunch of goals written down that I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 25, and have only accomplished a small portion. I guess that means I have plenty of time to dominate the others in the next 4 years. (= I had a great birthday this year. Josh had to work, so I took the opportunity to make myself happy. I didn't rely on anybody else and I was so at ease the entire day. My Grandma and been going to the dentist quite frequently over the past few months and I have been the one taking her. She had some problems with her new teeth, so on my birthday her and I went to the dentist. It was great to just spend time with her. I also treated myself to a manicure and pedicure, went to my favorite sushi place and just relaxed. I have to admit, that not having all of these high expectations of others (that I have had in the past) is the best way to celebrate a day. I think it is how I want to continue to live my life. I just need to take lots of deep breaths and let things flow... what is meant to be will always be and what isn't, won't happen no matter how much I stress and try to change it. I just can't begin to explain how happy I was on my birthday, Just letting it flow.
I also planned a birthday dinner to host all of my friends and family. We went to Maxwell's in Tacoma. They have great food and 'normally' spectacular service, however the night we were there they were short a server and overwhelmingly busy. I was a bit stressed because I wanted everything to go perfectly and it did not. I wish that I would have reminded myself to just let it flow, but I reverted back to my 'I want everything perfect' way. I didn't even take any pictures... I really think that everyone had a good time and even though some food was luke-warm it still tasted great.
Next year I hope to have just a low key celebration with my wonderful friends and most importantly, my family.

Almost 25!!!

Dear Blog,
I will be 25 this week & can't imagine how time has passed so quickly. At the begining of 2010 I made a list of everything that I wanted to accomplish and needless to say, I still have things left on my list that there is no way to accomplish in 2 days. I think my life is going to be continuous list that is endless and in a way, I am not bothered by this at all. I am one of those people that thrives on being busy and always having something to do.
This past summer has definitely opened my eyes to this way of me. I have had a free summer and hardly accomplished anything. It was a nice break, but I am ready to be running around, sleep deprived and making money while going to school again. It sounds crazy but this is how I function best. So with my crazy life set to begin Oct. 18th, I would at least like to get everything re-organized and caught up on a few things before it gets busy.
As for my up-coming birthday, I am looking forward to spending my day doing things that make me happy. Every year I have expected someone else to do something special for me or surprise me and this year I really just want to spend the day doing things for myself. This is a great feeling because I know everything will go the way I want because I am the one doing it. (Typical me.) And I have planned a birthday dinner for myself the day after my birthday with Family & friends, so I am going to have the best of both. A day to myself, doing what I want; and a day with family and friends that I planned. Perfect!

Now to update since it has been awhile since my last post.
Like I said earlier I have had the summer off. I graduated the Army LPN program in April and have been 'looking' for a job for the past few months. I recently was offered a job at Madigan on 7N (the same floor that I started on as a medic in the reserves- a little ironic don't ya think?). And I have signed up for 2 classes to start at Pierce College on Ft. Lewis the middle of October. I am going to be starting with English and Math. Hopefully next quarter I will manage to take 3 classes and work, but for now I am going to start off slow.
Well, I think that is about it for now.
Love, Emery

PS. Here are a few picture from this past year:

A year Since My Last Post...

Welcome to 2010! This past year has been a challenge with a lot of obsticles to over come, but with a little hard work, Josh and I have overcome all challenges that have been tossed in our direction. We are stronger and a better couple than when we started and I see a very bright future for the both of us.
I recently graduated LPN school and will be the Best Stay At Home Girl Friend during the summer and set to start school again in September. I love Nursing and I am so happy that I have found a field that I truly believe in and something that I can see myself doing for 50 years to come.
Josh has just been working his little heart out in Steilacoom. He is great at what he does and I am so proud of him for working so hard.
There is a quick up-date and hopefully I will be better about keeping this up to date now that I will have some free time.