Hair Cut

 19 July - 25 July 2021

Wow, the summer is moving along quickly, and I am grateful for that. At the beginning of summer, it felt like I had an eternity of nothing to do, but I'm glad I've found meaningful ways to spend my time thus far, and now I am sorting through items and getting ready to move home in two weeks! While moving back home after graduating college didn't seem exciting or right at first, the Lord has been sending me reassurances over the past months that home is where He needs me. Whether from something that stood out in a conference talk, or revelation received on how I can help and strengthen specific family members.

This week, I've also felt a bit sick with a sore throat, which I'm guessing I caught from one of the many hundreds of kiddos I was around last week. It has only got progressively worse over the week (not that my eating treats and sugar helped at all... hehe... oops), but on Sunday, I couldn't even talk when I first woke up! Fortunately, my friend Becca and my roommate Mira had cough drops and medicine that I could use.

Taco Tuesday was great! The stake hired a taco truck to get to know my ward and another ward as we all ate tacos. I made the mistake of topping my first street tacos with their red sauce. IT BURNED SO BAD and gave me instant hiccups! I felt the burn even 20 minutes later, after I'd sucked on a popsicle! When I went back for seconds, I made sure not to get that sauce again. But they were delicious!

I attended Savanna's bridal shower Wednesday evening, and it was super fun. My favorite game we played was "couples charades" where everyone had a partner and drew a paper that named a couple that you had to act out together (ex: Ron and Hermione, Troy and Gabriella). I was paired with a woman who was seven months pregnant with her first born, and we had a blast acting them out as fast as we could before time ran out. As we finished one, I ran back to my seat on this fake leather foot stool thing, and in my excitement, I sat down with a lot of force and slid off the back and crashed into the wall. We had a grand ole time laughing about that.

Also, I've been thinking about getting a hair cut for months now, and on Thursday, I finally decided to go for it. I needed a change in my life, something to be excited about. And I love how it turned out, especially when I curl it. It's so cute!

I also found out via Facebook that my brother Aaron got engaged... officially! Apparently, he didn't really tell anyone in the family, so even Valerie found out via his Facebook post! I'm excited for him and his fiancé (who I haven't even met yet, lol), and while I'm not going to pressure them, I hope I get to have a little niece or nephew next year!!

I didn't get to work in the temple since I was feeling sick, which was sad. I am also working on learning a fiddle song in time to play at our ward talent show coming up in a couple weeks. Hopefully it'll be decent enough to perform! It's been hurting my hand so much, since it requires a lot of use of the pinky, and my pinkies are shorter than average. In other sad news, my rec center pass expired, so no more free workouts or ice skating :(. Just one more reason to head home sooner than later.

Sunday was good. I got a lot of compliments on my hair. I made dinner with Whitney and we ate together. I stayed for CFM, since I was actually feeling social since I've been alone the past few days trying to get better. Then I went to ward prayer and played hang man and Uno. After, I went to a game night and learned this game called "Skud" (but I think "Skid" or "Skydive" would be a better name) that you play at a pool table that was super fun. I am grateful for the joy I felt this week. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and my Father in Heaven.

Love,

Emily Burnham

Young Authors Academy

 12 July - 18 July 2021

Monday: I met up with the other counselors in the morning to get assignments and move into Heritage for my job as a counselor over 10 girls in the Young Authors Academy writing camp. I was excited and nervous to get to know my girls. My roommate (another counselor) seemed nice enough, and my girls were very excited to be at camp. It was a struggle finding them all, but we all met in the music room on the third floor (since the lobby was so crazy packed) and they were super chatty. They were also very open about their mental illnesses, which took me aback at first, but was something that bonded them together right away. Then we were off to orientation. That evening, we had a luau activity with dinner. I was in charge of one of the games. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it! We went back early to the dorms to talk and get to know each other. We had snacks and did facemasks to celebrate one of the girl's birthdays.

Tuesday: I took the girls to breakfast and then was off for the day. I had an appointment in the temple to do initiatories, which was a peaceful experience. The temple feels like home. When I walk inside, it is familiar, peaceful, and I feel a rightness in being there. I was back that evening to pick the girls up from class and take them to the conference center for carnival games and dinner. I was in charge of the lamest game ever (guess how many pages are in each book!) but at least I got cotton candy! After, we went to the creamery during our free time.

Wednesday: Breakfast at the cannon center is both the best and the worst. I love all the GF options (especially the bread and muffins) but I'm prone to eating too much junk and then not feeling well. I prepared to teach on the instagram page Instant Institute. I was having trouble what to say, and I felt like I should call Valerie. She gave me some great ideas, and it turned out pretty good. Wednesday night we got to hear from an author, Christian Heidicker. I'd never heard of him before that night, but the kids thought he was hilarious and he did have some good points about writing that I think will help my own writing process. Then we had a Harry Potter make-a-wand (out of a chopstick) activity.

Thursday: It was a looonnnggg day because I had to work all day, bussing participants over to the Provo City Library for a writing conference held by different authors. I sat in on a few of the classes, and they were honestly kind of boring. My feet ached all week from all the walking we had to do (plus the fact that my shoes are old).  

Friday: I left my girls earlier than normal in the morning so I could make it to the temple on time for my shift. Only, after showering and blowing my stuffed nose, my nose started bleeding. Like, a lot. And it wouldn't stop for almost an hour! So I was late to the meeting and was on edge the whole time, breathing carefully through my mouth and hoping it didn't start bleeding again. Prayer helped, because it had stopped bleeding sufficiently for me to go to the temple, but then in the dressing room, it started bleeding again, and I asked Heavenly Father to help it stop so I could serve in His temple, and then it did and it didn't give me any more problems. That evening, we dinner, games, and a movie night out on the grass with lots of treats. Overall, camp was a good experience. It was a bit stressful keeping track of everyone and trying to cater to all of their needs and wants. My bosses were stressful as well. But the girls made it SO worth it. They feel like eternal friends. They were so sweet, empathetic, fun, and goofy. I'm so so glad I got to know them. We stayed up in the hallway, writing cute notes in each other's notebooks.

Saturday: After checking out all the girls and getting myself checked out, I finally got to go home! And sleep in my own bed!! I had a lazy Saturday, up until I went to babysit for the Nixon family. It was only the two youngest, and after putting them to bed, I had the movie theater room to myself and watched A Quiet Place 2 (since they had access to it).

Sunday: I felt a little emotionally empty today. Partly because of physical and emotional exhaustion from camp, but also I think because I missed all the girls from camp. I directed music during sacrament and during ward choir. At reconnect, only three other people came, and Rosie massaged my head because it was hurting. The direct sun gives me headaches, so I will need to start wearing hats, especially when I move back to sunny AZ. Then I made food and took a nap. Only, it didn't end up as a nap, because next thing I know, it's 11:15pm and I missed CFM and Ward Prayer. I went back to sleep, thinking I wouldn't be able to sleep for more than a couple of hours and I'd just have an early day, but when I next woke up, it was 6:30am. What the what?! Guess I truly was exhausted from camp, even more than I knew!

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Chicken Masala

 5 July - 11 July 2021

Monday: I went over to Megan-Jean's house and helped her clean her couches. Then I got to hold the babies. The time passes so fast when you are holding little sweet angels in your arms! For FHE, we had ward Karaoke in the loft of the church, and I had a blast! I went up for a lot of the songs, but the highlights were when I was spotlighted to come up and sing a duet of "Start of Something New" from High School Musical with the RS President and when I requested to sing "Rewrite the Stars" with two friends. I invited Whitney to come with me, and while we were there, she then invited the whole friend group to come, so quite a few showed up and it kept the energy high. It was fun to be goofy and dance and sing.

Tuesday: I went to the deep water class at the rec center with the old ladies (y'all know it's my favorite, haha) and then filled out an application to be a counsellor for BYU's Young Author's Academy Camp. I will basically be a babysitter for kids aged 13 to 18 and get breakfast and dinner all week. I'm excited because it'll be a lot of fun, and I'll get to meet a famous author or two! I also attended the temple for the first time in 16 months this afternoon! I had a sacred experience before going as I knelt in my room and prayed in gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I enjoyed my time in the temple. That evening, I went to institute. Whitney came late. She grabbed food (it wasn't something I could eat) and we sat outside and talked on the grass. Our friend James saw us and joined us, and we ended up watching A Quiet Place back at his apartment since he had never seen it. It made me ready to watch the second one that just came out.

Wednesday: I bombed my job interview this morning. Well, not really. I just didn't meet the criteria because the lady asked if I was willing to relocate to Massachusetts if I got the job. Yeah... no. Not right now, when I'm going to be doing grad school and am just planning on living at home. I filmed some videos for my YouTube channel that I was super pumped about. They are longer and have a slightly different feel to them than the other videos, more genuine and personal. I'm excited to see if my subscribers like these videos more. I attended a work dinner training meeting. They fed us dinner and we played a game where we had an author taped on the back of our shirt and we had to ask yes/no questions to figure out who it was. Mine was Mark Twain. Yeah, there was no way I was going to guess that without some ingenuity. I guessed letter by letter to get the first name, then after that it was obvious. After that, I had a double date (of sorts). So Whitney wanted a double date to go out with a boy she met on Hinge, and I asked a guy in the ward if he wanted to come to a small game night. He said yes, but then I realized I'd have to tell him it was going to be like a double-date vibe (I just suck out asking guys out, okay?!) so I called him and he was so chill about it. Everyone had a lot of fun!

Thursday: Voice lessons, baby! I am improving! Slowly but surely. I worked on getting my Missionary Approach videos ready to be posted, making cool thumbnail covers for them. I went shopping, and then in the evening, I went to Brittany's house to watch a movie with her and give her a massage. We watched The Tomorrow War, which was okay. She enjoyed it! It was good to watch it with her.

Friday: I was actually a bit nervous to go to my temple shift, but it was good! The ladies that work there are SO stinkin' nice. They have such bright spirits and I was uplifted just being in their company and feeling all the love and excitement going around from being back together in the temple. That evening, I went with friends to go paddle boarding at Tibble Fork Reservoir. I also got to canoe.

Saturday: I learned how to make Chicken Masala from Kethura! She is from India and had all the legit spices. Her family makes them (sun dries the plants and crushes it into powder) and sends them to her. Wow, it sure does make it extra spicy, but it was super good! In the evening, I went ice skating. It's been forever since I've gone! I've been so busy going to the rec center, but I need to start skating more often. And wear body armor so I'm not afraid to try tricks ;).

Sunday: Church was good. I wore a new dress my mom sent me. She said that she didn't like how it looked on her, so she sent it to me. I got so many compliments! SO many. I hosted Reconnect at the church. That evening, the Witt family invited the ward over for homemade ice-cream and games at their house, so I went. It was a blast! Especially playing telestrations. Then I went home and stopped by Whitney's house to catch the tail end of Come, Follow Me. Whitney LOVED my dress, said it was her favorite dress on me. Christina (voice lessons teacher) made GF/DF brownies and gave me some. Then I attended ward prayer. It was fun! I played ping pong while waiting for it to start, and I got called adorable by a guy (one of my goofy/squeaky reactions to hitting a ball) which made me feel good (because it was a guy I like, not one who creeps me out) and we played "Do you love your neighbor?" After, Michael came over to make me dinner (from the ward service activity two weeks back), which I helped with. We were going to earlier, but then we would have missed going to the Witts, and we couldn't reschedule because I'll be gone all evenings this week at the Author's Camp. So we finished cooking around 10:10pm and ate. It was fun and yummy!

Love,

Emily Burnham

Fourth of July

 28 June - 4 July 2021

Monday was crazy busy! I played tennis with Becca Harper at Kiwanis park. It was actually my first time playing tennis and it was super fun! I caught on pretty quick. In the evening, I played capture the flag with my FHE group (my team lost, boohoohoo). After I went to Whitney's stake activity at Provo Beach. I got to play laser tag, eat snacks, watch people biff it on the wave rider, and go on the ropes course (even though I had to wait in line forever to do it). At least I had a lot of fun (if you can't tell by my cheesy, yet exhausted, smile). I got home around midnight. Wow, am I a party animal or what?! ;)

We had cleaning checks, so that was how I spent most of my day (especially since I slept in way later than usual). My rock collection that I keep outside our door is coming along quite nicely. My m&m family keeps growing. That evening, I attended institute and had invited a friend along because he had seemed sad lately. He ended up knowing another guy who was there, so that was really cool. What wasn't cool was that I was SO SO SO exhausted that I started falling asleep half way through. Then I went home and went to bed before 9:30pm and slept for 12 hours! My body was just worn out, I guess.

Ahh, Wednesday. Haha, so I got ready for a job interview that I thought I had in the morning. Key word: thought. I go to the link and hop on, realizing that it says the interview is next Wednesday. Oof... lol. I saw my ministering sister for a bit in the afternoon. She stopped by with some treats for me. Then I left to go to Megan-Jean's house, but halfway there, she called and asked if it was okay if we rescheduled (unless I was already on my way), and I told here I'd barely left and it would be totally fine to go another day. After all, the last thing I want is to be a burden.

I had a chill day inside on Thursday. This whole week I'd been sleep a lot and feeling exhausted, and I didn't feel up to working out. I painted, watched movies, and went on a short walk. Literally, so short. I went outside. It was super hot. I walked a couple laps in the underground parking garage and then called it good, haha. 

Friday morning I went to get gas first thing in the morning. If you don't go early, the line gets SO long. Gas prices have really gone up, almost by a dollar and a half. I had a headache in the evening, but I still went over to my friend Julia's house in the evening. We went shopping to get some ingredients to make dinner together. While we were there, I saw a cute, tall guy, but I didn't say anything to him. It's hard to feel motivated to meet guys and go on dates when I plan on moving next month. Dinner was really good! We made spring rolls. Then we went on a walk around campus and had a great conversation about healthy sexuality. It is such an important topic that more people need to know about.

Saturday morning I went over to paint with a friend Katie. I met her through Whitney. We had to paint a picture with a paintbrush held between our toes. It was hard! My picture turned out nothing like I was expecting, but I think it's pretty cute. It has a jelly-fish sun (that's what Katie called it) and a Dr. Seuss feel to it. That afternoon, Jared (a guy from our friend group) came over to ask if I wanted to go to the Stadium of Fire with him and to teach him how to ride on the electric unicycle. I didn't have any special plans for celebrating the 4th, so I was really glad I got to go to the Stadium of Fire. It was awesome! David Archuleta made a guest appearance. The guy who wrote "I'm proud to be an American" sang. And there were some pro BMX biker dudes that did jumps and tricks for us. There were two ambulances waiting off to the side in case of any injuries. Let me tell you, I do not want to have a job where failing means you need an ambulance. Yikes-a-doodle!

Sunday, good ole fast Sunday. The choir practiced our song before church. I vote that we need to stop having musical numbers on fast Sunday because my throat was dry as the AZ desert but I didn't want to drink water and wake up the monster in my stomach. We did good in our performance, even though I accidentally stood with the sopranos while singing the alto part. Church was really, really good. I needed it. The testimonies were just what I needed to hear, and I felt the Spirit and Heavenly Father's love. Sunday School was good too. I felt very renewed and refreshed. I got to spend the afternoon with Shelly and her family. We drove together to Highland to have dinner with her sister. I played games with the kids. Then we all went to the pageant in Pleasant Grove, where they let down the biggest American flag in the country! The down side was that it started pouring rain and we didn't have coats or anything to protect us, so we were freezing and left early. Also, there was a guy with a crazy patriotic mohawk, which you can see if you look closely at the picture below. I went over to Whitney's house in the evening and was able to have a very good talk with a girl who has similar food struggles as me. She has seemed down in the dumps lately and was so grateful for my openness to discuss my personal problems with food because it allowed her to feel comfortable to open up. We are going to make meals and shop together, which will relieve a lot of her anxiety. She said to me, "You have no idea how much of a blessing you are in my life right now." God is good. I've felt more power in my prayers this week, and I've had more deep and connecting conversations with others. I have felt a renewed sense of purpose for why I am up here in Utah.

Much love,

Emily Burnham