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