The Lu-Wow

 2 May - 8 May 2022

As I'm reflecting on my past week, my initial thoughts are that I'm tired and not feeling super well (but I think I'm to blame for staying up late two nights in a row on the weekend, watching TV...). Also, my diet could have been better. I did good this week, but the one day I made pancakes for dinner with chocolate chips and syrup on top killed me! I think because I ate all five of the pancakes and because of all the sugar. Ugh, I was a gonner there for a bit. Anyways, I'm going to get back into shape this week to feel better and more energized, especially since FSY is coming up soon! I leave for Provo in basically TWO WEEKS! Yikes, it's so soon. Oh well, I need to give myself some grace for this week and realize how amazing it is that I made it through a tough time with some joyful moments. Also, I want to say that I LOVE JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS!!!! It's a TV show on Netflix, and it was SO good. The songs are inspiring and uplifting, the messages are wholesome. It's just so flippin' what this world needs. So you can imagine (maybe) how my heart BROKE when I googled and found out that Netflix is not letting them do a Season 2!!! Literally, my emotions bounced between sadness and anger for a good 10 minutes. Something better change about that. That's all I'm saying. I was literally praying for a miracle so there could be a Season 2. But, I digress. Maybe I was too emotional and obsessed this week and went a little overboard, but I gotta say, people using their AMAZING, raw, and genuine talents in uplifting and inspiring ways gets me so good. I can't even imagine how happy God is to watch us all cultivate and use the talents He blessed us with to bless each other.

The other slightly stressful thing in my life right now is finding an internship for January. I know it'll all work out how it's supposed to, but in the meanwhile, it's so stressful when you know you need a specific position at a specific time and places are already sending you rejections because they're not taking on interns at that time. And what if I have to wait half a year to start my internship? That puts me behind. I don't even want to consider that as an option. But I'm going to trust God that things will work out and that He has my back and will open doors for me. Oh, and money is a *little* stressful because now that tax season is over, I'm working shorter hours. My schedule isn't even really consistent. My boss will just send me home early some days or give me a day or two off if it doesn't seem like it'll be busy. Then my dad is hounding me about not making money and it stresses me out more because it's out of my control. It gives me more time to do homework, which is good right now honestly, because I need to get ahead on my assignments since I'm leaving for Provo soon but will still have three weeks of school left. And there are so many things I want to do, but I just don't have time to do. Or the energy or motivation or hope. Like finishing my book, making the edits. I really want to, but then it's like I don't have the energy or time. Or learning how to laser cut. I think I'm just scared, so I've been putting it off for when I'll have a bunch of time to sit down and face my fear of ruining things as I learn. I think FSY will be a nice break for me because I'll be too busy to think about all my worries for a time and can just focus on bringing souls to Christ.

In other news, my mom ran the escape room at the family history ward activity, which I stopped by to support. Everyone loved it. Grandpa Jim went all out on his posters and set-up. Afterwards, I went to our stake Lu-Wow (Luau) and it was good. I felt GOOD. I was peaceful and present and happy. The weather was beautiful and I couldn't keep a small smile from gracing my face. I met some new people and enjoyed the night in a carefree way that was rare. So that was very nice. Plus, all the food there was SO good! Well, except the pig. I tried a small piece and it was rather dry, but I probably grabbed a piece that was close to the top and got overcooked. Then, of course, Mother's Day is today! I cleaned the bathroom like my mom wanted, and I also got her a card with a lunch date to go to Berry Divine to get acai bowls, which she was very excited about. Dad gave a talk in church and I got to teach in Relief Society. Dad also wrote mom the sweetest, cutest card ever that warmed my heart. Then I got to talk with my friend Whitney on the phone for a bit, catching up, and she sounds so so so happy, which makes me so happy for her. I truly have amazing friends and family.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Escape Room & Hot Tub Movie Night

 25 April - 01 May 2022

I do so much better on the bone broth diet, off of sugar. This week was hard emotionally and even a bit physically because I haven't been eating as healthy. The good news is that I got Friday off, and I could just mope and be sad at home. Anyways, with that inspiring and positive intro, let me move on to the highlights of my week, starting with Family Home Evening on Monday. We had a combined activity called Shark Tank: Date Style. We all got paired with a random guy (I got paired with Mitchell) and we had to come up with a date idea and present it in front of everyone. The bishopbric and their wives picked their top four favorites and then funded the date for $25. It was a good time. Sean's was super funny. His date idea was to set a picnic blanket on the table with candles, then go buy a Happy Meal and watch Twilight after they ate. 

I enjoyed institute on Thursday evening. They had a taco bar, and everything was so yummy! I ate way to much. We had our last institute lesson of the semester with Sister Dalton. I shared my YouTube channel with her and asked if she'd be interested in filming videos about topics we discussed in institute, which she said she was. We'll see how that goes. All I know is doing my channel by myself has become overwhelming and I think/hope it was a prompting that lead me to ask Sister Dalton.

Saturday was great. I felt much better emotionally and had a productive morning, doing my laundry and washing my car while listening to all the songs from Julie and the Phantoms (my new favorite TV show). Then I got ready and went with my mom and sisters to a Star Wars themed escape room. We escaped with nine minutes to spare! We all worked pretty good together, and I figured out some key stuff, including flipping the last switch into the correct position to open the door and escape! We went out for lunch. That evening, I went to a girl's night at Ashley Deardon's house. We watched Cloudy with a Chance 2 and had all the snacks (popcorn, chocolate, gummies) and then we chilled (or should I say, heated) out in the hot tub. Very relaxing way to end a hectic week. Sunday was also good. I had a more looking outward mindset, seeing who I could wave at and talk to, and then I stayed after for a teacher's meeting, and it was actually good because I got to share teaching insights and bear testimony of the importance of having the spirit in the classroom and praying for your students and the authority of your calling. And mom made a very delicious dinner, and the best part was that I did not go back for seconds. I fasted today that I can treat my body better and have self-control about what I eat. I decided I cannot find joy or fulfillment in eating anymore. I can't look forward to food as a reward or the favorite part of my day. I do not need to focus on or think about food. I need to find other things to occupy my thoughts and desires so I can avoid the treats and crap that make my body feel terrible. 

Much love,

Emily Burnham

I Can Breathe Again!

 18 April - 24 April 2022

Work has been so crazy busy the last couple of weeks! And then with school starting last week, life got even more busy. So imagine my relief when after Monday, work got less frantic and then come Wednesday, it was quiet. Thursday was super chill, though my head really hurt so I left to go home early, and then Friday was easy. I got the majority of school work done while at work, which was AWESOME. I feel like I have time to breathe again. That's how I described it to a friend who asked about my week. But now for a little more detail about each of my days...

On Monday, Briesa and Aaron found out whether they were having a boy or girl. They're having a girl! For family home evening, Valerie and I went to a huge combined activity, geriatric bingo. It was actually super lame and boring, but Val and I both dressed up as old people and did our best to participate. As you can tell by the picture, Briesa is thrilled to be having a baby girl... or maybe just annoyed to have cake in her face. Who knows? ;)

I feel like this is the face old people constantly make:

On Thursday, I went to institute. We had donuts after (including gluten free ones for me) and the lady gave me all the boxes to take home since it was the second to last week of institute and they'd otherwise sit in the freezer until next September. Well, that was a bad idea for my poor tummy because I ate way too many donuts that night and the next day after work, and my body had the worst sugar crash on Saturday. Plus, I gained at least 3 pounds in just donuts. I am still working on my self-control when it comes to sugar and may need to join a sugar-addict's anonymous group. I legitimately prayed this past week for Got to send down an angel to smite me if I was going to eat sugar... but that did not happen. Guess I'll have to learn this self-control thing on my own. If you have any tips, please share.

This Saturday was the first Saturday I didn't have to work in over a month! Go me!!! It was AWESOME. Well, besides feeling groggy and slightly nauseous from eating too much sugar... but I got to serve at Midwest Foodbank with the YSA, and we had a good time packing cereal into bags and sealing them up. Then I went to the temple, which was also good. I know it's good to go, but sometimes I don't feel like the Gilbert Temple is "home" to me (not like the Provo Temple became after serving there as a temple worker), but then the thought came to me from God: You can spend time here, even if you don't want to, because I always spend time with you, even if your choices disappoint me. Now, that sounds a bit harsh, now that I've put it into words, but it came as such a loving and encouraging thought and feeling. Like I can be like God and be there for Him because He is always there for me. I also finished up my homework assignment and then started watching Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix, which I loved!

I grabbed a selfie with Sean on my way to church (I'm pretty sure he had no idea I took the photo tho... hehe).

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Happy Easter!

 11 April - 17 April 2022

The beginning of this week was a bit daunting for me. I got a father's blessing on Sunday in preparation for starting school on Monday. I was a bit worried about how I could fit everything into my schedule this week, because I'm taking three classes, and work is at its busiest time yet, with the tax deadline a week away. But after the priesthood blessing, I became kind of excited, because I knew as I put God first, He would carry me through the week. I took the opportunity to view this week as a time when I would get to see the hand of God in my life by exercising faith and feeling Him carry me. And I did! On Tuesday, I helped clean the temple from 8:45pm to about midnight. Even knowing I had work the next morning, I didn't complain about being out late, because I was grateful for the opportunity to serve in the house of the Lord. And I had a grand time! I was partnered with Rachel from my YSA ward, and we helped one of the ladies clean ALL the bathrooms in the temple. That's 17, if I remember correctly. I was in charge of mirrors and dusting and re-stocking. As we went along, Hermana Reyes would stop and point out all of the new artwork, which was absolutely stunning. There were a few that really touched my heart. She was fun and a joy to work with.

On Wednesday evening, I left straight after work to go to the Easter Pageant and save seats for my FHE group. I packed snacks for lunch and didn't pack a dinner... oh well. I was there 2.5 hours early and managed to grab seats 16 rows from the very back... there were 9,000 seats total, so the seating wasn't all the great. But oh well. I was worried if everyone was going to show up and find me, and while not everyone I was expecting to come came, all the seats I saved were filled up by YSA, and one YSA thanked me for saving the seats. I was glad to be of service. The Easter pageant was good, though it was hard to fight the annoyance of the man sitting in front of me, blocking my view by sitting way on the left side of his seat. It was so frustrating, especially after how long I had waited, and to have such a terrible view, but I tried to focus on feeling the Spirit, and some of the scenes really touched me and I felt the Spirit of God and such gratitude for my Savior.

Thursday night, I attended institute and had a grand ole time. There were lots of treats and snacks that I partook of that I wish I hadn't partaken of... I need to go back on my eat-nothing-but-vegetables-and-meat diet. I felt a lot better on that diet. But my taste-buds are WEAK and want sugar. I had to finish up my homework when I got home, which I did with EIGHT minutes to spare before the deadline. I had absolutely ZERO time to do homework at work, but I'm hoping that changes next week!

On Friday, Valerie hosted an Easter-themed game night, and everyone had a blast! We played outdoor games and even had an Easter hunt! 

On Saturday, I had to go in to work. It was my last Saturday working in the office!! After, I went shopping and then went home and took a short nap. We left to the Watkins family party at Craig's house. Wow, family drama galore. So many people are anxious, stressed, snappy messes. I'm grateful to live in a much more uplifting environment.  But my favorite part was playing with the cute kiddos, pushing them on swings, giving them thumbs-up, encouraging them to go down the slide. After, we went to Briesa's sister's wedding reception and weren't needed to help after all, so we got to leave early. Andrew stopped by to say hi because he missed seeing us at the Watkins' party, and it was good to see him and catch up a bit.

Sunday was marvelous. I felt absolutely gorgeous wearing my new dress I found in my Easter basket. This was the first Easter I've got to spend with family in 3 to 4 years! We took lots of cutesy pictures after church. I helped clean up the house when I got home from church, which mom was so grateful for, and dinner was yummy. I love my family. I love spending time and doing things with them.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Unexpected Bonus

 4 April - 10 April 2022

Wow, this week at work was crazy! So many phone calls and demanding people. My patience has never been shorter!! It was an insight about myself that was not fun to realize. I wore my CTR ring to work and I think that helped a lot, just a physical reminder to choose the right and God was with me. I looked at the ring a LOT this past week... haha. I am a little worried about next week, because classes start. I'm take three classes this quarter, more than ever before, and work is so crazy busy that I legitimately don't have any time to do anything else at work. But the Lord reminded me in my scripture study this week that His grace is sufficient. I know I can do all things through Christ. It's just easy to forget when the pressures of the world and your own anxiety is so loud that it drowns out the peace and assurance of Christ. Well, let it go down in history that gas is at an all time high. Blah. It's a small fortune to fill up the gas tank. 

Me talking a walk around the office complex, enjoying the sun on my face. It gets so cold in my office with the AC running and no sunshine for 8 hours. So I sometimes just go outside for a bit to re-center, and after this crazy week, I definitely needed this simple moment of enjoying God's creations.

On a happier note, Valerie and Lucy both loved my book. Valerie said it was SO good! That makes me feel marvelous and excited, like I really stand a chance at this whole author thing. I'm excited. A couple of other awesome things happened this week that need to be addressed. I've been praying for missionary opportunities, and nothing grand has come out of the woodworks, like the stories you hear about at stake conferences or general conference. But I did have a dream about an old friend who was outside in the rain and she came inside the church building where I was at (I think I was helping out with a young women's activity) and she was soaking wet, and I led her over to the fireplace to get warm. After waking up, I had the thought that I should reach out to her. I told her I had a dream about her, and it was super random, but made me want to reach out and see how she was doing. I found out she'd moved back to Gilbert, so I suggested we should meet up. We ended up having lunch at this yummy place (Berry Divine Acai Bowls, which felt more like dessert than lunch, lol) and talking. I'd heard from family that she had become inactive in the church, but I didn't know much about that, and she didn't mention anything about it. It was just good to chat and catch up and share about books we liked and our goals for the future. I think we are both in need of friends. 

Because of this lunch date that I had scheduled, I wasn't expecting to have to work Saturday. But Jen couldn't because she didn't have a car that day. Jill was able to cover for the morning, so I still had to head into work that afternoon, right after the lunch date. I was not super happy about having to work my fourth Saturday in a row, but once I got there, it was fine. Until it wasn't just fine... it was incredible! I was filling up my water bottle and my boss says from his office, "How do you spell your last name?" I was like, "Burn Ham" and spelled it out for him. Curious, I walked into his office, wondering why he needed my last name, just in time to see him fold a piece of paper and hand it to me. He said, "Have a nice day." I walked out and opened it up, and it was a check he'd written me for... ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! Um, talk about unexpected work bonuses. I didn't know what else to feel except for extremely grateful. I'd just spent over $6,000 that morning in tuition for school and stressing a bit about how much money I was going to need to make, and BOOM. The Lord blesses me. I think I am having a bigger impact than I even know at work. God is so good. He has blessed me greatly and is aware of my situation and desires. Also, Saturday morning, Lucy and I went to get our passport pictures... who knew they would cost $15 each? Oh well, I just hope we get to go to the Bahamas!!!

Me feeling so grateful and slightly bewildered after the bonus. 

Me looking cute for church.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

The End & April Fool's

 28 March - 3 April 2022

What a great week. To kickstart it all, Family Home Evening on Monday was a hit! We had it at Tammy Johnson's house, and she went all out with decorating and food. Yes, there was even a chocolate fountain set up! But the best part of all was that everyone loved the game we played. I'd thought of it the night before while searching for games. It was a mix of Would You Rather and Do You Love Your Neighbor. I asked a question, and everyone would think of their answer. The person in the middle would say their answer out loud, and if you picked the same answer as them, you had to switch seats. The last one without a seat would be the new person in the middle. After a half hour of playing (and I was running out of questions), I asked if they wanted to get some food now. No one really jumped up at the suggestion, so I asked, "Or do you want to keep playing?" And everyone shouted that they wanted to keep playing! We had a big turn out of over 20 people and everyone had a blast, which made me feel super good about my calling! Plus, everyone loved the homemade salsa I made!

Tuesday night, my parents and us girls went to the movies to watch The Lost City. Overall, the plot line was better than I expected, but the content was worse than I expected (meaning, so much more violence and sexual references and blah than I was comfortable with). That really disappointed mom too and ruined the whole movie for her. I'm glad there are more LDS movie and tv writers that are popping up even as the mainstream media grows more and more nasty and inappropriate. But us girls got a cute photo in the theater, so that was nice.

This week, I worked feverishly on finishing the first draft of Pampered Little Princess so I could give it to Lucy for her birthday. And on Friday, I finally got to write the words "The End." That felt SOOO good. Even though I rushed the ending a bit and left out some things that I want to go back and add. I was just amazed by how much writing I could get done, even in less than perfect circumstances (in between answering phone calls at work) and it gives me hope that I can sit down and knock out some books and it won't take so long if I stay diligent!

Friday also happened to be Lucy's birthday (as well as April Fool's Day, obviously). That morning, I'd been scrolling on Facebook and came across a link to a ton of free clean romance books you could sign up and get a PDF copy sent to your email. Some of the books were by authors I knew were LDS. Well, during my morning walk up and down the street, I had over 30 PDF books sent to my email, and I decided to incorporate it into a gift for Lucy, since she's always complaining about "what to read next." I wrote her a "Part 2" birthday card explaining that for the next sixteen weeks, a new book would be emailed to her every Monday and Friday. She was SO surprised and excited and amazed when she read that! Not to mention she was very happy that I'd finished my book for her. I think she had a really good birthday evening. We finished the night by watching the new movie Val got her, Once I Was Engaged, which was really cheesy--and not my kind of cheesy, which is saying something. In my dad's words: "That was the worst movie I've ever seen." So that was kind of a disappointment, but oh well. The funny part was that Val tricked Lucy by putting the disk in another movie case, so Lucy thought she'd gotten this weird old movie called "Watcher in the Woods," but then when she opened it, it was the Engagement movie instead.

I had to work on Saturday, but I was able to watch conference while I was at work. I had to pause it occasionally to answer a call or talk with someone, but then I just played it on 1.25 speed until I caught back up. I definitely noticed a theme of missionary work and took some personal lessons and thoughts with me that I am going to implement in my life. But overall, it was cool to basically be making money while watching conference :).

So, that was my week in a nutshell. 

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Bone Broth Blah

 21 March - 27 March 2022

After this week, I really want a mini goldendoodle! But I also realize how much work they are. I went to get my hair done at Shelli's this week with my mom, and she had recently gotten a baby mini goldendoodle, and she was so energetic and wanted to chew on everything, but she was so cute and sweet and friendly. And trained pretty well to go potty outside. With all the traveling I'm doing this year, I can't get a dog, especially because my parents are not animal people and will not want to watch a dog for me. But a girl can dream! Mom got some blonde highlights in her hair, which look absolutely gorgeous. Mom loves her new hair, and my hair looks a lot better now that it's been touched up. A bit more blonde, too.

For FHE on Monday, the ward met in the Gilbert Temple parking lot for pizza and a spiritual insight. Then we just walked around the temple and chatted. I started asking people what a high and low of their week was, and it struck up some pretty great conversations with guys and girls! I had a spiritual prompting to get to know men better, and at first I thought it had to be by asking them on dates, but that created a lot of anxiety for me because there is so much pressure and taboo around that. Like, you can't just ask guys out as friends to have fun together. They will think you like them, or you will worry if they think you like them, and then it's just awkward. But I can strike up one-on-one conversations with guys at church activities and just get to know them better that way.

Wednesday night, I went to a paint night at Ashley Deardon's house. Jessy and Sawyer also went. We just painted for two hours and chatted. It was peaceful, and I was glad to have something social to do. I'm not sure if I've talked about this on previous blog posts, but making friends here has been hard for me--like close friends or a friend group. I'm friendly with lots of people, but I could easily sit alone on Sundays if not for Valerie because I don't have "my peeps" or group of friends. So it felt good to finally be going to something with other people!

I went to institute Thursday evening and we talked about how sometimes the "wrong roads" in our life are what we need to lead us to the "right roads" and also to appreciate and value the right road. All I can say is that I've been super exhausted this week. A lot of it may have to do with the Bone Broth Diet that we're all on. I don't know if I've eaten enough calories each day, and felt especially tired on the fasting days (not to mention the bone broth tastes nasty!!). So working out was a challenge this past week and just having energy and patience. Which makes work hard, because it's crunch time for tax season and people are snippity and low on patience, so it doesn't help when I feel the same way. But anyways, I'm just grateful for a loving and patient Father in Heaven who can take what I give Him and work with it. 

I had to work Saturday, again. Yay for overtime... -_- lol. I went to a wedding reception that evening for a girl in my ward. It was in the backyard of a mansion! So pretty. Then I took myself shopping to treat myself, and I got these two super soft and cozy long sleeved shirts. On the down side, I don't know what I'm going to do about summer. None of the short sleeved blouses I tried worked for me. When I got home, I got ready for bed and then dad and I watched a movie together since mom and Lucy were still at Bonco night, so that was fun. Daddy daughter time.

Even though I'm on break from school, I feel like I barely have time to do anything because the phones are ringing like crazy, but at least I don't have school on top of it! I shall survive!!! I looked super cute today, btw. Here is a pic of me looking tired but cute ;).

Much love,

Emily Burnham