Happy Thanksgiving....

Some of you may know that Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday (second of course to St. Patrick's Day). I love the spirit of gratitude that everyone carries with them! I also love that we are able to spend time with family and have delicious food. This year we spent Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. The food was amazing and it was so fun to get together with everyone. After dinner we played games and it was entertaining to say the least! It's so nice to laugh and joke with your family. I can't wait to get together and do it again.

I also wanted to post a list of things I was thankful for. This is something that is not very easy to do because there are so many things that I am thankful for!

1. My family...

Although I sometimes don't appreciate them as much as I should. I know they are the greatest blessing I have in my life right now. Every time we get together we are always laughing. We always have good times and are good at being silly. I love them so much. I wouldn't change them in any way! I am so grateful for Mom, Dad, Ben, Jake, Josh, and Eli. <3

2. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I have had the amazing opportunity to grow up in a family that was strong in the church. I have known ever since I was little that it is true. I have never been perfect but I have never lost my testimony. I am grateful for my trials and mistakes for they have made me stronger and really allowed me to prove to myself what I believe. I know that Christ is my personal Savior and Redeemer. I know that the gospel has molded and shaped me into who I am today. I will never be able to express how grateful I am for the church and all the blessings that come along with membership in it.

3. Brigham Young University...

I have wanted to go to BYU for as long as I can remember. Everything I did in high school was to help me get into BYU. This has truly been a blessing in my life. I have been able to learn not only secular knowledge but I have learned so much about the gospel and myself. I love going to class and feeling the spirit everyday. I love having religion classes and being able to learn more about the Savior. I am so grateful for the standards of BYU and for how it has strengthened me and my testimony.

4. My 6 Best Friends

I love these girls with all of my heart! We were there for each other through the good times and the bad times. I have such amazing memories with every single one of them.  I wouldn't have made it through high school without these girls, we all needed each other. Even though we are now in different locations I always know that they would be there for me when I need them. I love and am thankful for you chicas.

5. My Roommate/Best Friend.....

Mom--"do you and Allison do everything together?" Me--"yeah, pretty much". When I first moved into my very first college apartment I was terrified. I had been emailing my roommates over the summer but that is not even close to meeting them. Plus they were already friends and I felt like a third wheel. As ready and excited I was to live on my own that first week was so incredibly and surprisingly hard. Luckily, that week I met someone that would help make this new "growing up" journey a little easier. Some would say we bonded over hardships but that only made our bond stronger! We are as opposite as they come but yet we agree on most everything. We say all the time that we are only friends because we have no other friends but I am grateful that you are my roommate Allison :) I wouldn't be able to survive without you! 

6. Lacrosse...

I loved playing and now I love coaching!!! This sport is my stress reliever. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to coach my amazing Lady Cavemen! It is one of my most very favorite pass times.

7. Free Meals....

I have always loved free things but now that I am a poor college student I am all for free! My mother makes amazing food and it is one thing I miss while at college. I will never take my mom cooking dinner every night for granted again.

8. Books.....

I would list all my favorite books to read but that would take too long and probably wouldn't be very interesting. I love reading and I am grateful for books!

9. The Natural Beauty of the Earth...

I love sunsets, rain, snow for Christmas. I love spring flowers, and autumn leaves. I love the national parks and forests. There are so many beautiful places around us as I have said time and time again, it passes all my understanding.

10. Traveling.....

I am so grateful for all the places I've been to and all the things I've seen. I know I am spoiled to have parents that love to travel and take us with them and I appreciate it so much! I hope to be able to see the world in my lifetime. I have quite a long travel list :) I am thankful for different cultures and lands that I can visit and learn about!

Of course, these are not the only things I'm thankful for there are countless people that have blessed my life. If I could I would go on and on and on, however, this is long enough already. My Thanksgiving was wonderful and I hope yours was too! I am thankful for my crazy, stressful, random, funny, good life.

Try not to miss the beauty of life coming your way.....

My mom sent me this story a while back....and I felt like it was a perfect message as we enter the holiday season....

 

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Try not to miss the beauty of life coming your way.

Creativity....

So, I know this is long overdue but better late then never. We finally decorated our living room! There are still more things I would love to do, but with limited funds it is difficult. These pictures aren't the greatest....but you get the idea

 Now I don't consider myself creative by any means so when me and Allison came up with this we surprised ourselves....you can't see it here but the "peace" is actually metal so it is 3-Dish...

I can't wait till we get our Christmas tree it will make it that much more amazing!

P.S. I know its not that great but you can pretend to love it and tell me how cute we made our apartment ;)  I'm just glad it doesn't look boring anymore!

May your tears be few and your smiles many....

We watched this video today in Relief Society and it made my day! It's a little long but I highly recommend you watch it! It is so wonderful to see how much love he has for us. This is just what i needed to see!

Happy Birthday Eli Manning Ostler!!!!

Yesterday, was my puppy's birthday. I can't believe we've had Eli for 2 years! It seems like just yesterday we were playing with him and all of his brothers and sisters and begging my dad to let us get him....


This is how I will always think of him...so small!



Excuse my awful appearance this was seriously like 3 days after I got my tonsils out I was not feeling well!

Playing with cousin Macks :)

 He has brought us so much joy and love! This puppy is a big part of our family and we all love him!


Annual Christmas sweaters for Eli :)



We all get Christmas Jammies why not him?

He loves to be cuddly :)

And especially loves Grandpa, who likes to share food with him :)

This dog is my super hero...he makes me happy when I am sad and he is always excited to see me! Happy Birthday Eli love you puppy xoxo

Girl's Weekend.....

This weekend I went with two of my very best friends to visit Breanne in Cedar City. We all needed a nice,  quiet, relaxing weekend to just hang out together, but we all ended up getting so much more than that!

Friday was just a fun hang out day, we had a bbq and watched leap year while doing nails...typical girl stuff (of course Breanne fell asleep, just like every other movie we've ever watched!). Saturday, we were deciding what to do and figured we were so close to Zions National Park we would go for a nice hike. Well as we get off the freeway and see the sign pointing us in the correct direction for our destination the next destination on the sign pops out at me....Grand Canyon National Park 132 miles....wow thats not that far. Well, after some debating and spontaneous thinking....we decide, why not?

After the long, BEAUTIFUL drive we made it and let me tell you it was so worth it!



Park Ranger letting us in :)



Goofing around like always....we decided to go to the Gift Shop first so we could all have matching shirts....one of the best purchases of my life!

TITANIC :)

Love these girls

Dangling our feet off the edge....super creepy!!

This is my model friend....Breanne :)

Matching Shirts :)

 This place was so breathtaking.....I can't even describe it and the pictures don't even do it justice! I am so grateful I was able to share this experience with 3 of my bestest friends. Being there brought true peace and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect trip. If you haven't made it out to the Grand Canyon, I strongly suggest you take a trip, you won't regret it! I know that I will remember this day for the rest of my life. Thank you Breanne (the driver), Shelby (the map lady), and Carli (the logical one) for going on this crazy and amazing adventure! You guys are my best friends and I love you no matter how far apart we might be! I can't wait for Christmas break for our next adventure :). xoxo love, Emily

This place was the definition of passing all my understanding!! <3