You're, um, uninvited?

Hello! I may have recently posted that you were invited to my upcoming choir concert.

I lied. Sorry.

Turns out the tickets for said concert sold out WEEKS ago! I was lucky to scrape up a few for my immediate family. So. Yeah. I'm sure your whole weekend plans are ruined now. But may I highly recommend A Christmas Carol at the Milwaukee Rep! A most excellent beyond excellent interpretation of the Dickens classic if I do say so myself.

Cheers!

It's ME!

Hello World! Lovely, gorgeous, precious world.

I'm up. I'm back. And I'm here to tell the tale.

Now I shall try to summarize the past 7 months.

• Completed college courses for the first time in YEARS! Got a 4.0 for spring semester!
• Went to Hawaii with my family (Mahalo to our cousins, the St. John family!)
  
• Totally ROCKED my bank teller job. Loved it so much. Ah! When you've been so isolated for so long, visiting with and interacting with people every day is such a gift. My co-workers couldn't understand why I was so darn happy all the time. (I chose not to share my health history unless it came up, which it didn't.) (Left the job a few weeks ago, due to being rather over-scheduled, and looking to be a full-time student come January.)
• Completed the Undie Dash 5k in Chicago with all our neighbors!
•  Started my first fall semester in 5 years! Taking Intercultural Communication, Intro to Art, and two choirs (yay singing!) - Gospel Choir and Chamber Singers
• Went skydiving. I have no physical fear anymore. Seriously. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. We have conquered! We have overcome! God is amazing!
  

 

• Started a nannying gig. Fell in love with children. Nuf said.
• Was invited to membership in Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. Also was accepted to the CLC Honors program.
• Was honored with a choir solo - one of my favorite Christmas songs ever! (O Holy Night.) Concert is Sun. Dec. 15 at 3:30. You're invited!

I'm sure there are lots of other highlights... like celebrating my 23rd birthday with Cary, Clea, and baby Anneliis! She's just 10 weeks old now. 'dorbz.

I am coming across more and more people who have stories of chronic illness. Maybe it's just that I'm so much more aware of it or open to talking about it, but I swear, I think about invisible illness every day. My communication professor's 12-year-old son has POTS (a somewhat mild form). My choir friend's ex-boyfriend in California had severe POTS for 3 years, and is now preparing to go to medical school. I hope he is inspired to research more on  this crazy illness!

Today I had a burst of energy and went through some piles of old mail, hospital statements, receipts, and other clutter that I hadn't sorted through since it first came through my hands several years ago. I want to thank EVERYONE who was (and is!) so incredibly supportive, encouraging, and just present during my darkest days.

Things continue to look better and brighter. Sure, I have days where I need a nap, some extra superfoods, and a couple rounds of relaxation, but I have come so far, by the grace of God.

Hope to see you in real life sometime!!

xoxo
emma

April Attacks! Wahoo!

Update: I got the job. (What the heck! God is good!) Tomorrow I start my new life as a bank teller. (This is crazy. Who woulda thunk it?) I am so nervous and excited and channeling all my energy into cleaning the whole house...when I should be writing a research paper.


I got the opportunity to go with my mom to treatment at CTCA last week, and after one chemo infusion... both her cancer markers are down! Definitely been riding that high this week. Again, thanks be to God!


Things I'm into right now:

April sure is a busy month!

love you all,
emma

Chick in a Pantsuit

My nephew Charlie is here with his mommy and daddy (Matt and Katie). Having an adorable 4-month-old around is delightful and distracting. Time to study for midterms! Work hard for the next couple days... then Spring Break!

Started running again yesterday. Feels so good. Yay body!!

I have an interview for Thursday afternoon. Say a prayer! Wish me luck!

dress socks and fragments strewn about,
emma

Easy Come, Easy Go

This week I was effectively fired. Or "let go." Or "put on probation until further notice." GAH.

Seriously? I trained so hard for this job. They spent so much time and money training me! But it's too costly to keep me, I guess. Blogs hang around in cyberspace for a long time, so I'll leave it at that.

Onward, my friends! I have two positions I'm interested in at the moment. I'm sure I'll dig up some more possibilities over the weekend. If you know anyone who's hiring part-time, let me know!

I am smart and nice and talented. I can do just about anything I set my mind to. This is not a reflection of who I am, or what I will be. This will not break me. Nothing can break me.

more power to ya,
emma

We all need a good laugh

Watch this one first...

and then this one.

For best results, watch multiple times, with multiple groups of people.

enjoy,
emma

Obligation

I love my speech class! Soc is pretty great too. Been sick on and off for the past week, but I'm feeling well right now. Getting back into the swing of relaxation CDs, my HRV training, and stretching. I know it's been said a hundred times, but I have to take care of myself. Like I have to actually DO it. My mom keeps a "Wellness Journal" -- a list of the things she actively chooses to do each day to promote wellness. A good night's sleep, a power smoothie, a good chat with a friend, it all goes into the journal. Maybe I should start one for myself. Today's would look like:

-90 min relaxation/visualizatoin
-60 min exercise
-60 min talking with a friend ;-)
-75 min learning new material in class
-one giant, delicious salad! with pine nuts and craisins
-other good foods. peanut butter. milk. kiwi. hummus. lots of water.
-60 min catching up on Downton Abbey :)

Ah! Downton Abbey Gingerbread House! Brilliant.

Anyway. I don't expect I'll be writing on here too often, so in the meantime, love one another. Be well. Embrace any and all opportunities to enhance your health. Love your bod. It does a lot of nice things for you. It deserves to be loved.

peace and all the rest,
emma