It makes me happy....

    It's fall! This is my favorite time of year, especially here in the Ozarks. In honor of this change of seasons, I decided to make a list of things about fall that make me happy.

1. Cardigans. Especially this one from Forever 21. I mean, who doesn't love a little stripe action?


2.  Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Lattes. Hello, love.


3.  Our annual family camping trip. All the guys, and me, from my dads side of the family head down to Arkansas for a few days of 'roughing' it.


4. That's right folks, on November 1, I will be turning the big 1-6. Oh man.


5. Boo! I for sure love Halloween. Candy from random strangers is the best.


6. The colors! The colors that come with fall make me want to go jump in a pile of leaves.


7. Bonfires make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside...and the outside.


8. New seasons of Tv shows.



   What are some of your fall favorites?

Cheese!

    No, not cheese like the food. I'm talking about when you take a picture and the photographer says, "Say cheese!".

    Sidenote: I don't know why they tell you to say cheese, because the smile that produces it totally fake and well, cheesy. Pun intended.

    Back to the point. The reason for this post is to state, that after two and a half years.........I GOT MY BRACES OFF. I wish I had a picture to post, but the blog/Facebook is not cooperating. I am so dang excited. I have been smiling at everyone for the past thirty-six hours. Some random strangers have looked at me like I'm a freak, but hey, I don't care.

    So, I guess that's the end of this short, random post, because I have a crapload of homework. Yay for getting older.

Slacking.

     Okay, I admit it....I've been a bit of a bad blogger the past few weeks  months. I'm hoping to change that now that school has started. Yes, you read that right. The Garrison Academy for Higher Learning has officially started school, as of two weeks ago. And, as much as I wish I were joking, school might kill me this year. I have so many classes, and I'm testing in the spring so I can go to NHS next year. AGH. <---Yep. Emilee is going back to public school. It's all at once super exciting, and mildly terrifying.

     We started co-op this past week. Oh man. I have got some classes for the books my friends. Cultural Anthropology, IEW Writing, Personal Finance, and Anatomy and  Physiology. Writing is totally going to be my blow-off class. It's always come easily to me, so paper-writing should be a breeze. A&P however, is quite a different story. After the first week, we had to read 25 pages for homework, and we have a quiz this week. I'm scared. I know it'll all work out, I'll just have to study like a mad woman and become an expert note taker.

    My dad is on vacation this week, so we decided to go camping for a few days. We went to Lebanon and camped on the banks of the Niangua. Literally, we were practically ON the river. On Thursday we went for our first family float trip. Oh goodness, where to begin? Well, for starters, the water was really low and quite cold. My mom and I were in one canoe, and my dad and brother in another. We weren't twenty minutes into the float before my mom and I started having issues. Since the river was low, there were spots where if you didn't paddle your you-know-what off, you would drag and then get stuck. Even though we paddled crazy hard, we still got sideways. So yes, we took a little swim in the river. As did our lunch. After five minutes of standing in the middle of the frigid river trying to right our canoe, we finally made it on our way. About fifteen minutes after that, we had more problems. We didn't tip over, but instead did some tree carving. Yes, we ran into a tree. A TREE. I'm sure we looked hilarious. In the meantime, my dad and brother have practically tipped their canoe over because they were laughing at us so hard. Losers. Continuing on down the river, we encountered some nice little rapids. By this time, we (sort of) knew what we were doing, and navigated them with no problem. After the rapids, there were some trees that had long branched that reached over the edge of the bank. You guessed it. We ran into a tree. Again. But this time, instead of just the front of the canoe hitting the tree, I went into the tree. There were branches in front of me, behind me, and on top of me. I was stuck. In a canoe. In a tree. So I started crying. I cried because I was cold and wet, and stuck in a tree. You would cry too. But we finally made it to the take-out point. And just to prove what amazing canoe-ers we are......we canoed 11 miles in 3 and 1/2 hours. Boom.

    All in all, it's been quite the month so far. I can't wait to see what else is going to happen in my crazy life!

P.S- It's only 44 days until my 16th birthday!

A-Z About Me

{a} age ::Sweet fifteen...for another 55 days!
{b} bed size :: Twin.
{c} chore you hate :: Laundry or dishes
{d} dogs :: Chip ( Labrador/Dalmatian, 6) and Ellie (Dacschund, 11)
{e} essential start to your day :: Shower.
{f} favorite color :: Blue. (Like a peacock blue).
{g} gold or silver :: Silver.
{h} height :: 5'6
{i} instruments you play :: None...
{j} job title :: Babysitter.
{k} kids :: Uh, not yet!
{l} live :: Missouri
{m} maiden name :: Garrison...which is also currently my last name.
{n} nicknames :: Em

{o} overnight hospital stays :: Nope.

{p} pet peeve :: The sound of people chewing, and when people don't use their turn signals.

{q} quote :: "People with their minds set on You, You keep whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit." -Isaiah 26:3
{r} righty or lefty :: Lefty.
{s} siblings :: Lance: 11

{t} time you wake up :: 7:30-9
{u} university attended :: Not there yet!
{v} vegetables you dislike :: Peas
{w} what makes you run late :: Hmmmm. Uncooperative hair.
{x} x-rays you’ve had :: Just my teeth.
{y} yummy food :: Grilled chicken, ice cream, chai tea, anything chocolate.
{z} zoo animal favorite :: The elephants!

*I tag Always Ashlyn, New Year New Beginning, and Like A Thread. Your turn!

Joy.

    Remember that song from Sunday School?

I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Down in my heart to stay.

    The next sixteen weeks at church we are studying the book of James. When I heard we were spending sixteen weeks on a five chapter book, I was a little skeptical. But this morning was so amazing! We talked about trials and tribulations.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of all kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith will produce patience."

    When we think of trials, we normally don't think of the word 'joy'. But we fail to realize that when we accept Christ, we are filled with irreplaceable joy. But, whether we choose to live in that joy or not, is our choice.

    Pastor John had a great example today about withstanding a storm. If you look at pictures from a tornado, you see complete devastation. But if you look closely, you can see the trees still standing. Their tops are twisted and their bark is stripped, but they're standing.

This picture is such a beautiful picture of how Christians should lean towards the cross in times of trial.



If we walk closely with God, and we are firm in our faith, when the storm hits, we will endure.

Have an amazing week! :)

I'm Back!

          Hello friends! I am still alive! It has been one crazy week here, and I'm gearing up for another one. Thursday and Friday our church hosted a simulcast event called Global Leadership Summit. Willow Creek hosts this event every year and it's broadcast out to host sites all around the world. This year we had some great speakers and it was a really fun time. Friday night I spent the night at a friends house for her birthday. Then Sunday we had church that morning, and then that evening, Ash and I met up at Sonic and then headed over to the Woodalls house for Dteam. School started today for Nixa, Wednesday for Clever and Republic, and next Thursday for Springfield. Over here at the Garrison School of Higher Learning we don't start until the first week of September. This Sunday we are driving up to St. Louis to visit my dad, who's been working up there for the past month or so. We are going to the zoo and to a Cardinals game. It should be a fun week and I'll update more when I get the chance. Adios!

Hot.

    Holy smokes friends! It has been more than toasty here in the good ole state of Misery for the past two weeks. Yesterday we hit a record high of 108 degrees. 108!!! That didn't even include the heat index. You would think we lived in Arizona. Sheesh....

   I've been up at the office for a couple of days this past week painting offices. There are a lot of changes happening at RBC right now, and I'm really excited about it! Back in September we (finally) started a contemporary service called 10:31. We have kept growing and have outgrown our space. So, starting August 28th, we will be kicking off the 9:01 service! To accommodate the new services, the students will be moving from our Fellowship Center to the Chapel. James will be leading the Senior High, Jessie will be leading the Junior High, and Nate will be leading 9:01, 10:31, and teaching on Wednesday nights. Since all this will be happening, a few of the staff have been switching offices. Yesterday Ryan, Julie, and I painted Nate's office, and they were finishing up today. I am really excited to see how God uses these changes to bring the church together.

  Today, Lance and I went over to the pool for about half an hour. It felt so good to just do nothing! Today is also my bestie's 16th birthday! I'm so excited for her and can't believe she's going to be driving around in no time! Happy Birthday Ash!

  Have a fun and COOL week!