Bearly Escaped (Pun TOTALLY Intended)

Well today I almost lost my life.

Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration...but let me tell you a little story.

This is the story of a girl. An innocent 17 year old young lady who wanted nothing more than to find happiness in the grand adventures she planned to have on her "relaxing" trip to visit her great aunt in the mountains. We'll call her Olivia.

Chapter One: Morning
Olivia woke up on the morning of July 18th happy as a snail (because snails are really happy creatures). She glanced out her window at the beaming sun rays and took a deep breath as she prepared to take on another day. After an average morning, she set off on a mission to retrieve the mail from the post office and since that seemed an errand too ordinary, she decided to do a little shopping in town. She bought a few trinkets for family and friends and even got to go into a bookstore. Now Olivia is one of those people who loves to read and owns way more books than she has ever read, so bookstores are her happy place, and entering one seemed to brighten her whole outlook on life. Things seemed to be going up for Livy. Little did she know the afternoon would take a deadly turn...

Chapter Two: Danger at the Door
While Olivia had been out running her own errands and feeling quite contented, her great aunt had been at home, stressing over many things that need not be specified. So, the pair of them decided to go into Grand Teton National Park to take a detox walk around Jenny Lake. However, because of complications with the original trail, a new trail had been constructed (unbeknownst to them) that took them up a mountain above the lake. The trail, new and nearly uncharted it seemed, went right through what looked like perfect bear territory. As the two were walking up the tortuous (not torturous) trail, three runners came jogging down the trail, bearing with them the warning that they had seen a bear up the trail but it was going up the hill to the side of the trail. Now...one would think that after such a warning, the two women would have turned back, but they did the opposite. They kept on trekking along the path, bear spray in hand, complaining very loudly of the tough inclines and singing about whatever they could think of (attempting to keep the bears away). Fun fact, Livy's aunt actually has a very limited mental music library so she kept singing the song that the dwarfs sing on their way to work in Snow White over and over again. Nonetheless, either the magnificent singing or the very potent aura of terror kept the bear at bay and the pair made it back without once even seeing the beast. They stopped off at a boat drop off area so Olivia could get in the water (she has a freshwater fetish) and the experience served as a detox for the "detox" hike gone wrong.

Chapter Three: Stayin' Alive
Olivia could have sat on that rock in the middle of the lake for ages upon ages and never have been bored, what with the rushing waterfall breaking the peaceful silence of the mountain air and the outlines of the Tetons becoming silhouettes in the setting sun. However, at some point everyone has to let go of those moments to get back to reality, so after many minutes of taking pictures and gazing longingly at the unreachable beauty of the surrounding scenery, Olivia and her aunt set off on their way home. They stopped at a burger joint, and though neither of them were very hungry after the evening's events and the peanut butter sandwiches they consumed in the midst of them, they shared a salted caramel milkshake and some sweet potato fries. The perfect ending to an exciting day.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Emma Kay T.

Sunday

God's Creation, Nature, The Great Outdoors, The Universal Back Yard (I think I may have made that one up...but it makes sense, so I'm going with it). To be honest, I'm not sure where I was going with that thought... All those things are names that we have given to the beauty that surrounds us, yet none seems to fully encompass the essence of it, because what words can you really use to capture and contain something so vast? Is there really any way to constrict something so beautiful and so grand to a series of letters? I would argue no. Not really. Though each one of the names above do describe the immense beauty that surrounds us, each lacks something to correctly encompass it's grandeur. Just a thought as I relay my day to y'all. 

This morning we went to church at 11 where the pastor taught on Ephesians. It was an interesting and inspirational message on unity that I think influenced much of the congregation. The only weird thing was that we had communion in the middle of the sermon. I'm not quite sure why because it could have just as easily been done at the end. That was a little different for me. Then we went on a small hike this afternoon just up a little butte near Aunt Susie's house as storm clouds gathered above us. It was a nice walk and we rescued a dog on the way back (but we didn't keep it because its owner came and got it).

Catherine and I on the butte...supporting AC from way up north....roadrunners for lyfe :)

Throughout the rest of the afternoon we did sort of filler activities to take up time and then we cooked out on the deck for dinner. Oh yeah and we made a fire pit today so we had a fire going in there and there was a nice smoky smell in the yard. We grilled cod, bison steaks, and vegetables that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of, and we had zucchini pasta with a really good sauce, and gorgonzola cake things that Sarah made. It was all delicious and we sat on pillows around a low table outside to eat, which was really refreshing (I almost said very refreshing...that would have been a big mistake...all you who have taken Mr. Bryant's class know why...I don't know if he even reads this but I'm sure he would be proud of me). Catherine made some really good dessert and then we went inside to clean up the MASSIVE amount of dishes we had from our huge meal. Now I'm in bed and I really gotta sign off now because we're going to Idaho Falls tomorrow and we have to drop off Sarah on the way so we have to get up early.


I am having some technical difficulties...hence the centered writing.
Good night everyone! I can't get the other pictures attached how I want them so sorry about that.

Emma T.

Concerning the Bard of Avon (Google it if you have to)

Shakespeare. He wrote some of the most read and most popular plays in history. He also wrote plays that are somewhat inaccessible to a modern person who speaks contemporary English. But even through that, his plays are read and performed all over the world and his legacy lives on. I have always had trouble interpreting Shakespeare because his language was so old and when I have been exposed to it in Omnibus class, we move too fast for me to keep up with the side notes that will interpret some of it for me. So I have always been just a little lost in the story as we read the words, but I can always understand the final product. You're probably wondering why I'm rambling about Shakespeare, and if you're one of those perceptive sorts you have probably already figured it out. We went to see a Shakespeare play today: The Tempest. And, like any other Shakespeare play I have seen, the story was told mainly through the actors' facial expressions and body movements. What you miss through the actors' lines (which is pretty much everything) you get through their facial expressions. It's kinda crazy how people can tell a story by the way they look and how they present their lines. Anyway, Aunt Susie and I ended up leaving during the intermission because she was kind of lost and I wasn't exactly enthralled in the story and we were both ready to go home. The production was pretty good though.

This is where the magic happened :)

Before the play though, there was a potluck dinner at Aunt Susie's friend's house that we went to. Influenced by my social anxiety, I wasn't exactly thrilled about the gathering, but it proved to be pretty good. There were people there from the Center for the Arts that I knew from helping out at the outdoor dance performance (you know, the one with the sheep) so I didn't feel like such a stranger.

This is a picture of the drink table...because that's the only pic I took while I was there

Any way that was pretty fun. We didn't really do much this morning and afternoon. I cleaned all the windows in the house (except the upstairs ones) inside and outside.

Like always, I don't know what tomorrow holds. But I know who holds tomorrow. (quote credit to my little quote thingy in my room at home...my Texas home).

Faida!! (that's goodbye in Swahili) (I've always wanted to learn Swahili)

EMMA KAY TERRELL

#farmislifepart2

So yesterday I made the decision to wake up at 5:30 this morning to go work on the farm in Idaho with Aunt Susie. Don't ask me why...I honestly have no idea. Maybe I thought I would regret not going...maybe I secretly like putting myself through pain... I couldn't tell you. But whatever drove me to that decision had me reluctantly dragging myself out of bed at 5:36 this morning and questioning my sanity. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly looking forward to a day of farm work when I got up this morning. However, the day proved to be better than my morning self had expected, and we had a good day working with a group of interesting people. There was Chris (the hipster) who has some really "rad" family members and likes to buy lotion that is made out of goat's milk and has none of those "gnarly" chemicals and stuff in it. Then there was Wana, the forty year old Filipino yoga instructor who likes to bring really strange, organic drinks with her to work. And there was also Nina, who was mourning over the loss of her very well-trained dog and who taught me that you can be happy when you're alone, but you need someone to "complete your soul" (hence marriage). I learned life lessons at the farm today :). When I wasn't being taught valuable, wise lessons, I was weeding and cutting lettuce...with legit shears. I have never used shears before and I kind of stabbed myself with them a couple times. Aunt Susie and I cut some spring mix, a combination of five different lettuces. Then we weeded a lot, trying very hard not to pull up the actual plants. It was a little intimidating because we were handling the farm owners' livelihood: those vegetables are everything to them, those are how they get their income and how they live. After we finally finished our fifth hour of work, we had a delicious lunch (prepared by Sarah) and then we got to pick strawberries to take home. I loved that, and I tried to pile up as many as I could in my little container. It reminded me of when the Bertkes (shout out :)) used to have strawberry plants that we would eat off of...oh memories. There's not much that is better than a fresh picked strawberry. We headed home after we collected our vegetables from Erika (one of the farm owners) and we made some stops on the way home to get materials to make a raised bed for our vegetable plants. We built it and set it up in the backyard and now we are relaxing. Sarah just got home and I don't know what we're going to do tonight. We shall see.

Ahoj!! (That's goodbye in Czech)

Emma

These are my strawberries!
Also if you look closely you can see the mud caked onto my knees...I was kind of filthy...

Morning Post

Today I'm gonna switch things up a little bit and post in the morning...I know...crazy. Yesterday I babysat the girlies from 10 to about 4 and then Catherine and I went to the store because we were running very low on food. We ended up coming home with maybe more than we should have but we had fun and it was a bonding experience :). Then last night Aunt Susie and I went to see Wonder Woman in the somewhat outdated Jackson Hole Cinema. It was actually kind of neat to see. It was really small and I don't think it had ever once been updated since the day it was built. We enjoyed the movie though, it was really good (despite the long running time). I won't comment on the movie itself because I already did that to Grace and...well she hadn't seen it yet...sorry girl. Well today I am going to help Tanya (the preacher's wife) with a watercolor class that she does (I think). And tonight I am babysitting Lydia and Chloe yet again while their parents go to a gala for the pregnancy center. So, today should be fun. (Especially since I have Oreos and ice cream from our outing yesterday :)).

Sorry I don't have more to share with y'all right now...I'll have an interesting post sometime soon :)

Tikka Tuesday

 So today was another pretty chill day characterized by Indian food (which I ate for dinner and lunch). This morning I went on a quick walk with Catherine and Fran and then we came back and Cat had to leave for work. The rest of the afternoon consisted in lots of painting and some Netflix, among other little things. At lunch time I called my mom (shout out) because...well because I wanted to...and had fun talking to her (and dad who was making comments from the driver's seat). Oh and I talked to Bryce too...that child...he just makes me smile :). This afternoon Aunt Susie and I went on a hike around Snow King (the ski mountain in town) which was really nice. From up there you can see all of the city and the Tetons also. It's an awesome view. When we got home, Cat and I went to pick up Sarah from town because she was here delivering produce with her farm. We went to Teton Tiger to get naan to eat with our leftover Indian food and then to Lotus (an all organic restaurant) to get dessert. We had a little tiny accident coming out of the parking lot but we don't need to dwell on that. We got home and ate all together which was nice and then we had our dessert and watched You Get Me. Let me just say....DO NOT WATCH THAT MOVIE. It was in the romance section and we wanted something "light hearted" so we decided to watch it. It looked like your typical high school love story...but it wasn't...it was 179 times more disturbing. Basically there's a psycho girl who starts stalking this guy and then kidnaps his girlfriend and shoots him...so bad... Aunt Susie and Sarah both left in the middle of it but Catherine and I wanted to see what would happen so we watched it til the end, with the occasional fast forwarding of seemingly unimportant or disturbing/suspenseful parts. Any way, that is now over (thank goodness) and I am in bed writing this trying to recover emotionally from that movie. I'll probably have to watch Disney or something...I'm just a little bit scarred. Well...I'm hoping I can actually sleep tonight. We shall see.

Hope y'all's nights ended a bit happier than mine :)

So long,
Emma

Nothing Much to Report

Today has been pretty normal, and by normal I mean average, no intense hikes or bike rides or anything like that. Aunt Susie needed to do paperwork today and Catherine worked at Teton Tiger so I just hung out at the house doing different things. I read, painted, watched Netflix, and washed all my clothes. Nothing really significant to report today. I only got one suggestion for a new title out of everybody reading this...so I guess I'm going to use it, though I don't know if it's THE title, you know? I didn't feel a stirring of any kind when it was suggested but...I just feel like I need a new title for a new year. Thanks for the suggestion...you know who you are.

Alrighty well...maybe tomorrow's blog will be a bit fuller.

Adios!
eMmA

P.S. I believe I have fixed the comment problem so everyone should be able to comment now.