I am thankful for God's creations. {and other stuff too}

Last week was Thanksgiving break. On Wednesday morning we woke up really early. We got a dozen bagels at Einsteins on Center Street. Then we met up with the other Matheson's in front of the old tabernacle. Emma Matheson switched to riding in big red with Pat and I, and then we were off to Moab! I slept for a good amount of the ride, but when i was awake we listened to music and stuff. Claire was a trooper that day despite her swollen, sprained foot. We were so lucky that it was a nice day! Very sunny, and probably in the high 50's. Perfect for a November day. Pat was so nice to me! He carried my 4x5 (byu's) toyo AND heavy duty tripod the whole day! He even put a duffel bag strap onto the tripod so it would be more convenient to carry. Go Pat!

Shooting the first 4x5 of the day. After finally figuring out how to set up the toyo (it was my first time using it!) and after metering, focusing, checking and rechecking, I finally made the photograph. I turned to Emma and said "that's a lot of work for just one picture eh?" and she said "YOU ONLY TOOK ONE PICTURE?!" Haha I guess it does seem pretty outrageous to take 15 minutes to make one photograph, but hey- that's what i do!

I could write and write and write some more about this day, but I think it sufficeth to say that the combination of being outdoors all day + being with people i love + making photographs + sun made that day really good for my soul or something. I wish we could have been there for a longer time. It felt so good to climb around on rocks and get a little dirty.

Pat, Marcy, Claire, Emma, Emma

(YAY BIG ROCKS!)

There's Pat and me and Delicate Arch

After singing in Double Arch until the sun went down, we stopped in Moab, Utah for some delicious Wendy's. Hamburgers and sunburned cheeks- the perfect end to the best day.

Peter

This cute ball of fur belongs to Sami. He is sick from riding the plane here from Arizona. He is so sweet!

He was kinda stinky... so we gave him a bath.



What a good doggy!



Then we were tired.



So we took a nap.

this one is for you, jordan

HAHA

one sunday we went to pat's house for dinner. his mom made south african curry and naan. i ate a lot a lot. i had a food baby. i am not even doing this on purpose! ok, i am. it took a lot of effort, but i guess i am pretty good at it. i am truly donald's sister.

w o r k {sorry about the cell phone pictures}

this is the darkroom i work in!

there's my enlarger...and sink.




we go through a LOT of paper!

one night pat and i were at walmart. we decided to get a snack. we got an artichoke! we didn't really have a proper steamer, but this is how we did it:

pretty!

this is what it looks like inside!

simon and garfunkel

i cut pat's hair last night....missed a spot....haha! jokes.

So this morning i woke up, determined to go to self defense class since i haven't been in a while. plus they were filming my class for byu tv. i missed my shot at being famous. anyways, i was putting in eyedrops, when all of a sudden i had a sharp and incapacitating pain in the right side of my neck. i thought it would go away in a second...wrong! here i am, four hours later, stuck in bed. it hurts. i may be dying. nah. it just hurts a lot. i'm really bored though because i deactivated my facebook a few days ago. so i've been on pinterest/hulu/gmail all day. then i remembered i haven't blogged in forever. so here goes.

HERE IS THE 4x5 film process:

1. check out camera and tripod.

2. load film into film holders. in the dark room.


3. set up camera.



4. focus. meter. calculate stuff. write it down in the exposure record booklet. this is the ground glass.



5. develop film. here we are washing it.



6. drying!

s o t i r e d

last night i went to bed at 2:00 am.

i woke up at 3:00 am.

i baked muffins until 5:00 am.

also made some breakfast burritos in there.

drove to Pat's.

gave the sleepyhead his breakfast / muffins for the bus.

yay byu lax!

go back to bed.

wake up at 8:45.

go to school.

check out 4x5 camera.

shoot 2nd test.

go back to school. develop film. cry on the floor a little bit.

tired tired tired.

go to DOWNEAST.

buy the skirt i wanted to buy a few weeks ago on sale.

feel a little better.

go home. sleep.

hungry hungry hungry!

bread and soup.

don't want to do homework.

so cold.

here is a picture of a baby i held at

the photography party.

at john telford's (<---click) house.

john is like a grandpa.

he is so welcoming, nice, and cute.

remember when i cried after i showed

him my portfolio when i was in high school?

i was so scared of him.

now i am sad he is retiring.

Weekend Update and More

in the way of digital photography assignments, this was my first this year. The assignment was to make a portrait in which the key light was artificial. The main thing we were practicing was getting skin tones to be accurate. it was hard! we also had to print it out. the non-profit print lab is SO GOOD. anyways, here's my pat.

This weekend was General Conference! Mom and dad got me tickets to the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions. I took pat. It was really great.

can i just say that i am wearing 5 inch heels in this picture? HAHA

Guess who had tickets in the same section as us? JESSICA JONES! Dan is friends with Pat.

Trying to get out of a parking garage after General Conference is pointless. This was after we explored the roof and looked over the top of Salt Lake City, trying to pass the time. We sat in the car for a long time. Hence the cute picture.

After conference we spent the day(s) at Pat's house. This is his nephew Max.

We had lots of fun playing with the babies.

Right after this picture was taken, Pat and I were wrestling on the grass, when the sprinklers came on all of a sudden and got my whole side soaking wet! It was pretty funny!

this weekend was the best. i didn't want it to end! i love weekends! and being with nice people!

curiosity made the cat gag

today i was going to the bathroom

and i noticed a pink bottle of perfume

under the sink.

i wanted to know what it smelled like

because it looked pretty.

so i sprayed it on myself.

now i have a headache and it's

making me feel sick.

Awesome you guys, awesome.

s k w e e z

so there's this thing in provo called the daily skweez. it sends you texts every day with deals happening in the provo/orem area. today's was BUY ONE GET ONE FREE AT YOGURTLAND! Yogurtland is my favorite of favorite frozen yogurt places. it trumps all froyo. even the best hun-cal froyo. anyways, i had a stressful day today, so pat treated me to some delicious frozen yogurt. :)

back in the 801

all moved in.

survived the hotness without AC.

the best roommates.

i make food.

and i pack my lunch everyday.

lots of walking. yay for not driving Big Red.

learning the ukelele.

i like pat.

belated fathers day post

my dad is better than your dad.

he used to take me to lowes.

just so i could ring all the doorbells.

we used to make little fires under the deck.

and sometimes we would even roast hot dogs.

[on sticks we sharpened with the swiss army knife]

sometimes he would take me to Dairy Queen.

we always got onion rings.

remember that one time we thought

that sugar shaker was salt?

when we gardened he always showed me the "mr. worms" he found.

i loved worms.

speaking of worms,

he took me fishing even when all we caught was sunfish.

he taught me how to drive in the church parking lot.

when i was 8.

then i graduated to driving on the farm.

i still remember the day i made it into third gear.

probably the same day i stalled 50 times in a row.

he shared his love of backpacking with me.

pasta primavera for days.

love you dad, you're a helluva guy.

i like cameras

p.s. since i work full time (fartttt)

i haven't had time to execute a photo shoot.

(I have like 3 ideas in my brain and i NEED TO GET THEM OUT!)

so to keep myself snapping,

i made a food blog.

i like to consider myself a foodie.

i think pretty much everyone

that's been to italy can say they've

officially had good food... so,

My name is Emma,

and I'm a Foodie.

Anyways.

CHECK IT OUT, YO <-- click this linkage

listen.

i should have written this last week.
when i was thinking about it all day.
alas.

music has always played a huge part
in my life.
i equate it with how smells conjure up
intensely vivid memories of a time and place.

songs do that for me too.

whether it's Beyonce's Irreplaceable
{ninth grade}

Eric Whitacre's Sleep
{echo-y stairwell in the hotel in antibes}

Grace Kelly by Mika
{first boyfriend}

Chris Brown's Yeah 3x
{dance parties at BYU}

Go Do / any Jonsi song
{first semester at BYU}

Awake My Soul- Mumford and Sons
{roadtrip to rexburg}

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room - John Mayer

{bus rides in switzerland}

"cuz it's a bittersweet symphony, this life"...

also, i love it when a song playing on the radio ends

right as I pull into the driveway

and when i see someone walking on the sidewalk

to the beat of the song playing on my radio

and when i see people singing along to the

same song i'm listening to at the moment.

picture this

enter a private drive.

keep driving slowly down a straight dirt road.

lined (or should i say flanked) by huge trees.

with arching branches.

grass everywhere.

keep driving.

huge white house.

windows everywhere.

the perfect wrap-around porch.

(complete with rockers and swing)

separated garage.

stairs lead up to the porch.

flowers everywhere.

cutest mud room.

raddest kitchen.

huge porcelain sink.

craft room.

huge [organized] pantry.

so much natural light.

library so cozy you'll die.

fireplace.

built in bunk beds [nooks]

wood floors.

pond in the back.

dock on the pond.

tallest tire swing you've ever seen.

magical treehouse.

more lawn than you could want.

couldn't go to sleep until i wrote about my future dream home.

who wants to build me one?

summer drummer

7:30 wake up

8:30 bike to work

9:00 work

12:00 lunch

4:00 bike home, sweat a lot

4:30 lay in my underwear on the floor under the fan

sleep. repeat.

alright. life isn't actually that mundane.

sometimes it seems like it though.

i seriously live for fridays.

the day i don't have to go to bed before 12.

if i'm lucky, saturdays are sunny and i can lay out.

and if i'm lucky, i get to work on the farm.

as opposed to in the lab.

outdoor manual labor.

vs. being stuck in a lab that is so cold i have to wear a hoodie.

i'll take the farm any day.

the other day i convinced myself to buy an iphone.

here are my rationalizations:

parents keep paying $50 a month.

i pay $30 a month for data.

badabing badaboom, iphone. (dream phone)

no problem right?

i guess.

but.

30x24 (2 years) =720 = new lens.

imma save up for a new lens.

new crap phone, here i come.

life update

hey so... haven't blogged in a while. here's the long story short:

finished up my freshman year at college- this was walking out the door to my last class of the semester! It obviously had to be documented.

On April 11 I saw Arcade Fire! Local Natives opened. It was a great show. Very pushy crowd.

During finals week, Rachel and I got a little restless from studying. So to regroup/get our wiggles out...whatever you wanna call it, we recorded our dance/jam sessions. I love my roommate. She was the best. :) This is a screenshot from one of those times.

On the night before I left for Santa Barbara, I stayed up literally all night packing. I also decided it would be a good idea to die a strip of my hair pink.

the next day, I did some hiking with Austin and Alex. It was a lot of fun despite the fact that I was running on 30 minutes of sleep. Please note my monochromatic outfit. I spy my backpack.

That night (after the hike/I finished packing EVERYTHING into my station wagon) I drove to Santa Barbara with Annie's cousins Jordan and Jason. They are hilarious. I slept almost the entire way. And I slept on Jordan's couch when we got there for about 5 hours straight. Dude. I am gooooood at sleeping.

Easter was so much fun! I love Annie's family. They are so loving/welcoming/awesome/insane.

Then my dad flew to SLC to help me drive home. Before we left, we hiked the Y. It was Dad's first time, and my second time (in a week haha!)

the drive back to PA was pretty uneventful. We had some awful mexican food in Nebraska, stayed in a nice hotel somewhere and ate lots of fried chicken, and listened to some Lord of the Rings. In Indiana, we got a hole in the exhaust pipe. It sounded like we were driving a corvette. Dad stalled out after paying a road toll- embarrassing for him, hilarious for me. We made it home though!

Now it's officially SUMMER! I'm going to try to keep this updated, cuz blogging is fun right? right :)

Road Trip!

A few weekends ago we had a 3-day weekend because of President's Day. Annie's birthday was also that weekend, therefore the logical thing was to go to her parent's house in Santa Barbara for the weekend! Annie, Rachel, Kayla and Allie drove together on Thursday night, and I drove with Lisa and Kristy. We got there in a little under 12 hours! It was actually a really nice drive despite only running on three hours of sleep. The twins and I were so happy when we discovered we had pretty much exactly the same exact taste in music! It was a great day. Our weekend was so fun-filled, carefree, and amazing. Here are some things that happened:

going for a run in a full-fledged rain storm

spending saturday in LA/Hollywood

Seeing Kobe Bryant

Going to the beach

Double Dutching

Shopping

Eating our weight's worth at Yogurtland

Celebrating Annie's Birthday!

Needless to say, that was a great weekend. None of us wanted to go back to school. That first week back was painful. At least we got some sun! :)

recent photo shoots

This is an image from my shoot with my friend Scott. He needed missionary pictures.

I helped with an engagement shoot! Mostly I just helped with poses and fixed hair and stuff. Here I am taking some black and white.

Ode to College Students

At BYU, if someone offers you a ride to Walmart, you jump on it. The creamery is convenient, but the prices are insanely high, hence my love of Walmart. Home of the cheap. The other night, I went to Walmart with some buddies, and Bryant bought two bottles of Martinellis to prove that he could chug a whole one. Here is the proof.

Good job Bryant, I always believed in you.

"She doesn't even go here!"

Every tuesday, almost everything on BYU campus shuts down for the weekly devotional or forum held in the Marriot Center (BJC equivalent). Two weeks ago, Condoleeza Rice came to speak to us. Usually, the devotional/forum is broadcast all over campus so that you don't have to go to the Marriot Center. However, due to privacy issues or something, this forum was not allowed to be recorded, so if you wanted to hear Condoleeza speak, you had to actually go in person. So, being the good roommate I am, I went an hour early to save seats for my friends. Everything was going smoothly. I had pretty awesome seats, if I do say so myself, and I was happily doing some homework to pass the time. (wait. happily? weird. maybe contentedly is a better word). Then, an older lady walks to the seats I was saving with a scarf, jacket, and sweater, and I said politely,

"I'm saving those ones." To which she replied, "You can't save seats."

Emma: "Um, yes, I can. "

Lady: "No, you can't save seats in a place this big"

Emma: "My friends are in class, and I am saving them seats."

Lady: "They should have gotten here on time" (there is still half an hour until it was meant to start) *she moves my scarf and sits down*

Emma: (in my brain) "are you even a BYU student? I don't think so, ya old hag. MOVE!"

Lady: "I'm not moving"

So, in order to manage my fury, I took some pictures of her:

Then, the emcee asked that everyone move into the center seats so that the seats on the end would be accessible. So she moved closer to me.

At this point, I was just laughing. Everyone around me had witnessed the craziness, and they were all sympathetic. If I hadn't had the self control, I would have probably used some special words towards her direction. To her face. But I thought that wouldn't really reflect on BYU that well. So I wrote this post. It was fun.

watch me go!

Okay, so maybe this is really cliche. But i'm going to say it anyway. It's that time of year again, full of dreary weather, and post-Christmas blues. But hey, with the new year, comes some resolutions. I love the feeling of wanting to be better, and all around more awesome. Anywho... here are my rezohlooshuns:

Do homework early, and try really hard to do well in school.
Go to the gym at least 3 times a week, and go to every jiu jitsu practice.
Be on top of my church assignment (weekly activity coordinator for the girls in my building)

Despite their few numbers, I think that I can realistically handle these things. I'm excited!