and i brush and brush and brush...

i just want to start out by saying that if you haven't seen the movie "tangled" yet, you need to. i am obsessed with it and it must be seen by all. 

next. im just continuing to love winter break and i just checked some of my grades and THANK GOODNESS I PASSED PHYSICAL SCIENCE WITH A PRETTY GOOD GRADE! who would have thought i could do it?

so i've just been hanging out with mah fraynds here at home and the other night some of us went to em's and zach was wearing this multi-purpose "thing". i don't even know what to call it. it can be a scarf, a dress, a turban, who knows. haley and i decided to fit two people in it and call it good. it definitely grabs at your curves or "child-bearing hips", ha. 

 yesterday our family went to roller gardens with the peniatas which brought back some classic memories from sixth grade. stu was showing off all his skills, being a sk8r and all...sk8 or diieeeee 

also, for all you single ladies out there, here's a glimpse at one of the stages of stuart's "christmas goatee". woof

i can't stop smiling

i am definitely one of the happiest people in the world right now. i've been able to come home to plymouth, minnesota, sleep in my own bed, see my family and friends, my pup rufio, eat way too much food, and just relax. 

let me just start with arriving home. i got home not this past thursday, but the thursday before in the afternoon. the plane ride was great, it felt super short, i sat next to this super cute lady from south carolina who was a hoot, and slept the whole time. i got off the plane, had two giant suitcases, one filled with my clothes and the other with a bunch of maura's stuff, saw my mom and the smiles didn't stop from that point on. i went to the armstrong winter choir concert that night with teresa and dub-face and i just beamed the whole time. it was so good to be back with my friends from choir. i was able to go to lunch with trump, our choir director, the next day and as usual i gained a lot of insight into my life and what i need to be thinking about concerning school and relationships and life in general. love her.

i went to a chamber gig on saturday and got to see ZACH ENQUIST for the first time in four months. zach is muh bff and as soon as i saw him i was up in his arms and was not planning on letting go. we obviously practiced our lifts even though lynn and ed (his parentals) told him because of a shoulder injury, perhaps he shouldn't be lifting things...like eleanor. my b.

the next couple of days were filled with seeing every possible friend that i could, trying my best to divide my time evenly between family and friends. i went caroling the other night with some old chambers around jonny's neighborhood in golden valley and it was so good to be singing our old christmas songs again with the people i sing with best. then we went and sang at trump's house, and brought her almost to tears because class of 2010 is the best there ever was. 

i went shopping with maura and my mom a couple of times and i got soooooooo bored because they seriously took about 45 minutes to choose between two suitcases for maura's mission. so i decided to take some funny videos of mom on her new fancy phone, sing the christmas songs in the store extra loud and obnoxious, and try on a 3XL fur coat to show maura what she'll need to survive in russia. i look fab, i know.

we also saw this little beauty walking around the store. check out that leather/fur combo

for papa ji's birfday we went to pf changs. ohhhhmyygoodnesssss. delicious. i think that's all that needs to be said, except for the fact that since then, i have not stopped eating. i am surprised at how much of an appetite i have gained back being at home. at college you don't feel like you need to eat a ton because you don't just have a plethora of food around you at all times. whereas at home, i just can't turn any of it down so it looks like i'll be needing to hit the gym this semester after being home for only two weeks. 

christmas eve we had the flake family over for dinner as we do every year, which i always love. i love catching up with their family and seeing what new and fun things they're up to, since i think they lead very creative lives. we loved making fun of this hand model lady the entire night and christmas morning we took a hand model pic on the stairs. tradition from now on probably. 

christmas eve, the sibs and i decided to have a sleepover in caroliney's room, so we moved two mattresses in to be on the floor, so i slept on the crack between quinn and maura. we watched mighty ducks, which is such a classic and i haven't seen it for forever. we awoke in the morning, opened presents, and i'm grateful this year that it didn't feel so much like a "want-fest". there wasn't an overwhelming amount of presents, it was what everyone wanted/needed but not this huge pile of presents taking up the room. it helped me focus a little more on what christmas is really about, how i really don't need a whole lot anyway and just to be grateful for what i do have. 

i just want to give a shout-out to my main man rufio as well. i honestly think we have one of the strangest dogs, but i love his personality. he's found a new way to sit since i've been away at college and it's not very modest...but he seems to like it. 

santa are you there?

quinn will probably be really mad at me for posting this but it's just something that you all need to see. this was made like, two years ago and shows quinny's creative genius. enjoy.

i see you...

so there's this boy who has been complaining for weeks on end about how he's never on my blog. stuey baby. 

so today i will feature a funny story about me and stu. last week we went to the cannon for lunch and ate with drew babay and then we had to get maura a birthday present so we went to the book store. we found a card first, which is why i have an avatar song on this post. the card was avatar themed and when you opened it, it played super intense music from the movie avatar, so obviously stu and i had to keep opening the card every time we entered a new area of the store so the music would play. stu then decided to take it to the next level and act as if he were emerging from a beautiful, blue avatar forest. we had some good laughs. "is there a matching sweater vest for this...?"

grateful

I'm always grateful for Thanksgiving time because, obviously, it's a time to reflect and think about everything I'm grateful for. my parents and quinn and caroline came which was exactly what i've needed. i think i've been waiting for that day since i drove away from my house in august. it was so much fun to see them and just spend time with my entire family. i have been so blessed with a family that loves me, puts up with me, and are my best friends. i was so sad to see them go but now it's less than three weeks until i go home so i'm going to be okay. 


unfortunately the week wasn't all laughs as my grandma wanda passed away on Friday. we all had known the time was coming soon as she had had a bad fall last year and her health was continuing to fail, but it was still difficult to hear that she had passed. since my grandma on my mom's side, leonora, had died a month before i was born, grandma wanda was the only grandma i knew on my mom's side. she was one of the most amazing women i have ever met. she had the sweetest heart, was so funny and sassy. i never heard her speak ill of anyone, always ate the most delicious food at her house, and always felt so loved. she was so good to my grandpa and i am so grateful for the wonderful example she set for me. i love you grandma and will miss you. 

Wanda Miller (Empey) Cannon 1926 ~ 2010 Wanda Miller Empey Cannon passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family on November 26, 2010. Born July 3, 1926, in Mammoth, Utah, to Frederick LeRoy Miller and Edna Maria Brown. She graduated from South High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Married Clair B. Empey in 1946, and had seven children. In 1993, she married Emerson Cannon; they joined two families, sharing 15 children, 68 grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren. Wanda earned an RN degree from Weber State College while raising her family. She was recognized for her distinguished service in her nursing career. It has been said by all that knew her that she served others with a genuine Christ like love and compassion. She used her many talents and gifts to lift and strengthen all those around her. She found joy in serving three full time LDS missions with Emerson; in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Nauvoo, Ill., and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Her family and friends have truly been blessed by her enduring love, her caring example, and her testimony. She spoiled her family with her chocolate eclairs, candy, and Christmas tea rings. Wanda had a great appreciation for the spirit and power of music, especially musicals including her favorite, "The Sound of Music". Her favorite Christmas movie was "Its A Wonderful Life". Thank you to our wife, mother, grandmother, and friend for a most Wonderful Life, lived in love and service to each of us. Wanda was preceded in death by her parents, sister Edna, and Kevin Thygerson(grandson). She is survived by her husband Emerson Cannon, sister Evalyn Sandberg, and children Melanie Thygerson, Karen (Craig) Chambers, David (Lisa) Empey, Drew (Karen) Empey, Roger (Vickie) Empey, Chad (Nannette) Empey, Carl (Lisa) Empey, Tristan (Stephanie) Cannon, Nelson (Shirin) Cannon, Laura (Cordell) McCarrey, Rebecca (Richard) Bruggeman, Clinton (Diane) Cannon, Corinne (James) Jackson, Cynthia (Dan)Williams, Renee Cannon.

MMJ

look at this little princess. it's her 21st birthday!! just a shout out to my fave older sister. 

mojay is always ready for a picture, even if no one else is.

heavenesque.com


happy birthday mojay!! i love you and you are going to make the greatest russian missionary the world has eva seen!!

let me transfer my success to you real quick...

so there's this thing called eye contact. and sometimes it's just so hard to keep. 

it kind of goes along with how you avoid talking to someone by pulling out your cell phone...

when someone's walking past you, regardless of whether you know them or not, you look down. you'll look up right before you pass if you know them and smile or say hi, but otherwise you both look down just so you can avoid one thing: eye contact. 

why is it so intimidating to just look someone in the eyes? 

in the movie baby mama, steve martin's character at one point says to tina fey's character, "congratulations. i want to reward you with five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact". 

just the thought of that makes me cringe. your eyes can tell so much about what you're thinking that i feel really exposed when i hold eye contact for a long time. anyways. eye contact makes me laugh sometimes and that's all i wanted to share. 

onesies and martinellis

jordan miller came to utah this weekend! here's just a little synopsis of our weekend:

lucy and i on our way to pick jordy up from the airport

just hanging out in the cannon

home opener basketball game

buying onesies at walmart..

tumbling gym

so basically it was wonderful to be reunited with our bff and im just glad she got to experience utah, a place that lucy and i have been talking about our entire lives. luv yewwww j mill

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

i was talking to my mom yesterday on the phone and the topic of forgiveness kind of came up. then today in book of mormon our teacher showed us this video and i just thought i'd share. i've never really had a huge thing that i needed to forgive but seeing this and how amazing the process of forgiveness can be, i can only hope that i would be able to do the same. so much of it is pride and being able to let go, learn, and move on. it's what the atonement is all about. 

it's me...eleanor...jackson...

so in the past twenty four hours, i have had three encounters with people i have met on several previous occasions. (quick side-note before i say this: if i've met you and spoken to you before, chances are almost 100% that i'll remember you. i just have a creepily good memory.) 


anyways, situation #1: went to dinner with some minnesota girls last night and afterwards, we went to yo-zone for frozen yogurt and to meet liz wilson there so she could hang out with us for a bit. she brought along her friend that i had met before, but i could definitely tell she had no recollection of meeting me so i just pretended i hadn't met her before either. 


situation #2: i was out on the spanish steps last night with my friends and there was bud todd. i have met him three times. i was in j-hall for visiting hours one night and he even showed me his room with two taylor swift posters. yet last night he chose to not remember who i was. even though i knew he knew who i was. but he decided to not show that and make me feel like a loser. but we be cool now so no worries buddy boi.


situation #3: i was walking up the hill this morning to my american heritage lab and i passed one of melissa's friends that i have met three times (three times the charm?). we actually just met AGAIN sunday night. i said hi to him and i could tell immediately that he had no idea who i was but just kind of blew it off. THEN on my way home from lab, i ran into him walking up the hill while i was walking DOWN and i said hi again. once again im pretty sure he wasn't even sure i was saying hi to him and he said an awk hello and looked away, which led me to laugh hysterically by myself the whole way back to my dorm because apparently no one can remember....it's me....eleanor...jackson....

growth

"Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness. Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most."

Never Say Never

is this real life? like, actually? i am freaking out. pretty sure this will be the best movie of all time. j biebz i love you.

everyone does it

i decided to just make a little list of a few things that everyone has been guilty of at one point or another in their life.

1. running after you trip. i am so incredibly guilty of this it's not even funny. i remember last year dee and zach spent like 10 minutes at chambers imitating people doing this and i was dying. every time i wear my uggs i do this guaranteed at least five times during the day. you accidentally stumble over a crack, a bump, or a stair, and then feel the immediate need to take a quick little jog. why? everyone knows what just happened and are wondering where in the world you suddenly need to get by running for five seconds. classic.

2. pulling out your phone to act occupied. i do this every single day. i don't know why sometimes i find it so hard to just say hi to someone but i often find myself feeling the need to pretend like i'm too busy texting to see someone. i don't know if it's more embarrassing that i do this or that i have to pretend to text people instead of actually doing it. and what's worse is that usually the other person totally knows that you saw them and are now trying to pretend that you didn't. 

3. saying hi from far away and still having to walk past. this was something that was always happening to me in high school. class is going on, you have to go to your locker to grab something and you're walking down the hallway all by your lonesome until along comes girl-you-were-friends-with-in-ninth-grade-but-haven't-talked-to-since. you think, crap this is awkward, and then proceed to wave accidentally too early and now have to suffer walking down the hall towards each other pretending to look at something on your shoes or over your shoulder even though there is absolutely nothing there.

i have no idea who this girl is. thank you google images.

4. messing up the lyrics. this one isn't even that bad unless it's with people you don't know or are just becoming friends with. you think you are rocking a song and just belting it and then...oops. wrong words. wrong verse. wrong notes. and you look like an idiot. then the question is do you ignore it and not say anything or do you acknowledge your mistake and laugh about it? either way it's just funny.

5. awkward hugs. these kill me. just so uncomfortable. you go in for the hug with a friend and you just can never be sure if it's the one-arm-above-one-arm-below-criss-cross-hug or the side-hug or the straight-on hug but even then you have the issue of arms on top or arms on bottom. i really think there should just be a general rule about hugs and if there already is one let me know. both parties feel uncomfortable when the arms start moving all directions in awkward motion because no one knows which action to take. let's just be assertive. 

let's meet in the middle

a girl on our floor doesn't have a roommate so meliss and i decided to ask her for her extra bed...

lucy said she would model the different usages of the bed for us. i would say that after this weekend of great new scents, a million new pictures, and a new bed, our room is just about perfect. it can also be used as a trampoline, so in the morning i can bounce out of bed over to melissa and jump on her to give her a wonderful good morning squish. meetin' in da middle.

home sweet home

who knew that something so small//strange could be so incredibly magical?

this here is the answer to my prayers. 

i walked into sarah's room last night to chat before going to bed and i smelled the most amazing thing i'd ever smelled. no joke. i immediately started freaking out asking what it was and it turns out it was this little lamp/air scenter thing. i have no idea what to call it except for heaven. it smells like cinnamon and makes mine and melissa's room smell like christmas/home/the best place ever. it's amazing what a smell can do.

so. if anyone wants to listen to christmas music with us and inhale heaven on earth, 2119 stover hall is where it's at. 

rain, rain, and some mud

i love the rain most of the time. and saturday after the football game, some friends and i took full advantage of the conditions and went mud sliding/wrestling. it was seriously so much fun. we went to helaman fields and there was this small hill with a pretty big mud patch at the bottom. we put garbage bags on over our shirts and then as diapers and slid down. i was laughing so hard because there was just no way to look graceful doing this. in the end, it was just lucy and me left dancing in the mud and slipping all over until kate joined us to wrestle (our favorite past-time). so intense. lets just say that shower was disgusting when i left it. 

keep on runnin', runnin' and runnin' runnin'

this week has for sure been a learning week for me. for as many things that went wrong though, i was able to stay pretty happy i think. i spent the most time i've ever spent in the library the past two weeks and thought it would pay off. WRONG. but after a long talk with mama-ji about how frustrated i am with school, i think my outlook/attitude is going to improve. i am not defined by my grades. that doesnt say anything about who i really am, which is usually really hard to remember when you're sucking at school.college has been an extremely humbling experience, like nothing i have ever encountered before, but i really couldn't be more grateful for the experiences that i'm having here.

what's been way good for me this week though is that i got to hang out with maura a ton, and it was hilarious every single time. if you check out her blog, you can see some pics. we are super disruptive in there but i tell myself that everyone else is enjoying it as much as we are. we also started running this week which is really just what i needed. i forgot how good it feels to run, even though we both get what feels like appendicitis side aches so fast. we are really good at reading each other's minds and matching when we run...

people in mah lyfe

rufioooooooo

lil' lee

mah famileeee

emoticons fo' lyfe :^%)

co-cop

trumpsie

the fam

c-bby hawt nuggett//n-cat//keith

ruggers

hay hay

court

best fraynds

roomies

k8

oh hey whats up