Some of you may know that my Dad had a heart attack this week. It was scary, and we didn't know what was going to happen. Thankfully, he only needed 2 metal stints, instead of another openheart surgery. He is home now, resting, and we think everything will be ok.
I got to thinking a lot this week about life, how short it is, and how unexpected things always happen. You never konw how long you have, or how long the people around you have. I talked to my Dad on the phone when things were still very uncertain. We were all worried, but had faith that no matter what happened, things would be ok because we are an eternal family. When I spoke to my Dad, he said, "I love you Emily. I really love you. You have a special place in my heart. You always have." He said it like it might be the last time we spoke to each other. That really shook me up, and I remember the countless times I have just rattled off, "ok, love you, bye." at the end of conversations with my loved ones. This experience has helped me to realize the importance of everyday, and every opportunity to spend with my loved ones. And it helped me to ponder the blessing of the knowledge that I will see my family again no matter how long they are here, or I am here. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In my religion, we believe in the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness. The Lord has given us this plan so we can return back to Him, with our families and live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by participating in certain ordinances and covenants, and by living by them our whole life. We make those promises in our temples, and they are the most sacred places on earth to us because God dwells there. I know for sure that my family can be together forever if we do our best, and live the way we have promised to live. Families are what is most important. In the last General Conference of the church, our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson counseled us to live everyday as if it were our last.
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”4
How simple, yet profound are these words. It is apparent to me that whoever the prophet is, in that time, he knows just what we need to hear, and gives us true and applicable counsel. I am going to take this counsel and use it in my life. I don't want to live another today counting on another tomorrow, collecting empty yesterdays. I want my family and friends to know how much I care about them. Life would be empty without them. My loved ones are what bring to me the joy that fills my life.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
An Unexpected Occurance
Well, I haven't blogged in forever. I can't find my camera cord in my mess of a house, and have been really busy the last few weeks unpacking, furnishing and remodling our house. I am learning a lot, and enjoying the break from school and work. Last night, Seth and I were preping the kitchen to be primed. We heard a ton of sirens, and saw flashing lights, and out our window we saw 4 fire trucks and 2 ambulances in front of our house. The neighbors' 2 doors down house was on fire. From our porch we could see smoke billowing from the windows, and the firemen climbing the huge truck ladder to take people out of the house. They were there for a long time. We don't know those neighbors yet, but we prayed for them. We want to do something to help, but we don't know what we even could do. If any of you have gone through a fire experience, I would love some suggestions on what we could do that would help the most. I got to thinking about the inportance of preventing and being prepared for emergencies like that. I thought about how we don't have a family emergency plan to evactuate, and how a lot of things about our house need to be changed to make it safer. I am going to make sure Seth and I talk about it, and make a plan. So I would encourage all of you to think about that, and prepare yourselves and families as well.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
VIVA! - One great rock show CAN change the world!
This Tuesday Seth and I got to got to the Coldplay concert at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, or the Q, as they call it. It was the best concert I've ever been too in my life! They have been my favorite band for 6 years, and I have been waiting that whole time to see them in concert. I now have decided that, unless it's on Sunday, there is no way I will miss another tour. I wish I could follow them on the road, it was so amazing! Seth even loved it so much, he came home the next day and said, "I am going through Coldplay concert withdrawls."
This was about where we were in the crowd. Not quite in the back, in the first section from the floor. I thought we were going to be closer, but I didn't care. I was just so happy to be there.
This is us waiting with anxious anticipation for the show to start. The opener was a girl from the UK named "Duffy." First of all, what kind of a name is that? Almost as bad as 'Buffy.' She is supposed to have the number one spot on the charts in England, so I suppose that is why she is touring with the best band in the world. The sound was so loud you could harldy make out what she was saying, but even if it were good, I think it was awful. We didn't like her at all. Seth said "Not only did we have to pay so much for these tickets, but we have to endure this to see them?" Well, even thought it was pretty awful, it was well worth it! 
Overpriced Coldplay shirt: $30...
Second overpriced Coldplay shirt: $30...
Sheer joy from going to a concert of the best band in the world; PRICELESS.
In the middle of the concert, I just thought we should take a picture of our utter happiness. This is my biggest smile. This video is the beginning of the concert. They picked a great song to start. It just built up and up until everyone was going crazy. The second song is called "Violet Hill;" the chorus says "If you love me, won't you let me know." At the end he gets all quiet, and sings that a'capella twice, but he sang instead, "If you love me, won't you let me know. We're so happy to be in Ohio!" The crowd went wild! Unfortunately this video cuts off right before he says it, but it's still a great song.
Will Champion, the drummer of the best band in the world.
This person had a great seat, and got some way good footage. These are small parts of a lot of songs.
This person had a great seat, and got some way good footage. These are small parts of a lot of songs.
Chris Martin, the lead singer in the best band in the world. He is so talented, he plays a ton of different instrument, writes his music. He's an amazing performer....wow. I just can't say enough about how amazing of a musician he is.
During the concert, they finished a song, and then Chris Martin said, we'll see you in about 30 seconds. We thought they were tired and needed a break or something, Then they appeared near the back of the stands with their guitars, and said "Ha! We fooled you! You thought we were just takin' a break or something. We just thought we would come to the back and give the people in the front a rest from looking at all these ugly musicians." We were about 30 feet from them, we couldn't see too well because there was a row of people in the way that were making me very aggravated, but here's a video of one of the songs they did from the back (with a few audience members singing along, somewhat poorly...) Here are some pictures of them in the singing in the crowd.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Guy Berryman. He is on the right. He is the bassist of the best band in the world.
This one is from further back, but got some really funny comments from Chris Martin during the show.
Johnny Buckland, lead guitarist in the best band in the world.
It was so clever, He changed some of his lyrics during the concert to fit us. It was so cool. This is one of the changes he made.
These are the original lyrics: Give me one 'cause one is best In confusion, confidence Give me peace of mind and trust Don't forget the rest us Give me strength, reserve control Give me heart and give me soul Wounds that heal and cracks that fix Tell me your own politik.
This is the change he made:
Give me one, cuz one is best,
In confusion, confidence,
Give me peace of mind, and wait!
Give me a concert in the Buckeye state!
Give me strength, reserve control,
Give me the right result in the presidential poll!
Wounds that heal, and cracks that fix,
Give me an audience just like this!
This video is of the song "Lovers in Japan." The sound isn't perfect, but it shows the cool video and special effets they had.
Chris Martin kept saying what a great audience we were, and he said "We really didn't expect you to have such good form on a Tuesday night. It was true. It was such a fun crowd. But really, it was such a good crowd because we were watching Coldplay of course. It just doesn't get any better than that.
This video is a good overview of the whole show.I would just like to say I love Youtube! If you wanted to, you could pretty much watch the whole concert if you just looked up "Coldplay Viva la Vida Tour Cleveland", which I may or may not have done already...
Yellow was the encore.
This is a song called "See you soon." It is one of my very favorites. I am bummed that they didn't play it, but I figure, might as well attach it to my blog as a bonus track.
The best band in the world takes a bow...
And two very happy fans went home after a rock show that changed the world.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Go Buckeyes!!
So Seth and I had a 3 day weekend, and we decided to go down to Columbus to visit family. We went down to Upper Arlington to see my Aunt Diane, Uncle Scott and my cousin Joshua. We had lunch with them, and they gave us a graduation present of 40 yard line tickets in the A section! Those were amazing seats! Thanks Aunt Diane and Uncle Scott!
It was so fun to see the team come out on the field. Both my parents, and my aunts and uncles, and grandparents went to Ohio State, so I was pretty much raised as a Buckeye.
The crowd just went crazy when they came in! Thankfully we were in a section with old people on most sides of us, so no one got too crazy, and the only drunk people we saw were on the bus.
The marching band was amazing! They were just like an army.
The band made a P for Purdue. That was cool. But then when the team ran out, almost all the 100,000 fans boo-ed really loud. That was disappointing. Not exactly good sportsmanship....
I just loved the band. I am sure my mom would have loved it. They did the Ohio script. This is the Ohio script upside down. Pretty much everything was upside down because we were on the other side.
Here's Seth, a Buckeye too. He's converted, and now he's really part of the Shepard family.
It was cool, they had the big O's on both sides of the stadium full of student cheerers. They started all the stands going O!-H!-I!-O! and they started the wave. It was really cool.
During half time, the band did a tribute to TV Land. they did formations of all the shows, the Simpsons, Family Guy, Happy Days, Gilagan's Island - They formed a boat and curbed it up on the side of an island, Star Trek - They made the ship and a planet that changed into an M for Michigan and then shot lasers at it, and they all broke up; It was so cool. If you can't tell, I loved the band!
We got to see my Grandpa and Grandma Pat at church. It will be nice to be able to visit more often. Then my Aunt Laura threw a barbeque and we got to spend a nice evening outside on their porch with a view of the pond in the back with a fountain. And we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and then we watched some videos of Guatemala.
The first quarter of the game was very exciting. The Buckeyes intercepted, and ran the ball back for a defensive touchdown. Then nothing happened offensively for the rest of the game; a couple field goals, and that was it. The whole time I was hoping Purdue would score so OSU would try harder. The most exciting thing that happened in the second half was that after we bought a $4 bottle of water, we found out that we could get ice water in cups for free! which we did because it was 80 degrees outside!
We got to see my Grandpa and Grandma Pat at church. It will be nice to be able to visit more often. Then my Aunt Laura threw a barbeque and we got to spend a nice evening outside on their porch with a view of the pond in the back with a fountain. And we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and then we watched some videos of Guatemala.
This is my Aunt Linda and my cousin Christine.
This is my Aunt Diane, and cousin Josh.
These are my Aunts Candi and Laura. We got to stay with them for the weekend. We had a great time visiting and playing Wii. Seth beat everyone in everything, and got 175 at hoopshot! 
This is Laura and one of their dogs, Patch. Patch is my favorite dog, I think. She's so good!
Yesterday, Candi and Laura took us to Graeter's, and icecream place they have in Columbus that has AMAZING icecream! It is super good! I am sure we will go there every time we go down to Columbus.
We got to visit my Grandma Shepard too. We didn't get pictures of her, but we got to have a nice visit before she had hand surgery on Monday. The surgery went well, and I'm glad. All in all, we had a great trip!
I love the ZOO!
Last Friday I got to go to the Cleveland Zoo with my 3 year old nephew, Hyrum, his Grandma, Christy, and his Great Grandma, we just call her Nana. The Cleveland Zoo is awesome! It is huge, and the paths, and plants, and trees are so beautiful! The autumn trees just made it even more amazing, and the weather was perfect!
Hyrum is so cute! I love that kid. I pushed him around in the little umbroller stroller (which is made for people who are 4 feet tall! We just had a blast talking and laughing. We went by the butterfly pavillion, and I mentioned one of Brian Regan's (a comedian Seth and I, and Hyrum's parents like a lot) acts about Butterfly pavillions. I started saying it, and Hyrum chimed in "and the purple one was fluttering AROUND and AROUND!" It was awesome. Then I taught him to say the whole thing, so he could do it for Uncle Seth, and his family that night, but he was too shy. That was a bummer, but it was so cute to practice with him. If you click on the following link, you can see the act. It is way funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L56IdlTbrpQ
These monkeys were way fun to watch. They were swinging all around by their tails, or just one arm. It was cute.
Here's our Galapagos, Tortis picture. Hyrum seems to be poking out his eyes.
This is the snow leopard, my favorite animal. Hyrum's favorite animals are elephants, but they are renovating the elephant habitat, so they've moved them to Columbus for 2 years. Hyrum talks about it everytime he talks about the zoo.
When Hyrum saw this coin spinning thing, he asked me for a coin, and I gave him one. It was just awesome to see how mezmerized he was by it.
After the zoo, we stopped at McDonald's to get some icecream. Hyrum got a big one because they don't do kiddie cones anymore, and he was doing a great job, he got half way done, and then fell right to sleep with half a cone still in his hand. He didn't spill at all which was amazing. It was cute to see his head zonked over, and his mouth still covered in ice cream.
While we were sitting, eating our icecream, I saw gas for $2.89. I was amazed! Now I have seen it for 10 cents less even. But this is still pretty awesome. I am so grateful the price of gas has gone down, and hope it stays that way, and least for a little while.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with Christy and Nana because my camera was acting up, but Nana has some, and I will try to post them later.
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