I'm not you, I'm me.

Rachel wanted a purple popsicle.

Isaac wanted a red popsicle.

So Rachel wanted a red popsicle.

Isaac was upset - he didn't want Rachel to copy him.

"You can't have a red popsicle! I'm having a red popsicle!"

Rachel then replied, "I love you - that's why I do the things you do!"

Isaac changed his mind after Rachel said that, and then they walked outside eating red popsicles.

Becca said confusedly, "I thought you two were fighting."

They responded, "We love each other, so we want the same popsicle!"

 The other day after going to the park and when we were driving home, I overheard Isaac and Rachel having a conversation similar to the one they had earlier.

Isaac: "How are you doing?"

Rachel: "How are you doing?"

Isaac: "Stop copying me!"

Rachel: "Stop copying ME!"

Isaac: "Ra-chel :( STOP!"

Rachel: "Ra-chel :( STOP!"

Isaac: "Uugggghhh."

Rachel: "Uuggghhh."

Isaac: "I'm not YOU, I'm ME!"

These conversations reminded me of some childhood thought processes I have.
My memory of my childhood is interesting - I remember thoughts I had more than specific events.
I remember being very intrigued by the "Freaky-Friday" idea - what would it be like to be another person?  But then that confused me because it would still be my brain would be trapped in someone's body - I wanted to know what it would be like to be someone else - to think like them and to see things the way they see them.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

Ever since I read this book in eighth grade, (and I believe I even wrote my five paragraph essay on this subject - this was the attention grabber) I have remembered this quotation. 
I know I do this all of the time in my every day conversations.  I process how the other person is processing what I am saying or what I could potentially say...I try to walk around in their skin and think about how what I'm saying could make them feel.  This is one of my greatest strengths and one of my greatest weaknesses.  I try to really know people, to not judge them.  I want to see their perspective on something.  But then they ask me for a favor, and because I don't want to offend them, I can't say no. Strength and weakness :)  Sometimes I read way too much into other people.  I try to understand them so much that start becoming offended for no reason at all.

At the same time, I don't want to actually be anybody else besides me. I can think like you, empathize with you, understand you, but I am me.  I am uniquely Emma, and I always will be.

Like Isaac's conundrum with Rachel, she was copying him because she wanted to be like him, he just wanted to be himself, no one else. (I've been talking to him a lot about this too.  When you hit Rachel, how do you think it makes her feel?  Would you like it if someone hit you?)

What I've taken from this?

Before you climb around in someone's skin and walk around in it, know yourself.  Know that "I'm not you, I'm me."
Once you know yourself, look at life from all sorts of perspectives.  Know that there is a lens in front of you and how you see life.  Then try on a bunch of different lenses.
Be open-minded.
Just don't forget yourself and what you stand for.  Sometimes, you might find that open-mindedness can change your original lens.  Don't be afraid of that.  Embrace it.
Use those lenses to serve other people.  To love them.
Just don't forget yourself :)

Dodger Stadium

I went to Dodger Stadium - three weeks ago.  I know, I'm a little late on the blog-post.  I've never been before, and I've always wanted to (hence the bucket-list).  I am a Dodgers fan after all.  I finally got to sing "So it's root, root, root for the DODGERS, if they don't win it's a shame!"  

It was Mormon night at Dodger stadium.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf threw the opening pitch.  Alex Boye sang God Bless America somewhere in the middle.  So, even though I've heard that Dodger fans are terrible, they weren't on Mormon night!

I used to know the whole starting line-up when they had Manny, (I really was a fan), but I stopped following sports once I didn't have a TV in college. But I know Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier, James Loney, and Matt Kemp (my personal favorite).  

They played the New York Mets, and they lost. Big time.  I couldn't really pay attention to the game (but I wanted to, I really did) because we had five children with us.   We were in the All-You-Can-Eat bench seats (not what we had imagined), and more and more people kept coming.  So what was supposed to be 8 seats turned into 4 seats with children on all of our laps.  Lets just say some people threw some fits to the poor worker at the Dodger stadium, and I couldn't really pay attention to the game because I was too busy people-watching.

One of these days, I will go back to Dodger's Stadium and actually pay attention to the baseball game.  I won't sit in the All-You-Can-Eat seats, and I'll enjoy an All-American game of baseball.  

Go Dodgers!

(And if you were wondering, I despise the Lakers.  Hypocritical?  I guess.  Go Suns, beat L.A.  And as much as it doesn't make sense, I don't hate the D-backs.  Just when they're playing the Dodgers :) )

Gotta have my baseball hat.

Dodger Dog? It actually didn't taste that bad to me.

The Park

I'm sitting on a bed with a shower cap on my head because I am doing a deep-conditioning treatment.
I still have to unpack my suitcase.
3 road trips in 8 days? (Seriously.) Now that's a lot of road trips.
See I drove to Vegas (then I had a little accident) Thursday.
Then I drove back to Utah on Tuesday.
Then I drove to California on Friday.
And now I am privileged to be living with my aunt and uncle near the beach in the perfect weather with their five beautiful children.
I'll be back to AZ in August. Then ten days later I'm back in Utah for training for my job.  Then school starts and that's when life goes crazy but adventurous.


Today I went to the Park with the kiddos and I made some observations.

I want to go back to the days when my imagination was my life.  Give them a toy car or some mini angry birds and they can be entertained merely by their imagination.


Bubbles are the best thing ever especially when you can chase them and try to catch them in your mouth.

I finally found monkey bars that were tall enough for me today.  And when I tried to do them I couldn't.  Not because I wasn't strong enough but because it hurt my hands - they're not callused enough. {Meanwhile the children are climbing up and down and all around the bars without a second thought of it hurting their skin - it's fun!}

A kiss makes most owies feel better.

Trees that are climbable are impossible to pull kids away from.

I'm a scardy-cat compared to my cousins.

I wish I was bilingual so I could fit in with everyone else at the park.

Firetrucks are the coolest things ever.

I can't jump off of heights people ten plus years younger than me can.