Emily Lurker Life History

My life began on a cold, snowy day in November in Provo, Utah.  The winter had been unseasonably warm and mild.  A few days before I was born winter returned.  There had been a big snowstorm and winter was here with a vengeance.  My mom spent a few hours before I was born working and then running some errands.  My dad spent the day at school, as he was a student at BYU.  I was already three days overdue and she was anxious for my arrival.  At midnight, she awoke to a sensation of her water breaking.  She immediately woke up and then woke my dad to call the doctor.  She informed them to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  By the time they got to the hospital her contractions had started.  They hooked her up to an IV and a small dose of pain medication.  Twelve hours later her contractions were getting more intense and more uncomfortable. She was not dilating. After enduring excruciating contractions and trying everything to get her labor progressing she was ready to push.  She had been in labor for approximately 24 hours.  She pushed for approximately 3 hours and I entered the world at 3:45 a.m. on November 16, 1988.  A beautiful daughter they named Emily Joyce.  Emily was a name my mom had loved since she was a little girl.  Joyce is also my mom’s middle name as well as my grandmother’s first name.   After all the important vital statistics, weight and initial cleaning were complete, my parents were able to hold and admire their first-born daughter.  While enjoying these first few moments of life a nurse felt inspired to check my heartbeat.  She immediately realized that my heart was beating twice the beats that were normal for my age and size.  They rushed me to the nursery along with the nurses and doctors.  While another doctor sewed up my mom and prepared her for the recovery of giving birth, I was being helped to bring down my heartbeat.  The doctors were not sure how to respond to this complication since they hadn’t seen many cases like this.  One doctor suggested they put a bag of ice over my face to restart my heart.  This helped but they decided another hospital was more equipped to take care of me. My dad contacted the bishop of our ward and he arrived within a few minutes.  They gave me a blessing and then my dad drove in the car, while I was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.  My mom stayed back at the hospital since she had just given birth.  By that afternoon, she was released from the hospital and was able to visit me in the other hospital.  But, she returned home without a baby.  I was required to stay at the hospital for an extra four days.  I was released with a heart monitor and really no explanation as to what caused this. They were advised to contact a specialist at Primary Children’s Medical Center.  They prescribed medication and were told to do the ice bag trick again if it ever occurred again.  They did have to do it once time within a few months after my birth.  I was only on the medication a few months and have never really had any explanation as to the why or how.  I experience some rapid heartbeats.  I just know that I need to sit down and stop what I am doing.  I have not experienced any ill effects because of these few scary moments.  

            A few weeks after my birth, my parents moved to Logan, Utah so my dad could continue his studies at Utah State University.  We lived there for about a year and a half.  We then moved to Orem, Utah and my dad finished his degree with his student teaching.  We only lived there a few months because my dad was offered a full time teaching job in my mom’s hometown of St. Anthony, Idaho.  Because of budget cuts, his technology program was cut and he was without a job.  They were able to find a job in Chandler, Arizona.  This is where my brother Evan was born a few weeks before my third birthday on October 30, 1991.

            I loved my little brother and treated him like a baby doll.  I could not wait for him to grow up so he could play with me and we could best friends.  He did grow up and we did become best friends.  We did everything together.  He played dolls with me and I played trucks and ball with him.  Soon after he was born, we returned to St. Anthony, Idaho so we could housesit for my grandparents while they served a fulltime mission in Adelaide, Australia.  We were there for a year and a half.  My dad worked at various jobs and attended school at Ricks College. When my grandparents returned my dad was able to get a job with ITT Technical Institute in Portland, Oregon.  We lived in Vancouver, Washington and he would travel over the river to Portland each day.  This is where I entered kindergarten.  We enjoyed our stay there and I made many friends in our neighborhood, at school and at church. When I was six my dad got a promotion within ITT and we moved to Louisville, Kentucky.  This is where my little sister Hailey was born, on December 2, 1995.  I finally got the little sister I had always wanted.  I had someone to dress up in frilly dresses and play dolls with.  I could not wait to get home from school every day to hold her and carry her around.  For the first month of Hailey life she lived in a “suitcase” that is what we called it but it was a blue light that helped with her jaundice. I was so happy for the nurse to say she finally did not have to sleep in the “suitcase” so I could hold her more often.   I attended first grade in Louisville.  He then got another promotion and we moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  I attended second grade there.  But, my family was anxious to get back west and closer to family.  My dad was able to find a job with Idaho Power and we moved to Pocatello, Idaho.  This is where my little brother Andrew was born on August 17, 1999.  This was an exciting time too.  I was a little older and was able to do more to take care of my baby brother.  I loved carrying him around and showing him off to everyone. We lived there for four years.  I attended third through sixth grade there.  This was the longest I had ever lived anywhere. 

            While we lived in Pocatello I broke my ankle.  I was jumping on our neighbors’ trampoline.  We were told that we could come over and jump on their trampoline anytime we wanted.  My brother Evan and I  jumped every chance we got.  This particular day me and my brother and our neighbors’ daughter were all jumping.  I jumped and as I came down I landed on my ankle sideways.  I immediately knew I did something bad.  They had to carry me home.  My mom decided the next morning that I needed to go to the doctor since I couldn’t put any weight on it and had to crawl everywhere I went.  They had to put a cast on it.  Luckily it was a walking cast.  I had this cast for about five weeks.  I was so glad to get that awkward thing off.

            But, this was not be permanent.  My dad lost his job and he found another job in Cape Girardeau, Missouri teaching at a University.  So we moved again.  We lived there for two years. I attended seventh and eighth grade in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  It was here that I began my long career of babysitting.  We attended a small ward with few youth.   I was the go to for babysitters.  I was busy almost every weekend as well as during the week.  I learned to love babysitting and loved being around children. 

After our two years in Cape Girardeau, we moved to Warrensburg, Missouri.  This is one of the few times in my life that we lived somewhere longer than one year. We lived there for four years.  My father was employed at Central Missouri University as a professor.   I was able to start and finish high school here. In school I really enjoyed the art classes and started or continued my love for the arts.  I joined the school choir here was really enjoyed it.  I was able to make some good friends there and to this day, they are still my friends.  I call this place home. I was able to continue my babysitting here and was able to save a lot of money for my future doing this.

Since my dad grew up in the military, he liked to move around a lot. After a few years in one place, he got antsy to move, which was the case in Warrensburg.  So, he sought out other employment.  We moved to Pahrump, Nevada.  I attended the only college in this small town.  It was Great Basin Community College.  My dad was the director at this outlining campus, which was based in Elko, Nevada.  I completed a year at the community college.  I served as a co-chairman of the student association while I attended my first year.  I was able to complete a lot of my general education classes there. My dad once again lost his job forcing us to move again.

We then moved to Independence, Missouri.  This was our third city in Missouri.  My dad worked at ITT Technical Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. We lived there three an half years. I finished and got my Associates of Arts Degree at Metropolitan Community College-Blue River. Because I was a graduate of a Missouri high school I was able to get my education paid for which was a great relief.  At Blue-River I joined the Metropolitan Community Choir and was able to perform throughout the community three times a year.  I really enjoyed doing this and still love choir.  That following fall I was accepted into the Interior Design program at Brigham Young University-Idaho.   It is a very hard program to get into, so I feel very fortunate to be accepted.  It is a grueling major, which takes up a lot of time and energy. I have thought about changing my major, but I have a lot of great friends that have been a great support for me.  I have been able to live with my grandma Tibbitts while attending school, which has been a great blessing financially.  I have been fortunate to be able to come home for Christmas and for the summer. 

The summer of 2011, right before school started I helped my family move out to Utah since my dad was getting antsy again.  He was able to get a job as Associate Dean of Technical Studies at Salt Lake Community College. Since our house did not sell right away my dad, brother Evan, and I took our belonging to Utah while my little sister, little brother and mom stayed to sell the house.  My brother Evan then flew back to Missouri to help my mom move out the remaining stuff.  Luckily, it did not take too long to sell the house. They moved to Utah at the end of September.   I was so glad that my family was much close and I would not have to take a plane to get back home, only a car trip away.  They are currently renting a house in Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah.  They are looking at homes to buy at the current time.  Hopefully, they will be able to find something soon and be in Utah a long time.  

I am currently a second semester junior in the Interior Design program and looking for an internship for the summer. I plan to graduate in April of 2014.  I am looking forward to being done with school and get on with my life.