The Start of My Forever

BASICALLY UNAWARE OF HIS EXISTENCE

The date was January 4, 2014. I was at my friend Amy's reception and everything was kind of starting to wind down. Beyonce blared over the speakers and all the single ladies lined up for a chance to catch the bouquet. Amy threw the bouquet over her shoulder and I snatched it right before Sunny had the chance (she wasn't very happy with me). I joked around with everyone that it was now destiny that I get married even though inside I was still hurting over my latest letdown.

WHEN WE MET

The date is now January 5, 2014. Sunny had been begging me for a long time to double with her and Luis, and they had decided that Luis' roommate would be going with me. Luis and Daniel came over that night to visit for awhile just to talk and I immediately knew there was something different about this guy. I guess I should also say that I had technically met him before...but I was kind of not interested in dating anyone because of some other stuff going on. We've all heard that story a thousand times huh?

WHEN WE WERE DATING

For our first date Sunny, Luis, Daniel, and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then came back to my house to play Phase 10...which then erupted into a Nerf gun battle.

We went official on January 14. We went to institute and everyone had to answer a few questions about themselves including "Are you single?" Daniel had to go first and when he stood up to introduce himself I was wondering what exactly he was going to say because...well, we hadn't talked about it! When he came to that part he said, "I'm not single!...Well, I'm not married...but I'm also not really single...". We were definitely on the same page there :)

He told me he loved me on February 16th. We were watching a movie at his place and I don't remember what I did (I probably tickled him or something) and he said, "You know what?...Never mind." The 'You know what' part didn't surprise me, but the 'Never mind' part was new, so I asked him what was up and he got really quiet and then said, "...I love you." He caught me completely off-guard! I tactfully replied, "Really?! ...I love you too!"

Since the day we met I can count on one hand the number of days that we haven't seen each other :)

Dressed up as pirates at Grey's birthday party.

We had been dating almost 2 months at this point.

THAT ONE TIME WHEN HE POPPED THE QUESTION

Are you ready for the proposal story? It's a pretty cute one if I do say so myself!

We had been talking about getting married and actually...we already had the temple scheduled, but I was just waiting not exactly patiently for my ring. His parents had invited us over for Easter dinner and the words "funeral potatoes" had been used, so I knew there was no way I was missing out on that!

When we walked into the house I immediately saw yarn strung all over the family room and leading downstairs. Now that I look back, I could see that Daniel was acting a little squirrely and he immediately wanted to look for our Easter baskets, which I knew were hidden at the end of the yarn. I grabbed my yarn and started winding! I was bound and determined to beat Daniel, but he was always right behind me. He found his basket first and sat down on the couch to wait for me. My yarn led me to a door and when I opened it there was my basket! I saw a handmade booklet titled "My Book of Favorite Memories with Emma-Leigh" and I sat down next to Daniel to read it. He wrote about our first date, and when we went official and my birthday and Valentine's day and the time we went to Logan to watch a hockey game. It was all really detailed and I was really impressed by how much he had written about. When I turned to the last page I read, "All of these memories are very special to me, but my favorite memory was when I proposed and she said yes!" Then I started crying and Daniel pulled out the ring and got down on one knee and told me that he loved me and wanted to be with me forever and asked if I would marry him. Of course I said yes!!!

We took a walk down to the river near his house afterwards. 

And here is the ring! Let me tell you, it is SO sparkly :)

Daniel is seriously the best thing to ever happened to me. He never ceases to tell me why he loves me! He seriously treats me like a princess and I don't think I could be marrying into a better family! Daniel is everything I could have ever asked for and I love him so much!

SO WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!

August 9th.

12:30.

Idaho Falls.

Oh my gosh, is this real life???

My Eternal Family

My home teachers asked me the other day what I am most thankful for in the gospel.
Without thinking I said that I can be with my family for eternity.
As these words left my mouth I had some words come to mind that overwhelmed me with happiness and joy:
"You will never go another day in all of eternity without your family."
Oh it is such a comfort to be sealed to them and to know that I can be with these amazing people that I love like nothing else forever and ever and ever.

The gospel is true, folks. I can't say it loud enough or with enough feeling.

We love each other.

We support each other.

We cheer each other on.

We talk to each other.

We are best friends.

What I did to deserve to be in such am amazing family, I don't know.

But I am forever and eternally grateful for whatever it was.

*Oh man, here come the water works.*

Is it ridiculous that I make myself cry just thinking about how much I love my family?

Gratitude #23

Yeesh, I've got some serious catching up to do!

I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with my family.

It's crazy, I had never even met little Hyrum, but I had all this love for him saved up inside. When I finally got to hold him for the first time it all bubbled over and I was so happy this special little red-head was going to be in my family for eternity.

I just can't get enough of this little guy!

Or this one...

Or little Grey...

And then there's sweet little Phoebe...

And Gwen!

*Yikes, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah...*

It was especially nice that Logan and Rachelle and the little girls were there to help us decorate for Christmas this year (sorry, didn't have my camera with me). Most of our ornaments ended up at the bottom of the tree, but I was just happy that I didn't have to do it all myself.
*I spend way too much time trying to make the placement of the ornaments random, which, if you took McMurray's stats class, you know is impossible...it makes for a very tiring activity*

I also love just playing games with them :)
I even beat Logan a few times at Blokus until he figured out a good strategy which totally trumped mine.
*sigh* Such is life.

Gratitude #19

Today I am grateful for the environment I grew up in.

Sometimes us kids HATED each other.
But even through the bitter words and fights, we ended up as best friends.

I will always remember the scripture we had hanging on the wall under our school pictures:
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs....22? 19? (somewhere in there)

Christ was always a part of our home, and I thoroughly believe that is why I am who I am today.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Home Heals the Heart

I went home on Saturday :)
I love how every time I go I come back with a heart that is completely healed.
It can be heartache, heartbreak, or just plain frustration...but home makes it all disappear.
I love that.
Also, I got to see my nieces and one of my nephews. That always helps :)

You know that age where babies smile with their whole face? Little I is there:

 Cute Little I and me:

Oh my gosh he's so stinkin' cute!:

Phoebe's response to "Don't play in the dirt.":

 Cute Little Gwennie all dressed up for church:

I don't care what you guys say, my nieces and nephews are the cutest!

My other half...

Photo Challenge: A picture of your other half.

I don't have an 'other' half.
I think I have something more along the lines of 15 other 16ths.

Carley

Kristin

Daddy

Mommy and Linz

The rest of the kids (Rachelle too, she's just not in this picture. Oh, and WITNEY!)

Mystie (and the rest of my Pocatello Peeps)

My Puppies

And last but not least, my Savior.

The House(s) That Built Me

Photo Challenge Day 3: A picture of the house you grew up in.

Well...ask anyone. I didn't grow up in a (singular) house.
We moved a few times, so I didn't have the chance to have a single house to grow up in.

However, I would say that there were a couple of houses that I 'grew' up in I guess you could say. Those two have pictures :)

I don't remember much about the first house I ever lived in except it was pink.
Pepto Bismol pink...

I remember a little about the second one, which was a trailer-type thing that came in two halves that you stuck together. We used to sneak in when we only had half of it (there was a sheet of plastic tacked down the whole open side).

The third house we lived in was in Salmon, Idaho. It was 408 Bean Lane I think...and it was right behind the high school.
My fondest memory of that house was having a barbecue on the back patio and running through the sprinklers when they came on.
I also remember there being a TON of spiders in that house.

The 4th is one of the best houses ever in my opinion...13 Thomas Avenue
Maci and I had so many adventures there. We would swing and play house and walk up S hill and smash bits of glass to make glitter...those were the days.
One bad thing I remember about this house was the mud. Bentonite? I think that's what we called it.
It was SO sticky! The first time I went up to look at the house with Dad we went on a walk and got stuck in it. My feet were glued to the ground and he had to pull me out!

This is actually a picture of the house we started building for Grandma in the back yard. (Hey family, did YOU recognize it???)

I didn't recognize it at all! I just found this picture on the real estate website and realized how much work had been done to it since we left...crazy how time flies huh?

The house that I LOVE (even if it was old and broken down) is the one with the weirdo roof in the background.

The next one was 2512 Granite Way. I loved that house too...just not as much I guess.
Maci and I played at the park and roller bladed more than actually being in that house I think...

1868 Conestoga St. is where you would find me next.
This was the first house that I had ever lived in that had painted walls. It was a gorgeous house with a nice view out the back window.
We lived there for two years before we came to the house that really changed my life. :)

Good ole' Soda Springs :)

Crazy night!

Photo Challenge Day 2: A picture of a crazy night.

This one was easy!

Mystie, Jeff, and I went out late one night and roamed campus. 

We took pictures with all the weirdo statues and had a ton of fun!

But on a more serious note...

Today is Easter Sunday and I am very grateful for all that has been done for me.

My Brother, my Savior and Redeemer died for me but he rose again, breaking the bands of death many centuries ago.

He loves me...

He gave me the gospel...

He gave me an eternal family...

He cares for me...

He hears my prayers...

And I KNOW He always will.

Last night as I was saying my prayers I asked Heavenly Father to help me understand a question that has repeatedly popped up in my mind in the last few weeks.
Before I could even close my prayer I had my answer clear as day!
"You already know that."
That was all.
I lay in bed thinking about what it meant because I was obviously confused...
But then I realized that it was true.
I always knew the answer, I was simply thinking it had to be more profound.

Can I just say I love my life?
A lot!

Tradition

So there has been a photo challenge on Facebook called the 30 day photo challenge.
One of my friends did a 60 day challenge and because I already did the 30 day challenge I decided to do the second half on my blog.

Day 1: A picture of a tradition you have.

So...traditions.
To be honest my family doesn't have that many traditions that come to mind right off, so this really will be a challenge.
The one thing I can think of is this:

Every Christmas Eve we get all sticky and skewer a bunch of Shish Kabobs and throw them on the grill.

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it because of how cold it gets, but I sure do appreciate it when it's time to eat!

The Cutest Pregnant Lady on the Face of the Planet!

I still can't believe my older sister is pregnant...
Maybe it's because she didn't tell us she was pregnant until she was
FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS ALONG!
Anyway, I'm over it. :)
On January 7th Linz had her baby shower
and we had an awesome time.

In this game they passed around nine jars of baby food and we had to guess what they were.

It was ridiculous amounts harder than I thought it would be.

I couldn't tell the difference between squash and carrots.

And honestly, who would have guessed that they make a pureed form of Mac and Cheese?

This was probably the most hilarious game.

We had to root through magazines and find a bunch of random facial features and glue them together.

This is what little G-baby is going to look like according to us.

Notice Lindsay's baby bump on the right side of the picture :)

The Owen Family :)

I seriously CAN'T wait until February 19th. 

Come fast G-Baby!

A Holly Jolly Christmas

This Christmas was the best (and worst) I've had in a long time.
It was the best because I got to be with my family and just share in the joy of the season.
It was the worst for reasons I don't want to go into. If you need to know, you already do.

Christmas was always the best growing up!
We would wake up super early,
Dump out our stockings,
Eat breakfast hours later when mom and dad woke up,
Hastily wash all the dishes,
The OPEN PRESENTS!

It's funny how as the years go on your priorities change.
Now, we always sleep until about eight.
We lazily look through our stockings.
We eat breakfast and throw away paper plates, cups, and plastic forks (we're all sick of dishes).
Then we sit down and delegate who gets to dig for presents.

Christmas is especially fun because we've got Gwen and Phoebe keeping us on our toes now.
If we're not careful, Gwen will rip all the paper off all our gifts! (It only happened once this year).
It sure is a treat seeing what we all thought to get for each other for our sibling gifts.
This year we bought for the person younger than us, so I got Maci.
I had this gift planned for months.

This is 1/4 of her gift. It's a set of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of peas.

The others were an old fashioned telephone,

A chick and egg shell,

and a pair of shoes. (All salt and pepper shakers)

I thought they were really cute.

This was my sibling gift, courtesy of Brendan.

Toy Story 3 and The Book of Awesome.

For those of you who don't know, 

the guy who wrote that book also writes a blog

called 1000 Awesome Things.

Check it out.

It is AWESOME!

I also got a couple of scarves,

And an illustrated book of Christmas carols (the same one I got for Kenna),

A digital picture frame,

7 Pounds (the movie...and unfortunately, the real thing too ;),

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season 9,

A JC Penney gift card,

A Costa Vida gift card,

and Pure Seduction, possibly the best scent Victoria's Secret has ever invented.

Sometimes it's hard to remember the true meaning of Christmas, but it's my prayer that we all stopped for a minute to remember our Savior. Without Him, none of this would have ever happened!

Okay, one last memory.

There we were, sitting in church. Gwen was laying across my lap and had rested her head on Mom's lap. The second speaker got up and began her talk. She started with a story that contained the sentence, "There is no Santa Claus." Gwen said, "No Santa Claus?!" and sat bolt upright with a horrified look on her face. It was so cute!!!

My Addictions...

Edge of the seat.

Nail biting.

Intense.

Twisting and Turning.

Addicting.

Thought provoking.

Hilarious.

Do or die.

Doesn't give a crap.

Addicting.

Clean.

Rockin' awesome.

Versatile.

Amazing voice.

Listen 24/7.

Addicting.

Sweet.

Thick.

Creamy.

Christmas.

Mouth watering.

Addicting.

Spicy.

Sweet.

Chili.

Doritos.

'Nuff said.

Addicting.

Loving.

Supportive.

Amazing.

Happy.

Forever.

Eternal.

Addicting.

Blessing number 27

Home.


"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you." ~Christian Morganstein

I have lived in a lot of places in my life and in a sense I really don't know what town I call home

because I've called all of those places home at one point.

What I do know is that wherever my family is,

That is home.

I surely love this place. It is home.

I know that no matter how bad life gets, I will always have a home to go to.

Even though I don't have my immediate family with me in Pocatello

I have a makeshift family of friends that helps me to call it home.

It may be a strange family, but it's a family nonetheless.

I'm grateful for home.

Even though my family doesn't live here, it too is home.

Blessing number 24

Spending Time with my Family

I post about my family...A LOT.

I must love them or something.

While Logan and Rachelle have been here

we've been playing a lot of games.

I'm sure most of the things we find funny

are really only funny to us,

but I'll share them anyway 

and hope it gets a couple chuckles out of you :)

We thought this round of Apples to Apples

was especially memorable.

Baking Cookies was a "Casper Card"

which is a random card you put into the pot

right off of the deck to give you more options.

Truck Stops was the winner of this one.

We laughed forever!

Even the "Casper card" worked for this round!

AIDS was the winner.

Brendan joined us today.

We made a trip to Alco because we were bored

and ended up coming home with

Pass the Pigs.

(A game where you roll two pigs and get points based on the positions they land in)

There is one position where the pig lands

and is propped up on its snout, ear, and a leg.

This particular position is called

A Leaning Jowler

and it's very rare.

You can't see the pig, but it's in perfect

Leaning Jowler position.

Bren leaned down and I said, 

"Is that a leaning jowler I spy?"

We all burst out laughing...

but we're a smidge weird, so you might not.

I'm grateful for these fun times

we've had and I know we'll have 

TONS more!

I'm getting behind!

I'm starting to get behind on my blogging...I forgot about my goal to blog every day in November to say what I'm grateful for...so I guess I'm starting now! Hold on, it could very well be a wild ride :)

Blessing #1

My roommates! 

This one is Kenna and we went to the Halloween 

Party as an evil greek goddess and a good greek goddess.

We have our differences, but we always end up

getting over it the next day at the very latest.

I have been very VERY blessed to have Mystie and Kenna as roommates.

Blessing #2

Our ongoing war with Apartment #10

For awhile Apartment #10 and I didn't

really get along (boy problems...)

but now we're on good terms and the war is back on!

The writing on the window came from

the girls living in the Collegiate House

but my roommate is the one who put the 

Facebook Like icon under it.

Did I mention I love my roommates?

Blessing #3

My family.

They love me even though I have

moments like this...

Yes, I am standing on a scale...

in my workout clothes...

eating chips...

Gosh, even I wouldn't love me most of the time!

Seriously, I have the greatest family in the 

whole entire history of families!