Reasons to not show up late to a movie night

This is what happens when you show up late to a movie night that YOU planned. And it's at YOUR house.

"John, you shoot him with the Nerf gun to distract him. Tim, you come at him from the front while I take him down from the back. Alex, you initiate the dog pile. Emma..." ~Ryan

"I got the video camera." ~Emma

"Good work." ~Ryan

We sat around waiting for Zach to show up for a good twenty minutes. You would think that after living with Ryan for so long he would realize that when you leave Ryan in a room filled with fellow mischievous people Ryan will then take charge and plan some sort of attack.

I love the part where Alex starts giving him a noogie. hahaha

Gratitude #10

I guess I should do a Halloween post :)

I am grateful for all my friends and co-workers and clients that made this Halloween unforgettable!

I went to the Institute Dance as Celia from Monster's Inc.

Only Ryan was able to guess correctly who I was.

I got a lot of this:

"Pippy Longstocking?"

"Do I look like freaking Pippy Longstocking?!"

I mean come on, this costume is SPOT ON!

At least the people who guessed Medusa were close.

I went to a couple Halloween parties and Trick-or-treating with my client, so I went as a hippie.

It was a LOT faster and easier than Celia.

I got a lot of compliments about this costume and I really liked it a lot.

(The costume, not the compliments, though those were nice too.)

My roommate wore an authentic kimono.

There is a reason I wasn't born Japanese...that was super difficult to put on correctly.

Dear Friend

Dear Friend,
 Thank you for listening...I know that I am not always the easiest person to get along with and that sometimes I probably use your shoulder a little too much, but I wanted to let you know that I appreciate it.
 I know that we have had our tough times and that our friendship almost didn't last, but I am saying right here and right now that I will be forever grateful that it did.
 Thanks for always knowing what to say and when to say it, even if it's hard to hear and I really don't want to listen. You are helping to make me stronger.
 Thanks for not giving up on me when I was out of line. I know I've been there a time or two, but you never stay mad at me for long. I am trying to learn from your example.
 You are very special to me, and even though sometimes you annoy me to no end, I can't imagine my life without you.
 Thank you!

Love,
Emma-Leigh

You Feeling Lucky Punk?

Zach, Ryan, and I just spent the last hour shooting each other with my Nerf gun...
One would shoot, one would dodge, the other would spectate.
Then the dodger became the shooter, the shooter became the spectator, and the spectator became the victim.

Zach taking a moment to reload 

I really don't think Ryan was playing around...

And it turned out that Ryan was a REALLY good shot

Scroll down for more evidence of this fact.

I was just a little dumbfounded.

Sunday ♥

I used to dread Sundays.
Course, I think just about everyone did. When you're a kid it's tough to sit still through 3 hours of church.
As I grew older I definitely started to like them more, but since I've been in college it's been AMAZING!
I personally think I have the coolest bishop in the world.
Last week at ward prayer I answered a question before the bishop could and I guess he was a little miffed...he asked me to speak in church.
I honestly don't mind speaking in church, so of course I accepted.
Today, as I was speaking I could feel the spirit so strongly, which is a good thing considering I was speaking on The Spirit of Revelation.
Bishop gave the male speaker a handshake and then hugged the two female speakers.
I really appreciated that.
With Bishop Wilker you always know that you are loved and cared for.
He rocks! 'Nuff said.

After church I was invited to eat lunch with a new friend of mine who just returned from her mission in Japan.
We had mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn. SO good.

I then went to another friend's house and made homemade ice cream.
My family is definitely no stranger to homemade ice cream, but we use freezers, so it was a little different making it in a Ziploc bag.

Ward prayer is always a treat.
We always start out with trivia from the Ensign. I think that's awesome because it encourages me to read it and actually pay attention.
I'll do anything for pudding! (That's one of the usual prizes)

Another kind of tradition that has started is going over to Tim, Zach, and Ryan's house and playing games.
We used to watch movies, but everyone agreed that we get to know each other a little better when we can actually talk to each other.
I don't think I have ever laughed more in my life than when I am with these guys and the rest of our friends.
The letter game, What if?, Signs, Smurf...the list of games grows every week

How did I get to be so lucky?
I am SO grateful for the gospel in my life.
I am grateful for my friends.
I am grateful to be alive.

It sure is a great life :)

PAIN!!

For FHE last night we went to Steadman Ranch and went down the water slides. 

It was so much fun!

We decided to get a big group together and go down one of them, so we gathered the tubes.

I guess I wasn't situated on my tube very well because it didn't take long for it to flip and throw me off.

That part didn't hurt so much.

As you can see in the picture, I'm still smiling.

HOWEVER!...you see that tube behind me? 

They were also in the group and got separated basically right from the start. 

I heard Pono yelling, "Emma! Emma move!"

I looked back in time to see that I was too late, so I ducked my head and prayed they would hit me with the tube.

They didn't.

I don't know what hit me, but it was solid.

It sent me spinning down the hill.

Honestly, I thought Pono's voice was so funny that I didn't fully feel the pain until later, but man oh man does it hurt!

My First Trip to Wyoming!

It all started three years ago in Washington DC.

I was part of the team who made it to the National Science Bowl and I was super stoked!
The third day that we were in DC we met some really nice guys from Star Valley.
Brittni, Ashley, and I spent as much time with them as we could over the next couple of days.
We made a ton of memories that I wrote in my journal (there may or may not be three pages)

"There's a David-shaped hole in this bush!"~Zac when David tried to jump over a 6 foot bush and ended up going through it

"Fox SKUNK fox SKUNK fox SKUNK!"~ Tyson and David playing Fruits Basket. Tyson was skunk and David was fox

"Well that's just trecious!"~Apparently this is something they say in Star Valley? Treasure and precious

"Could you turn the radio down? I can't see!"~Their friend was telling a story about a guy who got so drunk he was seeing sound waves

"Are you gay?"
      "Only on Mondays"~Zac's answer to everything. And proof that it doesn't always work out.

"I don't have a list. She just has to be a good little Mormon girl."
      "Uhhh...Zac? I'm pretty sure that's a list." ~Zac and Tyson talking about their ideal girl

These are just a few!

Tyson is the only one that I really kept in contact with.
We became pretty good friends.
Here we are in DC back when I was a Sophomore and he was a Senior:

Ugh! I had glasses and a freshly unstitched weiner dog scar on my lip...

That was the cause of a lot of teasing:

"Okay, I know it was a weiner dog, but what were you doing? Kissing it?"

So naturally I made plans to attend his homecoming talk!

And here we are after his talk on Sunday:

Much better! Scar isn't so visible and glasses are gone!

Also, Carley's family was kind enough to let us stay in a house they own in Star Valley so we didn't have to leave too obscenely early in the morning.

Carley and I may or may not have worn the same color...

This is Carley opening the closet in the room we stayed in at her great grandma's house

And this is me at the other end of the closet....also a doorway to the other room

I had an awesome weekend folks!

Soda Springs Graduation 2011

On June 3rd I made the trip to Soda to see some of my best friends graduate from high school.

These are the gifts I made for Carley and Brianne.

As I've said before, I am not a poet, but I gave it a shot. 

I printed off the pictures and framed them.

If you want to see them full sized, just click on them :)

My dearest friend Carley and I after the ceremony.

I can't believe that it's already been a year since I was in her place!

She's going to be studying cosmetology in Utah.

Mr. Boulder and Miss Emeria had a little reunion!

Nathan is going to Carroll College to become an Orthopedic Surgeon :)

Bradyn  Bradyn Bradyn...he is going to USU to study aviation.

She got her diploma!

NOT!

I think just about every graduate has a picture like this.

(They have to turn in their gowns to the office before they get their diploma)

Brianne!

I love this girl so freaking much!

She's not sure what she wants to major in,

but she is minoring in Photography at BYU-I

Congratulations graduates of 2011!

For a look into my life during the last week, click here.

My Advice to the Class of 2011

Congratulations guys! You did it!
You made it through four years of high school and survived!

Now comes the real test.
Mom and Dad are (most likely) not going to be there to make you do your homework and make you study and make you go to bed at a reasonable hour.
There are going to be TONS more people where you're going.
There are going to be friends forgotten and new friends made.

So here's my advice from a 2010 graduate to the 2011 graduates:

Push yourself.

If possible, don't work your first semester. If you do, keep the hours to a minimum. You need to get used to college life and the homework load before you do anything drastic.

Hold back on the fatty foods.

Always get enough sleep the night before a test.

Stay away from the 8 in the morning classes.

Try not to steadily date someone your first semester. Believe me, this is the advice I wish I had followed.

Find a park close by. It's an excellent stress reliever.

Set up a budget.

Do your homework the day you get it. This is not high school! Late work is definitely frowned upon and you usually get docked. Like a lot.

Don't get in the habit of skipping class because you think it's not important.

Just because a class is a general doesn't mean it's going to be a piece of cake. The hardest class I've taken was a general history class.

Don't be the roommate who lets the dishes in the sink pile up to a Mount Everest look.

Put yourself out there. Make new friends.

Never hesitate to find an excuse to go home for the weekend. My mom wishes I went home more.

Stay in touch with old friends.

Start a journal. If for nothing else, just to write funny quotes and memories in.

Take lots of pictures.


The one thing that's going to come as the biggest shock I would say is that the people you once thought were cool...don't really matter anymore. You don't have to associate with them on a daily basis anymore. This is the time for you to find out who you TRULY are. Not who high school defined you as.
Live it up guys! College is going to be the best time of your life!

Tent Party!

Lyndsey said that she wanted to go camping the other night, but that wasn't an option.

So we did the next best thing:

This tent is set up in our living room!

Oh, and that's not Lyndsey's hand on my knee...that's mine.

Her arm is around Jeff and it just happened to line up perfectly with my hand.

Oh Grayden, you make me laugh!

We had a fun filled night of watching School of Rock and talking until like 3 in the morning!

It made getting up for work the next day not so awesome for Lyndsey, but it was definitely worth it!

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.

Basically, this is my life

I feel like I have been very adequately named.
Wanna know why?
Well, I'm gonna tell you even if you don't!

My life can most definitely be a dilEMMA!

(I feel like I should mention that I haven't seen this movie)

And I also feel like this song describes my life most of the time, which STINKS!

I guess it's gonna have to hurt

I guess I'm gonna have to cry

And let go of some things I loved

To get to the other side.

I guess it's gonna break me down

Like fallin' when you're tryin' to fly

It's sad but sometimes moving on 

With the rest of your life

Starts with goodbye

However!

I have made a commitment to myself to be happy.

So no matter how bad things get or how much I wanna quit

and run home to my mommy...

I'm gonna be happy.

See past the bad things and focus on the good.

I'm gonna get through this...

1. I have an amazing Heavenly Father.

2. I have an amazing religion.

3. I have amazing roommates.

4. I have an amazing family who sticks by me no matter what.

5. I have an amazing job with amazing kids who teach me more and more and MORE every day.

6. Jeff let me have first dibs on his Reed's Dairy Chocolate Milk

7. Ryan left me half a chocolate bar on my bed (where the other half went I could only guess)

8. Mystie left me a letter on my bed that made my day.

9. Megan made me laugh at myself for toasting a corn dog on the toaster.

10. I got to walk home in the middle of a rainstorm.

Life.

is.

good.

Pie and Moustaches!

First of all, Happy Pi Day everyone!
This is quickly becoming my favorite holiday ;)
One of my good friends, Kyle, was feeling ultra ambitious today...
So we ended up making eleven pies.

Yes, you read that correctly. Eleven. As in one one...11...Once...you get the picture.

Here are a few pictures of our evening:

Derek was "Maria" today. Maria is their dishwasher.

Lauren and I took care of most of the pie fillings.

Mastermind and pie crust maker

As well as making fillings, I also rolled out lots of dough. I find that hilarious because I'm not particularly gifted at it...

Here they are all done! Melissa also helped peel the apples :)

Nice face Kyle ;)

Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue, Coconut Cream, Pecan, Apple, Pumpkin, Two Chicken Pot Pies, Fudge Ice Cream...thing, And I think there was another Coconut one too.

At around seven we took a break from our pie making and went to our separate FHE activities. 

Actually...I think I'm the only one who was in a different FHE group...lame.

Anyway, guess what the activity was in my group?

Yep, you guessed it. Pie making. 

I guess you could say that I'm a little pied out right now.

Cody cutting the Key Lime Pie. (Kinda amazing that they came up with ANOTHER flavor of pie that Kyle didn't eh?)

And this is what we did while we were waiting for the pies to be done. 

Yes, we made moustaches.

Jeffrey trying to look "subductive".

That's a direct quote.

He's kinda brilliant haha

This is Jim...affectionately called Jimberly. 

He will probably kill me if he reads this.

Overall, today was a good day! Lots of laughs and memories made.

I love Pi Day

♥

3.14.11

To Carley

I have always really enjoyed writing poetry, even though I'm not the most talented person when it comes to the...putting words together and them sounding good...thing.

I was able to scrape together a couple poems that I wrote to my dear darling best friend Carley and I figured that I would share them with all of you :)

To the Eternities

It still amazes me,

This friendship that we've made

All the good times and bad

Those memories won't soon fade

I went from Mckenzie to Emma

And much to my surprise

You went from just a friend

To the best one, in my eyes

You help me when I need a laugh

You help me when I fall

I know that when my day's been bad

I only have to call

Sure, we've had our times

When the hurt could not be masked,

And holding us together

Was no simple task

But we made it through

And we'll make it to the end,

Even to the eternities

As each other's best friend

The part that says, "I went from Mckenzie to Emma" refers to the fact that one of the first things she ever said to me was, "You look like a Mckenzie to me. Can I call you Mckenzie?" She gets embarrassed by that now, but I still think it's funny.

My Best Friend

You're not perfect

There are many mistakes you bear

But you're my best friend

So I don't care

You say silly things

And often show the color of your hair

But you're my best friend,

So I don't care

You and I

We make the perfect pair

This thing that we have

It's got to be rare

And when you're in the nursing home

Racing up and down the halls

You can bet I'll be there

Helping if you fall.

I was going to be all creative and try to write another...but I don't think I could :( I wouldn't be able to write it down effectively. 

I seriously love this girl!

Blessing number 23

Random Acts of Kindness

I am so grateful for legitimately good people in this world.

Logan and I went to play basketball at the church

with some friends and when we turned into the parking lot

we found ourselves stuck.

I got out to try to push us, but....

Yeah, I definitely wasn't enough.

Then my good friend Mystie

saw us while she was shoveling the sidewalk

and ran over with her shovel to help.

Then Nathan just happened to be driving by

and pulled over to help.

He helped push for a minute, 

then he offered to go get a tow strap to pull 

Logan out of the snow.

We ended up getting Logan out

before Nathan could get back,

but it just made me think about 

how grateful I am for people who don't

always think of themselves.

These are legitimately good people that live here in Soda Springs.

Just so everyone knows, no matter what everyone says about you,

I still think you're rockin' awesome! ;)

Another awesome example of this 

would definitely be the Stoor family.

Last year I spent a weekend with them

in Rexburg and while we were out sledding one day

we must've pushed 6 cars out of the snow.

Photo courtesy of Google.

I can't even remember the number of times 

I heard them say, "Random act of Kindness!" 

and drop whatever they were doing

to go help out those in need.

I sure look up to them!

Thank you to every one of you

for being awesome examples!

I love you all!

Blessing number 21

Memories ♥

Whenever my siblings are in town

we sometimes sit around for hours

talking about the memories we have

about growing up.

I'm grateful for all of these memories.

Good and bad

and for the lessons they've taught me.

This is Brianne and I at Bear Lake last summer.

This was the only time I've ever been to Bear Lake

and it was so much fun!

We flipped a canoe over and tried to stand on top

and rode the waves on inner tubes.

This is a picture from the Suns/Jazz game I went to with Bradyn.

This is the first and only professional basketball game I've been to

and even though the Suns lost, I think it's one of the best games I've ever seen.

This is a group picture from my junior prom day date.

We went to Logan and picked out ugly outfits for

our dates from DI. 

Then we wore those outfits

and went ice blocking down Old Main.

We scared sunbathers and started a stampede

and basically had the time of our lives.

I miss these guys!

So...

Let me explain this picture.

This is a poster at Marsh Valley High School

and every year during Nerd Bowl

someone on the team takes a picture of it.

Our team got a kick our of making fun of

this poster every year.

I miss Nerd Bowl!

This was my 18th birthday party!

I was planning my own party, but my friends

surprised me with one a few days before my birthday!

Carley told me that she and MaRhea wanted to

play games at MaRhea's house at 7

so I headed over without doing 

my hair or my makeup or getting dressed for the day.

(It was a lazy day)

I was sure surprised when I walked in to see

all my friends.

They're the best.

This is also from Nerd Bowl.

Shelby drew Superman symbols 

on all of our hands and we 

called ourselves Super Soda all day.

Then we lost...oh well.

Maci and I the day we were driving to Idaho Falls

all by ourselves.

We alternated the colors of our shirts and 

hair bows.

We got comments on it all day

and gave each other high fives 

whenever someone noticed!

Orange and purple! Represent!

We came home once to find a mountain

of snow in front of our garage.

Maci and I set out to clear it...

then we got bored.

So Maci would scoop snow into my shovel

then I would throw it over my shoulder.

One year at Girl's Camp we were Ireland,

so Carley and I wore Ireland boxers

all around camp all day!

So much fun!

And just like everyone else, I have my blonde moments too.

I don't remember how this happened....

All I know is one second the can of soda was next to the sink

and the next it was falling down the garbage disposal.

It was too far down to get our fingers around

so we just kinda left it there until dad 

came home and used the kitchen tongs to get it out....

we definitely should have thought of that.

I have tons more memories I could share,

but that would take YEARS!

I love my friends and my family and all of the 

memories we've made together.

Here's to many more!