As 2013 draws to a close...

I am finding it incredibly hard to believe that this year is almost over. Looking back on everything that has happened, it has definitely been my hardest overall year. A real roller coaster for sure. Here's to hoping 2014 is better!

Also, a side note. I usually use my journals to write these things, but I don't have the one that covers the first few months of the year with me, so events may be sparse...mostly in February and March.

January:

• Brought in the year by myself...in a blanket fort...and I'm fairly certain I fell asleep at like 10:30 haha
• I bought a car! Or, you know, I'm in the process of buying it. It's the first big purchase I've made, but I love that thing :)
• I had a TON of reservations about applying to Pharmacy school. Nerves, I guess.
• Finally finished the cross stitch of Christ I had been working on for years.

February:

• The application deadline for Pharmacy school!
• I turned 21

March:

• Interviewed for a place at ISU's College of Pharmacy
• Got accepted to said College of Pharmacy. Wahoo!

April:

• Was laid off when my company was forced to close its doors.
• Rediscovered my love of reading.
• Welcomed Porter Sheldon Owen to the world on April 5th :)
• And let's face it. April was basically occupied by being depressed about the loss of my job. I found it hard to get out of bed many days. Thankfully that didn't last long.

May:

• Started working at Ed Snell's Pharmacy Shop- the same pharmacy I had been observing at for 2 years
• Called to be the FHE coordinator in my ward.
• Found out that Rachelle was expecting a baby in December!

June:

• Baby sister graduated from high school!
• Was a witness in a court case...which was definitely a new experience. 
• Celebrated Thanksgiving in June! (Cause if there is such a thing as Christmas in July, there should be a Thanksgiving in June, duh)

July:

• Started observation hours at Advanced Isotopes of Idaho (a nuclear pharmacy)
• Also started my community pharmacy hours at Ed Snell's...cause they are awesome like that.
• Lagoon with two of my very best friends!
• And...most of July was filled with sleeping then volunteering then sleeping. 1:30-4:30 in the morning at the Nuke, 9:30-6:30 at Snell's. Sleep in between.

August:

• Began Pharmacy School!
• Finished official observation hours!
• Won a randomly drawn scholarship at White Coat Ceremony :)
• Learned to give flu shots...not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Getting my white coat from Dr. Liday, my advisor.

September:

• Finally got to play floor hockey again!
• My family moved from Soda Springs to Blackfoot. It's nice to have them so much closer to the family!

October:

• Participated in flu shot clinics to get in some experience and hours for school :)
• Began a new cross stitch (Nature's Paradise by Thomas Kinkade).

Here is where I'm currently at on the cross stitch. Over half way done and only been at it for 3 months!

November:

• My stake officially finished indexing 1,000,000 names for the year.
• Gave my first presentation of my pharmacy career.
• Floor hockey again! Wahoo!

December:

• Attended the Forgotten Carols with Sunny, Sarah, Katie, and Amy. It was good to be reunited!
• Finished my first semester of Pharmacy School. Just 7 more to go!    ...eesh
• Baby Samuel Shadrach Owen arrived on the 14th :) So adorable!

I am not going to mince words, 2013 was hard. It beat me down in ways that I have never been before. Don't get me wrong, there were lots of good times. Lots of happy times! But there were so many times that I am just thankful I was able to keep my head above water. 

This year has made me stronger, that's for sure. For that I am grateful, but I can't wait to see what this new year has to offer. 

Happy 2014 everyone!

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!

Best Saint Patrick's Day EVER!

Normally I think St. Patrick's Day is one of the most useless holidays ever,
but this one was different...

Lyndsey went out to check the mail in the evening and handed me a card.
That was exciting enough! I love getting mail.
Then I read what was written:

Leprechaun's Gold

The Irish are coming they will soon be seen

So keep an eye out for those dressed in green

Find a four-leafed clover and it should bring you luck

Then if you catch a small man he can't run amok

Keep a vigilant watch out for those pots o' gold

It could really help out the ole billfold

But we've got some news, which will make you fill richer

Than chasing rainbows and all that leprechaun's glitter

You will soon be recounting the family tree

As our number of two will soon equal three

Love Nathan and Rebecca

I thought this was the cutest way to announce another niece or nephew EVER!

I can't wait for October to get here!!!

Congratulations Nathan and Rebecca, you're going to be awesome parents!

I love you both so much :)

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

Valentines Shmalentines

Let me just start off by saying something ironic.

The day set aside to celebrate LOVE is the one I HATE the most.

And I know what you're all thinking.

"Emma-Leigh obviously didn't have a valentine!"

...Which is true, but it's not the reason I hate Valentine's Day.

Why is it that we have to have a special day set aside to tell everyone we love them?

Shouldn't we do that anyway?

I think that you should tell people you love them EVERY DAY.

And strive to make loved ones happy EVERY DAY.

Tell people how much they mean to you EVERY DAY.

I mean flowers and chocolate are nice...but they are only temporary.

I want an ETERNAL Valentine's Day...and more importantly, an ETERNAL Valentine.

One who will look me in the eye EVERY DAY and say he loves me. ♥

One who will NEVER leave me. ♥

One who will watch a Suns game with me and keep the negative comments to a minimum. ♥

One who will help me do the dishes. ♥

One who is willing to do nothing and be satisfied, just as long as he's with me. ♥

Does this man exist?

Eh....maybe. I'm probably going to have to fudge a little on the Suns and dishes.

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!!!