The Sweetest Things

So, a couple of years ago I posted a ranting post about Valentines Day, which you can read here if you would like. If not, it's whatever. I'm not going to judge you for it.

In that post I shared how much I dislike Valentine's Day, and I shared a few things that I was looking for in my ideal husband. Here's just a little snippet:

"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."

I was reading through my blog archives the other day just for fun and found this post. As I read through this list of things I wanted I realized that I've found him! This man DOES exist!! And I didn't even have to fudge on the Suns and dishes!

*dreamy sigh* my fiance is so handsome!

The best part is, I got so much more than I could have ever asked for when Daniel came into my life.

I have dated some great guys in the past, but until I met Daniel none of them have given me this constant feeling of happiness! I still get excited to see him and he still gives me butterflies all the time. This summer when we're living in different towns and working all the time is going to be the worst. I just can't wait to marry him :)

He makes me laugh every day, he supports me in my future career, he is thoughtful, kind, easy-going, hard-working, and SO much more. And he says the sweetest things to me.

He quotes songs to me, which kinda makes me a little weak in the knees...
ex) "Baby you light up my world like nobody else", "When you and I are alone I've never felt so at home", etc.

He calls me beautiful all the time, which is just nice to hear even when I haven't done my hair or makeup or really gotten dressed for the day....you have to make sacrifices on test days...

He is constantly thinking ahead. The other day I had work and study group until late, and I went to his house for lunch before work. He made me this HUGE meal and told me that he knew that I probably wouldn't get a break for dinner, so he wanted to make sure I got enough to eat.

And the day before that he brought me some food to my study group and stayed so he could give me a ride home so I wouldn't have to walk.

And the best thing is that every day, multiple times a day, I'll hear this, "Hey you! I love you!" That will never get old :)

I love him so much and can't wait to spend the rest of my eternity with him!

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?

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.

To the Woman I Took For Granted

Today has been a strange day.
Work was cancelled until 3 for me,
so I had a lot of extra time to do anything I wanted.
 I could have gone on a walk or read a book or taken a nap (my personal FAVE), but I found myself doing the dishes...
             Then sweeping the kitchen...
                                       Then cleaning the living room
                                                Then vacuuming.
I remember how hard mom had to fight to get us to do our chores.
There is one time in particular I remember duping mom...
When I was seven or eight I was in charge of sweeping the kitchen.
Mom and Dad were out of town for the day, and what did we do?
Put off our chores until the very last second.
Most of them didn't get done.
I knew mom would find out that I didn't sweep...
But then I had an idea.
I grabbed the broom and swept only under the bird's cage.
With the most noticeable part of the room looking good,
I lazed around for the rest of the day.
I felt good about everything until Mom and Dad came home.
They scolded everyone but me for not doing their chores.
The worst part was, all the kids knew that I didn't finish...
I was EVERY BIT as guilty as they were...but I didn't speak up.
Up until now, my mom has never been let in on this little secret...

Even after I finished all the cleaning I still had two hours before work
So I sat down and wrote a little poem...
I call it:

To the Woman I Took For Granted

There were many mornings
You woke up with the sun
And though you were tired
The dishes were always done.

There were many days
When I was feeling sick
You would give up your time
And you always came quick.

There were many days
When I needed to talk
A lot of that happened
When we would take a walk

You never asked for payment
You never asked for more
And even when I shut you out
You never locked your door

And now I'm on my own
I think of what you've done
I'm cleaning by my own accord
So thinking back, you've won

I may have fought,
Been anything but calm
But in the end, I know it's true
I love you, my dearest, Mom.

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!