Four Years - and Fifty Months

Four years. That is how long I have been the happiest I have ever been. Four years since I started the hardest but most rewarding chapter of my life. Four years of laughter, tears, and love.

On January 10th, Dillon and I celebrated our four year anniversary (but I'm guessing you already figured that out). Unfortunately, it was another anniversary spent apart. We decided not to get anything for each other since his birthday, Christmas, the wedding, etc. had just happened. But of course, he completely surprised me and sent me a small gift basket that included a balloon, chocolates, and the most adorable bird figurine. It was small but it meant so much to me. Actually, when I saw it, I burst into tears. Like full on sobbing. It was just so sweet that he thought to send me something after we told each other we wouldn't be buying gifts this year. That, and it broke my heart that we were apart yet again for another big event in our lives. But oh well. That night we Skyped and ate, drank, and watched TV together. A couple of his friends came in and serenaded me by playing the guitar and singing Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker. I had a stupid smile on my face the entire time, it was actually super sweet.

I love you Dillon. Here is to the fifth chapter of our lives together; let it be filled with more love and more happiness than ever.

Also, a couple days ago was our 50th monthaversary. I know that seems like a silly thing to be happy about seeing as how we just celebrated our four year. But after reading this post I don't have any shame in it. Fifty months is a long ass time!! I don't think monthaversaries should be celebrated to the same extent as anniversaries, but I love that we exchange little "happy monthaversary, I love you!" texts. We should celebrate the small things in life. And especially with a long distance relationship, I think we should celebrate every. single. day. I'm not saying that we struggle to stay together every day, but oh my gosh, long distance relationships are the epitome of hopping on the struggle bus. Not trying to get pity or anything, but it's hard being apart from the one you love more than anything in the world. I know that there are some good things about being in a long distance relationship, but I would trade those any day to finally be with Dillon permanently. So here is to celebrating the small things - the years, the months, and the days!

When I Was a Youngin'

Do you ever think of things you did/said when you were younger and cringe? I do. But I also laugh. I may have been ridiculous, but I even find myself cute for just being so darn young and naive. Is that conceited? Probably. Oh well. Just look at this picture and tell me you don't agree. You can't, can you??

My cousins and I. We keep trying to convince Dan that we need to recreate this picture but he refuses. Lame.

1. I was extremely competitive, and an extremely sore loser. One New Year's Eve, when I was maybe 10, my parents decided to teach me how to play Risk. So here I am, my first time ever playing, and I was convinced I would win. But when both of my parents ganged up on me and kicked me out of the game? I cried. I literally pouted the rest of the night. I mean, what kind of parents don't let their child win ALL games, am I right?? I continue to hate losing to other people. I even got upset the other day that the 10 year old I nanny beat me at Monopoly...I think I need help.

2. I was a very sheltered child. One day I was sick and was left home alone. I decided to be a rebel and watch MTV. "Milkshake" by KELIS was on...and I definitely had no business watching that. Why did she make so many milkshakes?? And why did all the boys want them so badly?? This was seriously the raunchiest thing I had ever seen at the time, and I felt so cool watching it. And possibly a little dirty.

3. Speaking of being sick. One day in elementary school I threw up in the bathroom. I went to the nurse and she called my parents. At first I was super excited, as any kid would be at getting to go home early. But then I saw the lunch menu for the day and it was nachos, my absolute favorite hot lunch the school served. I immediately told the nurse that I felt much better and I wanted to stay at school. She gave me a weird look and told me to shut up and wait for my parents (not really, but she may as well have).

Stick around and I'll soon post a "things I believed when I was a youngin'" post. They're equally as ridiculous.
Are there any stories about your younger self that just make you laugh?

New Year's 2014

Whoops! I totally forgot about my catch up posts. My last catch up post was the wedding. And next up, New Year's Eve! Dillon and I made plans with my cousin and her fiance, and then our mutual friend (and both of our old roommate) Toni and her boyfriend, to go to...........drumroll please......the casino!!! Surprising right?

It was super packed and the only open spaces were in the high stakes room, so Tricia and I let the boys do their thing while we cheered them on. Basically, we drank, talked, and drank some more. Luckily the boys were able to put down their chips long enough for a New Year's kiss, but then it was right back to black jack. It was still an amazing New Year's and 2014 has already been pretty great!

Hey! A Fun Weekend!

I finally had a memorable weekend! I usually work 12 hour days both Saturday and Sunday, but I was able to have this Sunday off. My best friend Jamie moved to Texas last August, which is just stupid, but she came home to visit and so I took a day off to see her!

I left work Saturday night and drove straight to her house. It was pouring rain and usually I don't mind driving in the rain, but the visibility was awful. It was actually a little scary. So once I got to her house I wanted nothing but to cuddle in bed and drink wine with her. But our friend Beca pretty much said "F you we're going out." Haha. It was already late so we just went to Applebee's for appetizers and drinks. But you know what? I didn't take a picture - in typical Emily form. So I guess it didn't really happen, right? But here's a picture of us from my 21st birthday!

Sunday was the absolute best! We went to a Cubs spring training game with her mom, aunt, and sister.

They played the Royals and while I have no ties to either team, since Jamie is from Chicago, I obviously rooted for them. Meanwhile, I was singing Royals by Lorde the entire time and this happened:

I swear they both love me...

Afterwords we went to Portillo's which is an Illinois based fast-food restaurant. There are only a few of them outside of Illinois and thank goodness there are a couple in Arizona!! It was my first time eating there and I got a breaded chicken sandwich on a croissant with fries. It was absolutely delicious. It's probably a good thing the only two are over an hour away from me because it's a little expensive and I know I would want to eat there every day. If you ever get the opportunity to eat at Portillo's, you need to do it!

Unfortunately I had to work this morning so I wasn't able to spend another night with Jamie. It wasn't even 24 hours together, but I am just really happy that we got to see each other again. We're the kind of friends who can go months, and months, and months, without seeing each other but we're still able to pick up right where we left off, as if we had just seen each other the day before. It's unfortunate that we do go that long without seeing each other, but I love that we have that kind of friendship. Until July, best friend! Love you!

Things You Will Never Hear Me Say

1. I seriously love that I can see your butt hanging out of your shorts! So. Cute.

2. Oh this top knot? I didn't even try, really.

3. I am such a morning person; I love waking up before 9am!

4. Oh don't worry, I totally don't mind that you didn't text me back for a couple hours.

5. Cooking just comes natural to me, I don't even use recipes!

6. Please don't tell me how you're really feeling, I love playing this game of "guess which kind of emotion I'm feeling towards you today."

7. Can we please stop watching Netflix?? I have watched way too much today.

But you know what they say, never say never, right?

"I Love You"

Oh, the first time. If I'm being honest, Dillon was not the first boy I said those three little words to. But with said other boy, they were just words with no meaning behind it. I was a silly 15 year old and had absolutely no idea what it really meant.

With Dillon, it was different. Although I still have to say I don't think either of us knew exactly what it meant to say those words. I believe that we both loved each other at the time, but it was still a puppy kind of love. I think we have been learning throughout our entire relationship what love really means. We learn what it means to love each other every single day and there will never come a day where I know everything there is to know about loving him and being loved by him.

Our first ever picture together.

Wow that got real sappy real fast. My bad. Anyways, onto the story. It was about three months into our relationship, which at the time seemed like forever, but now I can see what babies we were. I remember it being night time, and we were in the parking lot of Fry's Grocery Store. We were arguing about who knows what when all the sudden he kind of threw up his hands and said "I love you, okay? I just - I love you." And you know what I did? I just stared, smiling, like a total crazy person. I was seriously so surprised that he left me speechless. Eventually he was like "Well, aren't you going to say something?" Poor guy looked so sad. As if I wasn't going to say it back! And then I did. I said those three words and my life has changed forever. Maybe too dramatic? But probably not. He has changed my life, this love has changed my life. Super romantic though, right?

Our first trip together - up to Oregon! Three months after the first "I love you."

Again, sappy. Sorry! But you want to know the funny part? Dillon and I were talking about it when he was here last weekend and he has a completely different memory of our first "I love you." The way he remembers it, it was very calm and he said "Emily, I have something to tell you. I love you" all sweet and romantic like. I'm pretty sure I'm right, but I can let him have this one if he really wants. ;)

Ipsy Favorites

It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to write reviews on my ipsy glam bags I receive each month. January was my fourth month and I have been very impressed with my bags! I have decided, however, not to write a monthly review. Instead, I will make one post every few months of my favorite items I have received. My main reasoning is because everyone is different. What I like and dislike will most likely be different from what you do, but I would rather share what I like in hopes that you will like it as well, rather than sharing what I dislike and swaying you away from a product that you could actually love without my review. So here we go!

October//The Art of Beauty

Eco-Beauty Facial Cleanser Wipes - I absolutely loved these facial wipes! One reason is because, since it has been cold out, my faucet takes forever to heat up, so these were perfect for the mornings when I didn't want to waste water. They have a scent, but it was very subtle, so it didn't bother me. They are 100% biodegradable which is pretty cool, and can double as a light make-up remover. Find them here.

November//Glam It Up

Pixi Beauty Bronzer - I was kind of nervous about this because I have never used bronzer before. I didn't really know how or where to apply it (I know, that's embarrassing, what kind of girl am I?) but after looking it up I tried it out, and loved it! Since I don't have anything else to compare it to, I really can't say that this is the best bronzer ever. But I loved how it looked on me, and found myself putting it on almost daily. My color was Summertime, but it also comes in After Beach Glow and Subtly Suntouched. Find it here.

December//Glam It Up

Pop Beauty Naturally Bare Eye Shadow - So I'm actually obsessed with this color combo. It is so perfect for my skin tone; it's not too dark that I look like a raccoon when I put it on, but not too light that you can't even tell I'm wearing make up. It's just a sample pack but these three colors are perfect together. I put the gold (middle) as the base color, the grayish color (right) as the "smoky" effect on my outer corners, and then the white sheer (left) as the highlighter under my brow and in the corner of my eyes. When applied with the Mirabella Eye Blender Brush, which also came in this month's bag, it goes on and blends perfectly! Find the full size product here.

NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick - I am not a big lipstick fan. Actually, I don't think I had ever put lipstick on since my red Belle lipstick from when I was 6. And you know what happened to it? A boy who came to my mom's daycare ate it. Yes...ate it. So I was wary to try it, but I ended up loving it!! I got the Goddess color, which was so perfect. It was a very subtle shade and is true to the name, going on very creamy and beautiful. Find it here.

January//19 Reasons

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave in Conditioner - Geez that's a mouthful! I have a leave in conditioner already but don't use it too much. But I was really impressed with this product. It smells really good and doesn't leave my hair feeling greasy or anything unnatural. And it definitely helps detangle my hair! Find it here.

And that is that! My five favorite products I have gotten so far from my ipsy glam bags! That's not to say I didn't like the rest of the things I have gotten. So far, there really hasn't been anything I didn't like. But these are definitely my favorite and the ones that I find myself reaching for to use again and again. And if you are interested in getting an ipsy subscription yourself, you can sign up here!! It is probably the best purchase I have made for myself.