Favorite Moments of 2012:

• Driving to Metz, France for Sephora with the Amanda.
• Finding an egg in my calzone. Darn French.
• Going to London with my mother.
• Going to Florida with Papa Bear.
• Stealing oranges from the neighbor's orange trees in the dark with the cousin. Bringing them home and realizing they were all rotten. All that sneaking around for nothing.
• Getting stranded at sea, or, in this case, river, and having Eva pull us back to shore.
• Getting videos like this one from Jana:
  
  
• Going to New York for Spring Break and seeing the Crandalls. Minus one.
• Eating my first panini, drinking pear juice for the first time, laying in Central Park, walking through Times Square at night.
• Bringing my mom to experience Rexburg.
• "Deep Talk" with the roommate every night before bed.
• Driving to Jackson Hole with Amanda.
• Going to Nauvoo and all the places in between.
• New York for the 4th of July and surviving the firetruck sirens during the parade.
• Having study sessions with this kid and having it go more like this. But with pizza, of course.
  
  
• Going with Parker and Jana to their grandparents home in Wyoming. First time canoeing, roasting starbursts and riding on a four wheeler.
• Rigby lake with Clarice, Spencer and Jana. I made Clarice swim across it with me since she was getting married. It made sense then.
• Visiting Amanda and her grandparents.
• Daily City Creek runs in Utah with Amanda.
• Almost falling in the fountain in Temple Square.
• Visiting Papa Bear in New York and learning how to drive.
• Visiting Kayla at her home in Park City, Utah. Wedding dress hunting!
• Staying with Jana for three weeks in August/September. So thankful.
• Road tripping with Jana to Virginia and visiting Lindsay.
• Giving myself a black eye as a nine year old watched.
• Labor Day celebration at West Point.
• Giving my first talk ever in church. I'll write it out next time.
• Going to Prague with the Cherringtons.
• Watching these dorks chant with an "indian" homeless man.
  
  

• My dad brought home two cute kittens. George and Wincy.
• Seeing President Monson's talk in Frankfurt then seeing him at the temple!
• Going to the Christmas market in Cologne.
• Getting Taylor Swift tickets.
• Christmas morning with the fam bam.
• Getting my new camera!

Pictures:

The closest Sephora is here. It's a blessing in disguise. 

There were tears 'cause ew.

Momma Bear at Buckingham Palace. Attractive.

Beautiful Florida!

Shipwrecked. Eva stepped on a few stingrays. That's why I'm in the boat.

Rotten orange thieves.

Walking in the footsteps of Chris Evans.

Chillin' in Central Park where the thugs tell me I have a cute smile.

I like it here. It's fun. I miss them terribly. Btw, we're in the same house. : )

Yeah, I stole Kayla's hoodie. I'm doing an excellent job canoeing. About to crash. Like the Titanic.

We sent pictures to Parker 'cause we missed him. And I have a black eye.

George and Winston napping. Such cute kittens.

 We like to take pictures from the car. While it's moving. Sometimes it works.

Cherringtons & I in Prague.

Alison and I at the Hard Rock. We have a tease/laugh/love relationship.

President Monson at the Frankfurt Temple.

Momma and I at the temple.

Christmas Market food!

Christmas Market in Cologne!

New Year's Eve party food!

Bringing in the New Year!

George & Winston

There are two adorable kittens that have moved in with us. I joke and say it's my crazy cat lady starter package. But that's just a joke. Must be a joke. Please be a joke. Anyway, here's the story:

While I was in Virginia, my mom calls and tells me that our cat died. My dad was pretty upset. This was "his" cat. I didn't care for her much but that's probably just because I didn't bother with her. She was an old cat and therefore grumpy. Talk about scratches. My dad, on the other hand, loved the cat.

A few weeks later, as I'm in New York, I call my dad and ask if he is going to get another cat anytime soon. He says that a guy at work has some kittens that he is going to looking for homes for in a few weeks. Excitement level = ecstatic! I love kittens. So cute and playful! I ask my dad if we can get one. He says "maybe." My mom said "no." Long story short, my dad totally talked her into it and, a few weekends later, we were playing with eight little kittens trying to decide which to choose. Hardest decision ever. I fell in love (I mean, IN LOVE) with a little black & white one while my dad chose the runt. The compromise? A cute, black kitten with a white spot on his chest. We were told we could come back two weeks later to pick him up.

Two weeks later, I'm sitting in the back of the car with a box on our way to pick up our little kitten. We get there and our kitten is brought to us. Feisty little thing. Did not want to be held. I figured he was just scared. As we are standing around talking, the wife of my dad's friend says that a lady was looking at the black & white kitten I liked. She said that the lady wanted to have him declawed. Now I'm not 100% sure of what 'declawing' entails but it does not sound like something my little black & white kitten should endure. So. I gave my dad the puppy "papa bear, i love you" eyes. My dad asked them to bring the kitten up. I knew right when my dad asked for them to bring the cat up that I was getting him. My mother was standing there all "what is happening?" My dad said we'd take this kitten, too. Two kittens! I like to think we saved this kitten rather than stole it away from some other family. Cats need their claws man. Not saying they shouldn't be trimmed because if you look at my arms right now, you know that I'm 100% for the trimming of nails.

So now we have two cute little kittens running around the house. I love them. My dad's (the black one) is named George and mine is named Winston. Like George Winston the pianist. Yeah, we're cool. My mom still can't grasp the name Winston though. She calls him Watson and one time she called him Jackson. I just laugh.

The kittens have been good so far. No major disasters. The curtains are still hanging and the toilet paper isn't shredded...anymore. Winston only has about five of his lives left according to my Papa. They're just so cute. They don't stay in trouble for too long :)

My mom calls him a little devil. Among other things.

I was packing.

They seriously sleep like this all the time. 

Soo Long Florida

I've been back from Florida for about a week now and, of course, I'm missing it like crazy! There's just something about being by the water that makes life feel a million times better. Siiigh. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my favorite moments from the trip with you.

Let's start from the beginning. My first day there was a Sunday. My dad and my uncle went out fishing but my cousin, Eva, and I stayed in. It was meant to be windy and rainy that day and we are both too familiar with the torment that results from boating in such conditions. Brrrr. As we are laying in bed after our dads leave we hear, "Get your cameras! The peacocks are right outside!" We fumble out of our beds looking a bit dishevled, disheveled being the understatement, and head outside. We take our time getting the pictures and, while doing this, an elderly couple comes riding down the street in their golf cart. Oh, lovely retirees and their golf carts. They wave and we wave back wishing we had at least combed our hair before going outside. Ohwell.

"Can peacocks fly?" "...And there's your answer."

Later that night we had a fish fry. Some friends of our dads came over to eat with us. Eva and I ate in the dining room, which is where we came up with our plan to steal some oranges from the neighbor's orange tree. Wholesome Sunday family activity. We waited until dark and put on our black hoodies. Not that they helped with my legs being as white as snow. We headed out saying we were going for a walk. "This neighborhood is safe. Little crime," said my uncle. Hmm. We get to the orange tree and my strategy is to grab as many oranges as I can in the shortest time possible and scram. Eva's strategy is to grab the oranges that are at the top of the tree and not give up until she gets them. It would be a good strategy...if she were tall. I'm running back to the street and I hear *thump* ...*thump* ...*thump thump*. The oranges are falling out of the tree as she is jumping to reach the ones at the top. "What the hell are you doing?! Let's go!" And back to the house we go. We get inside and my uncle is standing in the kitchen sneaking food. "You caught me," he says. Our hoodie pockets and hands are filled with oranges. "You caught us," says Eva.

"Girls, those were ripe in December.." 

Fishing. Florida = fishing. I don't mind fishing, I really don't. What I do mind is reeling something in and not knowing whats at the end of my line while being in waist deep water. I could be reeling in the death of me for all I know. My first day out I caught one fish and two rocks. That night I caught a stingray and an oyster bed. Score.

Beach day. Who doesn't love a beach day? I love them. My dad, Eva, and I headed into Vero for a day at the beach. I've been to the beach plenty of times growing up but I've never actually gone into the water. I'm standing in the sand all hesitant and Eva just jumps into the waves. "That girl is freakin' crazy," I thought. "Come on!" said Eva. No. "Let's go!" she says. No. Then she grabs my hand and pulls me in. I'm glad she did. I loved it. Then all the worrying came back. "Evaaa, what if a shark comes?" "The water is crystal clear. The lifeguard will see it and say 'Get out! Shark!' and we will. Besides, there's no sharks here." Okay, works for me. After a while we get out to dry off. She stays at the towels and I go walking down the beach with my dad. He stops and talks to a guy fishing. It was all very uninteresting until I hear, "Yeah, we caught a bull shark right out front here. Took three guys to bring him in. Took us all the way down to that pier." Say what? I went back to the towels to have a little chit chat with that girl.

So pretty!

I think this next story will be the last for tonight. Stingrays and I aren't friends. Unless, of course, I'm just watching them swim around at the dock. Then it's okay but if I'm in the water...no, no, no. So we are on an island..fishing, of course, and I'm doing pretty well. I see a stingray out in front of me and I freeze. I try to be like a statue when I see these things. It didn't move. I stomp my foot down in the water hoping to scare it. Usually they swim away when you do this. This one came towards me. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" I said as I walked closer to where my dad was. I was trying to stir up sand along my way to blind it. I don't even know if you can blind stingrays but I was trying. I look behind me and don't see it. Thank goodness. I cast my pole and start reeling in. I look to my left and there is the stingray. Dear goodness. "Dad! Do stingrays follow people?!" "No, they are scared of you!" This one wasn't. I walk a bit further down, stepping over rocks that are in the water. No way the stingray can get over those. I cast out again and start reeling. Look to my left and there the lovely thing is. "Daaaad! It's FOLLOWING meeee!" "Emily! Stingrays DO NOT FOLLOW PEOPLE!" Apparently you're meant to be quiet when fishing and my hopping around trying to lose the stingray didn't quite fall under the 'quiet' category so he was frustrated. Instead of arguing, I decided to walk by my dad. I purposely walk in front of him and wait. "Geez! It is following you! Get away from me! Get!" he says. Point proven, time to skedaddle. I went on shore for a bit and waited for it to leave. I guess it's not just the boys that can't get enough of me, eh?

Stingray!

The best story by far was Eva having to pull the boat to shore. Such a typical "Rice" moment. It was so sad that it was funny. Us Rices have learned to just laugh at the craziness that comes our way. We can't avoid it so why not laugh?