Just In Case You Didn't Know

My sister is having a baby boy!!!!

Check it out here.

Yup! That is right! I am going to have a nephew and I am certain he is going to be the CUTEST thing ever! Especially since both his parents have the prettiest blue eyes ever and some killer looks. Needless to say I am ecstatic and happy for both of them.

Congratulations Catherine and Jesse!

Already from the pictures my sister put up he looks to already be the cutest kid ever.
I can't wait to meet him in a few months and hold him and play with him and then give him back to his mommy when he poops. Yup, being an aunt is going to be great. =]

I hope y'all are having a great day, I know I am! Can you say YAY to know work again until next Tuesday? Can I get a Halleluiah? Have a wonderful Wednesday!
I feel like my weekend has just begun. =]

I get to see my family on Friday!
Happy happy happy happy happy!
Happy happy happy happy happy!
Happy happy happy happy happy!
Happy happy happy happy happy!
Meg

Smile Like You Mean It, Laugh Like You Don't Care

This weekend has been epic for several reasons.

The first being that I got to do a photo shoot of my friends. I'll show you my favorites of each, but you can see the rest here. They are all up now.

Let us start with Nikki:

I would comment on all of these but I rather not and let you enjoy them as they are.
I hope you appreciate these as much as I do. =]

Jaide

Jeanette

Eliza

Freyja

These are my friends:

Great aren't they?

My roommates and I Fall 2011:

This is one GREAT group of girls.
I am loving this semester so far and hope to have a blast in the future! =]

Aside from that Jenny and I got to play Glow-In-The-Dark Hide-And-Go-Seek in a cave and it was a blast! It was dangerous and now I look like I got attacked, but it was completely worth scraping my knee, hand and neck and the 7 bruises on my knee and that I had a limp for 2 days. Trust me I wouldn't change a thing.

Later that night I got to go play at the sand dunes and only got attacked down the hill once! =D

Sunday I had to work from 3-8 but no worries, I went to my old ward with my friends Tom and Haley so I didn't have to miss out on the blessings of church. I even got to have a nice chat with Haley over lunch before I had to go to work.

Albert came over to my apartment for the first time in weeks and I got to introduce him to 2 of my roommates and my friend David. Davids reaction to Albert and I being siblings was PRICELESS.

Albert: "Yeah we're siblings."

David: "........FHE siblings?????" (confused look)

Albert: "No. Like I remember my mom being pregnant with her."

(Albert and I giggling as David tries to figure out if we're being serious).

David: "You guys don't look related at all...."

Me: "Trust me, we know."

Today I woke up to my friend telling my I would make a good missionary. I have determined that is one of the highest compliments anyone could give me.

I have gotten to talk to my mom LOTS lately and I love it! Even got to talk to my daddy for a bit! And Rachel of course =]

I hope to hear from Aaron and Catherine SOON please. =]

Today has had perfect weather.
I ran into a new friend in my home (The Spori building) and got to talk to him for a bit.
New Testament is AMAZING and INCREDIBLE. Enough said.

My FHE family is AWESOME!
We played "Never have I ever" and next week we're going to play "Disney: Scene It".
I think this will be a fun semester. =]

And I got to write 3 of my friends and mail their letters off today.
Letter writing is pretty much a hobby now.


Basically life has been great these past few days and this next weekend will be just as great because my family is going to be reunited ALL together for the first time in over a year. =D

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend, have an even BETTER week and remember to enjoy the small things in life. Joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God. (I think I have quoted that before but I still love it). Love y'all!

My neck looks like a vampire bit me.
I know people keep staring and want to
ask about it, but are too scared to ask.
I just have epic falling skills okay?
Meg

Happy Happy Happy Happy

Do you know what makes me happy?

Taking pictures!

And I got to take LOOOOTS of pictures today!

And now I am thrilled beyond reason! =D

I am happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy!!!!

Though I will never do such a large photoshoot again unless the people are wearing outfits that work together. It is too hard to get a wide range of pictures that fit peoples personalities within a short range of time without people getting bored or complaining. Plus you don't get to know the people as well when working with so many. Lesson learned.

Nonetheless it made my day and now I have warm fuzzy feelings. =]

Check the pictures out here.

I'll be adding them over the course of the next few days.

This only reconfirms my love of what I do. Man I am glad this is what I chose to do for a living. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. Thank you Julianne Smoot for inspiring and my family for supporting me in my choice. =]

And thanks to my wonderful friends that have encouraged me and let me work with them to better my skills. Without y'all I would not be where I am today. I have much to learn but y'all have taught me a great deal. Thanks for your support!

Love you all!

Camera's make me happy
People make me happy
Happy happy Happy
Meg

In A Moment

Just some stuff on my mind:

I don't have time anymore. I barely have time to blog when/if I remember. I haven't called anyone on the phone for more than about 10 minutes at a time in weeks. I don't know the last time I REALLY talked to anyone in my family (outside of tonight).

I saw Albert for the first time in 2-3 weeks and he lives 30 seconds away. Sad huh?

I love my New Testament class.

I loathe work.

Sleep and eating 3 meals a day are no longer the highest priorities on my list, thank you work and homework for trying to kill me.

I got to skype a friend of mine Sunday night. Thank goodness for friends that make you laugh.

Friday will not come fast enough.

I guess I'll
sleep when
I'm dead.
Meg

Thoughts of a Megan 2

After reading my siblings blogs here and here, I felt inspired I guess you could say to share some thoughts that have been on my mind recently. Lately I have been struggling without actually having any struggles, outside of feeling like I have no time. My classes are nice, work is....work, I love my roommates and I am home among the people of Rexburg. Not to mention meeting lots of cute guys lately....but I digress.

Lately I have been thinking about what makes me happy. When I say happy, I don't mean buying something cute or wearing an awesome outfit. I mean what makes me GENUINELY happy. The first thing I thought of was making dinner. As most would know I am not a cook, I don't do anything fancy. Tonight however, I was able to make dinner for my roommates as well as 2 of our guy friends that "just happened" to show up as we were sitting down to eat. And something about having everyone sitting down to share a meal and making everyone else happy and satisfied brought me joy. Out here it seems hard to find ways to serve, but my little attribute to feeding my friends gave me a good feeling.

Another thing is making new friends. I feel this past week we have met TONS of guys, by tons I mean 10 or so. We even played phone charades with some of them last night, and then those guys plus some came over tonight for game night. But I digress, it has been fun to meet new people that we may never would have met if we didn't go to the concert last night or if my roommate hadn't drawn on the guys hand sitting in front of us at church today. There is something about building friendships with people who live all over the country. Everyone comes from a different background with different experiences and that learning process is fun.

And finally just enjoying the friends you do have. I got the chance to talk to a friend tonight for two hours. I have NO clue what we talked about, I only remember laughing most of the time. But it was fun, it gave me joy to continue to build that friendship and to build the friendships I have here. I am surrounded by some amazing people, whether they live in my apartment, a block over or several blocks over, some even several states away. But we all come together and bond no matter how different we are, we get to enjoy the company of people we may have never met if it weren't for this school.

So think about it. What makes you TRULY happy? Do you enjoy laughing over silly stories, meeting new people, cooking, learning, trusting? I hope you enjoy the small things, a funny story or joke, whatever it may be. Because without those small things in our lives, we could be pretty unhappy. We're all blessed in our own ways.

But to see the blessings, sometimes we have to face challenges first. I know I have had some lately that have really tested my strength. I have had to face fears that I didn't want to deal with but I did, and I know I am stronger for it. My teacher once said we are the sculptor and the sculpture. We have to hammer away at our imperfections to become better. Is it going to hurt? Heck yeah it will hurt! But in the end we will be perfecting and creating something worthwhile.

So hammer away, but know you'll be better for it in the end. Along the way look for happy moments that make it all worthwhile. Joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God.

Chin up and hold strong
because you are worth it.
Meg

Let Us Drink To Our Health

With something delicious!

Like a smoothie!

Behold my beautiful creation!

I got a ring for my blender making it useable again so I got some fruit and juice and made my own recipe of goodness.

I call it Tropical Summer.

It is a mix of grape, pineapple, blueberries, banana and raspberry in a blend of goodness.

All my roommates loved it except Nikki (She opposes most healthy food).
But nonetheless a beautiful creation. Thanks to Smoothie Etc. for teaching me the ways of smoothie perfection. =]

Next time you come and see me, I'll make it for you. =]

I keep dreaming about
2 brothers but I don't
know who they are.
Get out of my head!
Meg

Procrastination

Here are a few things that happened in the last 2 weeks:

I made Arizona Skillet Dinner and Albert and I ate it.

I think he's excited.

Up close:

Look at that heaven sent creation of goodness. I could eat it everyday. Seriously, I have.
Cheap, easy, feeds lots of people and DELICIOUS!!

I also made brownies. And devoured them all by myself.

Albert came over about a week and a half ago and fell asleep on my couch.

How sweet. Love you brother! (please don't get mad at me).

Melissa and I stocked up on caffeine for the semester. Don't worry, it was on sale.
This is what is going to get me through Tuesday's and Wednesday's.

Melissa and I and our Mountain Dew.

Yes there was other soda on sale, but these were our favorites.

I got bored and did a photoshoot of myself.

I like being my own photographer and model because I can tell myself what to do and I can trust the photographer to know how to take a decent picture. Yup it is a good situation. =]

And Jenny and I saw this at Walmart...

Only in Idaho....
(the bottom says "Long long ago in a potato field far far away..."

Melissa and I found this monkey holding onto our fridge.
His hands had little pockets for your fingers to fit.
We assumed that meant you were supposed to launch him like a slingshot.

We shot him off the balcony. No we did not break him. It was Emily, a girl who was trying to return him up to the 3rd floor, that broke him. RIP little screeching monkey's arm.

I love guy's pants.

I can pull um up to my armpit and then they're SLIGHTLY highwaters....

They are men's smalls. Oh my love of Mountain Dew products. =]

Awhile back Nikki turned the temperature of our fridge down because our milk was tasting a little funny. We forgot to turn it back...

You know what happens to eggs when they're in the back of the fridge when it is TOO cold?
(see below)

They freeze.....

I finally got a decent picture of the building I climbed with my friend back towards the end of July. Behold Frontier Pies:

Cool huh? You know you want to climb it too. Don't you see the HUGE sign that says "climb me!"???

In other news I am studying about ancient fertility statues in 2 of my classes along with cave drawings and medieval paintings of Christ's life. Good mix right?

And I LOVE my New Testament class. Attractive guys and a phenomenal teacher! We have only covered the first 17 verses of Matthew and already I have learned a great deal. I think this will be a fun, yet extremely spiritual class. I can't wait to learn more.

And by the way, if I don't know what day it is, PLEASE forgive me. It is not that I am stupid, but I study art in the same room everyday for anywhere between 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours and honestly I can barely tell my days apart because I learn some of the same general stuff day after day. Don't worry, I will know when it is Friday-Sunday, but no promises Monday-Thursday.

Also the Spori building is FREEZING! It feels like winter inside there. And I don't have signal in there from 9:45-1pm Mon-Thursday. Just warning you.

Anyway, I love my classes and by the end of the semester I will feel like a historian. Too bad I still have about half a dozen or so art history classes to go! I'm starting to feel like an art major....=]

Now off to read more about fertility dolls and living with art.

This is my brain:
Art art art art art
art art art art art
art art art art art
art art new testament
art art art art art
art art science art
art art art art art
art art art art art etc...
Meg

I Only Have One Thing To Say

Psh yeah right, I never have JUST one thing to say. Here are a few findings:

1) I am exhausted! My classes are not hard, just long. I have 3 hour and a half classes all in the same room. Spori Room 035, you are now my new home.

2) My biggest stress is time and work. I feel I only an hour here and there to spare.

3) You can call me on Fridays. TGIF has never been so true and so wonderful in my life!

4) If I start sounding loopy, I apologize. Bare with me, like I said, I am tired. Give me a few weeks and I should be ok.

5) Sudoku and Disney movies are a perfect way to end the day. Joyful, happy and peaceful.

6) I feel like a little kid again having to pack my lunch in the mornings. Like I said, I spend from 9:45am to 1pm in the Spori most every day.

7) And finally, I am excited for my FHE this semester. I am the FHE mom. Though now they call it the HE group assistant.....still meane FHE mom. We have 6 girls and 6 guys; finally we have a balance!! (It used to be 12 to 6. Not in my favor). I hope it will be a fun semester. =]

Well off to do some homework, maybe get in a little power nap and then off to work.

Also Henry J Eyring (Henry B Eyring's son) spoke at Devo today. It was really good. He looks JUST like his dad. I'll tell more about it later.

Keeping you on your toes
& keeping your eyes peeled
don't sounds pleasant at all
if you think about it.....
Meg

Short and Simple

Classes start in the morning. I am a TAD nervous, but mostly for the fact that I think I might die of hunger tomorrow. I have class for just over 3 hours tomorrow in one room in the basement of a building. I don't get out of there until 1pm. I think I might just pack a sandwich and eat it between Art History I and Art History 2.

I hope I am not the ONLY crazy person who signed up for both history classes at once.

But I have 3 classes in that room, totaling 9 hours in a basement. Awesome huh? You could say I have a new home.

Work is.......work. Not thrilled, but to make me feel better, I remind myself that it keeps me here on my offtrack. And I like to eat. And have an apartment. Oh curse these luxuries I enjoy....

Friend-wise things are AWESOME!!!

My roommates are pretty much the BEST THING EVER! I love them all to bits and I think we are going to have a blast this semester.

Haley Nicholas has come over every day since she got here. She can talk MORE than me. I kinda really love it! She's a doll and she gets along with my roommates perfectly. I'd say she is a keeper!

Everyone is settled in now and today I realized I have no "fun" classes. My "fun" and "hard" classes will PROBABLY be art history......yup.......art major.....woohoo!

Also scripture study is AMAZING and has really made a difference in my days. The CES fireside was REALLY good tonight.

My ward seems nice. LOTS of cute boys!!! *Praying that the cute boys from Harris are in my FHE!!!*

Saw Jason Hiatt today and screamed his name loudly. =] Yup I think he appreciated it....haha

And I love my roommate Nikki. She is a doll and the sweetest person ever! Love you deary <3

And I got to skype Hannah and Lizzy! That was lots of fun =]

I think that is about it. If you wanna know more, ask. If you comment on this post saying what you want to hear more about, I'll do a little longer post on that stuff later.

I got another letter from Michael Gmeiner; he is doing well. And I am expecting a letter from Rachel! I'm excited!

That's all for now.
TTFN! Ta ta for now!

Frozen banana
slices are delicious!
Meg

On a side note to all of that rambling and wishing I had been born about 40 years earlier, today has been a great day!

I got up this morning with not much time to get ready, but I did nonetheless and got to church JUST in time. Part of me did not want to go this morning. I was tired and my roommates were not awake and I could have easily gone to bed and missed everything. But something told me to go and so I did.

I ended up sitting with my friend Kate for all of church. And let me tell you, today was one of the best Sunday's ever! I mean church is always wonderful, but I feel normally the first hour I get so much out of it and then the rest of the time I get a bit tired and struggle to focus. But today I have never heard such wonderful lessons. Our Sunday school and Relief Society teachers were incredible! They taught by the spirit, got people to participate and hit some key notes that I think we all needed.

The lesson in Sunday school was called "Keep the Ordinances, as I delivered Them". Crystal (our teacher) pointed out that all covenants we can think of are appendages from the atonement of Christ. And that God is not a respecter of persons, so why should we be? So often people are scared to share the gospel or even discuss religion with others. Growing up in the Biblebelt, my friends all come from different religions and I think it is the coolest. We should not be scared to share what we know, for you never know who is looking and you might just have what they need. She went on to discuss the importance of friends and how they can strengthen us. And at the end of the day, with their help as well as teaching others, we can better learn for ourselves and remember the covenants we have made with the Lord. I know everything that was said today is true and that often times we forget the promises we have made, but we can always come back. We can always find what we need.

To go along with that, Relief Society was about being an example as friends and future mothers. We must practice what we preach; therefore we must start learning and making habits of those things we want for our children or for whomever we may eventually teach. We are examples now as friends, siblings, partners, husbands, wives, parents, teachers or coworkers. We set an example and if we step back and look, what kind of an example are we setting? Would we want others to follow in our footsteps? This hit me because there is a great deal I want to approve upon within myself. And I am slowly working to become the person I want to be.

Years of lessons, great examples (my family and close friends) have taught me ways to improve and day by day I am learning. I hope you can take a look and find some way to better yourself. Others might not notice right away, but in time it will make a difference to you and those around you.

We are here in this life to be the best that we can be. I want that for myself and for you. You can and should be the best you can be. We only have the time that is given to us. Take advantage of it. I promise it will change your life.

The Lord knows what
is in our hearts, as long as
we have a prayer within.
Meg

A Little Old Fashioned

Sometimes I think I should have been born in my parents generation.

Let's face it, they knew how to dance; swing, latin, ballroom, and everything awesome!

I recently learned how to do The Pretzel in swing dancing! I'm proud of myself. I think swing has to be one of my favorite styles. I might go to one the dance classes on campus to learn more awesome moves.

In my parents generation they had records. And I am pretty sure records were and still are one of the COOLEST inventions ever! I will never forget rocking out to The Carpenters with my mom and dancing around our living room when I was little. I'm pretty sure she even has some 45's. Mom you better NEVER sell those or I will cry!

For the record (teeheehee), my roommates and I have been listening to and sharing music from the 50's-80's these past few days. I got Melissa addicted to The Carpenters. Heck yeah!

And I miss snail-mail being the main form of communication. Don't get me wrong, technology is great, especially with family and friends being so far away, but I love letters! I am certain I have sent more letters this past year than I have received, but when I did get those letters, I felt special beyond reason. I am now currently starting on my 3rd book of stamps in the past year. (Told you I like writing letters). There is just something incredibly personal and sweet about a letter that no text or box of chocolate or present can ever replace. And if you want a letter, give me your address and I promise to send you something heartfelt and probably kind of silly.

Anyway, sorry to ramble, but you know I'm right. Letters are amazing and fun and there is something about letters that just beats all other forms of communication when far apart. Maybe it is because you know that person had to take time out of their day to sit down and truly dedicate time to thinking of you. They were caring enough to ask about your day and tell you stories and to really think what was worth putting into a letter for you. So I hope you go and write a letter to someone, you might just make their day.

And finally there was less T.V. then. Fewer shows (let's face it, there is a reality show for EVERYTHING now) and most of it is a waste of time. I think T.V. is one of those things I have slowly grown to disdain (minus a few shows). We could all be spending our time much better. We could be writing letters, doing homeworking, reading a book or learning a new hobby. Or this is a crazy one, you could CALL people on the phone, like phones were originally meant to be used for. When was the last time you called someone JUST to call them and see how they were doing?

I got a call from a friend last night just to talk and see how I was doing and it made me really happy. It was fun and helped strengthen a friendship. So next time you're listening to a song or watching some pointless show, think what you could be doing better with your time. Thnk back to the days when people actually danced, and sang about things other than heartbreaks and lust. Think about someone else, make a call, write a letter. But don't waste what is given to you, because there are so many great things about there. Take advantage of the simplicity of how things used to be. It might just make a difference in your life and someone else's life.

He didn't humans social
so that we could be alone.
Make a call, reach out.
I'll reach back.
Meg

What To Do, What To Do

What is the only proper thing to do when you cannot sleep and you have a chocolate craving?

Make brownies of course!

Nothing tastes better than hot out of the oven brownies right before bedtime.

Now time to go get some stamps and do some DEEP cleaning before my roommates start moving in next week. And devour brownies in between.

Also note: When going boating in a raft and you have no paddles, brooms make a great replacement. Just make sure to convince your roommates to bring TWO brooms instead of ONE.

And ducks will eat just about ANYTHING.

Let's go have some fun!

I want some...
Yeyow grapes?
I like yeyow grapes.
Meg