Year in Review of 2013 (Part 1)

I know it's half way through February but it's never too late to reflect. Most of this is from last year with a few from January so enjoy!

(Also these are in a random order so just go with it).

This fall Garett and I got to meet our all time favorite author Brandon Sanderson!

He's very laid back and very nice and just a cool guy.

Also he is not as nerdy as he looks. 

Sometime this year Garett made me a traditional African dinner (though with much more meat than they would have had). It consisted of meat drenched in soup mixes, fried cabbage and sadza (which is like a mix between mashed potatoes and play-dough). You pinch it into a small bowl and scoop up the other food with it. Also it has the consistency of peanut butter without the nice flavor and VERY messy. Apparently you only eat it with one hand so the other one stays clean to grab your cup with.

We celebrated our 1 yr anniversary in August and just 2 weeks ago celebrated 18 months of being married.

Man does the time fly!

During the 7 week break we went to the sand  dunes with out friends and played Betrayal at the House on the Hill!

Also in the summer we went to Yellowstone with my parents for a weekend trip and got lots of love from a bison. 

Out best friends Katy and Sam got married! =D 

I took intro to Studio Lighting and learned I never want to have my own studio, but also learned some fun stuff:

Like textured lighting

 How to shoot glass, which is evil but slightly less evil than metal spoons. 

Had an AMAZING Christmas break with my family where we saw and fell in love with the movie Frozen and had lots and lots of fabulous family time. 

Also I have been growing my hair out and Garett grew out his very attractive beard!

I got my first smart phone and immediately loved snapchatting with my little brother and friends from back home!

Garett's mission president became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and gave his first talk in General Conference in October! Also I got to meet him for the first time in April and let me tell you, he is an awesome, powerful yet funny man. 

I was on track for spring and fall where I took lithography and watched people build a teepee in the middle of campus. 

Got addicted to Community! Thanks Sam! Anyone who considers themselves even slightly nerdy should watch this.

Saw the edge of a storm.

And enjoyed some lovely rainbows after long days at work.

 Fell in love with our popcorn maker!

 Tried out bangs a few weeks ago.

I like them some days.

Also watched the Superbowl this year with friends and ate WAY TOO much, but it was totally worth it!

Remembered my deep deep deep love of Mexican food and places to eat that have "taco" in the title. 

Trimmed Garett's beard

And got taught my this awesome lady for 3 weeks during my studio lighting class. Hoping to take portraiture from her in the fall! Her husband was eh...(he was my main teacher)

Overall is was a fun year! One more post soon to come to finish off this year in review!

Posting for Posting's Sake

I don't particularly have much to say. I PROBABLY could show you pictures but I am being lazy. Plus all the fun ones are on my phone. One of these days I will post them. Probably around Christmas time so don't hold your breathe.

Currently I am sitting in the I-Center on campus in between classes. I would have been done at noon but I have another class at 3 pm. =/ On the bright side I killed my Medieval art history test! Take that Late Christian/Early Byzantine Style! Not to mention studying Codex from different gospels. So I am happy.

Now I just have Studio Lighting left in which we will review our last assignment and then my teacher will monologue for the next 2 hours about nothing in particular. You see his wife is teaching our class for these next 3 weeks so we are doing her assignments. The assignment we are reviewing today is the last one from him for awhile, but I don't know what else he has to say since he's not giving the assignments for a few weeks. But regardless he will monologue the whole class period, despite it supposedly being "lab time" which should be optional....not that I am bitter or anything.

I really am in a good mood though, despite my lack of sleep from studying for my test. Mostly I was anxious for that test so now all is good. I am going to try to get my online homework done here in a few minutes though so I can pack tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to pick up the AMAZING Haley and then head down to Utah to keep my dad company and see my little brother! Extremely jealous of you mom! In case you were wondering she is in Michigan with my sister, her husband and Nikolai! REALLY REALLY jealous mom! But it is okay because we're going to see our most favorite author of all time Brandon Sanderson on Saturday! I hope I can play it cool though, because honestly I just want to flip out, but I don't want to come off as some insane fan girl. Though I really am...anyway definitely looking forward to that and some open road car time with Garett.

I feel bad, this week I've probably gotten to talk to Garett no more than 5 minutes at a time. It's been one of those weeks where I'm running constantly for about 14-16 hours a day non-stop. Let us hope next week is a little slower. Bless his soul, he has been extremely patient with me. I am the luckiest girl to have such an easy going, sweet husband. I am definitely the anxious, stressed out crazy one in our relationship. Garett's just crazy in good ways, though no one ever sees it but me. That man, he comes off so quiet and sweet. Don't be fooled, he's actually a very hyper child. I mean that in the sweetest sense possible. He's hilarious and makes me laugh all the time and it is wonderful. Honestly I need his goofiness all the time.

Anyway sorry for the off topic rant. He really is awesome. I hope all of you get to meet him one day. And for those who have met him, I hope one day you get to see his goofy side because it's hilarious and so much fun. For our friends who have seen his goofiness...you understand. =]

I guess I'll end this. Sorry it's so long, but if you have read this far, good job. I owe you a hug.
Keep laughing y'all.
It really is the best medicine!
-Megan B.

Are They Really on NOW 45???

I just saw a commercial for NOW 45. Does anyone else remember when they came out with the first NOW CD?

Anyway I had to give you an update after finishing "The Way of Kings" and it is SUPERB!!!! 

It got high remarks from authors such as Patrick Rothfuss who said " I loved this book. What else is there to say?"

 and Orson Scott Card said "It's rare for a fiction writer to have much understanding of how leadership works and how love really takes root in the human heart. Sanderson is astonishingly wise."

He has a way of making his characters so real that you have to love them. Not to mention he writes from 4 characters perspectives which gives his books a unique insight, maybe that is why you get to love his characters so much.

His magic systems are mysterious yet incredible, his plot lines are deep and intense. He is not one of those writers that writes a first book, thinks its fun and then decides to write more. He plans his stories out so when he writes a trilogy they tie together perfectly, often there is a deeper story that runs all the way through all three stories. I'm probably not even doing the book justice, but just trust me. If you want a book that will have you constantly wanting more, this is the book for you.

  

Ok now that I got that out, now I am back to L.E. Modesitt. I read his "Imager" trilogy and it was pretty good. I think that this story is a little more interesting than his other series, but lets face it, I'm always going to compare every other writer to Brandon Sanderson. Blame Garett for having me start with his books. I've only just started this one and I do like it, but we shall see.
It is a world of Order Mages, Chaos Mages and Gray Mages. Different countries accept only one type of Mage or all of them. The country this book takes place in is of Order Mages and they believe Chaos and Gray Mages are evil. The main character, not yet a Mage is having troubles of being bored with order and though he understands it, he does not want to accept it, so he is being sent on a quest to find out where he belongs.

I think it will be good, but only time will tell. In the evenings when Garett and I have time to spare we play Mario Galaxy 2, which is SOOO much fun!!! It's definitely one of our favorites, and Just Dance 4 is good for my morning work outs. I am really NOT coordinated so it's good that no one else sees me. I probably look preetttty silly. 

 

I am trying to decide what I want to do with my hair. I like it short but then I can't do anything with it. I like it long but it can be so much work. Not to mention I don't have the patience to let my hair grow out. I hate the awkward stage of too long to look style it short-like, but not long enough to do anything with. Soooo if I can keep myself talked into it, I think I might be growing my hair out. We'll see. Anyone else have any of ideas I should try?

Finally we finished the first 4 seasons of "The Mentalist". We have some ideas of who Red John is. If you haven't been watching Season 5, go watch it....Mom......;D It's the greatest show ever! I think Simon Baker (who plays Patrick Jane) is pretty darn awesome.

And for cuteness sake, here are some pictures from the photo shoot for Nikolai's 1st birthday. Just enjoy the cuteness. I do all the time.

Well that is all for now. But you should watch this Superbowl Oreo commercial. It's awesome. Hope y'all have a good week! 

Dreaming of being in

Lord of the Rings

AWESOME

Megan B.

I Crave What I Do Not Have

Really this post is not about cravings at all, mostly because I feel SLIGHTLY queasy due to my recent start on medication and therefore food doesn't sound all that great to me right now.

Except maybe a chocolate milkshake. That sounds good.

I wish I had some ice cream now.....

More than anything I am just kind of sad right now. 

I spent MOST of the day either sitting on the couch reading with Garett (My new favorite past time) or sitting in my room reading.

Either way I finished Book 1 of the Mistborn trilogy and I found out that one of my favorite characters is ACTUALLY dead. =[ 

I kept holding out that they might come back and actually still be alive despite the impalement they received, but alas no luck.

I am not sure that a day spent in bed is good or means I have no social life outside of Garett and Haley, but I appreciated it. 

Also I am not sure if my sadness is due to said medication or if I just get too emotionally involved with books.

But that is how Brandon Sanderson is, you get emotionally involved and they when they die or betray you or some other horrific fate, you end up sad. Now I am not saying I cried when the character died (mostly because I didn't WANT to believe it) but all the same I am mourning the loss of a fictional character. Say what you will of whatever this means, but I will try to see it as Sanderson's writing being good enough for me to care about his characters. 

Now I am off to find something chocolatey...

or sweet...

or delicious.....

30 days.

I can do this. 

If this is the only side effect 

of medication, then I think

I can handle it.

-Megan