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

If I Never Left

I would be completely happy.

Y'all, I have fallen in love.

I thought I would never be able to love any other mountains other than the Appalachian mountains. Given, I still love the Appalachian mountains the MOST, but the Tetons are now a close 2nd. They are BEAUTIFUL! And to prove it to you, I will show you some pictures, though they don't do them justice.


This was on our ride to Wyoming.
Though this is not the Tetons, it was still rather pretty.

Oh how I have missed the greenery!

Green, green, green!

The Grand Tetons!

A close view.
Yes that is snow.

So pretty that I had to show them twice!

Even closer from the campsite.

We were right next to an overflowing river.
It was beautiful.

And there were trees!
LOTS AND LOTS OF TREES!! (I was a happy camper!)
And yes that is snow at the bottom of the picture.
Those trees were extremely tall, I felt right at home.

The river ran through the camp grounds.

I feel Aaron would have loved this.
Trees fell to make natural bridges that Nikki and I crossed several times.
And had a cute little waterfall.
At night we had skits and a bonfire.
And it was amazing!

We got to explore, have a devotional, eat s'mores and I had my first roasted Starburst.
They were so good that I ate 10 or so of them. =D
And then David threw marshmallows at me from across the campfire. I couldn't see who it was and I was mad at first, but later he told me it had been him and then Nikki and I helped him throw marshmallows at other people.

This morning I woke up because the smoke alarm went off (we were in a lodge, fake camping I know, but no cellphone service nonetheless) and the girls who actually heard it decided the rest of us were not allowed to sleep since they couldn't. =/

Have I ever told you that I HATE being woken up by people?
Well now you know.
I think it is because I'm already NOT a morning person, so I'm not happy, but if I set an alarm then I have no one to be mad at for waking me up but myself. But if other people wake me up, then I blame them for ruining my peaceful slumber. I promise if you ever wake me up, I will glare at you the rest of the day.

In other news- we had a delicious breakfast of eggs, hash browns, pancakes, fruit and BACON!
After breakfast Nikki and I played Frisbee with David, Kendal, Drew, Yazan (sp?) and some other people who came in and out. It was fun and I actually did well, though I throw better with my left hand, odd huh?

We then did a service project. My group set up tents, though it was more of setting up 3 tents in the same spot but the first 2 didn't fit the frame so we put up and took down several tents. Afterword we had a lovely lunch and went home.

I was really sad to leave. Mostly I was dreading civilization and having cellphone reception. If cellphones weren't so vital in communication, I would probably throw mine out. I loved being able to leave it off for a day or two.

Anyway, off to polish up my talk (I'm speaking tomorrow in church) have a great night!

Caprisun is not
as good as I remember
and anything less than
2% milk is gross.
What happened to drinks
with REAL flavor?
Meg

Who You Need to Know

I am going to use this as a reference point. These are the people I have talked about and probably will for the rest of the semester. I know it can be frustrating reading something and thinking "Now which one was that?"

And please bare with me, I wasn't sure how to go about the order so you may have to scroll up and down a few times. I could have done it by general age but that would put almost all of the guys at the top and the girls at the bottom so instead I am doing it by general relevance. Roommates, their boys, and then people I THINK will stick around this semester. So here are the characters this semester:

This is Emily. She is either the youngest or second youngest of us. She is a bit of an adrenaline junky and all around a very happy person. She is also the one that knows EVERYONE and every guy. She keeps us all joyful with her happy, random remarks.

She is also quite cute.

Next there is Kaylin. She is kind of our "mom". She holds us together and you cannot help but love her. She is ALWAYS smiling and is an all around day brightener.

Then there is Nikki. She is my room-roommate and one of the awesomest people I know. She is loud and wild when she wants to be. She loves to hug people (which is good for my sake, I love hugs) and her and I are pretty much inseparable. She is the best roommate a girl could ask for.

Finally there is Jaide. She is cute and has a great fashion sense. She is actually blonde but can pull off any hair color (which I am rather jealous of). She is goofy and cute. She makes us all laugh with her hilariously random remarks.

(Not pictured: Jacquelyn. She is only here Monday-Wednesday because she is engaged so she doesn't really do anything with our apartment).


This is Tyler M. He is dating Kaylin (See above). They are perfect together and he hangs out at our apartment quite a bit. He is friends with all of us and is easy to talk to and so we allow Kaylin to keep him around. Below he is showing off his frog sculpture made out of cookie dough. (Try to keep up, there are still 2 more Tylers).

Next is Brett (with glasses) and Scott (looking crazy). Sorry I don't have better pictures of them. Brett is Emily's friend and he comes over quite a bit as well. He is pretty cool.

Scott is dating Jaide (See 2 pictures up). I am amazed that I don't have any pictures of them together since they are pretty much inseparable. He is pretty cool and way funny.
This is Stirling. He is one of Albert's roommates. He's a pre-mi and pretty much the funniest guy I know. He's way chill and has a very bold/bright fashion sense. Basically you just need to know that he is hilarious. I wonder where he comes up with the stuff he says. He is quiet normally but when around people he knows, he is loud and crazy.

This is Tyler B. He is also one of Albert's roommates. He drove us up from Provo in his little white Geo Prizm. He is rather quiet until him and Stirling get on a roll. They are really tight and are hilarious together. Stirling will say stuff and Tyler will just go along with it. Tyler is rather reserved but really funny when he talks. Him and Stirling also have the hugest smiles ever (as seen below).

This is Tom Bugg. He might be in my ward, that or he used to be in this ward. Either way he comes around ever so often. He is really goofy but easy to be around and talk with. Here below he is modeling Kaylin's apron.
This is Ian. I don't really know anything about him except he is friends with Scott. He might stick around this semester, who knows. He seems chill though. He went repelling off the bridge with Jaide, Emily and Scott this past Saturday.
David is one of the guys we went to Big Juds with. He is pretty funny and easy going. I don't know much about him except he hangs out with Jesse (below) but he seems nice. Oh and he grew up with Brett.

This is Jesse. He is friend with David and Emily and probably Brett. He is really quiet and kicked Kaylin's strawberry plant off the balcony. Poor strawberry plant.

This is Janee. She is Nikki's old roommate. She is loud and opinionated and really nice. Sorry the picture isn't better. She likes to randomly show up at our apartment periodically.

This is her boy Tyler. He is super nice and easy to talk to. They like to hang out at our apartment. He is easy going and has great taste in music. We'll probably see him and Janee around more often.

Then there is Tom G. He is chill. He is one of those people you talk to because you can. He is on my roommates volleyball team and he is extremely chill. We hang out with him sometimes but I am not sure how long that will last.

This is Conrad. He is really nice and super dorky. He is fun to have around. He has a long board that he has left at our apartment for the past few weeks and we are ADDICTED. I now LOVE long boards and wish I had one. Seriously the most of fun thing ever.

Last but not least there is grandma. The story behind her is she is Jaide's grandma. And for Christmas she gave each of her children and their families a giant picture of her. Her mom didn't like the picture and hid it in Jaide's suitcase when she came to school. We now hide grandma around the apartment in each others stuff trying to scare one another. She is been everywhere. Oh silly grandma.

So I think that is everyone. Pretty much everyone below Scott is not a guarantee they'll stick around but on the off chance that they stay, now you know who everyone is. Hope this helped. Yes I realize everyone whom is NOT my roommate is a guy.....but that's because we really don't have any female friends.....well except Kaley and Brooke from my classes.

Have a lovely day!
Meg

Advantages of the front room, sort of.

Yesterday I was chillin at my apartment with a girl from my English class. Her name is Brooke and she is pretty nice. (She is also in Albert's ward and FHE group). Anyway we were sitting in my room with the window open because it is always open, just talking and chillin like ice cubes.

When Emily's friends Brett and David stopped by to see Emily, but she was off repelling off of a 130ft. bridge with Jaide and some friends. Anyway, I SORT of know Brett because he has come over several times (he also went to Olive Garden with our group) and I met David briefly twice because his friend knocked Kaylin's strawberry plant off of our 3rd floor balcony and killed her plant.

Anywho, they came to our window and asked "Hey want to go to Big Juds with us?" So we said "Sure!" but Brett didn't realize the Big Juds in Rexburg is the same as the one in Ashton (near Idaho Falls, close to a 30 min drive) so we went to the one in Ashton.

It was kind of awkward because none of us really knew each other, but it was fun.

And this is why you should have a front room, because you might get to go on a random adventure with people you sort of know. Awesome right?

Oh and Nikki and I moved our room around and I better "organized" by stuff and now it looks all clean or something like that. I might put a picture up later.

Oh! And Kaylin and her boyfriend made homemade Oreos last night. We ate some today and they are delicious. We should always have homemade Oreos ALL OF THE TIME, let me tell you. They are one of the most brilliant inventions ever. I think I have a new favorite cookie.

Float On
And we'll all float on okay
and we'll float on okay
and we'll all float alight
Don't don't you worry
we'll all float on alright
Meg

There and Back Again

A Megan's tale.

For the record, yes I did just watch the first Lord of the Rings the other day.

My tale began at 9am this morning when the doorbell rang. Matt Hiatt was nice enough to give me a ride to Pilot Moutain, where him, Chris, David and myself were going hiking. We picked up Chris along the way and off we went.

Matt was kind enough to provide nostalgic music from stuff we all used to listen to back in the day, such as Jack Johnson, Michael Jackson, Weezer, Oasis and Greenday. We had a lovely time reflecting on the days when "Beverly Hills" came out on the radio and that is what everyone listened to and got sick of not quickly enough.

Of course riding with someone who hasn't really driven in North Caqrolina is several years, we took a little scenic route thanks to Google Maps...

And of course, Google Maps wasn't the only thing that lied. They said there would be no rain until 3pm, at 10am, it was raining.

After parking and meeting up with David, we started down a trail, but being with guys, we took come sort of "lets just call it a path of some sort"and ended up on some other trail. Being the great sports we are, we went along with it and may or may not have taken several "this might've been a trail once" detours. Of course we were up in a cloud, so the overlook was amazing and white, and more white. It was quite a sight.

So between getting decently soaked from the rain and attempting to hide from Chris while he went to relieve himself, it was quite fun.

Oh I guess I should add one part that made my easily amused self laugh. You see, I have always had this theory that they make guys pockets huge so they can fit 5 course meals in their pockets. While looking at the trail map, Matt offers some granola bars to use and pulls out several, given I have no idea where those came from because I swear his pockets looked empty. Then Chris remarks that he a bagel with peanut butter and pulls that out of thin air......*pause to imagine this odd sighting*......can I just say, guys are so weird. Who carries food in their pockets????? All the same, I had laugh since i am always saying it's possible to fit everything in pockets.

I'm sorry, our adventure was not that great but to make you feel better, we came up with one on our hike. So David got pushed down the mountain and magically survived. When he finally stopped rolling, he ran into a bear, but the only thing he had to defend himself was a snake on a walking stick. So he made the snake on the stick, fight the bear until the bear died, and then David beat the snake with his stick until it died too, then he came back and pushed Matt down the mountain (repeat story). Great stuff huh? No story is truly great without a bear, a snake, and a good walking stick.

We also decided we were going to grow cucumbers with my cucumber seeds (that I just happened to bring) and David's water and Matt's magic growth serum. (Apparently it's a Korean thing to eat cucumbers when you hike.)

Now on to my afternoon.

We finally got me a new suitcase since my other one had a little mishap on the way back from Idaho/Utah.

R.I.P. Forest Green suitcase. =[ Welcome new silver one!

I found some magnets for $1!!! (The garden/fruit ones)

I have this recent obsession with magnets since I found it nearly impossible to find ANY in Rexburg. =/

This is my: I got an unexpected 2nd shower today (rain) so my hair is in a ghetto ponytail look.

Despite my lazy day look, I took my little brother Aaron (below) and his friend Eric (not pictured) out for a little shopping adventure, where we met up with Matt Brown.

Isn't he just awesome sauce? And the bomb dot com? But he is not a cupcake piggy bank.
(Yet all of those are SO much fun to say).

So we explored World Market for a long while, sitting in comfy bowl chairs, playing with simple, slightly lame, easily amusing toys, along with looking at strange foods/beverages and water from Europe (Oooooo......Voss).

After power walking around the store, we decided to be fatties!

Nothing says "Let's gain 10lbs" like buying a dozen doughnuts! =D

Sadly Matt is easily tricked and ended up buying a dozen for himself because the lady lied and said 6 doughnuts would cost as much as a dozen. Poor Matt, tricked into being a fatty.

But we got some awesome Pomegranate soda!!!

Yum! So awesome, I had to put 2 pictures up. =]

It is delicious! Can't go wrong with pomegranate. Plus it's fun to say.

Just to show how dorky I am, as if wandering through World Market all day isn't weird enough....

I found a Sudoku Rubix Cube.

No, you heard me right the first time. It's my 2 favorite things into ONE!

So of course I HAD to get it. =]

And Eric got some Pocky.

Japanese chocolate covered biscuits. YUM!

Also being my dork self, I found some limited German chocolate!

Mint and German chocolate, heaven much?

Finally, Aaron found a Ramen bowl.

Which is perfect because he eats a LOT of Ramen.

How cute it that?

And how cute is my brother?

Him and his ramen, and oh so happy.

And that was our day. =] It was lots of fun. Now to go hobble off to bed now that my legs are starting to feel all that hiking and detouring this morning.

Have a great day!

Bangs on Thursday
Excited?
Yes
Meg