Almost the End and A New Beginning

First and foremost I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah or any other holiday that you may celebrate this time of year. I know we had a nice quiet one which will probably be our last quiet one for possibly the rest of our lives. 

We are at an odd place in life right now. As of last week I have graduated with my Bachelors in Photography and as you can see just about ready to explode. 

I am so grateful for an incredibly patient husband, as these last 2 semesters have been a roller coaster ride between morning sickness and other pregnancy adventures and finishing up my degree. Garett graduated in July so he was working and waiting for me to finish these last few months. I could not have survived all of this without him. 

Also to my dear parents whom invested greatly in me and always pushed me to work hard. I thank them. They have always supported me in doing what I love and have encouraged me to try new things. I owe them more than I'll ever be able to repay in my lifetime.

We loved getting to spend time with them this past weekend and were sad that we couldn't be there for Christmas. 

Regardless we had a wonderful Christmas. Below is my phenomenal homemade, personalized stocking made by Cathie, Garett's mom. (Just fyi Cathie I absolutely love this! You can ask Garett, I was dancing around the house for joy when I got this in the mail. Thank you for working incredibly hard on this for me! It means the world to me). All the Bonds kids had stockings like these and I think it is the coolest tradition ever.

This year it was just the 2 of us in Idaho. We decided to stay in town, being that baby boy's due date is in 2 weeks and I would hate to be stuck in another state when he arrives.

Garett made our Christmas loads of fun by jumping out of bed yelling "It's Christmas!" and dancing around the house. We of course had to be wearing our Christmas pajamas and start with the stockings. Garett pushed the couch out of the way so we could reach the presents easier and then proceeded to dump out his stocking on the floor. His facial expressions were priceless and though we are not quite parents yet, he had enough excitement for us and 3 of our unborn children. 

 It was nice to have one little Christmas to ourselves, but of course we missed out family that is spread over the country. 

We got to enjoy the rest of the day with our friends Bryton and Ron. We had brunch at our place where Garett cooked up a storm and then enjoyed a fantastic Christmas dinner made by Bryton. We were definitely stuffed full with delicious foods for Christmas. It was really nice to be able to share the day with our friends and enjoy some great company. (Thanks for sharing your Christmas day with us Bryton and Ron!)

 Rexburg also did not disappoint as it gave us almost a foot of snow for a beautiful white Christmas. Up until now Rexburg has been unusually warm and you could still see the grass on Christmas eve day. Literally overnight we got this beautiful blanket. I am grateful I didn't have to deal with this during the semester and it was nice timing to have it during the break. I would have been sad if our first and last Christmas in Rexburg was snowless. 

Now I am 38 weeks pregnant (below is at 37) and kind of just waiting.

It's weird waiting to become a parent, to bring a child into this world. I think it is finally feeling real that he can come whenever he wants now. Part of me wants him asap and part of me is content with waiting awhile longer (probably the insanity of having to actually give birth to another human being plays a part in that). I am both thrilled and terrified on a daily basis.

It is also strange to think we are basically done with Rexburg. I have had a wonderful 4 years here and 3 of them with Garett. I have truly grown to love this town as it has become my home. It is where so much of my life changed for the better. I have met some incredible people here over the years including my amazing husband Garett and some of our dearest friends. It is where our story began. It is about to be the beginning of our little family and it will always be dear to me.

Now we are starting a new chapter. 

We are about to have a baby boy, to become parents.

Our lives are about to change forever.

We are working on figuring out where we want to go for grad school.

Everything is about to change and I am sitting on the edge of the cliff waiting.

It seems rare that we get to hold on and savor the turning points in our lives.

Often they happen suddenly without warning, for better or worse.

So here I am waiting, waiting for this new chapter to begin, for everything to change.

I guess I should count it as a blessing that I get to be in this place and take it all in.

It is exciting, terrifying, thrilling, overwhelming and incredible.

I am grateful for an amazing husband to share in this adventure with.

I'm grateful to our family and friends that have supported us in everything we have decided to do and are always cheering us on.

This new road is coming and knowing that I have the greatest support from the most incredible people gives me peace. 

I know it will be a new and challenging road, but I also know it will all be okay. 

I am blessed beyond reason and know that when tomorrow comes I will welcome it with open arms.

Here's to new beginnings and with the new year, will come a new road and a new adventure.

Thank you all for being a part of it. 

I love you all and wish you the best in this coming year.

May it be filled with great and marvelous joys and experiences.

-Megan

Player 3 is Entering the Game

 In January 2015!

Garett and I are excited to announce we are expecting a sweet addition to our little family in the coming year!

I am currently finishing up my first trimester at 13 weeks and baby and I are both doing well.

We got to hear the heartbeat today which is big and strong!

The ultrasound below is from the beginning of June when I was only 9 weeks along.

Baby has now more than doubled in size and is growing rapidly daily.

This is my attempt at a baby belly picture though it was probably more of a food belly, 

but hey I can dream right?

Only a few more weeks and my belly will start becoming more pronounced as baby grows.

 We are really excited and can't wait to find out the gender in a few weeks.

Look for more on the gender sometime in August. 

This is the biggest blessing minus the morning sickness which has been quite the adventure...

Regardless we are thrilled and grateful for the support of our families as we carry on the Bonds name.

We'll keep you updated in the coming weeks!

Thanks!

-Megan

Here's to the cutest 2 year old ever!

If you don't want to see a million pictures of my nephew you can skip this post. But if you love adorable two year olds then stay and bask in all the cuteness! 

During the Christmas break I got the best present ever! Catherine, Jesse and Nikolai came home for Christmas all the way from Michigan.!Wasn't that so sweet of them?

Seriously though, that was THE BEST PRESENT EVER! 

Thanks mom and dad for helping make it happen!

His penguin pajamas, man I wish I could be 2 and have awesome pjs like those!

 Stuffin his face full of goodies. And look at those beautiful blue eyes! 

Who could say no to those eyes?

 Grandma and auntie with that sweet munchkin!

Okay sorry this one just kills me, this sweet little face!

My heart is melting!

Teaching him to make puffy faces as any good aunt does =]

Also to wink!

And then embarrassing him ;D

Some good ol dancing, look at those moves!

 I love his blond locks that get curlier as the days go on. 

Then after New Years they came over for a fun night of Nikloai showing us that he can fit in that box perfectly and playing games!

I like to think he learned this face from his awesome mommy!

Oh man I love these guys!

This picture fills me with many warm fuzzies!

Come back soon y'all!

I love and miss you TONS!

Have a smiley day full of popsicles and hopefully less snow!

Meg

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.

I Give it 100% Support

I've been meaning to tell y'all, anyone looking for a fantastic show to watch, or one you should watch regardless of your searching or lack thereof is Fullmetal Alchemist-Brotherhood.

Now anyone who knows me well knows I'm not a huge fan of anime shows. 

Most of them annoy me.

But this one is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!

You can find all the episodes on youtube or free on Hulu.

Only the first 6 episodes are in English, the rest are subtitled, but I found it to be no loss to the show.

actually after watching a few clips of the English version, I prefer the Japanese version. 

It's an amazing story line with great characters.

I give it five stars and if it were a book series I would own it all.

As it is I still want to own the the disk versions for myself eventually. 

The episodes are about 23 minutes each, though they are short, beware.

It IS addicting.

So I wouldn't start the show unless you have a good bit of free time.

But if you want, here is the link to the show. 

I was going to post the first episode on here, but it won't let me because it's too long or something.

Dumb.

But there is the link for the youtube version and here is the link for the Hulu version. 

Seriously go watch it.

I promise you won't regret it.

Or at the very least for my sake, watch the first episode or two.

If you're not hooked there is something wrong with you.......just kidding....

It's about two young brothers that do the taboo in their magical society and try to do human transmutation to bring their mother back to life.

What happens however is not what they bargained for, losing more than just their mom.

This sets in them a quest to gain what they lost, but in the midst of their journey they meet new friends and foes as well as uncover secrets that throw them into an adventure they didn't bargain for.

At such a young age these boys experience things most adults never would forcing them to grow up and change in ways they did not expect. 

Sorry I'm not great at writing hooks, but hopefully that's enough to get you started. 

I hope you enjoy it, because I did.

It's now among my top 3 favorite shows.

ENJOY =D =D =D =D 

Megan B.

Delayed Adventures

So throughout the semester my mom has come to visit several times and she even brought Aaron a few times and I did document some of it. So here are a few pictures of old adventures.

I took Garett & my mom to Big Jud's one time.
I forgot to mention to them though that the only thing small about Big Jud's is the size of the building.
This was Garett's burger.


To get an idea of how big it was, it was at least the width of Garett's hand and that was about as small as they come.

There was lots of good food and good laughs to be had.

When Aaron came we went to Neilson's Frozen Custard (which despite it's name actually has a lot more food than you'd think) again lots of good food.

and then we had so Jamba.
Who doesn't love Jamba?
No one, that's who. 

We took them to the drive-in theater here. It was Aaron's first time and my mom's first time since before she was married.
We loved it.

We introduced them to the Bonds way of doing tacos.

aka friend corn tortillas and the best homemade guacamole you'll ever had.
So of course they fell in love with it. 

Oh and I had a birthday.

French Satin Chocolate Cake.
It was to die for.

On a random side note.
This is where I live this semester.
Oh Spori....you're so small.
I go from the basement to the third floor every other day. 

and one day Garett and I had a picnic in the orchard.
He's so cute.

P.S. This is where we met the first time and later got engaged.
So basically I love this place.

So that's a little bit of life.
Hopefully soon I'll try to scan in some of my lithography projects. problem is they're too big for my scanner but we'll see.

4 weeks of classes left =D =D
So excited =D

Have a great week =D 

Megan B. 

Time, Where Did You Go?

Why did you leave me here alone?

Wait, don't go so fast

I'm missing the moments as they pass.

Okay I don't really feel that way, sort of. Time does seem to speed up though. I think this post has been a long time in the making. Partially thanks to all my little brother's inspiring posts, but also a conversation I had with my mom today.

It's amazing how much I have changed and everyone around me. Seems not that long ago my siblings and I were all at home playing the game cube, or running around outside or making forts in that little triangle area in the foyer, not realizing what was in store for us. I'm pretty sure the last 3 or 4 years have been the fastest. 

Since then 3 of us have gone to college, one is on his way very soon (Congrats Aaron, I'm so proud of you!). 2 have finished college, 3 marriages, a mission and 1 1/2 children later. Not to mention my parents moved across the country to an unfamiliar region. And now Catherine and Jesse are moving to Michigan. =[ (I would talk on this longer, but I hate thinking about it. Just FYI Catherine don't feel guilty. I know that Jesse needs to go to law school and this is good for both of you, but I'm going to miss you insanely). 

Needless to say, it has all flown by because so much has happened and that tends to make time speed up.

 I love it, but sometimes I wish we could slow it down a little. You know, stop and smell the roses (if there were any living roses in Rexburg at the moment...)

I started out as a girl who loved musicals, dancing, singing and bunnies, always so shy. I grew up to be a little less shy, making lasting friendships. Was a little rebellious in high school as all teenagers are. Mostly in refusing to sleep at reasonable hours. Honestly I was punishing myself, but also I had homework anxiety. I hated doing homework when people were around, not sure why but I did. Came to college pretty much did everything fun my first two semesters and then settled down when I met Garett. Once again I have been making some amazing friendships, though none greater than Garett of course.

He really does complete me. =]

(Ok side rant) My biggest pet peeve lately is that in books and movies a lot of the time they make it seem like marriage is boring and that married people just fight all the time and are whiny. When they're dating it's all cute and sweet and then they get married and suddenly they're boring. 

IT IS A BIG FAT LIE!!!!

Garett and I honestly probably have more fun now that we're married. We're SOOO goofy together.

We dance around in the kitchen, he's always running up & hugging me, sometimes scaring me. 

We're just constantly silly and ridiculous and I hate that society today portrays marriage as boring. If your marriage is boring, you're doing something wrong. Yes it is a lot of work, living with someone is never going to be easy, you'll have up days and down days, but if you don't have fun and goof off then you're going to be miserable, just like when you're single. When you're single and on your own life can get overwhelming with school, work, dating and chores so you have to remember to kick back and laugh sometimes. Same goes for marriage. 

Anywhooo, sorry this has been bothering me lately. So all those who are thinking about marriage, just letting you know, it is WAY more fun to be married because then you get to be goofy ALL the time and it's tons of fun. I probably have laughed more in the last 9 months than I have in my entire life, but I also married someone who is just really funny (to me). So when thinking about marriage I would recommend thinking about how much you can laugh together, unless you hate laughing, then disregard this whole thing. Anyway for all those who are married I hope you can relate and that I'm not way off target here. I hope I haven't offended you either because maybe Garett and I just laugh more than most people, I don't know. This is just my opinion, don't hate me. I just really like to laugh. 

And even just in the last 9 months we have changed a great deal. Planning a wedding, going to school and working was not easy. Honestly I was stressed most of the time. But it taught me I could handle the workload. Even now I'm still learning and changing. Fridays are now catch up on homework and house cleaning days. Balancing Garett-Megan time along with the other 50 million tasks we have on a daily basis isn't easy but we're growing together. If you asked me 2 years ago where I thought I would be, it definitely wouldn't be here. And looking back I wasn't ready then. Over the years we have a vast amount of self discovery. We learn what we like, what we hate, what we thrive for, what we need and what we want. 

I thought I was going to marry a brunette dog lover, I got a blonde cat lover. In my desire to make him love dogs, I've actually come to be okay with cats. I used to think I was weaker than I was. I didn't think I could handle a job I hated while going to school full time. I didn't think I could handle living in a frozen tundra but I do. Throughout our lives we are learning more about ourselves and where we want to be in our lives. 

I love my life, I won't lie. It isn't perfect. I get stressed easily, I worry like crazy and I constantly have a running list of things to do in my head. But I know I'm where I belong and though I worry I can't handle such a tough schedule, I know I can. 2 years ago I could not have handled this, but I can now. Slowly life has been preparing me for this. And though I'm a little terrified to have kids, I know when the time comes I will be ready. (I promise I am NOT pregnant, not ready for it). Not so much of being scared of being a mother, but scared of being a student mother. I know some people can do it and hats off to them but as far as I know, I'm not one of them. Regardless when I'm ready, I'm ready but for now I'm just working on myself and my marriage. It's a journey for sure, even though mine is just beginning, I love it.

At the end of the day I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. Where I'll be in 2 years, I have no clue, but it'll be right wherever I go. Life is crazy and scary, but that is the beauty of it. If there is one thing you can be certain of in life, it is change (also death, taxes, and dishes) and with it learning in growth.

I know I have a long ways to go, I'm scared and excited but I'll be ready for it. 

I hope we can all remember to embrace change no matter what form it comes in. 

Love you all. 

Thanks for listening. Sorry it was long.

Megan

Happy Birthday Garett!

To the Greatest Man I know:

For 22 years you have blessed this world with your amazing presence,
and 7 months ago you changed my life.

 

Though I haven't known you for these last 22 years (sadly),

I don't want to miss another birthday of yours.

 
Enjoy your last birthday being "single". 

Because from now on, I am never leaving your side.

You have blessed my life more than I can ever say.

And though words cannot describe my love for you, hopefully you can still understand how I feel.

And soon enough you won't have just one family, but two.

I have loved these last 7 months with you,

And all our crazy adventures

 

And I can't wait to spend the rest of eternity

Having more crazy adventures with you for years to come.

I hope we'll always be able to be silly with each other

and make each other laugh and smile

and educate each other on great readings.

 I love you Garett.
I have loved every minute of getting to know and love you more and more.
You are the most wonderful man I have ever met.
You make me happier than I have ever been, you are the greatest blessing in my life.
Happy birthday my love
and here's to many more birthdays together!

Love,

Megan Sebright (Bonds in 72 days)