Something New

Today I had a pretty cool experience. My roommates and I were at home and someone suggested we should go to the nature park and feed the ducks some old hotdog buns. We hopped in Melissa's car and headed off. It was cool to feed the ducks here because there is more of a variety. Back in NC there are Canadian geese and Mallard ducks and that is about it. Here they have ones of all different colors, shapes and sizes. After feeding their needy appetites we took a walk around the lake and Jewelissa offered a brilliant idea.

She mentioned that there was an animal shelter just down the road and we could play with the cats and dogs. We took a little trip over there and found out we could take the dogs on walks. Each of us picked out a dog. Jewelissa got a sweet and excited pit bull named Atika. Melissa had a girl dog named Reba and I had one named Daisy.

The lady let us sign in and take the dogs down to the pond. We walked them around the lake and they loved it. Atika was the most eager of them all and led the way most of the time. It was a fun experience.

Living in Rexburg in a college town I don't get to see too many dogs around. And let's face it, dogs are amazing creatures and a true blessing to have in your life. (I miss you Emily!) This gave me a chance to have some fun with a dog and let her run around and play. I found out that a lot of people come to take the dogs for walks, so though they may not all have homes, they still have people that care for them.

This definitely humbled me. You always see the shows with the nasty kennels and the abusive owners. But the owner of this one is sweet and she has little kids that like to play with the animals after school. She knows each dog or cat by name and their personalities.

My roommates and I are hoping to go back on friday and take Moose, a puppy great dane. He is not even a year old, but he is bigger and certainly weighs more than me, but he is a sweetheart nonetheless.

I hope you all appreciate your pets and give them the love and affection they deserve, after all, they are God's creatures too and I am certain He loves them too.

When was the last time
you played with your pet?
Meg

Dear Family,

Soon my dear sister, brother-in-law and soon to be niece/nephew will be rejoining my parents. And then you will all be making your way back to the west! I wanted to inform you of how EXCITED I AM!!!!!!!!! My family is going to be close by! I can't wait! I wanted to wish you all a safe journey via airplane/car or moving truck. This is a big adventure for all of you. Take care and hopefully I will be able to see you once you get settled. I love you all!!!!!!!

As for Albert.....we should hang out soon slacker! I haven't seen you in a whole 3 days or something....far too long for you living a whole minute away.

Miss you all! And I wish you the best in your adventures! Love y'all!

As for everyone else. I know y'all are headed back to school. Be safe, make good choices and have lots of fun. Also write me letters (I'll write you back, once I get more stamps I promise!) Or give me a call. I like both! =D

I'm ready for fall
how about y'all?
Meg

Dear Body

I am mad at you! You are being too difficult and high maintenance for me. You make it so I can't do anything productive for more than an hour because I have to run and take care of you. And I am not happy with this. Please stop soon so I can get back to my life.
Thanks!
Meg

Homemaking Skills 101

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!
THE DAYS I NEVER THOUGHT WOULD COME HAVE NOW ARRIVED!

I have been cooking and sewing and learning to be crafty!
(Sounds like Catherine doesn't it? But no! This is me! I promise. Seriously.)

But yeah I've been sewing up my old pants and shirts. I'm improving at it too!
I might even making a new scripture case or something....

I also want to take up crocheting. I need something to do when I watch NEW movies.
Sudoku is good for movies that I have seen before, but not new ones.

And I have been cooking and baking =D

Exhibit A:

Mom's tasty pasta salad.

Up close view:

I promise it is delicious! I ate all of it in 2 sittings, for dinner last night and for breakfast this morning. It is just THAT good. And cold, which is perfect for this hot weather we've had lately.

Exhibit B: Muffins! Blueberry and chocolate! (Aka the best kinds)

I love muffins!

NO I REALLY LOVE MUFFINS!

And milk =D

You can ask Nikki, I was talking about milk all the way too and from the library.

Oh yeah, and I am starting Jane Erye and Sense and Sensibility.

And thus begins my adventures of developing my homemaking skills.

I think next I am going to try mom's amazing chili and homemade macaroni and cheese.

I can't wait! =D

I had a dream about
theme parks, back massages,
salmon (yum!), chocolate
and a rampaging train.
Awesome huh?
Meg

Carolina On My Mind

Not actually, well sort of. But that is not the main subject of my post this evening. But after reading my brothers' posts here and here, I was touched. It is true I will miss North Carolina a great deal, but every chapter is just a new beginning.

I guess what I mean to say is that I feel I am beginning a new chapter in my life. This past semester has been one of learning to be a bit more outgoing and trusting. One of having fun and gaining experiences. But now I begin a more personal adventure. One of self growth, spiritually and mentally. There is a great deal that I want to learn, take in and soak up all at once, but alas I know it can only come in time. And today has helped with the beginning of this adventure. Well....several experiences have helped.

To start, my brother and I got to read the scriptures together the other night. It felt amazing to have that in my home. I want to thank my parents for making scripture study a habit in your home; it has been an example to me. And though I know I did not always take advantage of it as much as a I should have, it definitely brought a different spirit into the home.

Today church was magnificent. Not that it isn't always, but I think we all have those Sundays that just stand out to us above all the others. Despite being rather tired in sacrament, I was able to enjoy some wonderful talks. Normally I tend to have one favorite each Sunday, but today each of them just hit me and made me think. Then Sunday school and Relief Society passed and each brought more to me than I thought. Suddenly topics I had never fully appreciated became greatly important and I wanted to learn and take action immediately. I guess you could say it was one of those Sundays. Those moments that hit you, and how you react will define you.

I hope that all of you find those moments in your life. Listen closely at church, find something, and take it to heart. But don't stop there, act on it, better yourself. Because what else do we have in this life? We have our families and the knowledge we gain through schooling, personal and spirituality. In the end, what purpose do we have if we aren't growing? Someone once said, you are either progressing or digressing, there is no constant. So which one are you at?

I think I'm going to stop blogging about my daily life for awhile. I feel it is becoming more of a job than an enjoyment. I'm going to go back to what is on my mind from day to day instead. But you might not hear from me for awhile on here. If you want to keep up with me, please give me a call. Use your phone for what they were originally meant to do, or send me a letter. Call me "old fashioned" but I prefer a phone call or letter to a text or facebook message any day. I'm not great at keeping up with schedules, so give me a call in your free time. I promise to call back if I for some reason miss your call.

Have a great week!
And learn something new =]
Meg

No Place For Words

Here are some experiments and sites I have been blessed to behold. Rather than telling you about them, I will allow you to embrace them as they are. No thoughts, no words. I hope you enjoy these. Take your time, scroll slowly and see them how you want to see them.

Thanks for your time,
Meg

A Little of This And That

Wednesday Melissa and I went to Idaho Falls for the afternoon.

And got to walk around this beautiful park along a river and across from the I.F. Temple.
(More pictures later)

And Melissa is pretty awesome to say the least.

Thursday our ward took a trip to Temple Square in SLC.

Just look how beautiful that Temple is!

And apparently about 20+ brides agree because that is about how many we saw in our time being over there. And that was just on a Thursday!

Nikki, Stephanie and I sat on the beautiful grounds right next to the Temple and read our scriptures together. it was quite an experience and the feeling was one I will not forget.

And of course we made some wishes on pennies.

Like I said, it was beautiful. And no, none of these pictures from SLC are from my camera.
My camera is heavy and I did not want to lug it around all day. Plus I've been to Temple Square a few times.

And today I made a silverware drawer!

Yeah my crafty side is coming out. =]
I'm excited!

And my adventure side is coming out too.
I just wanna run around and jump on everything!

Are you jumping in the trees?
Are you jumping on the houses?
Meg

Getting Along Famously

Thursday my ward took a trip to Temple Square.

And guess what adorable, famous Mormon boy we met there....

David Archuleta!

Isn't he just the cutest? And a shorty. And it was pretty awesome because there were no other young ladies around to stalk him, we were the ONLY ones.
And everyone was jealous of us when we told them we got to meet him.
He's a sweetie, in case you were wondering.
And he does baptisms every Monday in the SLC Temple.
Cool huh?

It's PB & J Time!
Where he at? Where he at?
Now there he goes.
Meg

Daddy, You Inspire Me!

I couldn't sleep last night, and I had an epiphany!

I want to be more constant in my scripture reading, so I thought:
What would my daddy do? And I knew exactly what he had done!
So I pulled on my thinking cap because unlike him, I had no index cards, spare block of wood and a disposable metal hanger to cut up at my leisure.

But I did have paper, sharpies, a spare binder, a string from an old shirt, and hot glue (You were right Catherine, hot glue gun = best investment ever)
And I came up with this:

Also I didn't have a hole punch, instead I used my power drill and a large drill bit to make those holes. And it worked quite nicely!

Thank you daddy for being so brilliant and inspiring me!
Thanks to my parents who, last I saw, have gone years without missing a night of family scripture and prayer. Y'all are incredible!
And finally, thanks to Catherine for telling me to buy a hot glue gun (Best $5 ever spent!)

Power drill = makeshift hole puncher
Heck yeah!
Meg

Ich bin geliebt!

Sometimes I look at this and remember how loved I am.

Above are notes from Nikki, Hannah, Catherine, Jesse and mom.
Just a few of my favorites.

P.S. Catherine, you wrote the one that says "I <3 Megan!"
Do you remember drawing that? I think it was at church one Sunday, or that is when you gave it to me. Yes I have kept it after all these years. =]

Just as I know I am loved, and these little notes remind me, this is a reminder to y'all, that I love y'all! No matter where you are. near or far, you're in my heart.

"I hate sand in the wrong places"-Jewelissa
Don't we all?
It's a sacrifice I'm willing
to make though to be tackled
at the sand dunes.
Meg

Lessons Learned

#1 There is a such thing as TOO much pulp.

See the thing is I like pulp in my OJ, otherwise I feel like my juice is all fake. But they didn't have "medium pulp", only high or none. And now there is too much pulp.

#2 If you have a sore throat, don't let people drink after you. (Sorry Victor! It just slipped my mind of WHY I was drinking my OJ....)

#3 You CAN you too many condiments. (See below)

I wish that was all, but look at the rest of the fridge:

And that is for FOUR girls.

#4 When the kitchen is clean, I am happy!

#5 Lots of movies makes Rexburg easier to deal with.
And you can never have too many movies. =]

#6 When I can see my floor, I am EXTREMELY happy! (Thank you Nikki for doing your laundry, even if I think it smells funky, but can you blame me?)

#7 Roommates do NOT share everything, especially sour cream and cheddar Ruffles. I'm sorry y'all, it's a big NO NO. So I can completely respect this sign.

Even though I had no intention of eating them. Unlike some, I don't get Tom to tackle my friends just so I can try and steal their chips. Love you Nikki!


#8 Don't kiss boys in your sleep, or you'll wake up with a sore throat.

Lessons learned. =]

Oh and this is probably my 2nd favoritest song now!

Thank you for showing me this song Nikki! <3

I'm pretty sure I
ate Cheese-its in my
sleep last night,
since the bag is now empty
and I have the taste of
Cheese-its on my tongue.
Meg

I Feel Like Barbie

At the end of Toy Story 2. You know that "Goodbye, goodbye now, goodbye" part right? And how at the end Barbie asks if everyone is gone and she says "oh good". And then she talks about how much it hurts to smile that much? Do you know what I'm talking about? If not watch it here.

Yeah anyway, that's how I feel right now. My cheeks are killing me from smiling for the past 3 hours or so. But what can I say? I had a pretty good day. Oh dang, I rhymed, my apologies y'all. Anywho, yeah pretty good day. Anyway I'm off to bed or to go eat something. I'm craving skittles right now thanks to a friend of mine. xP

And here is a picture of me winning Mario Party last summer.

Have you ever smiled for 3 hours straight?
It hurts, and kind of makes me feel bad for barbie, sort of.

Eat some skittles
and bananas
Rawr oops I mean arg!
Pirate dinosaur?
Meg

My Mind, My Mind, My Mind

Once again I find myself in the silence of the night here in Rexburg, where it is actually cold outside in August. But that is not relative. I find myself wondering where I want to be. Lately I have been rather uncertain of things. But maybe that is the answer I have been looking for all along.

Looking toward the future, I am about to start on my third semester of college, though that still seems rather young, that was the semester for my sister that she met her future husband. She did not know that at the time, but still it makes me stop and think.

I feel nowhere close to being ready to be married, not to say I wouldn't love it, but I know I have much to learn before I am ready. And honestly, as much as I want to want to be in a relationship, I have no desire to be in one, not right now anyway. I still have much to learn about myself before I can start learning about another.

I guess that is where the answers lie. I have some things I want to accomplish for myself first. I have a great deal of learning to do that I must start now if I ever expect to become the woman I want to be, the one deserving of some incredible man out there.

I know I can care deeply about those close to me, but I need to start even closer. I need to focus on those that truly matter, and then maybe one day I will let myself care deeply for another. Until then, I must learn. Let us face it, the only thing we can take to heaven in the knowledge we gain in this life, right? Might as well take advantage of that now.

Knowledge,
it empowers us all.
Meg

For the First Time In My Lifetime!

My parents are moving! Okay it's not technically the first time, they moved to their house in NC when I was one. But that house is the only house I can remember ever living in.

I'm excited for them; it will be a new adventure for sure.

Utah does have beautiful mountains, as well as NO humidity (Yay for not sweating always), and my family will be much closer. =]

But before I get too excited about having Thanksgiving with my parents AND my older brother for the first time in 6 years, let us take a little trip down memory lane:

Or down LC Road.

If I had a dollar for every time I drove down this road. Whether for school, going to a friends house, Sonic, the bank, any other place to eat, and about 90 million other places along the road.

But the place I will miss the most is where I spent most of my life.
Where my parents chose to raise their family, an enriching and loving home, where I always felt safe and knew I was cared for.

Sorry this is the only picture I could find of the front of the house. Blame it on me not being able to find the cord for my external hard drive (where I'm certain to have better pictures).

A rather crappy back view of the house (again, my apologies).
That tree in front is one of our 2 cherry trees where we spent late spring afternoons up in the branches picking cherries for my mother to later make into delicious pies and other good things.
I remember one spring we picked 3 huge bowls of cherries, enough to last for weeks.

When I came back this last time this tree had grown significantly. Given this picture is about 2 years old, but thriving and beautiful nonetheless. Where those grape vines are, we used to have a garden, or attempted thereof. As pretty as deer are, they make trying to have a garden, a pain.
But when I was younger, I remember we would grow squash, carrots and tomatoes (probably more good things, but my memory isn't that good). When I was little, I love carrots so much that I would pull them out of the ground and eat them dirt and all. No wonder my nails are so strong.

I will never forget walking down to that stop sign every morning in middle school. My mother and I would huddle on the front porch steps at 6:30 in the morning, wrapped up in a blanket, waiting for my bus to come. Despite being half asleep, I liked that time with my mom.

And this swing set. Gosh I could tell hundreds of stories about it. In the winter we would eat the icicles off of it and slide down the slide only to try to repack the snow on it, just to knock it down again. Yes we were silly for trying, but we tried nonetheless.

Our yard, it was just big enough to be whatever we wanted it to be and to explore it over and over and over again. I'll miss waking up to 15+ deer in our backyard, and watching those beautiful creatures taking advantage of our crab apple trees and other fruit trees.

This is a view of the fort from our willow tree. Only one of the most beautiful trees I could ever imagine. My sister and I would climb this tree and pretend we were in a club called the shoestring club. Do you remember that Catherine? With the Brunstetter sisters.

A better view of the tree. Beautiful huh? It was the perfect tree. Just tall enough that you had to actually work to get into the tree, but didn't need a chair. It had branches that were somehow perfect for sitting in and reading books. Another thing we liked to do was have one person stand under the branches, while another person shook the branches. The one standing underneath would spin around as the pedals fell down and it felt like a blizzard of flower pedals. I promise it was more magical than it sounds.

We used to have a tire swing on there, that we would spin around on until we made our friends sick, or everyone but me sick. I had a thing for speed even at a young age. If my skin didn't feel like it was being stretched, I wasn't going fast enough.

This hill was perfect for slip n' slide, sledding or rolling down. I am pretty sure there is a shoebox with a dead frog buried on that hill. That was the year that we got a horrible storm that flooded the bottom of the hill on our road.

But nonetheless, this house has been good to us. We even painted that fort once upon a time, with mud. I'm certain we were probably covered head to toe in NC's red clay, but we didn't care. We painted every last inch of that fort that we could reach. I am sure our mother was happy with us. But whether painting the fort, or it being our spaceship, ship, house, bakery, self catapult, library, secret hideout, magic lair, or whatever else we wanted it to be, it was good to us, and I will not forget it.

I could go on and on about the memories of the house itself. Our barbie/playroom, that old kitchen set, eating dog food/ants, Aaron screaming "choo choo" around the house, family scripture and prayer, all our fascinating missionary dinners, sliding around in our socks, camping out in the foyer, sliding down the banisters and much much more. I'll never forget that house. I'll always remember it fondly.

I hope you take time to think about the good times you've had wherever you have lived and appreciate them. A house isn't a home unless it is a place you make memories with your family and loved ones. A home is where your heart is, where the people you love are, and where you choose to make your own. At the end of the day, your home may be far or near, but the memories you had there will always be with you.

I know I won't forget, I hope you don't either. But with a new move, brings new adventures and new memories and I can't wait to get started!

Don't forget.
Meg

When You Didn't Think You Could Sweat Anymore

First things first, some good ol' Bojangles.

Gotta. Wanna. Needa. Getta. Have A. Bojangles!

Or at least their fries with extra Bojangles seasoning.

Then one of the best places in all of NC:

The cutest gelato (Italian ice cream: 100000x better than American ice cream & extremely rich) shop you have ever seen.

The inside just screams happiness:

Well more like sings happiness. Not to mention the amazing Swedish woman who owns it. It's one of those shops where the owner knows all of her regular customers by name and whenever a family walks in, she seems to have known them for years. She is friends with everyone and everyone loves her. She doesn't have a website; her business comes all through word of mouth. I found it through a friend of mine and have passed it along to my friends. Next time you're in WS I hope you pay a visit, I promise you'll love it.

Sorry I got off on a tangent, my apologies my dear readers. But yes I went to Cafe Gelato with Kris and got pineapple and lemon. Perfect for a hot NC day.

Don't be fooled by how small it looks. It's more than you think and about as much as you can handle unless you're making a meal out of it.

And dearest Kris here looking gorgeous as ever.

Together her and I always have adventures. You can never be bored with Kris, that is for sure.

Next we found the Reynolda Gardens. I had heard of them many times before, but neither of us had been and we made a detour to discover what we were missing.

It was a beautiful site to behold despite the 100 degree weather with humidity to match.

And after a long day of exploring we decided to make dinner together (one of our favorite activities) On the menu? Salmon with a cinnamon glaze, along slices of green bell pepper, rice, red pepper humus and flat bread crisps.

And a cranberry/pomegranate juice to go along side.
Looks delicious doesn't it?

And it was!

Needless to say I had a great time with Kris as per usual.

What can I say? We bonded almost instantaneously and have been friends ever since.

Not pictured: Canoeing down the New River with my family.

It was an adventure of zigzagging down the river, picking up about a dozen spider passengers and then flinging them out of our canoe. Stopping to play in the river, getting waist deep in the water and then realizing you did not bring an extra set of clothes to change into later. And having your brother stand up in the canoe and paddle like you're on a gondola. Not to mention canoeing backwards (literally the canoe got flipped around a few times and so we would ride backwards until we got tired of it). But my favorite part by far was singing "The Call" by Regina Spektor A Capella with my brothers.

Also not pictured: Lunch at this cute little diner called Sweet and Savory. (Okay actually I do have a picture of it, but you can view it here later). But yes it was delicious and we were all impressed with it.

After having full bellies we made a quick stop to the cheese factory and store (which Albert was happy about). Where my dad got some nice sharp cheddar I believe and Albert got a cheese knife. See here. He is happy. =]

To end our travels we took a nice drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was cloudy, but beautiful nonetheless.

I love our blue mountains, they make me feel right at home.

On a side note I have a terrible obsession and addiction...

Not to soda, but to collecting bottle caps! What can I say? When I see a glass soda bottle and see a cap I do not currently own as a pair of earrings, I suddenly must have them! I now have 26 pairs of bottle cap earrings. Told you I am addicted....=]

Sorry, but Bojangles fries are just too heavenly that I must talk about them again.

Oh Southern food, why must you taste so good?

Speaking of good food, WS is home of Krispy Kreme, therefore; what kind of person would I be if I did not take advantage of such savory goodness while I was in NC?

I hope you're drooling right now because I am. Don't worry, I downed 6 of them on the spot with no questions asked and Schmidty laughing at me for being a fatty. 3 hot off the belt, the sprinkly one, a raspberry jelly filled one, and that one with chocolate icing and red and white spinkles aka the Cheerwine doughnut. It was delicious in case you were wondering.

Cheerwine + Krispy Kreme doughnut = One of the most brilliant ideas known to man!

This is Schmidty by the way. Aka Jon, Jonathan, Schmidt, Dave, etc.
Yes he is more than a foot taller than me.
Yes I am short and I like being that way.
And that ends my adventures in NC.

Until we meet again,
I big you adieu und Auf Wiedersehen!
Meg