A Year In Review

I know this is slightly late, but hey at least it is not February yet.

I decided to take a look back over 2011 to see what I have learned and experienced.

I spent my first off track semester in NC where I got to spend time with old friends.

Start a work out habit.

Enjoyed a RIDICULOUSLY warm winter.

Ate some new food, invested in warm clothes.

Stocked up on important things like magnets and mugs.

Did TONS of puzzles with my dear mother.

Jumped in puddles and watched Aaron get his braces off.

Also on my off track I got a new phone.

Tried having bangs for a little while.

Spent quality time with some adorable boys.

Ate WAY too many doughnuts.

Learned a little about Japanese characters.

Ate more food and discovered cupcake piggy banks. 

(Please say that 10 times fast!)

I finished off my off track after working as a smoothie make/cashier at the YMCA

and headed to Utah for a week.

During that time I had many discoveries.

I learned of AMAZING Mexican food (Cafe Rio) and amazing Thai food!

I discovered Cheerwine Popsicles, Just Dance for Wii and that playing in colored powder was truly as awesome as I dreamed it would be. 

There is nothing like sneezing purple for 3 days and watching Koolaid colored water cover the tub from washing your hair.

I learned I hate living alone for a week

and enjoyed General Conference with my siblings.

Spring semester was an unknown blessing.

I met one of my best friends Nikki and played dress up with her. 

I learned to sew.

My mother enjoyed sending me Easter stuff.

I moved to the 3rd floor of my complex.

We enjoyed Sunday Night Desserts and I had some awesome roommates.

I got addicted to cheese 

and saw the tallest stack of mountain dew cans I have EVER seen.

I learned that peeps are meant to be burned to death.

That blankets and water balloons make for great adventures.

NEVER do the cinnamon challenge

or the whipped cream game in doors. 

Supported my semi-apartment volleyball team

and met some awesome people.

Finishing up my spring semester:

I met some fairies,

cut my hair off,

wore a giant diaper,

was a model for a day,

ripped my favorite jeans,

met a cute puppy named Moose,

climbed a building,

painted myself,

conducted a surprise party

and took lots of walks.

While at home I played and enjoyed a little TOO much the summer rain 

and learned to spray paint

In the summer I said goodbye for now to my best friends in NC,

said goodbye to my hometown

and ate MORE Krispy Kream.

Back to school I played Glow-In-The-Dark Hide-N-Go-Seek.

Learned you CAN freeze eggs, 

saw the best fireworks show of my entire life

and spent quality time with my best friend Rachel.

On a side note, through out the year I started doing photo shoots for friends and clients.

I got to work with some amazing young men and women and for various reasons.

I have to say my work is improving constantly.

And to wrap up my year,

I learned to be gansta (Thanks Jaide!)

I began enjoying the privilege of having my family 3 1/2 hours away.

I got to watch my sister grow her first baby boy,

went to my first BMX contest,

had the BEST roommates of all time,

ate some treats, partied with friends

and began my personal scripture counter.

Not to mention I began learning to cook (and I actually like to!)

And of course met my best friend and boyfriend Garett Bonds.

All in all this has been a wonderful year.

A year of firsts and experiences I hope never to forget.

I know there was probably much more learning spiritually and mentally but I shall save that for another post on another day.

If you actually read this whole thing my hat is off to you.

Speaking of which I am craving old movies and pickles.

Hope you had a wonderful year and maybe now you will reflect back on the adventures you had.

My love goes out to all of you.

Thanks to many of you for sharing these adventures with me.

TTFN Ta Ta For Now

-Meg

Bounce Bounce Bounce!

To add to my feeling of being quite old, one of my favorite kids just turned 5!!! I have been babysitting the Snow boys for about 3 1/2 years. I started babysitting them when Nate was 3 1/2 and Grant was 1 1/2. Grant barely talked and Nate loved Dora. Grant turned 5 last Friday. Nate is 6 and will be 7 in May and their youngest brother who was born shortly after starting to babysit them, is now 2 1/2. I have spent many of my summer days, school evenings and weekends with these boys. I love babysitting because they are so much fun and brighten my day. They say the silliest things such as "ka-kee" apparently means chocolate milk. Who knew? Along with other fun terminology like "baba," "binkie," and "bebe," in English are bottle, pacifier and blanket. i am sure mothers can relate to such words. Bennett is learning to talk more frequently and recently learned to say "mix". I am quite proud of him!

Over the years I have known them, my mind is still blown to think how old they are. Each brings a special quality to their fun personalities. Nate is the adventurous one, always curious and wanting to learn more. He comes up with the coolest games and now loves Starwars as each young boy seems to become intrigued with at one point or another. Grant is the quiet one; he does not talk much except when he has an exciting story to tell. He always listens and does as he is told even if he says no first (trying to be tough), he always listens happily. Bennett, the youngest, looooves"Go, Diego, Go" and will demand to watch at least one episode a day. He is quite demanding and gets fixated easily on one thing at a time. He looks more and more like his parents everyday and ceases to amaze me with his knowledge constantly.

Overall, I love these boys to death and would do anything for them. They have taught me more than I could have ever learned from reading a book about raising children. they are not always easy but always worth being with. They have taught me patience and to laugh at myself and my mistakes. Whether peeing on me while trying to change a diaper, coordinating bedtimes, making dinner, playing in the sprinkler (with no extra clothes to change into) or bouncing for hours in a bounce house till I can no longer breathe, they have made my time with them adventurous and fun. Even when I am in a bad mood, they brighten my day and reassure my want of being a mother someday to have adventures with my own kids. But until then, I will enjoy hanging out with them.

mothers are amazing,

Meg