Happy Birthday Catherine!

Happy Birthday Catherine!

Thank you for being the greatest big sister a girl could ask for! You have always been there to show me the way and to help me through life. Though you were a bit of wild child growing up, you have become an amazing woman, wife and mother. You may not realize it, but I look up to you so much. 

I love that we get to be best friends and raise our children at the same time.

You are a joy to be around. 

Your energy and bright colors fill me with joy.

My favorite thing lately is bonding over the crazy mom moments we have.

You are beautiful, sweet and have the biggest heart.

A small side story to about 4 years ago:

When I first started dating Garett, he was nervous to meet mom and dad. I laughed and told him not to worry, the one he needed to worry about was you. I always knew that if I ever dated anyone that wasn't good, then you would be the one to tell me. When you came to me and started raving about Garett, I knew he had to be good. You have always been protective of your siblings, but it only because you care fiercely about us. It is no wonder that you are a great mom!

Thank you for everything, for being patient with me as kids and not killing me in my sleep.

As much as I used to complain about it, I think it was sweet that you used to sleep in my bed with me when we had watched a scary movie. 

And the summer before you went to college when we would go to movies all the time together and get frosties with whatever change we had in the car.

You taught be step out of my comfort zone when it came to trying new things and never wanted me to get hurt.

Even after you married Jesse, you never stopped taking care of me and letting me visit y'all in college. 

You really do have the biggest heart and I am grateful for you everyday.

I'm so glad you're my sister and best friend.

I love you with all my heart and I'm so thankful to have you as my sister.

I can't wait to raise our children to be best friends like we are!

I love you Catherine and I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Love,

Your sister

Halloween #3

Okay we should all be celebrating right now! These pictures are from last night, so for once I am blogging within a reasonable amount of time! =D (applause applause)
In case you were wondering the title is meaning it is Garett and I's 3rd Halloween together.
It was the first holiday we ever celebrated together so I kind of love it.

Last year we were in California enjoying beautiful weather and sunshine for Halloween.
This year it was freezing cold and sleeting.

Doesn't seem right does it?

But it's okay because are other other halves Katy and Sam came over and carved pumpkins with us!

See? We do have friends, I just never remember to take pictures of them.

Below is my jack-o-lantern. His name is Sheldon. In person he looks so happy that he's going to cry.
I hope you can kind of tell from the picture.

Garett decided to go for an evil Voldemort-ish feeling jack-o-lantern. 

And Katy's was cutely evil.
Like a cute, evil, snowman-jack-o-lantern.

Glowing!

Mine literally was a lantern in and of itself. He GLOWS!

Katy's was too. =]

3 little Jack-o-lanterns all in a row!
(Anyone else remember that rhyme from elementary school?)

If you're wondering where Sam's jack-o-lantern went, I didn't get his pictured.
He did spiderman, but it was the kind the you don't carve out chunks, instead you graze the outside layer to make it thin enough to be transparent, but his had some trouble glowing brightly.
So maybe I'll try to get a picture of it later.
It was tons of fun, with lots of laughing, singing "Blue" By Eiffel 65 and burning and reburning candles.
In the end our apartment smelled heavily of vanilla, pumpkin and apple spice. 

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

In the Silence of the Night

It's late and I should be in bed. I'm pretty tired, but I am taking a moment to enjoy the quiet. Rexburg nights are the best because most EVERYTHING is silent and cool. Though it is COLD if you're actually outside. Either way, the apartment cools down and is rather comfortable and Rexburg becomes ghost town. It's a ghost town during the day too currently thanks to it being the 7 week break. Speaking of which...

Most of my friends are back home now in New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, Colorado, Arkansas, Michigan, etc. I'm rather envious of them getting to see their families, but I can't complain because I shall be back in NC in a few days.

I'm wondering how it will feel to be back again. Last time I was there it felt weird, like I was a visitor/guest in someone else's home. I guess that's what happens when you grow up. Suddenly you have a new home, and as much as I would love to deny it, Rexburg is my home now and it feels rightly so. When I got back here in April it just felt right. Especially after being cramped up in Tyler's little Geo Prizm for 5 hours...

On a side note to that, isn't it funny how when you meet someone, you don't know the roll they will play in your life later on, whether big or small. You don't know when getting a ride to Rexburg, that you will become really good friends with the driver; that you'll go play at the park, slide down slides and climb buildings in the wee hours of the morning. You think, "oh just another person".

Like when I met Nikki, she was always with her old roommate and they were an interesting mix together. When I first moved in I didn't talk to either one of them, mostly because Janee was intimidating and as most may know, I am rather shy. But after Janee left, Nikki and I got along perfectly. Given, her and I are VERY different people and it's great. Together we kind of straighten each other out, keep each other sane. But when first meeting her, I had no idea that she would be my room-roommate and also one of my closest friends.

I guess the point of all of this is that I am homesick, but not for home, but for where the people I love reside. Funny, now I have people that I care about all across the country, heck even across the world. I miss you all, wherever you are. And whether I see you tomorrow, next week, in a couple of months, or in a few years, I love and miss you all.

I guess this is all part of life. Nothing stays the same for long, there is not much of a constant in your life. People come and go, classes change, moving around, relationships build or crash. You can only go with the flow and try to keep up.

Speaking of which, I can't wait to go canoeing again! I guess I should start working my arms out again so I don't kill myself on the New River.

Alright, I'm off to bed. Be safe and I wish you all the best. Sweet Dreams world!

I did NOT
fall off my bed today!
but I ate half the
food in the fridge.
Gym here I come
Meg

Truth Be Told

You know there is one thing I have learned in life, and that is my friends and family are central to me. I may be selfish and ridiculous at times, but I love and care about them. You can always count on one thing if you are numbered among my friends and family: I will go to the end of the world and back for you.


One of the biggest things I feel strongly about is the joy and happiness of my friends and family. And like my parents, I am quite protective of my friends and family. Y'all are everything to me, without y'all I would not be who I am today. I just wanted to say that I love y'all and I always want and wish the best for you. No matter if your my roommate, family, childhood friend or a newer friend, I am here for you.

I love you all!

"Every story has an ending,
but in life, every ending
is just a beginning." -Uptown Girls
Meg

Some Things Are Worth the Loss

Like lack of sleep to watch the sunrise at the sand dunes.

I'm actually going to do this in reverse order of what happened so here it goes: Our neighbors in 309 invited Nikki and I to go watch the sunrise with them at the sand dunes this morning.

The thing about Rexburg is that the sun rises around 5:45am. And the sand dunes are a good 20-25 minute drive. So Amy came to Nikki and I's window at 5am this morning to get us up.

Groggy and tired we threw on several layers of clothes on and the 7 of us piled into Collette's car.

But let me tell you, I have rarely seen anything so beautiful in my life.

(Sorry these pictures are fuzzy; they weren't from my camera. Amy took them). This was before the sun rose, but to give you an idea of how much you can see (sort of).

Yes those are the Grand Tetons on the right. Gorgeous, am I right?

As the morning got lighter (it wasn't actually this bright, or it didn't feel like it. Also the sand was FREEZING cold but you can't wear shoes in the sand....)

As it began to rise. It rose really quickly!
The full view from the top of the dunes.
Amazing.

(from left to right: Amy, Collette, Michelle, Nikki, Ashley, Me, Kendall).
Kendall and I are kind of hiding in the background b/c as soon as I sat down I was NOT about to move because the sand warms up where you sit and the girls wanted to huddle after I sat down. I was bundled in my BYU-I hoodie and would not move. Oh well, got to know Kendall better. He's one of the pre-mi's in my ward and he's from NY.

I loved the shadows of the ripples of the sand. It had this beautiful blue and yellow contrast that I loved!

On the left is Nikki and Michelle sharing a sleeping bag.
I think they rolled down the hill. They tried to move like a worm. As Nikki said "I don't want to be a worm! It's too hard!" So Kendall pulled them to the car.
I'm doing a little "My feet are numb but not numb enough to not feel the sharp rocky ground" dance looking around for my shoes.

To give you an idea how steep the sand dunes are. It's a good little work out trying to get up them. And they are all that steep pretty much.

So yesterday Nikki and I took some pictures together. See here.
This is my roommate and best friend, Nikki.
I'm so happy that we're rooming together in the fall! =D
(She's so pretty!)

Besties even though she has a bit of a creepy face going on there and I couldn't stop laughing.

=D =D =D =D =D That is all I have to say.

And she taught me how to hang off the balcony. Mom does this remind you of someone? I felt this was a Catherine moment back in the day.

We also went with Cacia and her roommate, Stephanie, to tie-dye t-shirts! It was my first time ever! And Nikki and I dyed our hands as well.

Quite a work of art I must say.

I guess I can't escape West's colors. Green and Gold.

The green is mostly gone but the yellow is still very much there. Hope no one notices at church tomorrow....

Nikki and I also sat on our porch for 3 hours hanging out with the girls in 309, just chatting it up. And we watched Penelope. (I thought of you Catherine).

We launched water balloons, muahahahaha! =D

And I finally climbed up the balcony. From the ground to the third floor, I'm proud of myself. =]

And now to go get my laundry.

It's been a GREAT weekend thus far, can't wait to see what happens next!

I love bacon
and so much food!
And sometimes a
lack of sleep can be
completely worth it!
Meg