The Best Worst First Date

          October has always had a special place in my heart. Growing up in NC, it is when the fall colors burst forth and it is time to pull out boots and sweaters, but it's not unpleasantly cold yet. October also happens to be when I met Garett for the first time.

          In a week it will have been 6 years since we met, and I just realized I have never written out our story and oh boy, I think it's a fun one.

          A little background to start: I was beginning my 3rd semester of college and was having the classic "I'm not dating right now, go work on myself" revelation that so many have before meeting their future partner. Dating was exhausting and I needed to get better at cooking, so I was just focusing on me.

          Garett was fresh off his church mission in Zimbabwe and on the opposite end of things. Him and his roommate had decided to try to go on (I swear the number changes every time he tells the story) at least 1 date a week. Though from what I heard from my roommate at the time, it was quite a bit more than that. He got off the plane from Africa, saw his family for a few days and then headed out to Idaho to start college.

          Because he had started the semester late, he was only taking one night class a week plus some online classes. In terms of dating, this made the pool rather small. He had church and this one class and that was all.

          Eventually he asked out my roommate Nikki. I need to note that I was the only roommate not home when when he picked her up, so he never saw me, and he still had some quirks from his mission. In Zimbabwe it was respectful to always face the person you were talking to and to clasp your hands together in front of you as a sign of respect. This wouldn't normally be so apparent, but I'm pretty sure they went bowling on their date. He brought her back and that is when I saw him. I think I was sitting on the floor and their farewell was brief so once again he didn't see me, but boy I noticed him.

          The next day her and I were talking about her date. She wasn't interested in pursuing anything and neither was he. I vividly remember that I was folding laundry at the time and I jokingly told her she should send him my way. After all you can't waste an attractive returned missionary. She asked if I wanted her to and I said sure, being certain that absolutely nothing would come of it. Time went on, a week passed and she asked if he had reached out and I said no. (Another side note, she didn't give him my last name, so he had no clue what I looked like or anything about me, so for all he knew I was some crazy lady, so he was hesitant to reach out) Another week passed and he finally asked me out, unfortunately my friend Rachel was coming up that weekend and then my parents decided to surprise my brother and I by coming up to visit, so we postponed it for another week.

         That weekend passed and at the start of the following week he asked if we could meet up before the date, feeling uncomfortable going on a date with someone he had never met before. I think that's when I gave him my last name so he could Facebook stalk me. He was free before Wednesday and I was free after Wednesday. I was going to school and working and my free time was Friday through Sunday. He insisted that he was busy later in the week though so I decided to squeeze him in between devotional, visiting teaching and work on Tuesday.

         We ended up taking a walk to the apple orchards since he didn't know where they were (funny story, his one class that semester was in the Ricks building....anyone who went to BYUI knows the orchard is RIGHT NEXT TO THE RICKS. In his defense it was a night class and hard to see...but still I laugh every time) So I went to devotional and then was headed to go visiting teaching after that. Normally when visiting teaching, I love to chat for hours on end (if you have ever visit taught me you'll know this to be true) but this time I was going to hang out with a cute guy, so I was dying to leave. Naturally the girl I was companions with loved to talk and so did the girl we were visiting (seriously no fault to them, they are both sweethearts) I was just impatient. It still took at least an hour and I booked it out of there as soon as I could.

         I got to my apartment and Garett was waiting on the couch talking to my roommate. We headed out for our walk towards the apple orchards. I don't remember much of the conversation. He talked about wanting to do a PhD and I think he mentioned he had a lot of sisters. I think I talked about photography and some about my family. Honestly I just remember it being very easy going and that the conversation flowed naturally.

        Garett knew I didn't have much time so he was expecting a 10 minute walk. Apparently after about 10 minutes he asked what I wanted to do, trying to give me an out if I needed to leave, but instead I said we could keep walking. We walked for an hour and a half, right up until I had to leave for work. He was impressed that I didn't mind taking such a long walk, despite being so busy. (Is anyone waiting on our first date still? Almost there I promise)

        I went on to work and came home and then if I remember right, I invited him over to watch Chuck. So he came over that night, then for lunch the next day, and then that evening and the next day as well. Finally it was Friday, our date!

        He was taking me to a haunted straw maze, which I'm not sure if I knew that beforehand....either way I hate haunted things, and I found out on that date that I do not like wandering around, feeling lost, trying to get out of a maze.....To add to the fun of that date, we kept running into my supervisor from work. Have you ever had that one supervisor you just loathe? They are just so obnoxious and rude and you really pray you never see them outside of work? Well that was THAT supervisor for me. So I was not only wandering around a haunted straw maze, scared people were going to jump out at me or chase me, but to add to the fun, I kept running into that supervisor. Garett was rocking this first date....

        Somehow despite that date, we still went on another date the next day and by Sunday we had decided that we didn't want to date anyone else. I found out later on that I was going to be his last date either way. After dating around for a month, he was burned out (if you don't know, Garett is very much an introvert) and that was probably exhausting for him. So it worked out that we ended up dating.

       It's fun to look back and laugh at what probably should have been nothing, because it truly was a terrible first date, but now over 5 years of marriage, 2 bachelors degrees, 2 kids, the start of a masters degree and having lived in 3 different states, we're still learning and growing together.

       It all started with me seeing a cute guy through a window and a terrible first date, but that is our story, I hope you enjoyed it.

-Meg

Our Newest Party Member is Arriving September 2017

We are pleased to announce that our family will be expanding early September this year.

This baby has already been quite a bit of trouble since we found out.

We went for our first doctor's appointment yesterday to find out we were a bit further along than we thought.

Our due date still isn't perfect after a slightly better ultrasound today, but somewhere around the beginning of September this baby should make its appearance. 

We were bumped up about 2 1/2 weeks sooner than we thought which was a nice, if but a shocking surprise.

We did an ultrasound yesterday after my midwife said that my uterus felt bigger than the timeline we were looking at. The ultrasound showed a sweet baby with arms, legs, fingers and toes and we were expecting more along the lines of a bean.

Either way we couldn't be more thrilled to be expanding our family and making Joshua a big brother.

-Megan 

Double Rainbow, What Does It Even Mean?

If you get that reference you are nerdy and I love you. 

Last post I covered Joshua's accomplishments at 11 months old and of course he's a completely new person at 14 months.

When people ask how old he is I say "1" and they look at me like "Um no I meant in months". Don't make me be one of those moms! So for all you moms who need his exact age he is 14 months today.

Anyway I'm pretty sure right after I posted in December that he learned to walk the next day.

Joshua has fantastic balance for his age and can even run. (I mean it's not a jog or anything, but he can move fast, especially if the fridge is open) 

Guys he learned to walk 3 months ago and now he can basically run. 

Is that not crazy?

I wish I could name all of his little accomplishments which mean the world to me, but it being late and me feeling sentimental, I think I will focus on the cute things he does.

He loves to be tickled and play hide and go seek.

He tries to blow on his food before he eats it, because that is what mommy does.

Sometimes he puts his food on the lid of his sippy cup and then eats it off of there when he goes for a drink. We think he is trying to us it like a spoon?

Every morning the first time he says "All done" he actually just wants a drink and will keep eating until his cereal is done.

He loves spicy food, which I find odd for being a year old, but hey who am I to stop him from eating sweet and spicy chicken?

He likes to carry things around like the recycling bin, trash cans or his stepping stool. The other day the recycling bin was in the bathroom and the bathroom trashcan was behind my bedroom door.

Since it has started to warm up here in Utah, Joshua loves going to the park and I more or less have to drag him away from the park. (Well once I put him in the stroller and start walking he is fine)

(This is him being taken away from eating dirty snow and going home)

He loves going down the slide on his tummy, and not even the baby slide, he likes the BIG slide.

I always wonder if he knows how much Garett and I love him.
The joy he brings to us is incredible.

About a year ago I posted my feelings of Joshua in our lives after only 8 weeks and how much our love has grown....these cute little things are just tiny examples of why our little munchkin is so great.

We have a fun habit of brushing our teeth together every morning.

Good habits start young right?

Did I mention he likes climbing?

He climbs all over everything, so much so that we have rearranged his room recently.

It was partially due to an old poopy diaper in the crib....but also due to him being close to climbing out of his crib.

Recently we have gotten to see lots of cousins.

Joshua isn't sure what to make of Julie yet, but he seems okay with her.

Miriam was much more of a challenge for Joshua though. She liked to play with all his toys and took a bath in his tub and he wasn't too happy about it at first.

But eventually they got along pretty well. 

I have a feeling they will be driving each other crazy for years to come.

P.S. They are 7ish weeks apart and I think that's rather cool.

I think Miriam wore him out, especially how hyper she gets when she takes a bath.

That girl might love baths more than life itself....I am not even kidding.

After they left Joshua was bummed, but we tried to make up for it a month later by going to Rexburg.

Joshua loved our friends apartments because there were endless amounts of things to touch and pull off, move, etc.

We had a blast staying up playing League of Legends with our friends and having a marvelous time.

We even stayed up late like we were teenagers! Oh to stay up until the wee hours of the morning and then be able to sleep until noon the next day....

All the same we had fun and our angel of a friend Bryton made us this sweet charm before we left!

I am still ogling it and feeling spoiled!

How we miss our dear friends and hope one day they we can all live relatively close to one another.
Though the dream will always be to be neighbors.

Now to conclude this post with a handful of pictures of Joshua for I am his mom and therefore I must take a ridiculously large number of photos of him.

I wish I could explain my love for him. People always say the reason they don't want children is because they smell and cry all the time, but let me tell you, there are a million more wonderful reasons to have children and these pictures show just a few.

This is from yesterday. Joshua was teething and not feeling well and he just hung out with me on the couch and even let me cuddle him. Days like yesterday make my heart melt.

How can I not look at that face and want to give that little boy the world?

Did I mention we have a few games?

One is when we sit up against the wall, Joshua comes up behind us and makes us move then sits down on the floor behind us.

The other is that he likes to lay on our faces....

I will leave you with this photo that sums up my entire world.

I fully believe I am the luckiest lady in the world and I would not trade these boys for anything.

Being a mom really is the greatest. Yeah there are hard times, but there are far more wonderful, fun, silly and all around grand moments. I call Joshua my little angel, because he is a gift from God.

I can't imagine my life without him. It truly is incredible how much a little person, that has only been on this earth just over a year, can change your world and heart forever.

Thank you for all those who have been apart of our lives and adding to our joy in this grand adventure of life. We love you all and hope to be better at keeping you updated on our meanderings.

(Is it too late to start a New Year resolution in March?)

-Love you all,

Megan 

Late Night Meanderings

Gosh where to even begin....

I've been watching meaningful movies lately and it's caused me to reflect on my life a great deal.

Most recently I watched Interstellar and made me think of what I would tell my past self. What would I change and what would I have worked harder to keep. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't change a thing, but I cannot live in the past, I can only change the future. Along with that movie, someone posted a link to a letter called "dear ex-best friend". It was beautiful and sweet. It made me think of all the people that have come and gone in my life. Believe it or not, if we were friends once, I have probably thought and wondered about you, maybe even Facebook stalked you. I hope you're doing well, that you're living out your dream or at the very least working toward your dream. I find in my 23 years of life there is no one for which I ever wish ill. I find myself rooting for people I haven't spoken to in ages. We may no longer be best friends, but because of the impact so many wonderful people have played in my life, I cheer for them. I've come to learn friendships are never mere coincidence or happenstance. Every person I've ever known played a roll in my life, to help me in some way and I hope I helped them too.

Every year I find myself wondering about someone, debating on whether I should message them and see how they're doing. Alas I almost never do for fear of it seeming weird.

I think I'm going to stop ignoring those feelings. Maybe it'll help me grow some. You never know, right?

The other movie I watched recently was The Imitation Game. It made me wildly sentimental. My little brother can testify, I was quite emotional after that movie. Oddly enough I came away from that movie wanting to deeply hug my little brother. You may be wondering why if you haven't seen the end of that movie, but if you have and you know my little brother, then you'll  know. I'm glad he lives in a day and age where he can live happily with a family that loves him deeply no matter what. Sorry I am getting emotional.....my family is very dear to me.

It is odd to see how my siblings and I have all grown and changed. I think out of us 4, I feel I could only have predicted my own life. Strange how even with living with your siblings for so long that they can still surprise you. But I am happy for them and proud of them. They each face battles I could not dream of facing and a strength I admire most dear. I feel like my life has been so much easier in comparison but maybe it is easy for us to forget what we have gone through. I like to think that my life has turned out so well though because of them and their examples to me.

My sister is so tough, yet I don't think I truly appreciated her soft side until recent years. She is incredibly strong and beautiful. She has a strength that I don't  think even she can see. She works hard for her family and her love is deeper than people can see. She is crafty and makes good food and is always finding cool activities for her kids. She loves her family more than anything. She truly is superwoman. She even helped me when I was dating Garett because she was so loving and protective that if he wasn't good she would have told me. Instead she gave me her glowing reviews and I knew he was good and that my sister loved me fiercely. She is protective which in our younger years came off a bit rough, but it is only because she wants the best for everyone. She puts everyone before herself and is such an example to me. If my life is great it is only because I have tried to model it after my sister. 

My older brother is not so loud and bold as my sister, but like her, he may not know his own strength. He was always my example growing up. I always wanted to be like him. Something I don't know if I ever told him, but I should have, is he is the reason I wanted a son 1st. For as long as I can remember I have wanted a boy as my 1st child. I wanted to have a son because I wanted him to be like my big brother. I want Joshua to be an example to my other children. I want him to be like my protective, loving older brother. I want him to protect his younger siblings and to love them like I was. I have always loved having a big brother and because of him, I wanted that for future daughters too. My brother may not be the biggest, toughest guy physically, but he has a spiritual strength that runs deep and long. He has been faithful in his scripture study and prayer as long as I can remember and I have always admired him of that. He is a great man, that may not be loud, but his voice is still powerful. I hope he has not forgotten that.

And then there is my little brother. We joke he has all the brains and charisma that the rest of us lack. He's not the most humble, but he is loving and sweet. It is his quiet side that I think people don't see. He works hard like my dad and he isn't good at sitting still, but he loves purely. How do I explain his quiet side? It isn't necessarily tangible. It is in the many late nights we stayed up talking on the couch, the silly snapchats, emojis and the way he looks when he sees my parents kiss. I guess it's his romantic side. He's a young man with an old soul. Like the rest of us, he's never wanted a temporal relationship and he is definitely not a fling person. Even in his young age, he looks for love long-term. He's a romantic which I am not sure comes off when people first meet him. He has carried a lot of emotional weight with him over the years and it makes me so glad he was born into our family. I love that we received his wild romantic ball of energy into our family because though being the youngest, he has taught us so much. He taught me to love in a new way, that family is so much more than blood and dna. Family is a pure, perfect love no matter what.

To wrap up I want to talk about my little family, Garett and Joshua. There are no earthly words to describe my love for them. I wish I was more eloquent to be able to fully explain my feelings. So many people fight being labeled and defined as wife or mother of "so and so". But I find myself loving those labels. Without them I am not complete. The world tells you that you don't need man or woman to be happy, and that is sort of true. But I would be lying to say I would be happy without them. My level of joy far exceeds whatever it could be if I was alone. It is like eating the richest chocolate in the world and then going back to some cheap brand. Why would you go back when you can have so much better? I need Joshua and Garett because I am no longer just me. Garett and Joshua are a part of me. When I go to the store without Joshua I feel like I'm missing a leg. When Garett is gone at work, I feel incomplete. I still function and have differences from them, but together we are so much stronger than we would be separately. I love being able to call myself a wife and mother and I don't want to ever take that for granted. I know too many people that long for those labels. To have a spouse that loves them beyond words or to hold their newborn child in their arms. Because of them I am reminded how fragile those labels are, how easily they can be taken. And right now I don't need other labels or distractions, right now I am enjoying my family as we are.

Family Fun

One of the coolest things about my sister coming to visit was getting to see our kids together.

Joshua and her little girl are not quite 2 months apart and so obviously we want them to be close buddies.

It was fun to see them interact with each other.
When Joshua first met his cousin at the airport, his initial reaction was to reach out and touch her.
I like to think he had fun meeting another small person like himself.

They often would grab each other's binkies to the other;s dismay, but it was cute.

I do hope they will be good friends one day.

Another little adventure we had was finding this cute creek at one of the local parks.

 DO NOT BE FOOLED! That water was FREEZING!

My brother-in-law decide to build a dam with his son's help.

And possibly my brother's help.

Albert helped his sweet little girl discover the creek which she liked to look at, but not be in it so much. His wife was the cleaver one and opted out of the cold water, partially due to carrying another baby girl.

My nephew being sneaky, but luckily threw that rock the other way rather than hitting his daddy.

 Garett and Joshua had a fun time as Garett carried him while walking up and down in the stream. 

I walked around in it a few times, but eventually my better judgement kicked in as the numbness wore off my feet.

Joshua did get a little grumpy so we decide to have fun with it and all pretend to be grumpy too.

Funny that no matter how old we get, you can't take the child out of us all.

To Think It All Started From Two

It's been awhile since I blogged and so here are some of the changes:

Garett and I after much prayer and consideration felt that our time in Rexburg was over and we needed to move on.

We are staying with my parents right now while Garett finds work more closely related to his field and begins to apply to grad schools.

Shortly after we arrived my sister and her family flew in and we got to have a nice big family reunion with all my siblings and our growing families!

It's kind of insane that this all started because a pretty lady from Delaware met a handsome West Point man up in New York and they fell in love!

It had been a year and a half since we had all been together and so much has changed!

Well not everything, we're still a goofy bunch.

My parents gained 2 grandchildren this year with a 3rd one coming any day now, putting their total to 5. Mom is absolutely LOVING being a grandma and lets face it, these kids are pretty dang cute.

(I apologize for Joshua's very distressed face, he is actually a very happy baby most of the time)

Have you ever tried to get 4 children all under the age of 4 to look at the camera all at once?

Good luck! 

Garett and I are loving being parents to our darling little boy who is changing and growing everyday!

I love that though we've all grown and changed, we're still friends.

Gosh I love my siblings!

I'm so blessed to have these 3 crazy and sweet people to call my family.

I hope Joshua will one day be an awesome big brother and love his siblings as much as I love mine. 

Looking forward to the next time we can all be together again and the fun and changes that will have occurred!

-Until next time,

Megan

A Year In Review 2014 Edition

This will be a long post, but I promise it'll be mostly pictures. I won't be offended if you just look at all the pictures though. 

This year by far has been the best yet (though I know 2015 is going to beat it).

We spent winter semester hanging out with friends and having an epic married couples sleepover.

We played Betrayal at the House on the Hill, had lots of snacks and lots of laughs.

 We have been blessed with such great friends here in Rexburg and I will hate to go whenever the time comes. 

Oh and we built a fort!

Later on we went down to California to visit Garett's family for a weekend and to take a break from the Idaho winter.

I must say I love going down there to see his family and also the beauty that is southern California.

 Our friends Katy and Sam added a new member to their family, their cute puppy Marley. 

 In the srping my mom came to visit and we go to go to the drive-in theater. 

In the spring Garett and I found out we were pregnant with Joshua.

I have to say it was a beautiful surprise right before mother's day. 

Though that brought about morning sickness which lasted all semester.

I was taking ceramics that semester and throwing on the wheel made it worse.

I'm surprised I survived that.

(No that wasn't thrown on the wheel, but I'm not particularly proud of the stuff I threw)

We had our first appointment right before my birthday and it started to settle in that Joshua was really there, growing and becoming an awesome little person.

I remember my doctor telling me not to increase my exercise dramatically and of course I had a travel study down to Moab, UT the next week where we got 3 hours of sleep and hiked 15 miles. 

It was worth it though! 

I made some great friends on that trip and had tons of fun despite being sleep deprived.

Goes to show that you can still handle a lot even with being sick, or maybe I just got really lucky.

 After our 2nd appointment and making sure Joshua survived that semester as well, we decided to announce his arrival!

Garett graduated with his Bachelors in Microbiology.

And my dearest friend Haley married her love Bryce.

She made a beautiful bride!

Around our 2 year anniversary we went down to California and got to go camping at Carlsbad beach with Garett's family. I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat!

I got to see Garett surf for the 1st time in 5 years and it was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Surfing is a very attractive sport. 

Shortly after that we found out Joshua was a boy!

To prepare for Joshua we moved to a 2 bedroom apartment in our complex. 

For Halloween we continued our tradition of carving pumpkins with our friends Katy and Sam.

Not pictured is that his past semester Garett and I got to have a pretty fun game of D&D with several of our close friends. Garett was our DM and made it fun for all of us.

During Thanksgiving break Garett and I went down to Utah to see my family as well as Grandpa Bonds one last time.

He was thrilled to hear that his great-grandson Bonds was on his way. 

(FYI Joshua is the 1st great-grandchild to carry on Grandpa Bonds name, so he was pretty thrilled)

My final semester kept me busy with walking lots and climbing 4 flights of stairs every day. 

On the bright side it helped me keep my pregnancy weight under control. 

In December I graduated with my Bachelors in Photography at 37 weeks.

Then we played the waiting game over Christmas break.

Due to being so pregnant, Garett and I spent our first and only Christmas alone in Rexburg.

Luckily we had great friends (Ron and Bryton) to share Christmas day with.

Shortly after the new year I went into labor and gave birth to our son Joshua. 

Grandpa Bonds despite his health lived to see Joshua being born.

Though they never met in person it was wonderful that Grandpa Bonds got to see pictures of Joshua and his arrival into this world.

It was a roller coaster of a year thanks to Garett and I finishing school, making new friends and me being pregnant for most of it.

We had a wonderful year and loved getting to share it with such great friends and family!

We love you all and this year shall be even better!

-Megan