2008 Recapped :)

Two days until 2009! I am feeling the need to recap my life for the last year. Be excited!

January - Blah
February - More of Blah
March - Ew
April - Skipping finals week to go to Zions with my family. Not something I would recommend for most serious students but I just had to get away.

Angels Landing. Scariest hike I have ever been on. Having a 3,000 foot cliff be right next to you while holding onto a chain, climbing and making sure that my 9 year old sister and 12 year old brother were safe... so much fun!!



May - Long boarding and more long boarding. Granted my board was the slowest thing to ever grace Provo Canyon but I still loved it. Also, being an extra on HSM 3 and getting to see Zac Efron in person. Wowzers.

Taren and I on the set of HSM 3. Yes that is Corbin and Zac in the background.

June - New York, Boston, Salem, Wicked, awesome outfits (pink and purple tights, crazy tube socks and bright colors), Times Square, Haunting Tour in a thunder storm, Empire State Building, Shopping in China Town, back rooms and Maine.



Casco ME, CLS, Animal Game, Ha, Bob the Weasel, "How to Live a Better Life", Whippoorwills, Wal Mart, Thatchers, sleeping in a hotel while while the rest of the counselors slept in a field and got drunk, Hannah Montana Superhero at a slumber party, accidentally kissing Mush, The Hole and my first session campers :)



July - Spirit Day, Blue Sharks, Bye Bye Birdie, The Spot, sleeping in Jo's car (every twenty minutes... "Why are we here????" in a whiny voice), Old Orchard Beach, knock off Louise Vuitton watch, S'mores, Pontoon Boats, Departure Day, Doves, EED, CCP, Twilight (not the book!), Kaylie and Kaitlin and rain!



August- Boston Red Socks, wandering around Boston by myself, first time on a subway by myself, being ready to go home, being sick for a week straight, Thanksgiving dinner... again, syrup on everything, Booth Bay Harbor, whale watching, a little unknown beach, almost getting stranded a half a mile out in the Atlantic Ocean, Chinese Restaurant, second session campers, more rain and finally going home!


September - My first month back in 'real life', working in the Sandy Office, my 23rd birthday, Taren leaving for Russia, Scott, guitar lessons, floating down the Provo River, BYU football, moving into Glenwood with Steph, making a Hannah Montana music video, tumbling at All American, the big 'dance party' in Reams parking lot with Sarah, Sarah and I trying to go on a 'diet' and failing miserably and Devin kissing me.

My family at the Cheesecake Factory on my birthday

October - Me trying to convince myself and others that I didn't want a boyfriend, more BYU football, working in the Orem Office with Steph, HSM 3, Going to Logan and seeing Heather, getting a flu shot, Disney Land, riding around Disney Land in a wheel chair, texting Devin, watching Sleeping Beauty and Mulan, finally telling Devin that we could date and being an awesome vampire for Halloween.



November - Mooooore BYU football, being really happy, babysitting my siblings for ten days while my parents were in Hawaii, swimming at the AF Rec, Frosty's, Nancy Drew, a real Thanksgiving dinner, going to Salina and meeting Devins' grandparents and Twilight coming out into theaters and sucking bad.


December - Making sugar cookies and macaroni and cheese, Vegas Bowl, going to Temple Square twice, Spaghetti Factory (also twice), Blindman Christmas Party, snow, going to the gym with Sarah and Steph, working... lots, signing up for 2009 classes, reading HP 1 again, Christmas, being sick on Christmas, getting the best gifts ever, going to see Marley and Me (so good), Uncle DeVere coming up from CA, being a Shepard in our family nativity, Brick Oven and being excited for 2009!

Creativity at it's Finest

My little sisters are the cutest things in the world! I don't know what I would do without them. Yesterday, a choir that they are in was singing at a sacrament meeting down in Provo. Devin and I went to hear them sing and afterwards I let them ride up with me to our house in Alpine. Both Elizabeth and Allie were in the back seat and I was in the front seat. They were being suspiciously quiet so I looked back to see what they were doing. This is what I saw:



I had given them Twizzlers to eat on the ride up :) When we reached our home I had to get in on the action.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

My wonderful 20 year old brother is on an LDS mission in Toronto Canada! He left October 10, 2007 and will be coming home sometime in October 2009! I can't wait to have him home! Growing up it felt like Andrew was my other half... my obstinate, annoying, smart alec half but still... (haha kidding.) We did everything together! From building huts in empty lots, selling food, biking to the AF recreational center, water fights, I think I was even able to con him into playing house with me a few times, one time I KNOW that I conned him into being in my musical, Greece, in our basement, and I think I even curled his hair at times! Most all of my memories from when I was younger involve Andrew and our little sister Stephanie.

The point of this post is that I miss my brother. But I am so proud of him! I can't even imagine dropping everything in my life for two years and going out to teach other people something that I know to be true. But he, and many other 19 year old boys, did it! And continually do it! Good job!!

Here is a website that my dad has made for my brother:

http://www.creoad.com/missionary/

You should all write him... either emails or letters are fine. He would appreciate it :)

Publish My Love by Rogue Wave

So I don’t usually talk about guys that I’m dating in my blog. There are a few reasons for this: #1. I don’t have any clue as to what to say about them at all! Example: So I'm dating this guy. He's great. The end. Booooring. #2. People don’t want to read about my mushy love life. (But believe me for the past year there really hasn’t been that much mush. Not until recently at least. Hhaa.) and finally #3. What if it is just a little fling that doesn’t last very long… do I want them memorialized in my blog? Nope.

Anyways, I’m going to go out on a limb here and introduce all of my two faithful readers to my boyfriend: Devin.

Devin and I at Temple Square last weekend.

Devin was my home teacher last year when I lived at Carriage Cove. I don’t think that he ever actually taught me anything though. (Not then at least.) Him and his roommate Sam would come over a lot though under the pretense that they were going to teach us something. Sometimes we would go do things too… like one time we went to Del Taco, and another time we went to Cold Stone (I think this is because I owed him ice cream because I had kissed someone. Hm), and another time we went to a movie, I think the movie was Baby Mama, very funny.

– I would like to take a second and congratulate myself on that last sentence. It had 4 comma’s and a few ‘…’s. Awesome.

Anyways, I went to Maine last summer and we texted sometimes (As much as I was allowed to text anyways.) Then when I got home he asked me to go to Del Taco with him and as we were sitting in his car waiting for my sister he kissed me! I was super mad at him because that just changes the dynamic of everything. Gr.

Apparently I ended up being okay with him kissing me.

My Love

I love music.

Music is my passion. (One of them at least) I don’t understand how people cannot care for music very much. Music is perfect for any mood because there are so many different types of music! I love concerts! I haven’t been to one in way way too long. (A couple months at least.) Most of my favorite bands I have seen in concert. These concerts consist of a small room where bodies are packed in so tightly you can smell everyone around you. When the guy in front of you has really bad BO believe me, you know.

Here are some songs that I am loving today!

Ben Folds – You Don’t Know Me

Starting Line – Best of Me (I think this song has been on my ‘list’ for about five years.)

Augustana – Boston (I fell in love with this song on the way to Boston. Seriously)

The Shins – Australia

Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek

Silverstein – Your Sword vs. My Dagger

Maroon 5 – Human

Rise Against – Give it All (Also on ‘the list’ for years)

Secondhand Serenade – Fall For You

Fall Out Boy – Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet

Brand New – Seventy Times Seven

Enjoy!

Who Loves You More

So I was searching for a song by The Starting Line because, 1. I love this song, 2. I didn't know the name of it and I wanted to make sure I had it on my I Tunes. I came across this blog posted on Feb. 8 of this year by a blogger on MSN... (I couldn't find the name.)

Now I'm not at this place in my life anymore. Not even close! But had I come across this at about the time that this blog was written I would have related perfectly! It's always nice to be reminded that when you are having hard times in your life you are not the only one. You aren't alone. So I copied and pasted the post. I hope I'm not plagiarizing. :(

**

Being generous and turning the other cheek is always hard for anyone. You can be as zen or taoist or Christ-like or [insert your model for unselfish behavior here] and it still hurts to watch the world keep revolving when some shock or loss keeps your mind standing still.

Maybe it's that I haven't yet reached that limit of loss. Perhaps there is some floor you have to hit, some threshold where numbness envelops and stillness settles you to its chest. I feel I've been there before and it isn't the lack pain I'm longing. Pain is living, another breath is another moment I shouldn't waste. No, I the return to normalcy is my hearts need. That infusion of passion from facing the future and feeling free, no foundering or fragility.

I know where my confidence should be. I just can't push through. There is to much Me in me today.

I can't wait for this to end
And leave tonight behind us
I'm unsettled letting go of you
And sleeping the night in silence

This letdown falls along with me
Onto my bed while rolling over
So break my heart or break my fall
Don't kiss him or cover all
The memories you had of me

The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Was through your closed eyes
As I'm waiting by the phone

He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go

He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go

I can't wait until my heart mends
So I can finally go outside
And I tell myself, "Well Ken
It's better to have lost love
Than to paint a smile and pretend."

The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Was through your closed eyes as I'm waiting by the phone

He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go

He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go

The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Was in a crumpled photograph that missed the bin

He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go

-- Decisions, Decisions from A Goodnight's Sleep by The Starting Line

Memories!

High School Tag:

1. Did you date someone from your school? Jason??
2. What kind of car did you drive? My first car was a Nissan Stanza and then I had my first Honda Civic
3. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school? Haha, I'm sure I had many :o) Doing embarrassing things is the story of my life.
4. Were you a party animal? Nope not at all.
5. Were you considered a flirt? Not when I had a boyfriend... which was about 75% of high school.
6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir
7. Were you a nerd? Soooo wasn't. Even though looking back I wish I had been.
8. Did you get suspended/ expelled? No...I may have been close though
9. Can you still sing the fight song? "Charge on into the fight, brave valiant Lone Peak Knights..." If I really thought about it I could probably still do the cheer with it too.
10. Who were your favorite teachers? Brems and Phillips
11. Where did you sit during lunch? Usually left for lunch
12. What was your school's full name? Lone Peak High School
13. School mascot? a Knight
14. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? which year? Sophomore year: Todd. Junior year: Andrew. Senior year: Jason.
15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Some days I totally think I would
16. What do you remember most about graduation? Trying not to trip as I walked across the Marriott Center... I was in high heels (gasp, I know, I never wear those things.) And how freaking long it was.
17. Where did you go senior skip day? Lagoon. That's where we all went.
18. Were you in a club? Um, I think I may have signed up for the Harry Potter club because my friend was doing it... but that's all I ever did with it was sign up. Haha
19. Have you gained some weight since then? Yep :(
20. Who was your prom date? Sophomore year: Daniel. Junior and Senior year: Jason.
21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Probably.. because my friend will be planning it.
22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Boys stink!

The Beast

I'm in the process of writing a few memoirs of my childhood. They are taking longer then I thought they would. So I decided to steal a story from my brothers childhood that he wrote for a school project a couple years ago. Gee, I wish I had all my Creative Writing stories still!

The Beast

Cursing, I glanced at the blinking red glow of my alarm clock. 6:32. I rolled out of bed and tripped on the standard accumulation of clothing on the floor. Part running, part waddling, I made the journey toward the bathroom at the end of the hall. Upon reaching my destination I dropped my drawers and waited for relief to come. After alleviating the pressure I sauntered the length of the hall toward my warm bed and whatever sleep I might salvage from my restless night.
Three feet from my room, a cold chill stopped me dead in my tracks. Frozen temporarily, I spied the largest, hairiest, most disgusting spider I had ever seen. The beast was crouching on the small spans of carpet between the foot of the stairs and the doorway to my room. A shocking two inches wide, the beast blocked the entrance to my private sanctuary with fear alone.
Several years later my sister, Megan, was reading me an e-mail she had received from one of her co-workers. "The average person swallows four to five spiders whole while sleeping each year. Though many of these spiders may have poisons that will cause illness within a human, it does not cause problems when swallowed because it is neutralized by the potent acids within the stomach."
"Yeah…um…that's an urban legend," I told my mortified sister.
"I don't know. It sounds to me like that could happen, especially if a person is sleeping with there mouth open. A spider could crawl inside to escape the cold."
"Yep, that's an urban legend."
"Prove it," my sister said with intent of not being proven wrong.
Confident, I took her place at the computer with full intent of showing her the error of her ways. Though I found that the e-mail had been grossly wrong, it was wrong in the opposite direction I had been expecting. The e-mail had been a very conservative projection.
After a quick search in Google, I found that the average person swallows twelve spiders whole while sleeping each year. The average person will also eat over a pound of spider parts in various foods. The government actually has regulations for products like candy bars on how much spider they can have per gram. Far from being poisonous, spider is an excellent source of protein.
"That's disgusting!" my sister exclaimed as I read the article out loud.
Several weeks after reading the article on the internet I wasn't surprised to wake up after feeling something other than my tongue in my mouth. Remembering that it would be worse to be bit, I swallowed it. Though the taste was nasty, I no longer needed breakfast that morning.
With the topic on my mind, I recalled standing at the base of the stairs one morning when I was eight.
As I stood stationary at the bottom of the stairs I considered my options. Most logical and rational paths I could come up with involved smashing the spider. But the thought of getting nearer to the beast was eliminated immediately in my mind. On the other hand I could go and climb in bed with my older sister. This thought was also eliminated by the thought of a titan spider prancing around my room, enjoying all the luxuries therein, or even worse…laying eggs. This left one more option…
"MOM!" I screamed up the stairs, "MOM!!"
Under the obvious impression that I was in life threatening danger, had a serious injury, or both, my mother darted out of bed and ran down the stairs to my rescue. Reaching the top of the last flight of stairs she stopped.
"What's the matter?" she asked, her voice dripping with disappointment that I had not somehow severed a limb.
"Spider," I gasped extending my arm in the direction of the menacing beast.
"You have got to be kidding me," she said gazing down upon her pathetic son.
With one swift motion my mother had come down the stairs, grabbed a stick from a nearby room, and smashed the spider.
"Go back to bed," she said directing me to my vacant room.
My humiliation complete, I staggered into my room. Collapsing upon my bed I could only think one thing…
"You're pathetic."

8 is my favorite number... really.

8 Things I Am Passionate About

1. My family. They mean the world to me.
2. The Gospel
3. Traveling
4. The beach
5. Books
6. Sleeping
7. Disney
8. Clothes

It's not embarrassing to be 23 and still loving Disney. Promise.

8 Words or Phrases I say often
1. Amazing
2. Perfect
3. Oh my heck!
4. Holy Hannah Montana
5. What's that? A hat? A crazy funky junky hat.... Okay I don't say that but Alex Russo does on Wizards of Waverly place and so sometimes I think about saying it.
6. I wish I were in Hawaii
That's six... I can't think of 2 more.


8 Things I want to do before I die
1. Get married in the Temple
2. Have beautiful kids!!!
3. Live happily ever after
4. Travel the world (Europe, Australia and my favorite place ever... Hawaii.)
5. Finish school
6. Meet Zac Efron and Adam Brody... wait! Already did both!
7. Go bungee jumping
8. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef

The Temple I want to be married in :0)

8 Things I have learned
1. That everything happens for a reason.
2. God has a plan for me and that things will happen when he is ready for them to :o)
3. That sometimes you need to completely take yourself out of your comfort zone to find yourself.
4. That to make friends you have to be a friend to begin with.
5. No matter how many clothes (I) you buy you (I) always want more.
6. Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution are better then any dance, guitar or singing lessons I ever took.
7. " I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return," :o) - "For Good" from Wicked
8. You can never watch High School Musical too many times

Elfaba and Galinda singing "For Good."

Taren's Email :-)

This is why I love my friends:

A texting conversation between Sarah and I

Sarah: I want Taren home right now!!!! (She's in Russia - this was not part of the text.)

Megan: Tell me about it! She's such a little bum! But December 14th! A little over a month!

Sarah: Let's kidnap her

Megan: Perfect. Are we taking a train bus or plane to get there?

Sarah: Horses

Megan: Ah, much better. And cheaper. Can I wear a cowboy hat?

Sarah: Yes! And boots too, please?

Megan: Of course! Those are necessary.

Sarah: Very necessary

Megan: Or we could swim. If so I get the mermaid fins.

Sarah: Deal, as long as I get a sea shell bra :)

Megan: Done, I don't want the male fish hitting on me anyways.

Sarah: Why not? I've heard some good things about those fish... If you can overlook the body odor.

Megan: Because those are more like fish whores... going for the mermaid with the midriff showing.

:)

(Side note: Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie ever!)

The Teeth Make the Outfit

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. There are many reasons for this so I will name a few: dressing up, candy, dressing up, candy, dressing up and candy.

This year Steph and I went as vampires. Really really cool Vampires. We dressed in all black, spray painted our hair black, wore really dark eye make up and bought these amazing vampire teeth that molded to our own teeth!!

I’ve decided I am going to keep the teeth and wear them on special occasions: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Fourth of July, My Birthday etc.

Perfect view of my teeth :)

I Want the World, Nothing Less

This weekend was pretty fun. But the highlight of it was definitely Friday night… HSM 3!!! I totally had 20 seconds of screen time!! (Okay the back of my head had about 15 of those seconds and my face had about 5… but I’m still IN HSM 3!!)

Let me paint a picture for you:

7:20 the lights go down. Everyone’s hearts are beating in anticipation. The previews start to roll and wala! One of the previews is Zac Efron’s new movie ‘Seventeen’ which will be making its big screen debut on April 17, 2009. I can’t wait. There was many a hushed scream when we saw his face up there. The previews keep going until they finally ended. Then a big “HSM 3” rolled across the screen followed by a close up of Zacs face… all sweaty and worried looking. The theater erupted in screams and applause! It was amazing! Steph and I let out our own little squeals of delight at seeing our favorite actor again.

The whole movie was amazing! It really was about 100 x better than I had expected. The music was amazing! (I immediately ran to Wal Mart after and bought the sound track.) The dancing was to die for! Sure there were a few things that were a little cheesy but come on it’s Disney and made for pre-teens (Even though I’m sure they are very well aware that there are many of the older generation that are just as obsessed.)

There is one song called “Can I Have This Dance,” that Troy and Gabriella sing to each other and I have been listening to it on repeat for the past couple of days. It is sooo cute!! Really mushy and really cute! Here are some lyrics. Enjoy.

~Take my hand, take a breath, pull me close and take one step. Keep your eyes locked on mine and let the music be your guide.

It’s like catching lightning; the chances of finding someone like you. It’s one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do. And with every step together we just keep on getting better. So can I have this dance? ~

Anyways go see HSM3 if you have the chance!! You won’t be disappointed!

Then Saturday I went to the BYU Football game. It was really close which was pretty disappointing. We used to be good, what happened? Letting UNLV almost beat us? Not good. Both of the teams defenses were not exactly great. Oh well. One highlight of the game: they announced the 2008-2009 BYU Basketball Team line up! And Jackson Emery is back! Yay! Hopefully the last two years didn’t drain him of talent : ) And next year Tyler Haws (Also from Lone Peak) will be playing there. Exciting.

Then I: went to dinner at Applebees, went to The Scream Asylum, went home, watched USC, went to sleep, woke up, went to church, went to my parents house, went to Devin’s sisters house, went home and did nothing. Great weekend!!!

A Phenomenon

Okay so today, October 24, 2008, is a BIG day!!!

No it is not my birthday.

No I am not engaged.

No World War 3 didn't start.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 WAS RELEASED INTO THEATERS :)

I woke up to a text message on my phone this morning that read:

"Meg. It was amazing. I almost cried. I wanted to jump into the screen and grab Zac Efron right there."

My text back went:

"I will cry and I will jump at the screen... hitting my face and falling miserably to the floor."

As Disney Channel keeps telling me, this is going to be epic! Gigantfabulousazing!!!! (I just made that word up right now. Be proud.)

I am going tonight to the 7:20 showing. All of us girls in my family will be wearing our HSM shirts :) I think that we may embarrass those who are coming with us. Who cares.

This is the official 'poster' for HSM 3. It's very typical. They are jumping (as they are in the first one.) But in this one they are wearing their graduation caps and gowns. This is marking their last year in High School. I can totally remember my last year in high school (It really wasn't that long ago... honest.) I was definitely breaking out into choreographed song and dance ALL THE TIME.

My senior year prom looked nothing like theirs. Come to think of it, neither did my junior year or sophomore year. I'm beginning to think I was jipped.


I can't wait for this musical number. Apparently it is totally out there and amazing.


I am in absolute love with this boy and WILL marry him someday. First he needs to get rid of Vanessa and realize how amazing I am. It's only a matter of time really. (Why did I put up a picture of him with Vanessa in it? Really what was I thinking?)

So moral of this post: Go see HSM3!! Zac Efron will be mine someday. I think all High School's should mandate choreographed singing and dancing into it's curriculum.

Two Pirates and a green Fairy

So my family was in California the other day and we just so happened to make it to Disneyland. (Basically my second favorite place on the earth. The beach being the first.) We were standing in line for one of my favorite rides, *Space Mountain, when my dad said to me “Megan you should start a blog. I think you would be a good blogger.” I laughed and proceeded to tell him that I actually have my own blog… and have had it for about a year now. I think he felt a little sheepish. But I guess it really is my own fault because I don’t tell too many people about my blog. Woops.

California was amazing but also a little weird without my brother Andrew. Thankfully next year when we go Andrew will be with us. Actually next year when we go on a Disney Cruise Andrew will be with us (hint hint cough mom cough cough.)

Some of my favorite things at Disney Land this year were:

1. The hot chocolate that we got every night that burned my tongue… every time.
2. Riding around in a wheel chair one day because I had hurt my ankle.
3. The Parade of Dreams
4. Peter Pan by myself
5. How they have incorporated Johnny Depp into the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
6. How we went over UEA which has been coined “Utah’s Exodus to Anneheim.” That means that Disneyland was packed with a bunch of Utahns. Everywhere I looked there was either a BYU shirt, UVU shirt or Utah shirt.
7. The firework show… Seriously Disneyland has the best fireworks EVER!
8. Not looking into ‘the eyes’ on Indiana Jones.
9. Captain Jack Sparrow actually passed me.
10. Sleeping in a wheel chair while my family waited in line for Splash Mountain. Awesome.

Here are some pictures to show you how awesome the trip was!

My dad photoshopped my brother into a few pictures. When I saw these I laughed hysterically. It is amazing!! He was totally there with us in spirit!!

Me in a wheel chair. I really did hurt my foot! I wasn't faking it! And walking was really really hard! And since thats what you do 99.999% of the time at Disneyland I needed a wheelchair. Yes it was a must!!

Us on the Matterhorn roller coaster. I had to make sure that I made it into the picture :) And my brother is again photo shopped in. I love it, his head is sticking out from no where. Amazing.

Space Mountain. Me doing Peace Signs. Need I say more?

* Space Mountain is not my only favorite ride at Disneyland. I have many. Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Cruise (They have really lame jokes that have never changed.) etc.

A Year in the Making

Ah, 14 years old. The time in any young teenage girls life where everything revolves around boys. Everywhere you go your looking over your shoulder hoping to see that perfect boy. You seem to have this fairy tale vision in your head: you and said perfect boy lock eyes realizing at once that you two were meant for each other, he runs over and sweeps you off your feet (literally) and your lips lock into the most perfect kiss you can imagine (which really isn’t that perfect considering you haven’t even had your first kiss yet so you really have nothing to compare it to – but that’s beside the point right?).

I was the epitome of previously described 14-year-old girl. It seemed everything in my life revolved around boys. The nice thing about having this be my obsession was it was also my aunt’s obsession and she was only about a year older then I was. So at every family outing the two of us were always ‘on the look out’.

My family has a time share on a house boat down at Lake Powell and so every summer we would spend a week down there ‘catching up’ with each others lives. This also turned out to be great ‘guy watch’ time. Pathetic, I know. I remember many times cruising down the channel, with my grandparents no less, and checking out the guys (I guess we can’t really call them ‘guys’ at this stage of life right? Should I use ‘boys’?) in other boats.

The summer after my eighth grade year was no different. Darcy (my aunt) and I spent our days down at Lake Powell lounging on top of our house boat waiting for any ‘hot boys’ to pass. There seemed to be a drought of ‘hot boys’ that year so I think we got to the point that any boy within our age rage would pass as eye candy.

This year was also my first year wearing a ‘two pieced’ swimming suit. It was a strange and exhilarating feeling all rolled into one. I finally felt like a woman. I was finally going to get the attention that I deserved… all due to showing my stomach… or at least that’s what my 14-year-old mind was telling me.

One exceptionally hot day Darcy and I were lounging on the top of the house boat after a nice dip in the lake when we saw a house boat about the size of ours pull onto the beach across the canyon from us. We watched as a plethora of boys piled out of the cabin onto the top of their house boat. We took one look at each other and immediately knew what we needed to do. This called for the first ‘real’ shower we had taken all week and possibly firing up the generator to blow dry and curl our hair.

Darcy was the first to be done getting ready, spending a good 55 minutes as opposed to my 65 minutes, so she was already sprawled out upon our air mattress that we were going to use to ‘accidentally’ float across that canyon to said boys house boat, when I appeared on the back of the boat. I kindly asked Darcy to paddle back and pick me up seeing as the mattress had floated a good five feet away from where I was standing. Darcy politely refused (we were always so nice to each other…) and I was left with thinking up some brilliant plan as to how I could get from the back of the house boat to the air mattress completely dry.

I pondered for a moment as I looked around and took in my surroundings. My uncles friend Brian was sitting in a lawn chair watching my predicament as were the ‘cute boys’ across the canyon. I knew I had to do something awe inspiring. After just a few more moments of pondering a light bulb went off in my head. I would commence to jump belly first and land on the air mattress gracefully. I once again looked around to make sure that everyone was watching and then launched myself from my dry stable ground hoping that in a few brief seconds I would feel the air mattress underneath me.

I closed my eyes as soon as I was airborne and looking back that was probably a good idea considering had I seen what was coming there would probably have been a loud shriek followed by some thrashing of limbs. Instead of feeling the softness of the air mattress as I landed I felt the ice-cold smack of the waters of Lake Powell hit me and knock the air out of me. This was not what I had expected. I sucked in a breath feeling the cold water fill my lungs as I quickly scrambled to the surface. My head popped out of the water and I sputtered water everywhere. I could quickly tell that the mascara that I had so carefully applied to my eyelashes was running down my face.

And then I heard the laughter. It was coming from the air mattress, the back of our house boat and across the canyon. I looked around to see the source of the laughter but instead my eyes landed on my swimming suit top floating a couple feet away from me. How it happened to dismantle itself from my body and float a couple feet away I will never know. All I do know is that the blood quickly drained from my face as I grabbed it and tried to cover myself.

This was quite possibly the most humiliating experience I had yet to have and the next thing I heard made it almost unbearable. From the back deck of my house boat my uncles friend who had seen the whole debacle loudly stated:

“Now Megan, that is something I will NEVER forget.”

Apparently I won’t ever forget it either.

Killing Two Yaks With One Potato

I tagged myself from Taren’s blog.

Here's how it works: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts about yourself. Then tag 5 people at the end of your post and leave them a comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

3 Joys:

1. Traveling and the beach

2. My family

3. Kittens

3 Fears:

1. Loosing someone I love

2. Getting older

3. Heights

3 Goals:

1. Finish school

2. Learn to play the guitar

3. Up date my blog at least once a week??

3 Obsessions/Collections:

1. High School Musical! HSM

2. Ice cream

3. The beach

I don’t really collect anything. I tend to throw things away too quickly to collect them.

3 Surprising Facts About Me:

I’m a pretty open person so there’s not many things that I can say that will surprise people but here I go anyways:

1. My favorite number is 8. It has been 8 since before I can remember and I really don’t know why.

2. I love driving by myself for extended amounts of time. It is the best time to think.

3. I love use to be really self conscious and awkward around people. (Surprising, I know. Haha.)

I’m also not tagging anyone. But anyone who reads this can totally steal the idea!

Bug Glasses and Orange Rainboots

East Coast Top Ten

#10. Dressing like a Hannah Montana superhero going to a slumber party is in fact the best social outfit ever! Yes that’s right, HM shirt with HM pillow case wrapped around my neck. Everyone was jealous of my ingenuity!

#9. Awesome tan lines!! I.E. flip flop tan lines on my feet!

#8. My bug glasses and bright orange rainboots. I figured they needed to make it somewhere into the post considering this post was named after them. (But I have been known to name certain posts about absolutely nothing that related to the actual post.) These were my staple ‘look’ for the summer. Yes I had a ‘look’ and it was quite… er… ferocious? My glasses, which take up half of my face, were purchased for $8.00 in china town and my awesome rainboots (which saved my life many times) were purchased for $20.00 from Target.com. (I believe they have already made an appearance in my blog. Oh well.)

So basically everyday I looked wicked hot! No really. Nooooo Reeeeaaaalllllyyyy!

#7. This summer was the first time that I have actually been skinny dipping. Scandalous I know! But before you judge me let me explain myself… It was the middle of the night, pitch black (you seriously couldn’t see anything), four girls and we were only there for TOPS twenty minutes. So it really wasn’t too scandalous. But now every Myspace survey that I fill out that asks the question “Have you ever been skinny dipping,” I will be able to answer “Yes.” Profound experience… I know.

#6. Critter shorts, critter shoes, staff t shirts, spandex, bright colors, crocs, crazy awesome earrings from Wal Mart, Wal Mart clothes in general, millions of bracelets on one arm, no make-up, and dressing up as anything under the sun NEVER goes out of style.

#5. Hot Australians

#4. The art of perfect s’more and pizza bagel making.

#3. I am a pretty darn good whale watcher... which is interesting because I have the worst eyes in the world! But I did see many whales out in the middle of the Atlantic…

Which brings me to another point (That doesn’t get another number because it was on the same day) When you walk about halfway out into the ocean to a sand bar that takes you out to an island make sure that the tide doesn’t start coming in because the sand bar that got you there will start disappearing.

#2. We’re all in this together. (Yes, that is from High School Musical.)

#1. You can learn a lot about yourself and others by taking yourself out of your comfort zone and doing something completely foreign to you. (Like being a camp counselor… definitely something foreign.)

How To Live A Better Life

Just a little video that they showed us at the beginning of camp before the kids got there. Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx-yXGXNstU

A post from my old Blog - Also not funny

Yoga: To perceive the constant union, unity, or copulation with the divine self in every breath, in every moment, in every activity, and in every achievement. Yoga is the way one can perceive divinity manifested in the whole universe as well as in the entire body.

Back last February I had a coworker take me to a Bikram Yoga class. I had done yoga before at our local gym but I had never experienced anything quite like this. I didn’t know what to expect so I wore my regular gym clothes, which consisted of capris and a baggy t-shirt – bad idea. We walked into the studio a bit late and so we hurriedly put our mats down in the back of the room. There were about 15 people in the class and then one big mirror in the front of the room. The first thing that you notice when you walk in is the temperature of the room. To be true Bikram Yoga – or Hot Yoga as it is sometimes called – the temperature in the room must hit 105 degrees – definitely hotter then your average fitness class.

Bikram is composed of 26 poses – or asanas – each of which are performed twice in sequence and held for what can feel like forever. The first half of the set is the standing poses and the second half is the floor poses. The goal of all of these poses is to stretch your muscles and release all of the toxins in your body. Even though there are other people in the room you only are supposed to concentrate on yourself – how can you compare yourself to your neighbor? You have two completely different bodies!

The very last pose is Shavasana – or the corpse pose. This is designed to quiet the mind and as my teacher says “Thoughts may come but don’t dwell on them. Let them run through you”. Your supposed to keep your eyes open and ‘stay present in the room’ but truthfully all I ever want to do is close my eyes and fall asleep.

By the end of the class you are absolutely pouring sweat. Seriously, stepping out of that class I feel as if I am stepping out of the shower – just not anywhere near as clean. But by the time I am home, showered and in bed I am really able to marvel at how good I feel. So, if you have the chance I would recommend trying Bikram Yoga. But go twice at least – I promise after the first time you will want to throw in the towel – this is the only way to get to know how truly wonderful Bikram is!

Santa Baby

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they are right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

-Marilyn Monroe

I find it interesting that people quote things that Marilyn Monroe said. She wasn't exactly a dignitary, politician, philosopher or anything of that nature. She was an actress. Yet I read this quote and I liked it a lot so I decided that I would share it.

I feel like I am at a turning point in my life right now. Last year I went through a lot of changes. And by a lot I mean A LOT! I didn't exactly handle the changes very well which in turn led me to be someone I wasn't. But I am over that stage in my life now and I feel I am moving on. Maine def. helped :). I am relating a lot to the "sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together," part of M.M.'s quote.

Um, this post wasn't very funny which is kinda sad because I am typically a very funny person. I apologize for the unfunniness of this quote and promise to have a laugh out loud hillarious post next time!

OOheee It's Where I Wanna Be

I have been MIA for a couple months now. Sorry about that! I actually have been in Maine being a camp counselor for the summer. This was a HUGE learning experience in my life and I really feel like it has changed me a lot. It was also one of the hardest summers of my life. Basically we were on a rigid schedule from 7:30 in the morning until 10:00 at night. I couldn't ever call in sick to work (even though there were a few days when I know I should have), I couldn't sleep in, I had to always being worrying about someone else that wasn't myself (in most cases multiple people) and I basically had to 'grow up'. There was never a time during the summer when it was allowable to be selfish, lazy, arrogant, obstinant etc. If you couldn't tell: I had a blast!

Maine is gorgeous! If you ever get the chance to go I would def. say do it! It is so different then this mountaineous desert that we live in. There aren't any mountains at all actually but there are very large trees! Everything is green (this might stem from the fact that it rained half the summer). Our camp was about 1.5 hours out of Portland. We were in the middle of no mans land. I did get to travel around Maine a little bit and everywhere was just as gorgeous as where we were. We went up to Booth Bay Harbor and it was quite possibly the cutest harbor I have ever seen. We went Whale Watching there and wow... that was an experience.

Not only was the place gorgeous but I also got to make many new friends and experience a different way of life. There were camp counselors there from all around the world! One of my friends was from Australia and he was possibly the funniest person I have ever met! We had completely different views of the world and morals and what not but it didn't matter. It was interesting explaining what I believe to so many different people. I was told more then once that I was the first LDS person they had ever met which was weird for me because I live in Utah. And I finally met my first TRUE hippie. We're talking no underwear, no cell phone, belief in reincarnation, life long dream: to travel the coast in a van and surf all day everyday and the list goes on and on. He was amazing and so fun to have conversations with! Basically everyone I met out there I absolutely loved!

Coming back was really hard for me. My first full day back in Utah I basically just wanted to cry. I love everyone here and I was so grateful to see my family but I was already missing Maine. I didn't want to come back and get submersed in all of the drama of life again (which by the way I am not letting myself get submersed back in all of that so don't even try! hehe). At camp everything was so care free. When you went to bed at night the second your head hit the pillow you were out like a light. There was nothing to keep you up worrying about. So basically that is my goal for here... not to let things get to me like I used to! I'm doing good so far! :)

I am glad to be back and I am glad to see everyone! I missed the mountains... weird I know, I missed floating down Provo River with my friends (which was amazing let me tell you!), I missed being able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I missed my soft bed and I missed being able to do things without having daddy long legs everywhere!! Hallelujiah!

So in short: Camp was a great experience. Go if you have the chance. Go to Maine if you have a chance. Don't get submersed in random drama that doesn't matter. And KILL ALL DADDY LONG LEGS!!!

Quote of the Day:

Do what makes you happy,
Be with who makes you smile,
Laugh as much as you breathe,
Love as long as you live.

Pathway to Stardom!

This past weekend I have been living THE dream! Yes I have been being an extra on High School Musical 3!! This means (drum roll please)… I have met Zac Efron! I know be jealous! Haha. So Friday Taren and I went up to Salt Lake because we knew that they were filming that night. (We get the inside scoop. Lol) We just randomly showed up on set and talked to the extras coordinator and basically begged to be on the show. She relented after seeing how extremely good looking we were. So we sat in a tent for the next couple of hours awaiting our chance to meet Zac Efron! The moment finally came when the Extras Coordinator came in and asked us to come up to set with her to fill up balloons for a party scene that they were doing. We quickly agreed and the next thing we knew we were on the set with the WHOLE cast of HSM 3!! (Minus Ashley Tisdale). Taren and I started filling up balloons and in doing so got Zac’s attention because we were being our very hilarious self’s. He watched us for a second before Vanessa (His co star and girlfriend) came over and stole his attention away. Sad day.

Then later in the night there was a scene where Zac was standing by a trampoline talking to some random guy and Taren and I were partying approx 2 feet away from him! Amazing!! I’m sure when the movie actually comes out and we see this scene we will be so embarrassed because we were seriously dancing away for two hours straight at 3:00 in the morning.

I spent all of Friday night and Saturday night being an extra. Each night I didn’t get home until 7:00 the next morning but it was sooo worth it! It was really fun and a great experience. And amazingly they were all really nice! Who would have thunk?! Haha! I think that Corbin Bleu was actually the nicest.

Basically this night was amazing!!


Taren and I in our Wildcat gear!!

"Whenever I think I need a therapist..."

So the other day at work we were talking about President Gordan B. Hinckley and how awesome all of his talks were. This came up because I came across a quote from him that I absolutely loved. It goes:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around and shouting that he has been robbed. The fact of the matter is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Pres. Hinckley Evening with a General Authority, September 1980

I love this quote because it is almost exactly what I needed to hear right now. So I read this to my co worker and then proceeded to tell her, “Whenever I feel like I need a therapist I wish President Hinckley could be my therapist.” She got a kick out of it. Apparently her favorite part of it was, “Whenever I feel like I need a therapist…”

My therapist.

Atleast you don't have boogers on your shirt...

I was thinking to myself - "Self, it's time for a new blog." So here I am writing a new blog with absolutely nothing to really talk about.

I leave to Maine in 42 days. I am so excited! I am going to be a camp counselor at Camp Laurel South. I get to teach kids how to play tennis! I have never been to the east coast so this will be a real adventure. I will be there for almost exactly 2 months. Hopefully everyone will miss me. They had better. Today Taren and I walked around Target for approximately three hours looking for stuff for Maine. I finally left there with: 2 skirts, a pair of shorts, TONS of socks (the knee high kind that are so amazingly awesome), and the soundtrack to Wicked. (Okay so the Wicked cd wasn't really for Maine but I have been really wanting it for a while now.) I would also like to let everyone know that I bought THE HOTTEST rainboots off of Target.com the other day! I apparently am going to need those in Maine.

(These are my HOT rain boots!)

Today's shopping extravaganza was awesome - and LONG. Here is something to consider that Taren and I were wondering about while we were at Target looking at headbands. Why do they make those really cute headbands that go all the way around your head when they never stay on ANYONE'S head?! We wanted some but they kept coming off of our heads. Lame.

I've been having to be social lately and I decided it is such a pain. The other night my friend came up to my parents house to hang out with me (yes I moved home to my parents house and yes my 'friend' was a boy.) Anyways we were going downstairs to play guitar hero and there right in the middle of the hallway was my underwear!! What the heck?!?! The only thing that I can think of is that my dog got into my room and took them off my floor out into the hall. So I just walk by them hoping that no one will notice but no, my sister comes trouncing down the stairs after us and loudly proclaims, "There's Megan's underwear!!!" Brat. I tried to laugh it off like I didn't care but really how could I not care? Looking back on it it was really kinda awkward and really pretty funny. Thats what little sisters are for right?

Anyways thats a nice little recap on my life :o) You love me!

10 Quirks!

Taren tagged me! Haha! I had never even heard of this 'tagging' thing until Taren decided to tag herself. So now I am supposed to tell you 10 quirks about myself. This should be fun and pretty easy too considering I have more then 10 quirks that immediately pop to mind.

10. I know more about blinds and window coverings then 99% of the worlds populations.

9. I have a strange and uninhibited obsession with the likes of Zac Efron, Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers and all things Disney Channel. Sometimes I feel like a twelve year old... especially when I am running to the nearest Wal Mart the day that High School Musical 2 is released so I can buy it and then speeding to my parents house for our HSM 2 viewing party!

8. I cannot sleep if my feet are hot in temperature. I have to stick my feet out of the covers to cool them down. Otherwise I can't fall asleep. I will be tossing and turning for hours on end until they are finally cool.

7. I have a small obsession with sleep. Okay maybe large obsession. Sometimes when I am at work the only thing that gets me through the day is thinking about going home and sleeping.

6. I love movies and books. I love being able to 'live' someone else's life for the duration of the movie/book.

5. I hate feet!! Hate them! They are nasty! Don't EVER touch me with your foot! I think that this stems from my moms obsession to grab people with her toes... weird and gross!

4. I have a weird obsession with celebrities lives. Seriously what is Britney going to do next? Why can't she just lie low for a while and get her life in order? And did you hear her sister is pregnant?! Pregnant!?!?!? She's 16!!!

3. I haven't had my natural hair color since 6th grade. The summer after 6th grade I cut my hair and bleached it and I have been coloring it ever since. I think I have gotten close to my natural hair color... but you can never know for sure. Also, I have had every hair color imaginable.

2. I constantly am shaking my knee. My foot like twitches and in turn it makes my knee bop up and down really fast. It is really funny because it does it without me even knowing it and it will shake everything around me. I'm sure it really annoys people at school.

1. I loooove eating! This may end up being a problem in the future but I just do!! Food is seriously one of my favorite things ever! Whenever I am sad or depressed I eat. Whenever I am bored I eat. Really I am always eating and always loving it! I crave things like a pregnant lady would!!

There they are. 10 quirks about me :o) Now I tag... NOEL!!