Thursday, December 29, 2011

On glasses

Oh, I don't remember the date, probably because it was traumatic. By my own stupidity I broke my glasses. 

I was in my bed, lying there and delaying sleep because I had not read my scriptures yet. (I have read my scriptures every day since I was in 9th grade, and I have never missed, so I couldn't miss now.) I knew if I kept my glasses on, then I wouldn't fall asleep. 

But I did take them off, and rolled over. Then I went to grab my scriptures, and when I came back, I sat on my glasses. Not all the way, mind you. But my bottom pressed into them on just the wrong angle and they snapped in half. Ya, I cried. 

You have no idea what these glasses and I have been through together. We met about four years ago! They have been fantastic. 

But I had to move on. Picking new specs was hard because I didn't know if I should stick with my classic turtle shell look and get something similar to my previous pair, or branch out into something new and trendy. 

I decided that this was my chance to break out into new territory--to be bold and daring. I didn't want to have chartreuse dress regrets. 

I narrowed down my choice to these 2:



Which one do you think is best? (I've already picked, but I appreciate your feedback anyway.)

The new pair is scheduled to be done tomorrow, and I cannot wait to pick them up and give my poor eyes a break from my contacts. (I've slept in my contacts twice in the past two weeks.) 

It's not that I think you care, but see that weird girl on the far right? You know, the one wearing a yellow shirt? That's me. When I was 12. Those glasses I'm wearing aren't the ones that I just recently broke, but they're the pair I had before that. Those didn't last for very long, because they were the uber cheepo ones. But I liked them so much, I just had to get them. Then they broke...

(I only intended to put one picture of my old glasses, but I just keep finding brilliant ones. Don't I look so young?)

Anyway, so I got my BCBG ones, which were my glasses until a week ago. (When I put them on, I was transformed into a normal-looking teenager. My awkwardness vanished instantly!)
One more thing:
You know one of my pet peeves? When people wear glasses because they think they're cool. No. You only deserve to wear fashionable glasses if God willed it by making you blind. If you wear fashion glasses, then you look like Adriana, pictured above. She's cute and all, but she doesn't fool my keen, be-speckled eyes. It may be hard to fathom, but she's actually wearing fake glasses in that picture. Shocking, I know.

-Meg

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time


You know, Christmas. That time of year that is busy but beautiful, cold but cozy, expensive but exciting. In the past two weeks, I have made two kinds of cupcakes.

Vanilla on vanilla,

...and Gingerbread. (Recipe found here)

Except I used my favorite cream cheese frosting recipee. (We've been spelling it like that at our house recently. Don't ask)

Sam and I learned a duet on the piano, and it was so much fun. I loved playing and practicing with him. We make a good team. And it was one of my favorite songs, "Angels We Have Heard on High," except I always sing the words to "Angels from their Realms of Glory," except I only know the first line of that. But it's just so cool!

Anyway, I was secondo as usual. I like it because the player on the bottom pedals, and I like using the pedal because it makes me feel powerful. The hard part about the bottom is it's all in F clef, which I'm far less skilled at reading. But it is good practice for me.

I received many wonderful things, like a crockpot, luggage, clothes, and a watch. Sam gave me some wonderful pictures, and he got a large framed print of our favorite one.

But I do love giving people presents, like zebra print sheets for my sister Lindsey who's obsessed with all things zebra. And I gave Adriana a gift certificate to Color Me Mine, so she can go make some cool pottery.

In other news, I have been running and working out because a) I have time, b) I'm going to get fat from all the goodies and treats that the holidays bring, and c) I have new running clothes and watch.

Well, time to bring on the new year. And the new semester. Yay!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!


And to all a good night!
-Megan

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Heading, anew

Hey ya, so my blog has a new look. I wanted change, and I had all these elaborate plans... but then I found this photo, and I knew it was the right thing, for this blog and for me. So that was that.

I like to think of myself as a forward looking person, and I'm pretty certain that I see everything with my own filter. I'm on my little weird journey, which has a destination, but no exact course to reach the shore. Any set of waves heading there will do.


Other reasons why this photo fits so well:

I like sailing. Not that I do it much, but I like nautical things because I like adventure. (And fat blue and white stripes are adorable, no?)

I'm wearing a swimsuit cover-up which I also wear as a dress. This is one of my talents.

I'm told pony tails are attractive.


---------------------------------
And then I found this:



----


Look forward to me blogging about my busted spectacles, Alexis--who leaves very soon on the greatest adventure of all, and Christmas things. (Like muffins/cupcakes, which didn't happen today.)
-Meg

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Freedom!


I'm done! Now I can spend disgusting amounts of time on Pinterest, play Words with Friends and read for fun. I can also spend time with Sam and my family and not have to have the weight of homework and studying weighing on the back of my mind.

I've been eating a lot of junk food, and listening to a lot of Pandora.

There's a mouse in our house. We're working on killing it as humanely and ethically as possible. This is hard for me to do considering I just found out that my spirit animal is a mouse.

Oh, and Katie and I went and got our nails did.


And I made homemade brownies.

Anyway. I just wanted to say all that. Bye.

-Meg

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

It seems that I hardly ever post Muffin Mondays actually on Mondays. Anyway, this weekend we had a delightful white elephant party at our house. I made these Christmas cupcakes and everyone loved them.

I did not read the recipe as closely as I should. It yields 21, so unless you want 42 cupcakes, I suggest you don't double the recipe...

But it was great to have so many cupcakes! Russell and Sam helped me, and I think they liked the part where they got to crush the peppermint candy canes the most.

I put the crushed bits of peppermint in the batter, the frosting and on top of the frosting. There was lots of goodness going around.


Recipe found here!

-Meg

(Thanks, Sam, for the photos.)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I wish

I wish I could take the happiness I feel right now and share it with the entire world. Everyone deserves to be this happy.

I wish to tell you about Sam, because I'm in love with him.


I didn't expect to fall in love this semester, but I did, and I am better for it.


Sam is 22 years old and doesn't like ice in his water. He served an LDS mission in Louisiana and is really talented at rollerblading. He makes me food when crossword puzzles are tearing my mind to shreds (and brings me food when I forget to go shopping). He likes taking pictures (and they're pretty awesome). He likes adventures, singing and hiking.

He's handsome, clever, and all-around fantastic. I am blessed.

OK, now back to my crossword puzzle. I had to just get it out there.

I wish finals would end soon. And they will. (I am done WEDNESDAY!)

-Meg

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The most wonderful time of the year





Rainbow cupcakes! Yes, because it is Christmastide, I'm going to be making cupcakes instead. Mostly because I went crazy and bought lots of Christmas cupcake liners.



Finals are sucking out my soul like a dementor, but you don't want to hear about that.

You want to hear about cupcakes and how lovely my life is.

There really isn't a recipe. We made a white cake from a box mix, and divided it into four. We dyed the separate batters and then layered them in the liners.


There is a recipe for frosting. I'd recommend this to anyone, even if you don't like frosting.

4 TBSP butter, softened
2 cups powdered (confectioners' sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TSP Milk

Whip together and voila!

There has been much wind and coldness. But Sam and I went up to Syracuse to be with my family. It was lovely, because I love being with all of them.

Happiness has been filling up every corner of my life, and although it always ebbs and flows, I know that I'm happy deep down inside, I just have to remember that.

I have so many things to be happy about.

I think Katie said it best. "You know you're in love when you don't have to explain why you're in love."

Yup.




Things I am thankful for:

My ability to love others and be loved.

Times when I think that I don't have the right words to say, but I try anyway.

The strangely confident feeling that everything is going to be OK. And not just OK, but brilliant.

That wise girl whose been writing in my journals all these years.

My sisters, Sam, my roommates, my parents, and all the other people on Team Megan.



-Meg

Monday, November 28, 2011

Making it up as I go

I am really big into life evaluation. I worry that sometimes I spend more of my life analyzing my time than actually living my life. Anyway, the point is that finals are coming around the corner. That means another crossword puzzle to construct, a few papers and lots of studying to do.

Because I was home for Thanksgiving break, and when I came back I was busy doing stuff with my cousins and Sam, I neglected to go grocery shopping. I will be fine... I have food, but I don't have fresh food, like eggs or milk or bread. [sigh].

So I tried to make muffins, right, like I do every weekend. And I was all, "I can just make up my own recipe... la la la..."

I mean, I did it once before, right?

Um, they are gross. Embarrassing thing is that I gave them to my home teachers before I even tried them myself. And they were nice and they lied and said they were good! When Sam and I ate them, we just could not eat another bite. So now I feel really dumb. And I think I need to stick to recipes that people have actually tested. Maybe I'll try to fix it, but for now, just know that today's Muffin Monday is gross so I am not even going to post the recipe.

And yes, I am aware that I forgot to post about muffins last week. Forgive me. Here it is! This recipe is delicious, and there is more sugar than flour.  They are technically financiers, which is a French Muffin. Oui Oui!

And Sam got to separate the egg whites from the egg yokes. He was very excited about that.





So finals are just around the river bend... and as close as I am to finishing it... I'm giving up NaNoWriMo. I'm 37 thousand words in, and I could still finish...But no. Let's face it, I'd rather be spending time with Sam or doing my homework. Because I'm shamelessly in love and school is important (even though I am seriously lacking motivation).

And I know that writing it here makes it official. And I hate to say that this is the second year in a row that I have come short of 50,000 words. I have done much more than I did last year--I think I got to 17k?--and I have a legitimate story.  I started with nothing and now I have this little plot and a million characters and I love them, and they are their own people.

Ya, lots of psycho madness goin' on right now. Thought I'd just rattle on to the world about muffins and writing and love.

I am going to write more soon. I promise. More scenes from the weekend:





-Meg

Friday, November 18, 2011

I'd rather be a comma, then a full stop

Tonight, after I said a witty comment, someone told me that I should have a blog.

And I was all, "I do! And I post my muffin recipes there."

Then I felt bad because I lately that is all I have ever done, so sorry. I'm going to talk about interesting things now.

Like how my tonsils got all huge and gross and I couldn't breathe or swallow, and so I had to go to the doctor. But not the doctor in Salt Lake, the doctor in freakin' Odgen because the clinic I go to here was randomly closed for staff training.

But whatev's. I got to meet my mom and she brought me egg drop soop [sic, I think it's better that way].

I did not get caught up on NaNoWriMo... not yet anyway. I want to! I have lots to write and I don't always have motivation, but I force myself and then words happen, so ya. I'm still too concise for my own good. I still let my readers fill in the blanks too often. But one thing I took from my acting class is this: you have to know everything, even if you don't use everything. So in the final product will I take out unnecessary things? Sure, but for now they're there so I'm forced to think about them.

OK, that's a lot of meta data.

I'm really tired and I'm still sick, so I'm going to bed, mmmk? Thanks.

-Megan

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Muffin Monday! Cranberry Cornbread

This weekend was another glorious one, filled with a healthy dose of excitement, sleep, stress and giddiness.

11/11/11 11:11 happened, and I knew I had to do something epic, so Sam and I went roller blading.

And I went home for my friend Jantzen's homecoming. That meant spending time with my wonderful sisters.

Today's Muffin Monday is Cranberry Cornbread muffins.

Recipe here

I'm getting really sick of muffin pictures. They're just so boring... but they don't taste that way!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Writing, and other strange acts

I actually wrote this a few days ago, but forgot to publish it. So here goes.

As I am writing my novel, and fighting valiantly through the happiness and stress of my life, I have a list of things that I must always remember. I am amazed at how similar those two things are. Perhaps it is a good sign that my novel's character is so similar to me, because she helps me not forget those things which I must not forget. They seem cryptic only because they apply across the spectrum of my existence.

1. I am not the victim.
2. The answer will come.
3. I am fearless.

Today I'm feeling ill, so I'm staying home from class. Although this really isn't making me feel better, because now I'm just stressed about everything I'm missing. I'm trying to use this time to get caught up in all my assignments, but ugh... one day I will done with school!


-Meg

p.s. NaNoWriMo updated. I'm at about 11k words. I would never be able to do it without Sam or Katie. It's far from over but I don't know how I would have even survived this long without their support. I just thought I'd mention that because they are just super cool. 

p.p.s. I came home and a Weeping Angel was in my room, on my compy. Ya, I was terrified, in a happy way.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Creating novels and recipes...

I write what I feel inside of me. So my novel is never going to be turned into a movie, or even a play. It is just my little story, my reckoning with the thoughts in my head. It is my connection with my ancestors. Not my grandma-- not that close. Far, far distant. I'm talking about my ancestors who were hunter-gatherers. And I feel connected with them so I write about it.

It isn't an easy story to explain, and it isn't really about the plot anyway. It's about love, and writing just to write. I love it.

I wrote my own recipe on Sunday, actually. I adapted it from the basic muffin recipe that came in my muffin cook book.  Here it is! (all my muffin pictures are starting to look the same! ahh!)

1 1/2 cup normal white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 or 3/4 cup butter milk (I don't remember how much I put it, so take your pick.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
chocolate chips

I baked it at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. But check it.

Yes peeps, I made a recipe. I am become domesticated. The world is about to end...! You better believe I'm in love.

-Meg

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins


You're probably wondering how I disappeared off the face of the planet. It is a combination of several things, one of which is NaNoWriMo. That is short for National Novel Writing Month. 

That is why I was so negligent in posting last week's muffin Monday. So this is shamefully late. Forgive me. Recipe found here.



Roommate Katie saved my butt again. Whenever I make cooking mistakes she saves me. Thank you thank you!

-Meg

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

This has been the hottest Halloween of my life. In both senses of the word, as my roommate Hailey would say.

Saturday I surprised Sam and took him horseback riding with my family and Jay. The air was crisp and Smoke understood me, as always. I trust that horse so much. 

Sam had never before ridden. Not in his entire life! I am glad this was remedied. 

The air was crisp, but fresh and light and even though everything was dying, it was a rustic beauty. 


The horse adventure took longer than I anticipated, but after we finished, we ate at The Oaks and headed back down to good ol' SLC. 

We finished our costumes, helped the roommies get ready, and headed off to Halloween madness.
Sam and I were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, respectively. 






 It was all sorts of fun. And the morning came early, but it was worth it because we had Stake Conference, and it was fantastic. I was in the choir and it was just a lot of fun. I love singing so very much.


We carved pumpkins and I got to meet all of Sam's family. And that was a lot of people (he is the youngest of six).

So I pretty much spent the entire weekend with Sam, and that's saying something about him because usually cannot handle being with people for that long. But it went by so fast and I was so happy the entire time.

I know today ought to be Muffin Monday, but these muffins I've been working on have taken much longer than I anticipated. I started it on Sunday, and it won't be done until Tuesday. I ran out of butter, and my roommate Katie was so awesome and went and got me butter from the store this morning. She's always serving me, it's freaking amazing. Anyway, I ran out of time before work, but this recipe is going to be amazing, I can just feel it.

-Meg


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Thriller! And a thrilling, but mindless, account of my favorite dresses

Sam took me to see Thriller on Tuesday night. We had been looking forward to the performance for some time, because I had never seen it and Sam hadn't seen it for two years.

It was a blend of funny, strange and intriguing, drenched and dipped in every flavor of Halloween.

I wore my new pale chartreuse sweater today, and it reminded me of the time I was trying to decide between two prom dresses: one was dark green and one was chartreuse.

The one I got looked like this: (Ya, I'm on the far left, looking weird. I couldn't find the pictures of when I actually wore this to a dance. Anyway.)

Chartreuse is a color that looks like this.
found here
I think the deciding factor in the end was that chartreuse just reminded me too much of the famed "lettuce dress." I don't have a picture of this because it's kind of holy. And I mean that both ways.

Picture a flamenco dress. Not unlike this:

And it belonged in our dress up box. We loved that thing and did silly dances in it, and as fun as that was... there was something inside me that could not bear to be that daring.

Being who I am now, I'd probably go for it, but then as a teenager, I was all like, "I'll take the poofy dress!" Even though my mom always said that guys like girls who wear skinny, tighter-fitting dresses better. (Mom? Why you be so cool/weird/awesome?)

But the dark green dress does have beading that somewhat resembles the White Tree from Return of the King. And I do love that big green dress...

Then it was Lindsey's turn to get formals! Yay! And she got a light green dress, which I have never had a chance to properly wear. But if I ever do, I can remember the skinny chartreuse dress I never got.

Now that I can finally (almost) spell chartreuse after writing this whole mindless torment, I'm going to get back to living my wonderful amazing existence. Please and thank you.
-Meg

Monday, October 24, 2011

More falling

I am falling in every direction--behind, asleep, in love...

Random things:

The new Coldplay album is fantastic. Familiar but so new and beautiful.

This weekend we went to a corn maze. That meant lugging all my Salt Lake city folk up to the edge of the boonies. I am pretty certain we all had a blast... especially in phase 3.

I got to my friend Alexis! And I hope to see her again before she leaves on her mission to Sacramento Cali.

Utah tripped over itself. Our football team is having issues. I feel bad for them, poor little beat up kids. That game was so boring. Even if we loose it should be exciting.

This Muffin Monday is one of the best.


I thought it was going to be awful, because I misread the recipe. So ya, kind of double it and add a lot more flour.Trust your gut and ask your roommate for help if you don't know how to fix your recipe. It's good. Imagine a pumpkin roll in a cup. Yup.


I am the luckiest girl in the world.
-Meg