psycho

Hey yo! I totally feel like a crazy psycho late night post.

Because I seriously just learned to spell "psycho." And now like using it to describe things, although most aren't as gruesome and psycho as that movie.

So once I get through this week of school, it's a BRIDAL SHOWER themed weekend. Yes, that's two of them.

The soon-to-be-Mrs. Norris is getting married a month from today and so that means we're going to shower her with love, gifts and slightly naughty games. This is good, but somewhat fraught with peril.

Do the math

Brittni + Me + pink + zurchers + david's bridal * hormones = extreme madness

I can't wait to post pics of this extra-ordinary event. There will be paper lanterns, candy, umbrellas, flowers and retro musical music.

OK, now I'm feeling guilty about putting a picture of psycho on this post about lovely lady bridal showers. Well at least it got your attention, right? And this post was a great othering* activity.

Be cool, peeps. And wish me luck as I deal with double objects. Oh syntax. So psycho.

-Meg

othering: verb- doing something semi-productive instead of homework (often used as a gerund)

Feb. Book

This book.

Read it! It isn't a butterfly and rainbow book, and there is a lot of swearing, mind you. (It is set in either Australia or England, so give them a break!)

Anyway, it has the real-life honesty and brutality. And there's mystery and crime-solving.

And the voice! The voice of this baby is so unique. This same author penned the sad, long, and tragically simple The Book Thief, but I am the Messenger has a completely different sound. Excerpt:

"Personally, I think sex should be like math.

At school.

No one really cares if they're crap at math. They even proclaim it. ... You should be able to say that about sex, too."

Hahaha that made me laugh. Ya, it's kind of crude, I know. But I laughed a little, because I'm immature and that's what I do.

Another quote that just struck my soul:

“She soon says, ‘You’re my best friend, Ed.’
‘I know.’
You can kill a man with those words.
No gun.
No bullets.
Just words and a girl.”

Oh, but here is an inspirational quote. To make you feel better about possibly picking up this novel.

“Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.”

-Megan

Spring Shoes

I can't wait for spring.

My great grandma had an amazing sense of style. Did I mention that I'm going to wear her wedding dress when I get married?

But for now, I'm going to stick to her shoes.

-Meg

I'm a Fan

It's not that I can't sleep, I just don't want to.

When I'm stressed, I indulge in fan-girling.

I love Harry Potter (this you know). I love Pixar and Disney. I love to hate Twilight. I think Star Wars is pretty awesome. I can't wait for the Hunger Games Movie. And now I'm becoming obsessed with Doctor Who.

These things make life happy.

And thanks to everyone who has listened to me rant the past few days. I appreciate your ears. (If you still have them.)

-Meg

3rd Sunday in February.

The lowdown on my Sunday.

It snowed. A lot.

I sang in church. And then I left because the snow was so evil. We were afraid to stay because it was bad. It turns out the snow was quite benign, but it was nice to be home and be with my family. I adore long weekends with such a passion.

We ate delicious food and watched "Inception."

We talked a lot about missionaries. Oh missions. Forever defining my existence. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go on one, by the way.

But first things first. I need to go to sleep so I can wake up and do my homework so I can graduate. Then I'll go from there.

Sundays: always offering a dose of perspective.

Best assignment ever

I love my professors.

Dominican Republic

My friend James received his call to serve the Lord! He's going to the Dominican Republic. Speaking Spanish of course!

I'm so proud of this kid! He'll do great!

11:58 p.m.

I was just thinking about all the stuff I have to do.

There's the usual stuff. Like reading about syntax--which I barely understand. I have to write a paper and cram for Spanish. (There's no studying ahead for Spanish. It is all cramming. We do so much and in so little time.)

Then there's the unusual stuff.

I have to do an observation for Anthropology and write about it.

Today I just finished helping out throw together a Valentines FHE. It felt so good to spend this day just working on serving other people.

It reminded me about 2 Valentine's Days ago. My great-grandma was spending her first Valentine's alone since her husband had died. I never feel comfortable with Valentine's Day, whether I'm seeing anyone or not. But I didn't want to mope, so I went up and cooked dinner with her and visited for a long time.

So I think I want to start a tradition for my Valentine's Days. I want to find ways to serve people every year. Because after FHE, I was still tired. I still had tons of stuff to do. I still am behind and my room's still a mess. But I feel so much stronger, and ready to go do anything.

I'm ready for the weird and tedious and boring and complex and the hard. I love being busy. I can do this. And I have some pretty amazing people by my side. I couldn't do it without them.

-Meg

Shmalintines day

I knew it was going to be a unusual church meeting when Brian and I got an email asking us if we wanted to be the ward spotlights. Every Sunday in the sacrament meeting program, two people are featured as the spotlights of the week. Well this Sunday was the Couple's Edition.

So Brian and I not only got to write about ourselves, but the story of how we met. And dating tips. This is what we submitted.

About Meg:

I am studying Linguistics at the U. I work at the Daily Utah Chronicle. I was part of the first graduating class of Syracuse High School. Once I was charged by a moose. I have met the Dali Lama. I like unicorns and Harry Potter. My favorite book is probably Little Women. I have read The Elements of Style about 6 times. I once had a fish named Cyrano de Bergerac. He died valiantly after several involuntary fasts. I lost his food when I moved. I have never been east of Texas.

DaSha introduced us. She claimed she wasn’t setting me up, but it was a lie. It turned out alright though. Our first date was on a Thursday, and I had a test the next day so I was nervous the whole date. Our second date was when things really started to click.

We are both trying to not eat meat or drink soda, which is really hard. We both love omelets at the Blue Plate and watching Dr. Who and Community. We both love writing, but Brian’s better at poetry and I’m better at research papers. We are both fans of banjo music.

About Brian:

I was born in Iowa, but have lived in Salt Lake most of my life. I am studying English and writing at Slicktown. I have met Mandy Moore, and there is photographic proof on facebook. I like records and books, and I have large collections of both. My favorite book is A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. I served a mission in Lisbon, Portugal. I jumped on a moving train while I was there. I love western shirts. Scott Pilgrim is my hero. I play the guitar fairly well. I am a photographer, and have done weddings in lands as distant as Portland, OR.

I put tons of pressure on DaSha to introduce me to Meg. I bugged her about it every day until it happened. When I called Meg, her voicemail said, “Sing your song at the beep.” I sang something rather terribly, and it was absolutely awkward but it seems like it turned out well.

Dating tips from Meg & Brian:

Grow a beard. Wear deodorant. Don’t do all the talking. Don’t talk about deceased pets on a first date. Quote some Shakespeare, but not too much. Try showing up in a hovercraft, that has to be impressive, right? Wear a t-shirt with wolves on it. Most of all, be yourself and don’t worry about it too much.

This is fine. A bit awkward, but cool. We're sitting there and we hear a guy behind us reading the dating tips. He gets to the one about beards and says "I don't know how he expects girls to grow a beard." We giggled.

Sacrament meeting starts. It's pretty average, for our ward anyway. We're not a typical Mormon ward to begin with, notwithstanding the fact that we're in a single's ward. For one, Thomas S. Monson's son is our bishop.

Today he announced that we now have a new committee. The Dating Committee. This is real.

He said that too many young men fall in love with a girl before they even ask her on a date. And then when they get on the date, they're too overwhelmed to talk to her. He wants the dating committee to help facilitate neutral, no pressure dates so people can learn to have decent conversation. Quote:"Do you like facebook?"

Later in the meeting, one of the members in the stake presidency was speaking. He remarked about how he supported Bishop Monson's decision to have a dating committee. And I don't know if he meant to be funny, but the he said, "And if you're not good at talking, it's OK. In dating, some of the best ways to get to know people are through silence. You can get to know each other without talking."

The congregation burst up laughing. This is Shmalitines day in a singles ward.

After the block we had a mingle pink and red sprinkled-donuts, grapes, oranges and "wine" in fancy "glasses." There was also a table to make cards.

This is grand.

Jan. Books

Remember my book list?

I've finished two books... so I'm still on track. Kind of.

First off, I finished A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. Brian gave me this book so it's special to me. I even pictured the main character looking like Brian.

Yesterday I finished Voyage of the Narwhal. It was pretty epic and amazing, but also long and painful at parts. I learned a lot about arctic voyages. I have to say that I probably wouldn't recommend it. I loved it, but I have a high tolerance for boring things. I think most people would think it was kind of boring. But if you want to give it a try, I suggest it!

-Meg

Lindsey is growing up!

Lindsey and Andrew-- darling.

My sister Lindsey is two years younger than me, and so she's graduating this year. She's applying, auditioning, and figuring out where she's going to spend the next few years.

It reminds me of when I was picking a university to attend. So many feelings and trepidations. So much momentum and excitement.

And it doesn't stop! I graduate in 17 months! And what to do then? I don't know!

Anyway, no use getting nervous and worried. I am excited for what the future holds for Lindsey. I am proud of her!

Now I really ought to get started on the paper I've been procrastinating.

-Meg

Who's the cutest Chrony kid?

Hey! Loyal followers of my blog. Yes, all 18 of you.

You know that I'm an uber cute kid, right?

Want to show me how much you believe in how cute I was as a 5-year-old?

Then vote.

Click here.

This is getting freaky

This is a cool photo.

Today has been long and full of driving and dealing with jealous cars, elusive keys, and overbearing homework.

I hate it when inanimate objects try to ruin your life.

The biggest so called "inanimate object" that's trying to rule my life is this:

I think there is one in my basement. I can't prove it, but whenever it's dark I seriously can sense its evil presence. What is this thing? It's called a Weeping Angel. From the Wikipedia article about it--

The Weeping Angels are a fictional race of malevolent hunters from the Doctor Who television series, which have been featured in the Tenth Doctor episode, "Blink", and the Eleventh Doctor episodes, "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone". Created by writer Steven Moffat, they resemble the stone angel statues that can be seen in some Christian cemeteries. When they are not being observed by another sentient being, they can move very quickly and silently, but when they are being observed they become "quantum-locked", occupying a single position in space. In this state, they are frozen and indestructible. They cannot suppress this reaction. If two Weeping Angels were to look at each other at the same time, they would be trapped in stone form forever. To prevent this, they often cover their eyes when freezing - this makes them look like they are weeping.

So if I suddenly disappear, just know that the Angel in my basement probably got me and I'm now living in 1901 or something. I just thought I ought to tell you. I do hope that if the Angel does attack, Brian will save me. Or Dr. Who.

Anyway, I'm off to do some Spanish. Peace.

-M