Elder Hill is over the hill

One year ago today, my best friend became a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He'd been an unofficial missionary for a long time before that.

I wish it hadn't taken me a year to realize how brave this man is, because he left everything to go serve the people of the South Pacific. His task has been hard--he has learned about four languages and has run out of water on his island a few times. He wears a sulu (which he insists is not a skirt) everyday.

I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I have the strength to survive without him, but I have also learned how much I need him. It's an interesting juxtaposition.

He never hesitates to tell me when I'm doing something stupid. He always led the way in being outgoing and kind to everyone. He reaches out to everyone to make them feel welcome. He practiced his music for hours and hours every day and loves to share it with everyone.

He is an amazing person and I can't wait to have him back. But while he's gone, I'm getting better at cooking, dancing and making friends. I've learned I can do hard things, even when my best cheerleader is 6,000 miles away and letters take three weeks at best to reach me.

I'm so glad that he kept himself worthy and strong so he could go. His mission has blessed my life. It has not been comfortable, but it is so worth it.

Here's to another year. We're halfway there!

-Megan

Scenes from my epic life

I am writing more, and that is bountiful. I am running off my jealousy that I did not get to run the Ragnar relay this year.

But I was clever, and I dragged my whole family up to watch a hand-off in Huntsville. We brought a printed-out list of the funky team names and read them on the way up. When we got to the park, it was early enough in the race course that everyone still looked really happy and healthy. It was an inspiring sight. Now my family is all pumped about getting a team together for next year.

It was my goal to run the Ragnar this year, but I didn't find a team, so I couldn't do it. I am sad about that, but I want to run with my family, and now they're excited because they've captured the vision on how wonderful it can be. Hard, but wonderful.

Watch for my article about Ragnar later.

Between the rain and the sun, life has been pretty epic. Mostly because my family and I have been watching Lord of the Rings Special Double Extended Version on Blue Ray. Well, the dvd on our new Blue Ray player. Man, I can't wait to get the actual Blue Ray disks. It will look so crazy fantastic... We've seen them countless times, but on Blue Ray... my oh my. Orc teeth and hobbit feet in Elven-eye detail is a precious thing to behold.

Take care of yourself.

-Meg

p.s. This be my 200th post. Say "yay!"

Graduation

My sister was the first one to graduate from her high school. Literally. Our last name starts with M, but she's in the choir, and at the end because she is short. So she was the very first one to walk.

I also should brag and say that Lindsey received the "Titan for Life" award for her contributions to the school. She did work dang hard!

She has two cousins that are almost exactly her same age. They were all born in about three weeks of each other. Austin and Tarah graduated recently, too.

That means five of the grandkids have graduated. Some are really anxious to get done though.

You have a long way to go, buddy. Tackle kindergarten first.

(Speaking of kindergarten... every single graduation speech felt mentioned something about kindergarten, and how much has changed since then. Sooo unoriginal. Graduation speeches are usually pretty dull. One I like is J. K. Rowling's address she gave at Hogwarts Harvard a few years ago. Read it here.)

-Megan

Hair Longing

I literally "long" for my hair. I want it long again. I long for the sultry, shiny mahogany locks I once had. Unfortunately, that Diana Berry hair I once proudly called mine is a thing of the distant past. (The picture above was taken in high school.)

After a few episodes of hair-dying experimentation, not unlike Anne's, (the picture above is when I dyed my hair almost black the summer after high school) I surrendered and let my locks lead their own wild lives in hopes that one day, they would wander back to their mousy brown selves and dwell in a natural color. They've taken their time. I still have shameful grow-out lines, but either I'm learning to accept them or they're dying. I hope it's the latter.

(This is the 6-month aftermath of the almost black color job)

But unlike Anne, my natural hue is not red. This is tragic, because anyone can fake blonde, black or brown, but passing off red as legitimate is simply impossible. Anyhow, I'm trying to save myself money, and the world of hair chemicals is expensive. I might just have to ignore my pre-mature hair color loss until I can reap the fruits of my labors. Now I just need to focus on not cutting it. I want it long! I don't need another Rapunzel moment to mess up my plans of waist-length, man-alluring follicles. It may be the color (and texture) of nylons, but at least it grows fast.

I'm still rocking my fringe bangs, aka "nerd bangs." Paul hates them, so I'll let them be for another year.

Then it's back to Ariel (aka swoosh) bangs. Like I said, every follicle needs to be at its highest man-alluring potential.

(This was in April)

But assuming I serve a mission, the fringe bangs will probably stay. I can trim them myself and they require much less maintenance, despite my cowlick. And I don't even want to consider the inconvenience of growing my bangs out. Then they'll never return!

Hair planning is serious stuff.

-Meg

Summer Sunday

Today I was so hot. Well, church was freezing cold, but what else is new. Summer might just finally be here. The sky is blue and the grass is green. Speaking of unusual things... today I ironed. Yes, you heard it here. Megan ironed! That is why my shirt looks so nice. I just love this outfit in general.

This outfit is brought to you by my crafty sister Adriana. She made this gray bow for me (I do love gray so, note my gray shoes). She also made one of the bracelets I am wearing.

Today was Lindsey's first Sunday at the Young Single Adult ward. (More stories about that, and her recent graduation from high school, to come.)

Happy sabbath!

-M