Just an update!

I've been pretty chill about blogging lately. I do a lot of writing for work and sometimes I just don't feel like writing any more when I get home! And I just don't force myself to write if I don't want to. I'm lazy like that.

I am starting a new job as a legal assistant. Although I will miss my old job, this new job is a big blessing for me, and I'm really excited for this next step in my career.

We love where we live. Sam loves his classes and is making excellent progress on his degree. I am so proud of him! I just love our little life together. We get so stressed out about life, but we have each other, and that gets us through life's crazy times.

Hope you all have a great day!

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

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

And let me tell you...

When it's so early in the morning, blogger is a strange comfort. I know I will be greeted with blogs filled classy outfit posts, cheerful words and nerdy indulgences. I empty all my thoughts into this pensive.

Today I was full of Spanish. It filled me up and I was brimming with all the vowels and soft syllables, the trilled r's and the galloping rhythm of the sentences. I had things to say in class and I said them fearlessly. I felt so wonderful.

Not all Spanish days are like this. Many days I don't understand anything and I can't articulate. I hate not being able to say what I mean.

This weekend is so welcome. Another week at the Chronicle has ended, and we had far fewer difficulties than we had a week ago, when the server had the flu and we had to do some voodoo with wires to make everything come out all right. All good and faithful techies of the world deserve a hug, but ours earned a gold medal of awesomeness.

Today's picture is a darling comic from the archives of the Chronicle--circa 1982. Enjoy.

-Meg

Oat bran muffins, and other astonishing things

Healthy and hearty. These muffins are down to earth, lumber jack tough. I tried out the recipe on the back of the oat bran bag I got when I made last week's muffins.

Recipe found here. I used pecans instead of walnuts because I had lots of pecans. I also didn't use dates because I didn't have any.

I'm getting kind of sick of muffins... but everyone loves them and I don't want to give up my goal!


Yesterday was an amazing Sunday, as Sundays usually are. Dinner at the bishop's house, game night that was of course thrilling, and then being serenaded by Griff.

Life seriously can't get much better than this.

-Meg

12:59 a.m.

I know it's super late, but that is what I am famous for: late night posts.
Today I practiced one of my new goals. I try to be involved in some way at least once in every class, every day. I just make it happen.

I'll answer a question (or try, even if I'm not sure I'm right.) I read aloud in Spanish. I ask a question. Just something.

This is a secret I wish I had learned earlier! It keeps me awake and I think it will make my professors like me! My classes have suddenly become meaningful because I have invested myself in them.

One of my over-arching, almost-a-motto tag-line is to be fearless. (Yes, like T. Swift.)  If I'm afraid, I just stop being afraid. I shut up that fear inside of me and force myself to embrace whatever comes.

I'm tired and I have no energy, but courage grants me strength, even when I'm just pretending I'm brave. (Yes, like "Just Whistle a Happy Tune" from The King and I. ) I do need to figure out a way to sleep more, though. Maybe closing this post and actually doing my homework would be a good start.

Now that I've made a few embarrassing music references, I will cease prattling on. There is work to be done. Good night, all.

-Meg

Blueberry Bandana Muffins

I got to use my new kitchen on Sunday to make these muffins. The recipe is from my grandma/mom. It is originally a bread recipe, but can be easily adapted to muffin form.

Make sure the bananas are mashed up and mixed into the batter as much as you can. I wished I had done that because I had huge gooey globs of banana in the muffins. It didn't taste bad, but it made it so the muffins don't travel well. It also would have helped if I used liners, since the blueberrries were kind of messy too.

This wasn't my favorite recipe ever, but it was easy. It just tasted too much like bread and not enough like muffins. And my mind--and tongue--expects them to be just plain blueberry muffins and they are not! There is banana in there which overpowers everything.

If you like banana bread, then this is a good recipe for you.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 large (very) ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in bananas and blueberries.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

------------------

OK, now that I've done something completely out of my element and talked about FOOD, I'll tell you about the first day of class!

I rode my bicycle to the institute. My first class is "The Gospel and World Religions." I'm really excited because I love the instructor and it sounds really interesting.

Then I had Spanish, and I'm surprised how much I retained over the summer. Yay!

Next was my methodology class. To demonstrate what we'd learn to do by the end of the semester, the professor taught us some Italian... in Italian. It was way cool.

I finished the hot day in my non-air conditioned acting class. There are a lot of freshmen, but the professor seems really nice. I love her positive attitude.

Well, that's my first day of my last year of undergrad. Yay!

-MEG

Bye Bye!

Turning in this guy tomorrow. Phew! (Or however one spells that sound of relief.)

I rent most of my text books, which I love. Sometimes I get a little jealous, and want to keep the books for myself, but then I remember that I really do not need them, and I will never use them again. It is someone else's turn to be internally shredded by minimalism syntax.

One more final, you guys! Then I promise I won't blog about my boring college for THREE WHOLE MONTHS! You have my word. I am going to talk about delightful things. So look forward to that.

-ME

Mood

Finals always makes me want to pick a different major.

Like Parks, Recreation and Tourism. Or Yoga. Or Tetris. Or breathing.

I've never changed my major. I suppose I could, but I do like linguistics. Sometimes though, I just hate doing syntax. I'm allowed to do feel that way, right?

But if there was such thing as a tetris major, I would seriously do that as my major. Just sayin'.

I guess what gets me down during finals is knowing that I am bring about my own stress, my own pain, and my own trials. It doesn't have to be this way. I don't have to procrastinate. I don't have to waste time. I don't have to get discouraged, yet I do. I let myself give in to my weakness as I freak out and panic.

On the instructions for my syntax take-home test, my professor wrote: Don't panic. Don't Delay. I am not trying to trick you.

Comforting, but still so hard. So. hard.

I can do this.

In 48 hours it will be summer and I will be freee! (Yes, with 3 e's) I'm going to celebrate by going to the park and listening to my ipod while I swing. It is seriously my favorite thing to do.

-M

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.

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.

School begins. Again.

Oh hey, people!

The new semester has started! This is what semester numero cinco has in store:

Spanish 1020--we can only speak in Spanish! Soy nervosa, pero it shouldn't be too different. Side effects may include sentences that include Spanish and English.

Anthropology 1010--can you say huge, annoying general ed class? Ya, I'm not even taking it for gen. ed. credit. I'm seriously one of 175 students in this huge lecture hall in the oldest building on campus. Hooray.

Linguistic 4021--phew! This is where I feel at home! A class full of people with my same major and nerd love. It's lovely.

Linguistics, Language Myths--yay for debates about language! This shall be the random fact class of all classes. Be prepared, readers.

Chrony Class-- it's my job. What can I say.

-Meg

The Penultimate Final

It is 1 p.m.

I am starting to study.

I mean I am starting to study for today.

I have studied before this point. I did not procrastinate until the last day. I'm not being sarcastic, I really, really did.

Just ask Brian.

I have chosen my cell. I am confining myself here until all is accomplished. Syntax-wise anyway.

I believe in miracles + the power of studying + words with Jesus = passing grade.

My Novel has a title, and I am soaking wet.

Despues este escribiendo, tengo un exam del Espanol.

Estoy lluviosa. Muy lluvios, y no tengo un paragua. Soy triste.

--------------------

You're probably wondering how NaNoWriMo is going. Well I'm at 9536 and I have a title.

"The Morning Comes Early."

I don't know exactly what it means, or why it fits my novel, but it somehow does.

I'm in desperate need for character names. Like seriously, anything. Leave your suggestions below.

Now I'm going to battle the sea that's falling down all around us. Wish me luck. My umbrella broke. :(

-Megan

Why yes, I do sleep with a sleep mask

Meet Nellie.

She's my sleep mask.

Her buddy Reginald is at my home in Syracuse, so I don't have a picture of him. But he's dark blue. I have 2 because if I forget my sleep mask, I have such a hard time sleeping.

This is lame. I know.

It all started last year when I was a wee freshman, and my dorm window was right smack in front of a street light that had the brilliance of a thousand search lights. Super annoying.

I tried pulling the covers over my head. But then I felt like I was suffocating.

So I gave in and bought my really nerdy sleep mask.

At first it felt really awkward, and I felt vulnerable, like someone was going to attack me because I was blindfolded. And if my roommate wanted to talk to me, it was just weird. I mean, it's easy enough to lift it up, but then you just look like a dweeb.

Soon enough, the calm darkness that the mask brought was so inciting it was dangerous. I overslept for many a day! And instant nap, any time of day.

And even when I went home, or when I moved to my current residence, I still needed it. It relaxes me; if I don't wear it I have a hard time relaxing my brow muscles. So much tenseness and stress!

Now I sleep in basement, which is practically a cave because there is no way to tell the time of day down here. It is so dark and cool. All the time. But it doesn't eliminate my need for Nellie.

My mom thinks I need to abandon it, because it's pointless and dirty (sometimes my makeup gets on it, gross, I know). She said that about blankie and binkie and silkie* too. Just sayin'.

Nellie gets to stay. I need her.

-MEG

*Silkie: n. A small square of silk cloth that I carried around with me for comfort when I was a young child.

RedFest '10

Every year the U has a concert for students. Last year I didn't care for the bands, but this year, the line up was so exciting, I just knew I couldn't miss it! And I invited one of my best friends ever to come with me.

Ben Lee, who was slightly awkward, but pretty adorable. In a weird way.

Nate, the lead singer in fun. Oh, how I adore fun. They just make me so happy.

Do you know who else makes me happy? Lexi! Yay for friends!

-MEG

(Oh and go Utes! Sorry BYU, better luck next time...)

Count Your Blessings!

Hola! I have the urge to write in Spanish, but I'm not even close to being competent enough.

Today is a happy Tuesday! My classes were alright. Choir was fantastic, as usual. That always ends too quickly.

Right now I'm working at The Chronicle. So ya, that's a hint to check it out. We're pretty much the best student paper out there. But I'm not bragging or anything.

I ran on the indoor track today at the field house. It was so refreshing to just run and run and run until I could hardly go any longer! I didn't keep track of time or distance. I was simply running because I can. I am lucky to have a body that can be mobile and working. That is a blessing I don't want to take for granted.

Another blessing: I will be able to pay my tuition bill all by myself. No student loans, and only a little scholarship. I'm proud of myself. All that hard work really paid off!

Another blessing: Institute is so uplifting. I'm taking two classes, and I don't regret that for a second. My LDS history class is so inspiration and informative I just might retake it! And Book of Mormon is just a classic feel-good class.

Anyway, today I feel especially blessed, and I just had to share with the world! Life is good! The good Lord loves me! And He loves you too!

-Meg

12:25 a.m.

I am done! But I don't feel like it. I don't even have time to adjust to any changes. I don't like change. I started a new job, and I am taking summer classes. I'm not having a summer; that's alright though, at least I'll graduate sooner.

What's in store for the summer?

Nutrition (this will probably make me go crazy about my eating habits), Cross-culture communication (this should be thrilling, especially since the Tim James affair), English 2600 online (this will be interesting... I just want to get it out of the way though) and International Children's literature.

I can't wait for the fall, though.

Syntax, phonology, creative writing, Spanish and probably choir! I think I need to take a math class or something... so much language! (I never thought I'd say that).

I would usually write a post about how I've learned so much this year, and all that jazz, but I don't feel like it. Now I'm just rambling on about life instead of going to bed. My schedule is getting way out of whack... I am no longer a freshman, which is nice, but I never really was one to begin with.

Mr. Hill turned 19. Whooo hoo! He can go on his mission to Fiji now. 48 days. Not like I'm counting. He has to go to Israel first though. He is singing there with the University of Utah singers.

Alright, enough rambling. Good night folks.

-Meg

P.S. my buddy missi started a blog. If you feel like laughing, click here. If you want to remain in a somber mood, then don't bother. :D

Semester 2, sans Choir

Two days of my second semester of college: complete. They were pretty painless and easy going, I’m really grateful.

But something is missing—and it’s a big deal. I’m not in choir.

This is not my choice; in fact, I would do anything to have it. Well, I guess not anything. My major just conflicts with music. Music isn’t my top priority, but it’s up there. It keeps me alive.
My Linguistics 3510 class conflicts with not only Women’s Chorus, but with A Capella as well, which is the choir a level higher, but still something I could handle. I can’t do either one. I can’t do Institute Singers either, because they meet at the same time.

I can’t even be in my Ward Choir, because that meets the same time as mission preparation, and as part of my calling I have to go.

Ever since about 5th grade, I’ve been in some type of choir. There was a break in 7th grade, but I was taking voice lessons at that point so I was still singing.

I love writing, but the process of it is quite solitary. It is the path I have chosen, but there is no choir of writers to shelter me or welcome me into their loving arms. There is no bond, no family of people united in a common love. There is no one to make me lift me and assure me I am needed. Writers don’t do that. We wander alone with our notepads, trying to make life an understandable fantasy. We explain things, we make up stories, and we imagine things and record them. It is a beautiful art because it is one of communication. But we are not together. We need one another only so one can read another’s work.

I will miss choir, but I intend to do it again. I’ll be surviving without singing, or playing piano.

Side note: I promise I’ll stop complaining, but this is weird. I have two classes that seem almost identical in my head and it makes me confused! Linguistics 3510 and Writing 2010. We even use the same textbook! This makes me even more enraged because I don’t need the linguistics class if my writing class is teaching me the same things…
Anyway, I love school and I love college. I was really meant to be here, and I realize that even more now that I’m here.

With love,

-M

PS- Like the new backdrop of the blog? I hope so!

PPS- I watched "Doubt" recently. Amazing show, the intensity and power makes me shiver with delight. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Wild Weekend

What a weekend!


Thanksgiving was yummy. I did actually make a dish. That is a miracle. I really don't like cooking very much, but my parents insisted. I concocted a yummy sugar-free jello salad.



Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Everyone came to our house. I adore decorating the house and setting the table with our best china. My mom's china is the set she got at her wedding. She hasn't broken a single piece yet! Everyone's really careful with it.



My mother's jam is ambrosia.







My mom, my aunts, my cousin and I went Black Friday shopping. It was very scary, but I love going every year. I would never go alone! Working as a team works best. I don't want to go into to many details about what we got. (You never know who reads the blog... I can't be spoiling anything now, right?)





I was exhausted the entire time. I couldn't sleep so I watched "Glee" and ended up falling asleep around 1 a.m. Not a good idea if you have to wake up at 2 a.m. to get good deals! Most of the experience is foggy in my memory because I was so sleep deprived.





I am always amazed at how people can be jerks. There were jerks on Friday, but Saturday was the worst. I'm so upset about Max Hall's comments about the University of Utah after our loss. I'm pretty offended, but I'm trying to be forgiving. I just hope people don't associate him with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. BYU is a church owned instition, but some cougar fans were obviously not keeping that in mind. Utes are children of God too!

I would be amiss if I didn't acknowledge what a good time at Improv Friday. Thanks JC! I love my friends back at home.

-M