Crazier

So another year of General Conference has come and gone. I love it, even though I fall asleep almost every session.

I love being with my family, and with Sam, of course. There was the perfect mix of sun and rain, comfy and formal.

My days lately have been stressful, but very happy. Finals are approaching. My last finals, for a while, anyway. I want to go to graduate school, but I'm going to work for a while first. I don't know what I would want to go into, and Sam will be in school. I'm really ready for a break from school. I want get in the workplace and do something instead.

I'm still looking for a job, and trying not to get frustrated and discouraged. I wish I had more time to devote to job hunting. But it will come, soon enough.

Wedding plans are coming along! Bridesmaid dresses are ordered, I still get weird looks when I tell people my most prominent colors are cream, ivory, and biege. Just stay with me, people. I have some olive and sage green in there too. Not every wedding has to be hot pink and lime green.

I should also mention that I loved the Hunger Games will all my soul. Because Katniss is an awesome lady, and the story freakin' rocks. And I was with my dear Sam.

This post took me two days to write. Seriously people, I am so wonderfully busy!

-Meg

Love the lights

It's still really weird for me that I'm actually getting married. I am uber happy, of course, but some days it just doesn't feel real, and it feels really far away. It's so odd that so many people would do all this stuff for me and help me plan this huge celebration called a wedding. Really, for me? So many friends and family are excited for me, but I can't help but wonder why.

I guess I am usually giddy about weddings, but I just don't expect other people to be, too. And it's so odd to think that's its my wedding -- our wedding, really -- not my cousin's, not one out of a magazine, not one in a movie. It's ours.

My wedding colors are cream, beige, sage and olive greens, and a wee bit of plum.

Sam's been more involved than I think most grooms are. This is good, because I can't stand being parted from him for long.

Anyway,

Today was one of those days where I can't decide if it's a good day or a bad day. I can't find my student ID card, but one of my classes was cancelled. My computer is working again, so I can blog and do homework better. I've also been really grumpy and slightly emotional. But you know, I'm a girl. It's what we do.



In other news,

I'm obsessed with this song. You should listen to it a few times, and then listen to the other remixes. I hardly ever post music on my blog, so you know this is good.

-Meg

Words al dente

OK, study break.

I would like to say that I'm famous for eating my words.

I said I would go on a mission and that no boy could keep me from that. Nope.

I said I would date someone for at least a year before I got engaged. Nope.

However, I am going to graduate college before I get married, so that's one aspect I'm doing just as I said I would.

My friend NaTasha once said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan for your life." I absolutely love the life I'm in right now. Is it different than I expected? You bet. I think it would be silly to pretend that's not true.

I think it's better, though, than what I had planned. It just took a little faith and a lot of love. Things are just the way they ought to be.

Yesterday, Sam and I were doing homework on his couch. I was sitting with my feet propped up on the stool. He had his back on my shoulder and his legs stretched out perpendicular to mine. We laughed about stupid things on Pinterest and watched a sad clip from a sad movie. Moments like this I would trade for nothing.

I am so happy, but I'm also filled with the usual stress and strain of school. But Sam's always there, helping me as I sprint to the finish. Having someone to lean on is a blessing.

I find myself saying cheesy things and smiling at the stupidest of things. I'm even being a little bit nicer to people. Life is so good, even if it isn't easy. I don't even care if people think I'm too young to get married.

And who knew my words would taste so delicious?

-Meg

P.S. If you want to hear Sam's side of our engagement, click right here!

The Story

I always thought I would cry, when the time came.

But instead I just laughed--a giddy, unbridled happy laugh. I think I said, "oh my gosh" and I might have said, "I think I'm the happiest person in the world right now."

I don't really remember.

I should have seen it coming, really. But you see, Sam's always romantic and thoughtful. It's not unusual at all for him to show up with flowers and to remember that six months ago we met for the first time. We usually go on fun, well planned-out dates. He's always so sweet. And he didn't seem nervous at all!

We snowshoed up to Donut Falls. It's a significant place in our courtship, so it was a fitting place to end it and begin our engagement.

He asked me to marry him! We were taking pictures like we always do--I go stand in the frame while he sets up his camera on the tripod.

One moment I was squinting into the snow, the next I look up and there he is, the love of my life down on one knee. And he's holding a ring in a little gray box.

It's perfect. I've never worn a ring in my whole life. (OK, maybe I wore a CTR ring for a few days when I was 8.) I'm just not a jewelry person. But this is so different. It signifies so much, and it's so beautiful, and it's exactly my style.

Sam and I have been calling and texting and visiting so much this weekend. We have to let everyone know our exciting news. Getting back to life and focusing on essential things will be difficult, but somehow between now and July 12, we're going to be planning our new life together.

I'm going to New Orleans for the ACES conference in April, graduate in May, and get a job... all while planning a wedding.

I am so blessed! Sam is so wonderful. He is the perfect man for me. I'm so happy and in love, I think I'm going to explode. It's been hard not to blog as much, mostly because before now, I couldn't share all these exciting plans with the world. But now, I will have so much to write about. This is the start of a beautiful journey.

I have such a wonderful family, and my new Thornton family is so kind and loving. Our friends have been fantastic and supportive. There is so much love going on!

Oh, and lest I forget! Happy Grammar Day!

-Meg

Instagram catch up

I usually write more, but sometimes photos are just better. And more will come. My life will never be more busy or more amazing.

I woke up today and I counted all my blessings. I have so many. This may sound weird, but I just love being inside my own head. I could spend hours in there talking to myself and figuring out life. I just love thinking. So if I disappear, that's probably where I am. I'm not going crazy, I'm going home.

So I've been cheating on this blog with my blog for the Chronicle, check it out here.

-Meg

Food. That stuff you eat.

I'm famous for my rules. No kissing on the first date, always wear tights or nylons with skirts... etc. But being a college student has severely altered my stance on food.

I used to have clear, defined lines of what food belonged at what time of the day. Breakfast food, and especially cereal, belonged only in the a.m.; mac and cheese for lunch; and steak and potatoes for dinner.

Now, I'm known to eat eggs at any time of day. Mostly because I rarely eat meat anymore, so I have to get my protein somehow. And it just so happens that other breakfast foods happen to be cheap and easy to fix. That's why I'm eating a bagel at one o'clock in the morning.

I also used to have this grudge against leftovers. I mean, I'd eat them, but I didn't enjoy it, and when my mom pulled out the week's leftovers for left over night, I rolled my eyes snobbishly wished that she'd made an original meal.

Now, I cherish every scrap of food I have. Nothing goes to waste. I must eat everything and if I cannot, I must save it for later.

And free food? I can smell it from a mile away. Thank you, Institute, and other benevolent third parties who impart of your good graces and share food with us college students!

I also find myself eating the same thing for lunch, and dinner, and the next day's dinner... until the meal that was supposed to feed 10 people is now gone. Consumed by one.

I tried out this recipe and loved it will all my stomach and heart. So did Sam. You should try it. (I used vegetable stock, but do what you will.)

-Meg

I lose about everything except sleep

I am frustrated with myself.

I slept in until 1 p.m. Do you realize what this means? I have been up for 3 hours and it's almost 4 p.m. I mean, what can I do about that? My phone was on silent this morning, but if it hadn't been, I'm pretty sure I would have slept through it anyway. I'm the heaviest of sleepers.

I can't communicate without sounding like a blubbering bag of nonsense, because I'm not a morning person, even if it's in the afternoon. Sorry world, I'm on a different schedule than ya'll.

I'm in one of those moods where I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know what I want to eat, or what I want to watch. I did try to clean a little bit today, but I got tired, so I stopped mid dish scrub and spent an hour on Pinterest.

I lose everything important. I usually get it back, though. (Thank you dear couple who found my phone lying on the road and returned it to me.)

Yesterday was fun though. Sam and I went to the temple and watched Downton Abbey (a show we are so obsessed with. So magical) and we went to a gymnastics meet, had a spontaneous trip to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Then we watched a scary movie, that now doesn't seem so scary now that's it's day time.

I just need to remember how happy and optimistic I was last night so I can stop being a grump today.

The end.

-Meg

p.s. Does anyone know any way I can help myself wake up at a decent time? I want to sleep in, because it's the weekend, but this 1 p.m. stuff is ridiculous.