It's Getting Awkward in Here

It's no secret that I'm an awkward person.


One of my fingers always has a nail that's awkwardly longer than the rest. I go days without showering and openly admit it to people, forgetting that for some, anything short of daily showering is considered offensive. Sometimes I find myself talking at people instead of with people. When I'm skyping, it's really hard not to look at the little screen that shows what I look like. I'm so vain. I'm far too obsessed with my Klout score. I crack my knuckles all the time. I crack my toes and my fingers... bad habit that probably grosses people out. I know. I'm sorry. I'm awkward. I play Pocket Frogs and other really stupid, not-even-nerd-worthy games on my iPod. Sometimes I wish I was a gamer. I also think about grammar a lot. Relative pronouns are haunting me right now. ("Somebody That I Used to Know" or "Somebody Who I Used to Know"?)


I just wanted to get those awkward things out there. I hope that wasn't awkward for you.

Not that this means anything to you, but please notice how I have about seven White Bruna Obaro frogs at once. It was really frustrating. It's not even a for a set. Lindsey is probably the only person who appreciates this. (Or is it -- the only person that appreciates this?)

I need to go to bed. This is getting awkward.

-Meg

Books I'm reading

Do you know what's funny? As long as Sam has known me, I have liked baking. As you know, I used to hate it. I still dislike cooking, but baking is fun mostly because I a chocolate addiction and baking is a great way to enable that.

I moved back home, and I'm hoping I'll have more time to bake. I have two months left before I get married, and it's nice to spend it with my family.

I've also been enjoying reading. I'm reading about five books right now. I am famous for reading several books at once. It's simply best way. They are:

Righting the Mother Tongue by David Wolman. It's about English spelling, and why it's so crazy. I'll give you hint, there are a billion and a half reasons English words are hard to spell.

To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace. (I'm really curious about what the McD. abbreviation means, but whatever.) So I love Downton Abbey, right? Well this book touts that it is the inspiration for that wonderful television show. That's why I checked it out from the library. It's completely nonfiction. It's like reading a really long essay about the Victorian and Edwardian societies. I like nonfiction, but it's fun to read.

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. I found this at a library book sale. It's a bunch of essays about reading, words and books. It is beautifully written but it makes me feel kind of dumb. The author is not a common reader. She's super smart and makes me feel really dumb. She also makes me want to read a lot more.

The Undaunted: The Miracle of the Hole-in-the-Rock Pioneers by Gerald N. Lund. Yes, this is the same guy who wrote The Work and the Glory. It's a huge book -- 802 pages to be exact. It can be super cheesy, but I like reading it. I really do. His writing style isn't my favorite, but the plot is interesting.

One book I finished recently is Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: And Other Concerns by Mind Kaling. She's the gal from The Office. It's super funny. I've never read a book that made me laugh so hard, and out loud, too mind you. Sam and I were reading together and I had to keep interrupting him to read him passages. It's just so hilarious.

-Meg

Linguistics, BA. Class of 2012

I have graduated from the University of Utah. 'Tis true. Well, I don't have my diploma yet, but they did let me dress up in academia regalia and march across the stage. I'll be getting it in the mail soon.

It was a long, hard road, although a rather short one. I swear I only just came to the U. It's been a great three years.

I would never had graduated without the help of so many people. My parents and grandparents, of course. I've also had amazing friends -- Paul was an amazing help to me my freshman year and so was my roommate Ana. Brian, Katie, Hailey, Karena, Ashley, Marsha, Sara, Jessica, Abby... just to name a few more of the friends, Chrony peeps, and roommates who helped me through. And of course, my fiance Sam, without whom I probably would not have survived my roughest semester

I had some great professors and some not-so-great ones, some interesting classes and some not-so-interesting classes. Working at the Chronicle was an amazing experience, and I'm so happy that I was able to get some amazing experience there.

It was all worth it. I love college, even though I times I thought I hated school. I look back and it was worthwhile. I love learning and I'm going to miss school. The time ahead is going to be exciting and fun. Getting married is going to be a blast, and finding a job is going to be stressful, but I am not losing hope.

-Meg

All photos are by my dear Samuel.

Three Awkward Sneezes

So, I wrote a book. It is not a novel, it's a collection of my weird creative writing.

I took a creative writing class this semester, and I'm so glad that I did. Creative writing can be as exhausting as it is fun. I'd been wanting to take one for some time, but I just never had room in my schedule. Finally, my last semester, I did.

Part of the creative writing class is making a portfolio or a chapbook. It's a collection of the stuff I wrote for this class and a few other things I decided deserved a few pages.

I printed it using the Marriott Library's Espresso Book Machine, right here on campus. It is extraordinary. You give them your PDF files and in about an hour, you have a book right in your hands, and I can print as many as I want. It was a great senior gift to myself.

-Megan

New Orleans

Oh hai! Megan here. Yes, I still exist. I was almost swallowed up by the terror of finals, but I came out victorious. Miracles happen, people. I am still not out of the woods quite yet, but I have done the worst of the things. There were many things.

So 'bout three weeks ago I went to New Orleans! True story. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

 We took a six-hour flight with one stop and one layover. The skies that day were ferocious, and having watched the first episode of LOST not 48 hours before, I was a bit terrified. Turbulence is a fun feeling when you're riding a roller coaster, but when you're on a plane, no bueno.

Apparently it was stripe day.

New Orleans has great book stores. Great book stores have cats.

 Beautiful architecture

The streetcar that we took. We inadvertently toured...

...the garden district. A beautiful place where there are gorgeous homes and, of course, gardens.

Pralines are said "PRAW-leens" They're super sweet. But my favorite sweet things in NOLA were...

Beignets! Imagine a scone and a hootnannie (AKA German Pancake) are madly in love and they have a child. Imagine that child is sprinkled with so much powdered sugar that it looks like the snow on the top of the Himalayas.  This is a beignet. Because of the amount of daily powdered sugar avalanches that occur in this 24-hour, seven days a week joint, the flour is caked in the white stuff. It's a bit sick, actually. But those man-catching beignets are divine.

You guys... this is the Mississippi river. I'm not sure if this picture is on the East or West side of it (it's nigh impossible to judge directions without mountains, mmmkay?) The point is, I know that I did cross this mighty river. So I HAVE BEEN EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. This fact is so wonderful, I put it in caps. Big deal for me. I'm just happy this has happened. By the way, this river is gross and big, but it's an American legend so you just have to love it anyway.

The true reason for going to NOLA -- the conference. There was a lot about grammar. You just had to be there. If I told you all the things I learned, you'd probably be super bored. But suffice it to say, I was entertained and enlightened by grammar nerds from all around the country.

New Orleans is loud and windy.

I wish I got a better picture of Cassandra, our instructor for the cooking class we took. The food was delicious and it was prepared before our very eyes. We had unlimited lemonade and as she cooked, she talked about the history of the area and how it related to cooking. Add that in with an amazing accent and charm, and you have the most adorable cooking class ever!

 The Audubon Aquarium was fantastic because it had beautiful sea horses and jellyfish, among other exciting sea things.

Oh the trees in Audubon Park! Their branches bend low to the ground, and some go underneath the ground and come back up again. How this happens I do not know.

Live Oaks.
I loved being in Louisiana for a million reasons, some of which being that it was hot (and I heard it snowed back home); Sam was once here, and it made me feel that much more connected to him and his past (he served a mission in Louisiana, although he never served in New Orleans); I loved being with my Chrony friends and getting a break from school for a few days; I loved learning about copy editing and journalism. The conference was really great.

I want to give a big thank-you to everyone who helped us get to NOLA. It was real.

-Meg

NOLA or bust!

In two days I'm headed down to New Orleans. Don't roll your eyes. I'm really going down for educational purposes. We're attending the American Copy Editors Society conference.

The days leading up to this big journey have been stressful, and I'm far from out of the woods, but it will be so nice to get out town for a while and learn about something near and dear to my heart -- grammar.

In other news, I've been baking again! I still can't manage to do my muffins/cupcakes every week, but I try to do some here and there. I just can't wait until I have some free time to actually clean my house and do my laundry. But I know I'm never truly happy unless I'm doing something.

In old news, I'm still very in love with my dear Sam. He is so amazing. His family is pretty great too. I got to spend Easter Sunday with them, and it was a blast! Easter is such a happy holiday. It's a time of renewal, rebirth, and refreshment. I love spending time with those I love as I think about the Savior.

-Meg

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