End of Semester Volunteer Appreciation Event

Like I said, this week has been a busy one. From Meet and Mingle where I beat Eric in a snowflake making competition, to a million meetings, to events, to interviews for the BYUSA yearbook, I have been one busy girl. The end of semester event was amazing. It was kind of stressful, but we had it under control and ended up having a ton of fun. I found out I am allergic to avocado, I am still a master at hula hooping, twister is not my forte, photo booths bring out the crazy in me, I do not like wassail, and being with friends just makes me smile. Twister, live bands, karaoke, photo booths, good food, games, and good company is all you need to make a night a great one. 

Temple Square Adventure

First I want to say there are 12 days until I go home! 

My temple lights trip was so much fun! On the way up there Dani kept hinting that she wanted cheesecake. Eventually I caught on and made the executive decision that we were going to go to the cheesecake factory. We were all beaming, and I loved it. We listened to Christmas music on the way up, and that made it even better. When we got there, we went through the new mall. The lights there were already pretty which made us more excited for Temple Square. I have been so busy this week only being home for five minutes at a time or sleeping. The fact that I made time to spend with my friends made me one of the happiest people on the planet, and I loved every minute being with them even if it meant having to stay up late the next night to do homework. When we got to Temple Square, we were captivated. It is beautiful. After watching a performance in an old church they have in the square, we went back to the lights. They were beautiful and reflected the lights in our eyes. We went to the Cheesecake Factory early to beat the basketball game rush. We had a five minute wait, and the entire five minutes we watched drooling as pictures of cheesecake flash by. After we were seated, I got a text... My roommate is engaged!!! Two out of three of them are down. Once I got over that bit of news, we ordered fried macaroni and cheese. Yum! Thank you Dani for suggesting it. Then, we all ordered the ultimate red velvet cheesecake. A little later our waitress, who was the best ever if I do say so, told us she had bad news. Our cheesecake would not be ready for another 45 minutes. Since that was the whole reason we came we told her we would take it home frozen so we could eat it later. With cheesecake in hand, we all went back to Temple Square to finish looking at the lights. Some singing, skipping, lots of picture taking later, and tons of laughs we went back to the car. On our way there we may have stopped at Tiffany and Co. and marveled at their window displays. So wonderful. When we got home we indulged ourselves with our ultimate red velvet cheesecake. Basically it was the best night ever. 

The nativity scene. They had a light in the perfect place so it looks like the star over the manger. 

My Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,
I have thought a lot about what I want for Christmas this year. I thought about sweaters, a new phone, shoes, a few movies, a crock pot, or even just money. Here's the thing.... Today it hit me that I do not really need any of this. It would be nice, but I really just don't need it. Today I spent time with my best friends. I put my homework, stress, and worries aside, and I drove to Salt Lake with them to see the lights on Temple Square. At times we all laughed so hard we cried. Excitement filled the car when the Christmas music was turned on. All we could do the whole time we were together was smile. This got me thinking. You know, Santa, I would like to make this easy for you and be able to wish for something as easy as a Barbie dream house or a sweater, but I want something more this year. First, I want to always remember that I am never alone. I have so many friends that are always willing to be there for me. Every time I am with them, I have the best time. I love having friends like these. I cannot wait to see what the future will be like for us. I also have the best family who will never shrug their shoulder I often cry on. I love them all so much, and I often take them for granted. Second, I want to be able to excel in not only school but in BYUSA as well. Third, I want my dad to feel better. I want to see him smile like he used to. He does not have to be perfect, but it would be nice if he would feel a little better after this surgery. I love him. He means the world to me even though I may not always express it. Fourth, I want my little brother to know he does not have to live in my shadow. I know I set some high standards for him to live up to, but I want him to understand he can do so much better and put my standards to shame. Fifth, I want my mom to know how wonderful she is. She works so hard and often forgets to take time for herself. Santa, these three people mean more to me than anyone else in the world, and for my last wish, I want them to see themselves as I see them. Santa, I know this is a lot, but I would appreciate it. While the elves work on the toys for all of the other kids, will you please work on this? Thank you so much. Next year I will hopefully be able to make it easier on you.
Megan

He said...

I am sorry that this is the second blog post in one day, but this is worthy of another post. Now, I believe in the South. I love watching "Gone with the Wind" and seeing the southern way of life. So, for the longest time, I have believed that a girl should never ask a boy out. It is not ladylike. Well,  we have a ward Christmas ball  this weekend, and I did not have a date. I asked a boy..... and he said YES. I will now be escorted to my ward Christmas ball. One happy girl.

Look in the Eyes of Those You Lead

In the middle of this crazy week, I am taking the time to calm down. This week's devotional was not as inspiring to me as was last week's. For some reason I really liked last week's. It was on leadership which is something I hear about all of the time so when she said that was her topic I cringed a little bit. I did listen though, and the more I did, the more I learned. First she told us a quote by  John Quincy Adams. He said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." She gave us four things to work toward as leaders. We must always remember empathy, courage, integrity, and drive. For empathy we must remember everything bad happens at the end of the week or the weekend. We should not get frustrated with people. For courage, we just have to hope. Integrity is the courage and confidence to let people you work with see what you are doing so it will be whole and complete. Drive is self explanatory. In her closing remarks she said if you want to know if you are a leader, you should not look in the mirror but in the eyes of those you lead. I just loved her talk. It was not as well presented as some others, but the message she tried to get across was heartfelt, and I loved every minute of it. I am working to be a better leader every day, learning knew ways to solve problems and learning patience in what I do. 

And Then There Were Leftovers...

You know you Thanksgiving break is going to be great when the week begins with a beautiful rainbow outside. On Monday, I got to Skype one of my best friends. Tuesday, I went and got peppermint hot chocolate at Starbucks with Becca. I love it. It is so good! 

Wednesday, most of the population of Provo was gone. It is so quiet, and I was bored all day so when Jenn came home with Brent, we played soccer with the pumpkin I picked on my retreat. Now, I had kind of grown attached to my pumpkin so it made me sad when I did a soccer trick and he (I named him Felipe) cracked. Then to say goodbye we went pumpkin chunkin'. Later on we also went to get smoothies. So long Felipe.
I am starting to fit in with all of my roommates. One of their boyfriends said I was like the little sister he never had. The roommate I shared a room with is getting married, and she invited me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and asked for my help in picking out outfits for her engagement portraits. Melissa is moving out at the end of the semester, Jenn is moving out after winter semester, and Alanna is leaving after that. I am finally fitting in, and they are all moving.

Back to Thanksgiving week... Last night my cousin spent the night with me. After watching "Signs" and talking until three in the morning, waking up was not pleasant. Today it is finally Thanksgiving. I have had a rough go from hot chocolate coming out of my nose to banging my head on the table. Becca and I made a HUGE dinner. We made the pie first, and we may have had a meringue war. It was a lot of fun, but let me tell you it is not as much fun to have to get it out of your hair and eyebrows. 

For dinner we had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, stuffing, deviled eggs, and lemon pie. 

We barely made a dent in all the food we made, but we felt SO fat afterwards. I think I need stretchy pants. 

We listened to Christmas music and watched Christmas movies so it was only fair to decorate my little Christmas tree and put it up as well. We are finishing tonight off with "When a Stranger Calls", a happy movie after that, and probably more food. I am fat and happy. 

Made it Through

This week has been an interesting one. It has been full of changes, disappointments, sadness, good laughs, and some stress. Sunday was just the beginning. I missed  church. I slept through not only my alarm but my roommate's as well. Even her getting ready did not wake me up. The retreat really knocked me out. I finally woke up at noon and had to get going. I had an area dinner to get to. Angela Lopez came over to help me cook cinnamon cream cheese stuffed French toast. It was so good! I loved having dinner with my friends. We sat and just laughed. Monday was a rough one. I found out not only is Angela Lopez not coming back to BYUSA after this semester, but Angela Blomquist may take another job. I cannot lose both Angelas. I was so distraught afterwards I cried for an hour and a half. I will say, in our area meeting before I got this awful news, I was rather enjoying myself. My area was talking about how quietly opinionated I was, and how verbally opinionated Eric was. Someone was like, "That is why they are so compatible." I did not enjoy this because I like him, but that really is one of the reasons we work so well together all of the time. Once I got the news about losing my favorite people in the office it was one of those days that all I wanted was a friend. I am finding more and more that you cannot depend on people. When you need them they are nowhere to be found. It is just making me more independent than ever. Tuesday was a little better. We had the best forum speaker I have heard since I have been at BYU. Wednesday was blah. Thursday I was fidgety all day because my dad was having surgery and I was nervous. He is fine! I was kind of a wreck all day. I did not even put on make-up. It made some people really worry about me. It is nice to know who my real friends are. Seriously, this week has been one in which my eyes glaze over and I just go through the motions. Today I am back to normal. Happy go lucky, smiley, and sassy as ever. I got so much done today! Love it. More laughs, a nerf gun war in the office, a wonderful dinner (consisting of popcorn, cheese dip, a pomegranate, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies), and "Breaking Dawn." I will admit, I laughed the first fifteen minutes of the movie, a laughed multiple times during it, and I even cried at one point. They threw in a twist I was not expecting at all. Ending my night with more cookies and "Get Smart" is making my week seem a lot better than it actually was. Next week is Thanksgiving! Two days of classes, and then a much needed break. Three and a half weeks and I get to go home!!!

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

I first want to acknowledge the hand of God in my life this weekend. I did not have to drive up in the canyon. I went, but I drove up with my coordinator. I prayed all yesterday that I would be safe driving up there, and driving in a car that wasn't mine was just making me feel uncomfortable. Good thing I have a wonderful coordinator watching out for me. I was safe. I also realized she is one of the coolest people I will ever meet. We talked about almost everything on our drive up, and it put my racing mind at ease. I seriously love her. I also want to point out that the song Diamonds came on three times on the drive up there. Needless to say, it was stuck in everyone's heads by the time we arrived. We all sang it all night. When we got to Springhaven, I was amazed. First off, it is HUGE. I got lost more than once in that "house." There is a jungle gym and a treehouse inside. Second off, it is so nice. It has heated floors. I was happy. With the blizzard going on outside, there is nothing better than a place with heated floors. Trainings and games and food... Oh my! It was a lot. I went in to this retreat like one often does conference. I went in with a prayer in my heart. It was answered, and everything was perfect. Everything went well. I did get thrown in the snow a couple of times, we had a snowball fight that was rather intense (I am a pro at dodging and aiming so I think I won), and we just had fun. I shone bright like a diamond the whole time, and I got closer to people I already love. Also, it is a huge feat that my crush did not resurface. Proof that I am so done. The theme was dedication. Spiritual, BYUSA, school, and self dedication. I learned a lot and had fun. There isn't much better!

Scared Out of My Wits

How can weather go from the perfect fall weather to snow overnight? I have no idea. Welcome to Utah where one minute you are instagramming pictures of changing leaves and the next you are instagramming multiple inches of snow. Today is the day I have been so excited for and have been dreading all at once. I have my retreat tonight. I am so excited for all of the fun I am going to have. I am excited to get away. I am excited to be with friends. I am dreading driving up by myself. I am dreading having to facilitate a game. Today I woke up and it was raining. Well, that rain quickly turned to snow, and now I have to drive in the snow for my first time going up a mountain in a canyon that has no cell phone service by myself with the food for the night. Needless to say I am stressed. I have not been able to concentrate on anything. It took me an hour to put on the little bit of makeup I wear. For other girls that may not be bad, but it usually takes me eight minutes. I just need to drive up there and I will feel a million times better. I know I will be fine, I am just terrified.