Apples....

When you have an apple, hold it by the stem and see how many times you can twist it before it falls off. It is a letter for each twist. The letter you end up with is the  first letter of the guy you are going to marry. It took me five twists. E... The first name that came to mind was Eric. Of course. We may as well be married according to more than one source. I don't think that is so, but whatever. It still made me laugh. 

Just Having Some Fun

First off, I would like to say that I went on my first date in which a guy asked me out (my second date overall), and I survived. It wasn't the greatest because it was with a guy I really don't like, but we had fun. We went to an art museum and then went and got Jamba Juice.
Yesterday was the football game v. Hawaii! We won 47-0. Way to go Cougs! Even sections wore white while odd sections wore blue so the stadium looked like it was striped. It was so cool because it actually worked! At the game the guy I kind of have a crush on was like, "Dearest Megan, I love you so much." Here is me, "Oh, I love you too." Cheesy, but it made my night. I left the game a little early because I went out with my cousin Becca. We had so much fun eating at The Chocolate once again. She made me eat most of it since she was allergic to everything we got. As you can see I was SO FULL after it, and she was happily satisfied. After that we went to see "The Avengers." It is a really good movie. I do not understand why we had to stay until the credits were finished to watch them eat tacos, but I did enjoy every minute being with her last night. Yet another night with my wonderful cousin. I may get fat, but storytelling and good laughs are always the best.

Today I got up really late. Eric had called so I called him back. An hour and a half later I was on my way to my coordinator's granddaughter's third birthday party. I had a lot of fun. Everyone there thought Eric and I were married. I got asked where my ring was, how long we had been married, a disapproving look from an older woman when she found out we weren't married, and I got told several times we made a cute couple. My coordinator even said we may as well be married since we spend so much time together. It was weird, but I found it rather humorous. When I got home it was time to get ready for the Relief Society General Broadcast. I got to go watch it at the Conference Center in Salt Lake. It was amazing. Before we went in, little ladies were handing out little packs of tissues. I of course I grabbed one, but those sneaky moms put anti-Mormon stuff in them. I took that out and kept the tissues. All of the speakers were wonderful. I even almost cried in every single talk. My favorite talk was the one done by Sister Carole M. Stephens. She is the first counselor. She talked about a trek she went on recently. At the women's pull someone came back to help her even though she had already made it to the top. When Sister Stephens got to the top she was too tired to go back and help someone else. She felt like she had let her sisters down physically, but she said she never wanted to let them down spiritually. I love her teaching through example, and I hope one day I can be that shining beacon for someone else.

Thankful...

 

  I am thankful for long walks that I have no reason for going on. It just gives me time to think.

I am thankful for answered prayers even when you receive an answer you were not expecting. Sometimes you just have to lift up your head, realize that you are a daughter of God, and keep on going. 

   I am thankful that I do not have to have everything figured out all of the time. Looking at my planner I see everything scheduled out so perfectly. Sometimes it makes me feel better because it provides some order for my life, but other times it is completely overwhelming. Today was one of the overwhelming days. I completely disregarded my scheduled life, and I felt free. After an ice cream social and a good talk with Mallory, I made my way home talking to my mom. It felt so good outside so I stayed out there. There was a rainbow over the mountain. Rainbows are one of my favorite things. They show that there is still good in the world even if it is not always shining. Not everything has to be perfect for you to see beautiful. Not everything has to be figured out to move forward.

Seeing the Hand of God in Each Day

You know how sometimes you fight with yourself forever over whether you should go to something or not? Now, I will be the first to admit that does not apply to FHE for me, but it did apply to devotional today. All last night I thought about how much more time I would have to sleep and study if I didn't go. All this morning I thought about everything I could be doing. Then I remembered the goal I made at the beginning of the year. I made the goal that I was going to try to make it to every devotional. Thinking about that the whole way there, I decided I needed to go. You know how sometimes you feel like the speaker is talking to you? It happened at devotional. Two weeks ago we had a talk on optimism by a general authority. For some reason the speaker today chose to speak on the same subject. I needed it. The one two weeks ago did not really mean anything to me, but this one had me in tears. I woke up not in the greatest mood. The cold weather has brought on a weird pain in my right hand and elbow. It is not fun. I was just not in a good mood in general when I went to devotional. He talked about doing things that were pleasant and worthwhile, to take time to look for the good in the world. He also gave five tips on how to be positive in a negative world.
     1. Know that righteousness does not mean perfection
     2. Keep trying anyway
     3. Keep your focus on Heavenly Father
     4. Know that Heavenly Father's approval matters most
     5. Find and remember the joy in your life.
He said that when you have tears in your eyes and smiling is the best emotion in the world. When we look for the good in our lives we see how truly blessed we are and we are filled with gratitude and optimism.
Here are some of the quotes from my class today:

•      If you are tired, God says, "I will give you rest."
•      The only limitations on you and me are those we put on ourselves.
•      Those who give when they have little are those who will give when they have a lot.

In devotional today, Brother Wilks also quoted D&C 123:17. It says," Therefore, dearly beloved brethren,  let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. He told us to look for the hand of God reaching out to help us each day. It was easy for me to see His hand in my life today. I went to a devotional that felt like it was meant for me, my class today was full of so many good laughs, and I got to talk to two of my FOL kids. They also played a wonderful hymn while we were all filing out of devotional which made my day even better.

Full of Gratefulness

I promise one day I will catch up on my thankful posts. 

1. I am thankful for minivans and BYUSA retreats. I literally had so much fun yesterday!!! I was full of excitement and happiness all day. They say you become like the five people you spend the most time with. I am not doing too badly. BYUSA people are good people to be like. 

2. I am thankful for temple dedications. I feel like I was waiting for something like this to happen my whole life. I loved it even though I was so close to falling asleep so many times. 

3. I am thankful for warm, big cookies with ice cream on them. They make me happy and having one for dinner last night made my day all the better. 

Too Much Fun

People say there is no such thing as having too much fun. I beg to differ. I do not know if it was too much fun or too much excitement. I think both. I had it. After a late girls' night last night, I got up slowly this morning. Until the adrenaline kicked in, I was beat. I got to the BYUSA office by eight to get things started for the retreat. The first thing Eric told me when he first saw me was that I looked half dead. Well thanks for that. By nine everyone had arrived and so did the adrenaline. I saw my mini van. That was enough to get me going. After telling the group that was with me about my deep love/obsession for minivans, one of the girls looked at me driving and said, "You look so cute and perfect up there!" Here is me wanting to cry because I was so happy. :) It felt so natural to be behind the wheel of a mini van. Have I told you I want one? We played a name game where we said our name and something we would bring to a picnic. My name is Megan, and I would bring a mini van. When we got there, we started off with laser tag. I am just not good at laser tag. I always have fun, but I don't score well. Nbd. Then came the go-karts. Eric bet me the other day that I would not be able to beat him. I get really competitive on go-karts. Like no joke. He jumped in the first one and I was in the fourth one back. Bring it on. I passed the first two people in front of me, and then it was just him and me. I won. He owes me. Then came the bumper boats. Somehow I ended up in his boat. I do not know how, but I got soaked because everyone was ganging up on us. I will say, I put my hand in front of the water gun, and I aimed it to squirt him. I win again. After that we got free time to go to the arcade. Angela Lopez and I went on all of the racing games whether it was motorcyles or cars. Then we went on a weird two person ride that was so much fun! We screamed the whole time. In the last bit of free time we went to two 4D short movies. Lunch was next on the schedule. You know those stupid commercials where the windows are so clean the birds or dogs or whatever run into them? It happens in real life. I slammed into a window today with about a third of my team there to witness it. I thought it was a door. I hit it and hit it hard. Probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Over the course of the retreat, there were plenty of pictures taken. I love looking back at them and just laughing. After we left, we went to a park to play a couple more games. When we finally got back and returned my mini van (after I took a couple pictures with it of course), it was around five. Then, I went to see a scary movie with Becca. The movie was not all that great, but it was really funny when Becca screamed twice in the theater. So great. Then, we went to a place called The Chocolate for a dessert. We got something called a cazookie. It is half chocolate chip cookie and half white chocolate macadamia nut cookie topped with vanilla icecream. Yum. After today, I can truthfully say if I died tomorrow I would die happy. Mini vans, a new embarrassing story to tell, beating Eric in go-karts, and a cazookie. What more could you ask for?

Strength, Courage, Wisdom, Heart

So, I went to the circus today. I had so much fun! Driving up with my coordinator was a blast. With her three year old granddaughter in tow, we had some good laughs. When we got there her granddaughter Kalin wanted me to hold her. I carried her up three flights of stairs. I get winded with just me. I loved it though. The only problem was she was on a leash. When I put her down, I had to walk her. I swear I will never do that to my kids. The theme tonight was dragons. I think it is kind of weird because I do not associate that with the circus, but it was not bad. They said to see a dragon you needed strength, courage, wisdom, and heart. I feel like that applies to many things in life. With those four things you can accomplish anything. The most exciting part was watching Kalin. She came and sat on my lap for a little bit. My favorite part of the circus is the animals. I love the lions, and tigers, horses, and the dogs they have. At one point they were coming out with all of the horses and ponies, and they brought out a Great Dane. It was so funny. I want one... and a mini van. It was so nice to have some bonding time with Eric, Angela, Maddie, Kennedy, Kalin, and Roger. On the way back to the car Kalin threw a fit because her grandpa was holding her leash. She wanted me to hold it. I don't think she minds the leash, but it is kind of shameful for me. It was really cute though. I just got to have fun. Kennedy and I drove up to Salt Lake with our coordinator, her husband, and Kalin. When we got back, they dropped Kennedy off and drove away. When they dropped me off, they waited until they saw me walk in the door. I love Angela. I love them all.