Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Feast Or Famine

It's weird how the whole dating thing works...
I seriously go for MONTHS without anything from any boy.
No dates, cuddling, kisses, etc.
Then all of a sudden I have...

1 boy at home to figure out.
(seriously. I need to know what's going on.)

1 cuddle night on a rebound
(for him for sure, and I was just confused).
1 set-up in the works.
(after all, the whole goal of the 47th ward is to get us all married.)
 
1 date invitation.
(to be accepted at a later date since I already have plans.)

1 promise of a date in the near future.
(after having an awesome time tonight.)

Why couldn't this all have been spread out over time? It would make for one far less confused Megan, that's for sure.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Your Happily Ever After

President Uchtdorf gave this talk at the General Young Women meeting this April and I just discovered it. I love it! I've listened to/watched it 3 or 4 times in the last day. It's amazing, and just what I needed yesterday... It's kind of long, (if it's too long to watch, just go read it HERE) but I promise it's worth it!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Never lie, steal, cheat or drink.

But if you must lie,
lie in the arms of the one you love

If you must steal,
steal away from bad company.

If you must cheat
cheat death.

And if you must drink,
drink in the moments that take your breath away.

Sabbath Observances

I hate watching couples sit in church who are all over each other. I mean, it's one thing for a guy to have his arm around his girl, or for her to be scratching his back. I can handle that. But let's not get too crazy. None of this hardcore cuddling or full-on massages please.

Dear boys. Do you even know how hot you are when you're at church? Suits and ties? Yes, please. Also, the whole passing the Sacrament thing is so great. It says a lot to us girls. Clearly, you're Priesthood and temple worthy which is seriously the most attractive thing ever.

Is it really so hard to find a happy-medium temperature for the chapel? I know there are a lot of people, so yes, circulating air is necessary, but we don't really need to freeze do we?? I guess it keeps us awake...

I got my new iPod, p.s. And there's tons of space on it! I've always wanted to have conference talks, etc. on my iPod, but my old one just didn't have room for them. However, the tables have turned. I now have all of the talks and songs from last session, as well as tons of CES firesides. Having these made the walk to church this morning so much greater!

Here's a thought from one of the talks I listened to today...

It's your reaction to adversity, 
not the adversity itself that
determines how your life story will develop.
(Your Happily Ever After, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General YW Meeting, 2010)

Megan.

I strive to stand out.
I would rather watch the game than The Bachelor.
I don't do Twilight.
I am an Aggie.
I thrive on being busy.
I love summer.
I read too far into things.
I love learning.
I am a writer.
I take risks.
I regret nothing.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Air-Bound

Last night ended up being way more fun than we thought it would be!

My friend Amanda works as a gymnastics coach. Since her boss loves her, she let us go play around at the gym. Words really won't do the evening justice, so here are some pictures to document it.


love my friends

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Release.

45 minutes.
Joined by the likes of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Rise Against, Yellowcard and Journey.
There's not a soul to talk to.
The only people I see as I make my way through campus have the same thing in mind that I do.
This is my time.
I can laugh. I can cry.
I love the sweat, the ache in my knees, the sprinklers hitting my legs.
This is the time I can use to think.
(Or to not.)

I remember how good it feels.
How much I LOVE it.
How much I NEED it.

I love my late night runs.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Duh.

Who needs these guys...


When you could have these fellas?


I mean really, girls. The choice seems pretty clear...

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Round Two

Remember the time I won Backstreet Boys tickets?

Well, Energy Solutions Arena must LOVE me...

Because
She...

Plus he...

 equals THEY.

Together.
Energy Solutions Arena.
7:30 p.m.
Tomorrow.
And I'll be there.
Thanks to ESA.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

So Dream, Dream, Dream...

"Late at night my mind would come alive with voices and stories and friends as dear to me as any in the real world. 
I gave myself up to it, longing for transformation..."
said Jo March, in Little Women.

I'm not so much creating stories that will live on for years as she was, but just stories of my own.

I sleep to escape life, to recoup for the day to come.
I sleep off my stress, my emotions, my headaches.

Sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I can't fall asleep.
If I have silence, my mind starts to race. I think of the things I've done, and the things I haven't. I think of the things I want to do, the things I wish would happen.
If I have music playing, I start to weave the songs into my own life. I mull over the lyrics or wish I was that girl he's singing about. Knowing that clearly isn't the case, I think of ways I could make it be so. Things he could say or do that would make it all better. Make me feel loved.

In my sleep, a whole other world comes alive.
I alternate points of view, depending on the night.
Sometimes I'm watching a scene unfold as if I'm watching a play.
Other nights, I'm right in the action.
Sometimes it's in technicolor.
Sometimes in black and white.
I have the tendency to create my own dreams.
I think about what I want to happen, and it does.
Like writing the script.

There have been a lot of things on my mind lately that influence the quality or amount of sleep I get.
Work, boy, friends, the upcoming semester and so much more.

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. 
I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. 
So good night, dear void."

Monday, July 12, 2010

I Will Rest in Him

“Let me tell you a story—a parable.

There once was a man who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.

He had been warned about going into that much debt, and particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay for it later.

So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time along the way. He didn’t worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed important.

The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind, and he made token payments now and again, thinking somehow that the day of reckoning really would never come.

But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full.

Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.

‘I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,’ he confessed.

‘Then,’ said the creditor, ‘we will exercise the contract, take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.’

‘Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?’ the debtor begged. ‘Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?’

The creditor replied, ‘Mercy is always so one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?’

‘I believed in justice when I signed the contract,’ the debtor said. ‘It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would serve both of us equally as well.’

‘It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,’ the creditor replied. ‘That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.’

There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.

‘If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,’ the debtor pleaded.

‘If I do, there will be no justice,’ was the reply.

Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?
“There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.

The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.

‘I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.’

As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, ‘You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.’

And so the creditor agreed.

The mediator turned then to the debtor. ‘If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?’

‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried the debtor. ‘You save me from prison and show mercy to me.’

‘Then,’ said the benefactor, ‘you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.’

And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.

The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was fully satisfied”

-Boyd K. Packer, Gen. Conference April, 1977

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Why I Love Summer...

sunshine
sand between my toes
fresh veggies
ice cream and popsicles
late sunsets
shorts
sandals
swim parties
pick-up soccer games
working like crazy
SOAR
movies
sleeping in
relaxing
midnight hikes
spontaneity
Bear Lake
sunburns
block parties
country dancing
rodeos and demo derbies
concerts
new friends
fun times

Saturday, July 3, 2010

God Shed His Grace on Thee

 Oh beautiful for heroes proved

 In liberating strife.

 Who more than self their country loved,

 And mercy more than life.

 America! America!

 May God thy gold refine.
 
 Til all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Home...

It's amazing how much I've come to love this place in the last five years...

Anyone who knew me those first few months knows I was not a happy camper...

As we drove out to his house tonight so many memories came flooding back from all the other times I've made that drive.

The birthdays, the mission farewells/homecomings (Travis comes home TODAY b-t-dubs. And Kalob will be here before too long), and other random shenanigans.

The saguaro cactuses and mountains silhouette against the moonlit desert sky while you avoid the coyotes running in the road. The air already smells of an impending monsoon storm.

The fact that the evening was spent with six of my very favorite people didn't hurt either...

I love it here.