Yes, I Get By...

"Once you come to Marana, you can't ever leave."

-Scotty Catt

Truer words were never spoken, my friend.

Don't even think you've seen the end of me.
My parents may be leaving, but I'll most definitely be back.

Thank you Marana, and those of you in it, for everything.
For the huge part you have played in my life.
For helping to make me the person I am today.

I couldn't wouldn't have done it alone.

...with a little help from my friends.

Once Upon a Mattress

I sit here on my mattress at home, surrounded by boxes of (everyone else's) stuff getting ready to move.
When I was coming down to Arizona, my mom informed me that my mattress would not be moving with us.

Say what!?

Let me explain.

This mattress and I go waaaay back. No joke.
I've had it my entire life.
Before that, my mom used it for most of her life.

It's not worn out, it's worn IN.

Yes, it's old.
Yes, it's lumpy.
Yes, it's kind of falling apart.
But I LOVE it.

It's MY mattress.
I shall miss it dearly.

Moon Over Manifest

Remember this little challenge of mine?

Well it's finally summer, which means time to read real books! Hooray!
Today I finished Moon Over Manifest and it was incredible!
I was at the pool reading and ended up staying for two hours because I couldn't put it down!

It follows a girl during the Depression.
Her dad sends her to a town from his past while he stays behind to work.
While she's in Manifest, she listens to the stories and puts together the pieces from the past.
You feel as if you're bouncing between the Depression and WWI, and you find yourself trying to figure out the puzzle along with Abilene.

There's a reason this book won the Newbery award.
Go read it.
Right now.
No really, go!
You can borrow it if you need :)

Current count: 23/89

Yeah, Basically...

For some reason I hadn't heard this song until today... Love. 
Also for some reason, I can't find a video that will let me embed it... So just go find it on YouTube.

Drift Off to Dream
Travis Tritt

I sit here surrounded by people and lightsAlone with my drink at the bar
You've been here forever, so clear in my mind
I just don't know where you are
I know I'll find you but girl 'til I do
This is my love song for you

Let's hold hands on the porch swing, under the moon

While the wind through the willows plays us a tune

We can lie on a blanket, out back in the yard

And wish for our future on a faraway star

You'll feel the passion as time after time

I press your sweet lips to mine

Then we'll dance to the radio, right up 'til dawn

'Til you drift off to dream in my arms

You might be hundreds or more miles away

Or you might be just down the street

But there'll be a hunger deep in your eyes

That I'll recognize when we meet

It might take hours or it might take years

But this is the song you will hear

Let's hold hands on the porch swing, under the moon

While the wind through the willows plays us a tune

We can lie on a blanket, out back in the yard

And wish for our future on a faraway star

You'll feel the passion as time after time

I press your sweet lips to mine

Then we'll dance to the radio, right up 'til dawn

'Til you drift off to dream in my arms 

Yellow

(if I had a picture from tonight, I'd post it...)

We've come along way, eh?

Congratulations baby brother!

Tonight is a big night. 

Twelve long years of school have come to an end.

An hour and a half and it's all over. 

I know how much you have loved high school,

and it has loved you right back. 

You've made incredible friends who have had a permanent impact on your life. 

You boys are the kind of friends who will stay friends forever.

Don't worry.

You think these have been the best days of your life.

That's normal.

But I PROMISE there is so much more out there.

Your best days are ahead of you. 

College will rock your socks, you don't even know. 

I'm so excited for you to be an Aggie with me.

Next year is going to rock.

Can't. Wait. 

Again, congratulations.

You made it!

(because we were all real worried about that)

LOVE YOU BROTHER!

You are my Maggie.

(and only you will understand the reference - but I don't know if you read this)

You "date" a lot.
Finally, you're free again.

My turn?

I don't want the window to close.

"We're all scared.
Doesn't being scared let you know you're on to something important?"

"If you aren't scared, you aren't taking a chance.
And if you aren't taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing?"

Thank Yous

Thank you for feeling the need to lie and tell our professor I cheated.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to spend my first week of summer studying all over again.

Thank you for causing me to risk having to take the class again because of this test.

Thank you for being the source of the most stress and the most tears I've had in a really long time.

Thank you for helping my integrity be questioned, and giving people who have trusted me in the past, a reason to not.

Thank you.

****

Thank you for throwing me under the bus.
Thank you for making me fail a class, a first (and only) in the life of Megan Allen. It's always been something I've wanted to try. (NOT)
Thank you for listening to my ideas, and letting me have a part in our project. (Oh wait...)
Thank you for letting me make up for the things I did miss. (Oh wait, again...)

Thank you for lying to me, telling me I was ok grade-wise. 

Thank you for giving me the chance to take this class again, because, I just loved it so much, let me tell ya...

Thank you.

Bipolar Days...

Oh man, it's been a long week...
I thought summer was when things were supposed to get non-stressful?
Finals finally ended (the hardest finals week of my life, mind you) and I thought I was home free.
Apparently I was wrong.

I got an email from a professor on Monday morning telling me someone had told her I was cheating on my final.
Say WHAT?
Why on Earth would I do that?
So on Wednesday I had to go in and talk to her and the department head and plead my case, so to speak.
I get there and she tells me exactly what the email said.
She said one of the people said I had my notes spread out on the chair next to me, using them the entire time.
Ok, if I wanted to get caught cheating, yeah, that's how I'd do it.
But really?
My notes (just 3x5 cards) were in the bottom of my purse, happy as can be.
I had reached into my bag a couple times for chapstick and a new pen, but nothing else.

Since my AP tests in high school, I had never studied for a test as hard as I studied for this one.
I felt great about it going in, and felt great coming out.
There was one question I left blank because I didn't know the answer, not even enough to BS and answer.
It as a 10 POINT question!
A smart cheater purposely misses some questions, but they pick the little 2 point, multiple choice ones.
Not a question worth 10 points.
If I were cheating, I would have used that and answered that question.

Anyway.
Final result is that I have to take the final again.
But not the same final, a new one.
I'm terrified she's going to make it harder than the original.
But here's the plan.
I rock it. Knock it out of the park. Ace it.
And leave them in my dust.

Oh! And my computer charger died.
Which means my computer is perma-dead.
That's cool.
Not like I have a test to study for or anything.
And I threw my notes away, so need info from online again.
But it's summer, so I can't use the campus computer labs. And the library closes at 5. Right when I get off work.
Awesome.
Don't worry though. I ordered a new charger. Hopefully it will be here today.

Then.
I checked my final grades today, and somehow seem to have failed a class?
Not sure how that happened...
I guess there's a first for everything?
But I emailed the professor asking for an explanation and for him to make sure it wasn't a mistake.
I'm super confused. How do you fail a class when you didn't fail any tests or anything?

But here are the good things.

My best friend is getting married tomorrow.
And I have an awesome new dress to wear for it.
Now that school's over I can read real books again. And work on my PROJECT.
My job rocks.
I have an incredible view from my work window. (this is when I would post a picture, but this computer doesn't have a memory card port thing.)
The weather is absolutely gorgeous today.
"drinks" and chips & salsa with Hailey tonight.
Arizona in a week.
Nashville in August. (super stoked on this one.)

Because My Mom Rocks

Really though, she does.
This PostSecret says perfectly how I feel.

Brilliant. 

How did I get so lucky? 

So many people I know have not-so-great relationships with their moms.

However, I consider my mom to be one of my best friends.

She just gets me. 

She reminds me "everything that's going badly in my life will sort itself out."

I just wish she had as much faith in herself as I do. 

(by the way, I'd say I'm the one who looks different from here, not you...)

Mom, you rock.

I'm the luckiest girl on the planet, (well, I guess me and Em...) just so you know. 

Avoiding Explosion

My brain is about to explode.
So in order to avoid that, I'm going to write a little blog.

This is probably my worst finals week ever. I only have three tests (as opposed to the five I've had in a week before), but this is the first time every test has been comprehensive.
I had one on Monday. One tomorrow. And one on Friday.

Tomorrow's is an econ test.
I hate econ.
I'm not sure why I thought I would enjoy it and therefore why I decided to take the class.

Friday is Media Law... Pretty sure we all know how I feel about that class.

However. The point of this was to avoid thinking about finals.
Right.
Moving on.

So remember how I applied for editor in chief?
Then when I didn't get that, I applied for... everything else.
Well, I'm headed back to my roots as a journalist and will be...

assistant news editor

next year!

It will for sure be an adventure.

I also got/started a new job that I'll have for the summer. 

I work in the PR & Marketing office here on campus, and I love it so far!

My official title is that of an office assistant, but I do a lot more than your typical answering of phones, etc.

Basically, I spend the day scouring the internet for anything and everything being said about Utah State. 

I find the articles and see what people are saying.
Then I compile all the information into a big ol' report.

Check it out. 

I put THIS together!

Oh, and THIS too. 

The second one is the one that you can see if you just go to the Utah State Today site, then if you're really interested in it all, you would look at the first one.
It's actually super cool to put all this together. It's interesting to see who's talking about us and what's going on.

Yesterday, the report was huge because I had everything from the weekend, but it had been an exciting weekend, what with Curtis Marsh getting drafted by the Eagles, along with more developments in the Michael Starks case. 

It's way fun and I'm excited for the summer.

Mmmk well I'm going to go get some dinner now, then it's back to the books, hopefully with no cranial explosions...