Friday, May 17, 2013

A Little Fall of Rain

For the last few days, a storm has been brewing. 
The temperatures have dropped and the sun has gone into hiding. 
The wind has been blowing, clouds forming and welling up with water. 
This afternoon, those clouds finally broke,  letting the drops finally fall to the ground.
I drove home from work as the first sprinkles let loose.

Suddenly, water was falling from my eyes as well. 
Everything had been building up and out of nowhere, became too much. 
I was driving home to an empty apartment - devoid of people, furniture, entertainment.
I had dealt with two back-to-back phone calls, forcing further delays in moving and work. 
I was facing another weekend of nothing to do. 
From mid-August through March, my weekends are booked solid.
Because of that, by the time April rolls around I'm completely out of all social circles. Everyone has their "regulars" they hang out with, whether or not they actually have anything to do. 
People have jobs and boyfriends and roommates who don't have significant others. 
I have none of that. 

It's a short drive home, but somehow it was long enough for all those thoughts to find their way into my brain.

So here I sit, on the floor of my empty living room, watching Gilmore Girls DVDs on my computer. 
The biggest thrill of the night is the half-pint of Haagen-Daz ice cream that stands in my freezer. 

The thing is, in every rainstorm, there are bright spots. 
There are streams of sunlight, breaks in the clouds, and the sight of a rainbow if you're lucky. 
Today, this was my ray of sunshine. 


"Megan, I gots yous a fwower this morning!" 
My favorite 5-year-old had this waiting for me at my desk this afternoon. 
A few minutes after I got to work, he came running in to tell me all about it. 
Combined with the best little hugs you'll ever experience, it's hard to stay down for too long. 
As I sit here, every time I start to dwell on things or start crying again, I think of this little dandelion. 
Such a simple thing, but a bright simple thing. 

I'm off on a truly exciting trip to Walmart to stock up on cleaning supplies to tackle this empty apartment.
May as well do something productive with all this free time. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Bonus Material (Like on DVDs)

A year ago, a Utah State student-athlete fell while rock climbing.
In an accident that could have killed her, she suffered multiple bone fractures in her legs and was paralyzed from the waist down.
This weekend, she will walk across the stage to receive her college diploma.

The whole story, particularly her attitude throughout the whole thing, has been an incredible thing to follow.
I got to write a story about her for work, you can read it HERE if you so desire (which I suggest you desire... I kind of like it.)

Anyway, a huge part of her story and the reason she has reacted the way she has is due to her faith and belief as a member of the LDS Church.
While Utah is predominantly LDS, I didn't feel like I should include that as a huge focus of my article.
So instead, I just wanted to share something she said here.

"The first time I remember crying in the hospital was just because I felt such an outpouring love. There was love from family members, from the university. I just felt so blessed to be alive. There’s a reason I’m not dead, a reason I’m still here. I still have work to do. My mindset was that it was going to be easier with God than without him. If I got mad and closed off, I’d just be making it harder on myself. That kept me going. I needed to remain close to my Savior and to God."

I mean, really!? How incredible is she to have that as her first realization?
We've all been through hard things, but it's so easy to let your first instinct be the negatives and "woe is me" kind of thing

In my years as a journalism student and a writer, I've talked to a lot of people.
I've done countless interviews. 
Only a couple of times though has an interview made me tear up. 
This is easily one of my favorite interviews and stories I've done. 
Let me know what you think!




Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Wednesday Wonderfuls

So it's Wednesday. Generally Wednesdays are reserved for Wednesday Wisdom, but you'll notice I've been kind of MIA lately. Maybe I'm all out of wisdom? Maybe I'm just tired? Who knows.

Anyway. My cute friend Alyssa (for real though, check her out and she can be your cute friend too! HERE) writes Wednesday Wonderfuls posts, talking about the good things that are happening. Those are pretty plentiful right now, so this week, that's what you get.

  • I have a new job! Well, another job is more accurate, because it's not like any of the others are going anywhere. I'm headed back to my roots of the good ol' Texas Roadhouse. Working at the Marana one in high school was so fun and provided some of my fondest memories from those days. It will be tough to not compare this one to Marana, but I'm still excited. I have orientation this weekend and then training next week... After that, come visit me!
  • I found out that along with paying for school, I'm going to get a $500/month stipend from Athletics. I've been getting that the last couple months and it has made SUCH a difference. I'm so much less stressed about money which makes me so much less stressed about everything else.
  • The awkward yet entertaining moment of yesterday goes as such. I call my dad who answers the phone while someone asks him if he's seen the Rocky Horror Picture show. I pipe in and say "Oh man, I love Rocky Horror!" At which point I feel immediate regret, because that's not the kind of movie you admit to your parents you've seen, let alone love. Dad just laughs, says "Of course I've seen it! It's great!"
  • I spend a lot of time with my boss' kids. They come hang out in my office every day and are so funny. Yesterday, a coworker offered a cookie to the younger one, saying he needed to eat it quick before his brother got there. The brother is one of the no-gluten kind of people, so we didn't want him to feel bad. D thinks about it for a second and says "Yeah, I'll have it. I like the glutens!" I like the glutens too, bud. Glutens are my favorite. Things like that happen every single day and make me laugh so hard! We have all sorts of summer plans including the two of them playing on baseball teams. Can't wait to watch them!
  • Speaking of summer... it's practically here! SnoShack opened on Saturday and one barbecue is already under the belt. Both things signify that it's for real. We finished our finals a week earlier than regular finals week, so it's been interesting to sit around this week while everyone is frantic and stressed about tests. The downside is, we have summer classes, so it starts all over again on Monday night.
  • Amy and I found out yesterday that we can move into our new apartment anytime! We were supposedly going to have to wait until June 1, but the manager called us yesterday and said we're good whenever! We have a lot going on and have contracts to deal with and such, so we're still waiting til May 20, but that sounds a lot sooner than June 1! Can't wait. We have all sorts of ideas planned for the summer.
  • Oooh... one of those plans includes hitting up as many Utah temples (ok, 'hitting up' sounded odd there...) as we can during the next few months. However, we found out yesterday that if you're going to do baptisms in a temple outside of your district (so any temple other than Logan) you have to bring your own names. That's a whole lot of names! Two (sometimes three) people, 12 temples, adds up pretty quick! We'll try and round up as many as we can, but if you or anyone you know have names that need baptisms done, we are more than happy to help!
Ok, I think you get the picture. Things are lovely right now. I could keep going I'm sure, but I don't want to bore you :) I hope you have a lovely Wednesday and encourage to think of all the things going well right now, rather than the not-so-great things. It makes a difference, I swear!