...giving thanks...

I just got done writing about giving thanks of my Drill Team Blog...thought I would cross it over and put it on my Journal Blog as well. It more or less was a lesson to my Drill Team so it is very Drill Team geared...but it is something worth sharing, I think:)...
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I had something happen to me at work today that really struck a chord in my soul. It couldn't have happened at a better time than right now as we are about to journey into the Holiday season. I need to do a better job of giving thanks and gratitude everyday instead of during this season.

At work today one of our Pre-School parents came in to pick their son up. While we were waiting for their son to put on his backpack the parents sat down to fill out an application for their son to attend the Elementary Program. The application is very personal and requires a lot of attention on their finances, etc. The parents simply said, "We have nothing, we are living on $300.00 a month if we are lucky because finding a job is so difficult, and we just found out that we are having another child". (Because of the boundaries at my work we are unable to really go more into detail with the parents on their financial status and just have to refer them to the school social worker). After the parents discussed their situation they didn't act ashamed or embarrassed, instead they redirected the conversation and just thanked us and praised us over and over again for the work that we have done with their son. In probably their darkest hour they didn't feel sorry for themselves, they didn't ask for anything, instead they simply THANKED us. Made all of us really step back for a second and know how lucky we are.

So I thought, Meghan life is hard, we are given trials everyday and it is really easy to have pity parties, but I need to take a step back and really focus on what is important in my life...So I thought all day long about how incredibly lucky I am for every thing in my life; whether it is bad, good, annoying, hard, easy, wonderful...I am so lucky to experience it all. Everything we go through makes us who we are, it is our choice on how it will shape us. I am not saying I am going to be positive at all times of my life because that is simply not true...but I am going to fight really hard to have it impact me in a way that will make me a better person. So I just want to take the time to say SOME things that make me who I am and what I am so incredibly thankful for everyday in my life...and these are in no particular order...I will keep some of them short because my cute Drill Girls, I know you know I will go on FOREVER!!! Just pay attention to a particular bullet!!

• I am thankful for my family, I LOVE them to pieces. They made me...Some of the biggest parts of me came from every one of them. I may not talk to some of them very often, but I am so happy that I am a part of who they are.

• Oh my Brandon. What a husband...What a Best Friend!! I love him like crazy.

• Religion
  

• My amazing friends...Old & New
  

• Shelter, Food, Clothing, Water, My bed...Basic Necessities that I know I take for granted every day of my life

• My health, My Ten Fingers and Toes, My Legs, My Feet, My Arms...EVERYTHING

• My Education and the opportunity to continue learning.

• Knowledge of Social Work and how it has taught me to know the person and their situation and NEVER judge
  

• Dancing...it is my passion and my release

• My Job!!
  

• I am just thankful for LIFE, LIVING, BREATHING...I could go on and on and on...but I will keep it short and sweet

• And last but certainly not least My Drill Team. The girl's that stress me out, give me Grey hairs, make my stomach turn in knots, make me laugh, make me cry, inspire me, motivate me...the list could go on and on. I am so thankful for YOU!! Since I am writing this on your blog I am going lengthy on this one...

1. I am thankful for your dedication, your heart, and your constant desire to be better.
   
2. I am thankful that I get to watch your grow and become better people every single day
3. I am thankful that your school is starting to recognize you and they are doing that because you are making a positive impression on them.
4. I am thankful that I get to watch you fight and make-up. I want you to realize, as hard as it is right now in the High School frame of mind, that friendship is something to be treasured. Sometimes words hurt and sometimes we say hurtful things to those that we love the most, but we have to let that go...and stop doing that, hug and make-up !! Believe me it is not worth it...being mad only takes away moments that you could be experiencing together.
5. I am thankful that I get to see you grow as a team; I get to see you push each other, I get to see you get frustrated with each other, I get to see you work it out, and I get to see moments like Friday when you walked off the football field after you did Military...and I promise you there is not a better feeling than that!!
6. I am thankful that I get to go to the Christmas Box House with you and see you interact with those children and for those 90 min. that we are there those children have forgotten how crappy their situation is.
7. I am thankful for every early morning practice. And the laughter that most bring.
8. I am thankful for the many lessons learned.
   
9. I am thankful to be at every Competition, Performance or School function.
10. I am thankful that I am the only Drill Coach in Utah that gets to go to Mass with her team before competitions.
11. I am thankful for every one of your personalities!! You all make this team a TEAM!! I am just plain THANKFUL!!
12. I am thankful for Carina, Carly, Ash, Lo, Sarah, Shelbs, J.J., Jess, Kaitlyn, Mick, Tay, Bree, Izzie, & Maria
    

XOXOXOXO
Megs
***As you can tell this is why I want you to bring your
Journals tomorrow to practice, also remember your grades***

...it has been a long time...

My goodness...I have not been a great blogger. I don't even know where to start?? I guess I will just kind of catch up on what Brandon and I have been up to...since this is the only journal I am keeping, I have got to keep on top of this:)

Brandon

• He is almost done with his LAST winter semester of his MBA!! Go B!!! One more semester left. What an incredible hard working man he is!!
• He is still working and loving Wheeler
• He looks online everyday for ski's for Christmas
• Goodness...I know the kid is busy, but I guess it all has to do with school!!
• Brandon turned 29!!!
  

Meghan

• Drill Team...that is all I have to say. It consumes my life, but I love it. We are about to competition season.
• I am still working at Carmen B. Pingree Center for Children with Autism. I am loving it...most days:)
• I am almost done with random class taking at SLCC
• I completed my Graduate Application for my Masters in Social Work
• I am still dancing with NightLine!!
  

Us

• We are loving each other and soaking in all of the time we get to see each other (which is not often)
• We are loving spending time with out amazing family and our cute friends
• We are hoping to one day go on a much needed vacation when we have money since we both seem to LOVE going to school!!
• We are just soaking in all of the moments of life!!

Some fun things that we have done the past couple of months are:

• We headed to the Utah vs. UNLV game with my mom and Ryan. We had fun!! The boys went to the game and we shopped.
• We went with our friends to Thanksgiving Point where we hit the haunted corn maze up!! It was a blast!!
• Have gone to tons of movies!! Go M.J.!!
  
• Hit up a Fashion Show
• Watched one amazing high school football game on Friday!! Go Juan Diego 3-A State Champs!!
• Tried to win my DREAM Volvo XC-60!! Dang New Moon
  

It is pretty sad that I am having a hard time remembering what has been going on!!! I guess I need to really get this stuff up in the moment instead of trying to back track!!

XOXOXO

...just a reminder...

I just put this on my Drill Team's Blog...but felt the need to share it all around!!! Sometimes I need to be reminded what is important...love, inspiration, desire, and passion are HUGE to me!! I feel like these few highlights not only impact me as a coach, but as a human...enjoy:)

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

"...Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn't one more thing you could have done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that LADIES - you're perfect!"

WE ARE MARSHALL

"They don't know your heart...From the soles of your feet, with every ounce of blood you've got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows, and if you do that...if you do that, we can not lose. We may be behind at the scoreboards at the end of the game, but we will not be defeated."

Really, it's the HEART that matters."

MIRACLE

"Great moments are born from great opportunity...THIS IS YOUR TIME."


REMEMBER THE TITANS

"Will you ever QUIT...NO we want some mo' we want some mo'."

REMEMBER THE TITANS

"LEFT SIDE...STRONG SIDE..."

DANCE

"DANCERS are the athletes of God."

being inspired keeps me going!!! Oh how I love being a coach!!!

...low low low low low...

This is the best thing I have ever seen!!! Ha ha this little red head just made my day

BEST DANCE EVER


CHECK IT OUT!!!

...it's been a long long time...

Wow!! I can't believe it has been this long since I have posted!! How time flies...I am trying to think of what has been going...lots of stuff. Drill Team basically consumes my life and now I am working at Pingree so I make a triangle of the SLC valley...WVC to Draper to Sugar House...fun stuff!! Our Summer was great! Most of July I was gone to Dance Camp, Dance Camp, an amazing adventure to Sun Valley, ID, and Lake Powell (my first time). Nothing really new is happening in our life's besides school! Brandon has class 3 nights a week and I have decided to bite off a little more and take 9 credits at SLCC so I can (cross your fingers) get into the MSW program at the University of Utah!! I guess I will just share some of my fun moments of the Summer...I have many, but just for documentation sake I will post about a few!! We always have a blast with friends...love them!!MMMM...where to begin. I think in my ripe old age of 24 (soon to be 25 WTH) I am slowly starting to lose my mind, memory, parts of my body that I didn't know existed have started to take shape, and to top it off...I have ACNE. I have never had acne. I stress about which probably causes more acne to appear and I pick the shiz out of my face...constantly!! Sorry for my brief off topic subject!! On to some of the Summer!!!

• Well B-Dawg and myself celebrated our 2nd anniversary...it was so fun! We ate at Metropolitan, went on a carriage ride, and basically just had fun being together!! I am very lucky to have Brandon in my life and I sure love him like crazy!!

• Sun Valley, ID. I LOVE it there! I am starting to look forward to this trip. We go every year with the Pro. dance company I am on. We get to have a little fun, be creative and interact with a fun fun crowd!! This year one of our dances was a Jungle Theme!! It was so much fun!! I was a bird...go JuLaine for putting together a awesome costume in like 2 days. She is quite amazing if I do say so myself!! This year some of the hot mama's on the team brought their children to participate...it was awesome!! I loved just spending time with the funniest group of girls...meeting LeBron James (highlight) and starting the drive home at 9:00 p.m. to be home in time to drive to LP the very next morning!! It was a blast!!

• Went to Lake Powell for the very first time... was an idiot and didn't take my camera. It was very fun to play in the sand and sun!!

• I have an awesome Drill Team that I have been spending so much time with. I love it, I think the world of them. They are probably way sick of seeing my face...we have been together ALOT!!

• Another highlight of the Summer was deciding to apply to the MSW program AGAIN (damn Business grades) contacting the MSW director, having him tell me that I should take some Psych. classes, Soc classes, etc. Wonderful, welcome to College again. The best part of all of this is that I applied to SLCC two weeks ago on Saturday, was accepted that Tuesday, and registered for classes that Wednesday. That is a sweet deal!! The even better part of it is that I am taking a class called Intro to Sexuality...ha ha this will be graphic...WARNING...I got my book on Saturday. I went home to the LBC for the weekend and as my mom and I are sitting at Dixie Grill waiting for our food, I decided to take a gander at this Intro to Sexuality book since the cover has provocative arms on the cover...I just open the book, slip my finger into the unknown pages and BAAAAM I didn't see just one, not even just two, but three...count them 1 2 3 real life pictures of VAGINA'S (part of life I understand, just not what I was expecting)!! My heart raced because you see at the drive in at Dixie Grill the passenger can order and I was the passenger...scared for my life that these little high schoolers saw through their window what I just saw I closed the book as fast as I could. Then of course it peeked our crazy personalities of what was in this book...man, this class is going to be entertaining. I am kind of bummed out that it is online...so many posts I am sure to come about this fun class!!

Our Summer was full of fun...I will be glad when Brandon is out of school so we can actually go somewhere!! Well I am tired...this getting up at 4:50 a.m. everyday is hitting me right now...until next time, hopefully not a 3 month next time!! Hope all is well with everyone out there!!

...729 days almost 730...this will be a novel...sorry

I can't believe that Brandon and I have almost been married for TWO YEARS!! Where did the time go...it has been such a great ride so far, I am SO SO excited to see what is in store for us. I love him to pieces and I just can't get enough of him:) When we were driving home from Mother's Day dinner tonight I was thinking back to 2 years ago to May 10 and what we were doing, how I was feeling blah blah. It is crazy how I can pretty much remember the entire night before...so for my memory booking purposes you can take a little stroll down memory lane with me (sorry all in good fun). So this could be a jumbled mess...but it is my fun mess of the night before our wedding...
I remember we had to have his motorcycle at my sugarhouse house (shedding a tear right now because I miss that place so much) so I rode with him to his parents house where we left his truck drove the motorcycle back to SLC parked it at my place so Tyler (B's little brother) would be able to drive it to the Huntsman Hospital for our departure after the reception. Brandon was left without a car so bless his heart he got to deal with me and all of my anxiety:) We took the SAAB to the Marriott Hotel where my family and myself would be staying, parked it, loaded my mom's 4Runner and headed to The Point where we dropped off all of the pictures, the candy bar, my mother's awesome table runners...pretty much we dropped off everything. At this point I was scared to death...not to get married, but I was scared if the reception was going to be pretty or not!!! We got back to the Marriott where my entire family was waiting anxiously to head to dinner...We enjoyed a nice dinner at PF Changs (where I don't think I ate much) and then walked back to the hotel...realizing Brandon did not have a car.
We offered to drive him back like 1000 times but he insisted that he would ride trax??? SERIOUSLY Brandon!!! It was late!! And we would NEVER let him do that...silly boy!! Well we were about to drive him home when his dad called and was still at work at the wee hours of the night so he picked his first born baby boy up:) We said our goodbye's (kiss kiss). I headed up to our room where everyone was hanging out...somehow everyone slowly disappeared and we headed to bed. My cute Abby stayed in our room where she literally rubbed and tickled my back for however long Stomp the Yard is on (yes that was the movie I chose to have my Mom and Grandma buy over the TV to calm my nerves and YES I still LOVE Chris Brown) to this day I am so thankful for my sweet Abby for being so nice and for my mom and grandma staying up with me to watch Stomp the Yard:) Somehow I fell asleep and remember going and laying next to my mother just thinking about our amazing journey together (me & my mom) and how excited we were to gain another member in our family!!!
I wondered all morning if Brandon would be there when I got there...I got ready all on my own because I knew I would be too nervous to have anybody touching me (you know when you could do something over about your wedding...this would be it. I should have been spoiled and had somebody do my hair and make-up...oh well such as life, I am the type that it would have stressed me out) So fast forwarding through everyone getting ready together:) We are very late to the Temple where bless his heart Brandon had thought I bailed!! It makes me sad because I don't really remember much of our wedding day, I mean I do, but I don't...does that make sense?? I do remember changing my clothes for the lunch in the Temple parking lot where I was through my sun roof while Brandon tried to get my enormous slip off...I bet that was fun for all the Temple goers that day:) I do remember how incredible the day was (although hot) it is something very special that I will...well actually I think about it all of the time!! Our wedding day was beautiful we could not have asked for a better day. Our ring ceremony was awesome...we had the love and support of our family and friends. It was a celebration...we danced, laughed, DANCED some more, and just enjoyed being together!!! Our past 2 years have been very special and fun!! Brandon has made me a better person and to quote my new favorite musical..."Because I knew you...I have been changed for good". Sappy I know...but I love the guy:) Happy 2 years!!!

***If you made it through all of that you are quite a trooper*** I just found this picture and it makes me laugh so hard. On CL you get to do a dance with you dad at the end of the year. YES...Brandon was my daddy:)

...defy gravity...

Brandon and I have been so busy!! My mom scored us some Wicked tickets a few weeks ago...all I can say is that I was truly touched (literally the CD has not left my car since I downloaded it on April 30 which was the day after I saw it) !!! I think it is the best musical I have seen, I wish I could live in the world of Oz:) "It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes....and LEAP"
Also today is Mother's Day!! WOOT WOOT. We just had a great and special day with our mothers and grandmothers. We had a wonderful breakfast with Brandon's family. We are so lucky to have incredible mothers in our life after spending some time with Brandon's mother who I love and think the world of we headed to dinner with my family!! I love celebrating our mothers, grandmothers...all the women that made us who we are today!! I love my mama to pieces...she is the best!! I have 3 very special women in my life...my mother, my "G" or grandma, and my Auntie Tara Jo!! These women have made me who I am today and I just love them to the moon and back:) This day is to you!!!

...vegas...

We just got back from sunny LAS VEGAS and boy was I bummed to come home!! At least it is beautiful outside finally!! We had such a great time!! This trip began a few months ago when Brandon was like..."We can stay in Vegas at the Tropicana for $90.00 a night" so to that I said "Let's do it"!! Well it turned out that our buddies Wade and Chad would be there for The Killers concert and Schmieg and Sam were going to go too so we made it a little getaway!! SO FUN!!! So we headed down Friday once we got to our hotel we had a little unexpected SURPRISE...

YES...those are mirrors on our ceiling!! Only in VEGAS baby and probably only at the Tropicana!! I think I laughed for 10 min. straight...I thought it was hilarious!! Not only were there mirrors on the ceiling (on no) they were on the headboard, the wall, and then the standard mirror by the TV...mirrors were EVERYWHERE!!That night everyone headed to The Killers concert and me and Brandon headed to see KA!! It was amazing!! I loved every second of it, it was the most visual stage I have ever seen!! I highly recommend it!! After the show Brandon and I headed to the Coke factory and experienced the tastes around the world...most were pretty gross!! Brandon decided to make the suicide drinks of all suicide drinks and mixed them all together...needless to say he thought it was pretty good. The next day we all headed to the pool for a bit, hung out and lounged!! It was great...Chad and Wade headed home:( and the rest of us got ready and headed out to the Shark Reef aquarium and walked the strip!! I am so mad at myself for not getting a group picture...what the heck...oh well, Vegas was great!!

...it's been awhile...

WARNING: If easily offended...probably skip this post!!! But it is a FUN one!!!
So I was lucky enough to attend Britney Spears!!! It was AWESOME...so entertaining, she looked incredible, and the dancers were so GOOD!!! It was such a great girl's night...I LOVED it!! We made killer shirts (sorry if we offend, all in a good time) that we should have sold and made bank because everyone wanted one, and I got to hang out with some incredible girls that I met!! I loved them, I can't wait until we all play again!! Nat...thanks for the invite it was so much FUN!!!

...easter 2009...

I absolutely LOVE Easter!! I love its meaning and I love being with my family and doing the things we have done since I was a baby. Ever since I can remember we always go to the zoo!! It was a beautiful day (finally). The night before Easter I headed home to color eggs (Brandon had school...lame). We tried to be so creative with the eggs, it turned out to be more of disaster so our eggs are a little ghetto, but we had fun. Love you mom and "g"!! Ryan, my mom, and my grandma spoiled us rotten with cute Easter baskets...It was such a great day...THANK YOU:)

...best two hours...

The feeling that all of the air I have in my body is taken out of me and I have nothing left to give but I have to keep on going...is the BEST feeling in the world!! I just got back from an amazing dance practice where I felt like I was in College again!! It was the best and the practice took place in one of the most memorable and at home places I have ever danced...The Huntsman Center!!! I dance on a professional company that is directed by the former University of Utah Crimson Line Coach!! It was an AWESOME...however I did get a floor burn on my toe ( I know you want to see it:), but no worries I treated myself to an Oreo McFlurry!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Lori for letting me be apart of it:)Dancing has been such a huge part of my life...it is my therapy. It is something that I can do and have absolutely every feeling felt...sad, happy, joy, pain, love, hate, passion...etc to name a few!! I may not be amazing at it, but man, does it make me feel complete and balanced!! Gosh...I just love it. I have been so blessed to be on such amazing teams and get to do some pretty awesome things:) Above all I have met some incredible people that I will love until the days are gone...and I know for a fact that I have had the BEST coaches in the entire world!! I hope more than anything I can bring the same joy to my little drill team...If anything I want them to dance so they can shut the day away for a couple of hours and just love every sweaty, painful, incredible second of it!! I LOVE IT and I hope that I am still dancing when I am 99 years old:)

...it is time...

I want to go watch the:


And go for a ride on this:
And grow these...and not kill them:



And best of all...I can't wait for this:
APRIL 14!!! Nat I can hardly wait:)

...will it ever end...

So I enjoy changing something in our house about every week:) The latest project has been switching out all of the lights and faucets in the bathrooms. It has been quite fun!!! The master bathroom needs a lot of work still...but that is ok:) Enjoy my tacky before and after pictures...

...friends...

Friends are the BEST and I love them all!! It was Tote's birthday on 03.15!! I have known Kort since the beginning of our existence. We are like night and day...but that is why we have been SISTERS our entire life!! We surprised her at The Mac Grill!! It was so much fun...I love her to pieces!!!

After we had a nice fun dinner we headed to Habits...a club full of COUGARS!! We hit Habits up about 3 times a year and what a delight it always is:) I sit on the dance floor and just laugh my head off watching the 50 year old women gettin' down with the 20 something year old boys!! I hope that I am a hot cougar...however I will have Brandon by my side!!! To go into habits the boys must be wearing a collared shirt (it is quite upscale ya know...kidding). Brandon didn't have one so at 10:00 at night we headed to Wal-Mart...I stayed in the car and had some girl chat while the boys went in to get him a shirt...The boys came out so excited about Brandon's Russell Simmons purchase (Run DMC). I had no words for what Brandon had picked out ,I thought his shirt looked like a 4 year olds easter something...Needless to say B thought he was cute (which he is)

...kids...

So, I have a pretty exciting job...that I LOVE most days. I teach Pre-School to children with Autism. Children amaze me everyday...they are so happy (well you know...most min. of the day), positive (for the most part), silly, excited about everything, and most of all CREATIVE. Today we were out on the playground when this darling little girl that I just love was hanging off the playground equipment...let me script our conversation:)

Me: Rebecca stop hanging off that ledge.

Rebecca: (ignoring me like I am not directly behind her)

Me: Rebecca please stop hanging off that ledge.

Rebecca: (still ignoring me, but I get a little bit of a stink eye from her)

Me: Rebecca you NEED to stop hanging off that ledge. (The program that these children follow is very strict you give them 3 commands in hopes that they follow the first general command...once you say NEED you have to physically prompt them away form whatever they are doing...that is why I have all those random commands)

Rebecca: (she comes towards me STOMPING with her hands in little balls of furry wrapped tightly around her body)

Me: Rebecca you need to go play somewhere else...

Rebecca: (interrupting me) MEGHAN!! YOU ARE WORSE THAN SATAN!!

Me: (laughing my head off)

Rebecca: I am very upset with you!! I have hung off the ledge before...I am telling my mommy...

Needless to say...we made up and she still loves me. I love that she is only 4 years old and I am still laughing that she came up with that!! Kids are so creative!! I am bummed that I made her so mad, but I honestly think it was one of the funniest things I have ever heard!! The children that I work with make me a better person everyday!! I love them and look up to them...they may only be 3, 4, and 5 years old but they have the most amazing outlook on life and teach me to live everyday to the fullest. Their families are so incredibly special and everyday I admire their strength, optimism, and pride!!

...pardon my very LONG LONG post...

I have SO SO much to catch up on! So I apologize for all of this info:) So I will try to do this in some what of an order...

Valentine's Day: We had such an amazing LOVE DAY, but of course I didn't take any pictures except for one (I am a moron, but that is ok). We headed to Park City in the scary weather and went shopping...of course Brandon found stuff...I struggle sometimes:) After we shopped around we went around Main Street to kill some time before dinner...we enjoyed changing in the car, we seem to always change in the car (the day we got married, we stripped down to change into our lunch outfit in the temple parking lot TMI probably, nothing happened sick minds:)) and we headed to the best restaurant in the world RUTH'S CHRIS...yum!! yum!! I love my meat (Sorry Kort). We then headed home and relaxed!! Such a great day...thank you!!!Week Stuff: We have the cute puppies right now...they were looking a little ghetto so they got a beautiful hair cut:) The first picture is the before and the second is the after...
Friday was BEAUTIFUL so I packed the children up (AKA puppies) and headed to Sugar House Park!! It was so fun and I loved having the sun shining:) Once Brandon got home from work we were off to a wedding reception than went bowling!! And yes there is another picture of us changing in the car:)Saturday...was an experience to say the least. I tried snowboarding:) It was so freaking hard and I was very very frustrated. I honestly sat and pouted numerous times because I could not stay up...I was getting out boarded by little 4 year olds that kept passing me. I get a little upset when I don't get things the first time...but the weather was BEAUTIFUL and I ended up watching people while Brandon went and took some runs by himself...I tried:) Sunday morning I was so so SORE and had random bruises all over my body!! It was fun though, I will stick to skiing:)