Celebrate

Warning --- This is a long post…

The last few weeks have been filled with sunshine! Put on the sunscreen and soak it all up!

I celebrated my 24th birthday in Vegas with Kyle <3. We went all out and had a ton of fun dancing at the Cosmopolitan, eating fabulous food at the Wynn, laying out at the pool at the Trump, having a spa day at the Hard Rock, watching the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian, and so much more. He had little surprises each day for me that included poems, adventures, drinks, cheesecake, flowers, and little notes. He treats his girl well!

I got a ton of sun which my skin was desperate for, but my hair did not appreciate it. The biggest difference for me between being blonde and brunette, is that when I am in the sun, as a brunette, my head feels as if it could spontaneously combust at any moment. It’s hot with this dark hair but as a result my hat collection has grown quit a bit, so I am not complaining.

I love birthdays! I always find myself deep in thought about life, how precious time is, and how grateful I am for the time that is given to me around this time. Your birthday is a time to celebrate life and refocus.

Immediately following my birthday celebration I headed to Vegas for round two with my friend Lauren, her cousin from Scotland, and her cousins friend. Besides doing EVERYTHING Vegas has to offer (this was a once in a lifetime trip for her cousins so we could not let them leave with out the full Vegas experience no matter how hot it was or how bad our feet hurt, or how many times Lauren and I had seen it). Thankfully Europeans are not heat tolerant at all! I learned so much about Scotland and the girls that I now call friends. My favorite thing I learned is that in Europe, French toast is not a sweet dish but a savory one eaten with toms (ketchup).

Since I love eggs and like French toast this amazed me and I can not wait to try out the recipe. After becoming so interested, I researched the history of French toast and was surprised once again by the varying styles from around the world. Click here for the run down.

Besides the French toast thing it so happened that the Scots were disgusted with how much cheese we Americans eat. Since it has been brought to my attention, I notice that it is added to just about anything and everything. They will be happily avoiding cheese for the next month or so.

The fourth of July is Kyle’s favorite holiday and my fifth favorite, so we went out and celebrated Americas birthday in style! Dressed head to toe in red, white and blue, we visited the people we love most, family and friends. We went to the small local 4th of July fair with Kyle’s nephew (he was so cute and helped me finish my snow cone). It is not the 4th without some BBQ……..or some Toby Keith. Kyle listened to his hits with the speakers blaring and windows down all the way from Tooele to Salt Lake. We sang at the top of our lungs and danced as much as you can dance for being in a car. Then we stuck our heads out the window and soaked in the sunset behind us. God Bless America.

Trevor, Kyle and I watched the fireworks light up the sky and then headed to Diamond Fork in Spanish Fork Canyon to hike to the hot pots. Lack of planning meant we got to the trail head at about 1:30am with a 2.5 mile hike ahead of us. Trevor (mountain goat Jr.) took the lead as Kyle and I attempted to keep up. Although the clouds covered the starry sky (which is usually my favorite part) the beauty of the waterfalls and pools are breath taking and tranquil. It’s as if you have left Utah and are now in an exotic location. At about 3:00am it is more then serene. We were all alone up there and damn, it was worth it! Utah has so much to offer. A lifetime to live and explore these lands that are in our back yard would not be enough.

We finished off the weekend with tubing the Provo river, hiking to donut falls, watching one of Kyle’s best friends get hitched, celebrating their marriage, meandering Costco for hours (one of my favorite pastimes) and cooking delightfully healthy food to last the whole week…..which is quite the undertaking. Trevor, Kyle and I also headed to Ruby Snap (a local cookie shop) where we ordered one of every cookie on the menu, with three glasses of milk. It was a good weekend.

If you are reading this then celebrate your age, some never reach it. Celebrate the time you are given and make it count. Celebrate your choices and freedom. Celebrate your relationships. Celebrate a beautiful Utah. Celebrate a cheese loving America! Celebrate Life.

XXXX

Meg

Opening Day

I love SUMMER and to celebrate opening day I plan to kick it off with a bang and crack down on my summer list. I have been making these lists for a few years now, ensuring that when the summer is over with that I have no regrets and look back with a big wide smile (and some tan lines)! Keep in mind that I follow the philosophy of reaching for the moon and landing in the stars!

Summer 2012

Visit the Grand Canyon

Movies Under the Stars at the Capital

BBQ - In my new back yard!!! With amazing drinks compliments of Pinterest!

Eat some con on the cob

Watch some amazing fireworks

Hike to Havasupai Falls

Vegas road trip (happening this weekend)

Go sky diving with Trev

Run a 5k

Run a 10k

Write Personal Mission Statement

Boating

----Lake Powell trip

----Flaming Gorge weekend

----Bear Lake with my dad

----Water ski

----Perfect my tan

Organize

----House

----Stuff at Moms

----Stuff at Dads

----Kyle’s stuff

Sleep under the stars

Camping with my man

----Roast perfect marshmallows

Hot pots

Picnic up at Solitude Lake

Tour Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolate factory

Tour Kennecott

Motorcycle Ride to the Oaks in Ogden with my babe and possibly new roommate who has a Harley and is pretty much a bad ass. Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at her or interviewing her for over an hour.

Golfing with the men in my life

Read three books!

----Let the great world spin.

----The Great Gatsby (again)

----Anna Karenina (again)

----The movies are coming out for the last two books and I must brush up on the details so that I am able to compare the two forms of entertainment fairly. The books usually win!. I have a personal commitment to read or re-read any book that is going to be made into a film.

Get a hammock – necessary for the reading

Seven Peaks

----Once with the little cousins!

Cherry Hill – for old time sake

Eat a Snow Cone

----Tigers Blood with cream (Just one I promise Jayman)

Bee’s Game

REAL Game

Stroll the Farmers Market

Play some tennis – I will need Jordyn for this

Drive-In

Hike

----Donut Falls

----Adams canyon

----To the U on the mountain

----Flat rock off the Great Salt Lake to watch the sunset

----Flat rock off the Great Salt Lake to watch the sunrise

----Mt. Timpinogas cave with Lauren

Ride the Alpine Slide

Head out to the shooting range

Float the Provo River

Float the Weber River

Outdoors play at Sundance

Move little bro Trevor back to school : (

Country concert

Stick to my budget

Fall in love with as many things as possible

Don’t sleep past 10:00am –This is the hardest one

Reflect more – stop slacking on my monthly reviews

Work on my Spanish

Saturday morning workout sesh with Lauren – followed by delectable lunch all around the salt lake valley!

Visit my grandparents more

Eat lots and lots of watermelon

To confirm these ambitions a picture must be taken! At the end of September I will share them all with you! Also I learned how to put links into my pages so a ton of the plans above share even more information with just the click of a mouse.

Meg

Taste Bud Tenderness

I strongly suggest for anyone with a sweet tooth that they visit Salt Lake’s Banbury Cross and purchase an old-fashioned glazed donut. Leave it out in your car in 90 degree weather for about one to two hours.

Then enjoy the sweet tenderness!

I promise your taste buds have truly never lived till they have tried this.

Meg

Moving day > Christmas Day

I am back in Salt Lake and loving it! I am sort of moved into the house, surrounded by boxes just waiting to be unpacked, organized, and adored. Having all of my clothes, crafts, accessories, home décor, beauty products, books, gadgets, electronics, stationary, shoes, and personal items in storage for seven months has definitely taken its toll. I am a material girl and I knew I could go with out but the question was for how long?. I am proud to say that I have been living off of 7 pairs of shoes and have only bought 3 pairs in the seven months to add to my collection (for those of you who don’t know me to well this is a huge achievement).

This Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be one for the books but things tuned sour and left me with different memories to hold. Kyle and I were originally going to take my little bro Trevor to *Vegas* for a post graduation relaxation trip. Kyle’s sister Katie was pregnant and has had the burden of knowing that the child had very little chance of survival or living a normal life. She went into labor earlier in the week and needed family more than ever. Baby Liam made it into this world but was on life support. Per doctors direction a few days later they decided to take Baby Liam off of life support and let nature take its course.

The week was filled with sadness. Rain clouds followed the family and us where ever we went.

The graveside was held on Friday. I hate funerals more then average person due to the fact that the deceased could be a complete stranger to me and I would be there crying more then his best friend/family. This graveside was dissimilar. Seeing the little (baby sized) casket was heart wrenching. Thoughts, hopes, and dreams that would never be.

I can not imagine the pain that Katie and her husband Pat will carry with them for the rest of their lives. My heart aches for them.

Since we had a ton of extra time now we took to cleaning the new house in no organized fashion at all and I discover how AMAZING Mr. Clean erasers are. I have heard of their power but never fully understood the rage till now.

Memorial day arrived and no real progress had been made on the house so on a split decision I decided to rent a U-Haul and get all the moving done in one whack.

The U-Haul was nothing but a big mess. First they rented me a truck at a location that was closed. 3 phone calls and 50 miles later I got a truck. The primary break light was malfunctioning. The battery died and Kyle had to call for road side service. Plus it took a whole hour to fit the truck into the space we had to unload.

We were also unaware that the night drop off system was unavailable at the location we rented from so when all the boxes and the furniture were unloaded around 1:00 in the morning, Kyle and I ended up driving a 26 foot truck all around town to find out in the morning that where we took the truck was not an acceptable one way U-Haul location and they were charging me an extra $50.

I ended up taking my way out of the extra charge of course and they will now be changing the instructions on the front of the building so people do not get confused, as I did.

It was a crazy weekend but my box filled house was waiting for me!!! The only thing better then Christmas day is moving day. A home full of boxes just waiting to be opened of things that you already love.

Meg

Brave New World

Woooooo Whooooo

I have now entered into the blogging world. This is all new to me so bear with me. I have so much wonderfulness in my life and I feel the need to share it (and mostly so I don’t forget it myself). The basics about me so you aren’t too confused.; I am 23, go to school at the University of Utah, live where I grew up in Tooele, Utah for the moment anyways, work full time for the Veterans Benefit Administration, and I am dating a sweet cute boy named Kyle, Oh…..and God picks my watermelons.

This blog is a fresh slate for me so no going into my past too much. I am looking ahead to my future and joyously enjoying the present!

This semester of school is over with and I am so grateful. This summer is going to be filled with nothing but little adventures and R&R. The coolest thing I am going to be doing this summer is working on my new house. Yes, I will be joining brave homeowners everywhere on Tuesday night. I say brave because it is a huge commitment and commitment is probably the single most scary thing in the world to me, but I know this is a giant leap in the right direction for me. Pictures to come!!

Meg