Costume day

I was wearing a new shirt today that I hadn't washed yet. It had the smell of fresh fabric that has been sewed together in a factory. Your sense of smell can trigger old memories and that is what happened to me. My shirt reminded me of costume day when I was in ballet. Each year when I did ballet I was in a recital where I danced anywhere from 1 to 4 dances. This meant I got to have a costume. My teacher Mrs. Monson would show us the costume in a catalog and we would all get measured. A few months later the costumes would arrive. Costume day was the best because we got to drop everything and try our costumes on. Then we would go show the other teacher our dance in our costumes. The smell reminded me of costume day because our costumes were usually all balled up in plastic bags and a lot of them had netting for the tutu. The netting and the nylon costume had a specific smell, probably because they had just come straight from the factory. It was fun to dance around in the pretty sequined costumes and imagine how it would look onstage when we did our real performance. One of the best costumes I had was when I was a lobster for "Alice in Wonderland". I had red spandex pants, a red tuxedo jacket and huge red felt claws. It was amazing. We had to skip around on stage wearing these felt claws. Another of my favorites was my first real tutu. I had a few long tutus before, but it's not the same because they aren't the pretty short skirts you always picture. I was proud when I got my first real short tutu because I was able to be in a pointe dance that year. I felt like a real ballerina. I still have all of my costumes at home in a box. Someday I hope my little girl(s) will have a lot of fun in them.

Reason #43 why Utah is dumb

As a Public Health major I recently was made aware of a shocking health issue that is not practiced in Utah. The state of Utah does not put fluoride in its water. Fluoridizing water is one of the ten greatest achievements of public health and Utah has refused to make its citizens healthier. Adding fluoride to the water has been proven to improve the dental health of people by decreasing the incidence of cavities. Fluoride is a mineral that helps build up the strength of teeth and protect against cavities. Every other state in the US has fluoride in the water. Why not Utah? Why are they refusing to start a practice that will improve the health of people? It's like saying, "No that's ok, I don't want to be healthy." There are two reasons I've heard of why this hasn't happened. One is that some people are opposed to additives in their water. They want it to be pure. There's already enough stuff in the water that we don't think about. The other reason is that dentists actually oppose putting fluoride in the water. They WANT people to get cavities so they can make more money off the people who need them fixed. Basically they are greedy. This is ridiculous. And yet another reason why Utah is dumb.

I am the Walrus

I am the Walrus is the name of a Beatles song that makes no sense whatsoever. It was pretty much written while they were high on drugs and they just wrote whatever they wanted to. What does my blog have to do with this? Well nothing really. It's just the Beatles in general. I feel that an upcoming event in my life is just like the Beatles breaking up. None of them went on to make good music, they just were not the same without the whole group. There was not really tons of success for the members when they tried to have solo careers. You see I have lived with three wonderful girls for three years now and it is soon coming to an end. I feel like we are the Beatles breaking up. For no random reason, I am Paul, Monica is John, Jenn is George, and Marissa is Ringo. We are all going our separate ways in the next few months and we are not going to be able to live all together ever again. This is really kind of depressing to me. I would never have thought that girls I met freshman year would become my best friends and that I would live with them for three years. We have had a ton of good times together and come to know one another really well. I'm going to miss the fact that we all know each other so well that we know how to tease, teach or torture with certain things we say or do. I know how to make them laugh or entertain them with stories. We've developed traditions, gone on vacations, made dinners, and made some lasting bonds. This is all ending because we have to grow up and go our separate ways. I'm not excited about this because I will have to live with people who I don't know as well that have wierd habits. It's just not going to be the SAME. Basically it's like the Beatles breaking up because I will never have as good of friends/roommates ever. It can't happen. Now I have to tell myself to enjoy the time we have left and have a lot of fun. I will miss these girls!! I think the lyrics to a different Beatles song fit. "I believe in Yesterday." But, "All you need is Love!"

Advice Column

There has been something on my mind lately and I would like to express my feelings about it. If I could I would write this and send it to an advice column.



Freshman Year-

College is a great experience. It's exciting, new, scary, and extremely tough all at the same time. There are a ton of fun times to be had and people to meet. The thing that makes me sad is the fact that there are freshman who are not having a positive first year experience. I had a blast my freshman year. I did a ton of stupid things, stayed up very late, slept in, didn't study and was a true and complete FRESHMAN. I know a handful of freshman who are very lonely, don't have a good friend to talk to, and don't really do fun things with other people. It breaks my heart because they should be having a great time not spending all their time alone in the library or lonely in their apartments.

There is a way to help this that I learned about my first year at college. First, moving away from home and living on your own with complete strangers is scary. I know that young adults don't want to admit it, but it's hard. I was homesick for the first two weeks of school. I cried the first couple of times I called home because I felt so lonely. The remedy to this is to get involved. Being involved in a ward, club, or social group gives you something to focus on besides yourself. It fills your life and you don't have time to be lonely. And you usually have fun doing things. Second, people are selfish and stupid. They usually won't come to you to make friends. So sometimes in order to make friends you need to suck up your pride and courage and make the first move. There aren't many people who won't be willing to talk to you and make friends. It can be hard to do. In the beginning I didn't know people so I would go to things by myself like sports games and concerts. It would have been more fun if I had invited people to go with me. I had a hard time learning how to befriend people, but usually they are waiting for an invitation so why not be the inviter? I made a few friends freshman year just by inviting them to come to dinner with me in the cafeteria. Then you look for more people who need someone to eat with and pretty soon you have a huge party going on. There was one boy freshman year who spent the whole year avoiding the dinner rush so he could eat by himself and not look wierd. Then my friends and I started making him eat with us when we saw him. We got to know him and he felt more comfortable. Hopefully he enjoyed his experience and felt like he could have friends. The best way to get more friends is to be outgoing and friendly yourself. This also helps to cut away the loneliness when you have good friends to surround yourself with. Pretty soon you will find that time has passed quicker than you thought and you want more time. It is best to live it up and not miss out on anything. Sometimes this means involving yourself, (again people are stupid and don't always remember everyone), but you will eventually have a great time.

I know that there won't be anyone who will really benefit from reading this but I just want to say that it is hard learning to live on your own, make new friends and start a college education. But I did it and many others did too. I used to walk around campus watching friends greet each other and wonder how they even knew each other in the masses of people when I couldn't recognize a face. Now I have the same thing happen to me. It just takes time and perseverance. Some of my best memories are from my times in Helaman Halls. Late night chats with friends, discovering facebook, photoshoots, getting stranded in SLC, going to Denny's at 2 am, wasting time at the cannon center, visiting hours, home teachers, functioning in a ward, the dollar theater, having the doorms be your whole world, watching the Amazing Race in the basement, ward talent show, being on campus late at night, late night antics in general, and yes even breaking my leg had some good experiences like having my own personal goodbye party, my girlfriends sleeping on the hard floor of my room for my last night, getting a priesthood blessing from newly ordained Melchezidik (?) priesthood holders, and the poster everyone signed. I have a lot of great memories that could not have been had anywhere else. I am grateful for the time I spent as a freshman in the doorms because it was the right amount I needed to handle in order to grow at that time. I just wish that everyone could have had as positive experience as I did. I know there are some tough things to deal with like roommates you don't get along with but you still can have a positive experience. I wish with all my heart that others will have a positive first year also.

I Decide 2008?

So there are two things that bug the heck out of me for this upcoming election. The first is the way presidential primaries are run in my home state of Washington. Apparently when you vote for your candidate you have to sign the ballot and declare your allegiance to the political party you chose. For example, if I voted for Barak Obama I would have to declare allegiance to the Democratic party of Washington. If not, the other stuff on the ballot I voted for wouldn't count like the school funding thing to keep paying our school district enough money to run the schools. What the heck? Why to I have to declare allegiance to the party? It is way wacked out. The only person I could vote for in the Republican party is John McCain and I really don't like him. So I was going to vote for Obama because I like him better than Hillary. But I don't want to sign my life away to the Dems. Things need to change in Washington state.

The second is that people who have the right to vote don't have a clue what is going on. This is a very important election and it will have a major effect on our lives as we graduate college and go into the "real world". In my public health class the other day they went around the room asking what issues were most important to people in the upcoming election. I am sad to say the following was the response for about 40% of the class: "Umm I haven't really been following everything...But let's see....I guess healthcare would be important??" I was having issues with these people. Don't they know that who they elect could have a huge impact on their lives? I wanted to give them an election tutorial. What is going to happen when they pick their candidate to vote for? They will probably choose the best looking one or some other silly reason. These people will decide who is my president for the next 4-8 years. I hope they choose wisely. It's called "You Decide 2008" for a reason.

New Year, new goals, and new habits...hopefully

First off, Happy New Year! It is 2008 and it's great to be alive! Isn't that fun to say? It's great to be alive! The year is going fine so far, but let's see what happens when school starts off again. As I start a new year I get contemplative and think about all the things that I should be doing, or not doing. New beginnings always inspire me to think about goals or resolutions that I should make. I usually don't follow through. But I desperately need to change a few things in my life. Here is my list, not comprehensive, not related, but maybe if I write it down more of it will happen. I'm not much a list person, for example I get no pleasure of crossing things off a list like Jenn. This is for me to keep track of myself. 1. Floss daily-I have to admit I don't do this. The hygenist yelled at me yesterday, and I want to keep my teeth healthy. I just need to remember when I had braces and couldn't floss my teeth. 2. Do well in my calling at church-I am already set apart as a first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. Being a secretary last semester I already know a lot of the things that I will need to do. I am scared because I know that there is so much that I could do to help people, and I want to be able to. But I don't want to let myself become a slacker and let other people do the things I can. I want to be a good leader, care about the people I have stewardship of, and hopefully make a difference. Part of this is working on my calling during the week, not just on Sundays. Get goin', Meagan! 3. School-where am I headed? what is my end goal, what am I doing now to get there? This is not a new problem. Also Part B-do well this semester: get good grades from the beginning, and DON'T FALL ASLEEP IN CLASS!! (trust me this is big). 4. Religious aspects-read the whole BOM, am I going on a mission? Marissa is a good example for me :) 5. Have a good time this semester-I have to admit last semester was lacking. I did fun things but on the whole it was not memorable. I could be better friends with some people if I made more effort. And I could have done more things and made more memories if I had shown more initiative. I want to have fun! 6. Health-exercise, eat healthy food, and go to the gym with marissie. Goal is to do the Rex Lee Run in March. Get good sleep too.

As I said this list is not comprehensive. I do have good intentions. But I need to help myself keep those goals.

Something to think about: Being gone for a year from Richland has given me some new perspective. I went to church the Sunday before Christmas and there were a lot of families there. I also got all the latest gossip and scoop on what was going on. One family had their daughter visit from England with the two granddaughters. Her husband was not with her because he has stopped going to church. One of the girls, Sammy, is in a wheelchair. She has the cutest spirit. After church she greeted her grandfather with a "Hello, Grandpa!" with arms outstretched, telling him all about primary. This little girl has to live with an inactive dad. There was also a girl who is a year older than me who was home visiting. She had a baby with a man she slept with and she was in the ward to have her dad bless the little girl because the man is not LDS. They are married but I don't expect the marriage to last long. There is also the family that lives next door to me. They have 9 kids and all of them have left the church as they have grown older and moved out. One of them close to my age is on a mission right now in the Dominican Republic. He is the first of 5 out of 7 boys to serve. My heart breaks because while he is out serving the Lord his family is falling apart. One older brother dresses like a goth but he shows promise because he is going to college in Seattle. Another older brother lives with his girlfriend in Arizona. His younger brother who is gratuated lives a block away in an apartment with his girlfriend. Another younger brother has grown his hair very long and wears kilts to school every day. The bishop has refused to let this brother come to church wearing a kilt. His younger sister still goes to church and hopefully has good supportive friends. His dad goes to church also, but I just learned that his mom has stopped attending church. She had been going pretty regularly before this. All through this he is supposed to serve and email his family what he has been learning and teaching others. I get the same emails he sends his family and I hope they listen to the words he tells them every time. I pray that something will change their hearts. They are a good family and they need to support their son on a mission. The reason he is on a mission right now is because he had the support of many good friends who wouldn't let him fall away.

Anyways, with all of these stories it made me think about how the decisions you make effect those around you. I hadn't thought about this much before now but I can see whole generations affected by the decisions people have made, whether they are good or bad. I feel bad because it's not fair to those who had no say in your decision. The baby girl born to the non-LDS dad is going to go through life without her dad being a priesthood holder, or understanding what she is doing in the church. She didn't to anything to deserve that kind of life but has to live with the consequences her parents made. It made me realize that the decisions I am making in my life right now will have big effects. It's not just me but my family, friends, and maybe someday future family. They deserve to have the best me I can give them. I don't want them to have to worry about my problems.

Side note: I was at a New Year's party and my brother asked me if a kid there was Marcus Gilson (a guy I was friends with growing up who is returing from his mission in like three weeks). I looked and I was a little startled. I thought it was Marcus for a second. I don't know why I was scared. I was friends with Marcus in high school and I am excited for him to come home. I think I was startled for a few reasons. 1. I want to look good when I see him, (don't you always want to look good when you see someone when you haven't seen them in awhile) 2. I wasn't prepared with what to say to him. RM's are wierd, you haven't seen or talked to them in two years and you are supposed to be friends with them again?, and how do you catch up on two years, it makes for awkward conversation. 3. I'm scared of what he will think when he sees me. Will he remember that I only wrote him twice in two years? Will he be excited to see me? Or will he be too cool and spiritual? What do I have to show for two years gone by? A rod in my leg, a few more credits, a little smarter...not much else. It's not a competition but ghez, there should be more to show.

And there I leave you in this late hour. I have been very honest, my truest feelings, so don't judge me. And maybe it's time I start writing in a journal instead.

Oh my gosh I want one!

That's what you will say when you see these. http://www.charmcitycakes.com/index2.html
I watched the show on food network and all I can think about is how I want one. I looked it up. They need 2-4 months in advance notice and are all booked during valentines day, summer wedding season, Thanksgiving and Christmas for the next two years. Through 2009. Each cake costs at least $500!! I will probably never have one, but they are amazing. Your life will be changed.