until today

I was doing just fine. I wasn't homesick for Provo. But I looked through my roommate's photo album online and it made me miss all my P-town peeps a ton. Looking at them having all that fun together. My life is a lot slower now. Just know that I miss you all a lot. A lot.

These...

 and them,

 all of this crowd,

 her

 these crazy kids

 awesome roommates

 and special friends



fortune cookie

"Your situation will change for the better."-dinner tonight.

I sure hope so.

Also, I'm really enjoying Sara Bareilles' songs Uncharted and King of Anything. So catchy.

you might say I've jumped the gun

but I love Christmas music. Today I told my mom we get to listen to it soon, and she gave me a look and said, yeah in a couple months. You may ask why can't I just go listen to it now...In my house we have a strict no Christmas music or movies until after Thanksgiving. I appreciate this rule, it keeps the special things special and I don't get tired of them. But as I was organizing my iTunes today I decided I needed to be prepared and make a Christmas playlist. This involved going through all 3,000+ songs in my library and adding them to the list. I'm super stoked. I have all the classics. And by that I mean 'N SYNC's Home for the Holidays cd. (Also Bing Crosby and Mo Tab-my parents raised me well). But I also have Michael Bolton, Gloria Estefan and other more modern people. Also, Josh Groban's Noel is one of the best Christmas cds ever. Ever. I'm also excited for some new ones that I didn't get to listen to too much last year because I found them after Christmas. They include Kenny Loggins "Celebrate Me Home," Elton John's "Step Into Christmas," the Eagles "Please Come Home for Christmas," and Dan Fogleberg's "Old Lang Syne." Listening to Christmas music just makes me so happy.

What is my all-time favorite? I have to admit, it's Wham!'s "Last Christmas." Yep. At least of all the newer Christmas music anyway. The music video is even better than I hoped for. And yes, I don't have a life.

welcome to your local ysa branch

So I went to my new branch today and I had to stand up and introduce myself. I get up and say "Hi, I'm Meagan, I just graduated from BYU with a degree in public health, now I'm looking for a job." Then the branch prez says "you're forgetting something else you're looking for." I was completely nonplussed. What else was I supposed to say? My branch prez is close to wiggling his eyebrows up and down, there was an awkward pause, then this girl next to me whispers "a husband." I did not appreciate this. I mean, I am technically, but not. Really not. I went through this internal struggle because I did not want to say what he wanted me to say. I ended up smiling and probably looked embarassed. So he turns to everyone else and says "a husband" and then chuckles at his little joke. So much worse than any ward I was in at BYU.

good-bye

"As she turned to take one last look at Provo the memories of the past five years flew through her mind. The school where she learned, the places she lived, the people she met and the experiences she had had changed her for the better. She was sad to leave, but happily would always have reasons to return. She gave a long sigh, turned north, and drove off into the sunset."

lost in Austen

One day I realized the only Jane Austen book I had read was Pride and Prejudice. I'd seen most of the movies but I hadn't read the books. So I made a goal to read all six of her books. It took me over a year to do between reading other books, but I just finished Emma so I finally made that goal. Here's the rundown.

Pride and Prejudice-probably my favorite one, not just because of the movies, but because it's actually pretty funny. Austen created great characters and some of the best lines for this book. Elizabeth Bennett is the greatest of all Austen's heronies. There are a bajillion spinoffs of this story. Most of them bug me. Especially the zombies one. My favorite is a three book series of Mr. Darcy's point of view by Pamela Aiden. She did a decent job. Of all the movie versions I'd have to say the Kiera Knightly version is my favorite. I like the way they made it in the country, their clothes were actually dirty, the sets were amazing, and it's not six hours long like the other one. Second place would go to the A&E Colin Firth version, of course. But it's not very realistic to watch because it's soooo long.

Mansfield Park-I had trouble with this book because I saw the 1999 movie version first. In the movie Fanny Price has a lot more gumption and speaks her mind more. In the book she is more docile and speaks less. She's just kind of in the background while all this stuff happens. Austen does get a little political when she talks about the slave trade, but it doesn't go on for that long. I also get mad becasue Fanny's relatives treat her like crap. In the end, Edmund wises up and realizes that Fanny is the girl for him. I really like the 1999 version with Jonny Lee Miller and Frances O'Connor. They changed the story a little and added a little of Jane to Fanny's character to make her more fiesty. There are many funny parts. The 2008 BBC version is decent but not as good. I didn't like the girl who played Fanny.

Persuasion-my least favorite. It's like you spend the whole book waiting for the two to get back together but you aren't entertained in the meantime. I do appreciate her commentary on society though. Anne and her family move to Bath and become involved in society there. It is easy to picture the people getting caught up in the gossip and everyone trying to get ahead of one another. I don't remember much more because I read it so long ago. Also, the only movie version I saw of this was like the 1985 BBC stage version, and I think they acted out the entire book. It was so long and boring.


Sense and Sensibility-I love the sisters Elinor and Marianne. They are so different but love each other a lot. I love their stories, Elinor, who is quietly in love, and Marianne, who is so passionate that everyone knows of her love. They do the best they can in their situation, things get tangled up, and then they get untangled. I hate Lucy Steele for making Elinor keep her secret that she is secretly engaged to Mr. Edward Ferrars. I thought it was interesting that in the book, towards the end when Marianne gets sick, Mr. Willoughby stops by and tries to see her. I don't remember if he gets to, but it shows that he has remorse for ditching Marianne. My favorite movie version is the Emma Thompson written, Ang Lee directed 1995 version. Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, I mean that is a great cast. Kate Winslet does a great Marianne who is up and down all over the place. The sets and costumes are great. And one of my favorites is a minor character, Mr. Palmer, who is so sarcastic. He's played by the guy who is House on tv, Hugh Laurie. But Colonel Brandon is still weird to me because I saw Harry Potter first and Alan Rickman is Snape. So I can never trust him as Brandon. The 2008 BBC version is good but not quite as good as the 1995 one.

Northanger Abbey-Probably the only one I read without seeing a movie version first. My mom told me that it was her least favorite. I actually ended up liking it. Catherine is only 17, probably the youngest of all the Austen heroines, when she is invited to go to Bath for awhile and try society. There she is adopted by people who try to groom her for society and use her for their best interests. She follows along for a little while but then realizes they are not who they pretend to be, often say one thing but do another, and get mad when she tries to be honest and keep her word. Thankfully, Catherine is friends with another family, the Tilneys, who invite her to stay with them after they leave Bath. Catherine is also interested in the brother, Henry, and keeps her eye on him. The book then completely changes themes and turns to a gothic novel motif. Catherine is obsessed with staying in an Abbey and keeps thinking it is haunted. Certain events help her to grow up and become who she needs to be. In the end, her and Henry get together. I don't know why I liked it so much, I think because I didn't know the story beforehand, and it was a lot shorter than the other ones. That was a plus.

Emma-I was a little dissappointed. Again, I blame the movie versions. But you have to love Emma and her match-making skills. A lot of funny things happen in this book, there was also a great line in there but I forgot where it was. Emma learns a lot about herself and grows up a lot. I love her dad, always afraid that he will be left behind by his daughters, and Mr. Knightley, who sort of helps to raise Emma, but falls in love with her in the end. Mr. Elton is so stuck up and Miss Bates can't shut her mouth. Great characters. I'm torn between which movie version I like best. The 1996 version with Gwenyth Paltrow is great, it's shorter, Emma is a lot more fanciful, and it has Ewan McGregor. The 2009 BBC version is pretty great though. The costumes and sets are more colorful than a lot of Austen films. I like the girl who plays Emma and Jonny Lee Miller is Mr. Knightley. It also has the whole storyline, but it's a million hours long. So probably like P&P it's just a matter of how much time you have. Also, Cluless, which is based off of Emma, is pretty great. I think it's hilarious, and genius the way they turned it into a modern day take. So funny.

Congrats if you made it through this far. In summation, from favorite to least favorite

Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey
Emma
Mansfield Park
Persuasion

(Honestly, Jane Austen can get pretty boring at times, but stick with it because it's classic.)

conundrum

for all my english major friends, what is the -ing verb(?) form of lightning? Thunder is thundering. But you can't really say "It's thundering and lightning-ing outside." It sounds weird.

also, it's really annoying when songs have sounds that sound like sirens in them, because when they come on the radio my heart beats faster because I think the popos are right behind me. Example: Breakeven by The Script. Maybe they thought it was funny...