Relief Society Retreat

This past weekend I spent it in Island Park with my awesome Relief Society. We went and stayed in our Branch President's cabin and had a BLAST! They are such a great group of girls and we really enjoyed getting to know each other better and having fun! We drove up there Friday night and had a delicious dinner of Taco Soup and cornbread. We then had an amazing fireside by President Call and his wife Kelly. Kelly talked about how to make ourselves more attractive by living the gospel and followers of Christ. Then we drove down to the river where Kevin talked about the great things we can do as women. No matter how inferior or small we may feel, we can accomplish GREAT things! When we got back to the cabin we spent the rest of the night hanging out, playing pool and ping pong, and watching the Hannah Montana movie! I LOVED it! haha It was really great! Saturday we woke up and had a yummy continental breakfast of muffins, bagels, and fruit. Lisa had an awesome craft for us to do while we ate breakfast of making cute little photo books. Once we got all dressed and ready we did a little geocaching hunt where we got to work together to solve the clues and got to explore island park a bit. :) In Island Park there is this old couple that has this lodge where they make THE BEST hamburgers and french fries! We got to ride 4 wheelers over to this lodge and eat a delicious lunch together. After eating, we got the cabin all cleaned and packed and headed back to Idaho Falls! :) It was so good to be with my girls and get out into nature a bit.

Katie, Melanie, and I reading Seventeen Magazine

Morning Craft!

Brittney, Me, Jordyn

Doing the scavenger hunt

At the restaurant

4 Wheeling with Ashley

Me and Ashley

Karen: Hey did you guys see this memo that Dwight sent out? 'Women will be sent home if they wear makeup or heels exceeding one quarter inch. Females are not allowed to speak to strangers unless given written authorization by Dwight Schrute.' This is ridiculous.

Turning the Big 2-4! :)

Well for those of you who don't know, I had a birthday about a week ago (September 18) and it was great! :) I spent the first half of the day working, and was able to get off early which was so nice. I only worked out for about 10 minutes cause Monica called me telling me I needed to get home. When I got there her and Kaleb were there and surprised me with a cake, which was DELICIOUS. I hung out at home the rest of the day, and then Cassandra took me to Cafe Rio for dinner. I seriously crave that place everyday and have made eating there a weekly ritual. haha After dinner we went over to Shawn's house cause he was throwing me a party! It was so nice of him to do that for me. I had all my good friends there with me (Shawn, Cass, John, Carolyn, Katie, Brian, Brittney, Melissa, Chad, Alicya, Jared, Barbara, Julie, Jon, and Marissa) and just enjoyed each other's company. We played Apples to Apples (which I won ;), talked, had a fire with smores, started a movie, but didn't get that far into it cause we basically just wanted to talk to each other. We also ate a lot of cake! That was the time Cassandra decided to take my piece of cake and SMASH IT IN MY FACE! :) Haha it was pretty dang funny except the fact that I had cake all in my mouth and frosting up my nose and couldn't breathe! I was cleaning it out of there the rest of the night. Here is the process of the whole thing: :) I played some pool with Jared (which I also won!) and enjoyed some chat around the campfire. The night was great! I have wonderful friends and family and was so blessed to be able to spend my favorite day of the year with them. :)

Jan: I'm returning your call. You said it was urgent?
Michael Scott: It is urgent. I just wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday.
Jan: Today's not my birthday, though.
Michael Scott: Really? 'Cause I thought we had the same birthday.
Jan: [pause] Happy birthday, Michael.

Getting By with a Little Help From My Friends...

This past weekend was the BEST cause my BEST FRIEND Sarah came to visit me! :) Yay! I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to do a whole lot cause I was super sick the day before and she has been fighting Mono for a while, but don't worry, we ended up having an awesome weekend together. She arrived on Friday about 3pm where we hung out in the Cave of Wonders (that's what I call my bedroom :) and got all caught up on our lives and whats been going on. Then my friend Cassandra was having a BBQ at her house so we went and helped set up and then enjoyed a very fun evening full of fun, food, laughter, and lots of people we didn't know. haha But we had each other and we had the awesome fruit salad we took so it all worked out beautifully.

After we were all BBQ'd out we went back to my house and relaxed in my hot tub for a while.

We finally fell asleep at 2:30am and didn't wake up the next day till 12:30pm!! Man, I guess we needed the sleep! But if you have ever been in my room you will see that I have put a blanket in my window so there is absolutely no sign of light ever, so it's very easy to sleep all day long and never know the real time of day. :) But thankfully one of my friends had texted me at 12:30pm and woken us up so we can at least enjoy half of the day. We quickly got ready and headed over to the mall for some SHOPPING! YaY! It had been a long while since I had bought something for myself and since we were celebrating my birthday, of course we had to go shopping! We found some awesome deals and very cute shirts at Macy's. I tried on so many different outfits, I really don't want to go in another dressing room for a while...:) But it was so nice to have Sarah there with me cause sometimes I am not very good at picking stuff out for myself. She then bought me some earrings and a necklace to go with the shirt she got me that are SO CUTE! After that we were ready for some delicious food at Red Robin! One of my favorite restaurants! (my other favorite is Cafe Rio :). We shared some fried zucchini (I HAVE to get that every time I go there now...it's kind of an addiction) and had a great dinner. They then came and sang Happy Birthday to me, made me wear balloons around my ears, and gave me a hot fudge sundae! :) I LOVED IT! We ended the night by going to the amazing dollar theater here in Idaho Falls and seeing "Post Grad". :) It was WAY cheesy but also WAY cute. The ending was good. And with me, if the ending was good, then the movie was good. :) So go see it! Sunday we just went to church, had a delicious Linger Longer afterwards, went home and took a power nap, and I then had to say goodbye to Sarah. :( But it was an awesome weekend. Thanks for coming Sarah! Love you!

Dwight Schrute: Ralph is my best friend. We met in a shoe store. I heard him asking for a shoe that could increase his speed, and not leave any tracks.

I Look So Good (Without You) by Jessie James

Okay, this is my favorite song right now....if you haven't heard it, then listen to it RIGHT NOW! If you have, well download it on iTunes so you can listen to it over and over like I am right now. :) I just love it and it has definitely given me confidence and motivation recently. Even though the words might not match completley with how I am thinking, it will help me make them that way! But seriously, Love It. Listen to It. It will change your life! HAHA okay, maybe not change your life, but it should make some sort of effect on it. :) That is all.

You THOUGHT You Knew Me...

I love learning more about my friends, their deepest thoughts and feelings, interesting facts about them, and how they like to spend their time. :) So if you want to learn a little more about me, here you go!

* I really REALLY wish I could be a really good photographer. Every time I am on my computer I look at different photographer's galleries to get ideas and what kind of style I would do. This is my favorite one right now...http://julieparkerphotography.blogspot.com/

* I cannot wait to be able to have my own house and decorate it how I want. I am definitely going to have to have my sister Bethany help me decorate cause she is just so good at that stuff and I am not, but I can't wait! It will be so much fun! :)

* I want to take a year and just TRAVEL! I would need someone I love to go with me, but I want to travel all over the country, especially NYC and Church History sites, go to Italy and London, but also Hawaii and a great cruise!

* I LOVE music. I spend a lot of my time listening to music, downloading music, and making CD's or updating my iPod. iTunes has probably gotten most of their business from me, but I would much rather spend my money on music than clothes. Yes, weird I know. :) I can't even remember the last time I bought myself clothes!

* I crave Cafe Rio like everyday.

* I love the outdoors. Camping, hiking, boating, four wheelers, all of it. I love the feeling of being out in the open, away from the craziness of city stuff, and smelling the sweet smell of nature. :)

* I wish I didn't HAVE to work. I really don't enjoy it. People say that you would get bored if you never worked, but I am POSITIVE that would not happen with me. I am very good at finding things to do with my time. I really enjoy learning than working. Now, if I could get paid to go to school then that would be AWESOME! :)

* One of my FAVORITE things to do is put on some sweats, get a bowl of ice cream, and cuddle up to a good movie. It's the best way to spend an evening! :) I know, I am such a Party Animal! :)

* I have been on my own and taken care of myself for so many years, that it's difficult for me to think about needing to adjust to joint checking accounts, feeding someone else, including another person in my decisions, answering to someone about what I spend my money on, and make sure I meet all their needs. But don't worry, when that time comes I am sure it's going to be the most wonderful thing ever, I just fear that I won't do a good enough job at it!

* I want to be a Marriage and Family Therapist. I want to be a School Psychologist. I also want to be a photographer, go to Cosomotology School, learn to be a Dental Hygienist, own a cupcake/cookie shop, do Speech Pathology, and be an ice cream taste tester......oh the list goes on and on...:)

* I secretly like Miley Cyrus. Okay, secrets out! I love her music! And I am gonna be seeing her new movie with my girls next week! Yay! :)

* Just like Beth, my number one weakness is chocolate. :) I have to have it EVERYDAY!

* I really like Chandler from "Friends". He is so funny! Whenever I need some cheering up, I put in one of my Friends DVD's and he never lets me down!

* I love riding on motorcycles. It scares the heck out of me to go really fast, but the rush is great!

* I want to go horseback riding so badly! I miss our horses so much!

* One of my favorite classes I took at BYU was Tap. I took it with Beth and Sarah and it was the best! I even take out my tap shoes every now and then just to see what I can remember. :)

* My name is Megan and I am addicted to Cherry Coke. I know I shouldn't like it so much, but I do. I have tried to make myself quit, but it's too hard! So I try to just consume it every now and then.

* Is it weird that sometimes I wish that I could be in some kind of accident so I can stay the night in the hospital? I have never had to go to the hospital for anything so I guess I just want to know what it's like! Hmmmm I think I am a little sick in the head...but that's a different kind of hospital. ugh

* I took Sign Language at BYU. I loved learning it! My teacher was so funny and the friends I made in it were awesome! I just wish I knew it more.

* I think Sandra Bullock is one of the most talented and beautiful actresses out there! I have loved all of her movies! I loved The Proposal and can't wait to see All About Steve.

* Whenever I go to the dentist and have to get my mouth numbed for something, I am always afraid that I am going to bite off my tongue because I am not able to feel it! SCARY!

* Foot massages are my favorite things EVER!

* My favorite perfume is Lucky.

* I miss my new nephew Ryder SO MUCH! I can't wait to see him again so I can just sit there and look at him all day. :)

* I hate slow drivers. Especially when I am in a hurry! haha

Michael Scott: If I were joking you would be laughing. Do you look like you're laughing?
Dwight Schrute: Impossible to say, I can't see myself.
Michael Scott: You're not.

Sarah's Graduation!!

This past Thursday I got to drive down to Provo for Sarah's graduation! It was a very quick trip, I went down Thursday afternoon and came back Friday evening, but it was still very worth it and lots of fun. When I got down there we went and met her parents at Pier 49 for some delicious pizza and reminiscing. It was fun to see Laura after not seeing her in a couple years and to also get to know Sarah's boyfriend Ryan better too. After pizza we spent the rest of the evening at her parent's hotel room chatting and getting our clothes ironed for the next day (yes, we are party animals I know! :). It felt good to get a way for a bit and be with friends to help me not think about the hard week I had had. The graduation day was great. We got up and got all dressed up. We got Sarah ready and over to get in line with the other graduates and then found some seats in the Marriott Center. Davey and his new wife Tracey was there too! That was fun to see them too! Well, Sarah got to do her walk without any kind of tripping or falling on her face and now she is a BYU graduate! Well, technically she isn't quite done. She finishes her internship in December, but they don't have a ceremony in December, and so that's why she walked at this ceremony. But Yay for Sarah! What a great accomplishment. I am so proud of her! She will make a great Social Worker. After the ceremony we got pictures taken and then had a celebration lunch at Olive Garden. Mmmm :) Love that place! Her parents were so nice to feed all of us so many times. I always love being around her family. It's like I am one of them. :) I then headed back to Idaho Falls soon after we got done with lunch. The weather wasn't looking too good and I wanted to get back before dark so I wouldn't get home too late. It's always a good time when I go to Provo!

Ryan and I waiting for the ceremony to start

Sarah is in there somewhere....

About to go walk across the stage and get her diploma!

2 BYU Alumni!

Michael Scott: Show of hands, anybody want to intern at Dunder Mifflin. We do not offer college credit, we can not give you any sort of pay, but it is a really fun work environment. Anybody? Show of hands? Dang- it. Ok. I'm gonna wrap it up here. Thank you, for your time. And drive safe!

Idaho Falls Duck Races

Just as an intro, everything that I am going to tell you in this post is true. I am not making it up at all. I don't think I could if I tried. :) Every year, Idaho Falls has what's called "Duck Races." Anyone in the community who wants to, buys a little yellow rubber ducky for $7. Then we all go to the Snake River. They set up a crane, and attach a huge dumpster thing with all the ducks in it. They then pour all the ducks into the river at one time and we watch this huge mass of yellow float down the river, anticipating which duck will decide to get ahead of all the rest and fall down the water falls first. I know, people pretty much have anxiety attacks over this. The person connected with the duck that went down first wins a car. A CAR! For buying a $7 child bath toy! WOW.

The huge mass of rubber ducks floating down the river Anyway, they have a whole bunch of other activities and happenings go on all day long around the river that lead up to the releasing of the ducks that I got to help out a lot with. We watched speed boat races. We had a tug-a-war across the river. That's right, across the whole river. I got to be the person who stood on the bridge in the middle and blow the air horn to let the teams know when to start. So the first round, I blow the horn and two seconds after, the rope broke. HAHA So we got it all fixed and tied again, so I blew the horn and the two teams sat there tugging at the rope forever. Nobody slid down the grass into the river. Nobody let go of the rope all of a sudden making the other team fall on their bums. Nobody even got too tired and let the other team win. They just pulled forever and we called it off and declared a winner. It was pretty much the lamest tug-a-war I have ever seen. :) But it was still fun to help out. Another awesome thing they do is have a helicoptor fly over and drop a whole lot of ping pong balls down and all the kids rush and grab a ball. If they get a red one they get a toy, and if they get a white ball, they get a cookie. So I helped hand out all the prizes and such to the kids. We were definitely bombarded by the kids. There were even some crazy parents who wanted to make sure their kid got the red ball and not a white one! Also lined up by the river were a bunch of old cars that people brought to show off. My branch president owns a whole barn full of old cars. That's his hobby and he has some really nice ones. We have a lot of branch activities down at his car barn where we get to look at them as we BBQ or watch a movie or go four wheeling. So at the end of the day I got to help drive one of the cars back to his garage and it was so awesome! I didn't get a picture of me in it, but this is a picture that I took of Jared while we were at the car barn one time, and the car I drove is the one on the right. :)

It was definitely a very eventful day and lots of fun. And who can complain when they get to eat a huge bag of kettle corn while watching a bunch of rubber duckies float down the river? I definitely can't. :) I can't wait for next years! HAHA

Me and a huge blow up of what the mini rubber ducks looked like. :)

Dwight Schrute: Once I brought in a duck to prepare for lunch, and people got upset. Apparently they got attached to the duck and didn't want to see it killed.