Things I Love

This week I have discovered that my mood can change quite often. Life is not always easy and happy, but I know what will make me happy. When I am stressed at school or had a long day at work I can come home and do something I love which makes me much happier. I'm sure there are things I am forgetting, but here are some things I love:

1. Water- If I could have one thing to drink for the rest of my life, it would be water. Flavored water (aka Propel) is especially delicious! I get dehydrated easily and with this much hair I get bad headaches, but water is the cure. Plus it is refreshing and has no calories!
2. Chocolate- What girl doesn't like chocolate!? Ok so I guess that can be said about quite a few things. It is so good! Milk, dark, toffee, or any other kind is a perfect way to finish off the day. I definitely have a sweet tooth. :)
3. Candles- These darlings are my newest love. They smell lovely and are so romantic! Once I am married I plan on filling my house with candles. Even though now it's just me, I like the mood they set glowing on our bookshelf. Kara (my roommate) may or may not tease me for taking such good care of my candles.
4. Chick Flicks- I hardly watch any other type of movie! I occasionally bring out a sports movie, but nothing is as great as the butterflies you get after a darling movie. Last night I watched a classic...Pride and Prejudice. It was wonderful, as always.
5. Driving at night- The other day I was driving home from work after a long night and decided to drive through the canyon. There is something about the dark sky and bending roads. I can blast the songs that make me dance, or play the sweet country songs that make me daydream. Either way, I decided it is therapeutic.
6. Flowers- They are gorgeous, smell lovely, and can be arranged in so many ways. They are the elegant part of nature. I got to take floral design here at BYU, which has increased my love for flowers. Now I know lots of names and how to arrange the flowers I love.

The first thing I made in floral design was this boutonniere. Zach was such a good sport and wore it on our date so I could get extra credit :)
7. Coconut- I found the most delicious coconut cake that BYU makes. I already love cake and coconut so I wasn't surprised when I loved it.
8. Tennis- I had a tennis tournament last week and totally lost, but still loved it. It is so fun and something I will always be able to do. I don't have to get a whole team together because I only need one more person and lots of people play. It is the perfect sport for this time of life and is good exercise.
9. New music- One of my favorite things is when people post the video of a song they love on facebook. I always love hearing the super cute songs. I recently fell in love with Ben Rector. I had heard of him, but now I have heard his songs. haha

Wu Wei

Recently I have felt a bit unsuccessful and have found myself worrying too much about if I getting things done according to plan. Then I went my World Religion course at BYU and we had a discussion about Taoism, which I had never heard of before. Taoists believe in wu-wei or non-action. Happiness will come naturally if we don't manipulate, but instead go with the current of life. At first, it may seem lazy, but isn't when you take time to think about philosophy.

We had just learned about Confucianism and our teacher said they are more driven to set goals and do what's necessary to accomplish them. I was thinking that is what I believe and what I try to do. I set goals and do whatever I need to accomplish them. I figured that LDS perspectives would agree with this philosophy, but our wonderful teacher encouraged to take a more Taoist route in life.

Our discussion in class went something like this:
Of course we want to progress and should set goals, but our goals should not be concrete. We should have a goal to have a family rather than a goal to have three kids by the time we are thirty. It is difficult to include the Lord in all of your decisions if your ten year plan is set in stone. We should get guidance for each step of life and live by faith. Doubt and not knowing about the future gives us the opportunity to have faith and trust that the Lord will guide us. With this philosophy, Taoists are able to live in the present and enjoy it rather than waiting for something great.

As a planner and somebody who wants to know what is going to happen next, it may not be easy to accept, but it gives me so much hope! I know education is important so I have the goal to get my degree, but does it have to be in exactly four years and in a specific major for me to be successful? No! The Lord will help me know the direction that is best for me, and if I have to learn patience and take an extra semester to finish it will be just fine! Whew! I feel like I can breath much easier and be a bit easier on myself. It is a blessing to know that I can receive inspiration for each step I take as long as I do my part.

Now let's all try to be a bit more Taoist and go with the flow and accept whatever path the Lord wants us to take. Have a great day!

Megan

Another Week

Lately I have had a hard time figuring out what to write about and can't decide if it is because I am new to blogging, I am not a creative writer, or I have nothing to write about.

I guess I will tell you about the fun part of the week...celebrating another birthday! It was my darling roommate Kara's birthday on Thursday. To celebrate we went to this new place called the Awful Waffle. Funny name, but quite catchy and fun to say. It is next to our apartment and was SO delicious! I just might have gone back again the next morning. Unfortunately we still had to go to classes all day, but once those were done with we used our awesome passes and went to Trafalga. We played laser tag, which is ridiculously fun, then went on the go karts and played some minigolf. The group had a great time and decided we need to use our passes much more often! Of course we had cake that night and it was delicious! Kara is talented and makes delicious cakes! Happy Birthday Kara!

Happy Birthday Kara!

I'm lucky to have such a great roommate who I can always have a great time with.

A Wonderful Time of Year

             Is that that wonderful time of year when I was little, I woke up to my mom making pancakes and got to watch the leaders of our church give us counsel. I especially loved that I got to watch them on tv in my pajamas! Being little, the goal was to stay awake, which my parents helped us do by hiding the names of the person speaking and having us look for them in the church magazine. Now that I am older I able able to stay awake for all sessions of conference and love them all. Being able to get guidance on how to be better is an amazing blessing. After conference I am always more determined to examine my life so I can improve. This year we heard a bit about technology and it got me thinking. I am very busy with school and work and I need to get into the business program. Going on the computer is a great way to relax, but how much time do I end up wasting? I always feel that I can be using my time in more productive ways, and right now that means limiting the time on facebook, emails, and blogs (but this is for school so I will still be around). I found a quote from a talk given by Elder Bednar at BYUI. This fit so perfectly for me right now, because if I waste my time I will postpone or give up my academic goals of becoming a business major.

"A young man or woman may waste countless hours, post pone or forfeit vocational or academic achievement, and ultimately sacrifice cherished human relationships because of digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value."

Here is a video of the highlights of his talk:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mormonmessages?blend=1&ob=4#p/c/AF19F9A40E87ED75/0/-elEl6hW_TM

Happy Birthday to Me!

This week I got to celebrate my birthday! I am now 20 years old! Oh yeah! I had a great day celebrating with friends. I got most of my homework done so didn't have to worry much about that. I slept in, woke up to a cinnamon roll, watched a movie, and finally went to class. After classes I went with a couple friends and cousins out to eat. We went to Macaroni Grill because I heard it was good and love Italian food! While we were enjoying our pasta, we heard this opera singing fill the restaurant. We quickly realized it was Happy Birthday in Italian being sung opera style by none other than our waitress. We all start laughing and I could see the look of excitement on my friends faces. Our waitress eventually came over and serenaded me with the lovely (and loud) Happy Birthday opera. Kara got it on video for the blog so everybody could enjoy. People looked at me like 'what the heck is going on over there!?' haha Awkward, but funny and so worth that DELICIOUS birthday dessert!

After dinner we went back to my apartment to have cake and ice cream with some friends. My wonderful roommate Kara had our apartment all decorated and made this large, delicious cake! Fun to be with friends! I'm looking forward to being 20...I have a feeling it is going to be a great year :)

Five Star BBQ

When I'm not winning money, I have a job so I can actually earn some! This week was rather dull and filled with studying. Besides studying I fill my time with as much work as I can squeeze in, so that is the topic of today's post.

I work at Five Star BBQ in Orem. I found their post on Craig's List saying that they needed an extra cashier because they were extending their hours. Desperately in need of a job, I replied and got the job. I have been working there since June and have come to love this restaurant. We are in this darling old house that is perfect for serving BBQ. My favorite part is getting to talk to all of the customers that come in. Everything is made fresh every day, we make lots of different sauces, and our meat smokes overnight for about 15 hours! Needless to say, everybody LOVES our food so I get to hear people rave about it all day long. It is pretty sweet and makes for some funny moments. Recently the Daily Herald wrote a review about Five Star in the paper. Check it out on our blog: http://fivestarbbq.blogspot.com/search/label/High%20Fives%20%28raves%20and%20reviews%29 The great review made that weekend the busiest we have ever been! That was also the night I won $1,200 so it was a crazy night! Two couples came in together for the first time after reading the paper and, of course, loved the food! They were sitting next to the register so I heard a little bit of their conversation about the food. One of the guys said that finding this place was going to be his good news in elders quorum! haha You gotta love Utah! It is also fun when people, especially the older couples, find out I am going to BYU. They think it is so awesome, which it is, and often give encouraging words while they reminisce about the good ol' days. I guess I can give a shout out to my co-workers since they make work fun. Sometimes I get to chat with one of the girls as we are coming in and out, but I mostly just work with the guys in the kitchen. Working with them is what I imagine having older brothers is like. I think they like having me around just so they have somebody to tease. I am definitely an easy target, but find it all funny. So basically if you are in Utah and anywhere near Orem you should stop by, say hi, and eat a delicious meal. I am quite biased, but it really is all good. I eat there at least three times a week (almost every day I work). I am a rib lover and occasionally treat myself to those, but brisket is definitely our most popular. It is so tender and has this delicious peppery rub on it! Yum! One of my favorite combinations is the pork sandwich and coleslaw! I don't know what it is about those two things, but they are SO delicious together! Apparently in the South they eat their pork sandwiches with coleslaw, but I just found out about it and am spreading the word! Anyway, now you know what I like and know a great place to eat if you want BBQ so my job here is done!

Winning!

So apparently I am pretty good at winning! This summer my sister's sister-in-law told me that Wilson Diamonds (where she works) was having a bad date contest and said I should enter to help it get going. I have been on some lame dates so decided to enter. Not many people had entered so I asked friends and family to like my story and Wilson Diamonds so I could win. Throughout the summer lots of people started entering and getting lots of votes. I was still ahead until this guy started getting a ridiculous number of votes the few days before the contest ended. Desperately, I asked everybody to like my story and my amazing friends and family helped a ton! After working all day the last day of the contest my brother let me know that guy still beat my by a lot of votes. I didn't want to be depressed so just went to the party still hoping I had a chance. Wilson Diamonds threw an awesome block party where they announced the winners. After dancing with my friends, they said they were going to announce the winner...who was a "she." I turned to my friends and said "No way. It can't be me." as my I started realizing I had a great chance. Then they called my name, and of course we went CRAZY! We were jumping and screaming! Did I mention that the prize was 1,200 dollars!? I went to the front and they handed me the check and my hands we shaking so bad that I couldn't even hold it! It was surreal to win that much money! Apparently the guy who was ahead of me had fake votes. It was so incredibly exciting! Now I am one thousand and two hundred dollars richer thanks to my amazing friends and family who helped me so much! Thanks so Wilson Diamonds for the awesome contest prize! First the Price is Right and then $1,200 dollars! Life is pretty dang good!

So excited!!!

 Getting drinks to celebrate the win!

Thanks again Wilson Diamonds!