HELLO 2015!

#2015RESOLUTIONS

- Take a picture every day. Make awesome Chat Books out of them. My memory is getting so bad. I need all the documented memories I can get!

- Write down one miracle every day. I did this once for a month and it was so good for my attitude.

- KEEP WORKING OUT! and maybe work out just a little bit more... only a little.

- Be a better "in-law'... daughter-in-law & sister-in-law.

#ODD#'s

Since I was born on an odd numbered year, I have this weird idea in my head that odd numbered years are always better. So here's to a great upcoming 2015!

FIRE! This is not a drill.

Okay... it wasn't a fire, but it was a LOT of smoke!

Yesterday as we were walking out the door heading for church, we smelled something awful! As we kept walking down the three flights of stairs to the carport, we heard that obnoxious, repetitive beeping we all know... a fire alarm. And it was coming from apartment #6.

Apartment #6 just got a new tenant last week. It's a single guy. We met him once, I think his name was Mitch? Anyway, we looked over in the carport to see that his car was still there. Dan and I debated for a few seconds about the fact that he was probably inside, and we'd embarrass him if we knocked on the door to make sure everything was okay... blah blah. Then, guy from Apartment #4 opens his door and asks "Is that a fire alarm going off?" We explained the situation about his car being here, but Apartment #4 decides to take a peek through the window, and it's a good thing he did! Apartment #6 was FULL of smoke!

So the three of us check all the windows and doors. LOCKED. Apartment #4 guy calls our landlord immediately and our landlord says he'll be right over. Thankfully, we had some of our favorite friends lived in this apartment last year, Justin and Marie Rogers. We had the occasional game night and had been in that apartment a few times. It just so happened that Justin told us once how easy it was to break in their apartment. He'd been locked out a few times and all he had to do was pop the screen out, push against the window, and it would unlock and slide right open. The window is close enough to the front door that he could reach the door handle from the window.

I had completely forgotten this story. But Dan totally remembered and instantly started taking the screen out while Apartment #4 was on the phone and I was panicking. Within a few seconds, the screen was out, window opened, and door opened. A thick smoke start billowing out the front door.

Apartment #4 guy called in, "Anybody home?!"

No answer.

It was like a movie, you couldn't see a thing through the smoke unless you got close to the ground. We all started hacking our lungs out. Too bad I was in a pencil skirt because it would have been an excellent opportunity to practice my army crawl. Apartment #4 guy booked it into the kitchen, Dan and I took off to the back of the apartment to open the bedroom windows.

It's amazing how fast your mind works in these sort of situations. Because these are not big apartments, and I had a million thoughts going through my mind in under 3 seconds. The one that freaked me out the most was, "I think I'm about to see a dead body!" Apartment #6 guy had his car here, which meant there was a big possibility he was passed out somewhere in this apartment for who knows how long!

I ran into the empty bedroom, trying to avoid the dead body possibility and threw open the window. Dan went into possibly dead Apartment #6 guys room and threw open the window. As the smoke cleared, I was so relieved to find there was no body to be found!

We ran back out of the apartment to get fresh air.

I asked Apartment #4 guy, "What's causing the smoke?"

He stared back at me with huge eyes with that look of "Oh crap!"

I booked it back into the kitchen to find the source... a pot on the stove with a Sam's Club size plastic container of honey sitting in it. The burner was turned on high. I grabbed the pot and ran back outside. The smell of burning honey/plastic is AWFUL!!!! We poured water on it to stop the thing from burning and smoking any more. The fire alarm would not stop going off. So I ran back in one more time to fan away the remaining smoke. That awful noise finally stopped.

There wasn't much more to do at that point. We needed to be on our way to church, so apartment #4 guy said he'd wait for the landlord and we left. Well once we were half way to church, we realized how awful we smelled, my hair wreaked of smoke! (But that's the price heroes have to pay... HAHA)

We have quite a few good stories from living in our apartment building, but this one deserved a blog post! I guess the moral of the story is to always tell people about how easy it is to break into your apartment? Or to make sure you go to church on Sundays so you can stop your building from burning down? Or maybe I need to quite my day job and be a firefighter? Or maybe just don't melt your honey using a stove...

G R A T E F U L

I can hardly believe that it's Thanksgiving again. I feel like it was only a few short months ago that I was blogging about my thoughts on gratitude.  This year hasn't gone at all how I thought it would, which is means some things have gone way better than I thought, while others haven't. But I've realized that the things that didn't go well, still have worked out.

Life has a funny way of doing that, working out I mean. Sometimes I forget that during times of high stress or uncertainty. I spend too much time fretting about all the ways things can go wrong when I should be demonstrating more faith and optimism.

These are just a few things that I rank as "up there" on my Thanksgiving-Thankful-Grateful List...

Second Chances

For some reason I am a girl who need lots of second chances. I tend to be a bit of perfectionist and organizational freak, which you would think prevents you from messing up so much. But, it doesn't. I need lots of forgiveness from loved ones. Especially my husband. This year I'm grateful for all the second chances I was given from family and friends. This in turn has given me greater compassion and a desire to give others around me second chances. I'm grateful for the atonement and a Savior who perfectly understands my weaknesses and can lovingly give me all the chances I need.

My Job

Boy I never thought I'd say that! This year my job brought me an incredible opportunity to travel to Guam. It was one of the best experiences of my life. And as a domino effect, allowed Dan and I to be able to stay in Hawaii for 9 days on our measly, poor, married couple budget. I am so grateful that we were able to have this opportunity! It was one of the highlights of our year. I'm also grateful that I can sign up for benefits come next year when I no longer can be on my mothers insurance... #OLD.

 

Savings Accounts

Our savings accounts SAVED us this year.  My car had a major meltdown in April and needed a LOT of repairs done, meaning a rebuilt engine... not cheap. Our savings account allowed us to take a once in a lifetime trip together. Our savings account has allowed us to live off one income after Dan lost his job the week we got back from Hawaii. I am a BIG believer in savings accounts! I'm so grateful that we were able to brave some of our biggest trials this year because we had saved money!

 

Grandparents

I've been thinking a lot about how lucky I am to have the best grandparents in the world. My grandparents have always been "Switzerland" in my life. They love and support without condition. They keep out of family drama. They provide relief in times of need. They always know just what I need. They are awesome!  I am so grateful for all the wonderful memories I have of each one of my grandparents. Each one of them has molded me to be a better person. In different phases of my life, they played large roles to help me get to where I am today. And I don't expect that will change in the future as they continue loving and guiding me. Thank you for being so great!!!

 

Journals

Something I've had the prompting to do over and over again is keep a record of my life. I'm not good at it by any means, but I'm trying! One part of my life I have been trying to organize and document was my time serving a mission. I didn't keep a good journal at ALL during this time, so I was relying heavily on my letters home as a journal. Well this became quickly devastating and discouraging as I realized the letters my mom had saved were missing pages, and even whole months of my mission gone. I was SO sad. Luckily, I discovered my grandma still had every email from my mission from 3 years ago saved! (again, best grandparents ever!) Rereading all my letters was one of the biggest joys this year. I had forgotten so much, and it gave me such a renewal of all the feelings I had during that time of life. I am very grateful for journals, they help me remember the lessons I've learned in life. They help me see where I've been and how far I've come. They help me see blessings I didn't know I had.

 

Wonderful Women

Whenever I reflect on the past, it is evident that I have had the BEST women placed in my life. I have the best girlfriends, roommates, mission companions, family members, ward members, neighbors, teammates, etc. I largely attribute the success and joy in my life to the women that have shaped me. It blows my mind when I think about how blessed I am to have so many great people in my life.

Holidays

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I love Christmas lights. I love plotting and planning the best gifts to give people.  I love the feeling that comes into my soul as I listen to Christmas music. I am grateful for the reason for the season. I am grateful for all the good people do in the world this time of year. I am grateful I get to think more about others happiness than my own. I am grateful for time off work, and time with loved ones.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Confessions of a Chocaholic

#HALFWAY

On November 13th I will have survived 6 months without chocolate. Starting on my 25th birthday, I made a goal to go 1 YEAR without chocolate. It's kind of a BIG deal because chocolate is MY THING. It's what I love, it's what I crave. It makes colors seem brighter, music sounds sweeter... okay maybe it's not that intense, but I love me some chocolate.

#SOFAR

At this point, I still have dreams about eating chocolate. For the last two weeks, nothing has sounded better than a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. To curb my cravings, I've been eating a lot of carmel apple suckers.

One thing I would do differently next time (yeah right! there will never be a next time!) is define "chocolate". It's been an ongoing debate between Dan and I if Oreos count as chocolate... which to me they clearly do not. They don't taste like chocolate at all, Oreos have their own distinct taste and it is nothing like Symphony bar.  They are not chocolate! However, just to be on the safe side, I'm not eating Oreos... (so stupid...)

#SECONDHALF

I survived Halloween without any chocolate, but I fear the worst is ahead of me. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, and Easter..... it's going to be rough. I've already found myself rationalizing that I could eat one white chocolate pretzel as a Christmas present to me. BUT I'm not going to do it (even though life's short and maybe next year I'll have a cold and won't be able to taste my mom's white chocolate dipped pretzels and cheat myself out of two years of my favorite treat...)

Wish me luck!!! (I'm clearly going to need it)

"Fall" in Love

My family has never been good at taking family pictures, and neither has Dan's. So I decided it was time we got some pictures while we are still young and somewhat good looking :)

Our friend Chelsey Buttars took these pictures and I am blown away at how amazing they turned out! She did incredible work! I totally recommend her for any kind of pictures, look up her Facebook page: CB Photography

Here are some of my favorites from our fall photo shoot up Logan Canyon!

Happy Halloween!

This year, myself and the two other assistants in the office decided to dress up as our bosses. We didn't tell them we were doing this, and boy did we nail their wardrobe choices...

My boss and I... he didn't understand that I dressed up as him for the first 20 minutes. I used flour and hairspray to make my hair grey :)

Assistant Kim on the left, Contracts Manager Kristi on the right. Kristi is famous for always wearing black, headbands, and scarves. 

 All three of us assistants!

 Our third boss didn't come in the office this day, but Tammy pulled off his wardrobe to a "T"... down to the faded wallet mark in the levis. It was so funny!

I definitely learned that I would HATE dressing as a boy, and that tennis shoes will never be worn with pants ever again!

Just Give Me a Brown Paper Bag

It's so true that some things are really a blessing and a curse. Like the fact that I cannot fake or hide my emotions.

I can't pretend to be happy or sad. I can't pretend to like someone I don't. My face always shows exactly how I'm feeling, no matter how hard I try. Which is a blessing because when I'm happy, I'm REALLY happy about something and people genuinely know it. But also when I feel disappointed in someone or something, they genuinely know it, even if I don't want them to.

Generally I really get along with most people. I can count on one hand the number of people I don't get along with. But this last week, I saw way too many of those people that I count on that one hand. And it was exhausting. Even though my feelings are written all over my face when I am around them, I still tried to not let it show. I tried to be cordial. How do people have the energy to be fake? It's taken me 3 days of recovery to get over my encounters last week! And I couldn't even be fake!

I want to be a nice person. I want to be a friend to all. I want to lift people up around me. I want my facial expressions to not make people feel bad.

So I'll just be over here hiding my face under a brown paper bag...

give me more of this!

#HPMARATHON

Every October, Dan and I have a Harry Potter movie marathon! This year I want to read all the books too! Just ordered this puppy and I'm ecstatic!

#CHARMINGCHARLIE

I JUST DISCOVERED THIS STORE! How could a girl like me go so long without ever hearing of it?!  Good thing it's in Farmington so I can't spend all my money...

#SEPT28FROZEN

 I have been waiting so long for this to start! Only a few short weeks till Once Upon a Time is back on!

#AWESOMENESS

 The Relief Society in our ward just got it's own hashtag... how cool are we.

 #FALL

For some reason I'm EXTRA excited about corn mazes, red leaves, anything pumpkin, and wearing sweats. Then let's have 2 weeks of winter and go back to Summer again.

#TWITTER

Also,  I am trying to be a tweeter. I'm not totally sure how I'm feeling about it, or the point of it, but it's a new adventure. Follow me @megwouden!

WHACK! CHOP! CUT!

 

  

 

 So as you can see I chopped my hair off! I donated 13 inches to Locks of Love and my certificate came today!  I feel like a new woman! I needed a change SO bad. And I love it.  I feel a lot more my age :)

Babies, Babies, Babies!

#BABYCRAZY

Guys- there are babies EVERYWHERE! I watched my sweet friend Monica's baby for 4-5 hours this week, and it was so much fun. I just went to my friend Brittney's baby blessing for her SECOND little girl. My other dear friend Kylie is having a baby in November. There are 6 girls in my ward expecting, and at least that many babies that have been born in the past few months.  They are so cute and I love them!

My cute friend Jess showed me this YouTube video this week, made by a couple who just graduated from USU and had a baby- you should watch it! I quite loved it.

#DREAM

I had this dream last night that I was driving on a four lane freeway. Suddenly, there were so many cars being forced to the left two lanes and coming to a full stop. I kept driving in the right two lanes as fast as I could before anyone could stop me. Eventually I was forced to stop and join the miles and miles of cars stopped on the left side of the freeway. I was SO mad, frustrated, discouraged! I just wanted to get on my way and they had no reason to force me to the side of the freeway like this.

A police officer was walking through all the cars and speaking to the drivers. When he came to my window, I asked him why I was stuck in this horrendous traffic jam and couldn't just keep driving. He told me I was pregnant and that those who had kids or were pregnant, had to stay to the left side of the freeway.  The officer told me I would would never be in the fast lane again. I began sobbing. I felt doomed. My life was going to be a never ending drag, at a constant halt. I watched as other cars went zooming by, and cried harder. If I ever wanted to get anywhere, it would take me 100 times as long as anyone else. It was a horrible feeling! At that's where my dream ended and what I woke up to this morning...

#REALITY

Don't get me wrong, I love babies, I want to have kids. I know it's the most fulfilling thing I can do with my life. But part of me, clearly, has this mental attitude that having kids is going to end my life as I know it. And it really will in some ways end a lot of things I do.  I can handle that. I am surrounded by WONDERFUL women who are mothers and make it look like the best time of their life! I know this way of thinking is so selfish! And I know I will get to the point where I can forget about myself and wanting to spend time only with my hubby.

But not yet. Not now. I need a little more reassurance from Heavenly Father before I can jump into the world of motherhood!

Thank you to all those wonderful mothers in my life who show me the true side of motherhood, and not the traffic jam I have envisioned :)

Thanks for listening to my baby rant. Rant over.

Living Aloha

Here is just a little glimpse of our 8 day adventure in Hawaii!  It was paradise and I'm so grateful that we were able to go! A big thanks especially to the Auna and Carter families for letting us stay with them!