Holiday hope!

So we finished our finals!!! Well so I had to do a whole class in the week of finals, as well as my other four or five finals. Stephen managed everything well and did really good!

Know we are heading to Albuquerque tomorrow, and I can't wait till I can see my little mom, my hilarious dad, and of course my brother's and sister's families. I am most excited about the kids, they are at such fun stages right now!

Lastly, I am doing a really cool lesson for our Valiant 12 primary class. Since its the Christmas season, we are doing a Christmas lesson about the real meaning of Christmas. I was also able to get some free ties and little scripture size bags for our kids since they are 12 now and need to act like they are older and present themselves as older kids.

I can't wait for this break to actually start because I am only recovering from the week of finals as of now.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

(Keep an eye out for our New Year's card)

Flowers! Oh how I love flowers!

Well since some of you know that I had a pretty big wedding gig in November I thought I should share some of the photos that were the result of my work and expertise in flower types and techniques! (well the photos never loaded, sorry)

The bride and groom were great to work with. The bride specifically said rust orange, cranberry red and eggplant/a deeper purple. Well I worked with what I could and actually everything ended matching the table clothes almost perfectly in the reception barn that they had used for their reception.

Then on January 22, I had a wedding that I did with my sister (she did the photography) where the couple wanted everlasting botanicals (aka fake flowers). It was pretty interesting and they turned out great but it was not my favorite way to do wedding flowers.

I am really excited to get more business because I love making bouquets and arrangements for other people. I wish I had pictures but they just won't load. SOrry!

My List

So I have a friend that made a list of things that she looking forward to enjoy this season and I thought I would make my own list too. So here it is....

1. Finish this semester
2. Finish ORG B 320
3. Complete all the floral design labs that are still left this semester
4. Finish buying Christmas presents
5. Finish wrapping Christmas presents
6. Provo's first big snow storm
7. Seeing mom and dad at Christmas
8. Making a cheesecake for some awesome people
9. Ice skating with Stephen at 7 Peaks
10. Watching the Joseph Smith movie and seeing the Temple Square lights
11. Getting another wedding under my belt in January
12. Applying for full-time work! EEK! (not sure how that will go)
13. Spend a day with Stephen without talking about stressful things
14. Cooking a real meal none of this poor college student stuff anymore
15. Writing Cameron on his mission, and giving him his Christmas gift (well this is earlier on the list but I just remembered it)
16. GRADUATE!!!

Let me see or know what you are excited about and looking forward to this season...

Meg Got Her Hairs Cut :)

So I have been wanting a really cute hair cut. I am not sure if it is because I have gained a few pounds and feel ugly or because my long hair would occasionally choke me in my sleep and I would have a nightmare I was being choked. Well so this is the conversation that I had with Stephen when I found a picture of the hairstyle I thought I would like:

Meg: Stephen do you like this hairstyle? (me pointing to a picture i found online)
Stephen: Yeah it's cute. I mean the haircut is cute.
Meg: Well I only asked if the haircut was cute... (slightly confused why he clarified)
Stephen: Well you won't be able to look exactly like her.
Meg: I know I just am looking at the haircut. (I smiled and laughed, and Stephen thought nothing of this conversation)

Well here is the picture I showed him in connection with this conversation:

I know that I am no Heidi Klum, but I love the haircut I have and have actually gotten compliments. So either the compliments are just a nice thing people say when a haircut is bad or they really mean it.

I went to the David Douglas Salon in Provo at the Riverwoods Shopping Center. I went to a girl named Whitney and I really liked her. She was fast and did the cut exactly how I asked.

Just a note: I have only gotten my haircut two other times outside of California so this was a stretch for me to get it cut in Utah were a lot of women tend to have similar haircuts and similar looks (if you know what I mean).

Second Row Jazz Game!

Well we were given some sweet tickets to the Jazz vs. Spurs Game. It was agreat thing that the Jazz won. But the bad thing is that my picture of Thurl Bailey didn't really turn out.
Well here are some shots. We were way to into the game and so we didn't really take many pictures of us.
This is us, second row baby!!!
Just Darren Williams warming up, no big deal, I see him all the time up close, just joking!
My horrible picture of Thurl Bailey, its even side ways I am lazy :(
Some game shots! Cameron (my little bro will be jealous)
Free throw!!!

So cool story... I am close with Randy Rigby (President of the Jazz) and he waved and said hi to us at the game. Yeah, we are so cool right now! Randy's daughter is my very best friend, Heather Ribgy.

Thanks father-in-law, Papa Steve for the great tickets and especially to think to give them to us!

Nike Women's Marathon 2009

Well a quick update.... Mom is doing well, she is talking and moving around with a walker. She should be able to go home around the end of this week sometime or even early nest week.

Well in October I went and ran a half marathon in San Fransisco. My mom, sister and I have done this marathon before and the best part is the Tiffany and Co. necklace at the end.

So here are some pictures, (of mostly my sister and I), mom could only walk the last 100 feet. She did this so she could get a necklace!!

This is where we had to check-in and get our race packet. There is tons of free stuff, we are hanging out by the Girahdelhi Chocolate counter get a taste of each type of square.

This is the traditional heart that is at union square that has become a traditional picture to take.

This is the Bear in the Macy's Christmas section giving me a high five for running a half-marathon.


And this is my mom, sister and me with the one who started it all. The Central Coast TNT Manager Barbara Saia.

This trip was extremely special.... We got to go see WICKED! So my mom asked Lisa and Elaine some old friends of ours, and they must of played the "she has a heart problem" card to get us those tickets. We got to sit pretty close and it was totally the best Broadway I have ever seen.
My aunt and cousins came too, and my mom's friend Anna who we stayed with in San Fransisco.

I got in trouble for taking a picture inside, oh well....

This is us by the painted on Wicked posters outside the theater.

Well the following pictures of the actual race and other activities related to the race. Again they are all of Lindsey (my sister) and I because my mom wasn't able to run it with us. The theme of the race is RUN LIKE A GIRL. Its so empowering, especially when you hear mom's yelling "You are running to save my daughters life!" The race is to fund research for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. But this year I was unable to fund-raise for it, I got in through a lottery drawing.

This picture is before the race even starts at around 5:00 am. The streets of downtown San Fransisco are filled with people (aka women). there are about 4-5 blocks of people packed in the streets waiting for the race to start.

As the race starts there are different start times. So when we get through the start line its already been like 15 minutes.

There is so much going on, people cheering, bums yelling, and there are even choir singers and bag pipe players all with Nike shoes on!

This is are traditional picture with the Golden Gate Bridge, well Golden Gate FOG that is! Oh how I love the fog and miss it!

I tend to dance to all the DJ's that play music throughout the race.

Well here are some more shots of the race. I was not wanting to take pictures because I was feeling the hurt for sure at mile 8 or so.


Well not training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles!) was a bad idea. But I survived and I am doing great now. I had a great time and I know that I will try for the lottery of the race again for sure. When I have the time and the means, I'd love to raise the money to go with Team in Training again (TNT).

Proof that I RAN LIKE A GIRL!

My Mom's Open Heart Surgery

Hey well this week has been a good and kind of worrisome one.
My mom has had heart problems for years with her heart in aphib. She has had a hard time going up stairs, or any inclines. She is tired of it, so my mom went to hospital on the first Tuesday in November. She got prepped for surgery on Wednesday. She was supposed to go in for surgery around 1:30pm. She didn't get in until about 2:30pm. There was about another hour of prep work and she was put through surgery. This is a recap that dad emailed about the surgery.

Wendy's (Mom's) Heart surgery was a success. It was a 5 hr operation. It didn't end until about 7:15pm MTN. They successfully repaired the mytral and Tricuspid valves. They performed "maze" ablation, and reduced the enlarged portion of her heart. While in there, they found an "appendage" which they removed. I think the "appendage" was a result of uncirculated blood over time.

The only glitch that occurred during the surgery was one of the pacemaker leads detached from her heart. They re-attached it. I guess it was the best time for a lead to come detached, the surgeon and doctors where right there to fix it. As a result, they decided to not re-set the pacemaker deeper. So the pacemaker still protrudes showing a bump below her left front shoulder blade.
Wendy did well with the heart-lung" machine. She is in ICU right now and is on a ventilator, (normal procedure). She will not be conscious until perhaps tomorrow morning. She will go off the ventilator then she will have to exercise her lungs to get her lungs back into the whole breathing thing again.
That's all for now. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

She is currently still in the hospital in Albuquerque. She was on a ventilator and I am currently trying to find out if she is off of it yet.

Thanks to everyone who asked and showed concern. Especially thanks for your prayers.

P90X

Well Stephen and I started P90X which is a work system (on DVDs) that emphasizes muscle confusion. Well I can't say that I absolutely ripped in two weeks, but I can say that I have been consistently sore somewhere on my body (legs, arms, back, butt, ankles, shins, jaw bone, etc). So I am not sure yet if it is working but I am sure that there is something going on with my body.

This P90X thing has been my saving grace. Since I am taking 17 credits to graduate, working, and very active as the president of a club for BYU, I find that this work out everyday is the best thing that helps to keep me going. I always knew that I needed to exercise to keep my spirits up when the weather starts to change here in Utah, but I guess I had never tried at home DVD systems. I do these work outs more than I went out running on my own.

We want to post our before and after pictures when we see more results later on. So look for that in 90 days!!

ALbuquerque, New Mexico

After our trip to Arizona, we traveled to Albuquerque to spend time with my parents. One of the first few days we were there we went the Balloon Museum. It was so fun and interesting. Going to the museum made me want to go on a hot air balloon ride. According to our guide when we first got to the museum, he said there is balloon travel like in the the movie 'Up'. At first I didn't believe him but then we saw the picture of a group in the air with normal looking balloons, I was so surprised!

Standing in a balloon basket!
This is a simulation on flying and landing a hot air balloon. Stephen failed the first time, but did much better the second time!
Character balloon....
This one I took a picture of for Stephen. I call him 'Scuba Steve', from the movie Big Daddy. I just thought this was the perfect character balloon for him.

During our stay in Albuquerque, we went to the temple. Just so you know that temple is really small, and surprisingly not very attended (well I am used to Utah temples). It was a good time, my Dad was going to meet us there after work but he couldn't find his recommend, but he had it on him the whole time. We all went out to dinner afterward though, so it turned out great!
Outside the Albuquerque Temple

We spent a lot of our time helping my parents get ready to move to the house they had just bought but the timing of the sale was not working in favor of our stay. But what Stephen and especially I was good at was distracting my Mom from her work or things she needed to get done. So we got to play a little.

On our way back to Provo, we always pass the funniest sign in Farmington, New Mexico. I took two pictures. The yellow sign says 'Adult Video', while the reddish sign behind it says 'Jesus is Watching You' with a picture of Jesus looking toward the door of the Adult Video store. We laugh every time we pass it.
Adult Video sign, with Jesus sign right below the street light
The Jesus sign, a little closer (can't read the words but can see Jesus' face)

Portugal Monastery

Here is a video from Portugal, this is the gorgeous monastery we toured. This is footage from the outside of it!

Safford and Duncan, Arizona

So Stephen finished school for the summer term and I decided that we should go see his grandparents. But this meant that we should also visit his sister Ashley's family, and then on the way back home stop in Albuquerque to help my parents move a little to their new house.

Our first stop was Ashley and Mark Smith (Stephen's sister and brother-in-law). We drove the long way, but it was the beautiful way once we got out of miles and miles of reservations. Honestly I am not sure why there is even a road there, and how evil of us americans to leave the indians the worst part of the United States to let them live on.

On the reservation(s), it was also 'Open Range', so here is the cow we found in the road

Once we made it to the Coronado Trail we were almost there, but that trail seemed to never end. But there were lots of cool sites, like Elk, Deer, and a herd of Wild Turkeys. But it was really cool seeing this tree with over hundreds of arrows shot into it. Below is a picture of that tree!
May have to look closely to see the arrows...

When we got to Safford it was kind of late, but we really weren't too worried, we were on vacation! We went and saw the temple that was there being built. We got snow cones, played in the yard, tried to clean the church, and then we went to the lake!
Mark and his brother, we knee boarded behind the jet ski... So FUN!
Little Hailey, she swam the whole time we were at the lake with Stephen and her cousins

So the real reason for this trip was to visit Stephen's grandparents. But while we were there Stephen wanted to take a picture of the house where he grew-up. Amazingly his dad built this house and it used to be yellow (i guess). The little town to Duncan really wasn't much but it was so great to meet his grandparents, they are the sweetest people in the whole world. But let me tell you that Grandpa Elms can make a mean Ham Sandwich. YUM!
Stephen's old house in Duncan/Virden, cool little house with a cute fence

So the trip was fun and very relaxing, we weren't very good at going to bed early... But we are very excited to see Mark and Ashley again at thanksgiving. Also if Mark reads this we have your hat and when we get money we will mail it.

Oh and a funny fact that was learned on this trip... According to Audrey (ashley and mark's youngest daughter) You are a cousin until you are no longer fun! "Shhh, the cousins are sleeping"--Audrey

Oh, I almost forgot to post this picture. Goes to show how much fun we had, we only took this picture right before we left, and Audrey only wanted to be apart of a tea party with all her cousins and was not all about a picture with her 'other cousins'!
Stephen is holding Audrey, and I have Hailey

Camping Trip 2009!

On Thursday, Stephen and I had planned to go on a camping trip. We were both very excited and a little more unprepared then we thought. We went camping in Maple Bench in the Payson, UT canyons. It was a ton of fun!

Campin', the table in the back is from our Car!!!
Roasting/BBQ hot dogs, they were a brilliant and tasty idea
And of course roasting marshmallows was a must :-)

The next morning, after a very cold and uncomfortable sleep, we decided to hike to a waterfall. It was an easy hike, good for a quick trip or even with kids. I absolutely loved it! When we got to the waterfall, Stephen decided we should hike to the top of the waterfall... Little did he know that I was trying very hard to follow his every step so I wouldn't fall off the steep cliff. Turns out I stretched my legs to the full length that they could because he (stephen) is so much taller than me and can take extra long leaps and reach higher to grab rocks... But we made it safely and it was worth it!!
There were some cool logs you had to walk over, but all the logs were anchored
On top the waterfall (above and below), so adventurous of us!

*Dream It! Floral Designs*

As of this summer I received my very own tax resale license that came with a business license. This means I can purchase flowers from a floral wholesaler and create flower designs for you and everyone you know!! Well maybe not everyone, but I can do flowers for weddings, proms, funerals, and just because.

Here is what my business card looks like...

This is a few samples of my designs, but you can see more about Dream It! Floral Designs at dreamitfloral.blogspot.com. I am really excited about doing more work, so if you have friends or you yourself need some last minute flowers let me know. I do live in Provo so it is limiting but I am willing to travel for a wedding or similar (if its not too far). Please keep in mind that I will be in school shortly but I am still available for work.

My first wedding on my own, Phalaenopsis Orchids, Calla Lilies, and Freesia

Same wedding, Mother's chest corsage with Mini Calla Lily, Phal. Orchid, and Freesia, with Italian Ruscus

A Bridal Bouquet for a bride's Bridal Photography, Black Calla Lilies, 'Vendella' & 'Stelle' Roses, Sunset Asiatic Lilies

These are standing sprays, these were for the BYU graduation ceremonies in the Arts Department

Hard at work for my latest wedding, Mini Calla Lilies, Dahlias, Bells of Ireland, Delphinium, and Freesia (green and navy was the color scheme)

Overall, I have lots I want to do to expand my variety but I am willing to do anything that is possible. If there is a dream for something unique or traditional, I will do it!!
Let me know what you think...