Spring Break

This is the first spring break that I remember it snowing the whole week. It was really pretty outside today though and felt "warm" to us. Haley and I rolled down the windows on the ride home from work.

Work has been going really well for the most part. I have been spending time with the teenagers, and I have begun to have good relationships with some of them. I love that I get to "play" sometimes while I am at work. 

Haley and I made a Lego masterpiece the other day that we were really proud of.

I have been learning how to enter donor data into our program on the computer. I get really frustrated with it sometimes, but luckily I can just listen to music while I work and it keeps me going. 

Today felt like a Friday and I really wish it was one. I am really looking forward to Oakley visiting, so I wish the weeks went by a little faster. I have really been getting used to the cold and it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I find myself leaving the house with short sleeves and a jacket on, and I haven't been getting cold. 

I am going through a stage where I really miss California. I try to stay really positive, but it is not always easy. I realize that the thing that I love most about California is my family. Not the ocean, or the cool people, or even the atmosphere. The happy feeling I felt when I was little and visited family in California came from the family, not from visiting Sea World or Disney Land. I think it's important that I realize how important family is to me. 

"Home is wherever I'm with you." 

I'm really trying to write more often, and I am hoping to get more pictures of Casper up soon! 

Thank you for reading!

Much love,

Meg

Things you learn when you live in Casper, Wyoming

I have lived in Casper for about a month now, and there are some things that I have learned. (things you can't learn in California.)

1. I now really understand what it means to be cold. The other day I was talking to Oakley and he claimed that he knew what it was like to be cold because he grew up in northern California. This was one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Last time I checked, California wasn't that cold (even up north).

2. I know what it is like to live in "the middle of nowhere". I can get in a car and drive for ten minutes, and you are in an open field where you can see for miles.

3. I think I understand why people choose to live in such small towns, there is something nice about it. It's not small enough that everyone knows everybody, but they can tell that I'm not from around here.

4. It's not acceptable to wear an Obama shirt. They have guns, and they know how to use them.

5. Wearing layers is extremely important if you want to stay warm.

6. Don't go outside with wet hair.

7. Don't sled in the dark.

8. Being outside in the cold is a lot like being in the ocean. When you first get in the ocean there is a initial shock of how cold it is. Then you warm up and it doesn't bother you for a while, but when you start to get cold again it's time to get out. That's how being outside here is. It seems really cold at first. You get used to it and warm up. When you get cold again, go inside.

9. Culture shock is very real, and you can experience it even when you move just a few states over.

10. Cowboys are surprisingly cute when you have no other options.

Thanks for reading!
I just got internet, so there should be posts from me more often!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Meg

"Depression is just anger without enthusiasm"

I have recently started some very good habits to help me get through this year:
Exercise every single day (so far, so good!)
Read at least a chapter of a book every day (not doing so well on this one, but I'm working on it)
Eating at least three meals a day (I'm doing so well on this one)

Those are my goals so far, I feel very happy about everything right now. I am very proud of myself and what I am doing. The challenge that I am taking on this year is a big one. It will take a lot of commitment, courage, and strength. I often have second thoughts about what I'm taking on, but I know it will be more than worth it in the end.

I have started reading "The Catcher in the Rye" and I would like to share one of the quotes that stood out to me the other day.


"When I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse."


When I first read that quote it was a few days after I had left San Diego. I really felt nothing after I moved, I felt horrible. I really thought that I should feel something. I love California, I just wanted to care that I had left. Now that I'm back in California in LA, I feel sad. I am happy that I'm finally feeling something. It makes me feel a little bit more human. I will greatly miss California, but it was very good that I left. I will finally find out who I am, not who people make me become. I will be my own person, and I will be supporting myself. I am excited to see the person I grow into over this next year.

Meg

The week so far..

I have successfully moved to Casper, Wyoming and so far I'm loving it! The snow is great, and I love my roommates.

Saturday 
I woke up at 4:00am to catch a flight out of San Diego to Salt Lake City. I arrived in Casper around 12:30. It was so cold that day, but little did I know how much colder it could get here! On Saturday I got to explore the town a little, and was more than happy to find out that we have a movie theater here for $2.50!

Sunday
On Sunday, I did absolutely nothing exciting at all. I now understand how teenagers in small towns get into so much trouble. I had never been this bored in my life!

Monday
Monday was a holiday, so there wasn't much to do. Haley (roommate) and I took a nice walk downtown though (it's only 10 blocks away!). Then after we did a lot of nothing.

Tuesday
On Tuesday we visited the Boys and Girls club where Haley and I will both be working. Everyone was super nice there, and I am so so SO excited to start working! Megan arrived in Casper later that afternoon, and we are both rooming downstairs in the basement. I love it, it's the "Megan Floor".

Wednesday
Erin got here on Wednesday and she will be rooming upstairs with Haley. We signed our lease, and it felt like I was signing my life away, but oddly it felt good. Megan and I went out to Wal Mart and picked up a few sleds. The kind of sleds that are disk shaped and go super fast. We have a sledding hill near our house, so I was SO ready to go sledding! When we got to the sledding hill, there were snowboarders going down it. It's a pretty steep hill! It was rough walking up it, but it was so worth it! I had so much fun sledding, and I was so happy!


Today!
Today we are at the Library right now, and trying to get library cards. Then we are going to go apply for food stamps. I am hoping to go sledding again today. I just wish I had snow pants! Well, that's all I have to talk about right now. We are getting internet soon, and that will make it easier to post more often!

Keep in touch.
Megan

Moving Away

Yesterday was a good day. It was my last Sunday in San Diego for a while. I feel very blessed that I was able to find such a great church home for the 10 months that I have lived here. For some time I had been feeling like I didn't really meet a whole lot of people in San Diego. I felt like when I moved it wouldn't be a big deal because no one really knew me. I was wrong.
Last night I had my going away party and I realized how many people here really care about me. The party was so much fun, and I never thought I would say that about a party. Growing up I remember feeling uncomfortable even at my own birthday parties. I was never very good at interacting with a large group of people. Thanks to my Aunt and Uncle's LOVE for throwing parties, I have now learned how to "work the room". This is an accomplishment that I am very proud about.

I thought it would be good for me to share some of the many things that I have accomplished in this past year:

-learning to drive (it was a big deal for me)

-trying sushi (I didn't end up liking it, but I tried it!)

-learning to cook and bake (I can make incredible waffles) 

-being a surfer (one of the most amazing experiences ever)

-living in California (one of my goals in life, accomplished at 18)

-watching every episode ever made of The Office (best TV show ever!)

-not always asking what was in the food that was prepared for me (it's harder than it sounds)

-learning how to paint (ask to see my painted vans next time you see me)

-making new friends even if they are way older than me (example: David, Jason, Jenn, Oakley)

-learning to let go of the past (it's hard, but it can be done)

-learning what all goes into a catering business (more than you would think)

There are probably a lot more things, but I can't think of them at the moment. I am very proud of myself and all that I have accomplished this year. I think moving to California was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Now it is time for me to move on though. At 4:45am on Saturday morning I will be leaving the comforts of my home to start the next chapter of my life. I have been waiting my whole life for an opportunity like this, and I can't believe it's actually happening. I will miss the easy life I have here, but I am more than ready for a challenge.

My goal this year: staying in Wyoming the whole year.