Poor Neglected Blog

It's become so much easier to just avoid the poor page than to look at it and think about all the things I want to say that I just can't put to paper (so to speak).

I've been busy doing absolutely nothing! Nothing looks like this:

Click here for credits

IF I were smart, I'd have remembered to make a copy of the page together so you could picture it as it were side by side. Oh well. :) THAT has been my "nothing" summer. It's a little misleading though... there was A LOT more Disney than that batch of photos shows. :)

1. Colby eating ribs at TGI Fridays for Sarah's birthday
2. Sarah, Shyleen & Colby at Fridays
3. Liam eating a s'more at the beach
4. Matthew with Miss Maggie at the beach
5. Yippy Skippies ride again (Matthew, Allen, Jaana, Blaine, me)
6. Liam at the beach
7. Avon Walk closing with Malia
8. Avon Walk dinner at Wellness Village
9. Catalina Island
10. 75% of the Shelley family
11. Trena singing fireside
12. Maggie is very cold
13. Someday I'll get into Club 33. For now, I dream.
14. Amy & Byron
15. Fireworks over Disneyland
16. The cousins at Amy's wedding
17. Miss Delilah making a silly face
18. Pretty momma and baby girl
19. Silly girl!
20. Maggie with her daddy on her first 4th of July
21. Another pretty momma and baby girl
22. Event Eve for Avon Walk
23. Old Friends
24. Chad's birthday
25/26. Disneyland with the girls

NOW I must go to bed. I've been picking at this layout for a week and finally finished it, so I needed to post it while I was thinking of it. :)

All for you Treen, happy? ;)

PIF- Pay It Forward

So my friend Shyleen posted a really cool idea on her blog the other day. I'm going to pass it along because I thought it'd be fun.

The first 3 people to comment here will get a handmade gift from me. Since all I'm really good at is paper crafting, it'll be something along those lines. After that, it all depends on what I decide to make you. :)

The catch? You gotta comment here first, and then you HAVE to post this back on YOUR blog. Gotta PIF!

(Facebook readers: Sorry guys, you gotta post to my actual blog. Get over there and comment!!)

He Found the One

Let me tell you about my friend Chris. I met him very near the beginning of my 7th grade year, and I was hooked. :) I thought he was the most adorable guy I'd ever met. We were in band together (he's a barry saxy). He quickly became my friend's boyfriend and a good friend of mine. He was a bit (UNDERstated) girl crazy so that relationship (like many in the years to come) didn't last very long.

Our friendship remained. I think in part it was because of the crush I had on him at the time but he was also this fountain of liveliness (is that even a word?). He wasn't always the easiest person to put up with... a pest really... but I just couldn't stay mad at him for very long. He always knew how to make me laugh and forgive him in the process.

I didn't see him much the next year as he had gone on to high school, but come freshman year, we picked right back up. He became my first boyfriend, and first heartbreak. When that happened I got a pile of "I told you so's" (remember he's got a reputation at this point... in 10th grade!) but somehow I didn't care. I knew what I was really getting myself into, and because I cared so much for him as a person, I didn't really hold any of it against him. We ended up getting back together for a month or so a few months later, but quickly broke up again. Thus becoming my only repeat boyfriend.

I ended my freshman year very confused about boys in general (really not him at this point) and he told me something that I held onto for years after. He told me that I was a great girl that would make someone very happy someday and that someday he wanted a nice girl like me to marry too. Silly, a little, generic, probably, but coming from Chris at that moment in my life was exactly what I needed to hear. The hope for me that he had, in our weird friendship, and for himself. I wasn't alone in my lost feelings, I had his friendship to help me out that moment.

He spent a lot of time at my house that summer. I should say the front porch because my mom didn't want to encourage me to have boyfriends at that age (I was only 14). Her solution was that he could visit, but not come in the house. He came to my house almost every afternoon though. We'd sit and talk about whatever and get annoyed the hell out of by Roxanne. I used to get so mad at her for bugging us, but years later I realized my mom probably sent her out there to chaperon. (Trena this story was for you because you love it so much!)

Our friendship has been cemented by laughter. Mostly at the expense of each other, but we laugh. Whenever I get to see Chris 2 things happen. I get a big goofy grin on my face (because his energy is infectious) and we pick right back up where we left off. That's how you measure a good friend, not by how often you see them or how often you talk, but how no matter how much time has passed, you can just pick up where you left off.

This story leads me to Lorie. I've talked about her here before, but I came today to post something. Chris found his Ms. Right. It was one of the first things he told me when he introduced us a bit before they got married. "Meghan, this is Lorelei. I've found my girl." I was SO very happy for him, you could just feel the joy radiating off of him. Lorie and I hit it off right away and to this day I love to brag about how talented she is on here, and I tell her all the time. It's gotten to the point where I email, blog and Tweet back and forth with her all the time... Chris who?

SO, to the real reason I'm posting here today. I've been playing catch up on my blogs this afternoon and I ran across this post on Lorie's blog. When I read it, I remembered that letter and talk I had had with Chris all those years ago and I was overcome with happy mushy feelings for my old friend. One that always held a special place in my heart. The lovable imp. I embrace my obnoxiousness because Chris taught me that you can be a lovable pain in arse.

Lorie, I don't know if he's ever told you any of the weirdness of our friendship in those days, and even then, it's different coming from the guy's side. I'll be forever grateful to you for being such a blessing in his life. You may think he needs a medal for putting up with you, but I say you're a saint for taking on him. :) Oh! And I could have spared you all the blushing and embarrassment if there was only a way for me to comment on your blog. Instead this became a long winded run-down of how a silly boy I met in band caused me to meet you, and in turn, how you almost made me cry today.

When do we see you guys next? :D

Yippy in my Skippy!

Good Lord. Last night has to go down as one of the craziest trips to Disneyland ever. We've been going weekly for the last month or so and LOVING it. Cindy has been bringing assorted people but her new buddy Seth has been coming every time. He's hilarious! The first time we went with him, a few weeks ago, he yelled "Yippy in my Skippy" as we were finishing up on Thunder Mountain. As of last night, we are determined to get people to start yelling it. Someday it'll be the thing to do while you're on a ride and we'll be able to tell our kids we started it all! So next time you go over the dino bones, you gotta yell it loud and proud!

We had quite a good time last night. I think most of it was one of those "you hadda be there" type things.

The Great Twitter Debacle

For those of you that follow me on Twitter via wireless something... I apologize for the Twit-storm. It never dawned on me until my sudden shut-up moment that I may be disturbing others. (No one has complained yet, but I wanted to pre-empt any bad feelings.) :) Since my 2 friends have started on it we have used it as an IM/Group Chat service a few times, this one was the funniest by far, so I'm including the transcript for sharing. I've eliminated their names as they have private Tweets.

(All my spelling errors and everyone's rampant neglect of the shift button have been left intact.)

M: I hate my life.

S: Move up to Oregon with meeeee! :-D

M: I need to finish school so i can get a job so i can get my own place!

S: It was worth a try... heh...

M: Thanks though

P: Besides Oregonsmells of unwashed hippies.

M: I like hippies!

P: Not stinky dirty ones.

S: Not all of oregon... lol... Just parts... Kinda like how parts of LA smell like BO and urine. Hahah

M: Lol really really hating my life

P: @ S. Roflmao

P: Yes M. you like hippies. But hippies are like clowns, they're funny to watch but you don't want want to live next to the circus.

M: Good analogy Megh! Thank you

S: Hahahaha... Actually, hippies are quite amusing to watch...

S: And they're fun to live close to... Its like going to disneyland to people watch... but for free

P: I know! I said they were.

P: No. Because you get to go home & leave the scarey fake animals @ home after disneyland. The hippies stay, especially if you feed them.

S: Hahahahahaha... Megh's channeling eric cartman tonight... Damn dirty hippies!

P: Ok I'm laughing so hard I'm crying & can't see!

P: Jeez! I must be tired.

S: One nice thing about hippies... They have nicely kept lawns and gardens... And they leave all the steak for me to eat! Haha

P: Where dod they grow their pot then?

S: Hahaha... In their "hydroponic" indoor garden. In the basement.

It was actually where I made the crying comment when I realized that I may have faux pas'd myself. Please forgive me, I was having fun on a Friday night. :)

I love my friends.

Catch Up

It's been crazy! Here's some photos to catch you all up on what I've been up to.

First up, my little troop has grown! I don't think I've posted pictures of my newest turtle. Easter also brought me an iguana. So meet: Jonas, Bree, Rhiannon, Emma, Chloe and Iggy!

This spring brought babies for 2 wonderful people in my life. I'd decided that I wanted to give them something truly from the heart so I found fabulous fabric (way more expensive than I'd thought, oops!) and had my dear friend, Stephanie, sew them up for me. Didn't she do a beautiful job?

I got my hair cut and dyed the weekend before Easter. Ain't it cute? It's faded a lot since then to a more brownish, but I was so sick of the really grown out bleached blonde nastiness. :) Much happier now.

Got bored one day... here's my school. This is the view from the top of one of the parking structures. That building in the front is the performing arts building/theater. The windowed one on the far right (top of the skyline) is where I've taken all my math and science classes. The visual art building is behind those trees on the left.

More gift fun! I made these onsies for Michelle (my friend from school who has kept me sane on this LONG journey). Her blanket & burp cloths are the cherry pattern seen above (they also went into the bag). Sweet and Rockababy credits can be seen in each link.


I had WAY too much fun wrapping that!

Trena started a bunko group. I forgot to take pictures before anyone left, so I took this one instead. I had a lot of fun!!

Went to Disneyland on 5/2 with T&A and the Richins'. We had a lot of fun! Matthew got on the carrosel with Liam. Cute shot huh?



Dear friends of ours bought a Coldstone about a half hour away from our place. He was in our wedding line and Matthew's best friend growing up. I'm looking forward to many nights down that way this summer!

My mother's day gift to my mom. :)

We went to Minnie's Moonlight Madness last week with our friends Kim and Matt. We had lots of fun and came in 121st place out of around 400. Not bad for 2 newbies (the Matts).

And I got these great shots of Main Street being essentially empty. The first is with my back to the hub and castle. That's the train station and flag pole at the end. The second is at the other end with the pole behind me looking at the castle. So cool!


Saturday of Memorial Day weekend always has my behind at the fair grounds for the Highland Games. We spend most our time at the athletic fields watching Allen compete, but we also eat meat pies and go shopping. Here's Allen preparing for his first caber throw.

And his second throw... messed up by some OLD crazy lady (no really... she doesn't look so bad in the photo but you had to actually SEE her to understand) who just randomly stopped right in front of me. Thanks!

The Highland Midgets. I've got video of them too. I'll post that later. ;) They were pretty funny.

And my latest acquisition. ;) I love it.

Sunday was Liam's birthday. Matthew is officially the favorite uncle for a bit as he picked this out for him:


That brings you up to date on me. It's been crazy busy. There was a lot left out too. Whew!! Stay tuned for fun video clips in my next post. :D

Because I love her so

WAY back when I was young, impressionable and just a regular silly little teenage girl I met a boy. His name was Chris. I won't go into gory details but he was my first boyfriend and continued to be a very good friend for years after. At one point during our odd "relationship" he had told me that he had wanted to end up with a good girl when he was finally ready to grow up. Flash forward almost 6 years to to us being out of high school. I had just been married that January and here it was in March and I was sitting at his wedding!

Lemme tell you something about Lorelei. She's beautiful, outside and in (even her name!). We clicked right away when I'd met her a few months before. We've got similar interests (photography and all that goes with it including graphic design) but she's a lot better at it all than I am. She's another one of those many friends I have that I'm totally jealous of. This girl is stinking talented!! When they lived in my old home town still we saw them a lot more than we do now (almost never) but she and I correspond through emails and MySpace/Facebook.

The funnest part from her emails is the photos she sends out. I get caught up in school so I don't get to visit her site much, but when I do I always step back and gasp. She does web design and takes portraits professional.y. I got an email from her today announcing that her photography website now has a blog. I'm linking to it here in my blog roll. Please feel free to look her up all the time. Her photos are amazing and really deserve to be seen!

I WAS hot!

I got a lot of compliments the other day while at my friend Matt's wedding (it was themed) but I was feeling so insecure and that I blew everyone off. But looking at my pictures... I think my outfit did turn out pretty cute. (At least compared to my usual self). SO, I apologize to those that I whined at the other day. It was salvagable and Trena's awesome make-up and hair artistry did help a LOT.

My flash on the other hand, really did suck that day. I took some great pictures, but because the flash didn't work for whatever reason, they didn't completely come out. :(

I did get this cute one of Liam eating cake though:

Canned Peas & Other Goodies

I feel like I haven't sung my praises of the internet enough lately. Well internet, I love you! You have helped me meet wonderful (and not so wonderful) people whom I would have never in a gazillion years met on my own. Fantasticly wonderful people who have become dear dear friends, ones that I miss almost as much as the "real life" dear friends that have moved away.

(I promise to try to post a better posting later too.)

YAY! Jenny is blogging now!

I've added her to my links (Loveridge). I'm so excited to get to see all the new pictures of her adorable little boy, Gavin. :D

You spin me right round baby

Wow! Time for an update. Life has been a whirlwind lately!! I guess I'll start from this last weekend.

Matthew and I went to visit his aunt and uncle in NorCal over the long weekend. We started our 7 hour trek on Saturday morning at 4:45 am. I started taking little video clips at 5:00 and figured I'd cronacle a short clip every 30 minutes of our entire drive (like a sped-up drive up California) to capture the changes in light and landscape. Well... 2 hours later as we were about to make a breakfast stop, my battery died. And I forgot to pack the charger. D'oh!! So much for pictures all weekend. :( I was a sad little Pixie.

So I took silly notes the rest of the ride for fun.

7:05 am- realized in Carl's Jr. parking lot that my camera battery was dead.

7:25 am- realized that the guy sitting across CJ was sporting a great Flock of Seagulls haircut and I had no camera to capture it. The guy was probably younger than me too. How did he even know who FoS was?

7:30- back on the road

7:48- drove past some coyote road kill, we don't get THAT much in Anaheim!!

8:30- Stopped for gas & got raped at the pump... $3.49 a gallon!! I also got attacked by ENORMOUS flies and overwhelmed by the smell of cow @$$ everywhere... it smelled like the 909!

8:35- back on the road, 192 from San Francisco

That's all I wrote. We arrived around 11:30. Matthew drove the whole way so he took a nap and I hung out with Aunt Meg. We had a nice chat. Uncle Keith called and said he was on his way home and was picking up lunch. Matthew woke up just before our YUMMY burritos arrived. SO GOOD! We then decided that we'd go to the French cheese factory that afternoon... so off we went.

That place was so cool. Keith drove us up the back roads from Petaluma to this little old farm house in the middle of nowhere (Marin county for anyone interested). You walk in and it's a little store. Lots of yummy cheeses and cheese themed gifts (cheese knife sets, wines, crackers, shirts and aprons... you get the idea). The actual factory is in the cellar and usually you can get tours but they were on hold due to renovations going on. I'll just have to go back!! We bought close to $40 of cheese for Matthew's mom and a few little quarks for us (flavored cream cheeses). Matthew is lactose intolerant so most French cheeses make him sick, but it was a lot of fun for me because I've been wanting to go for years. Meg and Keith always bring some down with them when they come for visits.

We walked around the pond for a bit after that with Shasta (M&K's adorable dog). Keith let her off the leash and she would come running back when you called her. Such a good dog! On our way back, Keith drove us around the neighborhood pointing out fun little houses. For those of you that don't know, most of northern California has these ADORABLE little old houses EVERYWHERE. Petaluma started in the late 1800s so its like a little history lesson driving through the middle of downtown (and all over town really).

We then went back to their house and took another nap (we were TIRED). When we got up, Brad (Matthew's cousin) was over so we got to chat with him for a little bit. He's a real doll. We watched 300 that evening and just hung out. When the movie was over, off to bed. I still can't believe how tired I was that day!

The next morning Matthew and I got up and met my friend Peas for breakfast. I've been chatting with her on scrapbooking boards for almost 3 years now. We finally met in person at Disneyland in 4/06 and it was high time for another visit! We met her in her home town, Benicia, and had a yummy breakfast at a little place called Shoreline. We ate on the patio and just had a great time talking. We then walked along the street where it ends on a little "pier" (concrete walkway over the water really) and back. It was great to see her again and cannot wait for another chance to visit to come up!

Back in Petaluma we went to dinner at this Chicago pizza place that Matthew loved when he lived with M&K for a few months before he went on his mission. It's in the middle of historical downtown Petaluma (I sound like a travel guide). The restaurant actually used to be a parlor for a brothel. Funny huh? Anyway, he took me there last time and it really is GOOD pizza. We then walked around downtown taking in the sights and checking out all kinds of newer developments in the area. It was a lot of fun.

The next day was time to pack up. Meg made me a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs and hot cocoa (I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I was actually hungry that time). We said our good-byes and were off! A very quick trip, but very relaxing and a fun visit!!

Here are my only single pictures... since Peas is a scrapbooker too, I knew I could count on her to actually have a WORKING camera with her!


Isn't she cute? :D Stay tuned... I made another card and a couple pictures to post from work from last week. We had to say good-bye to a real sweetheart that used to work with us. ;)

Because all I really need now

Is yet another hobby... check out my first (complete) video! It's only a photo montage for right now but I've BEEN working on one for awhile... it's a work in progress and will continue to be so as it'll be 2007 in review when it's finally DONE. ;) I can't show you that one yet for OBVIOUS reasons so on with the show I've got now... :D