Megan Turner

My New Family, My New Life

2012-01-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

DANCE ALLIANCE 2012.

It's my third time on the team.

Every time, the team becomes my family.

At the beginning of the year, I never know everyone. I always look around at all the unfamiliar faces, and try to ingrain them in my brain, so I'll be able to look back and remember that moment. The moment we all made the team, to be more specific.

It's one of my favorite things to look back on at the end of the year.

If you look back through my previous posts, you can see how much being on Dance Alliance has affected my life, and how much the people on the team have affected my life.

This is the last time I get to be on this incredible team....and I'm so excited! I'll graduate in July, we'll go on tour to the New England area, and then I'll be off to the "real" world!

What better way to finish my college career?

Honestly....I'm terrified.

I just about had a panic attack just now, writing about it.

But I'm also super excited.

I've been in school for my entire life! And suddenly, I'm about to be done?

(unless I do decide to go to grad school...)

Odd.

Wish me luck!

Growing Pains...from '11 to '12

2012-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Wow.

A lot happened in 2011.

A lot.

I finished my second year of Dance Alliance.

With a solo in the show.

Also touring in Texas.

I got a job at Melaleuca.

I was Relief Society president.

For two semesters.

And I learned a ton through my dancing.

A ton.

And this is all just a very brief skim over the surface.

To be honest though, most of what I've learned has come through dance.

It has applied to just about every part of my life.

Including the Gospel...my personality...my social life...school...family...etc.

I attribute a lot of this to my Somatics class.

What is Somatics, you ask?

That is a hard question to answer.

But I'll give it a whirl.

Somatics is an upper level class for my major (which is dance...if you didn't already know).

It's sort of a study of the body, mind, and spirit, and connecting them all together.

There are different techniques, or principles to learn from.

Last semester, we focused mostly on Bartenieff Fundamentals, and also

Laban's theories.

This semester we'll be focusing on Alexander technique.

Last semester, we were required to do three 4-minute solo improvs

We then watched the video of ourselves, and analyzed it based on our

knowledge of the principles we were learning.

It was very...very interesting.

It led to so many insights.

In fact, my teacher made a comment on one of my improvs that led to a

pretty deep insight to my personality that I hadn't ever really

acknowledged, or realized. That then led to a whole new discovery process

of myself.

To be honest, it was kind of a painful semester.

I learned so much about my weaknesses--physical, mental, emotional--and

it was kind of difficult to face.

But face it I did.

There were tears.

Which is kind of a miracle.

Because I don't cry. Like, ever.

It was rough, and very difficult.

But oh...so good!

I'm now at a point in my life where I can make changes happen.

Because I know now more than ever that I have to be the one to make those changes.

And make them I will!

So look out world....

Here comes the new and improved Megan Ruth Turner!

Introversion: Top Ten Myths and Why People Think We're Weird

2011-07-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

I am definitely an introvert.

But that doesn't make me weird.

Granted, I am slightly weird.

But that's just purely because of my personality.

Not because I'm an introvert.

Which is the point I'm trying to make.

Sometimes people don't understand why I do things the way I do.

So here's some insight into the way my mind works.

Prepare yourself.

:TOP TEN MYTHS ABOUT INTROVERTS:

*disclaimer: I found this information on a website written by Jerry Brito. I am simply reiterating it, and adding my own personal insights.

Myth #1: Introverts don't like to talk.

False. We just don't talk unless we have something to say. Small talk holds little value to us. We crave quality conversation. If you get us started on something we're interested in, we can talk for days.....so make sure you have the time ;)

Myth #2: Introverts are shy.

False. Shyness does not equal introversion. They have nothing to do with each other. As introverts, we are not afraid of people. We just need a reason to interact. We don't interact just for the sake of interacting. Honestly, if you want to talk to an introvert, just start talking. Don't even worry about being polite. Just jump right in, and who knows? You may have just made a great friend.

Myth #3: Introverts are rude.

False. Or if they are, it has nothing to do with being an introvert. If they're rude, it just because they're rude. Introverts just want everyone to be real and honest. We don't often see a reason to beat around the bush. Unfortunately, this is not found socially acceptable in many settings, so us introverts tend to feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which we find exhausting.

Myth #4: Introverts don't like people.

Very false. We actually intensely value the friends we do have. We can count our close friends on one hand. If you're lucky enough to have an introvert consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life (Jerry Brito's words, not mine....therefore I am not being conceited). Once you've earned our respect as a quality person of substance, you are in!

Myth #5: Introverts don't like to go out in public.

False. We just don't like to be out in public for as long. We like to avoid complications that are often involved in public activities. We tend to take in data and experiences rather quickly, and therefore don't need to be there as long to "get it". Introverts are ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for introverts. Maybe this explains why I always feel like I need a break whenever I take a vacation before I can get back to real life...

Myth #6: Introverts always want to be alone.

False. It is true that we are very comfortable simply with our own thoughts. We like to think a lot. We daydream a lot. But we can also get very lonely if we don't have anyone to share our thoughts and discoveries with. We crave an authentic and sincere connection with one or a few people at a time.

Myth #7: Introverts are weird.

False. Again, if I am weird, it's just because that's who I am. Nothing to do with being an introvert. We are just often individualists. We do not follow the crowd. We prefer to be valued for our novel ways of living. We like to think for ourselves, and because of that, we often challenge the norm. We absolutely do not make decisions based on what is popular or trendy. In fact, I tend to get turned off a little bit if something is made super popular. If I do something, or wear something, it's because I have decided that is what I like. Purely based off my opinion.

Myth #8: Introverts are aloof nerds.

False. Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to our thoughts and emotions. We are not incapable of paying attention to what is going on around us. Sometimes our inner world is just so much more stimulating and interesting to us. This also could explain how I can evaluate my emotions so well...I take so much time to look in on myself that I can look at a situation from several different angles. This could also explain why I have such a hard time paying attention in class....

Myth #9: Introverts don't know how to relax and have fun.

False. We just typically relax much better at home or in nature, and not in a busy, public setting. If there is too much talking and noise going on, we shut down. For me, I know that when I'm in a super loud, crazy setting, I'm fine to just sit and watch people. And now this is the part where Jerry Brito says something scientific about how introverts and extroverts have different neuro-pathways...I'm not really sure what it meant. So that's all I'm going to say on the matter....

Myth #10: Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.

FALSE. There is nothing to fix. We deserve some respect for our natural temperament and contributions. In fact, there was apparently a study that showed that the percentage of introverts increases with IQ. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Only don't really smoke anything.

Because I don't believe in drugs.

So that is who I am!

I hope this gave a little insight to some of you.

If not.........well, at least it was fun to write about it.

And as this proved, I don't really need anyone's approval.

I just hope to open some people's eyes.

Welcome to my life :)

Candles and Fireworks

2011-07-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

So my birthday was a few weeks ago, on July 2nd, and I finally turned the big 21!!!

Exciting, eh?

Sure.

I'm used to not having a birthday, since it's so close to the 4th, and my mom would just say "well, all the family will be here on the 4th, so we'll just celebrate it then!"

Unfortunately, Independence Day will now always be viewed in my eyes as the ultimate ADD celebration.

Meaning my birthday pretty much got skipped over every year.

I think my scars are finally starting to heal.

No worries.

And even though turning 21 is supposed to be kind of a big deal, I didn't really think too much about it.

Therefore, not much happened.

A few friends and I did go to the new water park they built here in Rexburg.........

That is a "Birthday Girl" pin that my roommate made me wear all day.

As you can see, I resisted immensely.

So the water park was slightly small, but it was still a pretty good time!

We stayed for about 4 hours.

And I got the nastiest burn ever.

Lasted for quite a while.

I couldn't sleep for about a week.

And I'm still peeling to this day.

Worth it?

Sure :)

So that was pretty much my birthday...

OH!

I did get a free Jamba Juice because it was my birthday.

But don't try ripping them off for a freebie by telling them it's your bday...

I did have to show them my driver's license as proof.

Anyways.

Then we just watched Whip It at my apartment.

Pretty good fun for a birthday I suppose :)

Then there was the 4th of July!!

I was planning on just staying in Rexburg for the weekend, just because I figured not very many people in my family were going to be in Burley, so I might as well hang out with all of my friends.

But then Monday morning came around and I got suuuuuuuuuper homesick for the Fourth of July in Burley.

Because there is NOTHING better than celebrating the 4th in Burley.

So around 1:00 I just up and drove home!

It was definitely worth it.

Even though I missed out on the parade, Mexican food, and playing on the river.

I was there to hang out with the family that was there.

And eat hot dogs.

And watch fireworks.

I honestly can't think of much else I'd rather be doing than spending time in Burley on the Fourth of July.

It is the best thing in the whole wide world.

And I love a lot of things.

So saying this really means something.

Sooo......Happy Independence Day, everyone!!

Now I know that next year,

regardless of anything,

I am going home to Burley for the 4th of July.

Cat or Mouse?

2011-06-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

I bought this little cat statue as part of a gag gift for my Mom's 50th birthday. Well, I had a bunch of stuff in a tupperware container, and as I was opening it, I looked down and saw this statue in there. And I screamed. I honestly thought it was a mouse. I have quite the history with mice. I reeeeaaaaaally hate them, and I am now terrified of them. So...I look at this cat, and it doesn't look anything like a mouse. But it still managed to scare the crap out of me. Go figure. My friend caught me in the midst of my scare and made fun of me for the rest of the night. I guess it was pretty funny :)

Lilacs and Summer

2011-06-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Lilacs are a big part of my life.

We used to have a big lilac bush in front of my house.

Then it got torn out due to a miscommunication :(

They have always been my favorite flower, mostly because of how they smell.

I have a temperamental nose, and I usually can't smell stuff very well.

But I can smell lilacs before anyone.

I have been smelling them all over the place.

And I can't help being happy the very second I smell them :)

Lilacs are the epitome of my summer.

I am happy.

I had a dream...

2011-06-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

So I had a dream last night.

I was in a place that looked like a mixture between roo

m 101 in the Kirkham, and a church building.

But it was actually a jewelry store.

And one of my former photography teachers was a salesman there.

Weird.

Random.

(So I thought...my roommate just informed me that that teacher actually used to sell wedding jewelry...freaky)

The kicker is that I was there looking for an engagement ring.

Even though I'm 100% single.

Nope. Not even in my dream was I engaged or even dating someone.

But it was still fun to shop around in this strange dreamland :)

These are some pictures that are as close to what I can possibly think of what a few of the rings in my dream looked like.

Except for a couple of them...which had some kind of fabric surrounding them, which covered my entire hand/arm.

Don't worry....I didn't even like those ones in my dream state.

Thank heavens I have some kind of sense while I'm sleeping....

Before you even ask, I don't really know if these are anything like what I would want when I do get engaged someday.

It was just a dream.

And I felt like blogging today....and my dreams are about as exciting as anything else in my life.

Especially since I rarely remember my dreams.

So just laugh with me and enjoy feasting your eyes on these shiny pictures :)

-New Car Smell-

2011-06-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

I bought a car!

I feel very responsible now.

And like I'm on my way to being a real adult.

Weird.

Anywho.

The car I have been driving (which is really my parents) died.

Just stopped working.

It was some technical problem under the hood.

Which means I have no idea what was wrong with it.

So my car was stranded in Idaho Falls, and I had gone home for the weekend.

So me and my dad went on a rescue mission to get it.

I could swear he was looking at me with the eyes of one who's been betrayed.

I felt so evil just strapping him down to the trailer like that.

Poor little Rico :(

And this is the last time I've seen him.

And then just a couple short days later...I bought my new car.

Okay, so it's mostly just new to me.

She was first bought by my brother off of Ebay.

Then my sister bought it from him.

And now I just bought it from my sister.

So it's a used car.

But it's been used well.

I named her Lokelani.

Because I have a Hawaiian lei hanging from the rearview mirror.

And she's bright red.

So we figured she could pass for Hawaiian.

What do you think?

Note: It's now 2012, and I decided Lokelani just wasn't sticking....so instead I named him Louie.

Suddenly I don't feel quite as horrible about leaving my old car...

Dancing My Way Through the Lone Star State

2011-05-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This isn't necessarily the most interesting post. Mostly just informative. So if you want to know a little bit about how my dance tour went, then this is the place to go. But maybe go watch a sitcom afterward or something, if you want to be entertained. That's all. Happy reading.

- Sunday April 10 -

We met at the Kirkham at 6:00 am...waayyy too early to be meeting on a Sunday morning. But, we had to get going. Too bad our tour manager was an hour late...we didn't pull out until 7:15. But....we still had to drive all day either way. The best part of the day was lunch...when we stopped I went with a bunch of people to In 'n' Out :) And later, for dinner, we were stopped in Cortez, CO where they took us to this restaurant called Tequila (on a Sunday, I know!). Such good, legitimate Mexican food! And after a total of driving for about 12 hours, we made it to Durango, CO, where we stayed in a gorgeous hotel! They even gave us huge, fresh, warm, chocolate chip cookies :)

- Monday April 11 -

Today was just another day full of driving....for 12 hours. Again. We got a little stir crazy today. Started playing games (like trying to balance in the aisle while the bus was moving, without touching anything), running around outside anytime we stopped somewhere. We also watched a bunch of movies, some of which included The Princess Bride, Tron (I mostly slept/read through that one...it was hard to watch on the bus), and Penelope. Everyone told me I looked like the girl from Penelope after watching that. (It wasn't until after I acted all offended that they said I look like her after she doesn't have a pig nose anymore...) So we finally made it to our destination...at 10:30. We were supposed to be there in time for the single's ward FHE. Oops. At least they still fed us though! Our first taste of Texas BBQ......

They sent us to our homestays, and as I was laying in bed, I realized that I hadn't gotten rid of my "bus legs" yet. As in, I still felt like I moving around like I did on the bus.....

- Tuesday April 12 -

Our homestay fed us waffles and sausage....it was 100% delicious! Then, we got to the stake center, where we got on the bus, and they took us to WalMart...for about an hour and a half. I'm still not really sure why that happened. Anyway, then they took us the the Petroleum Museum. It was...pretty interesting. We got a few good pictures though. After that, they were going to take us to see George Bush's childhood home, but it was too full. So instead, we went to this random little shop full of purses, jewelry, and hats. I got a way cute, bright pink purse :) I wasn't too sad about not being able to go to the Bush home...

Then we got to the high school where we would be performing that night. We performed in their dusty, dusty gym...it was a good experience :) So we got back to our homestay, and when I took a shower....I was sure I was either going to be either raped or murdered. I had to go through these tiny hallways, down a narrow staircase, and into this obscure corner of the house...and it was this sort of trashy bathroom, with no lock, and with a gaping hole in the ceiling. And the water only came out in a drizzle...never had I wanted to get out of the shower so fast, and it took a good 5 minutes to just get my hair wet....so horrible.

- Wednesday April 13 -

So after driving a couple of hours to our next stop, we stopped at the Stake Center where we tied quilts for the victims of the hurricane in Japan. Then we just ate our lunches while sitting on the gym floor there. It was pretty chill, which was nice. Then we went to a dance studio there, and taught two workshops: one contemporary, and one swing. I decided I didn't want to dress down, so I did the swing workshop. There were probably about half of us in there...and there was only one couple who showed up to take the workshop. But it was still suuuper fun! And then we went to our venue....it was at a bowling alley. We were performing in this tiny, tiny little conference room they had. We did cut out two of our numbers, but we still had a lot of numbers that had all of us in them. It was really close quarters...I got punched in the face. Twice. I definitely got a bloody lip. And then I got knocked over during a cartwheel. It's a good thing I wasn't upset about the situation :) I think I was laughing the whole night...

After the show we went to our homestay's and one of their little kids (Brent) did some breakdancing for us! It was adorable!

- Thursday April 14 -

We drove for a couple of hours today to get to San Angelo, where they set us loose for about an hour and a half! There were some cute vintage shops that I went to for a minute, and then some of us went back to the venue and ate lunch. Then they took us to Fort Concho so we could do a couple of hours of service...we split up into groups and did some different things. One group was picking up trash outside (mind you, it was suuuper hot outside...), and my group got to muck out some horse stalls....super great. We got super gross. And there was no way we could shower before the show. Someone didn't think that one through. But it made for some great memories :) So, after that we went to the San Angelo Civic Ballet studio where we took a modern workshop for an hour. It was actually really fun! I thought I'd be way too tired to enjoy it, but it was nice to be able to dance just for dance's sake. Then we went back, ate some more BBQ, and performed. Our venue was soo cool! It was an outdoor theater, right in front of a river! And there was no back wall on the theater, so nature was our background :) It made crossovers a little difficult...we had to duck all the way across, but it felt really nice to perform outside with a slight breeze.

And then we went to our homestays....oh my heavens....I had the hardest time getting that stinkin' shower to work!! I got in there, and the knobs were all broken, but there was a pair of pliers sitting there, so I was trying to get it to turn on...I finally did, but I managed to get the cold handle stuck on "off". But I was sooooo desperate for a shower after this day, so I took ascalding hot shower. Then after a little bit it turned lukewarm. Then frigid. Of course. I almost started crying. But then I decided...I had been needing this shower, and I really wanted to shave, so I was going to! Even if it was freezing cold! So I did. I was pretty proud of myself :) Then when I went to turn it off, I accidentally switched it to the tub faucet, and when the water came out, it looked like blood!! Freaked me out...I know it was just rust, but my shower experiences haven't been so grand so far on this tour, so I couldn't help my reaction...

- Friday April 15 -

So, apparently someone had told our homestays that they could take us to the stake center anywhere from 7-8...so ours took us at 7:30. The bus didn't get there until 8:00. The church was closed. It was cold outside. Oh the things we put up with. But, when we got to our next stop, we had 3 1/2 hours before we could even get into the venue, so they took us to the mall where we went to a movie! Most of us went to Hanna...crazy, crazy movie!! I enjoyed it. Then we made it to our venue...it was a nice auditorium! So nice after our last couple of venues :) The performance was fine...I got to do my solo tonight, so that was fun! Our homestay's house was soooo nice! Although, my bad luck continued here....I managed to step on one of my performance earrings. It went into my foot pretty deep...I had to pull it out, and then my foot started bleeding. Yup...it hurt. Makes for a good story though, eh?

- Saturday April 16 -

We had a 30 minute drive to just get to the stake center this morning...but it was abeautiful drive! We're getting into the gorgeous part of Texas...I'm really starting to like it here! Once we got to the church, we had a little "morning-side" for the youth. It was kind of a "they ask a question and one of us volunteers to answer it" kind of thing. It went pretty well though. Once it was over, we drove a couple of hours to get to the botanical gardens in Zilker Park. It was pretty. Then they took us to the Texas State Capitol. It was here that I went from being 95% sure to being 100% sure that Texas is the most conceited state ever. But it was still pretty cool to look around the capitol. Did you know that their capitol is 14 feet taller than the nation's capitol? I didn't. But they made sure we knew.

Our next stop was the Dell's Children Medical Center, where we did a lecture demonstration for some of the kids there, then we handed out toys and treats for them. It was heartbreaking...I talked to one little 5 year old boy who was in a wheelchair. I asked him what he likes to do, and he responded with "go home". I almost cried. Then there was this tiny little 5 year old girl (she looked like she couldn't be any older than 2!) named Isabella. She was cute, and we were having fun, but then her mom said she needed to go, because it was time for her treatment, and she started crying and freaking out...I felt sooo bad! Little kids should not have to go through that kind of stuff :(

Then we went to the stake center where they fed us...and they decorated the crap out of that place! Totally Easter-fied. They even had an Easter egg hunt set up for us! Sooo many treats, sooo many toys...I got a Pez dispenser :)

Then after the show, we took off with our homestays. Let me just say that....my weekend homestay was easily the best homestay I've ever had! I loved them! They had a beautifulhome!! We got to sleep up in the loft...the view was great, the beds were cozy...it was nice :) I absolutely LOVE Austin, TX!

- Sunday April 17 -

This was such a wonderful, needed Sabbath day. First of all, the bed wassooooo comfortable!! It was this huge, king-sized bed that I was sharing with Laurin. We got to sleep in until about 9:00, which was way nice. We left for church, and had to pick up a neighbor of our homestays. She was a character...she was suuuper pregnant, has epilepsy, and the way she talked made it sound like she might not live through the pregnancy! Then our homestay was telling us about her life after church...it's so crazy. I can't even remember details, but I just felt bad for her. Church was good...there were a few other DA members in that ward with us. After church, they made us a legitimate Italian spaghetti. He's Italian. It was delicious. I was stuffed. Then we took a 2 hour nap...she came up to make sure we knew what time it was. Haha, oops...but then she made us some chips and queso, and we just ate it UP! And then we ate some more Blue Bell ice cream (that's a famous brand there...like the Tillamook of Texas). Loved it! Anyway.....Tina and Tony (our homestays) were so incredible. They were the cutest older couple ever...you could just tell that they were best friends. I was so sad to leave!

- Monday April 18 -

So, we got on the bus at 7:00 this morning, where the Austin coordinators gave us even more treats...including a Texas-shaped cookie. Everything there is shaped like their state. Slightly ridiculous. Yet highly entertaining. Then we drove to Brenham where we went to the Blue Bell ice cream factory. 'Twas fun and delicious. Then we went on to Houston, where they took us to NASA. It was pretty cool...it wasn't what I expected...it was just a museum. Which was still neat, but I guess I was just thinking I would see where they launch the shuttles and stuff. Which is kind of ridiculous, now that I think about it. Welp. We got some good pictures out of it! Also....we are now in the humid part of Texas. It wasn't unbearably hot yet, so I actually kind of liked it!

Anyway, after NASA we went on to Galveston! This was a section of Texas that got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Katrina, and where some of the oil spillage was. So anyway, since it was our day off, we got to stay in a hotel, so they checked us into our rooms, and then we went out to the beach to have lunch and to swim. I finally got to swim at a real beach!! I've been to beaches before, but never swam....I LOVED it!! I would go to the beach all the time if I could :) Anyway...then after the beach, after we got all cleaned up and everything, a bunch of us walked around downtown to find a place to eat some food, so that was fun. It was super windy, but it was still pretty darn warm! It was a long--but really fun--day.

- Tuesday April 19 -

Breakfast today was at McDonalds. Brother Hillier took our orders, and got everything for us. It was alright. I love their hashbrowns! So then we went off to the Houston temple! Such beautiful grounds! We went and did baptisms (or those who were endowed did a session). It was really neat, because my grandparents had mailed me 15 family names that needed done, so a couple of us got to do those. It was a really neat experience. After the temple they took us to a mall for lunch and a bit of shopping. Let me just say that.....I love Forever 21. Then they took us to the venue, where we set everything up, then went to the stake center where we did an uber short fireside (very similar to the morning-side we did earlier), ate some tasty Mexican food, then went back and performed. My homestay tonight was the Stake President...I got my own bedroom and bathroom! It was nice to have a little bit of solitude for a night.

- Wednesday April 20 -

Our homestay made us french toast today. With real fruit, powdered sugar, and syrup. And
there was bacon. Oh heavens how I love breakfast. Our drive today was 5 hours, to get to the
University of Northern Texas. Our show today was shared with a bunch of other dancers. I'm
not sure if they were schools, or studios, or what...but it was bound to be neat. We were the
special guest artists, so that's pretty cool! Anyway, after laying the marley floor we went to a
school for people with special needs, and did a little performance for them, just doing a few of
our numbers for them. Then we went to the stake center, had some more BBQ, and went back
to the venue. We only performed our hip hop, ballet, and cajun numbers, so it was nice to have
a more relaxed show! Then we went to our homestays....I stayed on a ranch!! It was a huge
place! We got to have this whole huge apartment to ourselves while the family went back to
their house, which was 2 minutes away. We went exploring for a while :) I even got to pet one
of their horses! It was fun...until it was time for bed. Then it was a tiny bit frightening. But, I
did still sleep pretty good. How could I not?

- Thursday April 21 -

We had to be at the stake center at 5:45 this morning...yup, pretty horrible. We did another

morning-side, and we sang our musical number. We sang I Feel My Savior's Love, and I got to

perform my first ever vocal solo! I really enjoyed it! I think I forget how much I absolutely love

to sing, because I'm just always dancing. Anyway, then they fed us breakfast, and we got back on

the bus for another 5 hours. We got to Gilmer, set our stuff up at the Civic Center there, then

they took us to an old folks home, where a few couples performed our swing number, we sang

I am a Child of God, and then we just mingled with the residents there. Then they took us to the

stake center for dinner...and guess what? No BBQ! They had soups and sandwiches for us! I was

soo happy. They also had pie and ice cream, so they could make pie shakes for us! They were so

great :) Then we performed...then went to our homestay. Our homestay made us these yummy

smoothies, which was super nice and refreshing. Also, it felt like my bed had plastic over the

mattress...like it was the resident of a frequent bed wetter or something. Odd.

- Friday April 22 -

Our homestay today made us biscuits and gravy, along with bacon and eggs...why do they have such great breakfasts in Texas?! Love it :) Then when they got us to the stake center, our homestay gave us a bag filled with a bunch of mini snickers, gum, and a signed Texas flag!! So funny, yet adorable of her. Then we got to our final venue of tour! We met with the Longview Dance Team (they're a ballroom team), and watched them rehearse a few of their numbers after we laid the marley. It was pretty fun :) I think they're mostly (if not all) high school students. Also, this was the place that they said had asbestos...but they also said it wasn't bad enough to be concerned about. But then they said we probably shouldn't walk around barefoot if we could help it. Which is weird, since I'm pretty positive asbestos is an airborne kind of thing. Anyway, we had quite a bit of time to just hang out, and we sat outside in the sunny warmth. It was quite blissful.

Then we had a matinee show, where we just did about half of the show, combined with the dances from the other team. Then we ate dinner, and then we were called into the auditorium...there were a few members of our team who put together a spoof, I guess you could call it, of all of our dances put together. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!! Then our show was about to start, and the Longview dancers did all of their numbers as a sort of preshow for us, then we performed our show for the very last time! It was a really good show.

Funny story time: I got to do my solo tonight, and I have a super fast change to get into my costume. Well, once the lights go off on stage, it's pitch black in the wings, which normally is manageable, but I couldn't find my chair! So finally my friend Shanae found it and handed it to me and I went on stage and started dancing. It wasn't until probably 30 seconds into it that I discovered that it was this nasty, tan, beaten up folding chair that wasn't even ours! It definitely threw me off for a second, but it was mostly just really funny...

The rest of the show practically went without a glitch. Then I started bawling during the second to last piece while I was watching it, and I just couldn't pull myself together. During the whole closer I was just sobbing. I wasn't even sure why...it wasn't because I was sad. But it was just happening. So after the show, and after everyone was done crying, we finally put all the costumes away, and took off with our homestays.

- Saturday April 23 -

This is the day we got to go home!! We had to meet at the stake center at 5:30, so we could

make it to the airport in time. Because guess what people? I got to fly for the first time!! This

was a really big deal! And everyone made sure I remembered how exciting it was :) We sat in

the Dallas airport for a while, just chilling, looking around the airport, listening to Elizabeth

and Katie play the ukelele. Then finally....we got to board the airplane! Everyone was so excited

for me :) Once we were seated (yes, I did get a window seat :) even if it was right next to the

wing...), everyone kept looking back at me to see my reactions to the place. It was really funny

because I was toward the back of the plane, so I would see all these faces just turn around and

face me. I felt really bad for this one guy who was stuck in the middle of all of us...he looked

super annoyed. But especially once we started taking off...I almost had a hard time knowing how

to react, just because everyone was expecting some sort of amazing reaction from me, hahaha.

But I really did enjoy flying!! I really love it, actually! I want to fly all the time :)

So, it was a 2-3 hour flight, and I just read Harry Potter/slept the whole time. When I

wasn't just staring out of the window, that is. Haha. But then we finally landed (and again...I got

a bunch of stares) in SLC, and we got on another charter bus to take us back up to Rexburg.

There were quite a few people who took off from the SLC airport though, and there wasn't any

equipment on this bus from our tour, so there was a bunch more room, and I got a whole two

seats to myself. So I managed to take a real nap! And the next thing I knew, I was back in

Rexburg, back in my apartment!

This was a much different tour from the one I went on last year, and honestly it was a little

bit harder for me for some reason, but it was still such a great experience! I have thoroughly

enjoyed this year on DA, and have fallen in love with eastern Texas.

This is the earring that pierced my foot

This is Kevin and Nate

They are great

This was the outdoor theater next to a river

Our incredible bowling alley venue

That one time I got a bloody lip from getting punched in the face.

Twice.

Jesse and me dancing together at the swing workshop

Showing off all the items made with petroleum

At the Petroleum Museum

Who knew I had an ancestor who was in the oil biz?

Just posing...at the Petroleum Museum

Starting off tour while we're still fresh and rested

The view from my hotel room at Galveston

WE'RE AT THE BEACH!!!!

Cleaning out a horse stall at Fort Concho

Taking a break from cleaning to play on the wagon

We are angelic

Tying quilts for the Japanese hurricane vicitims

Kevin, me, and Bethani

Hiding from the asbestos...

Oh Texas....

I LOVE SUNSHINE!!!!

I don't have any costumes left!! The show's over!! :(

Chilling in the airport...playing the ukelele

My first ever plane ticket!

Walking down the tunnel into the plane

Look how excited everyone is for me to fly on this plane :)

ACDF

2011-05-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

Back in March I got to go up to Moscow, ID with the school to go to the American College Dance Festival. ACDF is where a bunch of different colleges and universities come together and perform and take classes. Each school brings two dances to perform--one done by a student, and one by the faculty. It's not a competition, but there are adjudicators to give feedback for each piece. During the day we took all sorts of classes. Some of the ones I took included modern, hip hop, jazz, african, falling, nuzzle and wag (yes, that's really what it was called...and it was one of my top favorites!), contact improv...among others.

Then at night, there were concerts. Wednesday night opened up with a concert showcasing and introducing the adjudicators. Then on Thursday and Friday the concert contained the pieces of all the participating schools. We performed ours on Friday night. Our student piece was by Amanda Conley (I'm so obsessed with her dance...it's incredible!), and then the faculty piece was our women's piece that we did for Extravadance. Then the adjudicators chose some of their favorites to perform for the concert on Saturday night. There were some seriously incredible pieces! And also some really stupid ones. Gotta have a good balance I guess :) We had driven up on Tuesday, checked into our hotel, and got ready for the week.

Me and Jane sitting in the back of Clifford, one of the bright red 12 passenger vans we took. The other one was named Big Red.

Story time!! We had been driving for a good number of hours, and were stopped at a rest station. Needless to say, it felt really good to get out of the van. Me and Jane were the last ones to the van, so I was trying to hurry while still enjoying the last few seconds I had outside. So I was just frolicking to the van. Well...frolicking on gravel isn't as easy as one would think. I had been fine on the grass, but as soon as I stepped off the curb, I fell down faster than...okay, so maybe analogies aren't my thing. But I fell hard and fast. Everyone in the van said it was hilarious/confusing, because one second I was there and the next I wasn't. So I managed to entertain everyone, but all I got out of it was a scraped up, bloody knee, and a hole in my $100 track suit. But you know, it made for a good story, right? :)

Me, Kelsey, and Taylor. I think this was the rest stop where I scraped my knee...

Me and Bethani! That was my official name tag. Everyone had one, and you had to have it to get into the classes and the concerts.

Jenese, Abbie, Bethani, and me posing before one of the classes

They had a pizza party for everyone on Friday (I think...), and the pizza they had was HUGE! And super tasty, of course :)

Me, Kelsey, and Alyssa putting our talents to good use before one of the concerts

It may have been a bit windy, but it was still pretty nice, so we had lunch outside one day

Kenzie, me, Bethani, and Kelsey posing with Abbie Fiyat. She's an incredible modern teacher from University of Utah. Our teacher, Ashley Hoopes, just recently got her master's degree from there and recommended that we take this class, because she knows her. I was not disappointed....it was easily one of my top favorite classes!!

Patiently waiting for a concert to begin...and of course I can't take a normal picture...

We are dancers. We like to take pictures.

This was just before we performed our women's piece on Friday night.

Just another picture of us enjoying lunch outside on the sidewalk

Me, Jane, and Taylor...again, just waiting for a concert to start.

I really like these guys.

Me and Shay had mismatched socks the whole time...we planned on taking a picture of our feet every day, but we only ended up with two. And the other one is on her camera...maybe time :)

Hers are a little more matchy than mine...hers both have orange in them at least!

We had to wait for a while before we got to do our lighting rehearsal.

We were tired.

So we slept.

Just one of our many talents :)

One last story...we were on our way home, and it was already a super long drive, when one of the vans (Clifford) ran out of gas. But we were probably 20 miles away from the closest gas station. So those of us in Big Red went ahead to get some gas to bring back to them. It took awhile, because the first gas station didn't have any gas cans, but we finally found a place that did. So some people stayed there while we went back to save Clifford. Well, we had the gas can, but something wasn't working...it just kept leaking and none of the gas was getting into the vehicle. We kept trying to flag down cars, but no one was stopping. Finally, an older couple stopped to help. Turns out, the cap just wasn't screwed on tight. Well, Taylor (the only male who was with us on this trip) ended up getting a lot of crap for not being able to figure it out. But hey, we ended up getting it figured out, and finally got on our way! I think we ended up driving for at least 12 hours that day. I was sooo happy to be back in Rexburg!

Stuck.....in Baby Oil!

2011-04-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

I definitely have a lot to update.....ACDF, Tour, my new calling, being a model wind-up doll....but it's pretty difficult to type at the moment. Why you ask? Because of this little guy.....

Now I know it seems petty to blame my problems on a baby product, but you try getting it all over your laptop keyboard. It doesn't make for an ideal typing situation. I just want you to imagine me pressing each key on my laptop with enough force to...well, I can't think of a good analogy, but the moral of this story is that I look ridiculous. Not to mention it takes wayyyy too long to type. So I'm getting it checked out tomorrow. Until then...I will be doing minimal amounts of typing :)

Change....

2011-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like this?

Because I definitely have.

In fact, I feel like that quite frequently.

But lately, I've been feeling a change coming.

I have no idea what that change is.

None whatsoever.

I also don't know what I need to be doing.

After all, I want to make sure it's a good change.

Because change is something I've been slightly terrified of.

And at the same time, it's something I've been intensely craving.

I've been stewing over this whole thing in my mind for awhile now.

And then I had a kind of cool experience.

Allow me to share.

I was at a rehearsal one night (shocking...), and we got done around 7:30.

I took my time getting my stuff together to leave, and next thing I knew, I was alone.

Completely alone.

In the Kirkham auditorium.

That's very rare.

There are always people in the Kirkham...especially in the auditorium.

So I decided to take advantage of the still quiet that was present in a normally chaotic setting.

I grabbed a book and a notebook, and sat in the middle of the auditorium to do my homework.

But....I couldn't focus on my homework.

Okay, so that's not much of a shocker.

But I still wanted to take advantage of this calm moment.

So I decided to just pray.

I just wanted to have a nice little conversation with my Heavenly Father.

It was very comforting.

But then I started getting distracted again.

This time by the electrical buzzing noise that comes from lights or sound systems.

At first I tried to just ignore it.

That didn't work.

So I thought, "Okay Megan, just get up and turn off the stinking sound system."

And then I thought, "But I'm sooo comfortable."

Seriously...it's not super common to be comfortable sitting in Kirkham auditorium seats.

So obviously I didn't want to move.

But now I couldn't focus on anything but that obnoxious, yet subtle, sound.

I fought it for awhile.

(seeing any parallels with change?)

But then finally, grudgingly, I got up.

I walked onto the stage, and over to the sound system.

Looking forward to that blissful moment of silence, I turned it off.

Nothing happened.

I didn't understand.

I had done what I thought was necessary.

And nothing happened to benefit me.

Sure, the sound system should have been turned off anyway.

But I was still experiencing that blasted electronic buzz.

So I stood there for a minute, trying to decide.

Was I just going to go sit back down?

Or should I search for the source of the buzz?

Okay fine...I was already up.

I'll look around.

I tried a few light switches.

Nothing.

So I looked for some more.....

..........

Found some.

Flipped them.

The sound finally stopped.

Oh blessed day!

Feeling incredibly accomplished (don't judge how easily satisfied I am...), I went and sat back down.

And you know what?

I was even more comfortable than I was before.

Coincidence?

Doubt it.

Did I learn my lesson?

Definitely.

I thought about analyzing it here for you...

But you can interpret it as you will :)

Moral of the story...there are changes coming in my life.

But I have to work to make them happen.

I am terrified.

But I can't wait :)

I desperately need one of these......

2011-03-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

Lately for some reason, I've really been dreading putting my clothes back on when I get out of the shower.

So, I keep trying to walk around in just my towel.

Unfortunately, as I don't live alone, it can cause awkward moments when my towel becomes loose....

So I've decided that I really just need to invest in a robe, since it's a more secure version of the luxuries of a towel.

I thought these ones looked really nice.

Too bad they're like a thousand dollars, since they're from Victoria's Secret.

Shame.

HOW DID I GET A SOLO?!

2011-03-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

This is the solo I had the privilege of performing at Saturday night's Extravadance.

Me and one other girl perform the same solo, but we rotate nights that we perform.

I am thoroughly in love with this dance.

The lyrics of this song talk about how she never knew love "before you".

Well, I am not in love with anyone right now.

So I dance as though I am the "before" love.

But you can interpret it as you will :)

PS....I'm still kind of blog retarded...half of this video is being cut off (at least on my computer), so you can just click on it and it'll take you to the YouTube version, which will probably be better....oops :)

EXTRAVADANCE - A Greater Love

2011-03-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

What an incredible experience this year's show has been.

It's a pretty stark contrast from last year's.

Last year's was pure entertainment--Broadway!

This year's is a more spiritual experience--Love.

I have learned so much from being a part of this team, and dancing to this theme.

I consider myself incredibly blessed.

Of course we love to take pictures...even when we should be warming up :)

We kind of look like "more bars in more places"...in our Opener costumes

"Appertaining Rage"...our totally legitimate hip hop!

We like to work our abs....we're pretty tough.

Lauren is a ninja and Bethani is a model.

This is the girl's "dressing room" backstage.

We get to hang all of our costumes on a big, long, metal bar.

This creates a kind of "wall" that we hide behind to change...usually.

We wear leotards, so we're not completely naked.

And we're dancers.

We have no personal boundaries.

There is no such thing as "awkward" or "uncomfortable".

I love it :)

I really love Lauren!

In one of our dances, a couple looks through a book while people dance behind them.

So we decided they needed something actually interesting to look at.

We drew them pictures :)

Did I mention that I really love Lauren? :)

I also really love this Laurin :)

This is Elizabeth...she is another favorite of mine.

I sure wish she wasn't graduating this semester :(

I am so grateful for everyone who came to this show.

I got to do a solo on Saturday night, and I had a great group of "fans" to support me.

My family was able to make it for the show, which meant so much to me.

I think I cried just about every night we ran the show...in a good way.

I hope everyone else was able to have such an emotional experience.

I have grown so much from this team and this show.

I was meant to do this.

I was meant to dance.

And I don't plan on ever stopping :)

Oh boy...

2011-03-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

There's a reason why I haven't updated for awhile. I wanted to give a full play-by-play of the two week tour I went on in August, and when I didn't do it right away, I felt like I couldn't post anything else until I got that done. Hence I've been stuck. But now I've decided that I'm just going to give a watered down version of what's been happening in my life since July/August. Here we go...

AUGUST

I went on tour as a dancer on Dance Alliance. We went to mostly Oregon and a little bit of California. It was an incredible experience...it was exciting and exhausting, uplifting and draining, too long and not long enough. We have a blog about it, so for more details about the things we did go to http://dancealliance2010.blogspot.com/ I wish I had taken the time to tell it better from a personal viewpoint...but unfortunately I didn't. So this is as good as it's going to get...

Taking our "Asian" picture while working on spacing/lighting

Me and Elsha frolicking in the Rose Garden in Portland

Call me a tree hugger...the Redwoods are awesome!

The true-blue, certified tour bus

It's hard work to be this tired....on a bus

When I got back from tour I had the incredible opportunity to get my wisdom taken from my face. Yup, all four wisdom teeth had to be pulled. It was pretty miserable. The anesthesia made me pretty nauseous...I rode in a car for 10 minutes about a week later and I got much too close to vomiting than is preferred. But don't worry...I didn't. The other thing about getting my teeth pulled is that it made my whole chin numb for longer than is normal. Then the feeling came back to the right half. It wasn't until a few weeks into the Fall semester that I regained full feeling in my chin. It was an adventure.

For the rest of the time that I was home for that month, I worked at Impact Athletic (formerly The Racquetball Club...which I will still always call it). No, I wasn't anything cool like a teacher or a trainer. Instead I got the glory of cleaning. I seem to be really good at getting those janitorial-type jobs. It gives me a paycheck though. I try not to complain.

SEPTEMBER

Fall semester. I decided to audition for Dance Alliance again...and I made it. Yay! It's a totally different team from last year's. First of all, the theme is pretty opposite of last years. Last year was Broadway--purely entertainment. This year the theme is: A Greater Love. It's a more meaningful, deep kind of show. Neither was better or worse,just...different. And just the general feel of the team is different. Some people are on it from last year, some from the year before, and some are completely new. It's a great team, and I do love it! It just took some adjusting on my part to get used to it. There are definitely more married people on the team this year too....interesting. I love it so much though.

Our opening social for the new D.A.

Photo shoot in the gardens on campus

Working on our hip hop

Photo shoot continued...

We are dancers...and we like to have fun

This has definitely been the hardest semester to stay motivated. I barely passed some of my classes because I could just not get myself to do all of my homework. Super horrible...but it's over now, and I ain't looking back.

OCTOBER

Nothing too exciting...except Halloween. My apartment threw the most rockin' Halloween party of my life. We had hay bales in the apartment (yes....in the apartment...I'm still finding hay all over the place...), donuts hanging from the ceiling, great music, lots of food, bobbing for apples, and SO MANY AWESOME PEOPLE!! It was probably the most fun I've ever had on Halloween. I dressed up as Tinkerbell...mostly because I'm obsessed with glitter.

Padme and a unicorn...an unlikely friendship that blossoms with candy

We think we're pretty funny...

Cristian!!

"You're my best friend....I hate you!" :)

NOVEMBER

All I have to say about this month is EXTRAVADANCE!! It was so good...I love when we do the show combined with the Collegiate teams. It's a good time. And I have so many faithful supporters who came to see us perform! It means so much to me when my family travels up to see me, and when my friends sacrifice a night to see what I've been spending all of my time on. It makes me so happy, and it's part of the reason I keep doing what I'm doing. So thank you to all who come to these shows!

I guess I really do have one more thing to say about this month....Thanksgiving. It was so nice to just be home and relax. We didn't do anything super crazy for the holiday...we didn't even leave town. Just went over to Grandma and Grandpa Turner's and enjoyed being with family! It was an eventful meal for me...there wasn't enough room at the table for everyone, and all the women (except me) were the last to sit down, so they all went into the other room to eat, leaving me alone with my dad, brothers, [male] cousins, and uncles. I'm not sure I've ever laughed so much at a Thanksgiving dinner.

Oh yea...and we got a Christmas tree over the break :)

Jason fell down...

DECEMBER

I made it through the end of the semester. Barely. At least I didn't have to pack up all of my stuff this time, since I'm staying in the same apartment next semester. So that was nice to not have to stress about. Moral of the story, I made it home for the Christmas break in one piece.

Yes...these pictures pretty well describe how I was feeling by the end of the semester

During the break my two really good friends Bethani and Dave got married, and they asked me to do their wedding pictures for them. It was so much fun to be able to be with them on their special day! We all met when we were on Dance Alliance last year, and were really good friends, so I've been able to be there throughout all of their dating, not dating, engagement and such. Therefore, they've adopted me as their "daughter". So we're a pretty cute little family :) They were both so adorable on their big day!

This is why I love these guys :)

Of course Christmas was great! I got to just spend quality time with my incredible family! Travis and Jill and their kids stayed with us for a good chunk of the break, and John and Robyn and their family were just down the road. Then Mike and Melissa brought their kids for a couple of days, and we were all one big happy family! The only ones missing during the holidays were David and Heather, and we did miss them. The break was a much needed one, and it was so good to see family that I don't get to see very often.

JANUARY

Back to the grind. Semester number 7. Am I really a senior in college? I sure don't feel like it. This is also my 5th semester in a row without a break. I'm taking a break from school this summer though, so I just need to make it through the rest of this semester. I'm only taking classes for the dance major this semester, so hopefully that will help me stay motivated.

At my friend Alex's birthday party...we have a good time :)

I finally got a good, solid job on campus! I'm a tutor in the Reading Center. This month all I did was the training, but I did get paid for it. The nice thing about this job is that I choose how many hours I want, and when I want them to be. And I get paid to do things that I normally do for class...like make flash cards. It's not too bad.

FEBRUARY

This is definitely the busiest semester of my life. Things are just crazy busy between work, dance, and socializing (which I don't even have much time for...). It's good though. Just exhausting.

One thing that keeps me so busy is that for my Teaching Techniques of Dance class we have to have 10 hours of observations and 10 hours of teaching throughout the semester. I have two teaching gigs to get my full 10 hours.

The first one is helping one of my fellow dancers teach her Irish class out at one of our teacher's studios once a week. I teach 2 little girls, about the ages of 8 and 9. It's been a super good learning experience.

The second one is doing Dancing With the Stars...at BYU-Idaho. It's an event they're doing on campus this semester, and I was asked to double team with my friend Amanda to teach a guy a hip hop routine. We got pretty lucky...our "star" is a pretty natural mover, so it's been fun to work with him. We're doing a kind of funny routine, about a love triangle. Don't worry though...I end up with the guy ;)

MARCH

We're only a week into the month. But it's already been super full. We've been doing lighting tech for Extravadance, so I've been spending even more of my life in the Kirkham. I'm starting to feel pretty trapped. It's time for it to get warm so I can go outside and do different things. Anyway...Extravadance is this month: the 11, 12, and 13. If you're in the area (even if you're not...) you should come! It's truly an amazing show. I've already cried while watching on multiple occasions. Come and love it.

To the Summit!

2010-07-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome ward activity a little while ago. We hiked R Mountain (also known as The Butte), and then we had the Polynesian dancers from the school come perform for us during the part where we ate food after the hike. I didn't get any pictures of after the hike (dang it...), but the whole thing was a good time!

The Commencement

Taking a break while we wait for the rest of our group

We made it to the top :)

I just couldn't resist... :)

Haha, not the prettiest jump, but I thought it was kinda funny!

The whole group! (Minus Bishop and a couple others who didn't go the whole way...)

The Triumphal Return

Jumping In Puddles

2010-07-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, it had been raining almost constantly in Rexburg. Well one night me and two of my roommates, Hannah and Shea, decided that instead of whining about more rain, we were going to embrace it!

We're only reliving the moment in this photo, but there had been a HUGE puddle right there where the cars drove by in the roundabout, and it was like getting sprayed by jet skis in the river! There was a big group of people just standing on the side there getting soaked...that is, until a cop came and spoiled the fun...

The wretched drain that got rid of our precious puddle...

That's all folks!

INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

2010-07-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I was really sad that I wasn't going to be able to spend the 4th with my family in Burley, but my friends did a pretty good job at making it a good day! We started off by helping out in the parade. Joy, the assistant director for Dance Alliance, also directs the Idaho Ballroom Academy, and her kids were dancing in the parade, so we directed traffic and pulled the candy wagons. After the parade we walked around the park for a bit, and then decided to have a waffle party.

After a bunch of us devoured some tasty, tasty waffles and played a few rounds of ninja attack, we went to Smith Park and played a mean game of kickball. Here's the crew...

To cool down we went to G's Dairy and got two of the the 13 scoop bowls and shared it between us all...it was super good, and there was super a lot!

Afterwards we got invited to a BBQ at Kyle's parent's house in Idaho Falls (Kyle is a DA member as well). Not only did they provide us with a fantastic meal, and hours of entertainment in the form of a trampoline and a front yard, but they also saved us some amazing seats for the firework show there in IF! It was very generous of them, and it sure made this Independence Day one worth remembering!

I think I may have been slightly tired after the fireworks...

Birthday Partyin'

2010-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

My birthday has always been slightly nonexistent. I mean, it is in the middle of the summer when no one is usually around, and two days later is the fourth of July. Therefore it just sort of gets lost in the mix of things. So this year I was pretty excited that I was going to be able to spend it with a bunch of my friends up here at school. Little did I know the surprises they had in store for me....

Three of my roommates got up at 4:00 am and left me chalk messages all the way to the Kirkham (the dance building on campus)

Crazy-heads!!

They even stayed awake long enough to make me breakfast! I had to be up at 5:30 that morning, so it was incredibly nice! And obviously super healthy.... :)

I apologize for my morning immodesty...they caught me off-guard. Haha.

Oh yea....and they also left me post-it notes around the apartment

I have been wanting a scooter for a while now, to use around campus, and a few of my Dance Alliance friends found out about it.....and decided to surprise me and get me one for my birthday. Goodness gracious, I was not expecting that! And just look at how beautiful it is! I tend to turn heads when I ride it around :)

Something funny about this is that my mom had sent me a check in the mail for my birthday to get myself a scooter, because I had told her that I wanted one. My friends had to stall my scooter-shopping because they had already gotten this one for me!

So besides the fact that I didn't get a birthday cake, and I didn't get to see my family...it was a pretty good birthday :)

Color Photography Assignment

2010-06-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the 8th

Me and some of my roommates making fishy faces at ourselves

Monday the 7th

We had a Mr. Potato Head contest, and these were the results

Saturday the 5th

Elizabeth wore the coolest glasses to the birthday party that night...

Friday the 4th

My beautiful friend Shanae agreed to stare off into the distance for me at twilight

Color Photography Assignment

2010-06-04T00:13:00.001-07:00

Thursday the 3rd

My roommate had been running through the rain in her sandals, and the color rubbed off onto her skin...sick!

Color Photography Assignment Continued...

2010-06-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Monday the 31st

My roommate sleeping during the 13 hour car ride back to Rexburg

Tuesday the 1st

My roommate, and dance compadre, doing a handstand during rehearsal

Wednesday the 2nd

A bowl of water ball things that a friend brought over, which has provided hours of entertainment

Color Photography Assignment

2010-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm taking a Color Photo class right now, which is a way good class! My latest assignment is a daily photo journal. So every day for about the next week and half I'll be posting pictures the things that I'm just experiencing daily! :)

Friday the 28th

Me and my roommates drove to California for the weekend. Th

is is our lunch. And yes, we ate it all...in one sitting.

Saturday the 29th

This is just a spot in San Francisco on a beautiful sunny day!

Dance Alliance Tour Info!

2010-05-27T23:06:00.001-07:00

Today we had a meeting to find out what the dealio is for our tour, and now I am just so super excited for it!! Here's the schedule :)

JULY

26-Nampa, ID Concert in the Nampa Civic Center

27-The Dalles, OR Concert (location yet to be decided)

28-Coos Bay, OR Concert at the Community College Auditorium

29-Roseburg, OR Concert in the Rose Theatre

30-Central Point, OR Concert possibly at the Crater Performing Arts Center

31-Grants Pass, OR Concert at Grants Pass H.S. Performing Arts Center

AUGUST

1-Stay in Grants Pass, OR for Sunday, where we'll have a fireside that night

2-Crescent City, CA This is our day off, where we'll get to go to the beach!

3-Eureka, CA Concert in the Arkley Center for Performing Arts

4-Redding, CA Concert (location yet to be decided)

5-Klamath Falls, OR Concert in the Ross Ragland Theatre

6-Bend, OR Concert in the Mountain View High School Auditorium

7-Ontario, OR Concert in the Four Rivers Cultural Center

8-Return back to Rexburg!

So that's the plan! And we'll stay with host families every night, except in Crescent City. That's the one night that we get to stay in a hotel. And also, our roommates will change every night too, so we get to be with everyone, all the time!

If anyone is in any of these areas, and goes to the performance (please do!), please feel welcome to come talk to me afterwards!! We won't have too long, but we'll take what we can get :) Also, if you do plan on coming, let me know so that I'm not stuck tearing up the floor and putting stuff away, leaving me with no chance to see you. I would love to see anyone I know while on tour! I'm so excited to be able to do this!!

In the swing of things!

2010-05-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Now that I've been back in school for about a month (wow!), I'm feeling the groove of the semester. My classes are definitely going full motion, I'm having some great times with friends, and I've found a job!

I found this job thanks to David and Heather. It involves a good wage, I can listen to my iPod while I work, I get to choose my own hours, and how many hours a week I want. I'm cleaning washing machines! Haha, so it's not super glamorous, but who says you need a glamorous job to get through college? It's not a fun job, but it's basically perfect for me right now. With slightly odd rehearsal times, it's so much easier to be able to do my own scheduling. I just have to make sure and schedule it, and not slack off!

I have so many wonderful friends and roommates! A couple of weekends ago, me and my roommate Hannah went to the Comedy Improv show here on campus. It was a show put on by The Society, which is an improv group with Kirby Heyborne, Lincoln Hoppe, and Corbin Allred (all LDS movie stars). It was so much fun! They were oh so hilarious!! It's not even something that you can describe, but we had a blast! And afterwards we went and got our pictures taken with each person, including the guy who played piano for them (who was amazing as well!).

So excited for the show!!! And super gross from dancing all....day....long.....

Me and Hannah with Lincoln Hoppe...

...with the amazing improv piano guy (I can't remember his name)...

....with Kelly....

....with Kirby Heyborne!! ....

....and with Corbin Allred!

Then that Saturday I went home and brought Hannah with me! My mom had come up for Melissa's baby shower in Idaho Falls, so they came and got me and we all went home to Burley! The main reason for going home was because Jakie Poo had a Trendsetter concert that he had been begging me to come to for a long time now. I actually didn't ever tell him I was coming, so it was a surprise. I was really excited to see his reaction and everything, and then when he first saw me he didn't get excited at all. Of course, at the time he was running late for the concert, but it was a little bit of a bummer. But then after the show (which was so fun!) he was pretty excited, so it's all good :) It was so much fun to have Hannah come home with me, so I could show her everything that I grew up with. And it was fun because she appreciated it! It's kind of a bummer when you show someone something really important to you, and they act like it's no big deal. So Hannah made it fun for me :)

So we have a big chalkboard in my apartment, and somehow it got turned into the Megan Love Board. Hahaha, most of my roommates and some other friends left me some notes, a picture, and even a poem on it! It's been erased by now, but it was fun while it lasted :)

Another random fun thing that we attempted was making a chocolate topping for some Rice Krispy treats. We melted all of the chocolate chips we had, but there wasn't very much so Jane suggested that we add some sweetened condensed milk to make it go a bit further. Well it ended up not working so well. The chocolate all clumped up, and it tasted a tiny bit funny. It actually looked exactly like hamburger meat. Not exactly something you want to put on Rice Krispy treats that your roommate is taking to all the girls in the Relief Society haha. Instead we just ended up eating it. I ate it with a banana and it wasn't too bad :)

My classes are keeping me plenty busy too. We're learning Mambo right now in Ballroom, which is pretty fast and giving me a pretty good sized challenge! And I just had my first test in my Clogging class. I don't know what I got yet, but I felt alright about it. My Real World Math class is giving me a bit of grief. I haven't taken a math class since my junior year of high school. So I guess it's appropriate that I'm taking it as a junior in college now, eh? It just takes way more time than I have. So hopefully I can pass it! My Doctrine and Covenants class is fabulous! I have been gaining a lot out of it, and I love my teacher! I'm also taking a Color Photography class which is going to be very helpful. I'm already enjoying the assignments so far! And of course Dance Alliance is going just fabulous :) We just learned the opening number for our show, and it is so much fun! Very high energy, and consists of two of my favorite styles of dance--jazz and African.

Also, I just got a letter from Parker this past week, and he is just doing so good!! It's always such a treat to hear from him :) He's been out for just over 5 months now! It's going by faster than I expected! And yet, still not fast enough. Haha.

The sun has finally decided to come out in Rexburg! The weather has started to warm up, which is definitely enough to make someone smile. Today after church I sat outside on the lawn to do my homework for an hour and a half, and then my friend Kassi came over and us and Jane sat outside for another hour and a half just hanging out. It's been SO nice! I even got a little bit of a sunburn :)

New semester!

2010-05-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

So this is my first semester being on Fast Grad. Usually I'm off track in the summer, so this is different! My classes are all pretty good so far. I'm only taking two dance classes, but they are so much fun! I'm taking a ballroom class, which is way different from anything I've ever done before! I've never partner danced, so it's really difficult for me to learn how to follow. I also have to learn the boy's part, so that just adds to the difficulty. But, it's dance, and I'm willing to work at it :) The other dance class I'm taking is clogging, which is by far my favorite class! I've never clogged before, which just seems to be a shame. It's incredibly addicting, and it's a crazy good workout! Since I sprained my ankle in September (and never really let it heal...), clogging has been making it hurt a bit more. And I get some pretty nasty shin splints. But let me just say that it is totally worth it. That's how cool clogging is :)

The search for the job is an ongoing, and so far unsuccessful, venture. I had a job interview at the end of last semester, and was given the job, but then I lost it because siblings can't work the same job on campus, and David was already working there. So now I have to try and find a different one. It's really hard at this point, because most people have already done they're hiring, but I'm being positive! There really is no other alternative, right? :)

Dance Alliance rehearsals have picked right back up! We started off with learning Hairspray, which is a way fun, high energy dance with all 36 of us in it. And now I'm learning a Fosse dance, which is so much fun! Fosse is a very stylized type of jazz dance. Some of the songs that we're doing it to is Bye Bye Blackbird, Hey Big Spender, and All That Jazz. For this dance we're wearing character shoes, which is really different for me. I've never danced in any sort of a heel before. I wore them today during rehearsal for two and half hours, and my feet were feeling it! It's definitely going to take some getting used to, but it'll be way fun :) I'm so blessed to be on such an amazing dance team!

Let's Try This Again...

2010-04-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

So obviously I've been a horrible slacker when it comes to updating my blog. It's been almost two years since my first (and only) post, so we'll see if I can catch up! And also...that last post was done by someone other than me (who shall remain nameless...for the sake of avoiding embarrassment...haha). Not that it isn't necessarily true! I just don't want people thinking I'm playing favorites ;)

So for what's happened in the past two years...well, I graduated high school, then I worked two jobs that summer at home. I worked at the movie theater and at the Fairfield hotel doing housekeeping. Then in the fall I headed up to Rexburg to attend BYU-Idaho! At the time I was a Photography major and a Dance minor. For the second semester, I tried out and made the Collegiate Contemporary Dance Team, which was so much fun! And then summer came and I moved back home, where I worked at the hotel again.

Then I came back up to school for my sophomore year, and did the Collegiate team again. It was also that semester that I decided to change my major to dance, and have photography as my minor instead. So that was an exciting (and slightly nerve-wracking) change in my life! And then in December I sent my boyfriend off on his mission to Brazil. We had dated for a little over 9 months, and had been best friends for a while before that so it was hard to see him go, but he's been doing so good!!

After the Christmas break I came up again and prepared for the dance major auditions, and I had decided to audition for Dance Alliance, which is the big deal touring dance team for BYU-Idaho. I was incredibly nervous for it, and had no idea if I would be able to make it, but I did! Talk about a miracle! And in February I did the dance major audition. Surprisingly it wasn't as scary as the auditions for Dance Alliance, but I think that's because I was only auditioning with 5 other people, all of whom I was friends with. Anyways, after the audition it took about 2 weeks to find out if I made it or not. When I found out that my letter had come in, I was on campus in the middle of classes, but I ran home to find out anyway. I just opened the letter at the mailbox, and found out that had I made it!! That was one of the best moments of my life.

So now I'm basically just a dancing fool! Last semester we learned the first half of our tour show, which we performed in Extravadance along with the Collegiate dance teams. We'll be learning the rest of the show this semester, and will have another Extravadance that we'll have on July 8, 9, and 10. And then we go on tour for two weeks at the end of this semester! We'll be going up to northern Idaho, Oregon, California, and Nevada. Anyways, that's just very brief update of my life, and I'll do my best to keep it updated! :)

Melissa Is Awesome!!

2010-04-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

My sister, Melissa, is the best thing that has ever happened in my whole life...she pretty much rocks my world...I love her so much!!! :)

I Caved

2008-05-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

Melissa has been on my case for a while trying to get me to get a blog. So today I finally caved, and told her to help me set it up. Now the question is whether or not I will keep it updated...