25

I started a new blog. I got tired of this one and needed a fresh start. I might still update this one. I haven't decided if I'm completely scrapping it or not.

I would kill for a pizza

For the past year, I've been having some minor digestion issues that I finally asked the doctor just before my insurance ran out thanks to turning 25. After running a few tests, everything was declared "normal"--no food allergies, no intolerances other than the horrible lactose intolerance that began this whole food battle, no parasites, no nothing. So if everything is so "normal," why isn't everything normal?

So now that I have no insurance, I've taken things into my own hands. Thanks to Google, I discovered an absurdly comprehensive elimination diet, which allows me to eat nothing but fish and rabbit food for a month before I begin adding human food back into my diet. This is what I've been eating since Saturday:

The white lump is fish, and the green lump is avocado.

It's not all bad. I like fruits and veggies and fish, and I like that I haven't felt sick every time I eat, and there's a chance that I might lose my love handles this month, but I could really go for a nice juicy burger and a butt load of fries. I seriously think I'm going through grease withdrawals.

According to the doctor who invented this diet, I could potentially become less sensitive to certain foods by the time I figure out what it is I'm sensitive to, so I'm hoping, while keeping my feet securely planted on solid ground, that by the end of the month my digestive system will just reset itself, and I'll be able to eat again. And if that's the case, I'm eating an entire pizza by myself to celebrate.

I Dyed My Hair

My hair used to look like this:

Now it looks like this:

I wanted it to be this color:



I'm thinking about trying for the Fine Frenzy red again and getting my hair cut like this:

or like this:



I'm kind of leaning toward the bottom picture with the bangs from the top picture. But maybe I should go without bangs for a while since I always let them grow out anyway. What do you think?

So... It's Been a While

I have a confession: sometimes I don't update my blog because my life is boring. Maybe boring isn't the right term, but my life is, nonetheless, completely average. And I'm not very creative, so while some of you are writing vibrantly witty blog posts, making the most ordinary thoughts or activities amusing to any casual reader, I suffer from chronic writer's block, which explains why I no longer want to write for a living. I still enjoy writing, but I just can't do it all the time. I have to wait for inspiration to burrow its way through all my mind's clutter, and if I have constant deadlines all up in my grill, I can't really afford to be patient with myself.

But what about the bachelor's I just earned in professional writing? Well, I decided before I graduated that I wanted to be an editor anyway, not a writer. And editing is still a possibility. There's just not much demand for entry-level editors right now. But some of you might remember when I was a health science major. Despite my ridiculous diet of Cup O' Noodles, Chinese take-out, and whatever confectioner's delight was currently in my apartment, I was working toward a career in nutrition. Well, I'm not going to be a nutritionist, but I am going back to my health science roots.

A couple weeks ago, I was on Facebook and saw an ad that said "Become an ultrasound technician," and I was like, "ok." I didn't click on the ad because bad things happen when you click on Facebook ads, but I did my own research, found a program nearby, and decided that I really wanted to do this.

This career change was a recent decision, so I'm rushing and struggling to communicate with Everett Community College so I can start taking classes in the fall. I've applied, but I can't get anyone to answer my e-mails or phone calls, so the whole thing is still kind of iffy. At the same time, I'm really depending on starting ASAP. I need to finish my pre-reqs by the end of winter so I can apply for the diagnostic ultrasound technology program at Bellevue College. If I don't finish my pre-reqs by winter, I may be doomed to wait another year to start the program, and that is just unacceptable. I'm turning 25 in a few weeks, and I need to get out of Marysville once and for all and get on with my life.

So if all goes according to plan, which I'm determined it will, I will be an ultrasound technician in a couple years, and I am so excited about it. I feel like I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up and I feel as giddy as my childhood self who wished she could grow up to be a dolphin.

The Big Yellow One Is the Sun

I've been home for almost two months now. Since that time, it has been raining nearly nonstop. My favorite was last Wednesday. When I left work, it looked like we were actually going to have some decent weather for a change. And by that I mean there were a few breaks in the clouds, and could tell the sky was still blue. But before I made it home, it started pouring. Really pouring. Streets in Marysville were flooded up to the doors on pick up trucks. I drove up the hill toward my house and watched people taking pictures from under umbrellas, which is significant because Seattleites never use umbrellas. Water was geysering out of the street drains, transforming our hill into a river.

 Here are a few pictures I stole from a friend's Facebook. I'm sure he won't mind. This was after things had let up a little.

Saturday was perfect. I didn't have to work, the sun was out, and it was 74 degrees. I ate my lunch on the deck and sat outside for hours with my laptop, intending to apply for jobs, but the loveliness of the day was much to distracting. I knew I was going to get burned, but I didn't care because it had seemed like ages since I had seen the sun. I could deal with the burn. Plus, I really like aloe vera's cooling effect on my hot skin. The unfortunate part is that I sat on one side of the table the entire time I was outside. My left side got a lot more sun then my right side.

Sunday was cloudy again. My cherry arm is the only evidence that the sun showed its face in Marysville.

Dear Sun,

Please come back. I'm miserable without you, and I'll be needing to even out my skin tone once this turns into a tan.

Love,

Megan

Why I Don't Dance

I just can't show up people like this:



Wait! Wait! Wait! Here's another one that involves wigs. I think my favorite part is the end, starting around 3:10. This guy rocks.

Midgets

Why does TLC have so many midget shows? Midget documentaries are boring. They do everything average-sized people do; they just need a ladder to do it.

If it's not the little people, it's the big families. They have the Duggers, who should really consider a vasectomy. What are they up to now? 19? But then there are all these shows about multiple-birth families. You'd think TLC would have learned their lesson with Jon and Kate, but now it's Table for Twelve, starring the Hayes family with their two sets of twins and a set of sextuplets. Let's hope show biz doesn't get to them, but if it does get to them in the same way it got to Jon and Kate, at least TLC could have one last special where the Hayeses spill their guts about the destruction of their once happy lives.

Who would ever want a camera crew following them around 24/7?

Silly people.

The Mysterious Odor

Making myself comfortable on my bed, I unwrapped my bandage, revealing my iodine-stained arm. I had donated plasma over three hours earlier, and the hole still bled a little, but that's typical. I think when I pull off the gauze, all the dried blood gets pulled up with it, reopening the wound. Either that or I'm a hemophiliac. While I dabbed the drop of blood, and contemplated what item to check off my to do list first, I smelled a faint unpleasant odor. I held my arm up to my nose and inhaled. It smelled like iodine. That wasn't it. Oh, well. I ignored both the smell and my homework and checked my Facebook for the third time today. Derek Lemmon commented on my photo. I smelled my arm again. Iodine. I looked down at my legs crossed under me. I leaned over till my nose nearly touched my right foot. Mystery solved.

Barack Does Whatever He Likes

I found this on YouTube today, and I thought it was hilarious. Maybe it's because it makes fun of Obama, or maybe it's because I like the original song so much and have a little dance to go along with it. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Beginning of the End: A New Way of Life

Today is the first day of my last semester at BYU-Idaho, and I feel great. I'm ashamed to admit I was feeling rather pessimistic about coming back to school after Christmas, but now that I'm here, I'm actually looking forward to it. I've set some new goals for the year, and (thanks to Natalie) I'm calling them my "New Way of Life." I have some significant changes I want to make that will hopefully contribute a healthier, happier me.

I began the day feeling proud of myself for sticking to my "New Way of Life" schedule. I actually woke up at seven o'clock and went to the gym before class today. I'll pause now to give myself a pat on the back.

...

My first class was Rhetorical Studies, which sounds like it's going to be a lot like Advanced Research and Literary Analysis, except I'll be creating a magazine instead of a literary journal, and my articles get to be a lot shorter. I sat in quiet contentment as the rest of the class squirmed in their seats and asked nervous questions. "I totally got this," I thought to myself. "One research paper and seven 500 word articles? Piece of cake after last semester."

There's no way it can be more difficult anyway.

Last night, I got an email about i-Comm, a practicum program that offers "real world" experience for people interested in Broadcasting, Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising, etc. The email specifically mentioned copy editors, and since I'm considering an editing career, I thought I'd check out the class today. So now I'm officially an i-Comm copy editor for The Scroll, and I'm actually pretty excited for it. I only have to put in three to five hours of work per week besides class time, and I can do it whenever I have the time. Tomorrow I'm going to the i-Comm office to be trained. I can also write articles for The Scroll, which I think I will, mostly so I can say I've been published on my resume, but also just for the heck of it. I might as well try it out while I can. I kind of wish I would have known about this sooner. Oh, well. I'm doing it now!

Look at me! I'm on my way to success!

Hello, New Year. Nice to Meet You.

I have a few things on my mind right now, and I'm not sure why I'm about to post them on the internet. Sometimes I'm not even sure why I have a blog at all. I'm generally a pretty private person and keep a lot of things to myself. Anyway, here's a look inside my very cluttered mind. Enjoy.

• I don't want to go back to school on Monday. I know Laura would tell me to be positive and make it a great semester, and I'll see what I can do, but I don't want to face the winter or my classes. Three 400 level Writing classes? What have I done to myself? The good new is all my classes are either in the Smith or the Spori. No more hiking to the Hinckley and Ricks Buildings for me!
• I want to combat the media's influence on young women. I want to help girls feel powerful and achieve great things. I'm looking into different programs and trying to find a way to get involved.
• My little dog leaped halfway across the table and nearly ate my face today. I screamed. It was simultaneously hilarious and terrifying.
• I wish I would have gotten involved in more extracurricular activities.
• I don't like feeling left behind.
• Starting the first day of the semester, I'm going to be a healthier person. I'm not going to eat junk food all the time, and I'm going to create an exercise schedule and stick to it. I want to be like my grandpa--still running around and beating my grandkids at ping pong when I'm 74,
• I kind of have a little bit of a crush. It kind of took me by surprise, actually. He doesn't know, and it will probably stay that way because I'm still 14 when it comes to guys.
• I really want to get a dalmatian, but I have to wait until I have a place for it and time to take care of it.
• Skidmark, my golden brown '87 Honda Accord, is gone. I'm excited to go car shopping in the summer!
• I think I would rather move to San Francisco than get a church magazine internship, but I'm still planning on applying.
• I'm going to be 25 this year. Nigga what?
• I don't feel like sleeping right now.