Blinking

Have you ever had so much fun blinking?! Yes you read that right...blinking! Because I never thought it could be amusing until now. Although with my brothers anything can be made into an adventure. 

It all started when I told Nick about us having a planking competition and Jeff St. Mars sitting across from us thought he heard a blinking competition.  Immediately Kevin and I faced each other and started blinking as fast as we could. Which then resulted in much laughter for the ridiculousness of the situation. Nick joined in and his blinking was very fast but we attribute that to his little squinty Asian eyes. The faces we made in the process were priceless!

So as we sat at the end of the table laughing, and ferociously blinking away, the rest of the table looks on in awe as to what could possibly be so funny. If only we could explain and have them not think we are crazy. 

That is what I love about family. We laugh a lot about ridiculous things that shouldn't really be funny, and aren't to anyone else. 

Power of Prayer

It is days like today where I am grateful that I have a knowledge of prayer. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who is always ready to listen when I'm ready to talk. He is always there when I need Him. I have faith that He is there and that He will help. I have gone through the moments when I have prayed and the answers have come in the most bizarre way, or the answers I seek have not come for an extended period of time, or I have received answers but not ones I had hoped for. The important thing is that I believe in the power of prayer. 

My first experience isn't even my own but it is one that I would like to always remember.

It is from my Grandma McLaughlin and I am retelling it as I remember. 

My grandma has struggled with psoriasis for almost 60 years. There have been times it was worse than others but it is something she has had to deal with most of her life. There were times that I remember her being almost depressed. There were the memories we would share and as the day would come to a close and we would say our goodbyes, it almost felt like we were having to say goodbye forever. Luckily she has found happiness again since then. But last year my grandma went to her weekly bible study group and she asked the ladies there to say a prayer for her. This is how I know that my grandma also has faith in the power of prayer, because she asked for that little extra help. About a week later Pappap out of nowhere asked if they could start eating blueberries. That is where it all started. For over a year my grandma has been eating a handful of blueberries everyday, and on Christmas day she shared with us that her psoriasis is cleared up and she feels amazing! 

Pappap has no idea why he wanted to start eating blueberries, but I believe it was inspired to help answer Grandma's prayers. 

There are many people who could try and argue me on my beliefs, saying things like, "why wasn't that prayer answered many years ago and grandma would have felt better much earlier in life?" I get the why questions a lot, and I don't know everything but I have a pretty good idea that God needed her to go through certain trials in her life to learn certain lessons that otherwise would not have been learned. Anyone can ask why bad things happen to good people, and as bad as they may seem at the time, they are really for our good. I believe that each of us has a certain plan and things we need to learn while here on earth. Maybe Grandma found even more joy and happiness then she would have otherwise. Maybe it was to help show her the power of prayer. Whatever it is I am glad she went through her trial but I'm even more excited that now she has found a solution!

My second story is not as big as the first but it is another great reminder that God hears our every prayer, not just the big ones. 

Today I was outside in the backyard with Dad and Kevin shooting Dads muzzleloader. We had our fun and cleaned up and went inside. When dad was taking apart the gun to clean it he realized that a wedge piece that holds the barrel in was missing. He asked Kevin and I if we had seen it and since we hadn't we all went outside in search of it. We do have some snow on the ground but it is slowly melting away.  We searched for about 10 minutes with no luck. As I was searching I silently just said a quiet prayer to help us find this missing piece. There was no doubt in my mind that God would willing me help me since I had done my part in asking and having faith. Not even a minute later I found it sitting on the ground near some mud.

Would I have found it had I not said a prayer? Probably eventually we would have. But the point is that it was found after I had prayed. Either way it amazed me yet again the love that God has for me enough to help us find a small piece of a gun. 

I am grateful for the knowledge I have and the power of prayer!

Christmas 2013

Aunt Faith sent us beautiful flowers for Christmas!

The best part of our Christmas Tradition is going to Christmas Eve service at Dads church every year. It is the best way to help us keep in mind what the real reason for Christmas is. We read the Christmas story from Luke and hear a great Christmas message each year. There would be no Easter without Christmas. The Only Begotten Son had to be born into this world so that he could die for us and allow us to return and live with Heavenly Father someday. 

I love being home with my family and especially these big guys that take care of me and make me laugh. I know they will always be looking out for me and they know that I care about them more than almost anyone else in the world.

it is also nice to be home with my great parents that await these visits anxiously! I love being home and creating new memories with my family with every visit. This year for Christmas Eve we went bowling and had some great times.

one of my favorite gifts was this Penguins mug with a piece of the old arena nicknamed the Igloo. They tore it down some years ago and now they have the Console Energy Center. 

For my class my mom got my class this book because they love the video, even though it's ridiculous.

it wouldn't be Christmas without and awesome present for Grandma and Pappap. This year they got a legit park bench. Especially cause my family is awesome they had it put together in about 15 minutes.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I can't wait to live with no roommates!

If your lucky you have escaped my rant about roommates. Going through college I for the most part had nice clean roommates. Maybe because this is a bigger house means we can have a bigger mess, but I don't agree! I love a clean kitchen and have to have one. My roommates don't feel the same motivation as I do apparently because most days I feel like their mother or the maid. I try hard to leave it until they clean it up but I can't take it that long and who knows how long it would be before they get around to it. 

So much trash!

Always a full sink and an empty dishwasher

keys are meant to be left in the door...right?!

the lint apparently gets put on the floor outside the dryer

Sometimes they sweep but leave the dirt pile 

I can't wait to live alone or with just one other person or with someone responsible!

Doubt not, fear not

In the Latter Day Saints church we believe in paying a tithe to the church of 10% of our income. The Lord has given us everything and all he asks is 10% in return to help other people and build up the church. I have been paying this for years and have always heard stories how The Lord has blessed people in their time of need if they are full tithe payers. I have never been in a position that I could be one of those people until now. 

I'm not going to go through my whole financial history but recently with medical bills and doctor visits an other unexpected costs, I have run rather low in numbers. I wish I didn't have to worry about money but I do. 

Some time went by and I was getting lower and lower in money and I was stressing out more. I kept thinking in the back of my head, "is this where The Lord comes in to bless me? And if so where is he?" 

I should have remembered everything I've been taught that I should not fear. The Lord did pour out his blessings upon me throughout 3 days time...

Day 1- a friend that owed me money unexpectedly paid me back

Day 2- for whatever reason me school district has extra money and are usin it as a holiday bonus to teachers :)

Day 3- I am getting paid a small bonus in December for a leadership team I am on at school. 

The Lord is, and always will be, on my side and watching out for me. I need not fear, with him always near. I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Cheist and the principles that I live like tithing and have been blessed for my obidience. 

Harry Potter 5k

There is a wonderful teacher that I work with at school and she told me that she was running a harry Potter 5k. Well naturally I got super excited and jumped on the chance to do anything Harry Potter! Of course I dragged Ashley along with me and it was a lot of fun.

They even had a mini tri-wizard cup for the winning house. We were both on Gryffindor, I am not sure which house actually won.

 

I LOVE HARRY POTTER!

Ali Daugherty

November 22, 1989- October 27, 2013

Dear Ali,

From what I can remember we first became friends in 4th grade Mrs. Hurt's class. We went to Amy P's house or Olivia's house a lot for sleepovers and it was always a good time. There was one night though that you slept over at my house and my mom too up to Giant Eagle for some snacks. We decided to try Flammin' Hot Cheetos, which was not a very good idea at the time. Luckily my mom was smart enough and suggested we get an ice cream bar too just in case they were too hot. We got back to my house and we were choking because they were so hot and I just remember stuffing the ice cream in my face to try and cool it down. 

I am not sure why that memory has always been so vivid in my memory, maybe because I ended up loving those Cheetos! 

Fast forward 2 years when I met Erica and I found out that you two grew up together and once again we became pretty good friends. The 5 of us girls were together all the time on the weekends. You were always so loud, you had legit conversations when you were sleeping, you hog tied Niko Givinangalo! We were thrown in the pool countless times, corned many houses, had our own little Christmas party every year. We sat in the nook every morning before school started. You and Liz cheered, while Erica and I were mascoting. We dominated Powder puff football. 

There are so many memories that I hold on to from when I was growing up, from those who have passed and those still around that I don't see anymore. You were definitely a part of my life for many years as we grew up in little old Ligonier. 

I am proud the woman you became too after school. I was always excited to see pictures of Kendyl on facebook or instagram. I only met her once but I could tell what an amazing mother you were. I know that your family will raise her and take good care of your little girl and always reminding her of her amazing mother. 

Between Adam, Megan, Brandon, Alex, Zack, you, and others, I hope that someday Ligonier will stop seeing so much death in the younger generation. I pray for peace for all the families, but I can see how a little town comes together through each one. 

Watch out for us Ali, I know where you are and that for some reason the Lord needed you there more than here. I will see you again someday, and until then this is not goodbye, but see you later. 

Love,

Megan