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On Monday, it’s all about the little things.

25 Oct

If you take the weather of the last two weeks into consideration, then I’d say we have a pattern with dreary Mondays. Today being 1 out of the 2. Here’s what my dashboard had to say about it:

After such dreary days last week I was determined to spice things up and add a little fall cheer to my office. Fall is my most favorite season after all. Enter the cinnamon candle.

With all my heart

I’m thinking of making a seasonal candle a staple of my office — just to make things that much better! With that candle burning I want to wrap myself in a blanket, grab some hot apple cider and snuggle up for an afternoon with my favorite book. Maybe after work?

Like this cinnamon candle.

Anything you use — at home or at work — to make your day better?

Fall the very best season of them all.

5 Oct

The changing tree at my aunts house in Iowa

I took Charles for a walk tonight, right at dusk. I hate that the sun drops so early these days. The passing of summer with its sense of adventure and warm weather always brings a mixture of emotions for me. I love fall with all my heart. The feeling of coming home, being centered and knowing that it will all be alright. The changing leaves, soup season, start of a new school year, temperatures that call for a sweatshirt at night, Halloween, Thanksgiving, they all do it for me. One by one and as a whole.

It just hit me tonight that it’s really fall despite my best attempts to hold it off. Walking by sprinklers and wet grass through piles of dropped leaves really sealed the deal. This is my favorite time of year (though Christmas holds a special place in my heart as well) and all I want to do is make some potato soup and go wrap myself in a sweater and spend the last few nights I can outside.

Here’s to fall, the very best season.

My mom isn’t just a mom.

21 Sep

I love her!

Over the past few years I’ve started to take notice of new things and appreciate things that have been in my life from the beginning. I’ve started to really appreciate everything my parents did for me. I’ve started to realize that my parents are people… not just my mom and dad. I see myself in my mom and I see her in me. I relate to her.

It dawned on me that my mom is a girl too. I know, revolutionary. She had elementary school crushes and dreamed of her first kiss with prince charming, just like I did. She played sports in high school and giggled like an idiot with her friends because that’s what girls do, just like I did. She went to college, probably experienced heart-break and got her first job, just like I did.

She has emotions, she feels things and has days where nothing goes right and the world is against her. It’s hard to believe that the woman who always had the answer, always knew what to do and was always there probably had doubts, fears, flew by the seat of her pants… but that never once stopped her from being the best she could be.

It’s weird, I can’t pin point when exactly my mom stopped being a mom, and became a person. But she did. She works because she has to support herself, no longer to support me. She’s always been a great Mom, an amazing mom (though there were a few fights back in high school where I most certainly didn’t support that statement). But now, I realize she’s also an amazing woman, friend, sister, confidant and woman.

I love her and am eternally thankful for her. I’m blessed to be her daughter.

Goats

15 Sep

I mentioned my dad’s farm a few posts ago. However, I believe I failed to mention one of the most fascinating and wondrous details from that time on the farm. Are you feeling excited yet? Well you should be.

My dad had all kinds of animals: Ducks, Geese, Dinosaur ducks (see picture below), guinea’s, a horse, chickens (and more specifically a flock of roosters created to attack and wreak havoc on bare human legs), three or four kinds of dogs, and goats.

Dinosaur ducks attack!

They all seem rather average at first sight, but the goats, oh the goats, they were something special. They had magical powers — well, only one magical goat power. They fainted. My Dad had a herd of fainting goats. Please view this video for proper fainting goat, magical power education:

Those aren’t his specific goats, but they’ll do. And, that lady’s hair will always leave something to aspire to. I thought the fainting goats were the most novel thing since sliced bread and cell phones. You chase after them, their body becomes rigid as if they were instantaneously turning into a stone statue and they un-glamorously fall over, all within a matter of seconds. Like this:

Goat faints.

And here is a baby, you know you want to take it home:

Isn't it cute.

This here, this is Dodge. He’s old, cantankerous and capable of impregnating any and every female goat within a half mile. He has also trained his super powers to prevent himself from falling over. As a result, he just stiffens up and stands there. Boring.

Grown goat faints!

There were three “goat herding” dogs that hung around as well, though only one *actually* watched and herded the goats (the one with the herd below). One took to guarding the mini-van (the lone one down below), clearly a precious possession while the other one meandered around constantly looking for something to eat (the one with the food bowl).

That’s all. I have to say if I EVER live on a farm again I will be obtaining a herd of fainting goats. Because I heart them.

Operation book sale.

13 Sep

I love books. I love them. I get attached to them. That’s why for the entire past year I’ve been looking forward to the library book sale. Which happened to be this last weekend. I think I’m equally excited for Christmas as I am the book sale. <Insert nostalgic sigh>

I dragged the bf to be the muscle of the library book operation. Someone had to carry them around for me… and it was also payback for “teaching how to play a computer game involving tanks” at 10:00 the night before. I’m sure he loved every second, and by loved I may mean simply existed through the hour or so I spent digging through boxes and piles of books. I walked away (on day 1) with two bags full of books and $32 less in my wallet.

We went back after a quick lunch to fuel up on Sunday. Sunday is the holy grail of book sale days. You get as many brown grocery bags as you want and you fill them up with any and all books you want — and get this — it only costs $6 a bag! I had to elbow a greasy aunt Edna out of the way to score the signed Ann Packer book and loaded up with the Poison Wood Bible among others. Again I had the bf haul my books around and feigned interest. At one point he looks at me incredulously and says “Are you actually going to read all of these? This would take me a lifetime”.

And to that I replied. “I am”, good sir, I am.

$12.80 later and I’m home with this pile of love:

Such a deal at the library sale!

I love these books

Lots of keepers in there

I’m 24. And, 25 things to do before I’m 25.

10 Aug

I'm 24 and can hardly believe it.

I turn 24 today.

It’s weird, I feel like there is no way I’m already 24. When I was a little kid, 24 seemed so old, so mature. An age where things had fallen into place. An age where you had a great job, you had your own house, where you were dating the Ken doll. Where everything was glamorous. Not to say my life isn’t those things, but it’s weird to feel nothing like I dreamed I would.

This past year has literally flown by. I know things speed up as we age, but holy freaking cow. I  just remember being in elementary school praying for Christmas and all my presents to come faster, in contrast to now when I wish we could skip it all together because I don’t have time to shop. That’s been my life this year.

This past year I started commuting an hour each way to work, I met an amazing guy, I moved in with one of my best friends, I live near downtown, I traveled (North Carolina, Iowa, San Francisco, Louisville, Philadelphia, Indiana, Chicago, Los Angeles, and up to the mountains of CO), I climbed a fourteener and I got back to my roots and figured out what I believe. It was busy to say the least.

With that said, here are a 25 things I want to accomplish before I turn 25… before I’m a quarter of a century.

  1. Spend a week on a beach. Any beach. Unplugged.
  2. Re-work the design of this site.
  3. Read 12 books, one per month.
  4. Post 100 times… 30 will, hopefully, be cranked out in November.
  5. Be healthy. Get back to working out and eating well.
  6. Try yoga.
  7. Take cooking classes.
  8. Schedule time for myself each week.
  9. Find a classy purse that suits me. And buy it.
  10. Be able to do 10 push ups.
  11. Attend Canvas and Cocktails.
  12. Smile more often — especially at strangers.
  13. Fix Charles. Surgery and all.
  14. Be happy. So much of it is in my control.
  15. Pick a cookbook and make all the recipes – except the ones with mushrooms or other inedible objects.
  16. Tell everyone I love, why I love them.
  17. Send more mail. Cards, packages, random gifts.
  18. Stay up late drinking wine and talking, even though I have to work the next day.
  19. Buy a pair of *perfect* boots for winter.
  20. Spend a weekend in the mountains with friends.
  21. Buy something from Etsy for someone and for my house.
  22. Develop my favorite pictures and hang them up.
  23. Be a positive impact. Be aware of what I do, what I listen to and how I behave. You never know who you’re impacting.
  24. Eat locally and naturally. Try to buy local and eat out at local restaurants.
  25. Stop to smell the flowers. This year flew by and I was constantly caught up in the day-to-day. I want to remember to take it one step at a time and pause to enjoy it!

Here’s to a great year ahead and a great year behind! Pizza, cake and vino tonight. The only way to celebrate!

Pools, Food and Mickey.

16 Jul

A lot of days I get caught up in the little things about life. The errands I have to run, the clothes I have to wash, the barf I stepped in barefoot that I have to clean up (thanks Charles). So today, in an effort to keep looking forward and remember all the great things coming up, here are a few things I’m looking forward to!

1.) Making something delicious for dinner.

Summer swimming pool!

2.) Going to the pool this weekend.
3.) Going to the beach in a couple of weeks.
4.) Disneyland.

I love a good BBQ!

5.) More summer BBQ’s.
6.) The leaves changing.
Annual library book sale!
7.) The annual library book sale this fall. In which I get hundreds of books for next to nothing.

And just for fun a few things I’m not looking forward to:

1.) Buying Charles some dog surgery.
3,) The end of summer.
4.) Stepping in more barf. Or poop. Or other dog business.

What are you looking forward to?

*Photo Credits: Let Ideas Compete, Martin Cathrae, Visual Panic

One.

18 Jun

It's my blogging birthday!

Today is a big day. Meganastout.com is having a birthday. I’ve blogged for many years, but more privately… and not here. So for celebration’s purposes today is my Meganastout.com blogging birthday! Hooray! Cupcake anyone? Eh? I’m having one so you might as well cave… I’ll toss in champagne if you can say something witty? Eh, eh?

I have to say thank you to all of those that inspired anything I’ve written. My family for always being undeniably quirky and wonderful, my friends for their ever adventurous and changing lives, my dog for being so absolutely bizarre and for Furbys and peanut butter — because the number of searches that are generated with those two topics is absolutely shocking.

So to all of you out there looking for Furby’s, thanks for stopping by and making my day. Hopefully you find a Furby… and that will make yours! And to the rest of you… non-Furby readers thank you, thank you, thank you. I heart you all and if I could personally deliver cupcakes and champagne (if you’ve earned it) to you I would. But… in all honesty I’d probably eat each cupcake and drink all the champagne on the way over; so, my presence would have to suffice. Still interested? Thought so.

Some of my favorite things from the past year? Completing Nablopomo, making people laugh, being more honest with myself and my writing, keeping Charles alive, traveling (I know I’m behind on writing about it), crazy shenanigans with those I love, all the food I ate and cupcakes that met their maker… oh how the list could go on and on.

Again, thank you! And, here’s to many more blogging birthdays to come!

*”Birthday Cake” photo by Theresa Thompson.

Wassailing.

24 Dec

My friend Kaitlyn lives in Indiana… and she has brought to my attention the art of Wassailing. Now, I live in Colorado and have never heard of such, Wassailing, in all my years (except in a few select Christmas numbers). Ahem:

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.

- Here We Come A-Wassailing

For those of you that don’t know (I was one of you only a day ago), how Wassailing works , according to Kaitlyn is “we go to a house, sing and then go in for an hour and eat/drink/socialize before moving to the next”. This may not be the “classic” definition, but it’s there’s and I like it. Kaitlyn’s night went a little something like this:

House 1: Wine! Good Start!

House 2: Singing “Deck the Halls” and shaking Jingle Bells. Lots of food, Lindt chocolate and bubbly or beer!

House 3: Singing “Jingle Bells”… more food and a variety of alcohol.

– Updates sent via text message throughout the night for the sole purpose of making me insanely jealous.

Seeing as the Christmas spirit has all together skipped me this year, I think the one thing that could have saved me was Wassailing. I mean, really, I’m not so into public singing, as dogs are the only ones that can hear me and occassionally a window shatters. But really, on Christmas, who cares about the details. I’m sure I could be persuaded with a glass of wine and some Lindt chocolate to do just about anything, including sing. And, if by chance I won’t sing at the first house… a glass of wine will surely have me singing by the second. Right? Then a glass of bubbly and I’ll be belting out “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by the third.

Now, don’t go getting all crazy here. I’m not planning or dreaming of  singing songs about Christmas intoxicated. Not cool, being Christmas and all. But you know a glass of wine here, a hot toddy there, can’t hurt.

So, here’s to Wassailing, the lost art form at Christmas that I believe needs to be re-instated. Looks like I have a WHOLE year to plan. Food, drink, social festivities and singing like an idiot. All things I enjoy. Wassailing 2010 here I come.

Time To Get Tacky!

20 Dec

I’m a big fan of comfort. I could live in sweatpants, shorts, pajamas, running skirts amongst a few other things. So soft, flowy, amazing. Now imagine my delight when I discovered that Christmas 2009 was going to involve a tacky sweater party. Because who doesn’t love a party that is based solely on comfort and tackiness? I have been elated and probably overly excited for the past month and a half. Part of this joy came from knowing my tacky sweater was going to put many others to shame. Shame I tell you. Not only was it tacky (because tacky it was), but it also played an array of Christmas tunes. I made everyone listen… which apparently looked like I was making them smell my sweater. Not awkward at all.

I decided that if you’re going to a tacky sweater party you have to do it right. No half-assing it for me. I decided to let Christmas throw up on me for a night and call it sexy. I’ve personally never been so attracted to myself. Amidst the madness and mayhem I forgot to get a full body shot… so you’ll have to do with the top half. In addition to the upper body amazingness I also had on knee high red/green striped socks with pom poms hanging down the side and fuzzy Christmas slippers. I realize that my description may cause some to feel intense feelings of attraction, but please try to restrain yourself. Check me out:

Ashlyn, Me and Jacqui (Schmacqui) getting tackified!

There was also a white elephant  and a plethora of wine to be had. At one point “Mr. Wee Wee” or whatever he is really called made an appearance. I surprised more than a few people and entertained comments about face peeing for the next several hours…

It was one amazing night all the way around.

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