oh the weather...

(the Sacred Grove in the winter)

So the weather was a little frightful yesterday! It was kinda funny because a few days prior to yesterday (Sunday), we had all these warnings about a blizzard that was going to come through and that we were to prepare for it. Guess what, nothing happened. Well at least in Provo nothing happened, I guess there was some type of a storm more north of Salt Lake. I have seen white out conditions from serving in freezing (but wonderful) upstate New York, and I was ready to see some of that, but nope, nothing. It was cold for sure, and still is, but again nothing compared to that bitter, bitter cold in New York. I only spent one winter there, but it was one to remember. The below zero temperature, the hem on my skirt would freeze, my comp and I trying to make ourselves feel better by saying that "at least we aren't in Russia". Don't know why but it did make me feel better, maybe because I knew that Russia would be a little colder. But I also remember that day because it was one of my favorite stories to tell about tracting in the snow. I was serving with Hermana Whitney Nielsen and I love her, and she is such a good missionary. Anyways, so we are tracting and we have a goal of so many contacts before the week was over and this was our day to fulfill that goal, and it was snowing, HARD! But we were determined little sister missionaries and off we went! Door after door we were shut down, and then we see this man jogging, and we have to talk to everyone, so we started to talk to the man and then as we were talking he was still kinda jogging and said "I'm not gonna stop". So as he is running my companion starts running beside him and I am trying to run but my skirt that I was wearing that day was a little restrictive so I couldn't go that fast. But I was so impressed with my comp and her determination to share the gospel while running. I think that he took a referral card!
I loved my mission and I am so grateful for it everyday! There has been no other greater joy than that of the gospel in my life. Even in the freezing winter cold, and the hot desert sun, the gospel is true, and our Savior lives. And that is the greatest message that we will always have to share!

Robert Redford??

We have always said that my dad looks exactly like Robert Redford. Yes Robert is a little older than my dad but they have aged the same, and have wrinkles the same. Its weird to see Robert Redford in movies and have a moment where he just looks like my dad when I was growing up! I love my dad and I am grateful that he is my dad and I appreciate all of his crazy mannerisms and his complete dedication to the Gospel! We love you dad!!!

Tis the Season

So as I was driving this morning a radio commercial came on about the Holidays! "WOW," I thought to myself, "it is the Holiday season, AGAIN"! I love this time of year when family comes together and to be able to share in memories once again! I love my family and I enjoy spending time with each one of them! They mean so much to me and I am so excited to see most of them this Holiday season! (I am so ready for some of that mistletoe as well this year!)

SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

So I have been in the biggest baking/cooking mood! Maybe it is because the Holidays are basically here, or that I am just feeling creative and wanting to create something yummy and to cook again! When I was about 16 or 17 I loved cooking and I asked for Christmas a cookbook and a really nice strainer, and thank you Santa I got it! And last week I found some amazing cookbooks at Barnes & Noble that I think I will go buy! So this week my adventure is Apple Cider Creme Filled Doughnut Holes, and Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! Don't worry they aren't just for my tastebuds only, they are for some special events! Oh the wonderful Holidays! And since I live by myself no one can complain of the mess (that will be huge) afterwards! Plus wearing cute aprons is so fun!

oh happy...

well I think that it is finally time to update my blog a little bit here! I just wanted to share some thoughts on my talk that I gave in sacrament meeting yesterday. On friday night I was at my nephew Owen's 8th birthday party and I had my phone in my pocket and I didn't recognize the number but I decided to answer it, and low and behold, it was Bro. Lemon from the bishopric! Yes he asked me to speak that coming Sunday! I was actually really excited about it, my topic was Happiness! When I heard what the subject was, I was really suprised how broad of a subject it was, so I was trying to think where I could go with this subject. Hmmmm? Since I didn't have as much time as I would like to prepare for a talk I decided to do some outward mental processing...meaning I called my friends and my mom to help me get ideas flowing and see where that would take me. I ulitmately decided on the idea of how to experience and obtain happiness, I didn't want to define it. To experience this happiness I went through some basic principles, prayer, keeping the commandments, repentance, and missionary work. I know that as I have done these things in my life, that we will be happy. Not saying that there isn't sorrow in our lives as well. There has to be opposition in all things, but as Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said before he passed away "Come what may and love it..." don't let frustration control your life, learn to understand it and move on with it. Elder Uchtdorf said "Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life. Let me repeat: how you react to adversity and temptation is a critical factor in whether or not you arrive at your own "happily ever after,". I love that quote, for us to grow from these adversities we must be able to grow from them, to rely on the Lord and his atonement, to pray for that strength. Happiness is innate, we all have the light of Christ, and we must understand as Pres. Hinckley said "Life is to be enjoyed not endured," so enjoy your life, enjoy all of the experiences you have and know that this is truly the plan of happiness.

RAGNAR.... the glory!!!!!

So as I have posted before, I signed up to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay Race from Logan Ut, to Park City! I can't express how much fun, how tired, how mentally exaughsted, how overjoyed I was to run this spectacular race!!! There has been no other comparission to that type of physical accomplishment in my life that I have been most proud of, the next time it will probably be when I have a baby! But in this post I would just like to give an overview of the 32 hours between Friday and Saturday!

Friday morning, 3:15 am, I wake up to my alarm and realizing that I have to run a race, and I have no idea what I am in for, and just a little annoyed because it was so early in the morning and I have to be awake! But here I go, I get dressed in my running attire, and head out to the van with my other 5 teammates. We are all a little nervous/excited. I prayed that I would be able to be excited more than nervous, because when I get nervous my stomach gets grouchy! So I know throughout the entirety of race the Lord did bless my nerves! So we all get in the 15 passanger van and head out to the starting line to get a safety overview, and get our shirts before we start! And there are suprisingly a lot of vans and runners there at 4 in the morning! But we made it and then the count down, 5, 4, 3, 2....1!!!!! GOOOOOO! Go Jesse! Who was our first runner that morning, and it was soooo cold that morning so we wanted to get back into the van as soon as we could! We were all new to this type of race so we just guessed where the next exchange was, and we made it in plenty of time! Our next runner was Kandi, and she was so nervous because she gets shin splints, but she did awesome, she ran 6.7 miles! So we were now understanding a little bit of how the exchanges work, and how the van follows the runner and so forth. Now it was Jessica's turn, she was super nervous, she was taking TUMS, and poor gal she was sick as well, but she totally rocked her run! She then passed off to me!! This was my 5.1 miles that I had to run, and the scenery was beautiful, I had never been to that part of northern Utah before and it was so green! So I am running along and I am so excited that I am having this awesome opportunity to do this!!! I am trying not to run too hard to give all of my energy up but the weather was nice and I was trying to stay focused on accomplishing the run. It did get a little tiring at the end because of the heat but it felt so good and so exciting to pass of to Michelle the runner after me. She was awesome! She ran 7 miles up a pass and she did amazing! So after she passed off to Tyler we then went into Ogden valley and this is where we passed of to the second van of runners. We were then all excited to go relax and eat....and I was due for a nap, after getting hardly any sleep I was tuckered out! The stop where we waited for the second van to finish was at a Ski resort and it was so beautiful and green, and warm, so then I napped and it was bliss! So after about 2 hours of resting and waiting, we then got the notice that it was time to get ready! Here we go again! I was getting nervous again, but I was trying not to show it. Something that I did before every time that I ran I would go into the porta-potty (very sanitary I know) and I would ask for the Lord's strength during this part of my race, and I know that I was given just that little extra bit of strength to endure. I especially needed it for the second leg! It was 4 in the afternoon, and hot and HECK!!! Seriously it was so hot, the pavement was hot and I was running in neighborhoods and the wonderful locals turned on their sprinklers for us, thank you locals! So here I am in, in the heat running, and I don't see my van. Hmmm...they are allowed to follow me during this leg to hand me water and cheer me on, but I don't see them and I have to run 4.2 miles without water?! Thankfully some other teams sprayed me with water, and then about 1/2 mile from the exchange the van finally shows up and brings me some agua!!! THANK YOU!!!! I was exaughsted!!!! I got in the van and just sat there, didn't move or anything, didn't want anybody to touch me and just to let the cold air blow on my new sunburn...ahhhhh! So when we are finally done with the second part of all of our legs we are tired! We go to the exchange point to meet up with the second van again and it is at this park, and it looks like all of these homeless people live there because everyone is camping out in hammocks and sleeping on the picnic tables, and on the grass, we decided to go the highschool and sleep. We actually just slept in the car, but it was so awkward and uncomfortable! I slept on the front seat and I think I got about 2 hours the entire 4 1/2 that we were there, and I couldn't believe at 2 in the morning it was our turn again. For me I couldn't believe that I was awake at that time with hardly any sleep and going to run another 3.8 miles in just a few hours. Here we go again! I am pretty sure I tried to sleep in the van until the last part of my leg, but it was very little if at all because I knew I had to get some food in me to burn off, so for the last time I went into the porta-potty and prayed and got ready. Since this was in the early morning around 5:45 I had to wear the reflective gear, great, its so uncomfortable to wear, but I did it! It was so nice to be able to run downhill into Heber valley and know that I am finishing! YAY! I am just about to go to the last exchange when I see it, a hill.... Ok so it wasn't the biggest that I have run, but I was not at all excited about this, I was determined to run every single part of my race and this I wanted to walk so bad, but I didn't, I ran up that thing and ran as fast as I could to Jessica to exchange! And then I was done! Hallelujah! Was I tired? Yes like you wouldn't believe! Worth it? I have never been more proud of a race then that one! 13.1 miles down and 0 to go! Then van 1 finished and we ate at McDonalds because we needed calories and not just bananas and protein bars, and then we waited for van 2 to finish at the Canyons resort! We all crossed the finish line and we finished 188 miles in 31 hours and 51 minutes! Go team! Then I slept for 15 good hours and I had the bragging rights for a good 24 hours, it was so worth it!

Dating woes

lets face it, dating sometimes is not fun! As a single gal you are looking for a mixture of so many different things, you want the classic and scruffy Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice), the charming Mr. Edward Ferris (Sense & Sensibility), the charismatic Mr. Knightly (Emma), and the gentleness of Mr. Tilney (Northanger Abbey)... (all of Jane Austen books), but yet we come to see the reality that we may not have all nor even one. But someone once was describing their "perfect" woman, I won't go into detail what they said, but something really struck me at the end was that she may have been "perfect" to him, but she wasn't real, she was a fantasy. So yes sometimes I do wish I had Mr. Darcy sitting next to me at church, but the fact of the matter is, he is fiction. Someday I know I will find my "Mr. Darcy" and be able to know that he is real! So back to my title, dating woes.... yes its a bummer sometimes to have deal with the dating games of life, but to have hope and faith that the greatest reward is coming and to strive everyday to be a better me! One day, one day....

DANCE!!!

"we can dance if we want to..." So ever since I have seen the huge crowd dances (where they dance in a public place and it gets bigger and bigger,) I have always wanted to be in one! Just imagining the look on the on-lookers faces always makes me smile, to have something so spontaneous happen right in front of them! So here are a few of my favorite crowd dances! Enjoy!

Safety Dance

This is the "Safety Dance" from Glee!

The T-Mobile Dance

DANCE TRAIN STATION BELGIUM

life sometimes....

so life sometimes is hard. Yesterday I was having a little pity-party for myself (which are never good), and I was being sad about being single, and having too much expected of me but then not expecting enough from myself, blah, blah, blah. It was just one of those days. Thankfully those days don't happen all that much and to realize that I don't have it that bad! Yes its hard, but as my mother says, "I can do hard". I think we all can do hard, we just have to try. I compare doing "hard" to running. It sucks at the beginning, I ache and complain, but then I get my rhythm down and I get in the mindset of finishing and guess what, I always feel better at the end! So life sometimes is hard, but rewarding!

Runnin' and Runnin'

So this year I have decided to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back! If any of you don't know what the Ragnar relay race is, let me enlighten you... So this race covers 188 miles, from Logan to Park City Utah. You have a team of 12 members, and you run 3 different times during this great ordeal of a race. Some legs are harder than others, some runners are far more experienced, but its challenging, that is why I have decided to do it! I am on a slightly older team, (I am the only one under 30), but I am happy because most of them are seasoned runners. The race is in one month from today (June 18-19th) and some of the team members ran a 10K (6.2 miles) so we could know what pace we are to know what time we start (different teams start at different times according to their faster or slower paces). So now it will be known what time in the day and the middle of the nights we will be running! I have been trying to do my homework and to run everyday but it has been hard. When I ran the 10K I used the GU(goo) energy gels to see what they felt like and also shot blocks and wow my body was shaking from how much energy I had in me! But good to know they work right?! I am so proud that I have worked up to running those 6 miles, the other week I ran twice in one day, yeah crazy me, but that is what they suggest you do so that you will be in shape for the race.
This may sound crazy to some people, but I look at it as an opportunity to do something this extravagent. I would never run multiple mile legs in a 24 hour period! How fun, and exciting it is to do something unknown and still something as familiar as running!
So know comes the crazy fun part where I get all new gear and try try try to run every day! Motivation please come to me!!! Wish me luck!

lights, camera.....

I have watched many movies in my days, and of course there have been some that I have most throughly enjoyed, others are good, and some just aren't good at all. I recently watched the movies, "Young Victoria", and "Bright Star". I loved both for different reasons. But they both have this wonderful feeling about them, and when I finished watching them I felt good! So with this short post, I encourage everyone to watch them both! "Bright Star" feels like you are in the middle of a poem the entire movie, its beautiful with the descriptions and the movement of it. "Young Victoria" is the history of the young Queen Victoria, and I went and watched it with my mom, sister, and grandma, and we all loved, cried, and enjoyed every minute of it! So if you are ever wondering what movie to watch, there you go!

day of birth

so tomorrow is my birthday! I have loved the day of my birth from when I was a little girl! April 6th is a momentous day in Church history and I always felt special when I could say that that was my birthday and have it related to so many glorious events! When I was on my mission serving in Fayette NY, where the church was organized on April 6, 1830, I had always wanted to be there on that day, and I was! My mission president called me and wished me a happy birthday and I mentioned to him that I had always wanted to be at the Peter Whitmer farm on my birthday, and he said back to me, "I think there was a higher hand in that Sis. Smailes". I know the Lord loves me, and I was am grateful that he knows my heart and just simple things that can make me happy. I have had countless blessings on my birthday, conference, Easter, and just being happy being surrounded by family and friends, and plus all of the M&Ms that have been give to me that I love!! Especially to my mom, who of course gave birth to me and made my birthdays special, yes even from Maui! Love you mom!

MuSiCa

yes I love music! I love to listen, play, and write music. I have been playing the piano on and off since I was about 12. I am not an amazing pianist, but I can play! Since learning the art of music and learning how to listen to it, I have grown (since I was 12) to love all different kinds, but the music that I love is music from soundtracks! Little Women, Last of the Mohicans, Hook, The Village, Rudy, and the classics being played in movies like Master & Commander. I think to portray music in a movie is like expressing an emotion that you can't explain with words. There is so much music out there that has touched my heart, and I am so grateful for those experiences that I have had with music and I daily continue to enjoy it. This is the from the movie Avatar, I thought the movie was visually amazing, and the soundtrack as well! Enjoy!

wearin' my TOMS!

Yes that is right, I have TOMS shoes, the gray ones to be exact! I have had them since July of last year but I just haven't worn them until today! I love them, they make me happy... plus Blake Mycoskie, the creator of TOMS shoes is really good looking, but also I know that it was for a good cause! Thanks Blake for your vision of helping the children! I love my TOMS!

Art

I just love good art! I am taking an Art History class right now, and I am learning about civilzation through the history of art! Its amazing what I have learned, and I have enjoyed every minute... well almost every minute of it! I think learning about roman, greek, and early imperial art has been my favorite... you know, like the amazing statues now placed in the Vatican, or other museums in Rome or Berlin, it amazes me to see the beauty being able to be presented through someones skill of hand.
My mom, who is very knowlegable on this subject, knows what good art is! I have always appreciated that art was placed throughout our home for us to admire and for it to bring a special spirit in the home. Most of my siblings are artists, (I play the piano), and I am thankful that I have this little artistic family who apprecitates art for art! But more importanty where that talent comes from!
The first painting is by my sister Beth who gave this painting as a gift to her husband for Christmas... the second one is a statue of the Goddess Nike by an unkown sculptor

8 is the magic number!

I have 8 nephews, yes 8! No nieces as of yet (we will all be so excited when they come)! In order they are Collin, Owen, Wesley, Grady, Rhys, Smith, Weston, and Tenzing. Tenzing is the most recent, he is now a month old! I have never had so many boys in my family, I only have one brother, but now I have all these little ones that I get to be "Auntie Meg" to! My oldest sisters boys, (Collin, Owen, Wes, and Grady) all wrote me on my mission, they were some of the best letters and the most fun that I receieved during that time! I can't believe how fast they are all growing up! Smith is just the sweetest little boy! He is the nephew that I have spent the most time with and he loves laughing and he is just precious! Weston is just a handsome little fellow! He is almost 1, and he is growing up so cute, and looks a lot like my brother and my dad! Tenzing and Rys I have yet to meet, but they look healthy and just as sweet as any new baby can be!
I feel so blessed to be able to have all of these rambunctious, and fun boys in my life and extended family! Now we are just waiting for that 1st girl to come!

For fun!!!

So I have been trying to think of what I should say writing on my blog today. I think that the thing that I really want to say is how grateful I am for so many things! One is that today I was in a church meeting, and I was there as a partial reunion for my mission, and I got to see so many friends from my mission, senior couples, old companions, etc... And it was brought up that this is what heaven must be like. And I pondered that. Heaven must be such an amazing reunion! Seeing friends, family, hugging one another, having and sharing memories, feeling the comfort of one another, and just being able to be happy!!! What an amazing place heaven must be! I loved seeing all of those wonderful, wonderful people who I will forever be grateful for and always look up to their examples!
Another thing I am grateful for is my family! My sister a few weeks ago had her 5th baby boy! Go Aubrey, and my sister at the moment is in labor with her first baby boy! I can't believe that I have 8 nephews! AMAZING!! I love my family dearly. I love that I get to visit my sister who lives so close to me and to go over there and feel here sisterly love and to hold and play with Smith, another one of my nephews! So I am so grateful for them! They love, they teach, and they inspire me! Every one of my siblings has a special role in my life and I will forever be thankful for their guidance. And of course my parents, where would I be without my parents! They are my support with everything that I do, and no words can describe the joy and love that they give to me! Love them!
In conclusion, this post is just an expression of what I have felt today! Gratitude and Happiness!!!

Stupid Cupid, stop picking on me

Yes it is that time of year again, the love month, where you realize how lucky you are to have someone this time of year, or to make you realize how much you want a special someone this time of year. Well the second one would be the one for me! I do like Valentines day, I really do. My mom always made it fun for us kids, she snuck a special valentine for us in the valentines we made for our class, and when we came home from school we would have homemade sugar cookies that were pink and red! So I do have fond memories of this holiday. But now that I am older I have realized that it is a singles awarness day... hmmmm so what to do this valentines day? I haven't decided as of yet. Perhaps going to the gym and seeing all of the other less hopefuls, or going to ice-cream with my girlfriends and watching a chick flick, or going to church since it is on that day and wear all black, or do them all!! But I do know one day I will have that special someone to say "Happy Valentines Day" to, and I wish all of those happy couples to enjoy and flourish in the day celebrated to love, flowers, and chocolate! Go Cupid!

Look-alikes

So in my family we sometimes talk about our celebrity look-alikes. We have done this now for a while, and its really fun. Some of us of course have changed over the years, with new celebrities coming forth, so I wanted to document this fun thing that we do in my family.
So I will first start with...
Aubrey...her look-alike is Reese Witherspoon


Next would be my brother David, his look alike is Paul Newman...(of course in his younger days)


Now its Laura's turn... We used to say that she could be Brad Pitts sister, but now we found her match, Rachel McAdams

Up 4th is Beth... we all think that she looks like (or who looks like her) is Drew Barrymore

Now me, Megan's look-alike...mine is Ginger Rogers (an old Hollywood actress)