seventeen

Saturday evening at 4:23 found my family and me walking through Kansas City's Union Station.

We enjoyed the festive Christmas decorations there and at Crown Center, then headed to a nice restaurant for another festive occasion—my birthday :)

Dinner? Delicious. The view? Stunning.  

Dessert? Delectable. 

The experience? Truly a treat.

Happy to meet seventeen~

celebrating five ~ a giveaway

This past week marked my fifth year of blogging. How time flies! I am so thankful to have this place where I can share pictures and words, and to have you here reading them. Today I'm celebrating with a giveaway! 

While contemplating what I have enjoyed using and think you might enjoy using as well, two things came to mind. First off, Four Seasons Pocket Pads by Potter Style. 

I always like to carry a small notebook in my purse, and these fit the bill beautifully. Their being separated into seasons make them easy to switch out, keeping things interesting. Mine are now full of random lists, numbers, book titles, thoughts, and doodles. 

And what do you need for writing in a notebook? My pick is The Note-To-Self Seven Year Pen by Seltzer Goods. It writes smoothly and, supposedly, can write 1.7 meters a day for seven years. I've only had mine since December (I had put it on my Christmas list after seeing it on Pinterest), so we'll see. . . 

Four notebooks + one pen = five items (fitting, right? :) 

Think you or someone you know could use a few notebooks and a pen? To enter, simply leave a comment below or email me at megansa@sbcglobal.net. The giveaway will be open through July 27 at 4:00 P.M. central time. I'll plan on drawing and announcing the winner that night. 

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me! Blessings~ Megan 

Ready?

Tomorrow I leave on a youth choir mission trip with my church.
My bags are packed,
But I am still trying to feel ready.
I'm excited for this new adventure,
Anticipating challenges and fun and growth,
But hit with the need for deeper reliance on God.
The newness of this experience intimidates me.
Seems the challenges and growing have already begun.
Gathering words of strength. . .

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? Psalm 56: 3-4

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. Isaiah 40:22

My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Psalm 108:1 

I love you, O Lord, my strength. Psalm 18:1 

I always appreciate prayers, but appreciate them especially this week. Will be back sharing words and pictures soon~

Sweet Sixteen and a Thousand Gifts

Hello last day of 2012!

You, dear year, have been quite exciting and full of growth.

This was evidenced well on Saturday. 

I had my sixteenth birthday,

And was surprised with a roller rink full of family and friends!

There was even an assortment of beautiful balloons in the deal! 

Later (with the comparatively smaller group of my mom, dad, and sisters) I enjoyed my first ever carriage ride around the city. . .

See the wheel theme? :)

Strawberry cake ended the day fittingly sweet. . . 

And today? 

It was exciting too, with snow deciding to fall. 

I attempted to take pictures of the flakes. . 

Then my sisters and I enjoyed the wonderland in our backyard. . . 

Today also happens to be a Monday.

And, though the time is always right for gratitude, it is nice to participate in Multitudes on Monday on the day it specifies. . . . 

989. candlelight Christmas Eve service

990. afternoon enjoying Christmas decorations, trees, and lights in the city

991. gift giving and opening 

992. going bowling for the second time this year

993. reorganizing/decorating/expanding Barbie World in the basement

994. seeing the movie Parental Guidance at the theater (really enjoyed it!)

995. my mom finding chai scones to make for my birthday breakfast

996. surprise party! sweet family and friends celebrating with me

997. my parents giving me a fountain pen 

998. full, golden moon

999. big, beautiful snowflakes

1000. a new age and a new year

This year has shown me the beauty and freedom that comes with Giving All to God, trusting His Grace, and allowing Him to spread what I have. 

Spread it around dance and school, gratitude and art. 

And, despite growing responsibilities and varying busyness, there has always been enough. 

Extra, in fact. 

When contemplating my name for this new year, another g word came to mind. 

Gather. 

Gather the beauty and freedom, the over-flowing extra.

I am excited for what 2013 holds! 

Blessings~ Megan

Picking Favorites

A few weeks ago, my lyrical teacher asked all of the girls to write down their favorite memory.
She said she was going to use them as inspiration for choreography throughout the year.
But favorites make me nervous.
I couldn't think of anything in particular, let alone pick just one.
I came up with singing silly songs with my sisters in the van and taping them on a road trip.
A favorite. One of many.
I though of other favorites the rest of class, and on through the week.

Swinging at the park with two friends, before I had sisters, and comparing how many times we'd watched Dragon Tales that day.

The infamous mess my cousin and I created- the crazy imagination behind it.

Not liking the design I had drawn on my relief painting during an art class, and deciding to paint red all over it. When I was setting it on a rack to dry (much happier with it), my teacher came up and said she had wondered about my madly painting the thing red, but thought it turned out very nicely.

The summer day I played in the blow-up pool with a neighbor boy, then he got ants in his pants and really did do a dance.

Finding out the really tough teacher at a dance intensive was married to the really eccentric one. Laughing hard with my friend at the irony.

Climbing the steps into a large cave and music from a symphony filling the cathedral chamber.

The moment the lights came up on stage and, after feeling a bit jittery with an audience, immense peace rushing through me as I felt like God was really the only one watching me dance my emotional solo.

And that's a sample.
I could go on and on.
Not because all these things were fabulous.
Just because they mattered.
Mattered because of the people.
          Mattered because of the season.
                    Mattered because I learned something.
                              Mattered because all of life really is woven together.
God just has such a story.
He gives absolutely everything meaning.
I think every day may be a favorite.

~Megan

Turning Three

Today you, my dear blog, turn three. 

I can hardly believe the way time travels.

It seems as though I was just introducing myself. 

Oh, we've come a long way!  

This form of self expression has grown me. 

I love being able to contemplate the world. 

Thank you to anyone who reads this.

Your listening is truly a gift. 

And, blog, welcome to another year. 

Things haven't quite tied up from the last. 

Somehow I don't imagine they'll tie up for a good deal longer. 

Time traveling and all. 

 But don't get discouraged. 

Happily ever after is a process. 

Continuing my gratitude journal. . . 

891. watching a fireworks display with friends

892. loud and crazy being meaningful

893. sparkler twirling

894. swinging on the patio with my sisters 4th of July night

895. freedom

896. watching Brave (I found it amusing, with amazing animation, but having a somewhat forced plot)

897. strawberry balsamic and Persian lime olive oil drizzled on salad

898. spotting a friend while running errands

899. fun during our second dress rehearsal

900. quiet afterwards

901. Rose of Sharon beginning to bloom

902. watching a friend's baseball game

903. dust billowing from the ground

904. enthusiastic yelling

905. afternoon with my mom

906. seeing Snow White and the Huntsman (It seems we go to movies in spurts. I found the elements of story in this one spectacular and very thought-provoking. It wasn't nearly as much fun as Brave, but I enjoyed it more)

907. straw-like grass (though I really do want to get rain)

908. checkers games with my sisters

909. no need to "go easy on them" (at all)

910. Wii tennis tournament in honor of Wimbledon

911. cute and comfortable t-shirts

912. happy processes

913. three years of blogging

Blessings~ Megan

All, This Year

Last January was the first time I named my year.
I chose the word grace.
It easily applied to whatever I did.
It guided me through many new experiences.
How should I go about anything and everything?
With grace.

I enjoyed having this word.
I knew I wanted to name my year again.
As 2011 drew to a close, I began to think and pray about a new word.
The one that came to my mind was all.

I wondered about it.
All is very different from grace.
It is much harder to define.
It was not something I wanted to be.
Yet I continued to hear it.
Hear it until I knew.

All. 

My word for the year is all.
I am curious about what it will come to mean to me.
Until then I will have to simply give it my all.

If you chose a word for this year, I would love to hear it. Blessings~ Megan

Dear Fifteen,

It is very nice to meet you. ~Megan

Every-Other-Year Excitement

Every other year our dance program puts on a performance.
That performance is to be this summer.

Every other year our teachers choose a story and write the ballet off of it.
This time they chose The Velveteen Rabbit.

Every other year auditions are held.
These past few months there have been several auditions.

Every other year our teachers tell us they prayed throughout the casting process and endeavored to stay true to the story.
This was said, making me feel both bouncy and content, this past Monday.

Every other year our teachers remind us why we dance-- for His glory.

On Monday they shared this beautiful perspective.  

Every other year a cast sheet is released. 

That anticipated list was released Monday. 

Every other year the soloist parts are revealed, and then each class' special role.
This year those announcements began with "The Velveteen Rabbit will be played by. . . "

Hearts always beat a little faster.
Hands always prepare to clap.

We are all glad to be here in this moment.
We have all danced together since we were very small and are a kind of family, excited for what this next show holds.

Every other year I have been happily assigned a class dance, but this was not quite like every other year.
This time, I heard my name called first.

Cheers filled the room.

Surprise and joy surged through my body.

I was to be the Velveteen Rabbit.

In the next little while, other parts were announced. Dear friends were dubbed aunts and nurses. Middle Sister learned that her classes would be Ladybugs, Spinning Tops, and Real Bunnies. Youngest Sister heard her classes would play Christmas Presents, Tin Soldiers, and Nightmares.

My heart leaped then and continues to do so.

After all, I love to dance.

I am sure there will be more on this ballet process as it continues to unfold. Until then, I will try and focus on the excitement of this coming Christmas. Blessed excitement to you~ Megan

Too Blessed to be Stressed

I have never liked roller coasters. My little sisters' bravery has been the only thing that pushed me into them. I was always daunted by their safety hazards, the height and sheer magnitude only frightening me more. When we went to an amusement park on vacation, I resigned myself to the fact that I was rightly afraid and didn't have to go on any of the roller coasters. This worked fine until the end of the day. That was when the other four members of my family were going on the tallest, curliest, fastest roller coaster there. And I swallowed my fear and joined them.

I knew I would go fast. I knew I would go hight. I knew I would be going upside down. I even knew I would chicken out if I had a chance to think things through. But the park was not crowded and I was able to walk right on. I pulled down the shoulder cushion and told Middle Sister I would be fine. Then the roller coaster took off and started a painful assent to the sky. I squeezed the seat and prayed. All the power I put into fear poured into my prayer. As we climbed higher and higher, the blessing my pastor always says at the end of our church service came into my head. We came to the very top of the hill and in that pause right before you head downhill I heard the last words of the blessing, so go in peace. 

Something incredible happened (other than the gravity defying stunt performed by the roller coaster). I had fun. Peace had settled over me.

Continuing my gratitude list. . . 

531. actually enjoying a ride on two roller coasters

532. eyes open while going upside down

533. the spring in my sisters steps after they rode a roller coaster

534. an absence of fear

535. visiting a cave for the first time-- knowing I will want to visit another




536. my mom teaching us new words

537. eating lunch at a place where they throw rolls to you (my years of never playing baseball did not come in handy :)

538. an amazingly comfortable bed at our hotel

539. riding on a train

540. the actors performing a train robbery messing up their lines and creating a more entertaining show

541. visiting the Titanic museum

542. feeling an iceberg

543. living though it :)

544. a walk along Tablerock lake

545. clear water between my toes

546. feeding fish at a fish hatchery

547. my camera losing the fishy smell it picked up there

548. riding a horse

549. getting the chance to say "Giddy up"

550. no crowds at the amusement park

551. baseball game

552. cheers for the home run that won everybody a Sonic slushy

553. cotton candy. . . blown up sugar

554. stands full of excited people

555. peace despite circumstances

Blessings to you~ Megan