Sunday Social.

1. What is your dream job? I would love to open my own coffee shop/secondhand bookstore.  My best friend and I have talked about it before, and I think it would be so much fun.  

2. If you had just won the lottery and didn't need to work for money, what would you do with your time? I would love to just travel, I'm having severe wanderlust right now, so to be able to visit anywhere and not have to worry about money, would be fantastic. I would also love to spend my springs storm chasing! 

3. What piece of career advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field? To anyone, make sure you love your job.  Life is too short to be at a job that you despise.  

4. What would be your ideal "just for fun" job? My coffee shop!   5. What was your first "real" job? Dietary aide at a nursing home.  

Sisters for Life & Best Friends Forever.

Princess,

This birthday marks a special one, we have now been sisters for more of your birthdays than not.  You are the crazy to my laidback.  We drive each other crazy, but I know that no matter what, if I needed you, you'd be here for me.  You are my biggest supporter and my best friend.  We aren't just Meghan and Mady, but we're "the girls." I can't believe you are already eighteen, since when did we get to be so old? I hope you have a great birthday and I wouldn't want anybody else as my sister, you push me, you pull me, you make me laugh and on occasion made me cry.  I love you so much seester!  

6 weeks.

This summer has been one of change and growth and adjustment for me.  And with those things come difficulties, growing pains if you will.  I spent the middle six weeks of summer pretty much an outsider in my own family.  & it's my fault. No, I'm not saying that to get a poor pitiful me, believe me.

I guess I should mention that I don't drive, just a personal preference I guess, so I depend on other people to give me rides.

Anyways, my Grandma was going to pick me up from the train station in our town(we have a commuter train that goes from Mpls to my hometown and back), and I communicated to my Dad and Mady that I had a ride, and somehow it didn't get back to my Grandma.

Mistake #1-Not communicating with her directly.

I found out through my sister, that my grandma was upset with me, argued with mady and my grandma.

Mistake #2-"Communicating" through Mady via text message.  I don't blame Mady for this, I should have quit texting through her and got off my butt and went over and talked to my Grandma.

Mistake #3-Refusing to apologize, as in I told my Dad I did absolutely nothing wrong, I didn't ask for help, so why should I apologize if I wasn't sorry, if I apologized and wasn't truly sorry, what would my authentic apologies mean then?

I was and still am splitting my time between my parents' houses going to work and then to school as well, and I would complain to my mom that I felt like an outsider and how everyone was treating me like crap and then I'd go home and go to work and whine about how much I missed my family and wish it would all just go away.

Mistake #4- Not listening to my work friends earlier when they said to just go talk to her! She'll forgive you! It took me six weeks of being pestered before I got off my high horse and walked(my grandparents live two houses down) over and talked to her.

Now, our relationship is back on track and I finally am back on good terms with everybody.  It was a sucky six weeks, but it taught me a lot I think.

So tell me, when did you make a mistake? I won't judge you promise

(p.s. I'm kinda scared to post this because it's personal to me, but I want to show you the good AND the bad of my life, so just go easy, k?)

Tattoo Talk.

 

Linking up with the beautiful Allie of Tales of a Twenty Something for her one-time link-up called Tattoo Talk.  

I've always been interested in tattoos.  I had my first tattoo planned when I was around 16.  It was going to be a butterfly with the word Believe through the middle of it. I remember telling my aunt and uncle about it and they discouraged me from getting it.  When I turned 18, I no longer liked that idea for a tattoo.  

When I was 18/19, I really wanted a Jesus fish with Philippians 4:6 on it, then that idea transformed into the infinity sign with the same verse.  I still want to get this one, but I think my first tattoo will be "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away" with a few birds on it for all the loved ones I've lost.  

with birds like the ones on this tattoo:

(both pictures coutresy of my pinterest boards.)

I either want it on the back of my shoulder blade or on my collarbone or right below it.  I would also love to get a tattoo in remembrance of my grandparents on my mom's side, possibly the last four of their phone number in roman numerals or something of that sort, just because they had the same number from the time my mom was a little girl all the way up to when my Grandma passed away in 2012.  

Something I'll never be able to get a tattoo of? The saying "Just Breathe" thanks to this..

"Duh! I'm gonna breathe!" 

Do you have any tattoos? Do you want any? Go link up with Allie and tell us about them! 

Meghan Lately.

How are all of you loves on this chilly(at least here in Minnie!) Monday Morning?

I'm doing pretty good.  Enjoying a day off after working the last four.  The last four that dragged(drug?) by, partly because I was back and forth from the back of the front of the store more than I count and part because I miss my work momma because she's been gone for the last almost two weeks on vacation, which is SO not fair.

I haven't been doing anything too overly exciting lately, reading a few books here and there, I just finished up the Bared to You series by Sylvia Day and I loved it, think a much tamer and more of a storyline 50 shades.

I've been drinking altogether way too many pumpkin spice lattes, I should just buy stock in the 'Bucks.

I signed up to be a part of a this girl's blogging fantasy football team, for my first time doing it, I think I'm doing pretty good and haven't completely fallen flat on my face...yet.  Speaking of football, good thing I don't root too heavily for my Vikings, otherwise I'd be quite miserable.  3 and 0 guys, really? #notcool

I've been spoiling this pup and his brother and sister.  He's my favorite, but shh, don't tell the others!

& I was scrolling through my blog feed the other day, and Miss Amber was having a blog sale and I bought my first coach purse from her, I kind of love it, I was in dire need of a new purse, just didn't feel like looking for a new one, so this came along at the perfect time.

linking up with:

Songs on Saturday #5

My blogtember post from yesterday never posted and I can't find it in my drafts, makes me sad that I missed a day of blogging, oh well though, life goes on, time for the next installment of SOS.  

Little Bit of Everything//Keith Urban

Old Habits//Justin Moore & Miranda Lambert

Begin Again//Taylor Swift

Understatement of the Century.

**Please note: this is a work of FICTION**

To say that I was dreading this dinner party was the understatement of the century.  My company(I run my own burger joint) was throwing it as a welcome home ceremony for the soldiers returning to the base that was situated about 5 miles down the road.  Normally, this would be a joyous occasion, but this past year the Army has not been nice to me.  I lost my younger brother in a training accident and my boyfriend decided that it would be best if he concentrated his focus on the deployment.  So knowing I'd be seeing him and a slew of my brother's buddies had my emotions all over the place.  I still loved Kyle wholeheartedly.  We'd been that couple that made all the single people jealous.  I had met him my first day at my new high school and he'd been by my side ever since.  We had made it through basic training, he had enlisted the day he turned 18 with my explicit blessing, and a good chunk of the deployment, until one day a week or so after my brother's accident, I got an email saying "I think it'd be best if I focused solely on my job over here, just know, I'll always love you Cal."

I had tried to move on, but of the four first dates I went on, only one made it to the second date and none made it to a third.  Kyle was my one.  But our four year relationship was done with a single sentence email.  My phone buzzes with a text from Marina, my best friend and business partner, letting me know she was five minutes away.  I texted her back and then slipped on my boots that I had bought last week on sale.  She beeps her horn and I lock my door and get in her car.  "How are you doing, hun?" She asks.  "Emotional wreck.  Like I need a strong drink." "It'll be fine, he'll probably just hang out with his buddies." she tries to make me feel better.

At 5:45 we hear the bus pull up and the men file in rowdily and I see a few of Ry's friends come in, I go over and welcome them home and they give me hugs as I try to choke back tears.  "What about me, don't I get a hug?" the voice I'd recognize anywhere says. I turn to run to my office, but run into Marina instead, "please deal with him!" I whisper. "Hey Ky, what's up?" she says, but I can hear him try and push past her but she stops him in his tracks, "You will leave her alone, do you hear me? She's been through hell and back." The last thing I hear before I shut the door to the office is, "but Rina, you don't understand, I still love her."

Worth a Thousand Words.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from various points in my life...enjoy :)

I'd Like to Have That One Back.

Before we get to today's post, I'd just like to let you all know that today, for the first time since I've had my bloglovin' account that my to be read counter is at 0 and I didn't hit mark all as read.  I'm pretty ecstatic about that...okay, carrying on...

If I could relive any day or day(s) of my life, it would have to be the weeks in the summer that I spent with my grandparents up at their house in Bemidji. & also camping with my dad's family in the summer at the state parks up north.  & the weeks and weekends spent up at our cabin with Lynn's family.  My summers growing up were pretty dang awesome.

Everybody always tells you to tell your loved ones you love each time you see them because no one is guaranteed a tomorrow, I didn't heed that advice until I lost my grandfather at 14 unexpectedly.  If I could turn back time and have my summers back, I'd spend it all in Bemidji, Akeley & up at Pine Lake with each set of my grandparents and all of my aunts and uncles.

What day or time would you like to relive?

that's why God made me.

Today's prompt for blogtember was to write a love letter, and it didn't have to be romantic love. Good, I don't have a special significant other, so I decided to write to my work momma Karen.

Dear Momma,

First of all, I MISS YOU! Come back from vacation soon, work is quite depressing without you.  Thank you for always being my biggest supporter and listening to me whine, vent and cry about stupid drama.  I was listening to Pandora the other day & a song called That's Why God Made Me came up and most of it doesn't apply to us, but there's a part that goes, "He made your mother, so you'd always have a friend, your sister and brother to fight with now and then, God made your father to show you how a man should be & he knew you'd need someone to always love you and that's why God made me." Pretty sure that sums up how I feel about you, you're my person that will always love me no matter what.

So proud to be considered your youngest daughter.

love you more,

your squeezebox/little bit.

Sunday Social

 1. What is the name of your blog?

They Call Her Meghan, I just really liked the way it sounded.  And then I moved out to my Dad's and I was so and so's daughter or sister or granddaughter, and they all call me Meghan, and it's my reminder to myself, that before all that I am Meghan.  

2. What do you love most about blogging?

The wonderful women I've met through my blog.  

3. Why did you start blogging?

I love to write and it's something cool just to have for myself to look back on down the road. 

4. What is something you'd want to tell someone just starting out in the blog world?

Write for yourself, if the followers come, great, if not, just have fun with it :D 

5. Biggest blogging learning experience you've had?

Not everyone is who they seem in blogland. I'm gonna keep Ashley's answer! 

6. What are three blogs you love?

Kenzie at Life According to Kenz Chelsea at Sunny with a chance of Sprinkles Katie at Life, Love and Pursuits of Katie

Soundtrack to my Life.

I'm almost three days late, but I definitely wanted to link up with Helene for her songs that define me link-up. 

I am very much obsessed with music, and use it to explain my emotions when I can't find the words to do it, and I have songs that either represent my relationship with that certain person or remind me of a memory with them, so without further ado. 

My Dad

honorable mentions for my dad are: Daddy, Dance with Me-Krystal Keith, Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman and Honey I'm Home by Shania Twain

My Mom

honorable mention for this one goes to: Valentine by Jim Brickman & Martina McBride.  

My Stepdad

honorable mention for my stepdad is: Six Days on the Road by Sawyer Brown

My Stepmom

honorable mention for my stepmom goes to: Teenage Daughters by Martina McBride & Two Pina Coladas by Garth Brooks

 Mady

honorable mention for Mady goes to: Play it Again and Out Like That by Luke Bryan

Matt

If you want to see some of my recent favorites, check out my Songs on Saturday posts that I post every Saturday.  

Educated.

I think you can learn a lot at school, but you learn so much more in the real world, not saying you don't learn a lot in school, but you learn a lot of useful things outside of a brick building as well.  Some of the best things I've learned have come from this here blog, the last three years.

Everybody isn't going to like you...and that's okay.

I'm a people pleaser to a fault.  I a lot of the times put others' happiness in front of mine, and want them to be happy with me and like me.  Nothing brought me out of that line of thinking more than the first time I was a part of a Twitter fight and the first time I got into a disagreement over something I or another person had posted.

Be yourself, everyone else is taken.  

In the beginning, like most newbie bloggers, I thought oh my gosh I want x amount of followers and watched that number obsessively and I wanted to be like this blogger and that blogger, but then I got burnt out and started writing how and what I wanted to and I love blogging again.

A Place of my Own. 

I've written about it before, but blogging has been my one thing, the one thing I can be known for.  For my brothers and sisters it was sports or academics or music, but for me, it's this blog and it's not Mady's or Ryan's or Olivia's or Matt's or Zak's or Nik's, but MINE.  & it's something I can be proud of and have fun with.

So what's something you've learned from blogging/social media.

Finish The Sentence.

First time linking up, let's do this thing!

My happy place... is my grandparents house.  

Whatever happened to... evening TV? Kudos if you got that reference!  

So what if I.... have had way too many PSLs already?   

E! needs a reality show about... umm...

My go-to fast food meal is... a McDonalds snack wrap..

You might not know that I...used to work as a dietary aide.  

The hottest quarterback in the NFL is... Aaron Rodgers. He seems to be the popular vote it seems :) 

If I could... the laundry to put itself away, I'd be golden.  

My personality is awesome because... I will do just about anything once.  

Twerking is.... never the answer.  

I think it's super gross when... I have to see ABC gum...yuck! 

Someone needs to tell Miley Cyrus.... that Lindsay Lohan wants her job as captain of the hot mess express back.  

Where Were You?

Each generation has that moment they'll always remember where they were when they heard about a certain event.  For my grandparents, it was when JFK was assassinated, for my parents, it was when the Challenger exploded, and for me, it'll always be September 11th, 2001.  I was only in fourth grade, but I remember waking up as they were replaying the first tower being hit.

I remember thinking "will everybody be talking about this?" as I was on my way to school.  I feel stupid thinking back on that now.

I remember the aftermath.  I remember when President Bush ordered the troops into Afghanistan.  I remember coming home from my best friend's house to my stepdad telling us he was going to be deployed. I remember his homecoming.  I remember the phone call from my mom letting me know two years ago now that my big stepbrother Nik was being deployed.

I remember the extreme pride everybody had to be in this amazing country that we are so blessed to live in, and 12 years later, I wonder, where has that pride gone? Regardless of how you feel about our President and the way he leads us, let's look beyond that and get back to loving each other and this amazing country we live in.

Where were you on that September day?

True Life: I'm 21 and still live at home.

As I've gotten older, I've started more and more looking back and retracing the steps my life has taken to get me to the point I am today.

The song This by Darius Rucker is pretty much how I feel about everything.

I threw around a few different ideas for this post before finally settling on the decision to live at home and go to a community college instead of going out into the big bad world *sarcasm font* and go to a four year school and get a dorm,  I think this really shaped my life.

The first year or so of living with my dad(I moved out of my mom's after graduation), I had a lot of what if, did I do the right thing? type feelings, not that I didn't and still don't love living with my dad, because I love it and am blessed greatly by it, but I often wondered, was it the right choice for me? Would I regret it down the road that I chose to stay at home instead of moving out?

I have changed so much between making the decision to move out to my Dad's in 2010 to this year.  

Looking back, just over three years later, I can say, I would definitely make that choice again, and that this choice has changed my life for the good.

If I hadn't moved to my Dad's, I wouldn't have gotten my job with Walmart and met all the wonderful people there, I wouldn't have been as close with my family & my grandparents, I wouldn't have become as independent as I am,

What was a choice that changed your life?  Would you make that choice again?

I Need You To Need Me

Why yes it is, 11:15 pm and I am just now posting.  Fall allergies kicked my butt today, but I really really wanted to post, so here I am :)

So for today's Blogtember, we had to go and take this personality quiz, and so I did, and I got ISFJ, and I totally was nodding my head along with most of it, but the few things that really stood out to me were:

-their need to be needed: I feel really good when I think somebody needs me.  I like being needed, I guess I wouldn't go far as to say I need to be needed, I just like that feeling

-being taken advantage of because of my undying loyalty: this happened a lot more in High school then it does know, but I still let people walk over me too much

-their families are the centers of their lives: if you have read my blog for any amount of time, you'd agree that I definitely have my family as my center.

What personality type are  you? :Take the short quiz and let me know!

Sunday Social.

What is your favorite fall activity?

I love having bonfires and sitting out by the fire at the end of a long day.  Just soaking up the last pre-freezingness MN goes into by mid-November.

 Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

Mostly just the Vikings, because they're the hometown team, and I keep an eye on the Cowboys just because so many of my blog friends and some of my real life friends like them too.  

 What is something fun about fall in your area?

Nothing jumps out to me at the moment, but the town where my school is in, is the Halloween capital of the world.  

 What are your favorite fall staple outfits?

Jeans and worn hoodies! 

What things are his looking forward to most about this coming fall season?

Cooler temps & PSLs.  

What is your favorite fall holiday? Tradition?

Thanksgiving.  Our annual family Turkey 5k and then just vegging watching movies after we eat and before I work Black Friday.  

Songs on Saturday #4

Maybe someday I'll actually post this weekly like I intended to...until then, here's three of my favorite songs this week!



That's Why God Made Me//Shannon Walker



Play It Again//Luke Bryan

Chances are, if you were to pull up beside Mady's car, this is the song we'd be belting out, his whole CD is pure fabulous though!

Only two this week! Have a great weekend!

Incoming Call.

"You ready to watch the movie?" Lynn asks. "Yup." I say.  Two minutes in and we've paused the movie for her to talk to my Dad and then we press play again as the home phone rings.  "Hello?" I say.  "Meghan?" my mom asks. "Yeah?" I say.  "I've got some bad news." "What's going on?" I ask getting up from my place on Lynn and Dad's bed where I was laying watching the movie.  "Grandma's stopping dialysis." 

Those three words scared me and changed my world forever.  My Grandma had health issues all her life and the last three years of her life, she was on dialysis for her kidneys.  The call came on March 1st 2012 that she was no longer going to receive dialysis by her own decision.  I was able to say goodbye to her one last time that weekend, and on March 7th 2012, she left this Earth.  To say I miss her every day would be an understatement, but I know she's up with my Grandpa watching down on me, and I know she's no longer in pain.  Those two facts help me dull the ache of missing her.  

When was a time you were afraid?

People Aren't Going to Like You.

I was totally going to write about a completely different topic, for this prompt, but then I remembered back to junior year spanish...there was a senior girl in there who couldn't stand me for whatever reason, and she would just glare at me whenever the teacher had her back turned.  My stepmomma was my rock during those years, so I emailed her for advice, and of course she delivered, her advice to me was this: just ignore her, there's nothing you can do if she's already made up her mind to not like you, and to be honest, she probably is jealous of you.  

Jealous of me? No way, but I kept reading on.  She went on to say that people weren't gonna like me and wish they could have what I had. & what was it I had exactly that these people who she didn't think were gonna like me wanted that I had? My relationship with Christ.  They saw me as a threat, and I don't mean that in an oh my gosh, I'm gonna threaten you kind of way either, just that they wanted what I had and they didn't know how to get it.  I was set apart for loving Jesus.  

& that advice? has carried me through many trials that I have faced.  I actually still have the email pinned to my bulletin board and will read it when I'm down because so-and-so doesn't like me or is saying mean things about me.  

Have your parents or another person you look up to ever given you a piece of advice that stuck with you through the years? I'd love to hear it! 

I'm a George Strait Junkie!

I went to the George Strait concert back in February and now to say I'm addicted to the rush I get when I go to a concert, well that'd be an understatement.  

So when Jenni posed the question, if you could take three months off from your life and do anything, what would you do? 

Well Jenni, I'm guessing that I also have an in-disposable amount of money to work with, right? 

Okay, well then if I could do that, I'd be a George Strait groupie, follow his tour from city to city.  I mean how awesome would that be? I about died when I saw him just once, can you imagine if I got to do that each night? Possibly meet the King himself?  I'd be in heaven.  Listen to him perform I Cross My Heart, Write This Down, I Hate Everything and If I Know Me every night?  My kind of perfect right there!

So what would you do if you had three months and no responsibilities?  Tell me in the comments or link up with Jenni for Blogtember! 

Tuesday Thoughts.

I truly hate to start out on a somber note, but everyone needs to go read THIS by one of my favorite hometown bloggers, Kelly about blog privacy.  I'll wait til you go read it.....okay back? If I found out anyone stole my pictures and/or my identity, I would be devastated and that's putting it lightly.  I'd probably want to cause bodily harm to the person.  

Next, when did I become a once a week blogger? When it became state fair/uncle in town/other aunt & uncle and family in town time.  The last few weeks have been pretty awesome.  After my first state fair experience this year, I went back twice more and the second time I went, we went in the afternoon/evening and it was pure bliss. We were front row for both the 5 and 10p news on our favorite local channel, if you live in Minnie, you probably saw me!  We also definitely ate our way through the fair! My favorite was the sweet Martha's cookies(LE DUH!) and then the apple dumpling with ice cream.  

It's that time of year again! As I'm typing this post, I'm sipping my first PSL of the year.  Woohoo!  & they even spelled my name right without me having to say anything.  Also on a related note, I got my Starbucks Gold Rewards now too!  

I'm looking for new ways of doing ad swaps now, after not doing them for awhile, I think I'm gonna start back up, I haven't fully decided how and at what capacity, but I am looking into it.  I may just go the old-fashioned route and do the old emailing the html of the button to the swapper, I'm not sure though.  Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions?

I know I'm committing a blogging sin by not adding a picture to this post, but after what happened to Kelly, I'm not in the mood to put personal pictures up.  

Have a great Monday  Tuesday!