Out with 2014, In with 2015.

2014 was most definitely a year of change, growth and learning for me.  I moved out of my parents house and moved on from pursuing a degree in something that I no longer had interest in. I had a second job for a few months and learned that it's okay to stand up for yourself when you're being treated unfairly & it's okay to throw in the towel when you don't get the respect you know you deserve from coworkers.  I've understood more than ever, how much my work family has my back and wants me to succeed and cheers me on just as much as my real family.

One of the very first pictures I took in 2014. 

I'm hoping 2015 will be a year of laughter, joy & more growth.  I pray that I smile more than I cry, give more than I take & not take a moment of my wonderful life for granted.  

For the first time, I've chosen a word for the year, which is going to be prosper.  I want to prosper in my faith, my relationships, my job & my dreams.  I haven't been more excited for a new year since 2010 which was the year I graduated high school.  I think God has big plans for me this year, ones that I hope I can embrace with open arms.  

One of the very last pictures of 2014. 

I also have 15 goals I'd like to accomplish in 2015. 

1) Read my Bible daily and finish reading it cover-to-cover by 2016. 

2)Complete the 52 week savings challenge

3)Finish Handwritten Love.

4)Blog 3x a week

5)Read 100 books

6)Celebrate my 5 year work anniversary

7)Pay my Mom back for helping me with my student loan deal.

8)Take at least 1 out of state trip

9)Start a gratitude/prayer journal. Along with a daily journal. 

10)Complete project 365. Blog about it.

11)Drink more water.
12)Write at least 4x a week(books or whatever my WIP is)
13)complete NaNoWriMo.
14)Be more active in #fireworkpeople, the peony project & the blog love project.
15) Save all of my $5 bills.

Grateful Heart V.4

I'm back for my fourth week of Grateful Heart with Emily, this may be my favorite way to start the week, it makes me see just how much I've been blessed with!

my work momma//I would be so lost without this amazing woman.  She's not perfect, but not one of us is, but she's one that I can count on for a needed heart to heart or a good laugh.  We make a good team her & I. & I wouldn't be who I am without her love, advice & support.

the flashlight on my iphone//I've been waking up in the middle of the night lately & it's nice not having to turn on all my lights just to get a drink of water ;)

my family//Over the last week, I spent 95% of my time at my parents, which is why the blog has been bare, spending time with my loved ones, especially grandparents will always trump my online presence #sorrydefinitelyNOTsorry.  They leave to go back to Arizona on New Years Eve and then they'll be gone until May again.

traditions//My grandma and grandpa and parents and my brother Ryan always come pick me up on Christmas Eve whooping it up, jingling bells, my brother had a goose call this year & just embarrassing me all in good fun when they arrive.  We then go look at Christmas lights.  Christmas Day starts with reading the story of Jesus' birth & then we open presents.  I usually head to my mom's at some point during the school Christmas vacation, but my days off just haven't worked with their plans yet, so hopefully within the first few weeks of January I can head out there.

Hope you all had a wonderful week of Christmas, I'm excited for the last few days of 2014 & all that 2015 has to offer!

2014 in Review.

What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before? I moved out & saw Garth Brooks in concert..TWICE! 

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions?
Will you make more for next year?I didn't really keep any of them, no.  & I think I will make a list of goals this year & have a word.  

Did anyone close to you give birth? Some blog friends did! 

Did anyone close to you die? Yeah.  

What countries did you visit? Just USA.

What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014? I would love to say a significant other, but that may be asking a lot :) 

What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory? May 1st, when I moved out on my own for the first time! 

What was your biggest achievement of the year? I'd say moving out on my own! 

What was your biggest failure? Probably not giving my two weeks before leaving Panera.  

Did you suffer illness or injury?Nothing too extreme.  

What was the best thing you bought? Garth concert tickets! 

Whose behavior merited celebration? My parents for not kicking me out when I revealed I had been lying for a year.  

Where did most of your money go? Rent.  

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Garth Brooks.  & having my own place. 

What song will always remind you of 2013?
People Loving People--Garth's first single in forever.   

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?Happier
Thinner or fatter?Thinner
Richer or poorer?Richer … in all the ways that money can’t buy!

What do you wish you’d done more of?Relaxed.  

What do you wish you’d done less of?Being upset over stupid stuff.  

How will you be spending Christmas?

With family. 

Did you fall in love in 2014?

Nada.  

How many one-night stands?Zero.

Who were your best friends? Jayme, Rachael, Lora, Cass, Karen & Lynn.  

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others?I had Karen's back all throughout the work drama.  

What were your favorite TV programs? Grey's, HTGAWM, Nashville

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?I try very hard not to hate anyone, so I'd say no.  

What was the best book you read in 2014? Asking me to pick a favorite book? HA HA HA. 

What was your greatest musical discovery?I love Cole Swindell, thanks Lora! 

What did you want and get?More time with my family.  

What did you want but did NOT get?Not much.

What were your favorite films this year?I loved Mom's Night Out! 

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I was 22 and I went out to eat with my family (:  

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?I could have done without not having my work momma having  another couple mini strokes.  .

What kept you sane?

Faith, Family & Friends.  

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Brantley Gilbert & Aaron Watson. Garth too.  

What political issue stirred you the most?

Ferguson  

Who do you miss?Nobody at the moment. 

Who are the best new persons you met this year?I loved meeting Jayme's hubby this year. & new work friends.  

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.Rent is expensive!   

Quote that sums up your year:Enjoy the small moments because you'll look back and they'll be your biggest memories.  

Meghan's Top songs of 2014.

I love music.  You've been around this blog for any amount & you'll know this.  Helene put together her top ten songs of the year & I've gathered 9 of my favorites as well, I'm a country music kind of girl and that's where all of my favorites came from. #noshame

Confession Session.

I confess//I love when my Dad calls me just to check and see how I'm doing.

I confess//I'm seriously considering buying my work mom a bottle of wine just to drive her daughter crazy. #sorrynotsorry

I confess//my grandparents come home tomorrow & this girl couldn't be more excited!

I confess//I may be crazy for agreeing to pick up one of my days off, that'll be six days in a row leading up to Christmas. #oyvey

I confess//aforementioned work mom is working the same six days with me, so we will have fun & get into lots of trouble.  Bwahaha.

I confess//Charter is about to get an earful about how my wifi is being all temperamental. #aintnobodygottimeforthat

I confess//instead of eating the homemade lasagna I was given, I ate the cookies I was also given.

I confess//I laughed way too hard at this:

Grateful Heart v3

I'm back with another volume of Grateful Heart, I love starting my week out like this!

Running Errands with my parents//I've said it before, but one of the things I miss the most about being out on my own is the little moments that happen in the day-to-day.  I spent the morning running errands with my Dad & Lynn one day last week before work and I was grateful for that extra time with them.  

My Dad's safety//My dad is part of the law enforcement community & he's had a crazy week, and it's the middle of a crazy season for him & I'm just so glad that he comes home every night unharmed by the day's events. 

Heart-to-heart conversations//I've had a few deep conversations with a few of my closest friends the last week and it's done my heart good.  

What's one thing you're grateful for? 

linking up with meg & emily! 

They (Usually) don't call me Meghan.

Whoa. Hold the phone, what do you mean, they usually don't call me Meghan? Has my blog been a lie the whole time? No, my name really is Meghan, I pinky promise you that! But so many people have nicknames for me that, I usually only hear my name when I'm in trouble or someone is upset with me.  

So what do people call me then?

Miss Meghan//My momma calls me this, my front end manager calls me this sometimes, and random acquaintances call me this at random. 

Megs//Most of my mom's family calls me this, mostly my Aunt Jenny and her family, along with my little sister Olivia. My younger brother Ryan calls me this sometimes too. 

Meggy//This is one that I really cannot stand, but I tolerate it from a select few, my Grandpa Gray was the only one to call me this for the longest time, then my Grandma H calls me this sometimes, not lately though & Mady calls me this sometimes too.  I had a cashier call me this on my way out of work the other day with Karen and I told her not to call me that, and Karen's like whoa, what did she call you? I said Meggy, she's like oh ick. I'm like yeah.  

#2//This one probably has you thinking bathroom duties, but it's actually a nickname one of my managers gave me because I told her she was my second favorite and then I got a second job and my employee number was 2, so that's what Renee calls me.  She also calls me Boss.  

Squeezebox//This is something that only Karen is allowed to call me because she's the one that came up with it & I'm the only one she calls this. I feel quite special that I have my own nickname.  She also calls me little one, little bit, lovebug & shadow.  

Do you have a nickname? Is there something people try calling you and you have no part of it? 

30 before 30

I have failed miserably multiple times at the the 101 in 1001 craze, so I'm going to try something new, the thirty before thirty, which I realized was closer for me then 13 is.  I of course shared that little tidbit with Jayme, so we both are feeling a little old.

1. Fall In Love.

2. Publish a Book//This one ties into my ultimate dream which is to have a book on the bestsellers' list.

3. Get a Tattoo//Many ideas for this one, just have to nail down the one I want first.

4. Finish a Coloring Book.

5. Adopt a rescue weim//Everyone knows how much I love my Coop baby && I want one of my own!

6. Get my Goodreads to 1500//I'm at 172 I believe at last check.

7. Ride a Mechanical Bull.

8. Go to Nashville//This has been on my to-do list ever since I was 15 or 16.

9. Go skydiving.

10. No soda for a month. 

11. Become a Partner in Hope//this one actually is already in motion.

12. Complete NaNoWriMo//this probably should have been before publish a book, but oh well.

13. Have 1500 posts on They Call Her Meghan.

14. Go on a cruise.

15. Have a no-spend month.

16. Get my braces off//I have most definitely hit that point where I want them off!

17. Read the Bible cover-to-cover. 

18. Put $5000 into savings

19. Treat myself something expensive//Ipad, coach purse, new computer, SOMETHING!

20. Be able to plank for ten minutes straight. 

21. Go to ten new concerts.

22. Start & keep a journal//Yes I have this blog, but I want something that is just for my eyes only & I can possibly give my hypothetical daughter down the road.

23. Move someplace new.

24. Go to Vegas.

25. Go see the National Finals Rodeo

26. Watch AFI's 100 years....100 movies

27. Write 50 handwritten letters.

28. Make 50 vlogs. 

29. Write my will//This isn't morbid much is it?

30. Go 24 hours Media free.  

A few of these are more open-ended, but most of them are pretty cut and dry.  Do you have a bucket list of sorts? Leave me a link to it and I will go check it out!!

Authentic.

I was sitting in church a few weekends ago with Lynn, which by the way I'm LOVING the series we just wrapped up.  Anyways, I wanted to share a couple of my takeaways from the series, because I think there are a few things that not only we as bloggers can take away from it, but we as women as well.

via

The first thing that stuck out to me was when our pastor said what would happen if you & God took a selfie and instead of your outside appearance showing up, what your inner most thoughts and feelings were on display, would that be a selfie you'd want to be shared? That took me down a peg or two.  

Then he shared that when asked my generation of millenials, which depending on who you ask ranges from 1981 to 1996, what was one thing they strived to be, it was authentic. I was like those bobblehead dogs, nodding my head up and down.  Then he said, well, that's what their parents and grandparents generations said when they were asked as well.  

Oh. 

So what does this mean for me? It means that I'm still going to post selfies & strive for authenticity, because ever since I started blogging it's always been about showcasing me and my family's life in the most real and honest way possible, without sacrificing our privacy.  I am working on myself each and every day with God's help to say yes, that I would be happy to post that hypothetical selfie of God & I where only my inner most thoughts and actions were revealed.  

What is the biggest things you strive for? 

Grateful Heart v.2

I think it's a great way to start my week sharing a few things I'm grateful for, so I'm going to do that again this week!

Early morning conversations//I woke up around 6:55 this morning, and was scrolling through my facebook feed and commented on one of Amanda's posts which led to a short conversation, she's one of my blog tribe and I absolutely love her!

Not the best picture, but it'll do

My new haircut//Thursday was pay day & I haven't done anything crazy with my hair in awhile & I ended up chopping a lot of it off & I absolutely LOVE IT!

My coworkers//We're in the busy season now at work & it would really suck if I had coworkers I didn't like or work well with.

linking up with emily for grateful heart & meg for mingle monday!

Fun Facts.

Nicknames people call me//

Anything from Megs to little bit to Miss Meghan. 

Favorite thing in my house//

I love my couches, they were my grandparents' before they were mine and there have been many memories sitting on these couches in their living room.

Pet peeves//

when people don't follow through among other things. 

Worst habit//

Procrastination. 

Go-to drink//

Sex on the beach or a mudslide

First celebrity crush//

Dean McDermott.

My guilty pleasure//

Spending a copious amount of time on Pinterest. 

Three all time favorite TV shows//

Greys, Army Wives & Friends.

Fictional character you would want as your best friend//

Roxy LeBlanc or Meredith Grey. 

If you could take only one candy to a desert island//

Reese's cups.  

By the Numbers.

7 Months I've lived in my apartment.
23 the age I'll be in just under 4 months
1,030 the amount of words I wrote for NaNoWriMo this year. Next year will be better.
11 days I worked before having Tuesday and Wednesday off.
4 days I've posted in a row, which is only 3 less posts then I did all of November.
21 days til Christmas
0 presents I have bought
13 the age my youngest brother will be in 15 days
12 days 'til my grandparents fly home for Christmas.
4 the age the dog up there will be on NYE.

Smiling's My FAVORITE!

This week's topic? Favorite Christmas movies!

My number one favorite Christmas movie?

Elf of course!

Mady came over last night and we watched it, and we've both seen it so many times we both can quote it together, but we also noticed parts we hadn't before! 

We will randomly text each other "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" I think my favorite part though is, he's an angry elf! 

So tell me have you seen Elf? What's your favorite Christmas movie? 

Also, if you want a fun new print for the New Year, go check out the giveaway on Dawn's blog! 

Currently

...reading all the blogs I'm behind on.  

...watching, one of my CSMs recommended Rookie Blue. I need to catch up on Nashville & Chicago Fire as well!   

...trying to get over this cold that I've got going on. 

...eating nothing at the moment.   

...pinning lots of random things.  

...tweeting nothing too interesting as of late. 

...going to do absolutely nothing that requires me going outside these next two days. 

...loving life.  

...discovering that I can work 11 days in a row without going completely crazy!  

...enjoying my first cup of coffee this morning. 

...thinking about how I have over six months til my next concert :(   

...feeling stuffed up.  

...hoping that I can survive the Christmas season at work without going completely insane. 

...listening to Pandora 

Grateful&Goals.

How is it already December? As of today, I've been in my apartment for 7 months, I can't believe it!

I also can't believe that I'm showing up to blog on a Monday and semi-early!

Joining up with Emily from Ember Grey to share what's on my grateful heart this week.

Today I'm grateful for//

My Blog//

I was reading through my 2014 & late 2013 posts and there were so many little things that I had forgotten about & I'm so grateful that I recorded them here!

WeChat//
Since Rachael is in China, she can't text regularly, so that's how we keep up with stuff not shared on the interwebz.  I also love the group option, where Rach, Lora & I spew our brain matter without judgment.

My Person//
There is nothing better then having a completely weird thought & you text your best friend & she's like OH EM GEE me too.  So grateful for Jayme & how we are like one person in two bodies.

Pandora//
I love love love the Pandora app on my phone. I'm constantly listening to music & it's nice I don't have to buy songs because I have music ADD.

10 Utterly Random Facts.

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I would share some random facts about the Meghan behind this here blog.

1. What Faith Can Do by Kutless got me through my senior year of high school, "you gotta face the clouds to find the silver lining" #truth

2. From the time I was 15 or 16 until a few months after moving in with them, I would text Lynn each night with a good night, love you lots text.  I wonder why I ever stopped?

3. My bestest friend lives in Iowa. I live in Minnesota.  This kind of sucks a lot of monkey balls.  But we text all the time.  About just about everything. Two of my other best friends? Live in Indiana & China, which also sucks a lot of monkey balls. Thankful for the WeChat group chat option! Another one lives in North Carolina, boo hiss.  The only one of my best friends that lives in Minnesota is my sister!

4. My Grandpa H is my favorite person in the entire world.  Love him lots!

5. My two middle fingers are double jointed.

6. My dog Cooper is my baby.  No matter that I haven't lived at home for six plus months, he gets so excited when I come home.  Same with my Mom's dog Leader.  I was his person when I lived at home & he gets way overly excited when I come home as well.

7. Mountain Dew is my caffeine of choice, right along with coffee.

8. I'm a little bit of a klutz.  In the past month and a half, I've punched myself in the face, poked myself in the eye with my nametag & yesterday I almost knocked myself out when I hit my head on the bagging carousel at work.

9. I have a pinterest addiction.  I love pinning things & then more than likely never looking at them.

10. My go-to person when I need to talk to someone about anything is my work mom.

My Tour of Blogland.

Lora nominated me for the tour through blogland, so I get to play along with all of the cool kids!

What are you working on now?

My NaNo novel, Handwritten Love.  It's about a young woman named Jolee that meets a soldier in passing and they become close through writing letters whilst he's overseas.  

How does your work differ from others in it's genre?

It's written by me and not them.  I put my own flair and personality into each of my posts.  

Why do you write/create what you do?

Because it's the best way for me to express how I'm feeling at that moment in time.  

How does your writing/ creative process work? 

I randomly come up with ideas, usually in the most inopportune places, like the shower or work and by the time I'm out of the shower or off of work, the idea has been forgotten.  I will sit down and write, but usually not all in one sitting, I really need to get better about focusing on one thing at a time.  

Next stop....

Ashley from Ashley Lately, let's see how your blog! 

These are my confessions.

I confess this blog is feast or famine. I either write every day or like every week.  Let's work on that Meghan.

I confess that I cried about something completely ridiculous today, but it felt good to cry about it at the time.  Huge kudos to Jayme for letting me vent.

I confess that I have spent three or four days at my parents house the last two weeks and I really miss my stepmomma.

I confess that I think it's pretty cool that my "baby" sister reads my blog! Hey Liv!

I confess that I loved Garth just as much the second time as I did the first.  & his new CD is pretty awesome as well.

I confess that I am completely behind on NaNoWriMo.  Like horribly behind. Like I probably should just lock myself in my room with my computer and do nothing but write.

I confess that after I finish this post, I think I'm going to take a nap.

What a Weekend.

This weekend was one for the books for sure! I worked 11 to 8 on Friday and probably annoyed everyone with how excited I was for 10:30pm to roll around.

Because at 10:30, I was seeing Garth Brooks.  I've been a  die-hard Garth Brooks fan since I was a young teenager after listening to his music on and off through out my childhood. I was only 8 when he quit touring, but grew up listening to his older CDs.  After Friday night, I can say my love for Garth grew tenfold.

He played all of his major hits, came out for two or three encores & was absolutely amazing.  This concert was also the one everyone has been hearing about because he sang to Teresa Shaw and gave her his guitar after he saw her sign that said Chemo this morning, Garth Brooks tonight, enjoying the Dance.  

Here are a few pictures that my friend took with her camera:

When he was asking Trisha to play On a Bus to Saint Cloud. 

In Another's Eyes.  

One of the many times he thanked us for being there and for supporting him throughout the years. 

Standing Outside the Fire

Waving goodnight after the final encore. 

Concert got done around 2am, and Vanessa and I decided that we were hungry and we didn't just want McDonalds so we went to Perkins.  By the time I crawled into bed it was 4.  I knew I could sleep in until about 10:30 and make it to work by 11(there are definite perks about living across the street from your work), but no, I was up by 8:30.  I was so sleep deprived that day, if you saw me & I was snappy with you, I do really apologize.  #GarthHangover. 

I punched out around 8:05 and then headed to Lynn's hockey game.  I did the time clock and Mady ran the scoresheet, her team was up 4-0, ten seconds to go and because she doesn't know the word quit, she ended up getting checked into the boards somehow and her legs basically did a butterfly save as if she were a goalie, in layman's terms, she slammed into the board with her back and went down into the splits on her knees. Mady and I both held our breaths for what seemed like ages before she got back up and onto the bench.  

We had grand plans on Sunday, Lynn, Mady & I did.  We were going to go to early church, to a movie and then shopping after that.  Well, we didn't factor in the lovely men in our lives aka my Dad and brothers who called us at 6 am stranded 3 hours north at their deer camp because our Suburban wouldn't start.  So we dropped Mady off at her car and then Lynn & I made the trek up to get them.  We had some great conversations, I really miss her since I am on my own now.  We got home, her and I took a power nap and then put the outside stuff away since we were supposed to get a snowstorm Monday.  After that, Lynn, Dad and I headed down to the cities to Tria so Lynn could get her knee checked out.  She ended up having a sprained MCL.  

& as for that snowstorm? It dumped a good foot of snow in our area.  

&& yes, I did totally just recap my weekend on a Wednesday, which is now actually Thursday. Oh well.  

Currently.

...reading Kristen's blog! 

...watching Parenthood.  Like I'm quite obsessed.  

...trying to prepare myself for winter. 

...eating left over Taco John's from my lunch date with Karen.  We had such a good conversation today.  I love that lady! 

...pinning random things.. 

...tweeting all of the randomness in my life...@theycallhermeg

...going absolutely bonkers over the fact that I see Garth in FOUR DAYS! 

...loving life.  

...discovering that I have am blessed.  This is not a new discovery, but it's one that God reminds me of every so often when I'm down.  

...enjoying the last few hours of my day off. 

...thinking about Nanowrimo.  

...feeling pretty good. 

...hoping that my Thanksgiving schedule is nice to me.

...listening to 90's country. 

Sunday Mornings.

Sunday mornings have quickly become one of my favorite times of the week.  Because I usually close(2 to 11) on Sundays, I enjoy a nice cup of coffee, catch up on blog posts that I may have missed through out the week, & just let myself relax and wake up slowly.  I will head over to work around 10:45 to have lunch with Karen & then work on my novel until I have to punch in.

I'm reading Erin's soon-to-be sister-in-law's blog from the beginning and I absolutely LOVE her photography!

Work was an absolute ZOO yesterday, but Karen was about to leave and she always makes sure to give me one last hug before she leaves, and for whatever reason I thought she wasn't going to hug me yesterday, so I stomped my foot, yes stomped(apparently I'm five), and I said get over here and give me a hug.  Her response? Do I ever leave without a hug? I'm going to come over there and smack you for stomping your foot though! Love my third momma!

I got to see Lynn and Ryan yesterday too, which was great.  Probably the biggest thing I miss about living at home is getting to go grab coffee and share rides into work with Lynn, she truly is one of my closest friends.  God has blessed me immensely in the stepmom department!

Have a great Sunday friends

xo.