Beautiful Day on the Farm

What a beautiful Saturday!  Today we did some yard work out here on "the farm".  The grass needed to be cut, so my mom Lauren and I went out and picked up limbs to get ready for the lawn mower.  My mom and Lauren took turns mowing, while I helped my dad give Ginger a bath.  We also cleaned out her kennel for her.  After we were done, and we had some lunch, I went around took some photos of our land (well the 40 acres we live on anyway).  Not too many blooms out yet, but it still was pretty nice out.  Here are the pictures I took today....

This is the front of the house

And the back of the house

I love these old planters!

The old fountain my grandmother had put in when
the house was built

This is our BBQ pit/smoker.  sooo good
when my dad makes his amazing ribs!

This is our shed/barn on this piece of land.  Down
the road on the rest of our property are several
barns and the house my grandmother and
father grew up in.

Here's Ginger after her bath.  She's such a pretty
girl.  I love her so much!

After lunch we kind of lounged around watching HGTV, and I was on pinterest (even thought the internet is terribly slow down here!) pinning my heart away.  We're going to start a movie here in a bit, so until next time...

Best,

Megan

One Year Down... Many More To Go!

this lovely photo credits to Twiggs Photography on Etsy

First off I just want to say how wonderful the weather has been this past week!  Just gorgeous for March (especially here in the mid-west)!   Today is Grant and I's anniversary.  It is so wild to think that it has really been a year already.  Although we may not have spent a lot of time together in the beginning, between him traveling for work and me being in Columbia still finishing up my degree.  Since moving back to Kansas City we are able to see each other on a regular basis, which has been so great.  I know that their were challenges along the way, and there will be many more but I know that we will get through them together.  I love him very much!

We decided to celebrate last night, and went out to dinner and then watched a movie when we got home.  After this long stressful week it was great to spend this weekend with the one who keeps me going, and the one that makes me so very happy.  Today we finally cleaned Grant's house.  We had planned on doing it many times before, but something else came up or we weren't very motivated to get it done yet.  I can say that now his place looks even better!  Tonight I am going to make dinner for us, and we'll probably curl up on the sofa and watch something on tv.  Just a nice simple weekend; just the two of us.  It has been nice!

I may have used this quote before, but it is one of my favorites of all time and something that I firmly believe in.

Saturday we went to the Kansas City's St. Patrick's Day Parade.  It was nice to go, since neither of us had been before, but I can't say that I would die if I didn't go again.  Maybe it was just because we were at the end of the parade route, but it wasn't all that I thought it was cracked up to being.  Saturday my dad was released from the hospital as well!  Which is GREAT!  He did so well in his recovery that he was released fairly early compared to others having the same surgery.  Today my mom, my sister, and him are making their way back down to Nevada.  Hopefully his recovery in these next few months will be just as great as well!  

Well it's about time to get dinner started, so until next time...

Best,

Megan

Makin' Our Way Through the Week

I can't believe this week is almost over.  We went to the hospital again today to see my dad and he got moved back to the Cardiology rooms instead of being in Intensive Care.  He is still really tired, and even things like taking a shower really takes a lot out of him, but we're all so proud of all the progress he's made so far.  Last night was a bit of a scare, when he called and said he had a fever.  Luckily it was nothing serious and he got back to sleep just fine.  I only wish I could go to the hospital more for him, because I know that it can be so lonely.  Sure my times in the hospital haven't been anything like his, but I know that being alone for any amount of time in that situation is rough.  My mom always leaves early in the morning to go see him, but I have to wait for my sister to get up and get ready every day.  If it were up to me I would be going right with my mom early in the morning.  O well, I think tomorrow we will be able to be there earlier.  

This weekend Grant and I are planning on going to the KC St. Patrick's Day Parade.  Neither of us have ever been, so it should be really fun!  Sunday is our anniversary so hopefully we'll get to do something nice together.  We shall see!  I am just glad I will get to spend some time with Grant.  He keeps me grounded and puts me at ease.  Maybe we'll even go and visit my dad together this weekend.  

Well, I better get some sleep cause I'm sure tomorrow will be an early morning and then most of the day will be spent at the hospital.  Thanks for reading (hope its not too boring, I'm not great at this...), and hope you all have a great Friday!

Best,

Megan

A Bit of a Misunderstanding

Hello everyone!  What a gorgeous Saturday it is (here in KC anyway); it almost feels like summer its sooo good!  I haven't been outside a ton today, but I did go outside right after lunch to play with ginger.  I took a little bit of a nap, which felt sooo good!  There isn't much to do here at home, and now that my mom and Hannah are here its even more cramped.  lol  I love that we're all here together though this weekend and the next week.  I am anxious to get Tuesday over with, and I know everyone else here is too.

While on pinterest today I stumbled upon a few good writing prompts/lists to write about.  So I'm going to try and use these every once and a while to write about who I am and what I am all about.  I think it will be nice for me to do this and get things down on "paper".  I have lots of hopes and aspirations for this blog, but it seems like lately everything else in life has been so consuming.  Just gotta keep pushing through!

So today's question is: What do you think people misunderstand most about you?


  Okay, I am a designer, an Interior Designer.  Many people I feel give that a bad connotation, or a less than worthy/not so smart profession.  It is something that I have so much passion for, and also with that passion I have some fight in me to maintain the true meaning and importance of Interior Design.  We are NOT decorators.  Decorators arrange things and decorate, Designers DESIGN.  We are licensed in our profession, and are legally responsible for our work (I am working towards getting my license!).  Interior Designers have to know codes and legal aspects of the built environment.  We work closely with Contractors, Architects, Construction Workers, Manufacturers, etc.  We are not all on HGTV, we don't all WANT to be on HGTV.  lol  So please don't ask me if I want to have some show on HGTV.  Actually most of the people who have shows are NOT real designers.  They are in the entertainment industry first, then have a "flair" for design.  I hate that America is now skewed from what they think of when it comes to Interior Design.  I think maybe that is another reason why I am so adamant about being more commercial than residential; I want to do things that matter to a lot of people.  I wish I was amazing at something in nursing or science to help people, but I'm not.  But I have that desire to help people, and with my passion in design I hope to do so.  

Now that I have that rant out of the way.  lol  I really didn't mean for it to be hateful or anything; I'm just very passionate about what I do and people need to know that its not easy or not a lot of work.  Going to try and enjoy the rest of my Saturday outside, try...  I think we're all going to go for a walk this afternoon.  So until next time folks.


Best,
Megan

Saturday in Nevada

So glad it is the weekend!  But I can't hardly believe that Saturday is almost over.  I am down in Nevada right now.  We went to dinner with Grant's parents and it was so great to have our parents meet each other.  We decided on going to the Country Club restaurant here in town, which I had never been to, and it was really good!  It was a really great night!  

Today once Grant dropped me off at my parents place around 10am, my mom took me to get my hair cut.  I mentioned in my last post that I had been really eager to get it cut, so my mom offered to take me.  We got there and had to wait a little while for the stylist since there were a few ladies ahead of me, but we were out of there by lunch time.  Since I wanted so much taken off, she measured to see if I would be able to donate it.  So she put it in a pony tail, and chopped it off.  Low and behold when I got home and measured it, it was about 15 inches in length!  lol  I knew my hair was long, but I didn't think I had THAT much.  I really love my new length though.  I couldn't stop touching it today.  Here's a picture my mom took once I got home...

Tomorrow evening I'll go back to Kansas City and get ready for the work week.  This next week I will work straight through 9-5 Monday through Friday.  The week after I have completely off.  It's my little sister's spring break and her and my mom will be in Kansas City.  The real reason why I am taking that week off though is something that I've known for a little while now and has been wearing on me since I found out.  My dad is having open heart surgery that week, and so I will be going with my family to be in the hospital for him.  Its been stressful and something that is always on my mind now.  I know that things will be okay, but I can't help but worry.  I'm sure if you have been in a similar situation you know how I feel.  Keep us in your thoughts!  

Well, it's about time for SNL so I'm going get situated on the couch and probably get to bed pretty soon.  Hope you guys have a good end to your weekend.  

Best, 

Megan

I love my MOM! (Happy Birthday Mom!)

Today is my mom's birthday!  and I love her very much!  There are a lot of great women who have helped me become who I am today, and she is definitely one of the biggest influences on me.  She stayed at home to raise my sisters and I into young women, and I love her for that.  I can't imagine growing up any other way.  Having her at home when I would come home from school was great; whether it was a bad day and I needed someone to talk to or it was a good day and I wanted to gush about everything, she was there (and still is!).

Now that I am older, I appreciate her even more than I ever have.  I love that we have a good relationship, and I can call her all the time to talk about anything and everything.  :)  I love you mom!  Hope you have had a great birthday today!

Tonight I am making my lasagna for dinner, with a salad and some whole wheat garlic bread.  My mom decided she wanted a lemon cake, and so we'll have that for dessert.  Hopefully after dinner we'll watch a movie or something.  Tomorrow we will be back in Kansas City sometime, because Hannah has a concert she is going to.  I may be going as well, if her friend isn't able to make it.  It's in Lawrence so I dunno what my parents and I will do while Hannah is at this concert.  Surely we'll find something to do.


A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  - Tenneva Jordan


Best,
Megan

In Nevada for the Weekend!

Yay! Yay! YAY!  Another Friday has come, and thus the weekend is upon us!  This weekend I am in Nevada.  Tomorrow is my mom's birthday so I'm so glad I can be here to celebrate it with her and my family.  I am going to be cooking dinner and making a cake tomorrow for her.  Should be good!  Not sure what else we will be doing the rest of the weekend, but I'm okay with not doing much.  Relaxing is what is great about the weekends!

One thing that I hate about being here though, is the SLOW internet connection.  I'm spoiled in KC having a speedy connection, so when I come here some weekends it's almost unbearable when trying to load videos or music tracks.  Oh well.  At least we have cable tv here!  lol  I can get "caught up" on some shows that I never get to watch.

Well it's time for bed, so I will update again this weekend.  Hope you all have a great start to your weekend!


Less is More.  - Mies van der Rohe

Best,
Megan

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend has been pretty nice.  To start things off Grant and I went out to dinner and did a little shopping. We decided to go to On the Border which was alright but we weren't that impressed.  Those hole in the wall mexican places are better lol.  We were in the Town Center shopping center, so we went to a few stores.  I ended up getting a new pair of stud earrings at Macy's which I love!  They're super cute.

Saturday Grant and I got up around 8am and had breakfast together.  Then we went back home and just hung out till about 1pm when I left to go to my grandma's place where her, my aunt, and I went to the Mother Daughter (Grand Daughter) Valentine's Tea Party.  They had a couple who played music and sang throughout the tea which was nice, and also raffled off some candy.  There were easily over 150 women there.  They had punch, finger sandwiches, candy, cake, and cookies.  It was pretty good.  It was really nice to see my grandma and aunt and talk to them.  I'm glad I'm so close to them now and we can get together more often!  :)  After I got back to Grant's house, we went to Target to get some things Grant needed around the house and groceries and what not.  I made spaghetti and meat sauce and some garlic toast for us for dinner.  It was pretty good.  We ended up watching more Sopranos last night before getting to bed around midnight.

Sunday we got up around 8am again, and I made breakfast burritos for us.  Today has been a very lazy day.  We continued watching some more episodes of the Sopranos and Big Love today.  For dinner I made FROM SCRATCH mashed potatoes.  lol  They really aren't that much of a pain, so I don't know why I was thinking it would take forever.  I guess I just hadn't made them in a while.  With the mashed potatoes I made pork tenderloin and for dessert Grant wanted brownies, so I baked a batch of those as well.  It was another pretty good dinner.  I just don't want the day to end!  Luckily I do have tuesday off for that seminar, so hopefully that will be a nice break from work.  We decided to stay in on tuesday for Valentine's Day, and I'm going to fix dinner for us.  I'll get off work at 5pm that day, and get stuff cooked and ready for Grant when he gets home at 8pm.  Should be a nice low key night in at his place.  :)

Well, hope you all had a great weekend!  Time for the work week!

Behavioral design is all about feeling in control. Includes: usability, understanding, but also the feel.  - Don Norman

Best,
Megan

The Weekend

So the weekend is coming to a close and I am currently watching the super bowl.  We didn't end up turning it on until about the start of the 2nd quarter.  I made tortellini with creamy pesto tonight, along with some chicken.  It was pretty good.  Grant is in the kitchen making some banana bread (per my request, and the current state of his bananas  lol).  While I'm just sitting here 'watching' the game I thought I would write my update for the weekend.

Friday night Grant and I went to Lucky Brewgrille in Mission.  This is the second time I've been there, and it was really good this time as well.  Last time we went they had a live band, so the atmosphere was totally different this time.  After dinner we went to the movies and saw The Grey.  It was a pretty good movie, although I wasn't really happy with the ending.  I won't spoil it for you though, but I would suggest you to go and see it!

Saturday a friend of mine told me that Restoration Emporium was having its Grand Opening, so we made our way down to the West Bottoms to do some antiquing.  Although Grant was probably less than thrilled about this trip I think he had a good time, and he got a cupcake out of the deal.  lol  There was some cool stuff at the stores we went to, but I didn't feel the need to buy anything.  I really just enjoy walking around and looking at all the old things that may or may not remind me of things from my childhood.  It's nice that there are so many antique stores all right there in one area.  Once we made the rounds at all of the shops in the West Bottoms, we made a stop at River Market Antiques.  The only place now that I haven't been to in that area is Good Juju, so I'll have to hit that up on a First Friday when that starts up in the spring.

Today I went to Target to see the new Jason Wu collection.  Let's just say I was less than impressed.  I tried on a couple shirts and a few dresses, but none of them were like 'wow I have to get this'.  The pinks are just not good with my skin tone, and the blue and red dress I liked in the add just did not look good on me.  I feel like a lot of his stuff was designed for women who are stick thin (which that's what he's used to doing for runway shows anyway).  O well.  While I was at Target I was able to get Grant's Valentine's gift.  I still need to get stuff to make cupcakes or cookies, I haven't decided which yet.  I hope he likes it.  I know its not much, but we decided we didn't wanna make it a big deal.  Not sure what we will do for dinner yet, but we've got a little over a week still.

Well I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday night, and I hope you all do the same!  Here's to a Happy Monday!  :)

Design is the conscious effort to impose a meaningful order.  - Victor Papanek

Best,
Megan

Thank Goodness it's FRIDAY!!!

Okay, so I am sooo happy it is Friday, and I only have 3 more hours of work at this point in the day. So just like the forecast said, its raining today, and its to keep raining the rest of the day and most of Saturday it looks like.  boo!  I really was hoping for nice weather, and Grant and I could have maybe done something outside.  Oh well...  Tonight we're going to go catch a movie, which we haven't done in a while so it should be fun.  I don't know a whole lot about the movie we're going to see, so I hope its good.  It's got pretty good ratings so far, and it does have Liam Neeson in it.

Not sure what we will do on Saturday, but I'm content with just lounging around the house really.  Working full time, especially in a place where I seem to be stressed or dealing with stupid drama, is really wearing me down.  And yesterday was just exactly that, stressful and full of drama.  Today hasn't really been so bad (for me anyway) since my boss has been in meetings all day so far.

That's all for now.  Not really feeling inspired to write anything else, so there will be an update sometime this weekend.  Until then...

Design is an opportunity to continue telling the store, not just to sum everything up.  - Tate Linden

Best,
Megan

Just a lazy Saturday...

Today is Saturday, and this Saturday has been a nice lazy one.  The only thing that would make it better would be having a certain someone here with me.  :)  I slept in till about nine today, and went in town with my parents to get some groceries and do some other errands they needed to do.  I got to talk to my mom today about how my internship is going, play with ginger, and watch some cable tv (i do miss my cable tv! lol).  Tonight my mom made a roast, and I made my sour cream and dill potatoes for them.  They seem to be a success!  For dessert I suggested we have strawberries and vanilla yogurt.  Yum, was it good!  It's so great to eat good food that makes you feel good too!

beautiful painting that can be found on etsy

If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you. — Winnie the Pooh

Okay, so I'm not like a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh, but I do love that quote!  I came across it this morning while going through a blog I like to frequent.  It makes me smile.  :)  That is all for today....

Design is an opportunity to continue telling the store, not just to sum everything up.  - Tate Linden

Best, 

Megan

Made it through my first full week!

Thank goodness its Friday!!!  and Friday night at that!  :)  I'm pretty glad that I made it through the first full week of my internship unscathed.  Thank goodness all the girls I work with are really nice, and willing to help me out.  I think I'm finally getting comfortable for the most part.  I have really become good friends with one of the new designers.  We have a lot in common it seems, and she is really willing to help me.  Glad I have someone I can talk to there!  Every day at work I just try to stay positive, and tell myself that it will get better.  I know that if I work hard I will achieve my goals.

So this weekend I decided to go to Nevada with my dad.  We got down here around 8pm tonight, and we've just been kind of lounging around watching tv.  I know my mom is really glad to see me and hang out this weekend.  Hopefully I can help get some work done down here this weekend.  Maybe I can even get a White Grill burger this weekend as well!  yum!  I love being down here on 'the farm', especially when the weather is nice.  It's kind of like my get away from the city.  I know its not anything special, but there is sentimental value to this little town in southern Missouri.  And having someone that I love so very much have a connection to this town as well just makes it that much sweeter.  :)  

Well, I'm gonna do some pinning and then head to bed.  I'll update you on the details of my weekend by Sunday.  Hope you all have a great and relaxing weekend!  

Any designer who does not appreciate or know about good food is not a very good designer.  The planning of a meal and its presentation - the texture, the color, the tastes, the hot and cold temperatures - are the same concerns that affect an environment.  - Robert Kime

Best, 

Megan