February 22---My Mystery Bill

When I left Nashville in December I took with me my dad's copy of "The Shack" and have recently begun reading it.

It wasn't until yesterday that I was flipping through the back pages [looking for my bookmark] and quickly noticed something green & unexpected.

I quickly flipped back to the end of the book anxious to see if my eyes had deceived me or if there really was, in fact, a bill of some sort hiding from me.

Within seconds I found the page I was looking for and sitting there, staring me in the face was a gloriously unexpected $10 bill.

When I looked closer I saw the words, "enjoy this journey" written on it. Without giving it much thought, I put it in my wallet as my friend Katie was waiting for me to come back to earth and join back in our conversation.

It wasn't until today that I thought back to the mystery $10 bill, & when I went to my wallet to further examine the evidence, I realized I had used it to buy my lamp yesterday.

Expecting that this note was placed in this book by either Hunter or my Dad, I wasn't too unhappy about the fact that I spent this money (especially since I have a freakin' awesome lamp to show for it).

But, when I texted my Dad & Hunter, neither of them had any idea where the money had come from (like they would actually leave me a note on a $10 bill anyways) so the only explanation I have until I get to the bottom of this, is that God left it for me; which if you have read this book, is ironic (and mostly to blame for me coming to this conclusion).



P.S. this photo was recreated using a $1 bill since I so obviously didn't have the original when I took this photo today.

February 21---Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

My early Saturday morning was spent garage sale hopping.

I found this awesome lamp for a whopping $2
I think it works well with the chaos that is my life.



Later, Manal & I decided we wanted to watch SNL (& beautiful Andy Samberg) from the comfort of our beds, so we moved our TV in from the living room and had a party.

February 20--- Mountain Memories, Snails Named Lucy & Landon's Buddy

Today, I babysat Ben, Abby & Emma.

I arrived at their house earlier than they did
which in today's case was not an excellent idea
considering I lived 18 years, 3 doors down.
I spend every Friday on this street
and it usually doesn't phase me coming face to face with this house
so I'm not sure why today was any different.
Maybe it was the distaste I feel toward the gate they added
or the fact that the house looks exactly like it did when we left it
(except the gate of course)
but for the 10 minutes I waited in my car,
I definitely missed the life we made in this small, little house.


then the kids came home
& distracted me with birthday parties for snails named Lucy.

Following the [pretend] snail birthday,
Matt & I made our way to Valencia
for my cousin Logan's [real life] 15th Birthday.
Between the 2 birthdays,
we stopped in Northridge
where Matt got to [finally] meet
my friends Manal & Carly [yay!]
Once we got to the party,
Matt made a buddy
who wouldn't leave his side...

February 19---Our Newest Addition to the Kitchen Collection

First off, my good friend Carly has never been featured on this blog so for those of you who have been wanting to meet her (i.e. Mom), meet Carly.
Tonight was an interesting one as Manal, Carly & I were up until the early morning. Carly & I gabbing about such things as our new gym membership and her newly acquired single-ness & Manal cramming for 2 tests & a paper.
Before we called it a night (or rather, a morning), we wanted to show off our new addition to the apartment that I received in the mail today.
My Grandma Amy hand embroiders dish towels and she has finally graced my doorstep with a few!

P.S. Manal decided to beautify our apartment today with these tulips. I hope they smell as good as they look and kill the strong odor coming from our kitchen area.

February 18---Her First Haircut at 7 Years Old

Austen got her very first haircut this week and was all smiles when I walked in the door because she couldn't wait to show off her "3rd grade looking hair".

February 17---She Must Think I'm a Creeper....

Meet Yesenia: she just moved in as our newest 4th roomie. I made an excellent first impression by asking for her photo after I said hello. Manal didn't help matters when she came in and said "Meg doesn't really have a blog, she just really wants a picture of you."

February 16---Babysitting the Munshkins

Pizza with a side of peaches was my dinner choice for the kiddlings.

Austen wasn't very happy. Landon had 3 servings of peaches (& didn't puke).
I rock at babysitting.

February 15---Dinner Date.

February 14---Valentine.

♥ chocolate dipped strawberries ♥
made by matthew

February 13--Matt & His Drums.

February 12---Don't Die Papa

Nana & Papa came down to Newhall for dinner tonight. It's been a while since I've seen them so it was fun to have the family together (minus a couple very special people). Papa thought he was coming down with the flu so Landon & I thoughtfully made him promise not to die *He pinky promised*

February 11---Bubbles: Our Favorite.

February 10--- Prayer in Unlikely Places

As I was walking to my dorm parking lot today I found this spray painted on a fence next to my car. I thought it was really awesome to find this at my secular, non-religious school.

February 9---It Snows in Los Angeles?

This is what the last couple of days in LA have looked like...

If you know me at all then you might have guessed that I have had a GREAT last few days.

Today, Matt stayed home sick from school
so naturally I brought him some get well goodies
and enjoyed this wonderful hail storm with him and his mom.

click the photo to see a better view of the hail---it looked like it had just snowed :)

February 8---Words by Yandon...

Landon has trouble saying his L's so everything sounds yike dis....

-"yer having a sweepover?" (this gets asked everytime I come over)
-"I don't yike you" (I get told this when I don't give him candy)
-"Pwease pass me da pwate" (he asked that at dinner tonight)
-"yiddle fewwa" (translation: little fella)
-"Yogan" (Logan)
-"pway puzzles with meeee" (always)

My Other Favorites:
"Sad times fer you"
"yer a cattywompus"
"yer dust do a circle yike dis--den do a yine yike dis..." (describing how to make the letter Q)

February 7---Dancer, Dancer, Keep Your Feet in Time and Inside the Lines

Matt's best friends' band, Abigail, played at Holy Chaos tonight along with their idols, Confide.
Confide was my first ever live hardcore show and they have remained special to me for purely sappy & sentimental reasons--the night Matt & I started dating, 2 1/2 years ago, was the night he & his friends introduced me into the very foreign world of hardcore music/dancing via Confide show.

February 6---More Polaroid Action.

Because Polaroid film has been discontinued (and the Polaroid company has now officially gone out of business) I have been searching high and low for the best prices on the remainder of Polaroid 600 film.
I lucked out today and found a pack on ebay for a ridiculous price and I'm SO excited about it considering you can't get a pack of 10 for less than $25 now (before they were discontinued, a pack of 10 was about $13 or $16).

February 5---Birthday Boyfriend.

It was Matt's birthday today and his parents, friends & I put together a surprise bday dinner for him @ The Galley. Lucky for me, it was raining and the drive from northridge was more trafficy than usual & my boyfriend got to his surprise party before I did.

February 4---Ben.

While his sisters--dressed in their adorable pink & black leotards--attended day 1 of their ballet lessons; Ben & I intensively explored the playground in our jeans & sneakers.

February 3--- if only my life were a littttttle bit more interesting

I really wish I had something a bit more entertaining for you blog readers today.
BUT, since my day was spent in classes
and my evening was spent at Starbucks writing a paper...
this is all I got for ya.
Starbucks' new London Fog is kind of delicious however...

February 2---Quaker Kate's Cookies

This weekend Kate made DELICIOUS homemade oatmeal choc chip cookies and when I stole her secret recipe from the back of the Quaker Oats box, Logan and I put the recipe to good use.
It's spirit week at Logan's school and today's dress up theme was "career day". Since Logan went dressed as a housewife, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to put her future skills to work!

February 1--- Hellos & Goodbyes

Kate came home for the weekend to attend her grandparents 50th anniversary party.
Today she departed for San Fran once again.
This is our farewell photo.


After she left, I headed to my cousins' house.
My aunt sent us to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the Superbowl game. While we were shopping, a woman walked by, staring quite rudely at me. When she realized I noticed her gawking, she asked me if Austen (age 7) and Landon (age 4) are my children....

January 31---Reunion.

I had a reunion with one of my best friends from high school, Brandon.
It's been a few months since we've seen each other so we documented it with a polaroid.

January 30---Kate Takes Nail Painting Very Seriously...

I can't talk...I was sitting right beside her doing the exact same thing...

January 29---Peace & Homework.