It’s good to be Meg Willardson : F is for Fall Break Edition

1) Fave: Whoa what’s this? 

New favorite child coming in hot! 

2) For Real?! Aaron asked me how to use the “new mop” yesterday. Said “new” style of mop is shown below. 

We have been using this style of mop since 2011. 

3) Fans: Esme and Sloane stayed up late to watch the BYU Notre Dame Holy War with us. Aaron and Ryan patiently answered questions and explained rules to them. Ryan has developed a soft spot for these little sissies and they know it. They are quite spoiled when he’s around.  Corbin and Soren were in Springdale at the dance (by “dance” I mean they watched the game on the big screen there). It was super weird to not have a house full of boys over for the game. I will admit I miss the ducklings. Corbin does too. He sort of mopes around not knowing what to do without a constant entourage of like minded boys to hoop with. 

I still made calzones though and we decided we need to attend both the BYU game in Kansas, and a Razorback game this season.  

4) Fair: the Spanker Creek Craft Fair is sadly a thing of the past, but aaron, Soren and I took Esme, Sloane and Evelyn G to the arts and crafts fair at Wishing Springs gallery. It was small, we didn’t buy anything, and there were no tiny donuts to be found, but it felt like a fall day and the people watching was select. 

 5) Freshman Field Goal for 3million! BYU hosted ESPN Game Day on the fields outside the dorms. A freshman made a 30 yard field goal for 3 million dollars. IN A SPIDER-MAN SUIT. The crowd lost their minds. Ain’t no place like Provo. The football/holy war memes and reels this week have been hilarious. 

6) Fall Break: since the boys left town last week, and Aaron and I originally planned to attend a wedding next weekend, we opted to stay home dog Fall Break. Corbin took the ACT on Saturday, the boys attended a dance in Springdale, Corbin went golfing with Landon W and got to visit buddy Ryker who was in town for the weekend. We ate out a few times (Dons with Pezeleys, Torchys with Ryan, Taco Bell with Grandpa Hal, Wrights for just Aaron and I) On Friday. We did crafts and had small adventures. On Friday morning, I reserved a badminton court and we played for an hour! Aaron met us during his lunch, and played, too. I forgot what a fun sport this is, and that it was once a pretty big part of my life. The kids are really getting into it-especially Sloane. My toe keeps me from doing too much, but I had a good time with the triple threat. 

7) Friends: my parents got rid of a big, obnoxious Halloween arch with a zillion pieces and no hardware or instructions. Bear recruited Lost Boy Max to help him assemble it. 30 zip ties later abf we have a tinsel tacky half-blinky Halloween porch. The kids love it. It’s something special. 

8) FaceTime: our favorite part of the week! FaceTime calls from our favorite missionary! We got to hear fro. Her twice this week, because last week was postponed. We watched Jamine bake homemade pizzas and eat some crazy teeny tiny octopus and ramen noodle combo. Q is so busy as an STL this transfer. She loves the work and is committed to it. 

9) Fox Friends: Bear is determined to catch the fox he swears he heard in our backyard. He keeps catching raccoons. Look at this beast. 

10) Fade: lined up some pals of Corbin’s this week. 

They love the pre-styled mug shots and I love the pink striped backdrop 

11) Fear of Forgotten Fun. Ok. My moment of vulnerability here. I’m realizing that one of my biggest fears right now is the idea that I will stop being fun. Not to throw shade at people my age, but my oh my do we all need to have more fun. It is like pulling teeth to find a friend to do a thing without a schedule and a plan attached. I’m not saying burdens aren’t heavy, because they are. But last week I had a few conversations where it seems like every woman in her 40s is just waiting around to have type B fun. Like fun can’t happen outside of a plan on the scheduled day off, or on a family cruise. I am learning that I might not be among a majority with my mindset that every day can be fun. And not just fun, but a little unexpected and loosey goosey. Exploratory. 

My mom told me often as a kid that “only boring people get bored”. Perhaps I am wired to require a lot of stimuli and excitement. I really do appreciate slow days as well. Anyway, I’m not ignoring difficult circumstances, or opposed in general to plans or fun within a boundary. I am just not about placing limitations on the day that might keep me from finding all the people and things and places and experiences in life that could be enjoyed if we linger to visit a. Extra 20 minutes, or show up unannounced, or just give the random call or make the extra stop. It seems just so dreadfully boring to not love your life. I try to say yes to more things than I say no to, and even though my life is full of routine and ordinary, I still wake up wondering what is waiting for me. I like to like things and I love to love. I hope to never become boring or stop appreciating little (and big) joys found in simple pleasures. 

A few things I took note of last week were: 

-folding hot fresh towels. I love having a working dryer again! 

-a call from Q on a Wednesday! 

-warm lake water

-jalapeño cheddar smoked sausage 

-giant curly hair that lasted 4 days

-a text from Kasey with pics of France

-my missing sunglasses were found

-curling Sloane and Esme’s hair for church 

-a really good smelling fall candle. I’m forever a sucker for a scented candle and I love it so much when my house smells good. 

-time to blog and read 

-a ministering visit with a young sister 

-an uninterrupted extra long lunch date with my Aaron 

-fall leaves, crisp air, and rain 

-watching a movie in the middle of the day. 

-sharing recipes with Reese

-BYU beating Notre Dame

-ginger softies 

-getting to drive Corbin’s car for a day 

-wake surfing 

-a crisp new tube of mascara

-kids on ukuleles 

-running errands with Ryan

-a text from my sister Amy—she’s coming here for Christmas! 

-driving with the windows down 

-Soren’s amazing curls. He is such a puppy, 

-time in the House of the Lord 

-emails from all our missionaries. 

-these crazy beautiful purple flowers blooming outside the fitness center. They look like they’re from another world 

Anyway, that’s a tangent. “Take the trip” (as Chris would say). Do the thing. Feel the feels. Show up with energy to be matched. Live and love the living. 

12)Foodie- tiny octopus soup, Rocky Mountain oysters, and chicken feet. Quincy ate some delacacies this week in Korea! 

13) Formidable: I impressed my whole family on Wednesday. Blew their minds actually. Reese mentioned on our face time call that Soyoung often texts her a Korean word that she can’t translate. She texted it on messenger and Q laughed and said “I know that word.” So I said “lemme try to sound it out!” And from my mediocre knowledge of the Korean alphabet, I totally read it! It says “KWIEN-Shee” which = Quincy! 

Yay for learning little things. 

14) Fortunate Finds-Esme is a 4 leaf clover finding ninja right now! Her junk journal is filling up with little pressed leaves of luck. 

15) Fluency—ga not a chance. But Duo and I are going strong. I’ve got a few friend streaks rolling as well. 

Soy aprendiendo hablar mucho, pero yo necesito estudiar más porque yo tengo mucho que aprender.