Celebrating Life

Three years ago, my birthday changed forever. One of my favorite people packed her bags and moved to Heaven. She didn't ask me if I minded if she got up and left on my birthday - she just did. At first, I thought, how rude! Today is my day. After many days of tears and a head swirling with memories of a good friend, I determined that I was the one being rude. If anyone on this earth wanted to share this day with me, I would be more than honored that that person be Sr. Peg.

Sr. Peg Dolan had a heart so big you could just crawl in and sit inside. We all did. She would welcome us to. She would laugh with us, cry with us, talk with us, and just be with us. She would even make us coffee cake while we sat in there with her. Her heart was one of my favorite places. It still is.

Sr. Peg and I met when I was in college at Loyola Marymount University. She was the Alumni Chaplin. You'd never know that she worked in the alumni office though, because the woman was everywhere! She was on the patio at lunchtime, she was walking the halls of the dorms, she was at 8:00pm Mass, she was on your retreat, she was at parent's weekend, she was in your classroom giving talks . . . she never stopped. Besides being everywhere, Sr. Peg knew everyone. She knew their name, where they were from, their parent's names, what year they had graduated, who they had married, all their children's names and quite possibly what they were doing at that very second. And everyone knew Sr. Peg.

I have never met someone who brought so much light and life to this world as Sr. Peg. You saw her and you smiled. Her presence brought joy to every individual in the room. I could go on for pages about Sr. Peg, but Fr. Lawton said it best at her funeral mass, "In Peg’s face we saw more than Peg. We saw God."   

So tomorrow, as I celebrate my life on my birthday, I also celebrate Sr. Peg's life; a life full of heart. 

Sr. Peg, 
          Thanks for opening that heart of yours so big that we all could fit in. 

                                                                              XOXO,

                                                                                               Megan

My favorite photo
Sr. Peg, my niece, Ellie & me
LMU Alumni BBQ : 2008

 

The First Debate

When I started this blog, I said I would never talk about politics. I will keep that promise but I want to talk about the debates last night without talking about politics.

I usually don't like debates. They make me nervous. I always feel like someone's feelings are going to be hurt or one of them is going to forget their point and feel dumb in front of millions of people. Nothing productive seems to come from them either. It's just two people shouting at each other from behind podiums. Debates make my teeth itch.

Last night was different.

What an impressive show. Two bright, educated, charismatic men debating the issues. That's all we asked for. We wanted to hear both sides discussed in a smart and respectable way so we can make an informed and educated decision on November 6. Last night that happened. Finally.

Thank you President Obama.
Thank you Governor Romney.

Another important note: The Tie Debate.

Obama wins on knot style. Romney wins on color.

image via: blog.zap2it.com

Penny

I realized that never once have I written a post about Penny.  Shocking as she is one of the most important pieces in our lives.

Penny is our almost 3 year old black and white shih-tzu. She was my Christmas gift 3 years ago. Husband had never had a dog but you'd never know that today if you saw the two together. He adores her. Sometimes he brings treats home for her and I will admit, I get jealous. I know they are just chicken livers, but I still get jealous!

Just the other night, Husband and I were laying in bed with Penny, telling her how much we love her, scratching her belly, moving over so she could get comfortable and discussing how strange it is to us that some people would never want a dog in their bed. What's not to love? This little fur ball curls up right next to you, sometimes around your head on your pillow, sometimes under the sheets when it's cold and sometimes right on top of you when you're really lucky. How great is that? Apparently it's not for everyone. It is for us.

Penny spends the whole day with me. She wakes me up with a little wet kiss on the nose. She follows me up and down our 3 sets of stairs. She sits right next to my chair while I'm at my computer. She cries when I get out my keys or pack my bag. She sits by the door and waits for me to come home. She rolls over for belly rubs about 12 times a day. She curls up next to me on the sofa to watch The Voice and she lets me know when it's time to go to bed. She's kinda like having a furry shadow. I love it.

Husband and I are sold. We're giant suckers when it comes to our dog. We know it and we don't even care.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of Penny. Isn't she the cutest?

Puppy Penny

Penny 6 weeks

Cute pillow! Cute dog!

Keeping my feet warm!

Scowl face!

Just enough room right here!

Penny and her Mamma!

The Color of Rain Boots

It rained like crazy here yesterday. Being a native Arizonian, this was very strange to me. The whole day was just wet. As of one month ago I would have been very unprepared. Now, I am the proud owner of Hunter boots. Thank you, K for that suggestion!

Have you seen Hunter Boots? I put them on my birthday list but Husband got a pair for me early because, well I NEEDED them! Hunter is a 156 year old Scottish company that has become internationally known because of their strong tradition of marrying craftsmanship with design. They are very well made, using 28 separate pieces for one boot. They have some super fun styles (I personally like the Original Tall) and a great selection of colors. I had a very difficult time choosing the color(s) I wanted. Do I go practical or do I have some fun and wear something bright on a cloudy day? According to Hunter's website the green is most popular in the British Isles and the black is most popular in the USA.

I ended up going with these:  Love this latte color!

Original Tall : cafe latte

Here are some of my other favorites:

Original Tall Gloss : burnt orange

Original British : pewter

CeCe : black/milk chocolate

Regent Apsley : black

Oh, and you can also get these rad socks to wear with them. They keep your feet so warm and are long enough that they fold over the top of the boot and add some color or fun design to your whole rainy day outfit. My college roommate, M, gave me 2 pair as an early birthday gift. One black pair and one pair to remind me of how much she loves cats and how much I love to wear cats!

My new kitty cat socks!

Practical boot with some fun on top!

A sweater for your foot!

Update

Just an update on my post about Toilet Paper Orientation.

Husband gave in. On Saturday, he conceded the toilet paper orientation. He told me he'd keep the roll going over instead of under from here on out. I pressed him to see when he finally realized when over was right and under was wrong. He never said one was right and the other was wrong, he just said, he conceded.

Deep inside I know he knows over is right!!

Judge an iPhone by it's Cover

I have the iPhone 3GS right now. It works at about the speed of an Apple IIe. Remember those from 1983?

image via wikipedia

My iPhone 5 is coming this week and I'm super excited! It's going to have awesome battery life, my Pinterest app will never just shut off the whole phone and my maps will find my current location long before I leave my driveway. Yeehaw!

To be honest though, I'm more excited about picking out a cover for it. Covers say a lot about people. They can tell you their favorite color, if they have a sense of humor, if they're practical or throw caution to the wind for beauty! People without covers scare me. I feel like they are just trying to show everyone that they are so strong or powerful that their phone will never break! You just wait, someday you'll have a slippery paw, and CRACK! I've seen it happen. Not pretty. Suck up. Get a cover.

SMALL PRINT: I will admit my current phone has no cover but that is because I was hoping it would break so I'd HAVE to get a new one!

I've been on the search for my new cover since Apple launched the iPhone 5. I like my covers to be practical and slim fitting but still interesting. Here are my top 5 from Society 6.  Wadda think?

That last one just cracks me up every time!

An Apple A Day . . .

Husband planned this very Fall excursion for me on Saturday . . .  apple picking! We got all dressed in our Fall best : boots, sweaters, vests, a little scarf for punch and off we went. We picked 10 pounds of apples! We had the best time walking through the orchards, enjoying the crisp air and smelling the ripe apples. We were so that couple from Arizona who had never seen Fall before. I think everyone could tell.

My first pick!

Husband chomping away!

10 pounds!

The Phoenix kids' first Fall!

Oh, and check out this tree - it is screaming FALL!!!!!