I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. 

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. 

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back. 

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. 

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. 

I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. 

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. 

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. 

Merry Christmas, From: The Reilly Kids.

The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people that have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing.

Should I be studying for finals right now? You betcha.


Am I? Nope.


The important aspect of this is that I am not stressed. I recognize that I have a lot to do and that I should be crying, ripping my hair out, throwing my school books in a fire, and vandalizing the library. That's a scary mental image, I know. But I am not. Because one day, I'll miss this. Now, I bet you are thinking, "So, Meghan...you are saying that you will miss staying up until 4 in the morning trapped in a study room trying to memorize 57 pages about different philosophies?" Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.


Granted, I may be saying all of this right now because I have only memorized about 14 pages of those philosophies; however, I genuinely think that there is something cool about finals week. It's hilarious. I have loved wearing pajamas to the library for the past week. I have loved receiving unlimited refills from the coffee shop with a side of, "you look like you need some more." I have loved taking McDonald's Happy Meal breaks. I have loved dance parties in the library. I have loved calculating the lowest possible grade that I can make without it affecting my current grade. I have loved the delirious laugh attacks at approximately 2:30am. I have loved coming up with every reason why hanging out with friends is more important than studying. There is a lot of them. The school part of college-- that will all work out for us and everything will fall into place. I believe that the world will not stop if I do not get a 92.4 on my final. Thank goodness for that.


Studying has been so relaxed this round of finals. Maybe it is because this is my fifth round of finals, or that I am just better at studying. Maybe I just do not care anymore. Whatever it is, I have thoroughly enjoyed not worrying. I have been content and that has been wonderful.


The top moments of Finals week:

• I received 13 Notifications on Facebook because my roommmate, Shannon, decided to "Elf" us. It's a video of our faces in Elf characters doing a ridiculous dance. Sadly, it is easily compared to us. 
• Stephen followed a "red bull" car for about 15 minutes in order to get a free red bull. They went into Sport Clips and it would have been too awkward to go in. 
• I went to 2 semi-formals. One of them was themed after "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the other was called "Firedance." Both of them were groovy. 
• My wonderful friend, Alli, got engaged. We had her ring pass in Pi Phi and it was beautiful. These kids met each other at the age of 11, and her biggest piece of advice was, "God always over-delivers."  
• We had girls night consisting of a fire pit, pot roast, and s'mores. 
• The roommates looked at pointless youtube videos for two hours yesterday. Cool. 
• It's tacky Christmas sweater week. That's always a good thing. 
• Cookie Dough-- yup. 

 "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:19 

Best. 

God created me-- and you-- to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion-- namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.

Every day, God thinks of you. [Psalm 68:15]
Every hour, God looks after you. [2 Thessalonian 3:3]
Every minute, God cares for you. [1 Peter 5:7]
Because every second, He loves you. [Jeremiah 31:3]

Coffee has its perks.

Yesterday, some one sent me an article titled, "Death by Caffine," because they thought it related to my life. That could be considered a low point. Needless to say, I've been on a coffee addiction for the past two weeks. It's beautiful. Every morning, I walk into class and my friend observes what size coffee I have made for myself. He uses this to infer how my morning is going. I have even took the time to rank the types of coffee that the coffee shop provides. Brazos Valley Pecan is by far the best, but that is irrelevant. 


Here is an update of life: 


The Shire: Our house is growing every type of weed, grass, vegetable possible. This is not a hyperbole-- we have cucumbers in our backyard. We haven't made friends with the neighbors yet, but we all suspect that our outrageous lawn is not inviting them over any time soon. We also decided to decorate our house for Halloween. It already looks scary, but we copied the neighbors idea of hanging spider webs from the pillars. The fact that we copied their exact decorations is probably not luring them over to meet us either. We're awkward. 
Pumpkins & Plaid: For Halloween, our house decided to have a "pumpkins and plaid" party. Never heard of one? That makes sense, because they don't exist. We just wanted to carve pumpkins, but added in the idea of wearing plaid. Again, we're awkward. However, it was a huge success. 

Old Friends: My friend, Allen, came and visited on his way to Baylor. It was such a joy being able to catch up over coffee (seriously, i'm addiction) and pizza. I met one of his best friends, Callie. Allen was one of my closest friends in high school and we bonded over Calculus homework. I'm constantly blessed by my friends. 

Color: A&M was chosen to release an Android/Iphone app. It is in the testing stage right now with about 200 people. It's called Color. In simple terms, it's a live-video feed. For example, if I am at a concert, I can record the concert and you can "tune-in" to what I am watching. It posts directly on Facebook. They had a release party for the app last week and it is already a huge success. 

Kiss the Troops: Pi Phi was chosen to participate in "Kiss the Troops." Seventeen, Cosmo, and the USO teamed up for this to happen. We wrote letters to the troops all night and it was a blast.There were also a ton of Hershey Kisses around, which my roommates and I devoured. 

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." - 1 Peter 1:8

Have a happy week. 

"The time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."

That quote about wasting time is from John Lennon. He allows me to see that Strawberry fields really do last forever. I don't know what that exactly means. I just wanted to add a lame joke. Basically, this post is about 7 things I have done to "waste" time.

1. Chinese Acrobats. Yup, I bet you didn't expect that one to be first on the list; however, it was one of the coolest things I have seen. The National Acrobats of the Republic of China came to perform at our school. I attended and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Matt says I have "yellow fever." No words can do justice to how extreme the performance was. The biggest question of the night was "how?" How do they do that? How do they fit 24 people on one bicycle? How do they juggle humans? How many years have they practiced this? How do they not fall? How do they Come Together? (Scratch that last one-- just wanted to add another Lennon Joke) How tall are they? How are they so cool? How am I so incredibly lame? Etc. Needless to say, it was a success of a night.

2. Pumpkin Spice Lattes-- love me latte. Fall is a great time of year. College Station has not obtained the beautiful fall weather yet, but I am sure it is on it's way. In the meantime, pumpkin spice lattes will suffice.

3. Visiting Home. This was such a joy! I decided to take the 3 hour drive to Colleyville last Saturday. It was the first time I was able to visit home since the beginning of school. It was great to be greeted by my parents and my puppies, along with Saturday football snacks. I am convinced I have the coolest family. Also, see number 4.

4. Halloween Treats. I was bombarded with a Halloween basket, cookies, and treats for my roommates by the Mothership. This epic basket contains: a Halloween kitchen towel, hello kitty dressed for in her costume, pumpkin carving stickers, a light-up lantern, Halloween ribbon, window clings, chocolate, and pumpkin post-it notes. Mothership also put together delicious cookies and a Halloween s'more package for my roommates. Mothership is also a term of endearment. Precious.

5. Studying, kind of. I think my favorite part about studying is the camaraderie of fellow studs, or study-ers, and the "delirium point." Rule number one of studs: They always stick together. There are countless times the night before a test where I have received a text message from a fellow stud saying, "I'm not going to study," or "I'm going to fail," or just profanity. Studs bond over the fact of  the mutual hatred for tests. Rule number two: They never want to study. Studs will do almost anything to not study. My friend, Allison, was studying for an Organic Chemistry test. How did we avoid studying? We sang a song. This song was not a cool American Idol one (those are cool, right?), but instead it went something like this...

"O Come All Ye Gases

diatomic wonders

O come ye oh come ye

calls Avogadro

Come all ye moles

6 x 10 to the 23rd

O molar mass and molecules

O volume, pressure and temperature

O molar volume of gases at S.T.P."

Cool, I know. That song right there also sums up the "delirium point." This is the point where all your actions should not occur in any social setting, because you will embarrass yourself. Low Point: Allison and I sung that song in the middle of a coffee shop. No shame.

6. Intelligence, or lack there of.

• "Smart" Phone: Shannon upgraded her phone to the new IPhone. This phone has a voice activation feature which allows you to ask questions, such as "Where is the nearest movie theater?" or "Call ____." We used it for entertainment. The applications name is Siri. We asked questions to Siri for about an hour. Easily amused. However, when we said, "I love you" to the application, Siri simply answered, "I am only here to serve you." Yes, we got turned down by a piece of technology. 
• Fence, or not: We got new neighbors this week! They ran into our fence with their truck! There is a huge hole in it. I guess they just really wanted to have a way to communicate with us at all times. 
• Singing for a Salutation: This is how we make new neighbors. Shannon is an excellent singer. I was studying outside on our porch and Shannon was singing inside. A group was walking by our house and heard her singing. They looked at our house awkwardly, laughed, and then approached me to chat. We are great friends now. Kudos  Shannon.

We are smart.

7. Pi Phi Dad's Weekend. Pops came into town this weekend to watch the Baylor game. It was an awesome weekend. Friday, the roomies and our dad's all went out to eat together. It was great bonding. On Saturday, we went to the A&M vs. Baylor game. This was an awkward game for the fact that A&M alienated Baylor to go to the SEC. Baylor threatened to sue us. We won 55-28. Even more awkward. Our student section started chanting "SEC" towards the end of the game. They also hung a banner over the side of the student section saying, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's conference deal." See below. After that game, we just relaxed. It was nice to spend some quality time with the pops. All of the dad's are great friends now. All you need is love, right? Kidding, i am still just trying to have a successful John Lennon joke.

"Wasting" time is the best.

Have such a stellar week. Love.

Psalm 16:11 

For You will make known to me the path of life, 

In your presence is FULLNESS of joy, 

and in Your right hand are pleasures forever. 

the ridiculous life.

I have 2 midterms tomorrow. For some reason, I am sitting here updating this blog. It's probably not the best decision; however, this leads me into the point of this post-- finding a lot of fun things to do in limited spare time. Most of the memories that I have do not include being trapped in a study room for 6 hours of my day. I consider that a success. However, they do include random adventures with friends. This is a recap of the fun things that have happened in the past little bit:


Butter Beer. 
There is no doubt in my mind that this will make my day better. Nerd moment: it's from Harry Potter. They sell it at a local coffee shop named Muldoons. It's a great study break. 

Sonic Happy Hour.
I skipped class the other day just to get a diet coke from Sonic happy hour. This was completely justified in my head as a smart idea. It probably wasn't that intelligent, but no regrets. Amy and I stop almost everyday before we come home from class. 


McDonald's Happy Meals. 
Last week, A&M had a brutal lost to Arkansas (No further explanation. I'm still upset). The only thing that could cheer me up was a happy meal. You may think I am joking, but I am not. No shame. I went to McDonald's with Shannon and pulled up to the drive-thru. I politely asked for a "happy meal...for a girl" (you have to make sure you declare what kind of toy you want) and waited for a response. The worker mimicked my voice. I sat there in silence for about 10 seconds in astonishment, looked at Shannon, then laughed. What did he do? He mimicked my laugh, naturally. For about the next 2 minutes, I was mimicked. It was great. We bonded through a speaker box. Needless to say, it made me happy. 


The last 3 points revolve around food/drink. That's embarrassing. 
The last 2 points revolve around the word, "happy." That makes me feel better.


Astros Game.
I road tripped to Houston to see an Astro's game for a date party. It was completely stellar.

Butterfly Garden.
This is a hidden treasure at A&M, or no one thinks it is cool enough to actually spread the word. It is awesome though. My friend, Elizabeth, and I journeyed before class to find this garden. We heard it was in the Chemical Engineering building. We felt out of place. First of all, we were the only girls in about a 2 mile radius. We also were the only ones talking. Our excuse was that we are communication majors. We opened the door to the stairwell and walked up 7 flights of stairs, just to realize that the door to the outside was locked. We then realized that every door from the stairwell to the inside of the building was locked. Yes, I know...that's awkward. We were stuck in a stairwell. What did we do? We laughed. We eventually banged on the first floor door until some innocent soul unlocked it for us with eyes of judgement. Lovely. 


By the end of this, we realized we were in the wrong building. Communication majors are so smart. We are adventuring to the right building tomorrow. 


Grand-Little Revelation.
I received my grand-little in Pi Phi. When you first become a Pi Phi, you receive a "big sister" from the grade above you. This year, my "little" got her "little," which made me a "grand-big." At revelation night, each family dresses up as something. This year, my family were pumpkins. The new member goes on a scavenger hunt and collects their outfit, then they walk into the room where the other members are. They find their outfit and are adopted into the family. It's precious.

Amy's Birthday.
My darling roommate, Amy, turned 20. Amy is such a sweetheart and absolutely hilarious. Trace, her boyfriend, has the same birthday. It's odd, but ignore that fact. At midnight, Shannon came out with a bubble-maker and we started singing "Happy Birthday." This was an obnoxious bubble-maker. We slipped in puddles of bubble spit afterwards. Epic. We decorated the house with balloons, diet cokes, cards, and banners. That night, we went to BJ's with a couple of friends to celebrate. It was a successful birthday. 

Football Games.
Aggie football games are still delightful, even though we have played horrible the past two weeks. A group of us pulled with the Corps of Cadets 2 weeks ago and got to sit 5 rows from the field. Mediocre, I know. 

Today, I quoted "Lord of the Rings" 5 times today. This was all before noon. This is a serious problem. Social norms-- over them. I will update again soon and try to be more interesting. Sorry, my life is lame. 

Miss you, greatly.

Love you, more. 

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." 

I am Thankful for...

...the mess to clean up after a party 

because it means I have been surrounded by friends. 

...the taxes I pay 

because it means that I'm employed. 

...the clothes that fit a little too snug 

because it means I have enough to eat. 

...my shadow who watches me work 

because it means I am out in the sunshine. 

...the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot 

because it means I am capable of walking. 

...all the complaining I hear about our government 

because it means we have freedom of speech. 

...that lady behind me in church who sings off key 

because it means that I can hear. 

...lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing 

because it means I have a home. 

...my huge heating bill 

because it means that I am warm. 

...weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day 

because it means that I have been productive. 

...the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours 

because it means that I am alive.

-- Nancie J. Carmody

This week was one of those hectic weeks. You know the weeks where you buy 2 cups of coffee a day on average? The guy at Starbucks knows my schedule, my name, and what I order. You know the week where every thing that could go wrong within the span of 3 minutes does and you can't do anything about it but sit there and laugh at how ridiculous life is? Yesterday, I was running out of the house to host interviews for an organization. I changed really fast, grabbed my bag, tried to hit the light switch off and failed 4 times and hit the wall instead, ran around the corner and fell out of one of my shoes, slid into the counter, put my shoe back on, grabbed my coffee, spilled my coffee down my shirt, changed my shirt, ran to my car, forgot my keys, tried to find my keys, put my coffee on top of the car, forgot my coffee was there and started driving, the coffee fell off the roof of the car and spilled...again, so i sat there and laughed. It was one of those weeks where "simple joys" were the highlight. For example, eating cookie dough every night, sneezing more than 4 times in a row while everyone looked at you, the first scoop of peanut butter out of a new jar, laughing so hard that you are make no noise at all, realizing you are going to be in the background of a picture and smiling at the last second, Christmas music in September while you are studying for a test, etc. -- That kind of stuff. It's the good stuff. 

I realized that, yes...life is hectic, but that's the beautiful thing about it. I've become more content than ever in finding the beauty in every little thing, which is cool. Do I know what I want to do with my life? Nope, but I realized that's okay. Sorry parents, i'll make something up in the meantime. It's the beauty in the journey to where Christ will lead me. There is a quote that basically says to write your life in pencil, because the Lord is the one that will erase it and write it with pen. I noticed that wherever God has me is the safest place for me to be. This week I was asked the question, "Why are you in college?" I have asked myself this several times and I know I have challenged my mom and dad with this same question. I have always just wanted to go out and help others and never understood why I just stayed in this environment. If you look at it from another direction, you realize that you really are constantly surrounded by God and you are constantly studying Him. Yes, I am studying calculus and still think it is the only subject where "you can buy 60 cantaloupes and no one asks what is wrong with you," but He created that in the first place. So when it comes down to it, I am studying what He created and the beauty in that. Basically, I am constantly learning about Him through my studies and should relish in that fact. By studying history, I am studying what Christ created. How cool! I realized the importance of taking a step back and really being thankful about what I have. When tasks seem so overwhelming and unmanageable, I remember the phrase ASAP. 

Always

Say

A

Prayer

It's a ridiculous life, but that's the beautiful thing about it. This is what I learned this week. I also tried to learn about journalism: american mass media, Interpersonal communication, and intercultural communication because I had tests in those. I am still going with the philosophy of the "greater education." It helps the self-esteem. 

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above..."

-James 1:17 

I hope you all are doing wonderful. 

Let me know and we will set up a skype or phone date. 

Miss you, dearly. Love you more. 

Cheers to 28 Years.

Today is my wonderful parent's 28th anniversary. I am in constant gratitude for what they have given me. I couldn't imagine going through life without their guidance, jokes, love, and support. I will keep this short, because I will write what I really want to say to them in a card. Basically, know that they are the greatest parents. I'm glad that they met each other. They have been the foundation for our wonderful family. 

Love Love Love. 

Colossians 3:14 - " And over all of these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." 

"Now That's What I Call High Quality H2O"

There are 5 seasons in a year: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Football. Corny, but go with it. This is the probably the most "redass" update I will ever give you. This past weekend was the first Aggie football game. These football games are epic. As lame as it sounds, there is nothing like Kyle field. 

I decided to try to explain what this weird Aggie cult is by coming up with a "Top 10 List to Why A&M Football is the Best." Here it goes:

1. The food. Naturally, this is the first on my list. Tailgating at A&M is just stellar. No further explanation needed. 

2. The entrance. This is probably Papa Reilly's favorite thing. They enter with just the Corps of Cadets drum-lines' cadence. The students wave their "12th man towels" as they enter. One of the best, but most annoying things is being smacked in a face every 3 seconds by a white towel.

3. The yells & the yell leaders. Yes, we don't have cheerleaders. They are yell leaders. It's something unique about the university. The yells are also great. My dad likes to make fun of them because they are simple. He calls it "Aggie hooked on phonics." Each yell has a "pass back," or a hand motion to go along with it. The yell leaders do the motion and the student section "passes it back." You then "hump it." Woah, that sounds awkward, right? Don't worry, we keep it PG. "Humping it" is an aggie term (see #4) which basically means put your hands on your knees, making you yell louder and allow others behind you to see. After the yell, you do your "wildcat"-- another weird Aggie term (seriously, see #4) which stands for a hand motion and yell to represent your class year. A&M has been known to have the loudest student section. 

4. The terminology. I am convinced that this is what makes us seem like a cult. 

To name a few: 

• Howdy- The official greeting at Texas A&M. 
• Whoop!- An exclamation of approval and excitement. Only Juniors and Seniors can do this. 
• Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck!- Sound at the beginning of the Aggie War Hymn to represent a cannon being loaded. 
• Gig em.'- It's a thumbs up. It has a long story about how it was coined, but if you are actually interested you can google it. 
• 12th man- This is a tradition symbolizing that at any given moment, a student will step in the game if they are needed. There is a cool story about this also. Google is great. 
• 2 percenter- Aggies who choose not to participate in traditions. 
• Hump it- During a yell, the crowd leans forward and places their hands on their knees to maximize the noise and so that those standing behind them can see.
• Good bull- This is a phrase used when someone is a good Aggie. 
• Hiss- Rather than "booing", Aggies "hiss" to express disapproval. It is supposed to represent a horses' laugh. 
• Wildcat- A noice and a motion that represents a student's class year. 
• Red ass- An Aggie who closely follows traditions and has a lot of school spirit. 

5. The Aggie band. Our band is better than any other band. Not cocky, just confident. Our band is comprised of members of the Corps of Cadets and their routine is focused around military formations. 

6. No one leaves until the game is finished.  No matter what, the student section stays until the end of the game to show support for the team. "I've seen them lose, but i've never seen them quit" is a common phrase. 

7. We do not sit. This sounds brutal, but it is great. It's another way to show support for our team. They only time the student section sits down during the game is when the other school's band is performing. Again, the Aggie band rocks. 

8. Spooning. There are a ton of students. Once everyone gets settled, you usually end up spooning the person next to you because it is so crowded.

9. The oddities. A&M has several things that most people don't hear about unless you are in the student section. 

1. Visor guy. There is a guy that sits in the alum section to the right. He yells constantly for the team and is easy to spot. Let's be honest, there's always one of them. He wears a visor every game. Naturally, we deemed him visor guy. He also has a facebook page. I don't think he is aware of this. 
2. Not only Charlie Sheen can win. Student's have a saying, "Whenever the Aggies score, you score." If you have a date to the game, you get to kiss them. 
3. Memorization. The student sections knows every single word to the videos and will say them in unison. They also know the bands entrance and join the commentator in saying, "Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field, the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band..." Stellar. 

10. The War Hymn. In high school, I will admit to the fact that I never knew the words to our fight song. It was awkward. That's not the case here. Everyone joins in on the fight song. There is a special part where students hook arms and sway back and forth to "saw Varsity's' horns off." During games, you can see the press box swaying from side to side. Pretty darn cool. 

Psalm 126:10. "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'"