i thought i blogged these guys already!

..so that was disappointing when i found them in a draft, wordless.

may loves to rain. most of the time i'm thrilled it isn't freezing anymore so i'm okay with it. i was especially okay with it when i walked out of the temple and it looked like this. it was perfect.

boston got it's very own shake shack recently and people are pumped about it.  

i think it is nice and all but i don't know if i will ever understand all of the hype! or why it is fine for a small hamburger and baby shake to come to $12

chelsea introduced a few of us to an app ellen degeneres made called "heads up". you just hold it up to your  head and then guess what it says from the clues people give you. considering how much we all love headbanz it is great and everyone should probably install it on their phone asap. 

so here are some fun things that have happened at work recently:

1. i have become a hand/arm/shoulder model and feel pretty famous when i see large posters of said extremities around the office

2. after you've worked at vecna six months your security allowance goes up so you need a new badge with a green background instead of a blue one. since i'm way overdue for my new photo i tried to do it the other day but for some reason meg (my trusty co-worker who i share an office with) didn't like any of them. i can't imagine why?

3. one time my blouse matched my ninja star! like, perfectly. it was awesome.

4. a guy at work so kindly made a replica of my face out of clay. ...i thought it looked more like that monkey.

when it's not raining the weather has been the dreamiest. the other day i decided to hang out at harvard yard while waiting to go to dinner with some friends and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

(like, really. i couldn't have been happier than to just sit and watch the foreign friends in front of me video tape themselves and cry laugh tears as they watched what they had just recorded)

i finally took some time to go into the curious george store (the only one in the world mind you!) and also noticed my favorite tree is all leafy again. yay!

nice weather also means more street performers which makes me happy

and i just wish i could describe to you how perfect the weather was that day because it almost felt magical it was so good. 

and to end this random post i just have to say that boston is beautiful and i feel very blessed to live here. k that's all. 

easter weekend

easter weekend was full of nice things. 

saturday started off with a little church cleaning and then a relief society birthday party with our bishop's wife. probably only 6 or 7 girls showed up so we had an informal discussion about things her and her girlfriends wish they had known at our age and then how her and Bishop met. i'm glad i went because i really enjoyed everything about it. 

that afternoon i headed to blue hills reservation with some friends to hike. it was a beautiful afternoon to hang out with neature. 

 (also - i just barely noticed that "will u marry me" is written on the wood above our heads! makes the photo even better/more classy)

 

it was so nice to be outside in the (somewhat) fresh air, i've definitely missed hiking and the smells that come with it. the views from the top of the summit were pretty incredible (minus the part where it isn't fun to look at dead sick winter trees). we are definitely going to go back in the fall because it will probably be 30923 times better. but - what the fall time might not have is that giant beethoven friend. how are some dogs as big as a medium sized bear? i was dying. also, i like that in the above left picture you can see jamie handing a random stranger an easter egg filled with candy. we offered everyone we saw easter eggs which either thrilled people or creeped them out..i felt satisfied with either outcome.

 guys SOMEBODY IN BOSTON HAS MY BIKE. we walked past cortina and i immediately grabbed her and felt sad that my real cortina is just sitting aimlessly in my parent's garage thousands of miles away. boston would look so good on her but i just can't risk her being stolen!

 saturday night i went to john's ward talent show because he emceed the whole thing. he was clever and happy and right in his element so it was fun to watch him. my pictures of him are kind of blurry and lame so instead i'm including this photo because i need to forever remember my friend ashley mitchell walking in the room wearing nothing but a short onsie and bath robe. 

this is so terrible that i took a photo in church but i had to so i don't forget what a nice sacrament meeting we had. our bishop cancelled our sunday school (which meant i got out of teaching!) to have a two hour long musical program with a few speakers in between. i am consistently amazed at how much talent we have in my ward and i feel very grateful and lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful and gifted people, their music and testimonies made the meeting so nice. 

post-church prom pictures

our easter afternoon included the ensign (because do you remember who finally renewed their subscription?!) and some nice talks and videos from lds.org. this portion of the day was my idea..if you couldn't already tell haha

(and brynne they had that sweet deal at our tj's too!)

 that evening we had a delicious dinner with a few friends. it was supposed to be out on their roof deck but it was super windy and freezing so i took a picture of those brave souls and then went back inside. 

luckily they had a couch pretty close to the door of the roof deck so we just sat there and watched everyone freeze outside while we enjoyed our meal and each other inside. i was sad to not be around any family yesterday but felt content/happy just holding j's hand, talking and laughing with friends, completely dominating our adult easter egg hunt, and facetiming with my dad and niece mickayla. 

it was a very nice easter sunday. 

and then that brings us to today! because for two posts in a row i am telling you about things in a timely manner. after work i could not stop loving the clouds and sun setting shadows nor could i stop loving these seattle babies of mine whom i haven't seen in way too many days to count. 

technology deserves a big round of applause for making living across the country from your family somewhat bearable.

your 2012 guide for what to do when you're 2,300 miles away from family at christmas time : part dos

what are we on now..23? yes. 

23. go see "blink!" again but maybe don't because it might not come on for an hour so you (john) might get sucked into buying really expensive shoes from clarks because you (megan) don't want to stand outside because you (megan again) wore thin pants and were freezing.

..this you/me stuff is getting confusing but i can't quit now so just roll with it.

24. eat cannoli like it's your job 

(okay that was for five people and not two. we aren't that gross)

25. meet your boyfriend's family and ignore how sick your hair looks in this photo because everything else about it is nice

26. take said family to walden pond

enjoy showing them the site of thoreau's cabin

stop every two seconds to skip rocks/watch john and his dad competitively skip rocks

walk around the entire pond and enjoy the beautiful sunset

27. watch the original "miracle on 34th street" and then every other christmas movie on netflix because you accidentally took a 3 hour nap earlier that day

28. buy everything mint flavored that you can. 

be thrilled that the guy at tj's let you take the last box of candy cane joe-joe's from the back and be even more thrilled that the said man put a huge bow on it. 

(he knew giving you the last box was the best christmas eve present anyone could ever ask for!)

29. enjoy sitting around the christmas tree 

30.  eat minestrone soup (not pictured) on christmas eve night. we are told this is a southcott family tradition

31. spend christmas morning enjoying your company's company and eat nice things 

32. perhaps your significant other's family brought their dogs. 

close your eyes and do your best to enjoy them!

 (while also doing your best not to think about how much dog hair is all over your body)

33. be grateful for the baby amount of snow you received, actually getting dressed for the day, getting to see les mis, and getting to eat at your favorite thai place  (bless you thai friends for being open on christmas day!)

34. do NOT look at this picture of your cabin that your cousin posted on fb. this will only make you homesick and sad. 

35. you should definitely celebrate each day the out of control christmas house still (meaning post december 25th) has their decor up by taking a picture of yourself with it.

36. also celebrate finding the tiniest and cutest mini carton of milk. 

37. get really nervous about driving on the freeway in a snow storm so you can drive back roads all the way home in a magical winter wonderland 

38. go to the mall thirty minutes away just so you can have chik-fil-a.

 also - send yourself a thank you card from your boss because you will receive strict orders "not to take it out of the pile just to save 50 cents". even though this will feel weird, you will really enjoy receiving it in the mail two days later. (what you don't enjoy, however, is that boss calling you by your middle name now that he knows it. nobody likes being called brooke! unless your name is brooke of course)

39. ring in the new year with a failed attempt to face time your new years eve birthday father, eat dinner at anna's taqueria, drink martinelli's, watch "mirror, mirror" and secretly love it, watch the nye ball drop, and then try to take the first photos of 2013 with your boyfriend. unfortunately he will want nothing to do with this and will ruin every photo. 

40. while everyone else is trying to cut back in january, go ahead and spend as much money as you can. get lasik surgery even though your significant other likes your glasses (john), pay off the lasik surgery you had done two years ago (megan), buy a $700 vitamix (john), and what the heck - spend thousands of dollars on a new camera (megan)!! also, it is really thrilling if all of this is done within 48 hours! true story. 

41. the picture above on the left is really meant to show what most of your time could be spent doing during the holidays. watching seasons 1 - 4 of parks and rec is something no one regrets doing, ever. 

42. reconnect with an old coworker and realize that even though you like her a whole lot, you don't actually have anything in common with her anymore. darn it!

43. give yourself the gift of winter by driving through mount auburn cemetery. while you are at it you should self-time a nice snowy photo of you and not feel sorry when cars had to go around you.

44. rid yourself of the guilt you feel from missing one of your bff's wedding by flying to her open house in maryland. 

and #44 my friends brings us to the first weekend in january which means the holidays are over and so is this 2012 guide. if you got through all 44 tips, bless you.