Luck.

I've realized over the past couple years that I am truly lucky for the outcomes of some situations in my life. As simple as winning the lottery, or as big as family going through medical procedures.

Today, I was extremely lucky. It was my first day photographing actual people. Actual babies. That move. Fast.
I watched two co-workers of mine, and they did great, but you could see the stress and the struggle. Then I was up, I was scared I was going to get a newly walking child, or worse, a cranky one. What do I see come in my Camera room? A 5 week old baby, who was born prematurely. Thank you God! He was amazingly cute, and very easy to shoot. Of course he dirtied his diaper three times in the course of his day with me. Other than being hungry, and wanting to eat his hands, we got some priceless pictures. I wish I could show them!

I had 2 more easy sittings, and that was my day. One little boy fell and cried, and I was heartbroken. First fall, in my Camera room.

I also realized today that I love:
*Weight Watchers frozen dinners.
*My boyfriend, so much :)
*My job, and come on, how many people truly love their job?
*Babies. I can't wait!
*The patience mothers have while they get their children photographed.
*Computers! I couldn't make it without them!

I did a little grocery shopping today because I needed stuff to take to work. I only got a few things, but here they are:
WW Yogurts: 2 points
100 Calorie Cheez-It Snack Mix: 3 points
Rice Cakes: I don't know the points, and I don't care, they're DELICIOUS!
Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars: 2 points

I had quite a few points left when we were at the store, and the Reese's egg had been popping up everywhere, so finally I grabbed one.
I ate it.
Then I figured the points
. . .
FIVE. five. 5.
No matter how I write it out, it was not worth it. It was good. But not that good!

I ordered some charm bracelets, and charms. Both for me and my cousin, Ashley. I got them in the mail today, and absolutely love them! But the bracelets may be too frail to hold the charms. I will try and post pictures asap, but I am exhausted from today.The other two of my sittings were extremely active. Does anyone know of some fairly cheap sterling silver charm bracelets, or charms? I'm talking cheap. :) And NOT Pandora!

I have a new recipe to share with you guys this weekend! And it's a dessert...mmmm. I have to leave it at that, or I will need to wander downstairs and whip myself up something right now!

xoxo-Meghan

p.s. If you have any good photo ideas/poses for any age, with NO props, please send me a link in the comments or describe them! Thanks :)

Dollars & Pounds

So today was my weigh in day.
Are you ready?
I lost
. . .
5.2 pounds!
WOOOOHOOOOO!
I am officially down 10 pounds in 1 month, at 200. It's no where near my goal, BUT, it's ten pounds less on my body, so yes, today I am one happy camper.

For those of you who don't know me, I have never had a job. Nope. Not one. Ever. However, I have been babysitting since I was 12. So it's not like I don't have work ethic, and don't know the value of a dollar. Anyways, today I started my new first job ever! It's at a photography studio. I am going to be trained to be a photographer. For babies. Come on, really? This is my dream job! And good pay too ;) Tomorrow we learn how to take pictures, of each other. Ugh, I honestly hate having my picture taken.

Today was a boring day, but I did learn the child pornography laws, which I would have never guessed.
(Is it sad when learning child pornography laws is the second best part of my day?)
^I'm sure you;re wondering what the best part what was. And shockingly, it isn't that I lost 5.2 pounds, it's that I celebrated with Subway for lunch :) -nomnomnom- Subway is healthy, got some veggies, grains,meat, and dairy! Totally worth the points. It's more points than I usually use on lunch, but who cares!
It's d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

So everyone seems to like the name Parker Dean for my godson, I'll be sure to let you know when she decides the name :) Any ideas for a nursery? Keep in mind he will be sharing a room with a 3 year old.

Also, for my cysters out there, have you tried progesterone cream? I was wondering if you had any success/if it is worth the money.

I really wanted to share this cute video :)
How adorable is this?! I can't help but laugh every time he gets scared :)

Last but not least, I need black shirts for work! Cute ones! And of course more clothes of any kind aren't frowned upon :P But I can never find cute ones that fit, and are within budget. Know of any good websites?

xoxo-Meghan

btw, a small hot chocolate from dunkin' donuts is not worth the points. at all.

Last Minute..

Today has been a day of last minute choices, purchases, and tasks. Go figure.
-Filling out my tax forms for work.
-Buying new body wash. Which you MUST try. It smells delicious!
-Going out to eat for dinner. (Not a good WW choice, and now I'm feeling guilty.)
-Deciding not to exercise.

I weigh in tomorrow, and I have a bad feeling that it is not going to be a good outcome :(
Honestly, I need a good pasta recipe. And something involving potatoes. My 2 favorite foods I miss!

Tomorrow I start my new job at iSmile. As a photographer. Wow. As my Dad would have said, "Who would have thunk it!?".

Speaking of my Dad, I miss him terribly. For those of you who don't know me personally, my Dad died on May 8, 2003. He had Cardiomyopathy and no one knew. He died in his sleep, and felt no pain. Thank God <3 To this day I struggle with losing him. I'm afraid one day I am going to forget him. Of course, since I have pictures of him, I will always know what he looks like. But I fear I'll forget him. Sometimes I forget his voice, or his smell, and honestly it scares me to death. Have any of you lost a parent? How do you deal with it?

My boyfriend's Mom's birthday is on Sunday. I live with them, and she is like a mom to me. I love cleaning and cooking and having her come home to a clean house. I'm worried with my job things will change. But, I bought her a spice rack for her birthday, and I can't wait to give it to her. I bought her several other things too, some Pandora charms, Lemon cheesecake Lip Balm(Which I may or may not be keeping for myself :P ), and a wall vinyl for her bedroom. I also got the wall vinyl from etsy, but I don't feel like digging up the link right now. Call me lazy, but I'm sure I will show you a picture and link it once it is here :)

One last thing before I leave, my cousin and I have been talking about names for my Godson. We are just looking for some input.
Carter Dean
Parker Dean
Sawyer Dean
Leland Dean
Or do you have any name suggestions for a boy with the middle name Dean?
Dean is the grandpa's middle name, and they want to carry it down, so no choices there :P

Until tomorrow,
xoxo-Meghan

Okay I lied.
I wanted to tell you guys that I cut&colored my hair. Like it?

And this is Dustin, my boyfriend, who "wants me to come to bed and stop blogging".
Goodnight!

Down, Down, Down

I decided it was time I needed to start losing weight, get down to my ideal size.
Of course everyone is always saying that, no?
But this time I mean it. I started Weight Watchers(Points Plus) about 3 weeks ago. I've only lost 5 pounds, but I love it and I feel so many changes in my body, all or the better :)


I thought I would share my FAVORITE recipe, and a couple things I swear by!


Recipe, was from the AMAZING Andrea. If it weren't for her, I'd be done with WW by now :P


Drumroll Please....


Petite Lasagnas(Makes 12, Points+:5)

• 12 oz raw ground turkey
• ¼ tsp salt, divided
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tsp dried oregano, divided
• ½ tsp dried basil
• 1 ½ cups part skim ricotta cheese
• 24 small square wonton wrappers (the kind near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the produce dept)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey, salt, and pepper. Crumble the meat and saute the mixture for about 10 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds.
• Add the crushed tomatoes and 2 tsp of oregano. Bring the pan to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, a pinch of salt and pepper, the remaining teaspoon of oregano, and the basil. Stir to mix well. Set aside.
• Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place 1 wonton wrapper into each of the 12 cups, pressing firmly in the bottom of the cup and up the sides.
• Using half of the ricotta mixture, divide it among the 12 muffin cups. Next, using half of the turkey tomato sauce, spoon it evenly over each of the ricotta filled cups. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of mozzarella.
• Gently press another wonton wrapper on top of the mozzarella layer.
• Repeat the process by distributing the remaining ricotta, then the remaining tomato sauce, and finally the rest of the shredded mozzarella.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
• Enjoy! :)

Please, I BEG of you, go to Andrea's blog and look at her pictures. Mine honestly don't do this justice! The only thing I changed in the recipe, was I went a little easy on the ricotta cheese, only because I don't particularly like it.

WARNING: If you go to her blog, and you are hungry, be prepared to raid your cupboards or run to the store!

:D

Okay, Okay, forget the lasagnas(not forever! just long enough to listen to my rambling :P)

My WW tips,

Buy lite bread, 2 pieces=1point

Spray butter=free

Make fruit salads so fruit doesn't get old if you're not a fruit eater.

Splenda=free

Egg beaters & Turkey bacon are a PERFECT combination(&you could always throw in some lite bread!)

For real now, No more food talk. It's late and I used all my points today.

It's offical, I am going to have a godson!

I am extremely excited and cannot wait to hold him and see many more ultrasound pictures of him.

I'll have to ask his mommy if I can post pictures on here of him.

Speaking of his mommy, she refuses to show off her baby belly! I absolutely adore big 'ol pregnant bellies! I promise you at some point her belly WILL be on this page ;)

(she's totally reading this with a huge grin muttering to herself how pigs will be flyin' before this happens!)

Now with this random post out of the way,

I shall head of to bed.

xoxo-Meghan

Who am I?

My name is Meghan. I am 18. Young, ordinary, and slightly naive. I live 600 miles away from my home, my friends and my family. But I'm not the girl that you may think I am. I've lived through more than I ever should have. And I've made more stupid mistakes than I ever wanted.

But people mess up, always. No one is perfect, nor do I ever expect to be.

I'm writing this blog as a way to free my mind, make friends, and help myself.
Don't like what I write? Don't read it.
Going through the same thing? Tell me.
I'm not just here for me; I am here for you too.
I'm tired of being alone in my thoughts, and this is the safest way I could think to let them out.

Crazy, how "the safest way" I can let my feelings out is by sharing things with the internet. The whole world can share in my happiness, sadness, mistakes, and miracles. But this is what I want. I want to share this. I want to be a part of your life. Even if you only spend 5 minutes a day reading my blog.

xoxo-Meghan