I'm not sure I ever realized how much I enjoy just being around my family until I moved out.  Spending my weekend surrounded by the people I love most while working on something that actually mattered was far more fulfilling than my normal weekend sleeping in,  running errands and vegging on the couch.  Yesterday, Patrick, Wicket and I went over to my sister and brother-in-law's new house to help them renovate.  My mom, dad, grandma, and best friend were all there helping too.  For some reason, scooting around the bare floor on old, dusty pillows while prying up thousands of tiny, razor-sharp staples with my mom was so much more fun than anything else I could've been doing with my day.  We didn't have music or air conditioning to distract from the exhaustion, but we did have great company and conversation to make our efforts worthwhile.

I've never considered myself to be anything resembling a "handy-woman", so I'm quite proud I didn't destroy anything yesterday!  Aside from the large splotches of paint all over my arms and legs as well as the scattered splinters and bruises on my palms, everything else remained relatively unscathed.  Oh, I guess there was the one incident while painting the floors purple....and the other thing with the sloshing of toilet water while moving the second potty around in the bedroom...but those were no biggies. Wicket did such a wonderful job supervising our work from her spot under the porch in the backyard while providing while providing the occasional bit of entertainment to break up our long day.  I only wish we had thought to bring her inside kennel for the giant rainstorm we had...instead, I had to watch her sit and shiver under the drippy deck through the whole storm.  Is it sad that I found that to be the most adorable thing ever?  A cold, wet puppy is so stinking cute.  Her little nose turns all blue from the water matting down her fur and the rest of her coat is spiked from the mix of soaking and shaking.  Then she looks at me all pitiful-like like "Pleeeeeeeeeease let me in!  I want to sit inside and stay warm with you!" Hehe cute.  Poor thing.

Wicket must have forgiven us sometime between then and now because she is currently sitting happily under my feet, chewing the face off her brand new hyena toy while Patrick and I plan our grand 1st Anniversary vacation.  We're looking into going to either Glenwood or Steamboat or somewhere like that for several nights, so if any of you have any recommendations of places to stay or things to do, please oh please let us know!

- Megan

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I am a die-hard meat lover.  I was always the kid who would make one final run through the buffet line with my sister for "dessert" and while she would come back with a swirly dish of soft serve ice cream piled high with syrups and sprinkles, I would proudly return with one last chicken breast or a hearty chunk of steak.  I've always felt like I missed out on that sex-linked gene that unfailingly seems to force individuals of the female type to crave baskets full of warm, buttery bread, bowls filled with the creamiest of ice desserts, or platters piled high with fresh, juicy fruits and danishes. You'll never find me sitting in front of a chick-flick with a tissue box, a gallon of ice cream and a spoon.  Protein is my medicine.  Instead of going out with the girls for soup and salad at Olive Garden or baked goods at Panera, I'd much rather hit up Bird Dog BBQ for a half pound of succulent, tender beef brisket.  Don't need no sides....I don't want your rolls, your fries, your coleslaw....just gimme that beef.

My best friend Meredith and her family are frequent patrons of a small, German bakery in town.  Recently, Meredith shared with me a great treasure she discovered at said bakery - Schwenkenbraten (and yes, it took me quite a while to find the correct spelling of that word).  Schwenkenbraten (according to the ever-so-reliable Wikipedia) is a pork neck steak marinated for days in a mixture of oils, spices (red paprika, juniper berries, etc...) and vegetables then grilled on a "schwenker" (basically a tripod with a grill grate swinging over a fire".  You slice the meat and eat it on rolls like a sandwich and, Voila!  Best thing ever!  Meredith's dad was kind enough to invite Patrick and I over to partake in this wonderful meaty delicacy for dinner this evening.  We had quite the time sitting and chatting on the back porch enjoying our meal in the cool, evening air while watching Wicket and their two dogs play chase and wrestle in the grass until the sun went down.  Now with plenty of Schwenk and a finely-mixed Tom Collins in my belly, I am fully prepared for a good night's sleep.  My puppy is thoroughly worn out and tucked into a sleepy ball at my feet....my sweet husband is lying beside me, typing away at his own new blog...what more could I want on this fine, Thursday night? :)

- Megan

P.S.  I'll be posting what looks to be a fine recipe for Schwenkbraten (courtesy of AllRecipes.com) on my Recipes page.  Enjoy!

Where to begin...

After following several blogs for some time, I have begun thinking to myself that blogging would be an excellent way to download my day-to-day thoughts and connect with others on a deeper level than is ever possible through Facebook, Twitter, or other shallow social media sites.  I've gotten quite tired of trying to use "status updates" as a replacement for actual information exchange.  "Jane Doe had a great evening!", "John Smith is going to bed!"  "Joe Schmoe checked in at Old Chicago"  Boring.  Simply boring.  No offense to anyone, but I'm not really interested in knowing exactly what everyone is doing or feeling at every single moment...that just makes me feel like a stalker.  Back in middle/high school I was an avid "Xanga" blogger...posting nothing truly significant, but enjoying sharing tidbits of my life with friends while staying updated on their lives in return.  I loved that.  I'm thrilled to be getting back into it, if nothing more than to have a written (or rather, typed) record of pieces of my life and thoughts.  I'm not sure exactly how this particular blogging site works, but I'm excited to explore and learn as I go.

So I guess I should introduce myself to those who don't know me already (although I'm not certain I'm going to be interesting enough to attract many strangers....and that's probably a good thing).  My name is Megan.  I am a twenty-something, Christian newlywed living at home with my wonderful husband Patrick and our 8-month-old puppy, Wicket.  I grew up moving around the US as a military brat of an Air Force dad, but he chose (wisely) to retire in beautiful Colorado and we've been here ever since.  I graduated with a degree in Radiologic Technology and work full time as a Radiographer at a small clinic in town.  Reading back over all that, I realize that I am not going to be able to describe myself with one paragraph.  I'll leave the rest to later posts.....

I've been dwelling on figuring out a title for my blog for quite a while.  Perhaps that is the reason I've taken so long to actually begin blogging.  I never realized how extremely difficult it is to find one short phrase to describe the entire content of everything you want to share with your future readers.  There are so many ways to make the title too cheesy or cliche...too boring or uncreative...and my biggest issue, too long and frustrating to pronounce.  I'm a fan of long, interesting adjectives, so my title was starting to look like something straight out of a medical science journal.  I finally decided on "The Lemon Perspective based on the whole "when life gives you lemons" thing.  My life has its usual "lemons"...just like everyone else's...but I want to begin striving to squeeze those lemons into the lemonade God meant them to be.  The more I've grown up, the more pessimistic I've found myself becoming.  I've become exhausted from turning to a bad attitude every time life throws little hurdles in my path.  I want so badly to mature into a person who can look at everything life brings with a positive perspective and always be contemplating what good things can come out of situations and how I can change because of them.  Will that be the main focus of my blog?  Maybe.  I intend to keep it lighthearted...just share my thoughts and experiences as I venture through day-to-day life.  It's nice to think my blog will have a purpose, though. Anyway...was that too deep?  I didn't mean to get so serious on my first post...haha.  I think this blogging thing will be good for me. 

Well I suppose I'll go fiddle around with the website in an attempt to make it more "me".  I hope it isn't too complicated, as I'm not the greatest at trying to create things with a computer.  Wish me luck!

- Megan