What a CRAZY Month!

April. It feels so good to know I made it through that crazy month! Every year April is my busiest month of the year. Over the past two years my April schedule has been crazy but doable because I never worked in April. I was always transitioning, getting ready for the summer. This year I had some slight panic attacks leading up to April wondering HOW on earth I was going to do everything I had committed to. Class, projects, finals, dress rehearsals, work, and don’t forget cooking dinners and trying to be a good wife. Yeah, who I am kidding, the cooking didn’t really happen too much. Local restaurants LOVED us this past month. Days scheduled rigidly from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm are not exactly my favorite thing on earth, but are the only thing that kept me sane and helped me get everything done! After a whole month of days like that though….it’s exhausting! I think I am still recuperating! But, the best thing about a crazy month is that eventually a new month comes along and you can look back and see all the things you accomplished. Here are some of my favorite April accomplishments:


Helping put on a FABULOUS youth production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

 Kristen, our choreographer, moved to North Dakota for the first month of our rehearsals so I was given some of the choreography assignments. So hard. So rewarding. So much fun! It was a new opportunity for me but I loved it. 

We had 80+ kids ages 6-18 in our cast. They are all such hard workers and had a great run of the show! Part of our magic of getting the show together is everyday rehearsals all of April. These kids were so dedicated and worked SO hard! That is a lot of practicing for anyone, but especially our cute youngins. 

Our director is completely amazing and so on top of it. Talk about a HUGE coordination effort to put together something of this scale. We are talking beautiful costumes for each child and not just one, sometimes 4 or 5 costumes! Not to mention set design, building, and painting, ticket sales, advertising, makeup, lights, microphones, and oh yeah, blocking, choreography, and music. It takes A TON of work. Lori is incredible! 

These beauties were my favorite! It was a challenge getting every single one of them on stage, dressed, with the right costume pieces on. That costume alone has 5 pieces to it! And they literally had to have it on in a minute or less! Backstage is where the real show is at. :) 

A lovely capture of Kenna and me at intermission. Wigs for 50+, Egyptian eye liner for all, and Egyptian costumes! 

Anyways, the show was wonderful, but very all consuming for a couple weeks. It is always fun working at Center Stage. 

Then, if being at Center Stage pretty much every afternoon in April isn't busy enough, I also graduated! I am officially a BYU grad with my bachelors degree in Business Management, Marketing Emphasis. I can't believe my college years are over. I didn't waste any time or money in college though, I graduated in 3 years with exactly 120 credit hours (to graduate you need a minimum of 120 credit hours). I counted my credit hours many times over the last semester and even had Matt count them a couple to ensure I wouldn't be short any credit hours. And the moment of truth was going to my graduation and opening the program. I am not going to lie, I was a little worried my name wouldn't be in the program (meaning I still had more credit hours to complete). Relief, happiness, joy, and many other emotions washed over me as I saw my name. I did it! I graduated college!! 

Finally my turn to walk! It seriously took at least an hour and forty five minutes to read everyone names. 

Right after walking, shaking the Dean's hand, and receiving my fake diploma. (Real one comes in the mail)

   My cute husband. He has been such a huge support the last two years!! Putting up with 'stressed Megan' is not an easy task. He is a saint. 

My beautiful mother! She is also working on her degree right now. It has been so fun to compare assignments and to sympathize with each other while getting ready for big tests. 

My Grandpa Farnsworth! 60 years ago he was graduating in the same blue robes from BYU! Okay, I hope they have changed them a little since them, but you get the point. 

My cheering squad. I am grateful for the wonderful, motivated, driven, and successful people that surround me in my life. Matt's Aunt Cindy (not pictured) also attended the ceremony, but had to get back to work. My dad was in Japan that week but made it home in time for our afternoon BBQ to celebrate!

I wish I had a picture with my dad, but I don't! He really deserves a lot of the credit for my degree. Before I even started my first semester, he helped me map out my whole college degree. I knew from the very beginning what classes I was taking each semester to get where I wanted to be. He read through more of my papers than anyone else, and even when my family was serving in Australia, he was just a phone call away to the best advice and help when I was stumped on a homework assignment. 

When my family moved back to Utah almost 2 years ago, my dad and I started back up our routine of early morning jogs together. His sincere interest in my schooling really helped motivate me to endure through the tough classes and do my best. I remember this past February we had so much going on in our lives. My Grandpa Lindley had just passed away and Erica and Robyn had their babies. For about two weeks Matt and I babysat my five younger brothers and sisters while my dad was gone on a business trip and my mom was helping with the new babies. Although I was handling my schooling and work responsibilities, I thought there was no way I could finish my two Independent Study courses by the end of March! I just felt I had WAY too much on my plate and was determined I needed to delay my graduation. I talked to my dad about it the next morning, in early March, and he helped me see that I really could get it done if I wanted to. I needed that push to just get it done! I am very grateful for his encouragement and help over the passed three years. 

The Tanner Building. I don't know if I will miss that building or not. I do, however, think it is the most beautiful building on campus! I LOVED studying and attending class in there. I also loved that it was one of the closest buildings to the parking lots. 

What a wonderful journey it has been, earning my bachelors degree. As my brother in-law Chris says, "You sell your soul to the Marriott School by the time you graduate." Not in a bad corrupt way, but you give absolutely everything you have and then some. I certainly feel I gave my everything to get through that program! And what a wonderful feeling it is to be done! 

What's next you may ask? 

That is another blog post. This one has been long. I told you April was crazy!