2015-a look back

Welcome to my new bliggity blog. You made it! I decided a new year was a good time to switch my blog. My other blog is connected to an email that I can't access anymore, so I live in fear that one day I will go to log in and I won't be able to. I've tried in the past to attach it to my current email but I need access to the old email to give permission. Catch 22. No bueno. So welcome to Meagan's Musings 2.0. I could't come up with a more clever title, and I like the alliteration. Also, I'm too lazy to play with the design and layout so I just copied my old one. Does anyone blog anymore really?...But sometimes I do like to look back at what I've written, a bit of a journal if you will. Also, I know my sister still checks up on me. Hi!

Anyway, 2015. Some fun, fantastic things happened, also some really boring, monotonous and mundane things happened. Let's take a look:

Movies/TV
Grantchester-British clergy guy solves murders in his spare time. It was pretty good, filled the void that was left with no Sherlock or Endeavour. Set in 1950's England, gorgeous costumes and sets.

Poldark-British veteran of the American Revolutionary war comes home to take over his family mine and generally becomes a cowboy of his village, does what he wants. It's a little older period for me, but they have the guy who plays Kili on The Hobbit and he's very nice. Yar.

The Crimson Field-British again, tried to tell stories of the VAD women who served in field hospitals in WWI. I like it, had a bit of romance, didn't show nearly the blood, guts and mud I imagine it really looked like. I enjoyed the Scotsman, Richard Rankin. He is nice. Sadly, there won't be a season two as it didn't do well in the UK. I told my mom, it's still too soon for them to want to want to watch stuff like this. Even 100 years later.

Friends-not a new series, but it came to Netflix and I made the series last the whooooole year. And I found a random episode or two that I hadn't seen. Sweet!

McFarland USA-Kevin Costner coaches a Latino cross country team in California  to a state title. Has all the sports movie things you love, rooting for the underdog. The daughter love story was unnecessary/I thought she was a little young. Also Keven Costner is a little too old, but whatevs. Also, this movie made me feel horrible about the people we pay pennies to grow and pick our food and grateful for the hard, back-breaking work they do that no one else wants to.

Cinderella-the live action one. In one word: Gorgeous. Holy cow, what a good job they did. Lily Allen was beautiful as Cinderella. Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmom, soooo good. And her costumes were so stunning and so Cate. Loved the floaty sparkly blue dress Cinderella wore to the ball. Loved that they gave Prince Charming the name of Kit, a back story, and that he met Ella before the ball. Loved that we saw Cinderella and her mom, I cried when she died. Loved the relationship that Kit had with his dad. Was surprised when Kit was hiding with the guard when they were looking for Cinderella. Didn't so much like Helena Bohnam Carter as the fairy godmother, she was a little weird and the animal-people were a little weird but on the whole, five stars. A perfect fairy tale.

Unbroken-True life story of Louis Zamperini. There was so much of the atrocities they left out of the movie, but I think Angie told the story well, otherwise it would have been too much for an audience to handle. I'd read the book in 2014, the movie does a pretty good justice to the events.

Inside Out-Pixar again! A movie about emotions, it totally touches you. It made me think about my own emotions and how similar to Joy I am in that I don't want to have any sad emotions/memories, it made me think about how all emotions, while some are unpleasant, are real and ok and even necessary to have at one time or another. It's part of life and growing.

The Minions-yes, I'm still 9 years old on the inside and I went to the minon movie. It was pretty good. My favorite part was when the minions went to Buckingham palace and rode the queens corgis like horses.

Still Alice-I'd read the book years ago and I knew this one would be pretty heart wrenching. Julianne Moore did a fantastic job portraying a woman going through Alzheimer's, discovering it and how she dealt with it. Totally deserved the Oscar.

Selma-Important to learn about this chapter of our nation's history. Even more important with all the issues that are going on in society today.

It Happened One Night-got this one from the library and knew it has been on all kinds of top movie lists. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are accidental road-trip buddies, it's very cute and funny. I'm glad I caught this one.

Music
Josh Groban-Stages-I reviewed this album on a previous post. It's just one great album. Also, get the special edition with the bonus songs because they are some of my favorite. He's nominated for a Grammy for this one too.

Sara Bareilles-Songs from the Musical Waitress-So Sara wrote the songs for an upcoming musical called Waitress based on a movie of the same name. The cd was released for people like me who are Sara B fans and will buy the music and hopefully go to the show when it opens. Well, probably won't make the show, but the cd has come great Sara B songs. They could be a little weird if you don't know the storyline of the movie but some work ok on their own. Also, bonus! Jason Mraz duets with her in TWO of the songs. It made me so happy!!! My favorite song is "She Used to be Mine," it's heartbreaking and somewhat close to home. I bawled the first time I listened to it. Also I'm pretty sure it's the one she sang at the concert I went to last year, which is also the last memories I have of my friend Jenny who passed away. So yeah. It's special.

Adele-25-just released a month ago, so I don't know it too well yet. But I think I like it. It's a bit different than her other stuff, which is mostly good. Also, it's Adele, so I don't think she could go wrong.

James Morrison-Higher Than Here-just got this one downloaded so I don't really know it yet, but it's super promising. Some of the songs are way funky and totally homage Stevie Wonder, who I love, so I think I will enjoy this one. Again, a bit different than previous stuff, but good too.

Books-a sampling of the best stuff I read this year
All the Light We Cannot See-I think it got a pulitzer prize or something

Apollo's Angels-a bit heavy to get into, but I really enjoyed it. The history of ballet and how it came to be how and where it is. One thing I learned is about how the different styles evolved and why American ballet is different than Russian, or British or Danish. Also, American ballet would be nothing without George Balanchine. We owe our style to him. After reading this book I got more into learning about ballet itself, choreographers, ballet in America, etc. So educational and I felt artsy fartsy reading it.

Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories-I wanted to read a biography of her since I didn't know a whole lot about her and I really got into Wives and Daughters last year. It was also a bit hard to start at the beginning but I eventually found it really interesting.

The Penderwicks-This series is for younger readers but I just loved them all. The four Penderwick sisters and their adventures. They cause mischief, get into trouble, try to solve things on their own. I loved that they had a name for their secret sister meetings and the oath they took not to tell anyone, even their dad, what they were up to (we did that too) and the abbreviation OAP was for the Oldest Available Penderwick, who was the sister in charge at the time. The dog's name is Hound and he is like another sibling. There's a lot of humor, love, and also some really emotional stuff that happens. I would have loved the Penderwicks when I was younger, but I still love them now. These books are a keeper for sure. Thankfully the author still has a fifth and final installment to look forward to!

All-of-a-Kind Family-I found this series after reading The Penderwicks as they are somewhat similar. A family of five girls growing up in early 20th century NYC. What's unique is that the family is Jewish and the author includes a little about the holidays and customs. The little girls get excited about going to the library, having extra pennies to spend on candy, spending summers at the beach, and meeting all kinds of people on the Lower East Side. Charming books. Would have been among my favorite as well when I was little, but I still really enjoyed them being older.

The Borrowers-I had never read these when I was younger, and the above books reminded me to give these a try. I didn't like them as much as I thought I would. Having characters make homes and things out of random items and living off the land is usually my thing, a la Boxcar Children, but the books got a little repetitive. The Borrowers are small people that live in a house in the English countryside. They "borrow" to build their own houses, clothes, food, etc, but then they are seen by "human beans" and have to flee into the fields. They then have to learn to live off the land. But each book sees the family flee another place and try to find refuge in another, got a little monotonous. I think I would have really enjoyed them more when I was younger. The first book is definitely the best one.

The Wright Brothers-David McCoullough wrote about the Wright Brothers. I really enjoyed it, and it's not as long as most of his others. I had no idea of the awful conditions they had to endure at Kitty Hawk to get their airplane to fly. I also really enjoyed reading about how they took their invention to Europe and gained fame there as well. I learned about their sister who did a lot of work to help them and was one of the first women to fly. I also remember reading that one of the brothers had Alphabet Soup in France and thought it was so crazy because it had never been seen before. Now we eat it all the time. So grateful to the Wright brothers for their invention.

The Underground Girls of Kabul-tells the story of girls who are brought up as boys in the male-dominated society of Afghanistan. Families need boys for multiple reasons because of laws and rules of society. Those that don't have boys are seen as cursed. To get around this some families raise a girl as a boy. It's not very common and the journalist who wrote this book had to really dig to find them. It's really interesting because the boys get all the privileges there, but what happens to the girls when they have to go back to being a girl, after puberty starts? How do they cope with not having all the freedom and privileges they had before? It's awful to read about some of the things that happen to women in that society. It also made me feel like such a loser for not appreciating the rights and abilities I have for growing up a woman in America. It made me think about how I don't take advantage of them and how some of these women are fighting so hard for just a little freedom. I also learned a bit about the culture of Afghanistan and how the different wars there are affecting society.

Testament of Youth-Found this one at B&N because it had a Downton Abbey-esque cover. It's the true life story of Vera Brittan, who grew up in Great Britain at the outbreak of WWI. She is expected to get married and become a housewife, but she dreams of going to Oxford with her brother. She tutors herself and passes the tests to get into college. Vera goes to Oxford but then WWI breaks out, Her brother and all her friends go off to war; she cannot stand by while they fight so she joins the VAD as a volunteer nurse. Eventually she goes to France and Malta during the war and describes her experiences. All her friends die, her fiance, her brother, she is a survivor of a lost generation. It's so sad to hear Vera describe how the war took so much from her generation-her opportunity to study, to have carefree days, potential husbands, potential creators or inventors of something important; they have lost their ability to be light hearted in the face of all that they have suffered, having to deal with the reality of death way before their time. They left hoping for the glory and honor of war and found the inhumanity and futility. It was a really important read for me, to read about an actual person who experienced these things first hand. Vera went on to graduate from Oxford and became an advocate for peace. I also got to see the movie adaptation they made, which was really good.

The Great Bridge-David McCollough again. About the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. A huge book but McCoullough writes so well it went by quickly. Some of the engineering stuff went over my head, but it was really interesting to read about the abilities of these people who lived in the late 1800s, all the work and suffering that went into building the bridge and what a big deal it was at the time. The bonus was being able to actually visit and walk across Roebling's erection and see the very thing!! So cool!

Act One-this was an autobiography by Moss Hart who was a playwright. He grew up in the NYC and became famous in the 1940's and 1950's. You may have heard of his plays "The Man Who Came to Dinner" or "You Can't Take it With You." He grew up very poor in the Bronx but his aunt would take him to shows all the time. He grew up with a dream of being a part of that. I really enjoyed his style of writing, he used big words, and he had some really great and profound insights such as what it is really like to live in poverty. The biography only goes up until he has his first big break on Broadway, but it's a great read about someone really interesting.

Concerts
SYTYCD-This tour came to Kennewick, WA, we had a great time and got to meet our favorite dancer, Ricky!!

Josh Groban-Stages tour. The closest he came was San Francisco, so Mom and I had a short trip there. It was such a great concert and we got to met Josh Groban!! What an experience.

Shows
Matilda-saw it in Seattle. Loved it! The kids were great, Mr. Wormwood was weasely, and The Trunchbull was so nasty. Such a great production of a Roald Dahl classic.

Nutcracker-new PNB production in Seattle. So pretty!

An American in Paris-saw it in NYC with G. How can you go wrong with Gershwin songs, love triangles, ballet all set in Paris? A bit different than the Gene Kelley movie, but wonderful all the same. So glad I got to see the original cast, some of who are professional ballet dancers

Allegiance-a new show with Lea Salonga and George Takei about the Japanese interment camps. Saw it in NYC as well, I liked it a lot. It was funnier than I thought it would be. Lea was amazing, of course.

New York City Ballet-it was a night of newer choreographers. I got to see my first work by Justin Peck. The dancers of NYCB are so so good!! Loved seeing such a legit, professional ballet company. All at the beautiful Lincoln Center in NYC.

Mary Poppins-saw this as a local theater production. I'd never seen the musical version before and I really liked it. The local actors did a pretty good job and I'm glad they had Mary Poppins fly. Although, I did look up the Broadway version of "Steppin' Time" and it was A-ma-zing. All that tap, and Bert walks on the ceiling. Someday.

Trips
AZ in February-to see Bub and her pregnant belly! Also got to spoil her at her beautiful baby shower.

Portland in March-with my gals, Michelle and Stacey. Lovely trip with lovely people. Also, I need to get back to that french bakery, stat.

Spokane in April-to visit Stephen and Meagan. We watched Anne of Green Gables since Jonathan Crombie had just passed away (heartbroken), had some nice food, and we went to the Spokane Temple.
AZ in May-to see my first niece, Jacqueline!! She was so tiny and perfect. I love being an Auntie!!

OC in July-another trip with my gals Michelle and Stacey. It was so good to switch things up and a relief to get out of the heat. We had a great time.

Seattle in August-to see Matilda and we also went to the Seattle Temple.

Spokane in September-to see the Spokanites. Went to Sees, saw the gardens, went to the outdoor symphony concert.

NYC in October-a dream trip! To be blogged about in the future!
San Francisco in November- to see Josh Groban

Seattle in December-to see the PNB Nutcracker

Disneyland in December-for Christmas with the whole family! It was an amazing trip and I am so grateful to have spent it with my whole family. Plus it was Disneyland's 60th Diamond Anniversary so all kinds of fun things going on. To be blogged about in the future!

Favorite Internet Offerings:
Dark Lord Funk-pure genius. Love that it was made by some BYU people in and around Provo. Makes He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named look cool.
Bill Hader and Jimmy Fallon skit where they spit up all the food-I was literally shrieking with laughter when I watched this one. Such a simple gimmick but I laughed so hard.

USA  Women's Soccer World Cup win-just so much pride in America and women. They are beasts and I'm glad they won.

Other Life Events:
Finally made it to the Carousel of Dreams in Kennewick

Watched the Lunar Eclipse at the river
Got new glasses, didn't get the anti-reflective coating though, that was a mistake because my glasses have a glare in all my pics now. Remember this for the future!
Used Uber for the first time-to get from San Francisco to the airport, it worked super well!
Met Josh Groban-he was so nice and gracious

Also taught myself to curl my hair because I was going to meet Josh Groban. I'm not awesome at it, but it's a start.

Niece Jacqueline was born-Best thing all year. I have just loved being an Auntie and watching her grow. She is so beautiful and such a smart and sassy girl already. I can't wait until I can help her learn her words and animals, build awesome blanket forts, and teach her all the games I used to play when I was little. Jacqueline is definitely our favorite right now.

I'm still living at home and working at the same job. Said job is getting a bit old and having to work some really late hours is no bueno. Literally my last friend at church moved away so it's been very lonely. I stay in the single's branch because I have no better options right now, but I think I'll be ready to leave when I turn 30 in a little over a year. Blech. There have been several occasions where I have felt very abandoned by friends. One I'd invited to do something multiple times and I flat out got ignored. One I invited to go to dinner and I got told that they didn't have time for me. One came into town and left without telling me he was here, and later a mutual acquaintance told me he was here. One said no to an invitation but basically felt like I was told off and told not to try again. Others have done things with me but I have felt very much like a lower priority for them. I have to fight hard for the time. It has been hard, I try not to get upset because I know they have other things going on but I've never felt so discarded. I try and stay connected to friends because I value them. But I get the feeling from some that they have friends in different stages of life and because I'm from a different stage I'm not needed? IDK. I tell myself that the married ones with kids especially don't have time for me, and that's ok, they should be taking care of their families. But that also adds to the frustration sometimes because they are my cohorts so I compare where they are in life to where I am and that is not a good thing to do.

I have also had many opportunities to do some amazing things, I've had pretty good health, and I haven't wanted for anything. My finances are pretty good and I live pretty comfortably. I am grateful for most of 2015 and hope that 2016 is a year of progress. Feliz Ano Nuevo!