Ok, it's time for a post. Hahaha. Sorry for my lack of posts, but most of my time back home has been spent busy with family, friends, and Dancer. Hopefully everyone is doing well. I haven't been doing a great job at keeping up with blogs and need to do so more often, but it's just so easy to get caught up in everyday things!
somewhat of a control freak (thanks mom) and putting my future in someone else's hands is NOT easy. I went to church with dad yesterday and the message was about prayer. The part about putting your worries and future in God's hands really struck a cord with me. I realized I wasn't putting my future in the hands of an application committee, but in the hands of my savior. God is in control, not Megan. It will be better to think that the decision which results in March will be where God wants me to be and where I will be most effective. I officially applied to UCLA, Loyola, Pepperdine, Lewis and Clark, UC Irvine, and Southwestern. The application deadline for these schools is February 2 and they will be making decisions in Feb/March. So I will know where I'm going by next April.
ents and don't want to rely on them to help me so I can have a fun job. I had a great time this summer and plan to stay in touch with Dan McSweeney in Hawaii. He said he'd be happy to have me come out sometime for a few weeks to help on research, which is my passion anyway. I don't believe that choosing to get a PR job in LA will hinder my ability to eventually work with cetacean researchers, it will simply delay it a bit. I have a list of PR firms I plan on submitting a resume to and will hopefully have a steady job my end of December. Ah the joys of growing up.
the issue or the laws in question, I was able to hold educated conversations with him about his topic. Hopefully this is a good sign. His case was modeled after a religious property case which is before the US Supreme Court as I type. Being at the competition affirmed my interest in litigation and I'd be interested to be a part of a Moot Court team in law school. Seeing friends again, whether at GV or home, is somewhat bittersweet. I love spending time with them again, but it's just... different. I say that I feel like I've grown up a lot since I left, but it's really noticeable around old friends. Not that I'm somehow "better," but that I'm at a different point in my life and finding what we once had in common is becoming more and more difficult.
rcollegiate show on the 22nd, bub's 16th birthday. I decided it'd be good for him to have a little change of scenery, but wanted to be there with him just in case. (The more I think about it, the more I realize I needed to be there for me more than for him.) Dancer was an old pro. He loaded perfectly. Traveled easily. And stalled calmly. There was lots of activity around the barn and many of the other horses were spooky and hot. Dancer went around the arena like he'd never left. Although he wasn't in World Show form, his attitude hadn't changed. He didn't spook at anything and the riders never said a negative thing about him. In fact, one girl who drew him for a class said he was the best horse she'd been on at a college show. (Comments like this make Dancer's mama very proud.) College shows are different from 4H or breed shows because the riders have to draw their mount like a lotto before the class. Most of the riders have never ridden the horse they show before. The purpose of this is to even the playing field and place the judging on the rider and not the horse, however having a good horse 
helps you be a better rider. Dancer's riders won a few of the classes on him and got a second place in reining, a class he'd never done before. In a way it makes me sad to see him going around the arena with someone else on his back. I watched from the rail and every time he passed me his ears and eyes would turn towards me as if to say, "What are you doing there and who the heck did you put on me?" Despite his apparent confusion, he still behaved like a gentleman. The kids who came to the show from the barn were shocked to see Dancer there and begged me to let them cool him out after a class. It was so cute to see Dancer walking around with them. He had a little girl on one side and her brother on the other. They were small so Dancer put his head down and walked around with his eyes at their eye level. Such a good boy. I was so proud of him and somewhat regretted retiring him. I know it was in our best interests to quit showing, but if only we could have done it a bit longer I wonder how much more we would have accomplished. He's the best horse I could ask for: patient, smart, determined, kind, and cute (all the qualities I look for in my partners! lol). I've al
most owned him for a decade and hope to keep him around a lot longer.
Have a Spook-tacular time!
Hope everybody has a fun and safe Halloween. I'm going to celebrate in Newport Beach with Jason and company. (I think this will be my first Halloween where I'm not freezing the whole time!)
Check out this video... it's kinda funny, but has nothing to do with Halloween, except maybe the orange drink. Enjoy! http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=XMyiMnQy9d4&feature=related
I know we all agreed to avoid politics, however I would like to supply some food for thought. This is not intended to become a political debate between family members but to be an eye opener for all of us when considering future environmental policies and those who claim to support such policies.
In 1993, Vice President Al Gore met with Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and secretly signaled to the Norwegians that the United States would not interfere with their plans to expand commercial whaling. Gore's infamous Norwegian memo was leaked to the press and published in full page ads with the caption "Blood and Gore." In the memo, the Vice President repeated the United States commitment to stand by and not interfere with Norwegian attempts to overturn the IWC ban on commercial whaling. Gore wrote, "This strengthens my argument for the need for a scheme that will allow resumption of whaling worldwide." Gore hoped to keep free trade options open to Norway and Japan by not interfering and going as far as supporting their commercial whaling operations.
Although gray whales are the target of the Makah tribe's whaling efforts, the most commonly killed whale worldwide is the minke whale, the most common baleen whale in the San Juans.
In 2005 Japan announced its intention to more than double the Antarctic minke harvest, to 935 whales from this specific area a year. They also intend to expand their "scientific whaling" program to sperm whales, fin whales, Byrde's whales, and humpbacks. All of this was done with little backlash from ANY U.S. politician.
Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" I dream of things that never were and ask, "Why not?"
It's funny how fast time goes by as you get older. When I was little summer almost seemed too long. I was always ready to go back to school and start another year. This fall was the first time I can remember not having to go back to school, but somehow the summer ended too soon. I really miss the Residents. I never thought I'd grow so fond of the animals or that I'd meet so many people who share my fascination with them. I was able to 
help on research teams, a dream I never imagined I'd realize because I'm not a marine biologist. I may even return to San Juan Island to work more on Katherine's scat project. It was exciting to see J28 (Polaris) growing up into a mature female and mingle with the people who studied her and her family for decades. I was determined to learn as much about the local wildlife, and amassed quite the library of cetacean books. I experienced close encounters with a variety of cetaceans including orcas, pacific white-sided dolphins, minke whales, humpback whales, dall's porpoise, and harbor porpoise. I learned the orca ID process and got a feel for the individual animals' personalities and cliques.
. Unfortunately seven animals became missing this summer: J43 (unnamed great grandcalf of Granny), J11 (Blossom, a mother of three), K7 (Lummi, estimated to be 98 years old), L21 (Ankh, a great grandmother), L67 (Splash, a 23 year old mother of two), L101 (Aurora, Splash's six year old son), and L111 (the newborn calf who died shortly after birth). The losses of J11 and L111 hit me the hardest. I had a great encounter with J11 in the beginning of July, shortly before her disappearance, when she swam right up to our boat and rolled over, showing us her perfectly white belly. She left behind her two sons, J27 (seventeen-year-old Blackberry) and J39 (five-year-old Mako) and a daughter, J31 (thirteen-year-old Tsuchi). I hope Mako returns next year, most youngsters that lose their mother don't survive. When we saw Mako later in the summer he was swimming in the slip stream (a calf position) of his big sister Tsuchi. J11 was estimated to be thirty six years old, too young for an orca to die. Orcas can potentially live into their nineties, and losing a 
producing age female is a hard hit not only to her offspring, but to the Southern Resident Community, which is at is lowest number since 2002. Another J Pod female, although quite a bit older, named Speiden (J8) appeared to be losing weight throughout the season and there is little hope she will return next summer. Speiden is a great grandmother and estimated to be seventy five. Baby L111 was another sad loss because I saw her shortly after she was born (she was a bright pinkish-orange and still had obvious fetal folds from being scrunched up inside of mom). I was hoping to see her reach maturity. It's still hard to believe she didn't make it after seeing her rolling around and playing with her family. L111 is the fourth calf her mother, L47 (Marina) lost in the past eight years. Researchers are concerned she is unable to nurse her calves for some reason and that they are dying of starvation. This just goes to show the problems are real and something must be d
one.
hooked on new shows... thanks to my naughty Auntie Jen. Jo had a hard soccer game while I was in town, and despite the loss, her team looked good and Jo had some great plays. It seems like all the little cousins aren't so little anymore... pretty soon I'll be the little cousin. Dang.
Please feel free to check out to following links to see what I'm interested in and give your input:
will apply for PR jobs in the entertainment industry near the Burbank area in December. I'm going back to Michigan for the month of November to celebrate the holiday and Michael's 16th birthday as well as to visit friends and of course Dancer. (I'm really missing Dancer after seeing all these horses nearby.)
Above: Me and Mike on the Sea Lion this August
