Scott and Megan's Happy Life

The Unemployment Rate Fell Just A Little Bit

2011-04-21T19:16:00.001-04:00

...even though I don't think I was counted in those numbers anyway...

Yep, you guessed it- I got a job! After a good amount of time networking and interviewing and looking for a family-supporting kind of job, I was hired by the School Improvement Network in March!

I've been there about a month now and it's been great. Everybody's been nice a helpful as I learn about everything that I'm responsible for. And I even get to go to New Orleans next week for an education conference. It should be a fun week.

I included a picture of my desk name sign thing for proof...

Weekend Project

2010-10-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

My parents had these chairs sitting around and said that we could have them. As you can see, they were dated and in bad shape (this picture flatters them). After months of procrastinating refinishing them, we finally buckled down last week and worked on them.

Work in progress...

Complete!

We are super excited with how well they turned out and I already have plans to work on an old cabinet from my grandma's house.

Now I just need a place to commute to...

2010-10-03T19:38:00.001-04:00

I've been working part time at the University of Utah for the past few months as I search for a full-time job. Last Earth Day around the student union building where I work there were some activities and booths set up dealing with ways to be a better citizen of Earth and stuff like that. Coca-Cola had a table promoting their "Live Positively" campaign where they were giving out t-shirts. I walked by and they handed me a shirt along with a scratch-off card for a bike giveaway.

Now, I'm a sucker for free stuff and easily-entered contests. So I scratched off the card, entered the code online, and practically forgot about it. Then almost two months ago I received an email telling me that I was "a potential winner" in the Coca-Cola Give It Back College Sweepstakes. After sending back a signed and notarized affidavit I received another email letting me know that my prize was on it's way.

A couple weeks ago I got the call: my prize was waiting for me at the local REI. I won a limited edition, Coca-Cola red, 8-speed Dahon folding bike. Yes, you read that right-- it folds. (See below.)

I've taken it out for a few rides and it's pretty cool. I hadn't heard of the brand before, but Dahon makes high-quality folding road and mountain bikes. It's pretty amazing how they can make a full-functioning bike that can fold down so it's easily carry-able and store-able.

Now I just need a nice place downtown to ride my bike to every day...

Virginia is for Lovers... and a job?

2010-06-04T19:28:00.010-04:00

Hi everybody! Yes, our blog was still working--there wasn't anything wrong with your computers. The lack of blog posting-ness was on our end. We haven't felt that we've had anything excitingly newsworthy to post. If you've been following either of us on Facebook, you might have seen some of the random bits of news, but nothing had felt big enough to make it to our blog.

Until now...

Two or three months ago I found out that someone I had worked closely with in NYC last summer (my AE from Y&R) had moved to The Martin Agency in Virginia last fall. She was able to help me get a phone interview there. One morning I talked to someone there and I felt that it went really well. But in the weeks following no position at my level had opened up yet.

Until now...

Two weeks ago I got an email from another contact I had made at The Martin Agency informing me of an open position in his department. He helped get the ball rolling and the next morning I got an email and a couple days later I got a call about when I could fly out to Richmond to meet with some people there. In the next couple days I received an itinerary and last Thursday I found myself on a flight to Atlanta (and then on to Richmond).

I had such a great time! I met with 7 different people and I really enjoyed talking with them. I came expecting more of a classic "interrogation" kind of interview series, but it ended up being a "getting to know you" set of meetings. Everyone was really nice--I'd love to work with them. And the agency building was beautiful!

Richmond was beautiful, too. I'm really excited to find out how this will turn out. They said I'd hear back in a couple weeks, so by the end of next week I should know something.

Thanks for everybody that's been supporting us for the past ~~few~~ months! We're crossing our fingers for Virginia!

Shakespeare in the Park

2009-07-07T20:18:00.006-04:00

Every year there is a free Shakespeare play in Central Park. There are always big stars in the shows and the tickets are handed out the day of, meaning super long lines. Tickets are distributed at 1 and so Wednesday I got to the park just before 9 am. The line was already over a half mile long and there was little hope of getting tickets. We were determined to see the show, so the next day I got there before 7. The line was long even then, but I was close enough to be guaranteed tickets. All that was left was to wait and wait and then wait some more. I endured boredom and rain storms, but was successful! 6+hours= 2 tickets to Twelfth Night staring Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald.

We didn't have the best seats, but it was still an amazing show! Yay for live theater!
You can't take pictures in the theater, so this is view from the back. We were sitting on the upper right side.

Free things save us money

2009-06-27T08:26:00.008-04:00

Hey we have some more pictures of things we've done here in NYC and we thought we'd share them with you! And we're not even waiting for a couple months to do it! We're going to try out how the real bloggers do it...

During the summer here they have the River to River Festival, which includes a lot of free concerts and activities and fun things. A couple weeks we went to a fireworks show on the East River featuring music by the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Two nights ago we went to a free concert of Mozart's The Magic Flute by the New York Opera at Rockefeller Park. It was a lot of fun to sit in the park in the beautiful weather and enjoy the concert.

Waiting for it to start...

A couple weeks ago a group of us went to the famed Apollo Theater (We lived about a 10-15 minute walk away...) for Amateur Night. That's when you can actually boo the performers off the stage. They encourage it! It was a cultural experience and a lot of fun.

I also wanted to include this because Michael Jackson performed here early in his career. I can't find any sources to back that up, but it does make it cooler that we went there.

(UPDATE: I found out when Michael Jackson performed at the Apollo Theater. The Jackson 5 won the Apollo's Amateur Night in 1967.)

Internship Update (and a contest!)

2009-06-24T07:16:00.007-04:00

Greetings from New York City!

I realized that I haven't really given many people an update on how my internship is going. Initially, the internship was supposed to be from the beginning of May to June 16th, but the people at Y&R gave those who wanted to an opportunity to extend our internships until the first week of August. I've really been enjoying it here and I feel like I get along really well with everybody I'm working with, so Megan and I decided to stick it out here for at least a couple more months and see what happens.

We had to find a new apartment for the remainder of our stay since our first place was only for the duration of the regular internship. Now we are living a little farther north on Manhattan. But it only takes about 30-40 minutes to get to work, thanks to the subway! I love public transportation. If I can have someone else do the moving for me so I can have time to relax or read a book, I'm happy.

Here at Y&R I am working on the recently acquired Office Depot account. On June 1st we launched a new part of the campaign called "The Survival of the Smartest" and the "Small Business Self-Bailout" It involves a website and some funny webisodes with "Matt and Matt" that will be released periodically through the rest of the summer.

A big part of the campaign is the "Adopt a Small Business" contest that ends July 31st. (If you or someone you know owns a small business, let them know about this!) 500 businesses will be awarded $2000 each in Office Depot prizes (gift cards, print services, etc.). To enter, all you have to do is make a 2-minute video telling Office Depot two things: what you are doing in these tougher economic times to be smart (how are you saving money or finding new customers or reducing costs, etc.) and how Office Depot has helped you out. If you're not sure how Office Depot has helped your small business out, you have until July 31st to visit your local Office Depot to figure it out. They also have some great online resources. This is a really great contest. If you want to learn more about that, check out www.thesurvivalofthesmartest.com.

And check out the first webisode next Monday! (June 29th)

Oh, and another cool thing: Y&R finally updated their website!! After nearly a year of being "Coming Soon" or "Under Construction" it is an actual website that you can look at! Check it out, it's cool: http://www.yr.com.

(Map image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team and Wikipedia)

In case anyone didn't know...

2009-06-21T21:55:00.004-04:00

We graduated!!!

Adios Provo!

Here's Proof.

Scott got a BA in Communications: Advertising

I got a BS in Sociology (in 3 years...)

Yay for us!

Some Things We've Done in NYC

2009-06-21T21:34:00.003-04:00

News Flash!!

We really are here in New York City and having a good time! We are not dead!
We are just really bad bloggers. We will try to be better...

Whew, now that that's over, here is our bi-annual-or-so update: (Put your mouse on the pictures for captions.)

Here's the quick summary of what you just saw. Max Brenner is a really fun (and maybe a little pricey) chocolate store/cafe. We ordered the "Eskimo" (or "es-KEE-mo" as the waitress pronounced it). Everything there was presented (or "plated") in cool ways. And of course we've tested out the other big candy/chocolate stores here, like Jacques Torres, and our personal favorite, Dylan's Candy Bar. (Supposedly the biggest candy store in the U.S.)

We've had a lot of fun wandering around and hanging out in parks and eating pizza. So far we like Arturo's the best. It's been raining a lot lately (we heard it was the 22nd straight day of rain, although we feel like it's not true... there have been a few fair days) which makes the subway puddley and muggy. (Mmm, nothing like stuffy damp underground air!)

Overall, it's been great so far. You might say it's been an experience. We'll keep you updated.

We promise.

East Coast livin'

2009-05-03T23:44:00.011-04:00

Greetings from New York City!!

So for the past week I (Scott) have been in New York City in preparation for an internship that starts tomorrow (the 3rd). You might think, Hey, cool, you get a free week of touring the city and seeing all of these amazing things with no obligations! But Megan hasn't been out here and it just isn't as fun without her. She's been in SLC/Provo working on a paper with one of her professors and getting things ready to come out here on Thursday! I'm so excited to tour the city with her. I am getting to be quite an expert with the subway here. I could almost be a tour guide on one of those cheesy double-decker tour buses. Okay, not really.

We're staying at some dorms called the International House by Columbia University. We ended up with a pretty good view of the Hudson River and Grant's Tomb. (Sorry, all of these pictures are going to be from my cell phone. This one is through a screen in my window and with bad lighting...)

I've found some Ukrainian places in East Village, I've walked through Times Square, I've been in the largest cathedral in the world, and yesterday I even went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with our internship group. Here are a few pictures to prove that I was there:

At the subway stop where we live. Yes, some subway stops are above ground.

Times Square. The 2009 ball is still at the top.

The Flatiron building.

This is a sculpture that was nicer-looking and stood in the main lobby of the World Trade Center towers. (That should explain the "was nicer-looking.") It now is a memorial in Battery Park.

Downtown New York City from the Liberty Island ferry.

The Statue of Liberty.

Big things are still to come from this amazing city. Stay tuned.

Are you getting thirsty yet?

2009-03-14T11:14:00.008-04:00

Finally, something we can ALL drink to!

Okay, I think it's about time that I shared with you one of the coolest projects I've been able to work on at the BYU Ad Lab: The Tap Project. Two years ago, the ad agency Droga5 teamed up with UNICEF to develop a way to raise money to provide clean water for children around the world. Since then it has spread to other cities and this year we picked it up here in Utah!

This has resulted in a lot of work. Each city is responsible for collecting their own media donations as well as creating their own advertising (billboards, TV spots, posters, etc.). The creative team in the Ad Lab has put out some amazing work.

Here's a video that explains how this works
(parts of the video are from UNICEF):

The Tap Project is based on collecting money at restaurants. People will often just order a glass of water when they go out to eat. During World Water Week (March 22-28), restaurants will ask patrons to donate just $1 for that glass of tap water, and the money goes straight to countries that don't have easy access to that water. That one dollar can provide one child 40 days of drinking water! How easy is that?!

As I said earlier, the creative team has really worked hard to come up with some great ads. One of our print ads were even featured in the New York Times! (scroll down, look on the left.) And if you live in Utah, look for one of these TV spots:

Utah Tap :: Here's to the World from Mike Morris on Vimeo.
You can see the other four spots if you search on Youtube or Vimeo for "Utah Tap" (like this).

Wherever you are, please search on the Tap Project website to see if there are any participating restaurants near you! You can even find participating restaurants and then check out their reviews on Zagat.com.

So save a dollar or two and take someone out to dinner during the week of March 22-28 at a participating Tap Project restaurant. Make change for a dollar.

But don't forget to tip your waiter/waitress. The restaurants are doing a lot for this, too.

Guess where we're going in May?

2009-03-10T09:23:00.004-04:00

Well, I guess it's about time to give an update on some of our future plans... A few months ago I was accepted into the Department of Communications' internship program in Chicago and New York City. This is an awesome opportunity because the professors will then go to advertising and PR agencies and broadcast stations to help place students at internships. It's a lot easier than trying to find one yourself (especially across the country).

So a few weeks ago one of my professors spent a few days in NYC and dropped off a few portfolios and resumes. Not too long ago another professor pulled me aside and told me that he had already heard back from one particular agency. My internship will be at Young and Rubicam! (Their website has been "coming soon" for at least 4-5 months now, so it doesn't have much to look at, but you can see some of their work from all of their offices...)

Anyway, we are both really excited to try out life in the Big Apple. We've got a couple guidebooks and we are set to get the full experience. (Well, maybe not the full experience--that might include a mugging or something...) But we'll be sure to chronicle our life together on the East coast!

Maybe I am somewhat crafty after all...

2009-02-05T00:49:00.014-05:00

Over Christmas break I discovered that my old Young Women's leader, one of the most influential women in my life, is going to have baby girl in February. Since I had no homework, I decided to do something special for her. Here is my first attempt at any large scale sewing project. I love how it turned out! Thanks for all the help Mom!

We celebrated Christmas last year...

2009-01-29T21:12:00.007-05:00

Yeah, I know... We put together this beautiful blog and decorated it with wonderful words and pretty pictures, and then we abandoned it. We had a wonderful Christmas break, and then school happened. And it happened very suddenly. Now we are a month into the semester and it's still moving.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that we did celebrate Christmas and we even have some pictures to show for it. We went to Burley for Christmas day and had a great time. We never left the house due to the fun and games and a lot of wind and snow.
Megan is standing on one of the snow drifts in the driveway. Yeah you read right, it wasn't a big pile of snow gathered from clearing out the driveway. It was the driveway.

Then for New Years we came back south to SLC and partied it up with Megan's family. Then a few days before the end of the break we reluctantly came back to Provo to get ready for school to start up again. However, we were cheered by the idea that this is our LAST SEMESTER of school. That does make things a little easier. But it doesn't make the assignments and projects any easier...

Oh, and just to bring a little holiday cheer into our apartment, we purchased a small tree and some decorations. We decided to keep it simple because we didn't have room for a big tree. And if everything goes like we think it will, we won't have room for a big tree for a while...
And if you're wondering what the pink thing is to the left of the tree, just be jealous that you don't have one. Maybe sometime I'll tell the story here of the Pink Flamingo Tree...

Merry Christmas from the Bowens!

2008-12-07T21:47:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving in LA

2008-12-01T00:10:00.011-05:00

We like breaks from school. Especially when it involves going out of state.
We also like holidays. Especially when it involves good food.
We really like it when those two things coincide. Yay for Thanksgiving!

For our first Thanksgiving together, Megan and I went to California with Megan's family to spend the holiday with her dad's side. We drove down and managed to keep ourselves entertained during the car ride with our snacks and games.

We arrived in plenty of time for Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. I (Scott) got to meet aunts and uncles and cousins and put a lot of faces to familiar names. We ate lots of good food and talked and laughed and had a great time. We were also happy to get to bed that night after the long car ride earlier that day. There's just something about sleeping on your back on a bed instead of leaning over onto someone's lap while wearing a seatbelt in a moving car.

Thursday we had a big day planned. Megan and I and the Graham family went to Long Beach for a whale-watching cruise. We saw sea lions, seals, birds, and a blue whale! It's only the largest animal on the earth, that's all. We had a lot of fun out on the open seas.

(It was cooler in person...)

That night we saw a beautiful sunset at some tide pools. I love the ocean!

Friday we had a full day planned: First we went to the La Brea Tar Pits (all I knew about them I'd learned from Far Side comics...) and saw lots and lots of bones. It was pretty cool.

Then we drove up Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd and ended up at the Griffith Observatory. There we learned all about the solar system. We decided we wouldn't want to live on Jupiter because we'd each weigh around 300 lbs. That night we ate at Ruby's, a 50's diner on the pier at Huntington Beach and witnessed another beautiful sunset.

Saturday we drove. All day. The trip was over and it was nice to sleep in our own beds.

Quirky BYU humor

2008-11-30T23:59:00.004-05:00

Okay, this needs a little background info:

Every year during the week of the BYU/UofU rivalry football game, campus security is tightened and the area is prank-proofed. I always look forward to seeing all of the statues on campus saran-wrapped to deter any vandalism. (There's something odd about walking by Brigham Young covered in plastic... I bet the U of U students get a kick out of us doing this just to avoid some statue-related prank...)

So as I was walking through campus one day, I came across the family statue of a mom and dad holding hands with a little girl. (Touching, I know...) Of course, the statue was covered in plastic wrap, but this time someone had taped a sign to them, like so:

(The sign reads, of course, "Sealed for Time and All Eternity")

I love those BYU students that find a way to make life on campus a little less monotonous...

Happy Birthday to meeeee...

2008-11-30T23:55:00.002-05:00

Yes, the day after Halloween I had a birthday. It was my 24th, as a matter of fact. My wonderful wife Megan bought tickets to see "Noises Off!" at the Pioneer Theatre Company. It was so much fun! That night we had a little party at Megan's house with her family and my sisters and nieces... I like birthdays.

Happy (late) Halloween!

2008-11-30T23:21:00.007-05:00

Megan and I kept talking about what we wanted to add to our blog, but we never did anything about it. So we finally picked up that round tuit and are posting everything from the past couple months that we've been talking about. First is Halloween...

Megan and I and our fellow Cottage neighbors got together for a fun Pumpkin FHE. We carved Jack-o-lanterns and ate pumpkin pie. Ours didn't quite turn out to be the scariest...

Also, our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat party, so we bought a couple bags of candy, gathered our trunk decor, and parked by the church for fun night! (Thanks to Eric for our scary costumes...)

And, because I'm an Advertising student, I had to include a link to this commercial from Goodwill...

We're entering the arena!

2008-10-24T01:03:00.003-04:00

Hello Everybody!

This is our official entrance into the blogosphere. We don't think of ourselves as having incredibly thrilling lives, but maybe you'll find something interesting here. Anyway, thanks for visiting and come back often!

-Scott and Megan