Gotta have Faith

Yes, that subject line is in reference to the 1980s George Michael song.... if you know that song, kudos to you. If you don't then you are a baby... bye. Jk, read my blog. In all seriousness, having faith is what this blog (and our life the past FOUR months) is about! I'm not going to go into details, because that's not what this is about. This is about God showing up. This is about realizing He gives you struggles. This is about learning lessons. This is about faith. This is also going to be long, with several run on sentences. Stay if you like, if not check back for a post that is mainly pictures another time. Hopefully sooner than later... now on to the story!

Our first year of marriage was rainbows, hearts, butterflies, unicorns and glitter, etc. Our "honeymoon phase" lasted the whole year! We even celebrated in the happiest place on earth! [And if I ever get back to real time blogging, I'll prove that with a whole post dedicated to Disney. Stay tuned, but don't hold your breath!] However, when we made it over the one year mark, I swear that glitter turned into bombs dropping from the sky, the hearts were broken, the butterflies flew away and I didn't know if I'd ever see another unicorn. I am trying to be funny here, because at this point you might as well laugh as to cry. Seriously.

I should have known that 2017 was going to be rough when I had the flu (for the first time ever in my life!) on New Years Day. In February, my dad had some tests done and in late March we found out that he had prostate cancer. Thankfully, he will make a full recovery, treatment went well, surgery went well, and prognosis is great! What an amazing example of how when you call upon the Lord for healing, he answers. It wasn't easy news for any of us to take, and seeing him weak and more tired that usual was difficult during the radiation. Doctors sure know a lot and medicine has come a long way, but Jesus is the ultimate healer, and so far he has done His thing!! Praise, for sure!

On April 3rd, Will lost his job. Again, the details are not what is important, and the internet is surely not the place I want to share the details of this circumstance. He and I both accepted personal responsibility for this unfortunate outcome. However, here is what I learned: if you think something is a conflict of interest, it probably is! Also, greed is a sin hard to recognize. I was greedy, and I didn't even realize it. I thought I was "living right." I certainly wasn't doing anything illegal, or unethical or immoral. Greed is a selfish sin and you may be greedy and not even realize it until means are taken away from you. Then it smacks you in the face.

While all this was occurring, I was trying to sell my townhouse that I had before we got married. There was drama with the renter, there was drama with selling it, there was drama with the inspection. It was just a steady ride on the struggle bus for the month of April. I was also applying and interviewing for jobs, as was Will. AND I was committed to substituting long-term through the end of the school year so June 1, basically. #teacherlife #endofschoolyearcrazy So for May we punched our ticket to ride the struggle bus again. I had 3 interviews, one of which deserves it's own blog post because it was seriously a train wreck. I never got an interview for the position that I really wanted. And I basically became disheartened in finding a job in the school district. Y'all I applied to like five jobs, four of which I never got an interview. Meanwhile, Will is applying to jobs and going on interviews and then never hearing anything back. SUPER frustrating!! Also, another idea for a future blog post: Employer etiquette.

Anyways... June began and I started my summer gig of keeping two elementary aged girls. #nannylife #bestlife My parents went to Colorado, we kept the dog. We took on redecorating our guest bedroom because I had already purchased the paint, etc. to complete the project before the chaos happened. I'd say we were getting off the fast paced struggle bus and boarding a struggle boat. It is summer after all. I was beginning to think I'd gotten a hold of some bad ju-ju, and needed to feng-shui our house to get rid of it. However, I realized that if there weren't apparent struggles in this life we wouldn't need heaven. If God didn't give us obstacles, how could we ever build our faith. Think Ninja Warrior obstacles. If those men and women didn't train to run the course, they wouldn't even be able to get through the first obstacle. They train and build their muscles, tone their body, set their mind and then they run the course, making it look super easy and giving me unrealistic expectations as I sit in my recliner, eating ice cream, while watching, thinking I should do that. Or at least walk around the block. Anyways, my point is, that we can't live a life that is all hearts, unicorns, and glitter all the time. We have to have peaks and valleys so that we can appreciate what God has blessed us with and lean on Him when the road ahead seems to dark to take another step.

Thankfully, July has a new tone. I'm excited to say that Will has a new job and I have a new part-time job with the school district. God answers prayers. He hurts when we hurt, but we have to trust that His timing is perfect. I was in such shock the day Will lost his job, a panic really, a million questions and scenarios running through my mind. I wanted to go back and change things, I wanted it to be me it happened to, I wanted him to find another job the next day. None of that was possible. I had to wait and be patient to what the Lord was going to provide for us. I think as hard as the past few months have been, we are better for it. There were some bad bad days where we didn't even want to speak to each other. There were other days where we had to depend on each other because in the end that's all we had. Our marriage is stronger because of this, and I'm not naive enough to think this will be the only hiccup we ever experience, because it won't be. Heck, we're in our early 30s with no kids... let's be real, this is probably the easiest it's ever going to be!

I can remember hearing other people tell their faith story at church or various other places and I remember thinking, "how did you let your life get to that point?" Well, now I know. Sometimes you don't do anything to purposely get there, you just some how wind up there. All you can do once you're there is put your trust in Him. I was working one day and fixing the girls' lunch and I noticed their spice rack on their counter top. I browsed over it and noticed a jar full of mustard seeds. They aren't all the same size, but they are all pretty tiny. I shook a few out in the palm of my hand and was reminded of Matthew 17:20. With faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible. I knew that God had a plan to take us through this trial, and I needed to have enough faith that He could do it in His perfect timing and way, and He has.

I know this post was long, and wordy and preachy and hopefully a little funny. But I hope it serves as a reminder to you to have Faith, no matter the circumstance, God will see it through. Thank you to our friends, our Sunday school class and our family for praying along with us. Your encouragement was joy to us even on the dark days. We are excited to learn what God has to teach us through these new experiences, but trust that He paved the path to these new positions and we are to take them on with the confidence we have in Him.

Back in Business!

Helloooo blogger friends! I promise I'm still alive, it just took 5 months and 15 minutes to figure out how to manage my blog from my updated gmail account! But now I'm back up and running and I THINK ready to move forward! I'd really like to get this blog as popular as my previous blog was! I had so many followers and then I dropped off the map, so I don't blame them for moving on! However, I hope to gain some new blogging followers & friends.

I guess I'll do a brief life update:
If you follow me on Facebook, none of this is new news. Sorry!
Hi, I'm Morgan. I'm a newlywed and a substitute teacher. Still. :)

We have managed to finish some updates around the house! My dining room is absolutely stunning! I can't wait to share all the details about the process! But here is a preview picture!

We had a busy busy summer! Looking back it was a blur! I kept two precious girls a few days a week, and we enjoyed mornings at the library and afternoons poolside. Of course we made multiple trips to Pelican's for refreshing snow cones!

In July, we spent the week of the 4th at the beach. Well, I did. Will had to return to work after the holiday. My grandmothers joined us, and it was quite a week to remember. We went ahead and celebrated my birthday while we were all together. We ate a yummy meal at Sea Captain's House, our favorite grand strand restaurant! We always take our picture outside by the rocks, it's tradition.

We officially celebrated my 30th Birthday in New York City! It was a spectacular long weekend in the city that never sleeps! We went to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, they did not disappoint with their summer show. We saw the broadway show "Get On Your Feet!" about Gloria Estefan. I might have sang the whole show! It was FANTASTIC! Another highlight of the trip was actually turning 30 at 30 Rockefeller Center. The top of the rock has a breathtaking view. We went during the day and again at night. I definitely feel that I ushered in 30 with fanfare! I'm actually excited to be 30 and I know this decade will be memorable! 

Top of the Rock

Staten Island Ferry ride to see Lady Liberty

Carrie Bradsaw's Stoop

Beautiful NYC

On Your Feet! 

Times Square

Turning 30 @ 30 Rock

We returned from New York, and the next day we picked up our girls that we hosted for Distinguished Young Women! I absolutely LOVE this week of the summer! We enjoyed having two of the girls stay at our house, and being "parents" for the week! We were elated when one of our girls was chosen to be the SC Distinguished Young Women! SO proud! We had and especially great year this year as our DYW of 2016, was chosen as America's DYW! Tara is a fantastic role model and I'm lucky to say she is a friend! 

Host family & real family with SC DYW, Jessica! 

Me & Tara, America's DYW 2016

Once July was over, we got to work on updating the dining room and 1/2 bath. We completed that by the end of August, and I will share more about that process in a later post! September I was back in full swing of substituting. This year I have been in high school again the majority of the time, I LOVE high schoolers! I am currently in another long term position at my favorite school, so I'm very happy with where I am right now. The flexibility and opportunities it's provided are great! 

At the end of September we celebrated my moms birthday by attending the Carrie Underwood concert! She was amazing, as always. I sang every word to every song. I left with no voice. Ooops. 

A few weeks ago, we finally got around to doing some yard work and refreshing our curb appeal! Goodbye to the pine straw! Hello mulch & baby bushes! 

We made our annual trek to the SC State fair and ate our fair share (pun intended) of goodies! Will got his yearly KK Donut burger, and I branched out and got a Steak Sundae! It was beyond amazing!! Fries, topped with nacho cheese, sour cream, bacon bits and steak. I added ketchup! I also got my chocolate covered banana, and Will and I split a elephant ear. It was a Sunday Funday to remember. We waddled home.

This past weekend we celebrated Will's birthday in Myrtle Beach. Since his beach time got cut short this summer, we decided to come back in the fall. It was a beautiful weekend. We spent lots of time eating and relaxing! I'm not much of a seafood eater, but I expanded my palate this weekend and tried lobster, crab cake and shrimp. All of it was delicious! We spent some time in Pawley's Island and in Calabash, NC. A great weekend of celebrating and seeing our coast. We are so fortunate to live 3 hours from the sea and to have a condo to retreat to! 

I think I am successfully caught up with immediate life updates from the past few months! I plan on doing multiple wedding posts, a honeymoon post and of course house update posts. If nobody reads this than that's ok too, I mainly blog to have a record of events for myself and our little family. The T-Birds are happy little Larks and hitting our stride in married life! 

Until next time friends! 

My "Want" To Do List

Happy May!! Where is 2016 going?? I can't believe we are already 5 months in to the year! Woah! Unless you are new around here, you probably know that I haven't been employed full time since last August. It was an unfortunate situation that has actually turned into several blessings, or maybe I'm just choosing to see it that way! #positivity

Will and I were discussing my job search/going back to work, etc. and for now, we are OK for me to stay home, get some odd jobs etc. to make ends meet. It won't be easy and sacrifices will have to be made, but honestly, I have to admit that I'm the happiest I've been since I graduated high school, twelve summers ago! I am so grateful that Will recognizes that and is willing to let me continue to take this break to really figure out what I'm suppose to do with my life. The summer is really going to be the toughest part and then I can go back to substituting in August. That's the plan for right now, unless an opportunity presents itself.

That being said, this will be the first summer I've had to "play" since the summer after my junior year in high school. YIKES! I spent every summer during college either taking classes, working, or participating in an internship. This summer I have SO much I want to do, and obviously very little money to do stuff with. Here is a list of all the things I WANT to do this summer!

My "Want" To Do List: Summer 2016

• Completely unpack all boxes and organize all my stuff in our new house.
• Complete the makeover of our 1/2 bath.
• Paint the guest bedroom.
• Hang curtains.
• Create a gallery wall.
• Work with our contractor to start and complete our new entry way from the garage to be a dropzone.
• Keep my house clean. AKA Vacuum/clean shower/toilets once a week.
• Cook new meals and eat at home at least 5 nights a week.
• Pack Will a lunch everyday so he doesn't spend money.
• Attempt to sell items we don't need or replaced. Including wedding decor.
• Go to the pool several days a week and indulge in a good book. (Suggestions welcome!)
• Start working on redecorating our dining room. 
• Turn 30 doing something fun! 

These are just a few things I'm looking forward to doing, I'm sure the list will grow, which means it won't all get accomplished, but I want to make an attempt! Sometimes things happen for a reason that you aren't sure of in the moment, but realize much later that it was all for a purpose. Right now, I'm not sure what my purpose is, or where I'm suppose to be, or what I'm meant to do as a career. I'm nearly 30 and I haven't figured it out, and I've finally realized that that is OK.

Cheers to my first summer in 13 years!! #it'sabouttime

What's Cookin'

I've been busy in the kitchen over the last couple of weeks! I meal planned, grocery shopped and cooked! (Go ME!) I found several recipes on Pinterest that actually turned out to be delicious, so I thought I'd share since they were successes. 

I made a quiche, but didn't use a Pinterest recipe. I got the recipe from a friend and of course as I was making it didn't think to take a picture. *blogger fail* It was a ham, broccoli, and cheese quiche, I used a Pillsbury pie crust to make life easy! Will actually really liked it and I will be fixing it again various times throughout the summer. It's a great meal that quick, easy and light on your stomach for all those hot summer days! I served it with pear salad (for me) and strawberries+mandarine oranges for him. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 Pillsbury Pie Crust

5 Eggs

1/2 Cup of Milk

Approx. 1 head of broccoli

1/2 Cup of Diced Ham (store bought for convenience) 

Cheese (definitely didn't measure, can you every have too much?)

Directions

Bake the Pie crust according to package directions

Cut broccoli into small florets and steam in microwave for approx. 30sec

Mix the Eggs, Milk, broccoli, ham together in a large bowl

Pour mixture into semi-baked crust

Cover crust edge unless you like it well done

Bake for approx. 30min on 400. 

Not mine, but close enough!

Another yummy dinner we had was this popular Pinterest Crock-Pot Fajita Recipe! I was a bit worried that it wouldn't turn out, but it was SO good! It made a TON of food! We invited my parents and grandmother over to eat with us. I fed 5 people, packed leftovers for lunch the next day and froze enough to have at a later date! Yippee! This is worth adding to your dinner options! Trust me!

I've made a few other pretty decent meals, but they weren't worth sharing! We've also had pizza the past two Monday nights, because well, Monday's are hard! :( We were out of town Saturday attending a wedding in Conway and then we spent the night with Will's parents in Florence. Sunday we spent time with them and his grandmother before returning to Lexington about 9:20 PM. Needless to say no prepping for the week happened, so pizza was it for Monday! I do have another new chicken dish I'm trying tonight! If it's good I'll be sure to share! 

House Update: Possibly by next week I'll be able to share a few pictures of what we've done at the house. I should have a final picture of our Master bedroom and the laundry room! We shall see! Check back for 5 on Friday link up! Happy Hump Day! 

5 on Friday: It's all in the Details

Linking up with April over at A. Liz Adventures and others for 5 on Friday. I haven't done a link up in a while because well... I've been busy/lazy/just didn't care. Today I thought I'd share 5 details of our wedding that you may or may not have known about if you attended or if you are a stranger from the interwebs you might want to incorporate some of these ideas into your big day!

ONE- Here are my "something" details. Old was my handkerchief, I bought it about six years ago at an antique store in Hendersonville, NC. It was my grandmothers birthday weekend and we took a day trip from Greenville to the tiny mountain town. I found a bin full of old, vintage hankies and dug around until I found the one with an 'M' embroidered on it. Ironically, I went back to the same antique store with Will once when we were on our way to Asheville for our anniversary trip. My something new was my dress. Borrowed was my grandmothers diamond bracelet. And Blue was the satin ribbon on my garter. I also attached my sorority pin to my garter, and I wore Lilly Pulitzer Squeeze perfume.

A few of Will's details: his tie was made by the same designer as my bridesmaids dresses. I gave him his cufflinks and the pocket watch as wedding gifts. The front of the watch had his initials engraved on it, and the back had "I Love You 24-7."

TWO- We had my dog come to the church prior to the ceremony and take a few pictures. I wouldn't give a million dollars for this moment! I actually cried when I came down the stairs and saw her. Will doesn't like me to admit I cried over the dog and not him! But I loved her first. She was just precious and it was one of my favorite moments of the day!

THREE- At the reception we used a large bird cage (in keeping with our 2 T-Birds theme) that my parents used at their wedding reception nearly 42 years ago! The bird cage was used as decor in several houses that we've lived in, but for the last 20ish years it's lived under the house in storage. I've known for forever that I wanted to use it at my reception. Little did I know it would actually be the centerpiece of the theme! It was in need of repair and paint. My dad (who is handy!) welded broken pieces back together and then refinished it with white paint. It turned out so beautiful and we can't wait to find a place for it in our new home. Maybe one day we'll have a daughter who will want to use it in her wedding. 

FOUR- I really wanted to create two spaces to honor our relatives. Those that could be with us and those that could not. I gathered both our mothers bridal pictures, a picture of our parents on their wedding day, and our maternal and paternal grandparents on their wedding day. I had them enlarged to 8x10 black and white photos and framed them in a slim black frame. Then I had one of my bridal pictures printed in color and I framed it in a white and gold 8x10 frame. The contrast was more effective than I imagined and I loved honoring our parents and grandparents in this special way. 

I also honored and remembered those who we love so much but we know where there with us in spirit. We had a memorial table with pictures of us with our relatives/friends who have passed. We also used both our maternal great-grandmothers bibles to carry our rings. My dad had a great toast to us during our cake cutting that included drinking Diet Pepsi from our Waterford Crystal Champagne Flutes. My granddaddy (who passed when I was one) worked for Pepsi and shared a can with my dad and his mom every night. Daddy and my grandmother got a swig and granddaddy got the rest of the can. Dad poured Will and I a swig and he got the rest!

FIVE- We had not one, but TWO vintage cars to use for the day! We exited the church in a 1928 Oakland. It's the same car we used in our engagement pictures. I've waited the last 15 years to be able to use that car on my wedding day. The owner goes to our church and I have worked a number of weddings where the bride and groom used his car. I always told him he better still be driving when it was my turn to use the car!

We left the reception in a 50-something T-bird. This car was a surprise to me but I had actually figured it out! :) Will is the worst at keeping things secret! It was a fun and memorable car to leave in!

These are just a few of the detail I worked so hard  on to make our day special and personal to us! Such a fun day that we will always remember! 

Have a great weekend! Check back next week for less wedding and more "Bird Nest" updates! 

The Current 411

I was catching up on my blog reading and Laura Beth over at Georgia Glam posted a creative way to share what's currently happening in her life without writing a boring spiel of internal thoughts and no pictures. SO, Here's What's Currently Happening...

Planning- We're planning so many things right now. Home projects we want to tackle, a possible 30th bday trip to NYC, Memorial Day weekend plans, etc. etc. The Morganizer is ALWAYS planning something! 

Reading - Well, I'm not much of a reader in general. But lately I've been actually clicking on the links I've saved on Pinterest and reading about how to organize/do stuff around the house. As well as reading new recipes. Does that count?

 

Buying - We are still working on buying items from our registry that we didn't receive as gifts. We have also made multiple trips to home improvement stores to buy items that we randomly realize we need for our home. Our biggest purchase lately is a new washer and dryer! They are made by Samsung and the dryer has a steam feature. Let's be real, we all know the dryer is my iron. They are being delivered today, and I couldn't be more excited to do laundry! However, have you priced the detergent pods? I need to take out a small loan to be able to purchase those on a regular basis! But they are so easy to use and GAIN smells so darn good! 

 

Praying - Praying over just a little bit of everything. Praying a permanent job comes up soon. Really wanting it to be something I love with a semi-flexible schedule. Praying everything at my old house holds out for my renter and I have no unexpected expenses with that. Praying for friends who are suffering, hurting, or are sick. There are so many with much bigger problems than I face on a daily basis, that need an abundance of prayer. 

Listening - Really loving a few new songs that have come out recently. I'm not normally a Rascal Flatts fan, but I love their new single, "I Like The Sound of That." Also, Carrie Underwood's Storyteller album came out in the fall, but I was really just SO busy that I didn't get to listen to it. So I've been jamming to that so I can learn all the words before we go see her in September when she comes to Columbia!! SO excited! We are double dating with my parents to the concert to celebrate my moms birthday! This is going to be their first time experiencing her live, Will's second and my third! I can't wait! I'm already outfit planning! 

 

Watching - HGTV every. night. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my husband actually turns it on to HGTV. We are fans of Flip or Flop, Property Brothers and of course Fixer Upper. When I get a hot minute to indulge in TV for myself I catch up on Teen Mom 2. Last weekend we got hooked onto OJ vs. The People series that was on FX. We finished the majority of it in about 48hrs. We have the last 2 episodes left. If you haven't watched it, it's definitely worth your time. The acting is great and it's interesting to see it all played out considering I was 9 when it actually happened. 

 

Devouring - A few new recipes  this week. Tuesday night I made a ham, broccoli and cheese quiche and served it with fruit (strawberries and mandarin oranges for Will, pear salad for me!) Wednesday night I made salisbury steak with fresh corn and green beans. Tonight we are having crock pot fajitas I found on Pinterest. Keeping my fingers crossed that they turn out delicious! 

 

Loving -  Succulents! OMG! I'm obsessed! We used real ones as table decor for the rehearsal dinner. So afterwards I had nearly 60 to find something to do with! Several of our guests took a few, but I still had about 15 or so to plant! I founds so cute little containers and a link with instructions on Pinterest. Saturday night I planted them and they are such happy little plants around my house. Precious! Also, new obsession: Pineapples. Everywhere. On Everything. 

 

Hating - That I still haven't unpacked near as much stuff as I'd planned on. It's so daunting to look in our garage at all the boxes. I really want to get it done soon so we can go back to parking in the garage. Our neighborhood is having a garage sale April 30, but we have a wedding that day, and we have an out of town wedding this weekend, so I don't think we are going to be able to get our shit junk (literally) together to participate. 

 

Wanting, Hoping, Wishing - Wanting: to redo our master shower. I hate it. We are eventually going to tear out the shower stall, tile 2 walls and install a glass door and wall. Hoping: We can start our other home improvement projects- finishing a hallway in our garage to the house and making a dropzone and completing the dining room and powder room makeovers. Wishing: we had unlimited funds and a $$ tree in the backyard.

 

Feeling - Grateful. Since I still don't have a full time job, and the school year is coming to a close, I'm really grateful that my long term sub job was extended through the end of the year. When you put your trust in Him, He provides. 

 

Anticipating - Directing one of my honorary bridesmaids wedding next weekend! They got engaged about a month after us and are now getting married about a month after us! They also rescued us on our wedding night from getting soaking wet and making it home! Which is a really long story for another day. Anyways, I'm excited to attend a wedding with my forever wedding date. Lucky for us we have two in a row! :)

Well glad that you are caught up on our little TBird life! 

Stay Lovely!

Life Update!

Now that the wedding is over and I've started to accept reality, although not really, I guess I should take a minute to update on our life in general.

It's been since January since I've had any updates, because once the new year hit wedding and house stuff took over. My last update, before yesterday's wedding post, was on the kitchen makeover and I can't wait to reveal our completed master bedroom! It is nearly complete, just lacking a few finishing decorative touches. Like hanging my big monogram that we got at my monogram shower, and hanging a few bird cages that we used at the reception.

We still have quite a few "to-do" items on our list for the house including painting the master bath, fixing/painting/updating the 1/2 bath, painting/wallpapering/adding wainscoting to the dining room so we can add furniture, and finally painting the guest bedroom upstairs. Not to mention all the unpacking of boxes that needs to be done. Our garage is basically my old house in numerous boxes piled on each other. Will wonders when he'll get to park in the garage again.... summer may be too soon of an estimate. Oooops.....

On the job front... nothing. I've searched for jobs every week from August until present and I've only been on two interviews. The last one I went on I really wanted, but unfortunately politics are how the world turns and I didn't get it. I've applied for various other things and I'm still searching. Hopefully something will come open in the next few months, otherwise I guess I'll substitute teach again next school year. I love that, but I'd really like something more consistent and permanent. Luckily since the end of February I've been in a long-term sub job and I love it! It's with high schoolers and they have been so sweet. It's likely I'll be there through the end of the school year, or close to, but I'm going to miss them when I leave. It was fantastic that it worked out for me to have the same job everyday leading up to the wedding. Everything else in life was crazy nuts, but at least I knew what to expect during the workday!

On a different note: anybody else who has planned a wedding find it hard to move on? I'm not sad about it exactly, but I feel like I should be doing something towards it because it was that way for so long. I've tried looking at Pinterest for house ideas, but my feed is bombarded with wedding stuff. Is there a way to turn that off?? I'm also trying to pick back up this blogging thing... I'd like to be able to make some $$ doing that, but that's definitely day dreaming!

Sorry there are no pictures with this update, sometimes life is just like that. All serious and no fun. I have so much to do with unpacking and setting up our home, yet I'm so unmotivated! Tomorrow, I'm joining up with April from A. Liz Adventures for 5 on Friday link up. It's full of pictures from the wedding so be sure to check it out! Have a great day! :)