It's been forever...

This week, I've been thinking about how long it's been since I really truly blogged about anything and I couldn't believe it! I don't really have an excuse nor do I think I need one but it honestly surprised me. Recently, I have had several ideas for things I wanted to blog about. Random things that just came to mind. I'll try to recall some of them in this post and shorten my thoughts on them. Reason: I've been working 4- 10 hour days and last weekend was busy/fun with Matt's family in town but that also meant that Matt and I haven't had much "us" time lately. Right now, he is asleep and when he wakes up we are spending the WHOLE day together so I am planning to finish this blog before then :)

WOW I'M RAMBLING!!!!

My thoughts:)

1. I really love my husband and I'm amazed by him everyday. In January, we discussed, prayed, decided that now was a great time for him to start a photography business. He has AWESOME talent but it has always just been a hobby. Not anymore. It has been a long road so far. It requires a lot of extra energy on his part because he is working on it all when he isn't working his part-time (nearly full-time) job. We had a big discussion several weeks ago and we both had to come to some realizations. For Matt: this is his  our plan to support our family, therefore, it is a priority despite how much energy it takes. This is hard. This is worth it. For me: I have to provide constant encouragement to my husband and let him know that I believe in him to make this dream of his come true. That being said...Matt has now completed 3 photography sessions in preparation for adding to his portfolio. He has ordered business cards, adjusted the blog to work for his current needs, and created a Facebook fan page. He is well on his way, one step at a time :)

2. I don't like driving to work early in the morning when it's still super dark outside. My current drive (for the next few months while helping out another facility) is 1 hour and 20 minutes. My journey starts at  6:00 a.m. which means it's dark for my entire drive. Talk about feeling like you want to go back to sleep even if you sleep great the night before: ;-)

3. My husband's birthday is next weekend. Matt turns 26 on the 26th and I'm excited to celebrate his Golden Birthday with him. Saturday morning we will head to Columbia, SC and we have several fun things planned for the weekend. I have also ordered some cool gifts for Matt. Most of which he will be surprise to see!

4. I worked 45 hours last week. I WAS EXHAUSTED but when I got paid yesterday, I decided it may have been worth it...haha

5. We go home to Louisiana on April 19th. Just one more month. Matt and I have been making our plans. They currently involve giving and receiving lots of hugs to and from friends we haven't seen in forever. Eating. Taking pictures of Jill's house and her family. Eating. Possibly fishing. Eating. Going through old/antique items at my Grandmother's house with my mom and Matt. and lastly, eating :)

6. Last weekend, Matt's family was here for about 48 hours. His entire immediate family. It went well and we had a blast. We were able to celebrate Matt's birthday early with them. Matt photographed them and we had lots of laughs. Saturday, we went to a park and Matt laid on the ground near the pond to feed the ducks. His 3 year old nephew looked at him and said "You're nuts" CRACKED US UP! Kids really do know what to say and when to say it to make you laugh!

7. Matt and I have been attacking our student loans as we intended. We are also preparing to pay off the Buick we bought in December. We have been able to double our monthly payments each month. Our loan is for 2 years but our goal was 1 year. With our tax refund, it looks like we will pay it off in 5 months!!! We are so grateful and we are certain it is a God thing because Matt's Taurus is having some transmission problems and we are certain we will need another car to replace it very soon. God's plan is perfect if we follow it!

8. On Monday, we went to Knoxville, TN to photograph our dear friend's, Jeff and Mandy, sweet newborn. As Matt says--It was a challenge but it was fun. He enjoyed it but also learned he has so much to learn to become comfortable with sweet babies and photographing them. I was able to encourage him and remind him "This is your first shoot" :)....We will go back in May for him to photograph her 3 month photographs. If all goes as planned, he would like to photograph her 6, 9 and 1 year photographs.

9. I should also add that while photographing her, we left her diaper on for most of the day but when we took it off for the last 10 minutes, she promptly pooped and sprayed tee-tee everywhere! OOPS!!!!
Matt's face was priceless!

10. I made a cake for Matt last weekend with Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing. Here is the link for the recipe. You need to make it now. Even if you don't have a cake to make. Dip pretzels in it or just use your finger. SOOOOOO GOOD!!!

Anyway, that's all for now. Matt will wake up soon. We are going to get a rental car, shop a bit and have breakfast/lunch at Papa's Breakfast Nook. YUM!

Have a great Saturday!

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

February 101 in 1001 Update!

Another Month has passed and here are the updates for our goals so far! 

Our Goals

1. Add a member to our family :)

2. Pay off all student loans.

3. Visit NYC...We are discussing a trip in August. We are preparing to book flights etc. EEK!

4. Take a long road trip.

5. Sell something on Etsy  

6. Have Dad's Crawfish in Louisiana. 

7. Take a trip to Louisiana at least once a year. 

8. Host a holiday in our home.

9. Go camping.

10. Build a real fire.

11. Rent or buy a house.

12. Decorate the outside of a house for Christmas.

13. Stay at the Biltmore.

14. Serve in a soup kitchen.

15. Grow our own tomatoes.

16. ******* ;)

17. Give an item away each time we buy something new (clothing, housewares, etc). 

18. Go on dates at least every other week. 

19. Complete a blog series together.

20. For one month, don't buy anything extra.

21. Contact our family members at least once a week.

22. Go to a shooting range.

23. Go sailing.

24. Get involved in a community service group.

25. Go on a mission trip.

26. Read at least one book a month for a year. 

27. Start a small business.

28. Fast once a year.

29. Buy a new Christmas ornament each year.

30. Get a massage.

31. Send a card to a friend or family member just for fun.

32. Begin a photography business (big or small). 

33. Eat at a local/non-chain restaurant every time we travel.

34. Visit a new place once a year.

35. Ride in a hot air balloon.

36. Attend at least one festival a year in the state where we live.

37. Stay at a B&B.

38. Floss more- at least once a week. (WE HATE FLOSSING) 

39. Give a 100% tip.

40. Go see a musical.

41. Eat a new type of foods (Korean, African, etc)

42. Repurpose a piece of furniture.

43. Watch a sunrise and photograph it.

44. Explore secret paths.

45. Do something nice for someone anonymously. 

46. Pick fruit at an orchard.

47. Ge a library card.

48. Go to a garage sale together.

49. Celebrate our Golden Birthdays in style!

50. Make homemade ice cream.

51. Learn a new hobby together.

Leslie's Goals

52. Lose my desired amount of weight.

53. Continue to utilize this blog to document our lives especially once we start having children.

54. Get a Skype account and use it. DONE! 

55. Paint something worth looking at (not just a wall) :)

56. Add at least one cross to my cross collection.

57. Learn to make the best sweet tea my husband has ever tasted. (I'm very close to this!!!)

58. Make homemade marshmallows.

59. Sell/Give away at least one cake that I've decorated for a party/gathering/birthday/etc.

60. Plan a scavenger hunt for Matt.

61. Bake and decorate each of Matt's birthday cakes.

62. Rake someone's leaves.

63. Meet up with at least one other blogger whose blog I read.

64. Complete a blog series or post about our wedding, including the planning. Just for my own sake :)

65. Continue mailing out birthday and anniversary cards to our friends and family.

66. Invite someone to stay with us for a weekend or longer at least once a year.

67. Complete a vlog.

68. Go fishing.

69. Make a point to call my closest friends as often as possible, not just texting.

70. Take a continuing education class related to Autism or other childhood disorders-even though I don't currently work with children.

71. Find a yummy Low Country Boil recipe and cook it.

72. Take at least one picture of Matt and I every time we travel.

73. When we take a long trip (5+ hours one way), drive so that Matt doesn't have to.

74. Take a trip to visit a few special friends (we know who they are).

75. Take a cake decorating class.

76. Read a book, write a blog post about it, and link up with a book club blog.

Matt's Goals

77. Run a 5k.

78. Take a photography class. (Matt is doing this tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and cross it off) 

79. Take Leslie to an air show. (We are planning to go to one in Sumter, SC in May)

80. Make a picture frame out of an old or hand made window frame.

81. Go to a college football game.

82. Get a dog.

83. Get a new camera lens.

84. Make my wife cry in a good/romantic/sweet/you get the idea way.

85. Give Leslie a love letter at least once a month.

86. Visit Chimney Rock N.C.

87. Wear a suit, and look good doing it. ;)

88. Visit a new, to me, zoo.

89. Watch the Flyers destroy the Hurricanes in Charlotte (hopefully with Leslie).

90. Fix something for someone.

91. Cook something new and exciting.

92. Swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

93. Make something from scratch.

94. Do something with Granddad.

95. Journal more often.

96. Learn all the words to or learn how to play one of Leslie's "high school days" favorite rap songs.

97. Teach something to someone.

98. Ride a horse.

99. Surprise Leslie with surprises.

100. Spend an entire day, literally the entire day, in bed. Hopefully not while sick.

101. Figure out how we will finish all 101 things on this list.

We are having fun with this and actually crossing off goals. Several of the goals are in the process of being met but just not quite there yet! 

Til then-

Did YOU Hear about the Morgans? 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I wish I had a picture of these but I honestly didn't think they would be as good as they were so I didn't take one!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Bell Peppers
Onion
Garlic
Smoked Sausage
Rice cooked in Chicken broth
Butter
Bread crumbs (we made our own from bread we baked and then ground ourselves)

Saute the onion, tops of bell peppers, garlic and smoked sausage in butter until soft. Add in the desired amount of rice. Mix well. Put into bell peppers and top with bread crumbs. Put a small amount of Olive oil over the top and rub some onto the sides of the peppers. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

ENJOY!

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

Life Lately...

I haven't been blogging because I haven't really had much to blog about, honestly. Life is just the day to day which has been enjoyable for us. We are preparing for Matt's family to visit in two weeks and then to take pictures of the Moody's new baby, Lela.

Lela arrived on February 23rd and she is a CUTIE! Our friends Dustin and Katie are also getting ready to have a baby next week. So is another high school friend, Katie. There are BABIES everywhere.

Last night, Matt and I went to dinner (the food wasn't good but that's beside the point) and we discussed various things related to the new photography venture. He has prepared a price list and he is hoping to get to shoot some senior portraits. We realize this could take time so we are just preparing as we can and believing God to send the business when he sees fit. :)

We are excited about all of the fun things coming up for us over the next 2 months. I'll be sure to update :)

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

My Man

My precious husband is awesome. Seriously. AWESOME!

Right now, he is in the process of starting his own photography business while working nearly 40 hours a week. He is working hard to make his dream/vision come to pass so that he can support our family. He is an awesome photographer and I can't wait for more people to know!

Here is his website (temporarily):
www.thematthewmorganfamily.blogspot.com
Here is the link to his Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Morgan-Photography/291610367560931

He is taking some photographs of his family when they visit us during the second weekend in March and then he is doing a newborn photo shoot for one of our dearest friends on March 12th. Can't wait to see how they turn out. We have been planning together, buying new photography gear as able, and photography props etc. I'll make sure to link to his page when he posts the edited photographs next month!


Also, next month on March 26th is my man's 26th birthday---His Golden Birthday!!! I'm super excited because it's a special birthday and you already know I love birthdays!!!

We went back and forth about where we would spend his birthday. We considered Pigeon Forge, then camping locally and then decided to go spend a weekend in Columbia, SC. We will have a quick overnight trip but we have some plans for a couple of good restaurants and just some other fun things when we get there. It will be nice to spend that weekend together exploring a new place!

I can't wait to tell you about all of our adventures :)

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

Morgan Family Motto

This week Matt and I were discussing various things and our "life motto" came up. At this season in our lives and possibly forever we decided it was this:

"Do what you say you will do"

No exception to this. We are noticing this is so limited in our society. People just don't have accountability anymore and don't feel the need to do what they say they will do. We are hoping to hold to this truth for our entire lives.

Til then-

Did YOU Hear about the Morgans? 

What's been happening!

Just realized it has been a while since I blogged about anything. Life has been busy but not a stressful kind of busy, a good kind of busy...

Busy working,
busy enjoying time together,
busy watching our free month of Netflix,
busy crafting,
busy starting a photography business,
busy day dreaming about our Brazilian Steak House date tomorrow night,
busy planning for family to visit next month,
busy budgeting,
busy paying off student loans,
busy lounging,
busy snuggling,
busy cooking and eating,
busy finding a new church,
busy spending time with Matt's grandparents,
busy dreaming about the future,
busy crossing things off of our 101 list,
busy talking to old friends and catching up with those we care about,
busy loving our lives...

So see, we are busy but we aren't upset about this busyness. In fact, we are grateful for this season!

Ecclesiastes 4:6- “Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”


Til then-
Did YOU Hear About the Morgans? 

Things a Photographer shouldn't say...

Last weekend, Matt and I attended a Newcomer's class at the church we have been attending here (Restoration Church). One of the pastors asked Matt to take pictures after the class of each of the people that attended so that the staff would have a face to go with each name. Matt was excited to do it and he really enjoyed it. When he was finishing up, we started talking about and laughing hysterically about the topic "Things A photographer should not say". Here are a few of the ones we came up with. Hope it makes you laugh too!

1. That was good but could you smile next time?

2. Uhhh...could you show me your good side?

3. That was...um...nice. Go ahead and take off the mask for the next shot.

4.  Do you always make that face?

5. Oh no, we will need to reschedule. You just broke my camera.

6. Don't worry, I can use photoshop to make you look better.

7. Your children must get their good looks from your spouse.

8. Your little boy is so precious....oh, it's a girl? My bad.

Hope these made you laugh or at least smile :)

Til then-
Did YOU Hear About the Morgans?

SUYL "Singles"

One of my favorite blogs to follow is "Kelly's Korner". Each week, she does a Show Us Your Life link up where she allows you to link up to her blog along with others to display or show various things. In the past has been Military moms, People without children, What you are Making/Selling etc. Every few months, she does a link up for "Show Us Your Life Singles" It's so inspiring and a blessing to so many people. Many people have met, been on dates, been engaged and some are even married now. It's just a great thing.

Well, I decided that I wanted to participate this time! I'm not single but I have plenty of wonderful friends and some of them are single. Today, I wanted to share about my friend, Brian.

Brian, a 30-something, male is a resident of Birmingham, Alabama. He is one of 3 brothers and an incredible guy who LOVES his family. I met Brian 3+ years ago at a Young Professionals Small Group with Church of the Highlands. We immediately became friends and despite 2 moves and a marriage for me and many life changes for him, we have remained close friends.

Brian works for a company called PrintsWell, Inc in Birmingham and is a jack of all trades there. Brian loves to decorate, remodel/renovate houses (others and his own). He sings incredibly (sang at my wedding) and sings each Sunday at Church of the Highlands. He is funny and knows how to have a good time.

Over the years, Brian and I have spent time praying for the Lord to send him an incredible wife to compliment him. I am anxious to see the Lord fulfill that. Because I know that Brian will make an awesome husband for some lady out there. Maybe it is one of you reading today. Feel free to contact me via this post or e-mail Brian directly @ Bponds@yahoo.com Can't wait to see what happens!

Look at those pearly whites!

 Loving on his niece

 Brian with his grandmother

Goofing off (that's me)

Always the life of the party!

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

Our Etsy Shop

Today, Kelly is linking up people who own Etsy shops or sell items that they have made. Matt and I recently started an Etsy shop.

Here's the Link: Our Shop

We don't have much on it now because we just started last week but we are growing. We are working on several projects most of which are home decor related. We are excited and glad God has given us the opportunity. We hope it grows. Our main passion right now is to share fun things with others and in the process pay off our student loans. We are diligent and can't wait for the day when the balance is ZERO!

Thanks for checking us out!

Til then-
Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?