March 2013-- 101 in 1001 Update

March 2013--101 in 1001 Update

Our Goals

1. Add a member to our family. 

2. Pay off all student loans. (our own deadline: 6/30/13) (We are now under the $6,000 mark!!!)

3. Visit NYC.

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. (1/3) This year's trip is coming in May. 

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 or Visit the Biltmore.  

14. Serve in a soup kitchen. 

15. Grow our own tomatoes. (Matt is working on the garden with Granddad and Grandmom now so we just might be able to cross this one off soon!)

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. (12/12)

27. Start a small business. 

29. Buy a new Christmas ornament each year. (2/3) 

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 together once a year. (2/3)       (So far this year...Charleston)

35. Ride in a hot air balloon.  

36. Attend at least one festival a year in the state where we live. (1/3)

37. Stay at a B&B. 

38. Floss more- at least once a week. 

39. Give a 100% tip. 

40. Go see a musical. 

41. Eat a new type of food. (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. Get a library card. 

48. Go to a garage sale together. 

49. Celebrate our Golden Birthdays in style! (1/2)

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. 

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. 

58. Make homemade marshmallows.  

59. Sell/Give away at least one cake or cupcakes 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. (2/3)

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. (1/3)

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.

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. 

79. Take Leslie to an air show. 

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.   (DONE--on 3/26/13; Unfortunately, because of where we live, we were not able to get a REAL dog. Instead, I purchased an amazing stuffed dog from Build-A-Bear for Matt; Sure, it's cheesy but it helped us cross off a goal when it seemed impossible! :))

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 for a year.  

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 Raleigh (hopefully with Leslie).  (Coming up April 20th)

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. 

Ours: 26/51

Leslie: 13/25

Matt: 16/25

Total: 55/101

TOP {Things I'm loving right now} GIVEAWAY

Here's to my first giveaway! I have wanted to do one for a while but couldn't make up my mind just what I wanted to give away. I decided to do a "Things I'm Loving Right Now" Giveaway. Obviously, like most of you, the things I love change often. But these things are pretty consistent.

 Enter using the Rafflecopter Widget below. 

Giveaway lasts for 5 days and I'll announce the winner ASAP!

Winner gets: 

(1) $5 Dairy Queen Gift card--Just enough to get a Blizzard...One of my favorites!

(1) Bottle of Rimmel Eye Make up Remover--This stuff is amazing. You'll love it!

(1) $10 Ulta Gift Card--For whatever your heart desires

(1) $5 Krispy Kreme Gift card--FOR HOT DONUTS, obviously :)

(1) Fabric Scrap Wreath of your choice from my shop--You can choose from one that's in my shop or let me know your favorite colors and I'll make one custom for you! 

Morgan Family Creations Etsy Shop

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TOP {Recipes}

Some of these are recipes I've tried and some are recipes I want to try. Either way, they are on my TOP list! 

Spicy Turkey Sausage and White Bean Soup

Recipe and picture: here

Steak with Cream Shrimp Sauce

Recipe and picture: here 

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

Recipe and picture: here 

Homemade Artisan Bread

Recipe and picture: here 

Red Velvet Poke Cake:

Recipe and picture: here

**Let me know what your favorite recipe is or let me know if you try one of these**

TOP {Things we have done to save money}

I've written a post similar to this before (I think) but as Matt and I have been talking about things related to finances lately, it had me thinking about this again. What do Matt and I do to save money, spend less, spend wisely? 

1. Use coupons

2. Buy groceries that are on sale; except for necessities

3. Purchase clothing and shoes on clearance/sale; never a full price

4. Save money to buy what we want; never use credit cards

5. Think about purchases before making them

6. Share dinners when we eat out

7. Bulk up meals with other proteins besides meat to decrease costs of each meal

8. Buy certain things in bulk

9. Have a small stockpile for items that are on "Super" sale

10. Tithe...I know this is controversial to so many people but in our strong opinion, we believe that the reason the Lord has blessed us as much as he has is because we ALWAYS give him the 1st 10% of our income. It doesn't matter if we don't think we will have enough to do something else we want to do, we always give to God first. Sometimes, often times, he blesses us back financially. Other times, he blesses us in many ways that we would have never imagined. 

**If you want to ask me any questions about tithing, please feel free. It's something I'm passionate about and I know it's a hard concept for some people as it used to be for me. 

TOP {Things we Love About Spartanburg}

Matt and I have lived in Spartanburg for 16 months now and honestly, we feel like we love it more each day. It's a smaller city but it has just enough for us to enjoy to make us love it here! 

1. Farmer's Market--held May through November

2. Library--it's a great library with lots of books, dvds, etc available

3. These people-- Matt's Grandparents

4. Close proximity to so many other places--

Asheville

Columbia

Charleston

Atlanta

Charlotte

Myrtle Beach

Gatlinburg

Raleigh

5. It's where our hearts are! 

TOP {Plans for the Spring and Summer}

We have enjoyed Winter but we are ready for Spring and Summer because lots of fun things are planned!

1. See the Flyers play in Raleigh--For Matt's birthday, we are going to see the Flyers play in Raleigh. I will be my first hockey game (which I couldn't care less about). BUT Matt is thrilled and I am excited to be able to cross this goal off of his list! 

2. Meet Emelia--Our newest niece is Emelia. We are making a trip to visit the family and meet her during the first weekend in May. We can't wait! 

3. Take a trip to Louisiana/Be in Brittany's Wedding--My BFF, Britt, gets married on May 31st in Louisiana and I'm in the wedding. We are excited to be a part and even more excited that we will get some extended time in Louisiana with family while we are there. 

4. Take a trip to PA for a Family Reunion--Matt's Dad's side of the family is having a reunion in July and we will be heading up there for several days for that. I have not met everyone yet so I'm excited about it. 

5. Have an Herb Garden--We have gathered all of our materials and are preparing our "Herb garden". We love having fresh herbs and hope that the squirrels don't eat all of them!!! 

6. Pay off the Student loans--Our set goal for paying off the loans is June 30th, 2013 and we are on track to do that. Hope we make it! 

**What are your plans for the Spring and Summer?**

TOP {Weeknight Activities}

Get your mind out of the gutter ;-)

1. Cooking dinner together-- One of our favorite things to do on weeknights, when we are both home and don't have other work to do, is to cook together. We make a good team in general but when it comes to cooking, we rock! We usually divide up the tasks and it works well. Plus, we are in the kitchen together and that makes lots of 1 on 1 time and chatting! 

2. Watching SVU re-runs on Netflix--It's no secret that we love Law and Order: SVU and it just so happens that Netflix has all 13 previous seasons and we have been going back through and watching them. We've seen all of them but it helps us wind down from the day. Besides, Matt rarely remembers the whole episodes (;-))

3. Watching new episodes of SVU, Person of Interest, or Criminal Minds--As if watching old episodes wasn't enough, each Thursday we log onto our computers and watch the most recent episode of SVU and Criminal Minds. We also love Person of Interest but you can watch it online so we are settling for watching the 1st season of DVD for now! 

4. Playing games--We love board games and other related games. Our favorite to play, just the two of us, is Yahtzee but we also enjoy the occasional card game or Trouble game. If we are with Grandmom and Granddad, we will play other games that are more fun with 4 people versus 2. 

5. Reading--We both love to read but since we have gotten married and schedules have gotten busier, we have gotten away from it. Back in the Fall, we began reading Newberry Award Winning books (young adult books) and we have just gotten back to that. It is fun but it is mostly just a way for us to get back into reading because the books are easy reads. We are trying to dedicate one night a week to reading and shutting off ALL technology. Really hope we stick with it! 

6. NOTHING--Often on weeknights if we have both had busy days, we just sit around, putz and DO NOTHING! I love doing Nothing with Matthew Morgan! 

**What are your favorite weeknight activities?**