June 2013 -- 101 in 1001 Update

June 2013--101 in 1001 Update

Our Goals

1. Add a member to our family.  (in progress!!!!) 

2. Pay off all student loans. (We have just  $3,100 left!!!!)

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. (2/3) 

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. GO US!!! :) 

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, Raleigh)

35. Ride in a hot air balloon.  

36. Attend at least one festival a year in the state where we live. (2/3)

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.  (given number 1, this won't be happening for a while) 

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.  
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).  

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: 27/51

Leslie: 14/25

Matt: 17/25

Total: 58/101

5 on Friday

Welcome to the Blog! Just thought it would be fun to link up with these girls today!

1. I am reading a new book right now. It's called Bread & Wine and it's written by Shauna Niequist. I am LOVING it and cannot wait to write a review and share it with you! 

2. This week I hit the half way mark in my 

pregnancy! I cannot believe that it's already the 20th week. Next week is our BIG ultrasound. I can't wait to stare at our baby for an hour!

3. Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is? He has given me more foot rubs and back massages in the last 4 months than our whole marriage combined. He rocks!

4. I have been craving grapes like crazy the past few weeks. Unfortunately, they are SO expensive in stores. Today, Whole Foods is having a sale and they are 99 cents a pound. Matt is going to Greenville to our nearest Whole Foods to load up the truck!

5. I am so excited to get working on some new wreaths. Unfortunately, other things took precedence in the budget this week so it will be a little longer before I can start. Needs come before wants! 

Joining A new Church

Since Matt and I have been together, we have belonged to 4 churches.

We met in a Baptist church in Montgomery where he played in the Praise Band and I started going on a friend's encouragement. We look back now and see God's hand in that time for sure because hey, that's where we met. It was a sweet time and we love the people of that church. Right before we got married and just after we got married, we felt the Lord leading us to something different. As far as we both felt, it wasn't anything in particular, just time for a new season.

During the second month of our marriage, we began attending Church of the Highlands in Montgomery. A church I had previously attended in Birmingham. We both loved it. We joined and got involved. I served in the Kid's area and Matt joined the Praise Team. It was a good fit for us. We were there for just 10 months before the Lord called us to move to Spartanburg.

When we moved, we attended several churches to kind of scope things out, so to speak. We ended up at Restoration Church where Matt's grandparents attend/serve. We really liked that church and we were there for a year. We met some great people and learned some awesome things but somewhere in our spirits, we just felt like the Lord had something else for us. It was hard to listen to his voice because we felt like we had already experienced so many churches in such a short time. We were also concerned that Matt's grandparents may be upset that we were leaving. Although, looking back that was silly. Obviously, they were sad but they want God's best for us.

In January of 2013, we began attending NewSpring Church in Spartanburg. I had previously attended NewSpring in the Winter of 2010 during the first week Matt and I were courting. My friend Rachel and I drove up to Anderson, SC from Birmingham, AL to attend. Matt and I both knew we would like the church but had agreed to try other churches too. We attended NewSpring for several weeks and one Sunday, Matt said "Let's Join. We know it's where we are supposed to be". We have since attended for 6 months, joined a small group and joined the church. We are still waiting to hear from someone at the church about getting plugged in to serve but we feel confident that this is where God has us.

It's such a sweet time. We look forward to what's next!

20 Week Pregnancy Update {Half-Way}

As of today, I'm half way to my due date. SOOOO hard to believe!

Matt and I have taken a few pictures but I still feel like I've just gained weight! When there is a definite bump, I'll post pictures!! :) I talked to someone this week who said I didn't even look pregnant and my funny response has been "I just have more room already for the baby to grow before it shows". :)

A few things have happened since my last update. 

1. My belly button which is very much a deep innie is starting to show signs of being less of an innie. Nowhere near poking out just less in.

2. I can feel the baby moving up in my stomach and my uterus expanding which is pretty cool. If Matt presses firmly on my stomach he can feel it too.

3. I am feeling some slight flutters in my belly which indicates movement but they are SOOO quick and unexpected that I am still not convinced that it what it is. The doctor says I can feel them anywhere between 17 weeks and 23 weeks so maybe it will be more defined soon.

4. We have our Anatomy Scan/Ultrasound on July 3rd and I can't wait to see the little munchkin! We have a fully formed itty bitty baby in there so I'm hoping we get some good pictures.

5. Strangest thing to happen so far is that EVERY morning without fail I have to wake up before the alarm to use the bathroom. It's not urgent but I wake up and then realize I've gotta get up to tee tee. Funniest thing to me. I'm sure it will get more urgent as weeks roll by.

6. Since my last update, we finished our baby registry. We registered at Babies R' Us and it was fun. I cannot wait to receive little necessities for our baby!

7. I have been wanting to eat lots of grapes too. Unfortunately, they are not cheap to purchase so I've just been forgoing that craving until this weekend. We found them on a good sale at the grocery. I was thrilled and Matt was mad because I'm not sharing! ;-)

8. I signed up to go to 2 consignment sales in August. I'm excited to attend because they usually have great deals and I'm hoping to get some items for the baby.

9. We are in full swing in preparing for cloth diapering. We will use newborn disposables until baby is outgrowing those and then we will go to full cloth diapers. I am excited. I've been building my stockpile, doing research and having fun with it. So glad that it's all the rage now because that means LOTS of options.

10. My friend Mandy, who has three children, is going through old baby items and is handing down lots of good things to me! I am thrilled about that because anything that doesn't have to be put on the registry is awesome to be. And who doesn't love free stuff!?!?!

**I guess that's it for this update. I had one more thing to share but due to pregnancy brain, I can no longer remember it!**

11. Just remembered it! We signed up for Prepared Childbirth Classes and Breastfeeding classes. They start in August! YAY!!

The Christian Mama's Guide to Baby's First Year by Erin Macpherson {A Book Review}

I recently received the book The Christian Mama's Guide to Baby's First Year (Everything you need to know to survive (and Love) your first year as a Mom) by Erin Macpherson to review from BookSneeze.com. This book was given to me to review as a complimentary copy by BookSneeze. All opinions are my own.

A bit about the author first. Erin is a mom of three who formerly worked for Nickelodeon and now write a personal blog, authors several books and articles. And last but not least, she is a Christian mama which is so encouraging. 

When I first saw the book list from BookSneeze, I had a hard time choosing and then I scrolled down and saw this book and knew I had to get it. 

Erin is very honest and humorous in her writing and she gives a great deal of GOOD information for new moms and moms in general. There are chapters in the book about babies and sleep, nursing and formula feeding, diapers, baby necessities and even a bit of info for dad. The information was relevant and real. She gave great viewpoints on all of the aspects of motherhood that she presented. The chapters were just long enough to present information without it becoming redundant. 

 Although, I don't agree with everything Erin wrote (and honestly, that's how it will be with books like this because she presents varying information and you can't do it all), I loved the way she presented and she made the reader feel like the most important thing you can do as a mother is to love your baby. The other decisions are important too but love is chief. 

I would recommend this book to any new mom and am even considering giving as gifts to expecting moms!

My Etsy Shop...I need your help :)

Hi There!

I'm stopping in to ask for a little help from you guys!

Most of you know that I have a (small) Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/MorganFamilyCreates) where I sell the wreaths I make. Here's an example:

Currently for sale, I have some yarn wreaths, fabric scrap wreaths and balloon wreaths. As we near getting ready for baby and we make plans for me to stay home (which we really feel like is what we are supposed to do), I am looking to expand my business which would bring in that extra bit of income for unexpected things and it would give me some work to do from home while I am with the baby.

Here's where you come in. I need you to answer these few questions for me to help me grow my business.

1. What is your favorite wreath that I have in my shop? 

2. If you don't have a like for the wreaths currently in the shop, what are some wreaths that you've seen that you like and would possibly purchase if they were available in my shop? Or what are some adjustments you'd recommend to my current wreaths to make them more appealing? 

3. Would you be willing to advertise my shop on your blog in return for a free custom wreath? 

4. What are some ideas you have for advertising/marketing my wreaths and the wreaths I will make in the future? 

Side note:
I am currently working on making some burlap wreaths as I realize these have become popular recently. It's a new wreath to me so it will take me some time to get it ready to sell, I assume. (I'm a bit of a perfectionist.) Also, for the balloon wreaths, I can do custom colors for these but I need to know in advance because I will have to order the correct colors and have them shipped to me.

Thanks in advance for your input. If you are interested in #3, please e-mail me at slpleslieanne at yahoo.com