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?**

TOP

Coming up next week I'm going to have a little series on the blog that I'm calling "TOP" for at least 5 days I'm going to give TOP lists of some of our favorites. It may be anything. I'm just going to add as I feel like doing! Hope you'll read next week and see what some of our favorites are!

When Tragedy strikes...

Post originally written on 2/19/13 

I grew up in a small town. Fluker, Louisiana. A town that had a few businesses all owned by the same family, a post office, a stop sign and more cows than people.

This town was surrounded by many other small towns.

The small towns that you think nothing could ever go wrong in.

You grow up thinking that crime happens in larger cities. That troubled children are the ones at public schools not the private school you attend. That people who are in church never get divorces. That...you get the picture.

I was blessed to grow up in a small town. Blessed to attend a small, private school. Blessed to be sheltered from so much of the world's troubles.

I was cursed to grow up in a small town. Cursed to attend a small, private school. Cursed to be sheltered from so much of the world's troubles.

I am grateful for my upbringing but if any of you have had a similar experience then you might agree that this good thing can also be tough.

Because of how I grew up, I had this thought in my head that those bad things that happen don't happen in the area we live in or to people like us.

Today, a guy that I went to school with who is now 30 years old shot and killed his wife who was 26 and someone I also went to school with. Then, he shot and killed himself.

Seriously?

I might not be so shocked but about 3 years ago, another guy that I went to school with shot and killed his wife in the front yard. Then, he shot and killed himself.

Seriously?

When I heard the news of this most recent tragedy, I was shocked, breathless, stunned, overwhelmed and completely saddened.

And then? Then, I was grateful that this wasn't my story. Grateful for God's protection in my own life. Grateful for the good things I've received though I don't deserve them. Grateful for the path I've walked down.

Dear Lord, Please bring peace to your people. Help us to draw near to you. Remind us that none of us are out of harm's way but lead us in your care. Protect us. Guide us. Deliver us. Heal us.

Oh, Home Depot Customers

Matt always has good stories to tell about customers when he returns home from work. His most recent story was this:

A customer comes in looking for a carpet for a room. Matt helps her look at several carpets and suggests that area rugs may be better. Customer says that she has measured the room and has the rope she utilized in the car. She goes back out to the car and comes back in with a ziploc bag that has sewing thread in it! This precious, sweet lady used sewing thread to measure a large room with!! Needless to say, it's probably not very efficient. Matt ended up assisting her in purchasing a area rug. Good times!!

One of Matt's hobbies

Matt has always loved doodling and here are a couple of his latest drawings. More to come about these soon!