Morgan's Presence

I've been thinking a lot about Morgan's presence in my life a lot lately, and I wanted to write this for her before the thoughts went out of my head.

Today was my baptism into the LDS church. My family doesn't know about this yet, so her family has sort of adopted me and has been supporting my in this decision. They've been amazing to me and treated me like a daughter and I'm completely grateful for that. I'll write more about that later, but right now I want to talk about how Morgan has impacted this decision.

Morgan is from New Jersey. She loves New Jersey and the surrounding areas. I don't want to say too much about this because I'm not sure if she'd want me to get into it, but basically she's just not very happy here in Georgia. For the past two years, she's been going to school in New York, which she loved. This year, however, she's going to school here in Georgia, and I know she's not very happy about that.

I'm the kind of person who always tries to figure out why things happen. This past summer, I kept thinking about what the reason was for Morgan having to go to school in a place she's not very happy. I kept thinking things like maybe she'll meet her future husband here or maybe there's someone she needs to meet at school here, etc. Well, maybe those things could be true, but I think I've figured out one of the reasons she's here this year.

Like I said before, her family has sort of become my family. I feel like Morgan is a sister to me. Since the summer, I've been going to church with her most Sundays. She and her mom did pretty much everything for my baptism.

Morgan has been the support I've needed in my life to get to this day. Without her being here, I don't think I'd be able to do it. If she was still in New York, I don't think I'd have the strength and courage to make it to church and meet with the missionaries and get baptized.

I feel sort of selfish writing or even thinking this, but I just can't help but think about it. I'm just so very grateful for Morgan's presence in my life. I know that I would not be where I am today if it were not for her.

Morgan, please don't hate me for keeping you here ;)

Rosa

Morgan has a sweet little dog named Rosa. Wayne had the privilege of meeting Rosa while he was here, which reminded me that I needed to upload these videos I took over my Christmas break. Enjoy.

Thankful

Yes, another one. That's when you know I'm not in a very good mood: when I have to try to cheer myself up by writing what I'm thankful for twice in a week! So anyway, here's my list for today.

I'm thankful...
that I have air conditioning/heat.
for Italian food.
that Wayne will be here so SOON!
for good movies to cheer me up.
for the internet.
that I can always talk to God.
for people who want to help me grow in my faith.
for Wayne, because he always wants to make me happy and he will always cheer me up if I need it.

I also want to take the time to write a special thank-you. Morgan, God could not have blessed me with a better best friend. I really am so lucky to have you in my life. I don't need to go into the details of what you did for me, but you know what it was. If everyone in my situation had a friend like you, this world would be a much better place. Thank you so much for putting up with me!

Yay!

I got an award!! Susan, this award really means a lot to me. Thank you so much.

And, of course, there's a catch. I'm supposed to nominate 10 other blogs who I feel have a great attitude and show gratitude. I'm going to break the rule and nominate one fantastic blog: Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Morgan is not only one of my best friends, she also has one of the best attitudes around. I love every post she writes, and have been missing it a lot while she's been sick.

Get well soon, Morgan!

Tribute Tuesday: Mrs. W

This blog idea was started by my adorable Wayne. He hosts Tribute Tuesday over at his blog. Please go check out all the other lovely tributes and consider writing your own!

Today, I'd like to tribute a wonderful family friend of mine, Mrs. W.

I've know her forever.

She is so kind and helpful.

She's a very skilled seamstress and always hems anything I need for free (which comes in handy since I'm so short!).

She's one of the most generous women I know, and is always willing to help.

She is also a wonderful cook!

Since I've started knitting, she's been so kind to help me out whenever I need a little guidance with a pattern or technique. She's basically an expert knitter! [By the way, I'll post pictures of things I've knitted later on.]

Mrs. W is a blessing to our church.

She is also a devoted wife, and mother to three children (who are all grown up now).

I am truly blessed to know Mrs. W, and am so happy to share her with you all today!!

Chocolate Muffins.

Since I could no longer use Christmas as an excuse for baking and indulging in fattening desserts, I thought I'd bake up some lower fat desserts. I asked Morgan if she'd like to bake some, and she was kind enough to oblige. She even found this scrumptious recipe for us!

There were many ingrediants needed.

So we mixed everything up...

...and placed them in the oven to bake.

They looked and smelled delicious.

They really did turn out well.

I will most definitely be making this recipe again, and you should too!

Read Me's!

Also during Christmas Break, Morgan and I put out Read Me's. We had found the idea from NieNie's blog [who, by the way, will be back to blogging this Friday!!!!!!], and just thought it seemed like such a wonderful idea. [I can't take credit for how cute these turned out. All credit is due to Morgan, who designed them while I was driving home from college.]

We set one by an ATM.

We set a few in bushes.

We put some outside restaurants.

This is when we saw the dreaded grasshopper bug thing. It was scary. So scary, in fact, that we had to capture it's scariness on camera.

This old man was just so dang cute!

This house was so creepy.

At the end of the day, all we were left with was a whole lotta glitter. Oh yeah, and the feeling that we had done something good for othes-- that too!!

My Sushi Salad Plate.

During Christmas break, Morgan and I did some potter painting at The Painted Potter. My inspiration was this apron that Morgan got me for my birthday...



So, I picked out the colors; lots of colors...



...and got started...



...and painted...



...and painted for two days...



...until I was finally finished.





Then I had to leave my precious sushi salad plate in the hands of The Painted Potter...



...so that they could make it look like this...









I'm really happy with how it turned out, although I'm not quite sure when I'll be needing a sushi salad plate.