Oh Holy Night...

Oh Holy Night has been my favorite Christmas carol for as long as I can remember. Its just one of those songs that truly makes you stop and think about what is happening and why we are celebrating this holiday. Last night as my family sat by the tree and read the same story of Christmas from the same children's book we have been reading from my entire life, my brother said something that really made me think for a moment. We had reached the part of the story where the wise mean and the shepherds made their way into the stable to greet the king that would save us all from our sins. My brother made the comment, "Wouldn't it have been an incredible experience to actually have been there that night?" Incredible doesnt say enough. Humbling is a better word. To know that you were in the presence of the king of kings. The baby that would become the man that would save you. To experience glory in the realest and most sincere form. I couldnt even imagine the immense joy that filled that stable that night. To hold that child, and to know that he would be my savior... Holy Night is an understatement.

This year, Nic and I celebrated our first married Christmas together. This has been a year of changing and molding and shaping us to become who it is that we are going to be. It has been a lot of change. Graduating, marriage, new jobs, making a non-dorm related move to Virginia Beach. Its been more than both of us can handle at times. But as we bring this year to a close, and look on to 2013 and all that this year will hold for us, I have a new excitement in my heart and spirit. I know that big things are coming for us. So there is much prayer going into this new year. Much prayer and anticipation for what God is going to do in us. And where he is going to be taking us. For the first time in a long time, I have a this uncontainable excitement for where we are going and I cannot wait to see how God unfolds our future.

So Christmas has come and gone, quicker than most any of us would like, and we are waiting out this crazy snowstorm so that we can make our way back to VA Beach safely and in one piece. We will most likely get there sometime Thursday with just enough time to do laundry repack and await Nic's return from work on Friday to make the drive to Bluffton to spend time with the Morris side of the family and to celebrate the New Year with them. Im really looking forward to starting new traditions and making memories to last a lifetime.

So Merry Christmas to everyone out there who has taken a moment to love us this holiday season. To our family and friends. To those of you who are a part of our story. We love you all so much and we are honored that you have chosen to be a part of our lives. We are grateful for who you all are to us.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Until next time....

I only hope we never return to sleep.

Everyone everywhere is talking about the tragedy that occurred this weekend in Newtown, Connecticut. People are all speculating about how something this horrific could possibly happen. Gun control is the answer. Taking God out of schools is the reason. Sometimes bad things happen to good people is the logic. But for me, none of these speculations are good enough. None of them make this make anymore sense than it did before. Now, Im not writing about this particular topic because I want to weigh in my opinion, because honestly, the reason why died along with the shooter that day. I am writing because years from now when I look back on all the things that I have written, and I look at the life I was living over these years, I want to remember this event. Because whether or not we want to admit it, this event is now a part of our history. It is a part of who we are as people, and as a nation.

On Friday afternoon, I was creeping on Facebook, as is included in my daily routine at least once, I started seeing all of the Facebook updates about the tragic shooting at an elementary school. My heart sank at the thought of it, so I began googling the topic and the news was true. 20 babies and 6 teachers had been tragically killed at a primary school outside of Hartford, Connecticut. My eyes welled up with tears and I decided to get out of the house to wrap my head around it. I called my mom who hadnt heard about it yet and we cried together at the events that had occurred. My mom and I both work with children on a daily basis, her being a preschool teacher/daycare owner and my being a dance teacher. We both teach kids the same age as these precious children that lost their lives that day and I said to my mom, "Who shoots a kid? Who could find it inside of them to pull the trigger on a terrified, little kid?" I just cried. For the pain that those parents must have felt, for the shock that they have to live with, for the kids who saw their friends die that day, for the parent that has to explain to their 6 year old why someone did this. "All they did was send their kid to school that morning. They don't deserve that." My heart ached.

That night I went to dress rehearsal for my company's Christmas show and it just happened that the girls would be performing at an elementary school for their annual breakfast with Santa. Walking into that school that night was an erie feeling. It honestly made me a little claustrophobic. One of the other teachers arrived to numerous hugs and when I had the chance to talk to her, I learned that she is from a town just outside of Newtown and that this tragedy hit more than close to home for her. One of their family friends lost a child that day. My heart sank even more at that moment. All of my students came running up to me freaking out over slipping on the stage and their hair not being pinned just right and they had no idea what had happened that day. But I knew and I hugged all of them just a little bit tighter that night as I pinned their hair and hairsprayed their tap shoes to prevent them from slipping. Every little face is a memory for me. Every one of them is a piece of my story. Because I never know how many more tomorrow's I will have with those children.

This situation hit me harder than most do, but honestly I don't think any of us will ever be able to make sense of it. God didnt cause this to happen. He was there through all of it. He held each one of those baby's hands as he led them into eternity with him. He hugged those teachers and thanked them for protecting his children, and his hand was on every family that lost someone that day. My husband and I talked about it over dinner this weekend and he made an amazing point when he said that we are all born into sin. When Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden, they opened the door for tragedy to happen and bad things to happen to good people. We are all human, and by nature we fall short. That man was not in his right mind when he made those choices and killed those innocent people, and those people were not deserving of death, but because we are human, death is a part of life. It happens even when we dont deserve it to. God didnt cause it, its just in our nature.

Bad things happen. And they hurt all of us. No parent ever deserves to lose a child. So we as a nation mourn with those parents. But it is not our job to try and figure out why it happened. It is our job to be the nation that we were created to be and to stand up for those families. To help them through this time in their lives and to remember what we were founded on. This tragedy serves as a wake up call to America. One that is calling us to move forward as a nation and to be the land that we were created to be. One that stands together in the face of tragedy. One that has each other's backs. One that can depend on a neighbor or a stranger in a time of tragedy or need. 

In light of the Christmas season, I pray that on Christmas morning as we are surrounded by our loved ones and for many of us, our children, that we think of those families in Newtown, Connecticut whose family is a little smaller that morning. The ones who are mourning the loss of a child who was taken before their time. And I pray that as a nation, we see the need for a return to our roots. To the God that our nation was founded on. That we stop killing each other. That we stop tearing each other down. That we will truly wake up and see what we as a nation have created and turn the other way. And I can only hope, that as a nation, we never return to sleep. 

Until next time...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So we are only two weeks away from Christmas and things have been busy to say the least. Between working, Christmas shopping, getting ready for the insanity that is traveling for the holidays this year, and attempting to see the people that we love here before we head out to spend Christmas and New Years with our families, there hasnt been much time to breathe let alone keep you all update about the goings on in the Morris house. So I figured I would take this semi-not busy hour I have before the showering and getting ready for work must begin, to catch the world up.

Since getting back from Thanksgiving in PA, we have been Christmasing it up hardcore. We decorated the tree before we left for Thanksgiving break so that we could come home to the festiveness of it. But since then, we have decorated the outside of the apartment, as well as adding quite a few nice, very us touches to the inside. I will post pictures of the festiveness later this week. I havent had a chance to take any yet, and our living room is currently an explosion of Christmas cards and address lists, so once those get cleaned up and in the mail, we will make it a point to take some pictures and show you all how awesome our first married Christmas looks. Aside from decorating, we have been having Christmas themed date nights. Pancakes and the Polar Express was my favorite by far. That movie is just so stinkin magical. We have also done dinner out and Christmas shopping. That was super cute. But two of my favorites have definitely been the make shift Pancake Feast and Christmas brunch with the Arends. The office that I used to work for at Regent hosted the Pancake Feast every year, and since that isnt under that offices list of responsibilities anymore, we decided to host our own at Nic and I's. We made pancakes, played with playdough, had a cocoa bar, and colored for about 4 hours straight haha. It was so much fun to see everyone and to catch up. It had been far too long since all of us were together and it can never be that long again. On Sunday afternoon we had Christmas brunch with the Arends. They came over and we made waffles and peppermint cookies and they brought some super festive cupcakes and we just talked and laughed for a good 4 hours as well. It was a very eventful weekend in the Morris house. Last weekend we had Nic's Marine Corps Christmas Party at Busch Gardens, and my work Christmas party and Lisa's. All in the same day. That was a marathon day, but I conquered. And it was an overall amazing day.

Aside from the business of the holiday season, we have been praying about some life decisions and trying to learn what it truly means to seek God as a married couple. Marriage is such a different way of living. I can't afford to be selfish and thats new. I know that you are never supposed to be selfish, but hey, Im human. And I can be just as selfish as the next person. But in marriage, you no longer have that option. Making sure that Nic is happy comes before my own happiness. And making sure that we are both content and in God's will is now a joint effort. Not one person making life choices and the other having the option whether or not to follow. Nic always says that we are a team. No one is for or against the other. We work together and thats how we are successful. We figure out the finances together. We talk about our future together. We decide what is best for us, together. And it makes for a very happy home. Granted, we are human, and we fight over stupid stuff from time to time, but even amongst that, our home is filled with more love than I could have ever imagined. Even when I am here by myself, I find myself hearing the laughter from the moments that we have together. Moments of just being best friends doing life together. Our life is full of colored moments. Moments that are shaping and preparing us for tomorrow and its more of an adventure than I could have ever hoped for.

In other news, our Christmas card pictures were beyond fantastic and I really am excited to send them out. And the fact that we only spent $13 on printing them makes me even more excited. Enjoy a few pictures that didnt make the card this year, but I still love regardless.

Ash took some pretty legit pictures for us this year. Im super excited about sending out our cards. Choosing just a few pictures was not an easy task, but thats the upside to having a blog. I still get to show you the ones I like :)

So next Friday we are heading up to PA to spend the weekend and Christmas with my family, and then driving back down early Wednesday morning, getting here sometime in the afternoon, spending thursday doing laundry and repacking, and leaving Friday to head to South Carolina to spend the weekend and New Years with the Morris side of the family. To say it will be a busy week is an understatement but I am genuinely looking forward to it. Getting to spend time with both families without the stress of planning a wedding or seeing them because of a show, or graduation or anything else busy and time consuming will be really nice. Just some free relaxing time with everyone to celebrate this time of year that is meant to be filled with love and joy means everything to me. I really can't wait. 

Well I must now get ready for work and be on my way to teach the munchkins how to point there toes, so I hope you have enjoyed this Morris Moment. Until next time...

A little bit of everything.

Yesterday marked 4 months of marriage. Oh geeze how things have changed in 4 months. We decorated for Christmas recently. Everything looks super festive. Our tree. Our stockings. We even have some lights outside which is really festive. I love Christmas time. There is just something so magical about this time of year. The lights seem to just kind of take over everything. Its kind of sorta amazing.

Aside from Christmas, we have just been figuring out life. Finances, marriage, how to keep track of it all. Its not an easy task. But we are getting there. The biggest thing Ive realized is that I don't know anything. Life can't really be figured out. Its not a game or some kind of logic. You live and you learn. Slowly and steadily. You learn that you never truly know what you are doing. Life is about learning to be who you are. Its about becoming who you are. Its about learning to be a better person that you are today. Its about living life to the fullest.

And today I leave you with a sneak peak of our Christmas card pictures taken by the lovely Ash Arends at Ash Arends Photography. Our cards are going to be amazing :)

I hope you have enjoyed this slightly random, kind of off the wall Morris Moment. Until next time. 

So much to be thankful for...

So the trend on Facebook yesterday was making lists of things that you are thankful for. And I have to admit that I kind of like the idea. So here is what I am thankful for this year, in no particular order.

1. The fact that I am alive to celebrate this holiday. I am breathing fresh air, I am sitting here surrounded by family and amazing food. It is truly a privilege to be alive.

2. My husband. I could not have asked for someone better to spend this life with.

3. My family. I wouldn't be who I am without them.

4. My education. Not just what I learned, but the experiences I had while I was there. I wouldn't trade those people or those memories for anything in the world.

5. Skype. And its amazing ability to keep me connected with the people that I love so dearly. Especially today.

6. Christmas Music. Enough said.

7. My grandpa's homemade cheesecake. There's nothing like it.

8. My artistic ability. Being able to express myself the way that I can truly helps me to be a better person and I will always be thankful for that.

9. My teachers. Past. Present. and Future. The way that you all have shaped my life is irreplaceable.

10. Fruit Snacks. Thats all.

11. Traditions. Old and New.

12. My wedding pictures. Those memories can never be replaced.

13. My sisters. I've always wanted a sister. Now I have three. How could I ask for more?

14. Friends. Each of their beautiful faces will forever stay in my mind.

15. Cold weather. Hats and scarves.

16. The first snow fall of the year. There's just something so magical about it.

17. The Gilmore Girls. My little piece of home while Im away.

18. Falling asleep to the sound of rain.

19. Sharing everything with Nic.

20. Music. And its ability to say the things that I can't.

21. History. All that it has taught us and all that it will repeat in the future.

22. Hearing I love you. My heart melts every time.

23. Christmas. All things Christmas.

24. The mall at Christmas time. There's nothing like shopping at Christmas.

25. Elf. Its not Christmas without it.

26. Hot Cocoa and all that comes with it.

27. A beautiful home to live in. Its more than I could have ever asked for.

28. Technology and its ability to keep me connected to everyone that I love so much.

29. Pictures. There are so many memories that I would never want to lose and pictures hold those memories close forever.

30. Rainbows and the promise they hold.

31. My job. Frustrating as it can be, Im thankful for it.

32. The sound the jelly jar makes when its opened for the first time.

33. Quality time with the people that I love.

34. Chapstick.

35. Overly soft pillows and the way they seem to hug your head.

36. Hearing Nic sing when he thinks no one is listening.

37. Finding Nemo.

38. Having faith to believe that better days are ahead.

39. Winter hats.

40. Laughter. Its freeing.

41. Baby feet. Weird as it sounds... they are the cutest thing in the world.

42. Butterflies. There is freedom in their movement.

43. Traveling. New places. Meeting new faces.

44. Long walks.

45. Talking about things that matter.

46. Lace. Its intricate beauty.

47. The way that water moves.

48. Watching the stars.

49. The sound of saying hello for the first time.

50. The fact that Jesus loved me enough to save me, when I don't deserve it.

Thats my top 50. There are so many more I could list. But this time of year always makes me think of what is important in life. Being close to the ones we love, because we aren't sure how many more tomorrow's we will have. This is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

I hope you have enjoyed this Morris Moment... until next time.

Let the Holidays Begin.

So the last few weeks have been eventful in the Morris house. Getting ready for the holidays. Celebrating fall. Marine Corps stuff. Its been eventful to say the least. So I shall now summarize the last few weeks in as few words as possible. But with me... there's no short version. So here goes...

To start off, we had a costume party at the Morris casa. The first of the parties to be thrown here. And it went splendidly... if I do say so myself. Games... good food... lots of talking. And our costumes were pretty freaking fantastic. Here's the story of how the nerds came to be. Nic and I are newly married. Therefore, there is not an over abundance of money at the end of the month. So we were searching for something cheap and reasonable to make. We went to Qdoba for dinner that night and searched pinterest on my phone for an idea. Lots of dumb ones led to this one. And it only cost us about $15 to make in its entirety. We spent all night working on it. And when I say all night... I mean all night. We went to bed around 4:45am. But it was so worth it. The final product is displayed below :)

Next big thing in the Morris household was shopping for Christmas decorations. We were super smart and we saved some of our gift cards from my bridal shower, so Christmas in its entirety only cost us $15 of our own money. Which was amazing. We bought tons of ornaments and we got the cutest stockings. Im so freaking excited. The pictures of the fantasticness of Christmas in the Morris house will appear post Thanksgiving when they take their place around the house. 

The Marine Corps Ball. Freaking fantastic this year. Which was a pleasant surprise. Last year, we left by 8:30, rented a movie and spent the night eating junk food in front of the tv. This year we got all dolled up, went on a mad dash to base to get one last uniform item that I am pretty sure the tailor failed to replace, an awkward non drinking cocktail hour haha, and then a pretty awesome presentation and dinner. The guest speaker spent quite a bit of time talking about the sacrifice that military families make and it was really interesting to think about. Everyone thinks about the sacrifices that the military men and woman make. But the sacrifice that the families make it is just as great. I teach so many little girls at work that their dads are gone for  a year or more at a time And they put on the prettiest little smiles but it is so obvious that it is killing them inside. A little piece of their heart is missing. After the presentation, we got to eat a dinner that was significantly better than last year and then I got to enjoy several drunk Marines doing the Gangum style dance for the whole world to see. Highlight of my night. Nic and I left out earlier than most, but significantly later than last year, avoiding the drunken Marines driving to their next location, and came home and enjoyed some of our shows on Netflix. Overall it was a pretty great night :)

So thats the latest happenings in the Morris house. Getting ready for the drive to PA next week for Thanksgiving with the Cyprowski/Meny clan. I cant wait to see everyone. This will be my first time home since our casual reception in August so to say that I am looking forward to it would be an understatement.

I hope you have enjoyed this Morris Moment. Until next time...

Welcome... Please come in to our little home.

So quite a few people have said that I have blogged about everything but our home. And since most people will never get to come over for dinner and get their tour in person, I took some pictures and I will give you your tour virtually lol.

Nic and I ended up in a simple two bedroom two bath apartment not far from either of our work places. Its taken a few months to get things in order and to add things that I really wanted, but we are getting there. This weekend we added our wedding wall to our dining room, and we are going to do some other things with the pictures in the living room, cause it just kinda feels like too many frames. But its a work in progress. Hope you enjoy your tour :)

First up we have the living room. We have our TV/make-shift entertainment center, our ode to Sheldon Cooper with the signs from our wedding, and our wonderful couch that my parents bought us as our wedding present along with our epic picture of London.

Our dining room is simple but awesome. The curtains were actually mine from college, the table we bought because of its level of awesomeness, and the wedding wall is our newest addition that we have been saving for. The canvas was our gift from the Yentzers and the frames we already had. We tried to capture every moment that was important to us.

Our kitchen is just a kitchen. The aprons on the door are my favorite part, I change them out with the appropriate season or holiday. 

Our bedroom is my favorite part of the house. Its super cute. Our bed has tons of pillows, which is the most amazing part. And our bedroom set is pretty rockstar as well. Our next project is some kind of something for above the bed. That wall is just kind of bare and it needs something. 

And thats the gist of our home. We have bathrooms and a spare bedroom, but its nothing festive. haha So I hope you enjoyed your tour of the Morris Casa. It was a pleasure having you :)

Hope you enjoyed this Morris Moment... Until next time. 

And so begins the most wonderful time of the year...

This was one incredible weekend. I think this might actually have been the first free weekend, with no trips, drills or prior major commitments since we have been married and I must say that I really enjoyed it. So here is our Fall Date Day weekend in snapshots.

Saturday we slept in as late as we wanted to, which basically means we slept until I woke up and then jumped on Nic and woke him up. We got up, had cereal, got ready and made our way to Brookedale Farms Pumpkin Patch. Here are the pictures we took while sitting in the traffic waiting for the drawbridge to close :)

Holy canoli this place is so much fun. You trade in your keys for a pair of sheers and then you make your way through the patch looking for the perfect pumpkin to cut off the vine. And because we are who we are, we made our way up and down every lane looking for the perfect one. My personal favorite part of this pumpkin patch? The twin boys that picked up every pumpkin they saw and screamed "Its perfect!!! Its the perfect pumpkin!!!!" Oh man. We had some laughs about that one. Here's where we spent our Saturday.

We scoured the field and ended up with two pretty perfect pumpkins. It took many failed attempts at finding the right ones to finally land the big ones. The ones we had been waiting for. And we found them, let me tell you, we found them. Here are a few of the ones that we felt some connection to but didnt end up making the cut. 

After much deliberation and kicking a few pumpkins in the process, hehe, we finally ended up with the perfect pumpkins. Whom we affectionately named the Finkelsteins. Herman (my big guy's name), Henrietta (the one that Nic surprised me with a few weeks back, who already sits on our porch), and Harvey (Nic's nice little guy). Here's a picture of us with the winning pumpkin patch portion of our little pumpkin family.

Post pumpkin picking, you had the option to take a hayride around the farms, do the corn maze, enjoy the pumpkin playground or wait in line to weigh your pumpkin and enjoy the man canning popcorn, the Mennonite jellies, jams, syrups and salsa, which we bought one of, or pick out some smaller gourds and pumpkins.  We chose to just wait in line and ended up choosing a Mennonite syrup, Apple Cinnamon to be exact, and then weighed our pumpkins and headed back to the car. On the way home we had lunch at our favorite hole in the wall mexican place, helped our lovely friend Tianna move her new couch upstairs (always an adventure with the Yentzers :)), followed by some thrifting in the highest of standards (we landed our awkward Christmas sweaters in October, for the win!), some Marine Corps Ball dress shopping (still havent found a winner yet), and then came home and settled in for the night. Dinner was a festive part of the perfect fall date day as well!. We made pancakes to have with our fancy new syrup, and Nic, being the biscuit fanatic that he is, made pumpkin shaped biscuits to go with our fall themed day.

We watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! and called that the perfect end to our perfect day. It really was a great Saturday. Sunday wasnt so bad either. Our day ended with heading to Wal*Mart to price Christmas trees, and we ended up at the beach to look at the stars for a while. Then we actually went to Wal*Mart and made our way home, talked and reminisced about college for a while, and eventually ended the evening with pizza and The Incredibles in honor of our first date night over two years ago. It truly was the perfect married weekend. I had so much fun. I only hope that next weekend can top it. Not sure how it could. But Im sure... in some way shape or form... that it could. It will just take some careful planning and a whole lot of time spent together. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this Morris Moment, and here's to the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year... 

31 days until Thanksgiving, and getting to see my family for the first time in 3 months! :)

And 63 days until Christmas!!

Until next time...

So here's the latest...

So its been a little while since I've enlightened the world with my brilliance, so I figured since my house is clean, Nic's favorite corn muffins are in the oven, he is still on base and the reds are in the dryer, I would share the latest happenings in the Morris household. 

First, I have learned something about being married. I love sharing a closet with a boy. Now don't get me wrong, sharing a closet with Beka was brilliant because we just so happened to be the exact same size in everything so it meant that we both had twice the size of a wardrobe than we did when we moved in, but I look darn cute in a good bit of Nic's clothes. And seeing as baggy oversized clothes are very in right now, I am right on point there. And holy crap are they comfortable. His cardigans may just be my new favorite thing in the whole world, aside from him of course. His clothes are just one of the perks. 

BEKA IS ENGAGED!!!!! That is new and recent and wonderful in every way! I do recall her and I laughing during roommate bonding time last summer when we were talking about what we were gunna do after we graduated and I said that I would bet any amount of money that she would meet someone and get married shortly after Nic and I. Pay up Beka haha. I was completely right. I am so looking forward to sharing this amazing time in her life with her. I couldnt be happier or more honored to stand next her that day. It is sure to be beautiful. Beka was there to help with all of the insanity of planing our wedding and was standing with me that day, so to get to the same for her is a wonderful thing in every way. Here is a picture of our brilliance just to remind those of you who know her, and to give those of you who dont a frame of reference as to who this lovely individual is. 

Last weekend Nic and I made the 15 hour drive to Memphis, Tennessee to celebrate Grandma Vernita's  87th birthday. Normally, that wouldnt be any kind of surprise, seeing as we would do absolutely anything for our families, but the fun part was that no one knew that we were coming. Hehe we are sneaky. Okay, well actually Honey knew, but she kept our secret very well. So we hit the road on Thursday night around 8:30 when I got off of work and made the drive through the night to lovely Tennessee. We arrived shortly after 10:00am their time and instantly fell asleep haha. Once we took a lovely 4 hour nap, we began the hunt for Nic's mom and Desi. And let me tell you. Those two were not easy to track down. We were trying to not ruin the surprise, but we could not get them to tell us where they were. Finally, we enlisted the help of Uncle Mike. He didnt know we were there, but we needed help. So Uncle Mike tracked down their exact whereabouts and we made a mad dash for the Backyard Burger in Olive Branch. We ninja rolled our way into the restaurant, okay, not really, we walked in, but still we felt like ninjas, and we asked if anyone was sitting with them and then the screaming and hugging began haha. It just happened to be Marme's birthday, we didnt bring a gift, that was my fault, but I think we were a pretty good substitute to a card and a candle haha. We spent the next two days celebrating. We baked a cake for Grandma, hot tubbed with the cousins and my new sisters and we just loved on Grandma for a few days. Her reaction to us being there was just the sweetest thing. It truly made the drive worth it. She is a precious individual. We got to watch our wedding video with her which was awesome because she wasnt able to be there. And it was just truly an awesome time spent with family. This was the first time that I was there because I was family. I wasnt just Nic's girlfriend anymore, and I really really loved that. It was awesome to just get to be a Morris. It really meant the world to me. Here are a few pictures to catalog this trip

This week has just been bill paying, house cleaning and working. This is my favorite time of year. The smell of it. The crispness in the air. The change of the seasons. It makes me want to watch high school football. I love it so much. Im a little bummed because Im missing the Pumpkin Festival going on at home right now, but thats okay. Next year maybe. The look on everyone's faces when we walked in last weekend was worth more than the festival any day. I wouldnt trade those memories for anything.

And I think thats it. I gotta go get Nic's muffins out of the oven, so I hope that you have enjoyed this Morris Moment. Until next time...

Family... its just one of those things...

So today's post is another one of those just because posts. But its something thats been on my mind a lot lately. So I figured I would share it with the world. Or at least the very small portion of the world that actually reads what I write on here. And if no one happens to read this one, then at least I have it written down that years from now I can flip back through my blog and find this post and remember exactly what God was showing me at this time in my life.

Lately, I've been thinking about family. And what it truly means to be a family. Ive recently inherited a new family, whom I love very very much, and I treasure the time that I get to spend with them because we are becoming a family. We are learning the ins and outs of each other's lives. Whether its through an intense game of 20 questions via facebook messages, or over the phone exchanging vegan recipes, or roadtrips to visit Marme and Mr. Ray :) getting to know them is some kind of crazy journey for me. Because not only am I getting to know them, but they are getting to know me. And being the shy, quiet person that I am, its a whole new kind of balance, remembering to be myself and let them see who I truly am, while getting to know them. So for this new family of mine, being a family means time. It means getting to know one another on a truly deep and personal level. It means learning to love someone from the inside out. And it is one incredible journey.

And then there is my family. The ones that I have known my entire life and have never truly had to get to know because they are the ones that have helped me to become who I am today. Now Im not just talking about my immediate family. Mama, Daddy, Jonathan. While they are incredible and they are the very foundation of who I am, Im also talking my extended family. The Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, the ones that make life interesting. As I sat here this afternoon watching the rough cut of our wedding video for about the thousandth time, I really began to think about my family and what we have gone through over the years. There's a particular shot in this video where you see my dad and I walking down the aisle from the side and as the camera follows us down the aisle you can see all of my extended family pass by one by one. Aunt Kitty, Uncle Bob, Aunt Shirley, Jenna, Aunt JoLynn. All the cousins. Fairy Godmother. They are all there. And with each one that passed by I caught myself watching them instead of my dad and I. And with each face there was string of memories that ran through my mind along with it. Holidays, Birthdays, Graduations, other weddings, Christmas Eve's. The bad times ran through my mind as well. The times when family didn't really make sense to me. The times when I wasnt sure what I had done wrong, but I knew that something just wasnt right. The family arguments of stupid stuff that no one should truly care about because all of us knows that if we woke up tomorrow and one of us was gone our lives would never be the same. I began to think about how we hold each other together. I remembered the day that my Aunt Kitty looked me in eyes for the very first time and told me she loved me, and I knew that she actually meant it. I remembered doing gymnastics shows in Grandma Mary's living room with Krista and feeling so unbelievably important because she asked me to play with her. I saw Uncle Kevin and missed him so much my heart could hardly stand it. I miss seeing him smile. I remember Aunt JoLynn showing up for my football games to watch me cheer. How my Aunt Shirley baked dozens of cookies for my wedding. How every one of those family members drove 8 hours to see me get married. How my cousin Danielle looked me in the eyes during my bridal dance and told me that she was proud of me. That my cousin Michelle looked at me during that same bridal dance and told me that I lived a life I should be proud of because not many girls could truly stand there that day wearing white and deserve to do so. If she only knew that I made it that far in my life because of her. I remembered playing house with both of them in my playroom with I was about 7, and wondered where the time went. I looked at Jackie, and the memories couldn't stop. Making my costumes for my musicals, keeping me at your house for 10 days while my brother was in the hospital, showing up for everything important in my life. Walking into the bridal room that morning and signing the inside of my shoe because she remembered that at one time she had seen me post something on facebook about having my bridal party sign my shoe. Showing up for my second reception with a three tier cake, and a memory box birthday present full of stuff she had collected from our wedding. I looked at my dad with that broken little smile on his face and made him promise me that he would always be home. That no matter how much things were changing, that I could still always call him daddy, crawl up in his lap and know I was safe.  I looked at my brother and our lives flashed before my eyes. The fights, the play times, the Christmas mornings of waking mom and dad up at 4 am only to be told to go back to bed. I looked at him and myself and was in awe of who we had become. Who I had become because of him. And I looked at my Mama. That incredible woman who has given up everything she ever wanted or dreamed of so that I could have. I looked at my best friend and I had never been more grateful for the fact that when I look in the mirror each day I see a reflection of her staring back at me.... And as I sit here today pouring through these memories in my mind, I can honestly say that I know what it means to have a family. One that isn't perfect. One that has it's flaws. One that fights over stupid stuff. One that cries together, One that laughs together. We are a bit of a mess sometimes, but we have something so incredible special. We are a family. And that is one thing that can never ever be taken from us. No matter where this life takes me. No matter where we all end up, I know where my home is. I know that I will always have a safe place to go back to. Because of these people I know who I am.

Family is just one of those things that can never be truly defined. It has to be felt. It has to be learned. It has to be home. And I have that. So today... Im thankful for my family. or Families I should say. And for the fact that God loves me enough to allow these amazing people to love me. I am truly a blessed person.

I hope you've enjoyed this Morris Moment... until next time.

The little things...

So tonight's post has nothing to do with anything significant. Or anything specific. Its simply taking a moment to be thankful, for the little things. Being thankful for an amazing job, with some amazing people, doing something I love to do. For an amazing place to call our home, and more love to fill it than I thought possible. For a family that loves me unconditionally and is willing to help me adjust to this new crazy time in my life. Being unbelievably thankful for the fact that the Steelers played on NBC tonight and its one of the few channels that we get on our TV. It brings a little piece of home here. For Jason's Deli that fed us healthy food tonight. For a husband that loves me. Who falls asleep on the beaver tail in the living room and talks in his sleep. Who walks to farm fresh for something fun to do together for some healthy snacks for the football game. Who works so hard to provide for me and give me the best life possible. I am blessed in more ways than I can count.

So be thankful tonight. Because no matter how stressed you are, how rough life seems, and how hard you feel like you are fighting, there is always something to be thankful for. No matter how small it may seem. Its worth being thankful for and cherishing. I heard a quote the other day that really struck home with me. It said something along the lines of "What if we woke up tomorrow with only the things that we thanked God for today." And it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last time I had just stopped and thanked God for what he had given me. So tonight... Im thankful for the little things. For all that I have, and all that God has blessed me with. I live a beautiful life.

We're goin' taters...

So... this has been a very interesting week for us. For all of you all there that aren't married yet, I will issue a warning for you... you will gain weight post marriage. Your honeymoon will be full of crappy, awesome junk food, and you will like to eat said food far more often than you used to. At least this was the story for us. I think its fair to say that its become obvious to both of us that we needed to make some adjustments to our diet.

So, by the inspiration of my new, completely fabulous, beautiful, feisty, vegan sister-in-law Jessica, we have gone taters. Now you may ask what goin' taters means. Well let me fill you in. Goin' taters is a 10 day, really kind of intense, diet of nothing but variations of potatoes. Baked, mashed, twice done, chopped and baked, covered in a million different seasoning, with no artificial anything. So no butter, no sour cream, no cheese. None of the things that I usually use to make potatoes my favorite things in the world. Its been an adjustment to say the least, but its paying off let me tell you... We are on our third full day of goin' taters, and its definitely working for us. Jess told us to weigh and measure ourselves at the beginning and at the end to see our progress. So we did that, and after just three days I am already down 4 lbs from where I started. I kind of like this whole eating healthy and loosing weight the right way. I've honestly never lost weight the right way, so this is a really new experience and Im liking it. 

So thats the newest in the Morris household. Our new way of life. Post taters we are aiming to just live a very healthy lifestyle. No processed foods. Just healthy whole foods. I like the life that we have... and we would love to be able to live it to the fullest we possibly can. So Ill keep you all updated on this crazy new journey we are taking and Ill aim to share some of our crazy recipes with you all along the way!! 

We hope you've enjoyed the current moment... Until next time!

Our Top 10 Wedding Moments

So today's Morris Moment is a joint effort. Nic and I sat down last night and compiled a list of our Top 10 Wedding Moments. So here you go. Our day, through our eyes. Hope you enjoy :)

Our wedding day was something so spectacular. It was more than I could have ever imagined it to be. It was magical and there were so many moments that we shared with our families that are completely irreplaceable. But there were quite a few moments that no one else experienced that we would like to share with you :) And it gives you all a chance to see quite a few of our favorite wedding pictures. Its a two for one kind of day.

1. Our first dance: This was the most precious moment that we have ever shared. I think that was the first time all night that we actually stopped and got the chance to just take in the moment of what was actually happening. We talked and laughed and just enjoyed being married.

2. Our choreographed first dance: This was pretty awesome. Our original idea was to do something choreographed with the entire bridal party. But the fact that our bridal party was scattered all over the country made that nearly impossible. So Nic and I went to work, threw it together in an evening, and honestly didn't practice it again until we did it at the reception, but I think it turned out all right :) We had a blast, and it was a great way to show our personalities. Nic was such a good sport and he didn't dance too bad either.

3. Family prayer: This was such a precious moment. There was such love and joy and just immense emotion. The words that they spoke over us were just beautiful and meant the world to us. Its moments and love that we will never forget. We love you guys.

4. Our Jr. Groomsman Peed his Pants... in the middle of the ceremony: We had a very eventful first 10 minutes of our ceremony. The high point? Seth, the cute little guy in the picture below, proceeded to the middle of the aisle yelling to his mother that he had to pee. She sent him back up to his spot, and he did a dance for a while, then stopped and smiled. Thank God his pants were black lol.

5. Pre ceremony prayer: Before the ceremony started, we had a time of prayer with our individual bridal parties. For me, it was such a sweet time, because Pastor Joie prayed over me during such a big time in my life, just as she did when I graduated from high school and so many other major times in my life. It meant the world to have her there and for her to be a part of this moment as well.

For Nic, this was a time where his friends really just poured into his life and helped him to find the peace that he needed. It was truly a time of just seeking God and allowing him to be the part of this day that we both so desired him to be.

6. Toasts: Oh man. Our toasts were pretty spectacular. The stories that were told, the memories that were talked about, the words that meant the world to us. They were more than we could have ever asked for. Having Beth and Lyds by my side that day meant the world to me, and hearing their hearts meant just as much. Their words and their emotions will forever be in my mind. Andrew your words were so sincere and so genuine. You are such a true and genuine friend and you guys mean the world to us. And Jonathan. You are my best friend. And your words impact me each and every time you speak. Thank you for always following the call of God on your life and showing me what it means to live a life worthy of admiration. You're incredible, big brother.

7. Dancing with Patrick: This was one of my personal favorite moments. During our money dance, my new brother in law, Patrick, payed his dollar and came up to me and asked for a dance. His words were so sweet and so genuine, and he truly welcomed me to his family. That moment will stay with me for the rest of my life.

8. Our Flower Girl's One-Liner: So we had the cutest flower girl in the entire world. And she looked like a little princess on our wedding day. Leah has been one of my mom's daycare kids since she was about 6 months old. We have watched her grow up, and she is so much fun. Leah is terribly shy though. She doesn't talk much. The wedding day was no different. From the moment we picked her up, she didn't utter more than a head nod to me. Until one very special moment at the church. We were all running around, excited and nervous, getting ready and I was in the hall way steaming out my dress with my new sister in law, Desiree. My maid of honor came walking out with my flower girl in hand and informed me that Leah had to pee and I was the only one that was allowed to take her. I laughed to myself grabbed leah by the hand and took her into the bathroom and she just stood there and stared at me. I responded with, "You okay?" And she looked at me and said, "My mom puts paper on the seat." And continued to stare at me. I laughed so hard I almost cried and put paper on the seat for her, and walked out to let her do her thing. And that was the only sentence that my Flower Girl said to me all weekend. It was priceless. Enjoy these pictures of her cuteness. :)

9. Vincent's random pop ups: Oh Vincent. The cutest Ring Bearer known to man. He was so stinking cute with his Nic matching hair cut and snazzy tuxedo. The morning of the wedding, Vinny kept showing up on the side of the building where the girls were getting ready. And mysteriously, he always ended up next me. Holding my hand. Looking at me. He seemed to be my shadow. I said to him at one point, "Vinny where did you come from?" He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "No one was watching me!" Oh man that kid. If he wasnt so cute, we would have had issues. But seriously, who could be mad at this face :)

10. Nic always ending up with my bouquet: The entire evening, Nic always seemed to end up with my bouquet in his hand. Walking from the church to the car. Making our entrance at the reception. During pictures. Somehow, that thing ended up in his hand. What can I say, it was heavy. :)

And that was our Top 10 Wedding Moments. I hope that you have enjoyed this snapshot of our big day. Now I am off to the grocery store to buy the rest of the stuff that we need for our dinner date with the Arends!! Hope you've enjoyed the current Morris Moment!