7 Quick Takes: 5/18/13

I'm BA-ACK!!! I JUST got back into town about two hours ago and hadn't really planned on posting any quick takes this week....but hey, why not.

 Update, 9:45 PM Saturday: This isn't a QT, it's an urgent prayer request...dad just rushed mom to the hospital. She has severe pain on her right side. She can't breathe very well, and can't lie down. We are assuming it's gall bladder, but it may be appendix. PLEASE please please pray for her. We're all pretty worried around here about what it could be.

1.) I finished my time of prayer and fasting, and our interim pastor will begin on Monday. He will be officially in the office with us on Monday, and I'm looking forward to it. He is a wonderful, Godly man, and a good fit for our church. This doesn't mean that I will quit praying, it just means that now I'm done fasting.

2.) I was in Florida for 10 days. My dad had a business trip that he (very graciously) took mom and I on with him. His company sent him to Orlando, and put him up in a Disney resort for a week of Continuing Education seminars....sounds fun right? Well, one day he took the entire day off and went with mom and I to Magic Kingdom. Walking in I felt like a 5 year old again....it really was magical!

3.) My father is an amazing man, and a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ( I really cannot stress this enough...you'll know why after I tell you) WONDERFUL dad. He got fast passes for us (read: ME) to meet the Princesses. Seriously, I don't care how old I get I will always be a Disney fan, (which is why I enjoy Dash of Ash's blog so much)....so this just made my day. I got to meet Rapunzel, Aurora, and Cinderella. I also met Marie from the Aristocats, Mary Poppins, Mickey Mouse, Princess Tiana, Chip -n- Dale.....and so many more. I had such a great time on vacation with my mom and dad. Just being together for 10 days away from work (at least for mom and I, dad still had seminars).

Rapunzel (and a very sunburned Me)

4.) Mom and I did Downtown Disney, and Disney's Boardwalk several times while we were down there and it was so fun just getting to hang out with her. My mom is an amazing mother. She is such a wonderful example of how to be a Godly wife and mother, and I thank God every day for the example that she is to me. I love my mom and dad with all my heart, and am SO VERY THANKFUL for the time that I was able to spend with them this week.

5.) I'm going to backtrack a bit now.....
On the first night of our trip we stayed in Blairsville, Georgia. We stayed with my aunt and uncle that live there. It is my Grandpa's older brother, and boy is he just like grandpa. Grandpa passed away five years ago, and being with Uncle Ernie it was like having Gramps back, if only for a few hours. We had such a good time with them, and hopefully they will make it up to Michigan sometime in the fall so we can see them again.

6.) We also made a stop in Savannah, and it was GORGEOUS! I really loved that city. We stayed in the Historic District just blocks away from Paula Dean's The Lady and Sons and it just so happens dad made us reservations for dinner there that night! It was so yummy!

7.) I really enjoyed being down south. The weather was phenomenal (Sunday in Florida it got close to 90, and in Michigan, it snowed). The people were so friendly, gas prices were lower, and the weather was great! I could get used to being in the south, I loved that is was sunny and warm every day, I loved that you could walk everywhere in Savannah. I loved how nice everyone was....then I came home. I love being home, but when you get used to something, it's hard to come back. I just left the grocery store where the clerks were rude, they cut you off in the aisles, and to top it off; it's cold here!

Really though, I had a great time on this trip and am so thankful that mom and I were able to go with Dad, but I am really REALLY glad to be home. After a while you just want to be home and we finally are. I have lots of stories to tell, pictures to show, and memories to last a lifetime!

Enjoy what is left of your weekend! Oh, and go see Jen for more Quick Takes! 

Blessings,

Megan

and another picture for good measure

Marie!

7 Quick Takes: Travel Edition

Happy Friday!! I'm going to get right down to the takes today!

1.) I love love LOVE to travel! I love road trips, and would much rather drive to my destination than fly. I usually take a "car bag" with me, loaded up with everything that I need for the drive, without having to pull it out of my suitcase. My "car bag" is usually my Vera Bradley Laptop Backpack. (seen here in Plum Crazy)

I load this baby up with books, snacks, cough drops, band-aids, sun screen, any tech-y thing that I may need. Sunglasses, you name it! This is the perfect travel bag! 

2.) I read in the car....and have been known to finish a few books while on vacation. I love it, but I have to pace myself so I take ONE book and my Kindle. This year my one book will be Les Miserables, and everything else is on my Kindle. Some of the titles on my Kindle are: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, Code Name Verity (as recommend by Janssen), The Heiress of Winterwood just to name a few. 

3.) When on a trip I take tons of pictures. I don't do anything with them right away though. I'll take 5 of 10 pictures of the same things from different angles, different perspectives, or different light. I clean out the camera at the end of the day. The ones I don't like I delete and the ones I do like I'll upload to the computer that night and get them off my memory card to create more space for the next day. This method has always worked for me...and depending on the length of my trip I could get prints at Walgreen's each day if I wanted to. 

4.) I pack light. I pack (depending on the length of the trip) 4-6 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 4-5 cardigans or jackets, and 2 pairs of shoes. I can mix and match items to create tons of outfits this way. It makes packing much easier, makes my bag lighter, and gives me room for souvenirs on the way home. If I need to (and have facilities available) I can do laundry in between, but this just makes for a much easier packing situation. 

5.) When I travel, I love having a cross-body purse. It keeps my hands free, I can feel it against my body, and mine holds a ton! I love that I can go to a market and not worry about where my bag is, I can carry packages, and I don't have to set it down in a restaurant. I love the new Vera Bradley Convertible Cross-Body (seen here in Limes Up)

This is my favorite travel bag! 

6.) Favorite road trip destinations include: Washington D.C, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Boston, and Savannah. 

7.) As always, I'm linking up with Jen and the rest of the crew. Head over to Conversion Diary to check out more Quick Takes!

Have a fantastic weekend, and I will see you again in about two weeks! 

Blessings, 

Megan 

   

Radio Silence

On Friday I mentioned that I would be "un-plugging" for a while, so you won't be hearing from me. I have a QT post scheduled for this week, but that will be it for me for about two weeks. I am fasting the blog. Giving it up, and using my blogging time each day to pray. This is part of a church wide prayer and fasting. Our pastor is asking that we give up something each day and use the time it would normally have taken us...to pray. Our church is in a transition period right now, where we are looking for a new pastor, as ours was just elected to a higher position in the church and can no longer be in the pulpit. So, the time that I would use in these next two weeks to blog, will be used in prayer and petition. I don't have a specific way that I am praying, other than that God's will be done in our church. Somewhere he is stirring someone's heart, and getting ready to send them our way....we just have to be a faithful people, and trust that he is in control.

So, that is the reason for my upcoming radio silence. I just want to let you all know that I'm fine, the blog will still go on......it's just that right now, I need to take this time and devote it entirely to prayer. I know you'll all understand!

When I come  back though, I have some great posts planned so be on the lookout for those!


Blessings,

Megan

(I Would also very much appreciate your prayers!!)

Boys, Bloglovin', and Books

Hey guys! So I talked a little bit in my last Quick Takes post that I was going to be babysitting for a whole weekend....babysitting 3 young boys. Some of you may be mothers, if you are a mother of all boys let me tell you right now that you are amazing! You deserve your very own mother's day! Boys are a different breed, they have no inhibitions, no filters, nada! We couldn't get through a single meal without mention of bodily fluids/functions. Games of "pull-my-finger", sword fights, Nerf dart target practice (the target being brothers' heads), and unending video games ruled the weekend. All in all, they were wonderful to watch. They behaved well, and were actually pretty easy. I had a great weekend, and would be willing to watch them again for an extended amount of time.

I'm on Bloglovin'...which means you can follow me! Yay!

Books: This is a sneak peak of my upcoming QT post (look for it Friday as always!) I'll be talking about road tripping.....and the books I take with me. I usually take my Kindle, and one book. For my vacation this summer I will be taking Les Miserables, and my Kindle that I recently loaded up with some new books.

Code Name Verity as recommend by Janssen

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey which I'll be reviewing eventually,

and The Heiress of Winterwood which I may also review.

These are just a few of the books I plan to read this summer....do you have any recommendations of books? Quick reads, old stand by's, summer reads?? I'd love to hear from you!

7 Quick Takes: 5/3/13

It's Friday!! This may be a quick, rambly post this week. I have had a chest cold/sinus infection/case of death  this week....and it really knocked me around. Instead of complaining, how about I get right to the takes?

1.) I tend to over buy when I get sick....cough drops, teas, kleenex, anything with "multi-symptom" on the box. I won't take asprin for a headache, but if I'm SICK like this I will buy whatever I think I "need".

Four bags of cough drops....a little excessive in retrospect....entirely necessary when you feel like death. 

2.) I'm just starting to get to the point where there is less pressure in my chest, but now it's all in my sinuses which I think is worse....but that's enough complaining for me! 

3.) Say a prayer for me this weekend. I will be babysitting from Today to Sunday for three awesome boys at my church. I babysit these guys pretty regularly but a full weekend is a new experience for all of us! Usually I watch them for a couple of hours while their mom and dad go to dinner....never for this long all at once! It should be interesting! 

4.) I also have an unspoken prayer request, and at the risk of sounding cryptic I would just ask that you pray that God's Will be done in my life, and in our church. Thanks so much! 

5.) Spring has finally sprung! My windows are open, the birds are singing, and flowers are in bloom! My small group was able to meet outside on our patio on Wednesday, and we could all finally enjoy the fresh spring air! 

6.) I may have over-glamorized things by calling it a small group....which technically it is (just not church sanctioned). It's really just a group of ladies all from our church, of all ages, married, single, with kids, without kids....all of us sharing a common bond: Yarn. That's right, we all knit/crochet. It is a great time of fellowship, so we call it a small group, it's just not recognized as one! We love it! The kids play outside, we fellowship together, sharing new projects and patterns, laughing, talking over one another....it's just plain fun! 

7.) This will be my last QT post for a few weeks. I will be going radio silent for a short time....again I hate to sound cryptic but I promise I'll explain better later this week before I unplug, and definitely check back around the 20th for full explanation!! 

Enjoy your weekend everybody, and thank you for stopping by! Head on over to Conversion Diary and check out all of the other QT's from this week! 

Blessings, 

Megan 

The Cold That Just Won't Leave...

I feel like The Shelf has been neglected! I haven't even looked at my dashboard in about a week. Sunday night I started coming down with this terrible chest cold that put me out of commission for a while. Usually I can work through this kind of thing, but this one really knocked me down....to the point that I actually used a sick day. I can actually breathe now (praise the Lord!!!) so I'm hoping to be in tip top shape for the weekend! If you think about it, whisper a prayer for me. I have a pretty big weekend coming up, and would love to have this cold behind me. Thank you!


Blessings,
Megan

20 Things You May Not Know

I turned 20 today....holy cow, I'm not a kid any more! I kinda love this! So in honor of my 20th, here are 20 things you need to may not know about me:

1. I'm an only child. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that here, but I am and I love it! I have lots of cousins, and a huge extended family so I don't feel like I ever missed out on a "Sibling Experience". I had plenty of pseudo-siblings and at the end of the day we each went to separate houses.....perfect! 
2. I'm a Pastor's Daughter. The year that I graduated from High School, my dad was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene....and I am so incredibly PROUD of him! 
3. My dream when I was little  was to be Belle at Disneyland! I thought that would be THE coolest job ever! I mean come on, it's basically playing dress-up on a daily basis and you get to make a bunch of kids' dreams come true....how awesome is that! 
4. I fall in love too easily, and sometimes with fictional characters.....Mr. Darcy if I'm being specific. 
5. More than anything, I want to be a wife and mother. I know a lot of girls say this, but seriously. That is what my goal is. I don't push it though. I'm waiting on God. I know that somewhere he has a man ready for me...and God is making me ready for whoever that man may be. 
6. I do a lot of sewing projects, as I'm sure you've noticed.....I have to confess something. I can't sew a straight line, even on the machine. I cheat and have a hair tie around the arm of my machine so as to better guide my fabric and (hopefully) keeps my seams straight. 
7. Here, at number seven I'm kind of wishing I was 7  years old again because I don't know if I can come up with more things........we'll see. 
8. I'm a list make. I make lists for anything and everything. When I pack for vacations I have a list. When I get to work in the mornings I write down everything I know that I need to do that day.....and keep the list with me until it's done. I add to them, I cross stuff off.....I love lists! They keep me organized, and they kind of keep me from losing my mind (except this one of course). 
9. I like to dress up. Not in costume or anything like that, but I love getting dressed up for formal events, or just for everyday stuff. I just feel....good....when I am dressed up. 
10. I hate wearing make-up. I don't wear it often, and when I do I don't; foundation and some blush is about it for me. Have you seen my profile picture? No make-up.
11. I have naturally curly hair....and I'm learning to embrace it. I used to straighten every morning, at least until I started college. Then it was just easier to leave it curly......I haven't straightened in about a month, that is a huge step for me. 
12. I love all things Disney. The movies, music, trivia....LOVE! 
13. Next to Beauty and the Beast my favorite Disney movie is the Aristocats. I have always loved that movie!
14. I watch old TV reruns; The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Cosby Show, Sports Night, The West Wing......I find them on Netflix, or on network TV most times they're better than what is on anyway. 
15. I never miss an episode of NCIS, NCIS:LA, or Castle. 
16. I'm totally ignorant when it comes to pop culture. 
17. I love to write. 
18. I love to do the research for my writing. Whether it's for my classes, or for writing fiction. I LOVE IT!
19. I love to fish. I haven't fished in about five years, but I love it....and need to do it soon.
20. I will not buy a book at the store if the cover is a picture of the movie adaptation. It is a rule that I follow, and have only broken once. 

There you go, twenty things you never thought you needed to know about me (and a picture for good measure) 

On a fishing trip...many years ago! 

Blessings, 

Megan