The Internet

Isn’t it funny how we all feel so connected nowadays to everything? The World Wide Web has given us all a chance to explore so much without ever having to leave our house/our room/our bed.

With all of the blogs that I follow, after having read most, if not all, of them for multiple years, I have come to feel as if I actually know the “authors” of these sites. I’ve watched as some have gone through break-ups, gotten engaged, the span of multiple pregnancies and sub-sequent births of babies so it’s hard not to feel connected to them all. That being said I rarely comment on posts unless I feel the absolute urge to voice my opinion about a topic. Commenting just to comment would be far too time consuming considering a read 14 blogs a day, some of which post multiple times daily.

Believe it or not though, when it comes to sites like yahoo, people.com, or other news related sites (mainly the local news sites for Jacksonville) I feel much more compelled to take my time to respond to discussions.

So I leave you with this thought-provoking, yet funny and true picture of what we are slowly becoming….

Girlie or Not

I used to be rather girlie. I enjoyed getting my nails done regularly, going to the salon for hair appts that last longer than some movies nowadays and shopping.

However, somewhere along the gray line of adulthood that all changed and being girlie took on a somewhat negative connotation.

At this point in my life….

I’d rather do my nails myself.

My last hair appointment up until today was 10 months ago. (we’re talking not even a trim people!)

And the only shopping I do is online once every couple of months…..maybe.

I guess you could say the current extent of my girliness is really based on my television shows of choice. Basically, if it comes on The CW, I’m in to it. Think One Tree Hill, 90210, Gossip Girl … you get the idea. ANTM used to be on that last up until last season but I think we’ve all had enough Tyra Banks for this lifetime, don’t you think? 

Now let’s back up to the hair comment from earlier. Back in the day I was like a chameleon. I’ve had bleach blonde hair that was super short (this was my fav), black hair with blunt bangs (it was a phase), shoulder length with highlights and even one at-home orange accident that I don’t really want to talk about (seriously it was that color). Currently, I have really long hair in my natural light brown color. It’s basically about as no-fuss as it gets these days. But as you can imagine, having not had even a trim in almost a year left my ends feeling stringy and straw-like so yesterday I decided it was time. Time to get my hair done (I’m sorry but there is no way I will ever use the phrase get my hair did…and none of you should either, remember that!). To take some time for myself and do something for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I have personal time to myself , but I never really do anything for me. And it wasn’t until I was sitting in the chair, having a glorious head massage during my shampoo, breathing in scents that smelled like a rainforest that I realized that every now and then its ok to be a little girlie and do some things that most men don’t understand.

See, a hair appointment for a man is quick & easy (a chore if you will), but a hair appointment for a woman should be an experience.

 An experience I would like to have again soon…say 6 to 8 weeks from now.

So while I still won’t consider myself to be girlie (I mean we are still just talking about hair) I will remember that being girlie and doing something girlie are not the same thing.

At least I’ll try to remember.

Well….This Is Akward

Apparently I currently have 28 followers on TMS.

(yes I’m doing the shake right now)

I thank you all for joining me and I apologize for being so boring.

I promise to do better.

Pinky Swear!

I promise to be back tomorrow for a real post and I vow to figure out some sort of regular “programming” so you won’t have to be bored like this again.

There’s nothing worse than going to a blog that you follow having no new content to enjoy…..trust me I know, it happens to me often on some of the blogs I follow regularly as well so I feel your pain.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with a picture of one of my two furbabies……my sleeping pig dog, Tanner.

It’s True

The truth is…I’m fat. Not obesely so, but fat nonetheless. And despite my best efforts, okay truthfully they are mediocre efforts, I haven’t been able to lose more than the same 20 lbs over and over and over again. But with my wedding only 8 months away, I am determined to change this. I mean come on, I’m going to be cruising around the Eastern Caribbean for 7 days and I don’t want to feel self-conscious at all during that time. As I’ve said before, I want everything about our wedding to be a wonderful experience and obviously the honeymoon portion is included in that sentiment.

With all of that being said, as of today I weigh….

180.6lbs!

I can’t believe I’m putting this out here for all to read, but it’s true and I’m owning up to it.

Over the past 6 years, since Marshall and I started dating, I have managed to gain 55lbs. Eeek! And somehow in the next 8 months I’m going to try and lose 50 of them. That’s the goal at least and this blog will help with keeping me honest during my struggle to do so.

What does this mean?

• You can expect to see posts about what I’m thinking and how I’m feeling about the process.
• You will see posts about any progress or failures I have along the way as well.
• And since I’m sure I will have plenty of humorous experiences during this time as I reaquaint myself with my long lost friend – the gym – this blogs main purpose of happiness and laughter should not be lost or misplaced.

 

The Ring

Did you know that you can clean your diamonds with toothpaste?

I didn’t until I heard my cousin say the jeweler told her to do so when she got engaged a few years back. Ever since then I’ve been using this trick on my other jewelry occasionally, when needed. But ever since I got engaged I find myself cleaning my ring every couple of days (yes, it’s true and no I’m not embarrassed to admit it). In fact, I bought a ‘separate stash’ of cleaning supplies for my office so I can clean it while I’m there if the urge strikes me (again not ashamed-ok maybe slightly).

Marshall laughs at this. I think it’s because he thinks I like the sparkle (which I do, I mean come on, it’s gorgeous)

But the truth is, I clean my ring so often because it’s so special to me.

It took six years for that ring to make it on to my finger and I am so emotionally attached to what it signifies that I can’t bare the thought of it not being there any day forward. So for everyday that I can look down on my hand and see this beautiful ring flashing back at me, I will vow to take care of it becasue the real beauty isn’t in its sparkle, it’s in the beautiful commitment we have made to eachother to love one another for the rest of our lives.

The Thing About Planning

I am a planner. My organizational skills are something I take much pride in, but I sometimes tend to over-plan (if there is such a thing & according to the mister, there is). So naturally you’d expect that my wedding would be something that I would jump into planning mode and never stop until “the big day”. However, I find planning this particular event in my life very difficult. To such a degree that I almost refuse to do it. 

I wasn’t a little girl who grew up dreaming of her wedding day. Well I did, but not to the extent of what I would like everything to be like with these particular flowers and colors and locations or whatnot. It was more along the lines of how I would feel and I want nothing more than for that day to just be peaceful.

Your wedding day (to me) is something that will only happen once so it should be something you enjoy on every level, including and if not especially, the planning stages. For me, enjoying the process is just as important as enjoying the day. I think that enjoying your wedding day comes naturally just for the sheer fact that it is something  so special that no matter what you do, in the end you will have a smile on your face. But I don’t want to look back on the process of getting to that day and cringe at all the stress.

I mean it’s no surprise that planning a wedding is stressful, even a quick elopement isn’t guaranteed easy, because there are soooooo many details. So of course, I’ve already shed some tears along the way. Not because I’m unhappy by any means, but because all the details and decisions can be very overwhelming. Having to make something that will be so special can be daunting to say the least….and we haven’t even chosen a location yet (hell, we’ve barely decided on what kind of ceremony we’d like to have)! But thankfully I have Marshall there with me every step of the way.

I am lucky to have a very hands on fiance’. He has wanted to be involved in every decision thus far, which is a godsend because every time I think I know what I want and freak out because I’m also not sure, he’s been there to remind me that this is supposed to be enjoyable. So if planning our wedding goes slower than I would have hoped, its okay because the process IS important. And in the end the result will be beautiful because I will have him waiting for me at the end of the isle…..no matter where or when that will be.

The Day The Morgan Shake Changed

The Morgan Shake may be just the name of this blog to most, but to me it is so much more.  The Morgan Shake is a coveted move that somehow evolved in my early 20′s and became my somewhat signature. Pretty much any time I have gotten excited or overly happy I would do this little shake. I can’t really explain it. It just comes naturally. However the other day it changed….

EVERYTHING changed!

Novemeber 13, 2011 marked my 6 year anniversary with my boyfriend Marshall. It was 6 years ago that we had our first date and ever since then have been inseperable. Most holidays, special occasions and anniversaries have had a common theme of time being spent together being more important than items being given as gifts. So on the morning that began our 6 year anniversary a breakfast at home together was a perfect beginning to the day. I awoke, jumped out of bed early in the morning and grabbed the card I had made (not bought) from my jewelry box where it had been hiding and went back into bed to deliver it to my man. He loved it (yea) and we spent the next few minutes cuddling and discussing the day. He was going to start breakfast while I made a quick trip to the store. When I returned, breakfast was nearly ready and the rarely used for eating kitchen table was cleared and ready to be used. I poured our drinks and made my way to sit down, deciding only at the last second to sit in the opposite seat than I would normally so I could talk to Marshall while he was finishing up cooking. As soon as he saw me sitting there the following conversation took place…

Him: Hey that’s my seat.

Me: Oh sorry. Do you want me to move?

Him: No it’s ok. You can sit there. (he turns his attention back torwards the food still cooking)

Me: Okkkk??….

Once everything was ready we enjoyed a nice breakfast together, just us and our 2 fur-babies. Afterwards, while still seated at the table, Marshall starts asking me what I want to spend the day doing…..

Me: I don’t know, whatever you want to do is fine with me.

Him: Well I know you don’t want to hear this again, but I really think we should go to a few more jewelry stores and finally pick a ring out. (we’d been doing this for what seemed like forever at this point)

Me: If that’s what you want to do, then that’s fine. (he then starts to get up from the table)

Me: Marshall, no stores are open this early on a Sunday. We’ll have to wait until noon or so. (he comes towards me, reaches behind me & behind the curtain of the window right next to me)

Him: Then I guess this one will have to do then.

Me: Holy Shit! (yes I cursed at the beginning of my proposal)

Him: (he makes his way down to one knee) Morgan…..

And that’s it, I remember nothing that was said after that. As soon as the initial shock wore off and I was able to breath again, if you know me you would expect to hear that the morgan shake made an appearance….well technically no. That’s when it all changed.

 And while my new morgan shake looks more like a fairy-bunny-hop-something-or-other, it will forever be my personal little happy dance and it’ll always be called my morgan shake because god knows I can’t control it.