Updates and Trip Info!!

Hello All!
It is now June and I haven't posted in about 6 years. Something like that. The updates are as follows:

• Natalie and Douglas are getting married September 23rd, 2007 !!! :)
• I am 19
• David and I have been married for almost 6 months now and are loving it!!
• David has made his decision about his career!!!
• Summer is moving back to Georgia and has a job!
• I am working at the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Washington until July 1 when David and I leave for our trip!

Our trip itinerary is very exciting!!! I typed it in an email to a friend, so I'm just going to copy and paste it into here...

Our trip this summer looks like this: We leave July1 early in the morning and head to Selma, AL where my grandmother lives. We will eat lunch with her and the family and then head to Fort Worth, TX to see our other friends/family. We will spend two nights there and then drive out on the 3rd headed toward New Mexico. We will spend the night at a campground very close to where David worked last summer and see his camp. On the 4th we will drive to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado and spend 3 days there in the backcountry. On the 7th we drive out, headed for Mesa Verde in Colorado. We will spend the night there and take the tour and then head to Arches National Park in Utah. On the 9th we leave Arches headed for Bryce Canyon. We will camp in Bryce Canyon and do long day hikes, leaving on the 11th. On the 11th we head to Zion National Park (the highlight of our trip). We will spend SEVERAL days there hiking in the backcountry and seeing the sights! We leave Zion on the 15th and go to Salt Lake City. We will stay in a hotel in Salt Lake City and see some of the CITY sights for a few days (so I can sleep on a mattress instead of in a sleeping bag :)) We leave there on the 17th and head toward Jackson Hole/the Grand Tetons. We stay there over night and then drive into Yellowstone the next day. We will be in Yellowstone for several days (the other highlight of our trip). Our last night in Yellowstone we get to stay in a cute little cabin (similar to the ones at camp, I assume, only slightly larger). On the 22nd we leave Yellowstone and drive to Bozeman to eat at McKenzie River Pizza Co., go to the hot springs, and see the town! That evening we head toward McLeod, MT where I worked last summer!!! We will stay at my camp for two nights, leaving on the 24th. McLeod is our last REALLY planned stop, so the rest of the trip will be easy going and stopping when and where we want to along the route home. When we leave McLeod on the 24th we will stop in Big Timber for a huckleberry shake :) and then head out for Mt Rushmore and Rapid City in South Dakota. We also want to hit the Badlands in SD, the St. Louis arch, IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas City, MO, and see some of David's friends in Kentucky on our way back to GA. We will not actually go straight back to GA, because some of David's family will be in North Carolina for a family reunion. We'll go there for a few days and then get home in time to start school! All in all our trip should take about a month!! We're so excited.

So there you go! And if you actually read that whole post I'm SHOCKED!!

I'm going to try to post pictures and stories from this summer whenever we get to internet, which may not be too often. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try!!

That's all for now! I'll post as we get closer to the trip (hopefully!!)...

*morgs

So I got all my hair chopped off! I haven't decided if I like it or not, yet, but I figure it'll grow back either way. I, surprisingly, didn't have enough to give to locks-of-love, but got about 8 inches chopped off! Natalie was getting her hair cut (and it looks AMAZING!!), and between my half-wanting to cut mine, and two Sutton girls' encouragement, I, in turn, got mine cut as well! I think I like it curly (as it is in the pictures), but I straightened it today and look remarkably like a soccer mom!! I'll attach pictures so y'all can decide for yourselves, but I think Allison is the only one who reads blogs anymore! (Hey Allison! I love you!) (Not the best face picture of me, I know, but you get the idea of the hair!)

tests, tests, tests!!

Hello all!!
I'm so sorry for my COMPLETE lack of posting!! I have a question for those of you who are done with school: does it EVER slow down?? David and I realized today that spring break is only a couple of weeks away. That means we're already WELL into this semester!! It feels like it just began. I actually have a huge geography test today over east and west europe, the middle east, and russia. If you happen to read this post PLEASE pray for me!! I'm worried about it. I also have a huge science test tomorrow, so once again, prayers would be appreciated!!
Natalie and I are headed out to Texas tomorrow after my test (Lord, PLEASE don't let Summer read this until Thursday-ish!! We're trying to surprise her!!) I'm really excited about it. 4.5 days of no school, no stress (HOPEFULLY) and seeing family!! I miss them terribly.

I've gotta go run and take this test, so I love y'all and hope you have wonderful days!!!
*morgan

Wedding Pictures (2)

No captions, just pictures! These are some of Rita's... sorry about the sideways one!
love y'all!
*morgan

Horray for weddings!

Gotta go to class!

I'll put more up later!

LOVE!!

Wedding Pictures (1)

Hey kiddos!
I know the last post was FOREVER long, but I figured it was pretty much my journal entry for the week of the wedding, so I didn't want to leave anything out!!

Anyway, here are a few pictures that I've accumulated from different people over the past few weeks... If you have any you'd like to share with me, let me know! I'd love to see them!

The professional pictures should be coming in soon, but here are these for now!
Love y'all!!
*morgan










Posing for the photographers!

Me and my flower girl, Chloe!

My wonderful worship team!

(L-R: Tim, Nichole, Vicki, and Isaiah)

The beautiful Bride's cake!

(thank you, Vicki and Pat!!)

For some reason, Blogger won't let me load more than 5 pictures here, so the next post will be more wedding pictures taken by a friend!

Love!!

The Wedding Story!!!!

Well hello all!! It's been too long!!I've been wanting to post about the wedding for a LONG time now, but I had to wait until I had some time to devote to it! I'm on a school computer, so I won't be posting any pictures, but as soon as I can I will post a TON! As for now, you'll just have to do with the story! David has a few pictures up on his blog (www.hovermonkey.blogspot.com), as does Jeny (www.jenyferjesseandben.blogspot.com). But here's the past several weeks!! So! Sunday December 17 was my great grandfather's 95th birthday, so Dad, Debbie and I drove to Alabama that Saturday evening. They left early the next morning after seeing Grandaddy (crazy, I know), and Grandmother and I drove to Livingston for the party! It was so great! I'm a HUGE family person, so getting to see everyone a week before the wedding was great! Natalie met me in Alabama on her way to Georgia from Texas, and we drove to Atlanta that night. On the way, we stopped in Birmingham for a little shopping; after all, the next week would entail MANY events to look beautiful for!! I think we may have found the biggest mall in Alabama, however every store we went into - even Gap and J. Crew - had the grunge style and nothing else! That wouldn't do for our wedding week events! As a last resort, we tried New York and Co. and (jackpot!) found what we were looking for! Even better: EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE STORE WAS 50% OFF!!! Yeah... Thanks, God!! I bought almost $200 worth of clothes and spent less than $100! It was great! I'm making this story a lot longer than it needs to be, aren't I? Okay, sorry, I'll speed it up. Anyway, Natalie and I got back to Atlanta around 2am and left early the next morning to go apartment hunting for Jimmy and Natalie in Milledgeville! So fun! We ended up finding a GREAT townhouse for them! There is usually someone in town to take potential renters through the apartments and townhouses, however they just happened to be out for the day! Rats! We were peeking in windows of enpty townhouses trying to get a better idea of them, and found a door left ajar! Someone just hadn't pulled it all the way shut! So of course we took this as a sign and crept inside! It was INCREADIBLE! The kitchen was HUGE and upstairs each bedroom had its own bathroom! We left Milledgeville that night and headed back toward Atlanta. We were trying to get back in time to have Christmas that night with our friends, but had to make ANOTHER side trip to a mall along the way. Natalie had yet to find shoes for the events of the week. We spent almost two hours in that mall, I think, and left without shoes!! Quite upsetting. This story isn't getting any shorter, is it? SORRY! I think it might just have to stay long...
We went home that night and had Christmas with the gang and had a blast! The next day we made a trip to - guess where!! - THE MALL!!! Had to find those shoes! After another hour or so we left with NO SHOES!! UGGHHH!!! Anyway... So that was Tuesday... Wednesday was "Group Day" and had been in the works for weeks! Thanks to our fearless decision maker, Natalie, we had a great day planned! That morning Natalie woke up bright and early to go FINALLY get some shoes (and FINALLY did!!!). When she got back, we all left for the airport to go get Summer. After a CRAZY quest trying to find her, find her we did! And we headed to IHOP for some breakfast! We then headed to the Georgia Aquarium for a few hours. A childhood friend of mine's dad is head of security at the aquarium, so I called him while we were there and he took us ON TOP of the tanks! We got to see ABOVE where everything swims, and how they make the waves, and the escape-artist octapus!! It was AWESOME, especially for Amanda, who wants to go into marine biology. When we left the aquarium, the 8 of us went home to get ready for the play that we were attending! We saw "A Christmas Carol" at the Alliance Theatre. It was so good! We all had a blast, and the actors were terrific. That night we tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert, but they closed at 11 and we got ther at 11:04!! That night Summer, Natalie, Amanda, and I went to Washington at 3am!! We didn't get there until after 5 because of a few detours, and didn't crash until about 6. The next morning we were up-and-at-'em at 8 or 8:30 (great night's sleep, right??), and Bachelorette Day had begun!!! WOOOO!!!! We made shirts that morining with brignt pink iron on letters and really cute white shirts: mine said "Bride", Summer's said "Maid of Honor", and Natalie and Amanda's said "Bridesmaid"! It was SUPER CUTE!!! It was kind of a dreary day, but that didn't dampen our spirits! While I was getting dressed, Summer took the car somewhere and when she brought it back she had decorated it for bachelorette day! It was so cute! Right before we got in the car to leave, I was crowned with a brightly colored plastic hat, as were the other girls! I wasn't quite sure why, but I knew it was fun! We left headed to Augusta and jammed out all the way to our amazing Bachelorette CD!!! SO fun!!! When we got to Augusta, we went to a preplanned destination for lunch - which just happened to be out of business! The place was called Serendipity, and as we were leaving two ladies walked up, took a picture for us, and told us of another restaurant that was very similar down the street. We drove down to the Daily Grind! As we got out of the car, I was told to close my eyes, and a NEW contraption was placed on my head! It was a bright pink trucker hat! It was awesome! We walked into the restaurant sporting our amazing pink hats and met Donna, the owner of the restaurant (I think). She was pretty much the sweetest lady I have ever met. We had a good chat with her (all captured on video tape), grabbed our lunch, and ran out the door! While we were en route to the next place, Summer got on the phone and said to the person on the other end, "We're running late but we're about 10 minutes away... We're doing a bachelorette party... do you think there's ANY chance you could wait for us??" Apparently they said yes!! We arrived somewhere near the river, and I was decrowned yet again! The girls replaced my bright pink hat with a captain's hat, and they put on sailor's hats! How cute! We were going on a tour of the Augusta canal! We were 20 minutes late for the tour, and they had waited for us because the other people on the tour agreed to! While on the tour, we discovered that our captain was the husband of one of the women who was coordinating my wedding from the church! Awesome! On our way back to our port, he let me drive the boat! It was so fun!
Our next stop was our hotel room for some much needed massages! Mama's friend is a massose, and my bridesmaids, mom, Rita, and I all got massages! WONDERFUL! As we entered the hotel room, I was "crowned" again with a Princess Tiara!! YAY! All the girls and the moms wore our tiaras for the remainder of the time in the hotel. It was really good to get to spend a little time with my mom and Rita, too.
We left for dinner after our massages, and went to Fatz! As we were waiting for our drinks, the girls gave me a HUGE feather hat! It was great! Summer had red, Natalie had pink, Amanda had purple (?), and I had a multicolored one!!! SO fun!! Our waitress was great (and is also on film), and gave us a free dessert! So sweet!
On the way to our final destination, Summer got on the phone again! Apparently the place we were going next closed at 10. It was 10:15. The place agreed to stay open for us (surprisingly!!)! The girls brought me to the Boll Weevil (a dessert place I had always wanted to go), and we had cheesecake in top hats! Horray!!
It was an AMAZING DAY!! We got back to the hotel that night and "someone" (thanks mom) had come and decorated our room!! When we were finally able to get inside, Summer and Natalie went first, telling Amanda and I to wait outside, so they could get good footage of my face when I entered. hmm... like that was going to work. Amanda and I bolted! We decided to play 007!! We ran through the halls, rode up and down the elevators, and had a BLAST! When we saw Natalie and Summer we ran even more! Little did we know, they returned to the room right after they saw us... and Amanda and I kept playing. For like 15 minutes. When we realized they had gone back to the room, we decided to "ambush" them. The door was propped open, and I kicked it and Amanda and I stormed in screaming "BAM BAM BAM!!!!!!!" Amanda fell back and said, "Oh no, I'm hit! I'm hit!!" and I charged the "shooters"! Before I actually got to Summer and Natalie, though, the door took me out. I ran into the door know at full speed. It was not a good thing. Especially since it was Thursday and I was getting married on Saturday!! And my dress was strapless!! hahahahahahahahhaha we had a blast.

I know, this is getting loooong. But come on, bare with me, this was the most amazing week of my life so far! We're almost there... promise.

The next day, we moved out of our first hotel and drove to Thomson for lunch with David, Erich, Jimmy, and Douglas. I was soooo stressed out because of some demanding last minute details, and was soooo glad to see David. After we left Thomson, we girls drove back to Augusta to get the bridesmaids dresses steamed, get our nails done, and go to our NEW hotel: The Partridge Inn!!! The nails took a LOT longer than we had anticipated, so we finally got to the Inn about an hour before the wedding rehersal. Now, just think with me here. Four girls. Important day. One shower?!?!?!? One BATHROOM?!?!?!? Bad move. Most of us skipped the shower and just flew through fixing our hair and makeup. In the midst of our primping all the guys arrived. We finally got out of there and were only 10 minutes late to the rehersal. (yes, yes, yes, I was late to my own rehersal. wanna know something else? the wedding didn't start EXACTLY at 2!! How do ya like them apples?? haha) The rehersal went well and the dinner was great. That night was interesting, however. Natalie fell asleep before she meant to, Summer had to go out and get me some decongestant because I got sick on our rainy canal trip, and we ran out of towels in the room. After the different things finally died down, I was finally in bed at 12:30 or 1.

Yes! Here it is! The last day of this post!! Or is it...?

THE WEDDING DAY!!!
We woke up around 7:30, and were already behind schedule. I had a makeup appointment at 8:30. I was actually laying in the middle of the hotel floor while Natalie was plucking my eyebrows and Summer was blowdrying my hair. I kid you not. It was really funny! Amanda and I went to the appointment, and Natalie, Summer, and Brekken went to the church to start on hair. After mine and Amanda's makeup was finished, we went to a nail salon in the mall because my nails looked AWFUL! My advice to ANY future bride: Get your nails done the DAY OF THE WEDDING! Otherwise they chip and look awful!!! We got to the church and got our hair done and got into our dresses... so fun! The tension level was rising in that room faster that I have ever seen. I couldn't take it any more, and grabbed a worship CD, put it in the computer, and started singing. It was so good... Summer, Natalie, Chloe (flower girl), and I worshiped to a few songs and felt SO much better afterward. Soon after that mom kicked everyone out of the room so she could spend some time with just me. I was very glad to have a few minutes with her. Mom left and Dad came in, Dad left and Grandmother came in, Grandmother left and Ryan came in, Ryan left and Uncle John, Theresa, and Chris (uncle, aunt, and cousin) came in. It was so good because I got to spend a few minutes with different family members that meant a lot to me. Of course, my makeup had to be touched up after that because everyone made me cry!! Pictures were next, and from what I hear, they were great! (We haven't gotten them back just yet... I'll let you know [and see!] when we do!) I had a few minutes to myself right before the ceremony started and got to spend some time alone with the Lord. It was great. God was smiling on that day SOOO much. I can't even explain. I've always wanted a spring wedding, and a few weeks before the wedding, I was joking with Him and said, "Now God, It's either gotta be 70 or snowing!!" Guess what. It was 75 degrees on December 23rd. *sigh* He likes me! In the time that I spend with Him, the Lord told me how proud He was of David and me. How much He blessed this marriage. This day. It was wonderful.
The ladies came and got me about 10 minutes after 2. I walked into the narthex of the church and watched as all of my friends walked down the aisle. That moment was one I will never forget. Those people... those 6 people... were there for ME. They were there because they love David and me, and they WANTED to be a part of this day. That was such a blessing. (thank you guys. I love you!) They closed the big wooden doors and I walked up behind them with my daddy. As the ladies opened the doors and the congregation stood I started shaking like never before!! I saw David and he smiled so big. I smiled at him and then at all the people on the way down the aisle!! As we stood before the pastors before Daddy gave me away, I realized that I had no idea what to do next! Thankfully Daddy remembered, and put the correct hand in David's. The ceremony went really smoothly. From what I've heard, the sun was coming in through the huge stained glass window so brightly that the people could barely see us! That wasn't just sun, that was the Lord smiling at us!!! :) David and I had our parents come up and pray for us, and it was then that I stopped shaking. The communion part of the ceremony was another of my favorites, because besides sharing the Lord's supper with my friends and family, I got to SEE who all was there and smile at them. (The whole congregation was served... David and I served our wedding party and they served the congregation.) After the vows it was FINALLY time to kiss my husband for the first time ever! WOOOO! It was long awaited! And it was great!!
The reception was beautiful, thanks to the many people who sacrificed a large part of their Christmas season for my wedding! (thank y'all sooooo much!!! i loved it!!) David and I sawed the log (a German tradition), we danced, and I danced with my daddy. It was so beautiful, so fun! After that I walked around and talked to as many people as I could! We didn't leave until 6 that evening! I had so much fun!
David and I honeymooned in North Carolina and got to see snow! So the weekend of my wedding, it was both 75 AND snowing!! Thank you, Lord!!!!!!!

See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it?? THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME FOR THAT WHOLE POST!!!

I'll post with pictures as soon as we get them.
I love y'all so much, and I hope you enjoy this increadibly long post!
(I just typed from 10:30 am until 12. Yeah. No breaks. I'm done with computers for a while!)


*hugs*
*morgan

dum dum dee dum!!!

Guess what, guys!!!

I'm gonna be MRS. MORGAN RENEE VERDERY in 10 DAYS!!!!!!!
isn't that INSANE?!?!?

I'm so excited!
I love y'all and hope to talk to you (and SEE you) soon!!!!!
*greatbighugs!!!*
*morgan

three words...

I HATE FINALS!!!

that's all... now off to take one of those beloved tests...
please be praying for me and all of the other college students that you know over the next week or so!!
thanks!
love y'all!
*morgan

quick update

hey kiddos!
i know ive been horrible at posting lately even after i got onto y'all!
im really sorry about that!!

so as you know, the invitations are out for the wedding! things are coming together beautifully, and besides a few minor annoyances, i'm having a ball!!

jeny had her baby somewhere around 3:30 am (texas time) on Thanksgiving morning! i have yet to see pictures (hint, hint bloggers!!), but i hear he's beautiful! his name is adler (if i spelled that correctly!)

school is coming to a close for the semester... i go back to school and have a WEEK before finals start! it's looking like i'll get all As. There MIGHT be a B in there, but let's hope not!!

mkay, ive gotta run because im spending time with my daddy right now, but i love y'all and i hope this little blurb will suffice for now!!

*hugs*

*morgan

Prayer Request!!

Okay guys...
So I have a request...

Talking to my daddy tonight really got my mind working in "dream mode"...
As most of you know, I have NO idea what "I want to be when I grow up" a.k.a. what I want to major in.
I have a dream in mind right now, but it's really far fetched and I don't know if it's possible. I don't really want to say what it is here because I'm kind of timid about it (because it sounds so crazy). But I was wondering if y'all would be praying for me... that God would give me a direct answer about this... *sigh*
I know, I'm being increadibly vague, but this is something that came to me about 20 minutes ago. It's something that I've dreamed about for a long time, but, like I said, sounds really unrealistic.

I love y'all, and thank you for putting up with my non-specifics!!
*morgan

CALLING ALL BLOGGERS!!!

I just thought I'd let y'all know that we're immensely boring.
I read a handfull of blogs a lot (those listed on my page), and NO ONE POSTS ANYTHING ANYMORE! I am at fault here, too. I know we're all super busy, but I wanna know what's going on in your lives!!


As for me, it's been mostly wedding planning and school! My next free weekend is the 4th weekend in November. Exciting, huh? Exhausting is more like it... Oh well, it's fun. I GET MY JEEP BACK FRIDAY!! SO excited about that!!! I've missed her!!! *sigh* finally.

Weekend of Oct 14: Get Jeep, go home.
Weekend of Oct 21: Interperet concert for Michael English
asdasdfasdfasdfasdfWedding shower
Weekend of Oct 28: Pick up wedding dress in Augusta
Weekend of Nov 4: Class work day at Habitat for Humanity site
asdfasdfasdfasdfasdWedding Shower
Weekend of Nov 11: Natalie comes in!!
Weekend of Nov 18: Summer comes in!!
Weekend of Nov 25:
Weekend of Dec 2: CRAM FOR FINALS!
Weekend of Dec 9: CRAM FOR FINALS!
Weekend of Dec 16: Grandaddy Averett's 95th birthday in Alabama
Weekend of Dec 23: Become Mrs. David Verdery!!!
Weekend of Dec 30: continue to be married!! woohoo!!! :)

yep... that's the next 2 and a half months. WOOHOO!!!
mkay, I love y'all!!! Have a wonderful week and I expect some new posts!!! :)
love!!!
*morgan

The Yellow Rose of Texas

I'm not gonna say a thing about a yellow rose, but I needed a Texas-related title... and that's all I could come up with... :)
SO!
I just got back from Texas yesterday! I had a BLAST!! Man I miss those guys...
Thursday night when I got there, they threw a "party" for me, which was SO fun and for someone of my temperament, a bit embarrassing! It was awesome, though, and I'm glad they threw it for me. Friday Summer and Natalie both had to work, but Natalie's got cancelled (yet again), so she and I hung out for a big part of the day! Natalie had to go to work that afternoon, however, so we went to the Grapevine mall to meet Summer and her kiddos! Natalie went to work and Summer and I hung out for the rest of the day.
While Natalie and I were waiting for Summer, we found the bridesmaid's jewelry!! We walked up to a mall kiosk and were browsing, when Natalie said, pointing to a necklace, "See, that's what I had in mind... Actually, that's REALLY pretty!" The owner of the kiosk came around and promptly started BARTERING with us! We didn't even try! In the end, we got all three necklaces for 50% of her original price and the matching earrings for UNDER 50% of THEIR price! And we didn't have to pay ANY tax!! It was awesome!!! The necklaces are beautiful... they're all different, and I LOVE that!
So! Summer's kids and boss are the sweetest ever! She's really blessed to be with them. When we left that night, we trapsed to Wal-Mart and bought Pride and Prejudice! HOW FUN! We watched it Friday night... well, rather, THEY watched it Friday night! I definitely fell asleep as usual, but watched the rest the next morning. (Sidenote: I got Erich and David to watch Pride and Prejudice with me last night! It was wonderful!!! :)) Saturday Summer had to work again, but Natalie, Noelle, Ms. Debbie, Brennah, and Maggie and I all went to Dallas to get a table from Pottery Barn Kids. Goodness gracious! They have the cutest things EVER in there! It was so fun! I wanted some of that stuff for myself!! Anyways, that evening Natalie and Summer and I went out to eat... pretty uneventful, but so fun! Sunday morning Summer had to work YET AGAIN (poor Summer!)! We all went to church, which was AWESOME! I realized how much I need to find a stable church. Like... desperatly. We ate lunch with the Sutton/Griggs clan, Megan and Amanda, and then Natalie and I went to surprise Summer Dearest at work!! It was fun! We got ready there to go out that night with Noelle, Nina, and Samara. Natalie did my makeup and WOAH! It was a lot, but it looked REALLY good! We all went to Sundance Square that night and ate dinner at PF Chang's. It was so good! We had a blast!! As we were walking around afterward, we came across a man sitting on the ground in handcuffs guarded by 2 cops, and another man telling another cop, "...he was just harassing her..." So I guess that was the adventure of the night? Anyways, we all looked really good and ate at a really good restaurant and had a really GREAT time!!! Monday morning, Mr. Jim brought me to the airport and we had a good time getting to know each other...

Yep! that was my trip! PLAY BY PLAY!!
I know all that detail wasn't exactly necessary, but it was fun to recount!

My big brother is FINALLY home from Montana, so this weekend we're gonna celebrate his and my grandmother's birthdays! Horray! I get to see family!!!

I guess that's really all that's going on with me!!
LOVE Y'ALL!!!!
*morgan

OH! For those of y'all who knew, the fires are out in the Boulder valley in Montana!!! PRAISE GOD!!! And the camp and family there are safe!!!

It's A Wonderful Life!!!

Okay, so I'm SURE everyone already knows about this, but I'm engaged!!! It happened Saturday!! Here's the story of the weekend...
Summer, Natalie, and Jimmy came in from Texas on Friday morning, and Douglas came over from Milledgeville... That brought the count (including myself, David, and Erich) up to 7. I can't TELL you how wonderful it was to have ALL of us in one place! It was the first time since Texas over spring break!! SO! Friday afternoon we went SKYDIVING!! It was SO awesome!! David and Doug jumped first, so Summer, Natalie, and I got to watch them and then WE went up!! As we ascended, Summer and I got more and more antsy!! Natalie jumped first, and then Summer went, leaving me for last!! I wasn't sure if I could do it, but the guy that was strapped to my back just fell out!! (I was his 9,160something jump!!!) It was AWESOME!! I screamed the whole way!! I can't explain to you the feeling of plummeting from almost 15,000 feet! It was nothing short of AMAZING!! Then he pulled the cord and our parachute flew out and the rest of the way was a beautiful float down! We did lots of fun turns and stuff on the way... IT was WONDERFUL!!!
That night we all went back to the Marietta house and stayed up really late talking and enjoying each other's company. Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed out to Rocktown for some climbing! I was gonna get to "christen" my new climbing shoes, and I was SO excited! All along the way, David kept getting calls from his dad... it was kinda weird, but I didn't pay it much mind. We got lost along the way, so we got there around 12 or 12:30. We got all the way down the mile-long trail to the rocks when I realized that my climbing shoes weren't in the bag. How upsetting! I was gonna head back to the Tahoe and check around, but for some reason, my friends kept telling me not to worry about it and to just climb!! Douglas finally convinced me not to go when he said that he had been the last one to get his CamelBak out of the car and he hadn't seen the shoes. So I gave up and started climbing in my Keens. I got to the top of a face, and was walking around and Summer came up to join me! We heard Natalie say, "Hey, Summer, come down here and spot me and I'll try to get up there with y'all..." I kept on walking, and I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw David following me. I started thinking to myself, 'hmm, i wonder if it's okay that he and i are alone up here...' We climbed a little further up to the highest point we could, and when we reached the top, he hugged me. I heard his heart beating like crazy, and was thinking, 'Wow, I didn't think that was a tough climb... I thought he was in better shape than that... hmm...' While he was hugging me, he said, "I love doing stuff like this with you." Then he turned towards me and said, "I want to invite you on an adventure... the adventure of the rest of my life... (then he got down on one knee) Will you marry me?" I know what you're thinking, and yes, I do believe that IS the sweetest thing ever!!! Of course, I said yes and threw my arms around him!! I took off my promise ring and he slipped on the engagement ring (which is GORGEOUS!!!), and I said, "Now what do I do with this?" (referring to my promise ring). He said, "Put it back on, it's still yours." Yep, definitely the best moment of my life so far!!! He and I stayed up there for a little while basking in the moment, and when we turned around we saw 5 little heads peeking up over the ledge watching! It was so cute! We went back down there and talked with everyone, and apparently they had been scheming for WEEKS!! It was awesome! We decided to go back down and get some lunch, and as we were heading back up the trail, I saw Allison coming toward me! I screamed and ran and hugged her, and as I did I saw Ms. Rita, Mr. Tyler, Tom, and Vicki coming up behind her! It was so cool!!! THAT'S why they didn't want me to go back to the car and why Mr. Tyler had been calling so much! Because everyone was there and they didn't want me to see!! HOW CLEVER!!! As we were eating lunch, my MAMA came up the road! It was so great!! What a WONDERFUL day!!!
Saturday night Brekken came over and spent the night with us (another night of little sleep, especially for Natalie, Brekken, and Jimmy *wink to y'all!!*), and then the 8 of us went to Six Flags for the day on Sunday!! It was SO fun!! I fell in love with Brekken, and we all had the time of our lives!!! (I have to admit, though... the roller coasters weren't quite as awesome after skydiving... I think we did that in the wrong order!! OH WELL!!)
What a MAGNIFICENT weekend! The eight of us had a "family meeting" and decided that our trips to see each other had to happen once or twice a year FOREVER!! Aren't we cute??

So yeah!! That's that!!!
I love y'all!!
*morgan

KSU or bust!!

I got home from Montana Wednesday night and was met in the airport by most of my best friends!! It was wonderful, thank y'all for being there!! I was literally shaking because I was so glad to see everyone!! I miss my Montana mountains and rivers, but it's so good to be home. Last night was the first night since I've been home that I've slept in one bed TWICE!
I moved into my cousin Angie's house on Saturday night, and things are going pretty well so far!! Sunday morning I drove two hours to my dad's house to go to church with him, and it was so great! Besides the sleep deprivation, I got to see my daddy!! And go to church for the first time in two months!! woohoo!!!

So here I stand in the Sturgis Library on the KSU campus waiting for my first class! I've been on campus since 10:30 this morning, and my first class is at 2!! I wanted to attempt to change my schedule, but no such luck... almost all of the classes are closed... But that's alright!! I realized earlier how much books cost! I spent $370!! OUCH!! Thank goodness for scholarships... I'm not as nervous about my classes as I was a few days ago, but I think that's because the ball is rolling now... you know, I'm moved it, I'm getting used to the roads, etc. So I'll be sure to let y'all know how my classes go today!! :)

The next few weeks promise to be exciting!! This weekend is the One Thing conference in Atlanta with Dave, Erich, Allison, and Ms Rita! So that's awesome!! And then the NEXT weekend Natalie and Summer and Jimmy come back to Georgia to go SKYDIVING and to SIX FLAGS and just to hang out for the whole weekend!! SOOOO exciting!! I simply canNOT wait!!! *hugs to y'all... can't wait to see ya!!*

Alright! So that's it for now! Talk to y'all later!!
*more hugs*
*morgan

Severed Fingers??? What?!?

Saturday was my long day, meaning that Sunday we had free to do anything! Natalie and I had ORIGINALLY planned to hike Hawley that day, but after much consideration of time restrictions and of OURSELVES, we decided that hiking Hawley was probably not the best of ideas... so we hiked the Speculator trail instead!! We had planned to hike up to the West Boulder Plateau, but, intelligent as we are, we didn’t look at the topo map before going! We hiked STRAIGHT up about 2000 feet and were pretty exhausted. We enjoyed our Clif bar lunch and were quite disgusted by the dried peaches (or “old people ears” as David so lovingly dubbed them) so we threw them in the river. (they smelled AWFUL!!!!!!!!) On our way back down we came to a clearing and decided to sit and look out over the mountains. Natalie would journal and I would read... great idea!! Until, of course, about 5 minutes later when we felt the foretelling raindrops!! As we looked up, we saw none other than a HUGE BLACK CLOUD!!! We pretty much raced down the mountain to avoid getting stuck in the thunderstorm miles from camp, praying the whole way “Please Lord, let us get out of the mountains before that cloud pops!” After a few slightly rolled ankles and a couple last minute pictures, two very jarred girls emerged from the mountains!! RIGHT as the rain started!! Our mile walk back to the camp was a very WET one!! Apparently God thought we smelled bad... He gave us a shower... :) Natalie and I had a blast!!

My other update will, I’m sure, make several of you mad at me!! Yesterday was a short day, and the four of us in the kitchen were preparing taco salads for lunch!! I was cutting the lettuce (a bad idea for the women in my family, apparently...) when all of the sudden my knife bit my left thumb!!! I think I must have been in shock, because I realized that I had cut myself, took off my gloves, said, “Alright, guys, I just cut myself... sorry...” and proceeded to walk around the kitchen aimlessly for a few seconds while blood was dripping everywhere... Ms. Judy to save the day!!! She immediately went into “First Aid” mode and told me to run it under cold water and got me a rag to put pressure on it. I forced myself to be tough and SOMEHOW didn’t cry! I paced for a few minutes getting myself together and then attempted to call Kent or Jenny over our radio which I soon found to be dead! It was only about 40 minutes until lunch, and almost everything was done, so upon Natalie’s suggestion I went to find Kent. When I got there and told him that I had cut myself and showed it to him (and looked at it MYSELF for the first time) I realized that I had cut THROUGH my left thumbnail and didn’t know how deep below the nail the cut was. Kent suggested that I go to the clinic in Big Timber just in case, and then we all stood around for about 10 minutes... I’m not really sure why... I started asking if he wanted me to do anything like fill out paperwork and that’s when I think he realized that I was still standing there bleeding! I DID fill out my workman’s comp stuff as the person who brought me to the clinic got ready, and then we were off! We arrived at the Pioneer Clinic in Big Timber, filled out all of the same forms again, and then the doctor saw me. You’ll never believe this part. When the doctor entered the room and said “hello” I knew IMMEDIATELY that he wasn’t from Montana... he HAD to be from the south!! I asked where he was from and he said GEORGIA!!! This man, Dr. Kirby Somethingorother interned in THOMSON with DR. WILLS’ SON!! That’s right, the doctor from Washington! He had been to the Tour of Homes several times and was raised in Calhoun. It was the wildest thing! We talked about things that we missed from the south... fried okra... mashed potatoes... sweet tea... fried chicken... it was a great moment. ANYWAYS! They just cleaned me up and the cut hadn’t gone too deep below my nail, so they didn’t even have to take it off! Horray!! I did, however, get a really big thumb-sling! It was interesting... and interesting to shower with!! Gotta love trash bags and hairties!! So yeah!! For those of you who are beginning to wonder if I’m coming home in one piece, YES!! I am STILL in one piece!! And I only have 6 more days to survive!! :)

I love y’all a ton, and I’m gonna go have some more adventures!! :)

*morgan

This week has been a BLUR!

SO!! Another update!!

My last post was when I was in Livingston with Jill... The next day we all got up and went tubing (or “floating”) down the Yellowstone River. That was quite an adventure!! We went over a rapid, and my tube got a hole in it (“I’m bubbling!! Jill!! What’s going on?! I’m bubbling!! I’M SINKING!!!” J) So then Jill and I doubled up on one of the bigger tubes until we went over ANOTHER rapid further down and flipped our raft! No one knows exactly how we did it... not even the people who WATCHED us flip!! I guess we just lost balance or something... SO! Instead of getting BACK in the raft, I gave up, and me and one of the other girls floated about two miles of the Yellowstone River in our lifejackets!! It was LOTS of fun!! Until it was time to take out!! The current suddenly got really strong, and I could NOT stand up!! The other girl is bigger than me, so after about five tries she FINALLY was able to get out of the river. I, meanwhile, was trying my best, but could not even stop myself to attempt to stand up!! (My legs are all beat up to prove it!! LOTS of bruises!!) I finally just gave up and floated down the river toward a bridge and grabbed on to one of the legs of it (I’m sure there’s a technical term for the “leg of the bridge,” but that’s what I’m calling it!!). At this point I started to wonder if I should be panicking, seeing as there was NO way that I could help myself... The water was pulling me down, but I managed to hold on for a while until someone finally noticed me there (I had visions of helicopters from rescue TV shows...). This guy came running toward me Baywatch style (he was stripping his shirt off as he ran at me!! I didn’t know what to think!!), and when he stepped in the deep part of the river he almost lost his balance and went down with the current, too!! He told me to grab onto his shirt and he would pull me out. As I was turning to say “Are you sure?” the current pulled me and I lost my balance again! I reached out and grabbed his shirt and he pulled me out of the river!! He had to steady me the entire way back to shore, even in the shallow parts, because my legs were so shaky. So! I have now been rescued from the Yellowstone River!!

Last week we had a cancer camp here... They were lots of fun! It was really hard, though. One lady was pretty much on her death bed, but she wanted to see her kids have fun and celebrate their birthdays at camp, so they all came out anyway... (She has a 27 year old son, an 11 year old daughter, and two 8 year old daughters... all of the girls have the same birthday.) About half way through the camp, she came out onto the deck (her first time out of her room) to watch her kids play, and several of us had an intense urge to pray for her, but no one said anything. Upon later discussion, we all decided to ask her if she would let us come and pray with her in her room, but she denied the request. That was REALLY hard. What’s worse, later that day we heard talk of them trying to Life Flight her out of camp because she was having a hard time breathing and couldn’t sit up on her own. We contacted Life Flight, but they said that they couldn’t come and get her, so we had an ambulance come from Big Timber. It is an hour to Big Timber, and the ambulance got here in 15 minutes... pretty crazy. Anyways, we were all really upset, and I was crying. (It was weird; it was kinda like crying TO God FOR her...) It was really pretty traumatic for our ministry team. Right before the kids left, I walked out of the kitchen and told them that we were praying for them, and I hugged the 11-year-old girl. I cried throughout the rest of the morning, and as they loaded the lady up in the ambulance I stood outside the back of the kitchen and prayed as I watched them. Later, after they had all left, the camp honcho came up to me and said, “I have a gift for you. A little girl saw you standing down here and asked me to give this to you.” I asked her if it was the 11 year old, and she said yes. I took the delicate tissue that she offered me and opened it up. Inside lay two young pinecones. It broke my heart. That was one of those gifts that you never forget, you know? *sigh* it broke my heart...

One more update!! Today was a fun day! I got to drive the tractor and the weird lawn mower, which was lots of fun! I thought I was gonna die, but luckily didn’t! Our managers and their family left camp today to go into town, which left their house WIDE OPEN for a prank!! Justin and I wrapped caution tape all around their house and put up lots of signs! We made a cardboard dead guy and threw him in the driveway and put more caution tape around him (they have a gravel driveway, so a chalk outline was impossible...)! We had a blast! They JUST drove up to their house, so I guess we’ll see what they say tomorrow!!

That’s all for now!!!
1 week and 6 days (13 days) until mama gets here, and 2 weeks and 1 day (15 days) until I get home!!

People keep saying that these next two weeks are gonna fly, but I have a feeling that they will be the longest two weeks of my life! Because I MISS Y'ALL!!

I love y’all a TON and hope to talk to you soon!!!

*hugs*

*morgan

I can't believe it!!!

Wow!! This is nuts!!!
I am currently sitting on the front porch of Jill's house!! Connected to high speed wireless internet!! on my new computer!! ABOUT TO POST PICTURES!! and it's 1 in the morning!! do you know what that means??? that means that i have tomorrow off, so i came home with jill for the night!! THAT MEANS MY FIRST NIGHT IN ALMOST TWO MONTHS NOT AT CAMP!! i just dont know what to do with myself!!!
as of today (today being tomorrow in my mind... saturday) i have exactly SIXTEEN days until my mama gets here and EIGHTEEN days before i see yall!! SO looking forward to walking off that plane, i cant even tell ya!!!
okay okay okay
pictures....
i dont really have any good new ones, but ill post some anyway just because i can!!
I LOVE YALL MORE THAN YOU KNOW!!!!!!!






Since im not too sure exactly how to deal with blogger and picture posting, im just gonna explain the pics in order... the first one is the jimmersons... remember? the family that i fell in love with?? then is natalie and i at McKenzie River Pizza Co where we ate lunch when we were in Bozeman forever ago!! dont you love my lemon face?? Then is Earl... the mouse that we found in our cabin that i was determined to rescue instead of allow Kent to stomp!! The last picture is me at natural bridge next to the falls... this is NOT where i almost died, but isnt it pretty??


My prayers are with you, Sutton family... I love y'all and am thinking about y'all...

talk to yall soon!!!

(and here's who im thinking about right now...)



sweet dreams, all...
*morgan

20 days/22 days...

Hello all!!
So I know I haven’t posted in a while... sorry!! The past week or so has been fun! Last Wednesday our team went down to Four Mile, which is a swimming hole in the river about four miles up the road (what a coincidence!). I didn’t swim because I’m used to my eighty degree water in Georgia and this was somewhere in the forties, but there was a point where you could walk across to a sandbar so I did that! Then Natalie, Kallie, and I decided to hike down the side of the river a ways to some falls… We got there and marveled for a while, but you know I’m never content so I wanted to get to a really cool looking spot ACROSS the river! I got Kallie in on it, and she and I went way back up stream to the shallow part and crossed and bush-whacked our way back down stream to my rock! We didn’t really want to go aaaalllllll the way back up stream to get back to the other side, so we decided to try and find a really rocky point in the river and just cross there! That point just happened to be right above the falls!! (Don’t you just LOVE my stories!!) We contemplated crossing there for about ten minutes because the water was really moving and was really deep in some points. We got a small downed tree that had been smoothed by the river and used it to get to our first rock... Kallie went first and I held her hand as she crossed the tree to stable her, and then she held on to the tree to stabilize it as I crossed. We got to our next rock, and Kallie thought that I was holding on to the tree and I thought that SHE was holding it, so we watched it fall into the river, leaving us too far in to go back and without any aid to finish crossing! Never fear, though! We could handle it!! We strategically crossed the remaining rocks until we got to our last obstacle! The rock that we had to get to was across a mini waterfall, and the water was moving very rapidly!! After contemplating the best way to cross for about 5 minutes and then being too afraid to do what we had to do for about 3 MORE minutes, I finally lunged across the waterfall and grabbed onto our next rock for all I was worth! I then stretched really far across the waterfall, grabbed Kallie’s hand, and pulled her across with me! SUCCESS!! We were so proud of ourselves!! Natalie has video and numerous pictures from our adventure, but you know the connection here, so I can’t get them up!!
Mama ordered my laptop for me, so it should be here in a few days, which is REALLY exciting!! I now have a laptop AND a digital camera! Technology here I come!
I had a really hard night Sunday night... I was having a hard time dealing with one of the girls here and was venting to several others about it… God really convicted me of it at our church service that night so I was in the back crying. I had to get up and sign, and I was like, “God, you know I can’t do this on my own right now, so you’re gonna have to do this through me!” and he was faithful, as usual!! I successfully finished signing and sat down and continued crying because the speaker was really good!! I started to get really homesick and went back to the cabin after the service and called Mr. Tyler and asked him to pray for me. More tears, whaddaya know... I just really wanted to see the people I love (that means you!!)...
Yep, that’s pretty much my week! I had to put up with my first vulgar comment from a guest last night, so that’s no fun, but I told my boss so things are being handled...

I love y’all a TON and I can’t wait to see you in 3 weeks and 1 day!! I get to see Mama in 2 weeks and 6 days!! Horray!!!
*hugs*
Love y’all...
*morgan

So today was a blast!!
Two of Kallie's friends came up, and on our day off the four of us plus Alli went on a couple of hikes!! The first one we went on was pretty short and there wasnt much to see, but after that we went up to Natural Bridge and that was pretty sweet!! We hiked (aka slid) down the side of the mountain so we could get a better look at the falls... it was pretty much straight down. i fell into a "nettle" which is some bush that stings you a lot!! I now have little bumps all over my right hand and on the inside of my left arm that hurt!! anyways, we got down there and i took lots of pictures, as usual. we climbed all over the valley down there and it was so beautiful! as i was crossing the river at one point, i jumped from a tree that extended about half way across the river to a boulder that was right in front of me, but down some and hit my knee really really REALLY hard against the face. yeah. it hurt. my knee is now swollen and very bruised. but thats okay! we were having fun!! at one point kallie, alli and i went off on our own and left the guys sitting in a cave. we crossed the river and climbed up on a cliff and sat there just looking for a few minutes. when we decided to get up to leave, kallie and alli went down the way we came up, but i saw some rocks that i wanted to cross the river on. i only had to get down the side of the cliff i was standing on to get there! i had to get from one level of my cliff to the next, and the difference was about twice my height. i was gonna climb down onto the next level and avoid the really big crack in the rock walls that i could fall into if i stepped wrong (the crack was just big enough for me to fall down into... scary!). as i was climbing down i realized that every handhold i grabbed for was falling off! there was nothing stable to grab! (im a genius, cant you tell??) so here i am stranded on the side of a cliff too afraid to just jump down for fear that i will fall into this crack. what to do? call for help!! i yelled for kallie to come help me up, but she thought that i was just going to show her something, so she took her time. meanwhile i'm hanging on the side of a cliff by one handhold and a small foothold. yeah, doesnt sound too terrifying to you eagle scouts, im sure, but for the inexperiened climber that i am it was horrible! obviously, kallie came to my rescue and i lived to tell the tale.
you remember that hike/slide down the mountain to get into the valley at the beginning? yeah... that was TONS of fun to come back up!! i pretty much did iton all fours.

all in all we had a blast!! very eventful, but that just added to the day.
wish you could have been there... really, i do.

LOVE YOU A TON!!
*morgan

(32 days, dave...)

*sigh*

...my dog died...

mama had to put buddy down. i found out today. he had cancer and was really old and mama couldnt take him to the new house (we're moving, just in case yall didnt know... mama got re-appointed to augusta) and daddy didnt want him.
*sigh*
so i've pretty much been crying all day.
that's all.

i miss yall
send me lots of hugs, cause i need them right now...

*morgan