Easter OTI

...is it too late to say that I gave up blogging for Lent....?

This was the first Easter that I have been home for in 4 years! With the exception of my freshman year of college, I usually spend Easter at school, attending the vigil mass at the Cathedral in Peoria. Being home for all of Holy Week as well as spending Easter Sunday at my home parish and with my family was much different than what I've been used to, but it was a nice change.

Since linking up with Grace and crew is nearly the only thing keeping this blog from kicking the bucket these days, let's get on with it, shall we?

 [dress: JCPenney, cardi: Old Navy, shoes: ?]

[dress: JCPenney, Keds: Kohls]

and it wouldn't be a holiday link-up if I didn't include our post-mass casual outfits...

 [all clothing from either ON, Kohls, or Target]

and as for the brother who refused to smile for a decent picture....

...he got his modeling groove back once my sunnies were passed around at Grandma's...

Happy Easter!

xo, mo

the good and the bad of having roommates

disclaimer for my current roomies: y'all are awesome....but you know that these are true :)

* * *

the GOOD

[1] You're [almost] never alone.

I'm pretty social...and I like to have people around, which is great when you have roommates because there are almost zero times when there's no one to talk to. In order to be lonely, you have to try to be lonely.

[2] Sharing chores.

What's not to love?? It's not all on me to keep the house clean, and that's fab.

[3] Community food.

LOVE it when someone buys too many oreos or has left over chicken salad/guac/etc

[4] Party people.

When you live with 4 other people, there's almost always have something to do....my social calendar is almost never without options.

[5] Splitting utilities.

This is nice....to heat this giant house and pay for it on my own would cost a small fortune...

the BAD

[1] You're [almost] never alone.

...we all need our alone time. And as Beth has said, walking around naked would be nice.

[2] Sharing chores.

While I really love having a clean home, if I know that someone else will pick up the slack if I don't clean my area of the house this week,it's easier for me to just not pull my weight. And my education in social psychology tells me that social proof usually takes over, resulting in everyone slacking off....no bueno.

[3] Community food.

Sometimes I'm not sure what food is mine....in the same way, it's easy to fall into a resentful "omg did she eat my mac and cheese??" mindset when in fact you've already eaten your mac and cheese....

[4] Party house.

Having an active social life is exhausting. Sure it's nice to have options, but if you want to be alone and there are 15 people over and your only option is to hang out in your room which is on the first floor....well, that kind of defeats the "being alone" mentality.

[5] Splitting utilities.

How could there be a downside? Well...despite sharing utilities, I've run into this issue with roommates I've had in the past... hate to be the lights Nazi, but when your electric bill has been over 200 for the past 3 months, it gets kind of ridiculous. If it were just me, I would only have myself to blame.

* * *

If you paid attention, you'll notice that the good and the bad are the same things. As much as I've loved living with roommates over the past 5 years, I am getting SO PUMPED to live on my own come August. eek!!!

xo, mo

bloglovin bandwagon

Apparently Google Reader is kicking the bucket. Sad day. Curse you Google!

So naturally, I had to jump on the Bloglovin' bandwagon and allow all you lovely peeps to continue experiencing the genius from this little ol' blog. Hilar.

But seriously, click below to keep following along....I hope you do :)

xo, morgan

Follow along with Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

as of late...

Seems I've slumped into another blogging rut and just.can't.get.out.

Life has been pretty insane lately. To give you a glimpse while keeping my thoughts in order, I give you...handy dandy bullet points...

• I signed a lease for my very first very own one bedroom apartment. Holy cow. I'm super excited.
• can't wait to have an entire space to.my.self.
• also can't wait to be able to walk around with or without clothing just cause I can. TMI?

• I'm currently home for the next few weeks building my support team 
• We've just changed our funding system and are now each responsible for raising the funds necessary to fulfill our missions on campus. 
• Super daunting. 
• I'm trying to see it as a challenge. 
• it most definitely is.
• had some success
• please pray?

That's all I have energy for at the moment....I have less than high hopes of being better at this in the future....maybe when I retire....

xo, morgan

Throwback Thursday

Yup. That'd be Tyler Hilton.

this pic is circa 2008...I was barely into my first week of college and got to see Tyler Hilton play fo free in our student center...and then I met him.

dang he's tall.
dang I was skinny.
does anyone else notice how BIG my sunglasses are?!

ps I still use that backpack.

habemus papam

I love him!
I love saying "Papa Francisco"!

I love calling him "Papa Frankie"!

I love that he looks like a little grandpa!

I love him I love him I love him!

How is it possible that you can love someone so much without knowing them?
And THAT, my friends, is the beauty of our Church.
#oneholyapostolic baby.

xo, mo

Throwback Thursday

this was taken over 3 years ago at a Winter Jam concert in what is now my place of residence. I believe we were all sophomores and little did we know that I would eventually not only work at the U of I, but do you see the girl second from the left? yup...I work for her husband.

#smallworld

Five Favorites

Like I mentioned last week, I'm in Portland, OR this week! We arrived this afternoon and spent about 5 hrs hanging out in a pub. So delish. In honor of my travels, I give you....

~ Five Favorite Things About Hotels ~

[1] No water bill! I can take suuuuuper long showers. Love.

[2] CABLE. My house doesn't have an antenna or cable or anything, so having any sort of non-movie broadcast is such a luxury.

[3] HUGE bed. It might not seem like much, but going from a twin to a full or queen feels like heaven.

[4] Iron that works. My iron has black gunk on the bottom and I haven't been able to figure out how to remove/prevent it....I love ironing at hotels! :)

[5] Free coffee!!!!! And cleaning ladies!!!! I love being able to make my very own cup of coffee....fo' free! And coming home to a freshly made bed is fab.

**UPDATE: I didn't turn the TV on once.

What do you love about hotels/travelling?
See what others are saying at Hallie's!

xo, Morgan

Discerning Religious Life - Guest Post

The following is a guest post from a good friend of mine, Hannah, who will be entering religious life with the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Miami, FL. Thank you Hannah for sharing your story with us!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hannah (L) with Mother Adela, SCTJM

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” Luke 1:46-47 

This perfectly describes how my heart feels. I am overjoyed in the Lord and so grateful for the beautiful gift of my vocation.

I first heard the call to be a religious- and was actually open to it- while I was on a mission trip in Miami, FL last summer. While I was on the mission trip I went to an all night prayer vigil put on by the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The vigil is done every year in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary to pray for the sanctification of priests and an increase in vocations. 
It was there that the Lord started asking me to be all His. 

I didn’t really understand that at the time, but I knew I just needed to trust in what the Lord was doing. Throughout the week I was in Miami I kept asking the Lord what was going on. Finally the last day I was in Miami I said to the Lord that if He was calling me one of the Sisters was just going to have to say something to me. No more than ten minutes later I was walking across the street and some of the sisters pulled up in their car. They started getting out of the car and one of the sisters said to me “You’re going to be a nun.” 

WHOA! The Lord could not have been more clear with me!

The Lord has called me to live my vocation with the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

By entering this community I will be participating in the charism “To be a living image and presence of the Heart of Mary in the heart of the Church and place our Marian charism at the service of the Petrine principle.” This means that we are to be other Marys in the world in our loving and faithful service to the Church and to be witnesses to the splendors of the faith and to build a civilization of love and life.

Although I have answered the Lord with an excited and willing ‘yes’ there is still one obstacle to my entrance to the community…my student loans. Actually about half of the aspirants to religious life and the priesthood face the same obstacle. I have been blessed to partner with an organization called The Labouré Society that helps people like me overcome student loans through fundraising. I am fundraising along with 16 other women and men who desire to follow God’s call, but are blocked by student loans.

Will you please consider joining us as we follow the Lord’s call for our lives?

Hannah and Morgan at Winter Jam 2012

Please know of my prayers for you and your family!

If you want more information on The Labouré Society please visit their website!

May the love of the Pierced Hearts reign in your hearts!

Hannah

What I Wore Sunday

Linking up once again with the lovely ladies at Fine Linen and Purple and other more proactive peeps for another WIWS

Most Sundays I attend the 9PM mass at the Newman Center and therefore stay in my jammies all day until I realize around 6PM that I should probably shower...which is why it takes me forever to post these doggone posts because I stay out so doggone late!

This outfit in particular is one of my favorite takes on a casual outfit I wear nearly every day...but today I took it up a notch with a great Goodwill find...

super duper low quality webcam photo.....best shot I could get out of 3 different cameras if you can believe it...

That blazer, originally from Charlotte Russe, was $3.49 at Goodwill! I just about died.

                                                     

my go-with-everything leopard flats....and my I-feel-naked-without-it spoon ring

This Sunday was one of the first times that it hit me that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will no longer be the fearless leader of our Holy Mother Church....I shed a tear or two upon the initial announcement, and when reading/seeing pics from Jenny's son John Paul's encounter with B16, I cried a lot over that....but I don't think it sunk in fully.
But during the Eucharistic prayer, when our priest skipped the "Pope part" and went directly to "our Bishop Daniel..." I literally caught my breath.
And it was loud.
And slightly embarrassing.

But that was the first time I really realized that he was gone.
I know that this doesn't mean that we're abandoned, I know that this is all for the good of us and the Church but it still hurts. I'll miss our German Shepherd.

the deets:
blazer: Charlotte Russe (thrifted)
blouse: Old Navy
undershirt: Fruit of the Loom
flats: Target
spoon ring: Silver Spoon Jewelry
necklaces: Charlotte Russe

click on over to FLAP for other Sunday Funday outfits!

xo, Morgan

7QT (22)

My life is so interesting that I just can't help but share it with the interwebs! But really...some (kinda) good stuff in here....

[1] Our dear B16 is now "Pope Emeritus". I've had to consciously stop myself from reading hateful articles, tweets, comments, etc. regarding our sweet, humble Papa Benny. That being said, I am so proud of some of my very favorite Catholic artists and they're unabashed support and love for the Church, no matter what it does to their fanbase.

Thank God for honest-to-goodness-Catholic and talented musicians who have broken into the "mainstream Christian" music scene. They're making such a difference. Additionally, I have every confidence that the Cardinals will proceed with due diligence and pray that the Lord's will be done. 

[1.5] oh em gee. have you seen his twitter?

[2] Have y'all heard of "Unofficial"? This is a tradition at the U of I which is celebrated by the student body with what is essentially a non-stop 3-day binge drinking fest. The bars all get into it and students from all over the country (seriously.) come in to "celebrate". Campus wasn't too rough this morning, but I did see a couple of scenes like this

...at 9am. Ahh to be young again. jkjk

I almost hit approximately 3 girls, used my horn once, and waited 3.7 minutes for ~14 green-clad party-goers to cross at a stop sign. *sigh*

[4.5] holy crap when did it become March?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[3] NO SPOILERS ALERT! After getting called out by THE Grace Patton, I will be extraextraextra cautious when typing anything. But seriously, that slap on the wrist was rewarded with more than 300 extra visits to my corner of the blogosphere.....soooo perhaps I'll misbehave more often?? ;)

[4] But getting back to the point, The Bachelor this week was a nail-biter.  Of course I read both Ashley's and Shay's recaps before watching it myself, so I knew what was coming, but it was still came as a shock to me that Sean sent AshLee home. Granted, she has them crazy eyes

and perhaps amnesia exhibited by her constant calling him "that man".....
But overall, I thought she was sweet and genuine and maybe they could have made a good match. I give her credit for not pulling a Des on him, but dang I would NOT want to make her mad. Girl be scary!

[5] In other news, I am headed to Portland this week! The NFP I work for is starting a new fundraising plan and we're all headed out there for a training conference. I'm really excited to absorb a bunch of new and helpful information as well as not only visit both Oregon AND Washington, but since I was dubbed Social Coordinator of the trip, we'll be headed to Cannon Beach for our free day on Saturday! I've never been to the Pacific Ocean, but where we're visiting looks like this.

aaaaand today it was 64 degrees. huzzah.

[6] Speaking of heading to Portland, I'm told that it's one of the top cities for hipsters. I really love hipsters.
Also, since we're going to the beach, I'm real excited to hunt around Sat for some fishermen-type sweaters.
Any excuse for a shopping spree at Goodwill!

[7] I'm making Chili for 20 college students tomorrow night. Perhaps I'll start posting my fav fab recipes here...? hmmm

That's all. Riveting, I know. Head on over to Jen's for more QTs!
Have a blessed weekend...hopefully it starts looking like spring soon!!!

xo, mo