The Happiness Project: Morgan Kennedy Miller Day 4

If you are a regular blog follower and reader you have read many times about my passion and love for dance and heard about one very special lady, Mrs. Kathy Baker. For the past 4 years and some of my middle school dance career I danced under the direction of Mrs. Baker. The things that Mrs. Baker has taught me are things I hope to carry on with me for the rest of my life. I learned what it truly meant to be a team player, how hard you really have to work for it to be hard work, responsibility is important because you will not always have someone to take care of you, and promptness is key. On any given day I am usually about 10-15 minutes early to any event.. lol So below I share with you Mrs. Bakers answers to my Happiness project questionnaire

 

1.  My name is Mary Katherine Baker, but my friends and family call me Kathy.  I share my mom's first name as two Mary's in one house while I was growing up would have been confusing.

2.  I love being the  wife of Brian, mom of Christy and Steven, and Grammy  of Madisyn, Chloe, and our future grandson (Reese, Knox, Nash, or Bennett- name not decided yet).  I love being retired and playing tennis, attending women's bible study group, baking desserts, and playing with my new puppy whom Is training to become a service dog.  Puppy Braxton makes me laugh every  day.  I was fortunate to have a career that I was very passionate about- teaching dance to phenomenal young women.  Nothing better than assisting a group of young women to bond, form goals, and work to meet their challenges and goals.

3.  I love music so much that I have a lot of favorite songs.  Currently I have been jelling to All Of Me by John Legend,  along with Happy, and Timber.  I love just about anything from Journey or Bon Jovi, but Barry White's Your My First, My Last, My Everything,  always gets me.

4.  Besides my God, parents or husband, I have been so influenced by Ernest Oliver Hebson.  I was fortunate to have him teach me from 7th-12th grade.  He took 70 7th-10th grade kids who knew very little about music and developed an award winning band  program of over 300 kids 

by the time I graduated.  He was demanding, had high expectations for us, and never let us doubt that we couldn't be the best. I think a lot of my teaching style came from him.   His HS band has had the opportunity to march in the Macy Day Parade, Orange Parade, Rose Parade, Governor's and Presidential inauguration parades as well as several international invitations.  While he taught us to work hard to be the best,  he just expected us to do our best and to be responsible to each other.

5.  Talk is cheap!

      If you want a friend , be a friend first!

     Act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic. 

      I realize you have heard all of these, and they are pretty basic, but I really do believe them.  

      Ralph Emerson is a little more poetic with "Nothing great was ever achieved without  enthusiasm."

6.   Spending time with my family makes me happy. I also love watching a student develop their potential, especially when they didn't realize that they could make their accomplishment.

7.  We are not made to go through life by ourselves.  Trust in God to lead you and be sure to make sincere relationships.  I would also recommend that young adults realize that the world does not revolve completely around them.  Get out and do something for others. We benefit from helping others.

    Good luck with your 20 before 20!  Be sure to keep in touch as I love hearing about your adventures!  Don't forget , I'll be expecting an invitation to your inauguration when you win your first election.  You are just the woman to do it, even if your it (goal) changes.  Love you girl!

Mrs. B

Wherever life takes me I pray this amazing lady always is a part of it! Happy hump day everyone hope you are having an amazing day and doing big things!

KATE SPADE FLASH SALE!!

You have only three more days to take full advantage of this awesome sale and I must say you need to get over there right now for all the fun goodies! Kate Spade Surprise Sale and tons of awesome items are 75% off!

 I got this super adorable bag for only $75 dollars and wish it was already at my door step.

Every girl needs an awesome pair of sparkly studs and I just got my Kate spade ones for only $19

 

 

Along with my two purchases here I plan on making one more Kate Spade purchase to get this adorable bag as well for only $119. I am waiting though cause I am weighing out how much I really need this bag.. lol

 

Well I have included the link to all my items but there are so many more awesome ones you should go check out! Have a lovely week ladies!!

 

(disclaimer: I only recommend you purchase if you have paid all your bills. I only make purchase I can afford and that are smart for my budget!)

Throwback Thursday: Everlasting Love style

So as I was sitting trying to come up with ideas for what to post on this lovely throwback Thursday I thought I would throw it back to one of my all time favorite post to this day. My faith is something if great importance to me! In the last year and a half I have done some serious growth with my relationship with God and plan on to continue that growth. This past weekend at my church I think they said it best. Growth is intentional and it is constant. We as humans and followers of Christ have to want to make that relationship or it won't happen. So I want to throw it back to my guest post in Seersucker Sass's blog when I gave my testimonial. This is something that when I am having a rough day I always go back on and re-read to remind myself where I was and how far I have come. I hope you enjoyed it the first time and if you didn't catch it here it is again:

Everlasting Love

            Let me start with commending Seersucker Sass on this amazing idea of starting a blog series about God. So many people claim to be Christians, but the truth is being a Christian is more than just saying the word. It’s about waking up each and every day, spreading The Lord's word and all his amazing graces through your actions. I am so excited to share my relationship with God, and I hope that through my stories and experiences, along with the other ladies who appear in the series, we can help other young women find their relationship with him as well.

            When I first sat down to write this blog, I consulted with many individuals, having them read and re-read drafts, probably driving most of them crazy when they saw my email in their inbox, but I want to thank them all dearly for their countless words of encouragement and helping me clearly express all that I wanted to share. I am most gracious to one person in particular that really set out some clear ideas for me. She shared with me that even though many people will not understand the magnitude of my sport, at some point in each person’s life they have felt lonely. Most girls have watched parents, friends, siblings, and social figures such as the Kardashians fill that void with things other than God. Girls my age don’t need to spend the next two decades searching for people, lifestyles, and things to fill this void so that they wake up one day with a broken marriage, wayward children, and in search of the next drink. The decision to follow and love Christ can be made today. I found that decision after leaving behind seven amazing years dedicated to a team that I would give everything to be back with. Dance is what held me accountable in high school, and for that I am ever so thankful for the amazing program I was blessed to be a part of. Dance was my void I was searching to fill when I graduated.  I was a part of a team that when you weren’t there fifteen minutes early your phone rang off the hook with half the team trying to locate you.  I knew that every Friday evening and Saturday morning there was a group of 22 sisters waiting to accomplish the same goal as me, and I knew that whenever I fell of the path, those same 22 sisters would be there to get me back on track. So to one day wake up and no longer have that was one of the scariest moments for me. I feel that  God has blessed me with the opportunity to share my story with you all and I feel honored that he has put his trust in me.

            A little background on who I am before I get started sharing, because I think that’s what makes each story special and important - to know a little bit about the person sharing. My name is Morgan, but most call me Moe. I am 18 years old living what I think is possibly one of the coolest college experiences ever. In my first semester of college, I started an online clothing accessory boutique called Orange Blossom Gals, got a job being the ball girl for the Florida Lottery, scored an internship for this spring with a senator, and made so many other awesome college memories... and my journey has only just begin! My major is communications and political science because {call me crazy} but my hope is to be the first female President of this great country I call home. Being a communications major and a lover of all social media outlets, I thought it was time to learn to blog, which is where my personal blog “Politics, Pearls, and Monograms” came from! I am so honored to be partnering with Seersucker Sass and guest blogging with her and others on a topic that I am so passionate about. So now that you know a little about me here we go…..

            My relationship with God has not always been as strong as it is today, and I am strong enough to admit that. I would say that the biggest growth for my relationship would be throughout my senior year of high school. Your senior year is one of the most stressful years of school in a healthy way. Your senior year is the end to any sports teams, clubs, etc., that you dedicated the last four years of your life to, and sometimes that can be hard to handle. For me, I panicked at the thought of no longer being a member of my schools competitive dance team. So I started doing a lot of soul searching. I know that sounds cliché, but to me, I loved staying busy.  I am a passionate person, so I loved having that one thing to just pour my heart into.

I dabbled in diy projects, reading, and cooking. These activities just never seemed to find my full passion like dance had. A few weeks to the closing of dance, the church I had been going to announced that they would be opening another campus right down the road from me on the lake. My dad had been asked through a family friend to come join him and his wife, so as a family we went. Immediately I fell in love. It was a place of passionate followers of Christ who stood with open arms spreading His word. Each week I took my message notes home and would re-read them periodically throughout the week reminding myself of the message but I was in search of more. I started researching on devotionals and other books to learn more of his word. I became hooked on a series called God’s Girl, and for my first week of college, my parents surprised me with God’s Girl, God’s Girl Devotionals, and my very own leather bound college student bible. Each day I spend at least 15 minutes in one of the books reading about his word. Along with that, I was still able to watch the service via web on weekends that I couldn’t be home, which to me is the coolest thing ever!  A couple of weeks into college, I started wondering what I could do to take my passion for my faith to the next level.

Like I mentioned before, I am a communications major and a lover of all things social media. (My love for social media tends to get me in trouble sometimes, but I am just so intrigued at the impact social media has to society!) I shared verses through my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but I wanted to share more.  Most people pass up a Facebook post that is more than a couple sentences long, and I had a lot to say. So I turned to blogging!  This was something new to me, but like anything else I was eager to try it out! By starting my blog and featuring many posts about my relationship with God, I started to realize many things about myself and the world around me!

When Seersucker Sass mentioned to me her idea about this blog series, she talked about feeling like God had laid the words on her, “begin each day with a grateful heart,” and I can remember the day I had that same very feeling. I was home for the Thanksgiving break and attending church with my family. Our Pastor challenged us to not complain for the rest of the year. He said, “for this next month, that’s only four weeks, I challenge you not to complain about the things in your life, because there are people out there that have it worse.” I listened to that message, and I realized there is a lot of truth to that statement! So my holiday break went, on and the day after Thanksgiving came, which in my house hold is Christmas Decoration Day.  Let me tell you, we have some of the most beautiful decorations! The most prized of them all is our 12 foot Christmas tree. My father and I begin connecting pieces and testing lights, only to find ourselves frustrated - there were sections without lights and parts of the tree didn’t look as full. We played with the idea of getting a new tree when trees starting going on sale, because dealing with this tree was getting old.  All of a sudden, my dad stopped, looked at the tree and said, “You know some people aren’t even fortunate to have a Christmas, let alone a tree.  I not only have a tree, but I have a family to share these memories with, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food on my table, and a little money in the bank.” I stopped to soak in what my dad had said.  His words were so true. So many of us have so much fortune that we discount every day. I now look at each day and find the blessings in each moment more than I ever have, because in that day God reached down on my family to show us that we were blessed more than we knew.

            I hope my blog post, along with all the other lovely ladies, inspires you to take that leap to the next level in your faith. Again I am so honored that Seersucker Sass allowed me to guest blog with her, and I look forward to more opportunities of partnering up. I also hope that you go follow my blog - Politics,Pearls, and Monograms. Thank you again for reading!

Just reading it gives me the chills all over again. It's crazy how life can be when you lay your faith and trust in God's hands. I am thankful every day for all I have been given and cant wait to see where He carries me next!

Yet another milestone!!

YAY I have hit yet another milestone. this is officially my 40th post as Politics, Pearls, and Monograms. Each day and each post I am gaining more and more knowledge about the blogging world and I keep getting more and more hooked. For my my 40th post I thought I would share with you some of my favorite must haves right now!


Shop Hopes: Ok so as many of you know I own my personal online boutique Orange Blossom Gals and lord let me tell you it is every bit of my little girl fairy tale. Being a young college student though I do offer so many awesome affordable and adorable pieces I don't have it all! I have been following on Instagram and twitter lately a boutique named Shop Hopes and let me tell you I have fallen in love. Though it is not the most affordable I scored last week with a flash sale of 75% and got two dresses, two pairs of heels, and two pairs of shorts! Talk about excited <3 I will be receiving the package in the mail any day now and will for sure be sharing all of my awesome goodies with you! I have also started following different reps for Shop Hopes so when I do decide to splurge on an one or two items I can receive 10% off and free shipping which is a killer deal in itself!

Belles_N_Bows: Belles_N_Bows or Brirnee Blevins is one of the most adorable accounts on Instagram and twitter right now. I get a lot of monogram inspiration from her and can't get enough of that adorable baby of hers little Miss. Hanlee! Not only does she own an etsy store she is a Shop Hopes rep and will be who I use for my discount code! Her code is BBREP and you will get 10% off your purchase and free shipping so I highly recommend you use! Belles_N_Bows is a southern sassy girl who is keeping it real with her adorable fashion.

The Gym: Yeah this may sound dorky but part of my new years resolution along with my 20 before 20 was to get fit and seeing as that I am halfway through the year almost its abut time I get my butt to work! I am keeping my gym routine mixed up and fun jamming to oldies to keep myself motivated. I am eating cleaner and healthier cutting out soda and processed foods along with a lot of gluten free and dairy free items. I haven't cut sweet tea out all together yet but I am minimizing my usage lol. I am looking to get started in some fun exercise classes so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear!

Playing house: Ok how I stumbled upon this show I still don't know but I can't stop watching. It is about two friends who have been through it all and one is pregnant about to go through a divorce. So the two friends team up and decided that they will be raising the baby together. It is seriously one of the funniest shows I have seen in a while.

Well I don't want to bore you with to many things cause believe me I could go on forever about things that I love. Keep posted though for my up and coming wrap up of my internship and my summer plans post coming soon!

Blogger dry spell..

I am in a blogging dry spell and need serious help. I have for the past two weeks come to my blog and started a piece and just end up deleting it. I can't seem to write about something I find that sounds interesting or exciting. So I turn to you my readers for help and Ideas. Comment or email me @ politicspearlsandmonograms@gmail.com for your ideas and suggestions. Well I hope you are having a great Tuesday!