HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Today makes two years!! On one aspect, it seems like we just got married, but on the other, it's seems like a lot longer!! We celebrated our special day by going out to a nice dinner and a movie. We went to go see "I Am Legend." It was A LOT scarier than we thought that it was going to be! Eventhough, we had a great time with eachother. I'm so grateful to have such a great husband and marriage. It's been a great two years! Here's to many more!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Finally, I'm back to blogging. I've been meaning to post some pictures of our place all decorated for Christmas.... here's my mantel and Christmas tree.... Enjoy!


The picture really doesn't give the tree any justice. It looks so nice in person. I was so excited to actually be able to use all the Christmas ornaments that I've accrued over the years.

Morgan and I leave for Maine in about a week! We are going to be in shock due to the cold. It's honestly been close to 80 degrees here lately. I guess Old Man Winter is on Vacation....

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Holiday

This Thanksgiving Morgan and I went down to Georgia to be with my family. It was so nice to see all of my siblings. I had not seen my little sister, Lollie, since August. We had a wonderful time just being with each other. It was especially nice to see my niece Mikayla and nephew, Gavin.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I wanted to list a few things that I have been thankful for this year:
- My Religion. I'm not sure where I'd be without it
- My Family. They're everything to me.
- My Job. I feel so blessed to be able to work with kids on a daily basis.
- My Health. When I start to whine about having a cold, I think of those who have much more of a struggle with their health than I.
- My Home. I'm so grateful for where we live. It's perfect for us.
- Lastly, my husband! I am so in love with Morgan. He is such a strength to me. He is my one and only :-).


Morgan and I ventured to the Hunter's Christmas tree farm in search of their beloved honey and to hopefully snap a photo for our Christmas card...
We toke advantage of having my sister their to take pictures - it's very rare that the two of us are in the same picture anymore!

While we were in Georgia, Gavin was blessed. It was so nice to be able to be their on that special day. It was nice to be able to see Rachel's in-laws and to also see my Grandaddy and Aunt. Gavin was great during the blessing! We was awake just looking around at all the men in the circle. Mikayla and Gavin have set the bar high! Both of them while being blessed were quiet as lambs. Let's just hope that their future cousins will do the same.

Rachel, Jeremy, and Gavin. Mikayla was super hyper at this state, thus the fact that she in not in the picture. :-)
What a sweet big sister! Mikayla is so good with Gavin. She always wants to make sure that she knows where he is. Rachel's lucky to have two sweet kids!!

Morgan and I also got to open our Christmas gifts while we were there. It was a little odd feeling opening up our gifts without a Christmas tree and without every one else doing the same. Morgan was excited to get a Blackberry Pearl. He's quite fond of his new toy. I was also excited to get various items for my home. I got an updated version of a Boston Bean Pot with matching bowls from Crate&Barrel. I cannot wait to use them (which will probably be the next time the Patriots play...) I'll post pics, their so cute!!

Yesterday I also decorated my home for Christmas! I love this time of year. I'll be sure to post pictures soon!

My little Cub Scout!

Some of you may have known that Morgan was called to work with the Cub Scouts in the ward. With little experience of his own, he decided that he'd give it all he's got - and he's LOVED it!
He's working with the Wolves. He has about three who regularly come.

















I was surprised to see how excited he was to get his official Cub Scout Den Leader shirt! Now I get to practice and learn how to sew all the patches on correctly. Thankfully I have a mom who is a pro at it!

We are getting ready for the holidays coming up. We're going to Georgia to be with my family over Thanksgiving. I'm rather excited to see them!

Happy Halloween!

I cannot believe that it is already Halloween! It hardly felt like it today while the temperature reached into the mid - 70's. It was fun to have a Halloween day at school. It's fun to see how excited kids get about Halloween! I too was excited for this day - I couldn't wait to make a Boston Red Sox Jack-O-Lantern. I was also excited to make a Ghostly Shepard's Pie! It was soo yummy.

Me with my Jack-O-Lantern
Boston on the Brain
Morgan showing off the Boston Pumpkin
The Ghostly Shepard's Pie

We were sadly surprised to see how few trick-or-treaters we had. The only ones we had were high schoolers who weren't even dressed up. I'm glad that our ward had a truck-or-treat last night so I was able to see some kids all dressed up!

Quick Visit to Georgia...

This past weekend I went down to Georgia! It was really nice this time because of a couple things.... One, I flew! A one hour flight sure beats driving 8 hours!! And two, I got to see my newest nephew! Rachel had her baby about a week ago, and since she had a C-section I was able to plan on being in town just after he was born. He's a darling little boy. Rachel, Jeremy, and Mikayla are really happy to have him in their family. On Saturday it was also really nice, I was able to go to the temple to see my aunt recieve her endowments. It was a really special day and I was so happy that I was able to be with her on that special day.

Morgan and I are hoping that fall comes soon. It's still pretty warm here. We love it when we leave in the morning and there is a crispness in the air.

On another note..... GO RED SOX! Morg and I were so happy to see the World Series SWEEP! Now, we are a little sad that baseball season is over. Baseball is by far my favorite pro sport to watch and I am a little bummed that I won't be able to see anymore games until April.

New Matthews Baby!

Rachel and Jeremy had their baby!!

Gavin Michael Matthews

7lbs. 4oz. 20 1/2 inches long

The little guy

The happy family!

Mikayla looking at her new brother

Nothing like Baseball in October!

So, for the past few weeks the Stinson home has been completely consumed with the Boston Red Sox. This is nothing new to us (we have a picture of Fenway Park in our Living room… sadly this picture is larger than the one we have of Christ…. Yikes!) IT’S OCTOBER!! It’s the time of year that baseball is at its best. An of course, the Red Sox are doing what the do best… WINNING! So, on these special nights that the games are on, Morgan and I cook beans & hot dogs, pull out our Red Sox glasses and enjoy our superstitious meal (Morgan insists!) as we watch the Red Sox do their best.

The Proud Picture of Fenway Park! (I toke the picture myself!)
Big Papi doing what he does best... HOME RUN!

On game days Morgan and I dawn our Boston apparel to make sure that all we come in contact with know who we support! I was at the Grocery Store last week and had a Boston Red Sox shirt on and the guy who was checking me out said "Oh, I'm sorry that your a Red Sox fan." I said, "Why is that?" He went on to talk about how he was a Yankees fan..yada yada yada... Then I pulled out my one and only Red Sox/Yankees Joke (which I say put him in his place!) The joke goes... "What's the difference between a Yankee Dog and a Fenway Frank?" (these are the hot dogs they serve at their respective ball parks)................... Here's the punch... "They don't serve Yankee Dogs in October any more!!" Oh, I love it. I love being married to a hopelessly devoted Red Sox fan. I think that if it were up to him we'd name a son Boston. (which I love the name, but due to the Red Sox fan thingy... it would be a little odd!) So, here's to all the Red Sox out there.... GO SOX!

I love Pre-K!

Some pictures of my class.... The Blog is underneath them!!

At the Art Table
In the Science/Math Area
Some of the boys in the house area. My classroom during center time.

I wanted to dedicate a post to how much I love Pre-K! I am teaching Pre-K now, and am loving every minute of it!! There are 18 kids in my class. I am amazed by how much fun I am having. The eagerness these children have to learn is inspiring. I love when you teach and teach something and then days later the child some how shows you that he's grasped the concept. Example: Last week we were working on the letter A and the number 1. This week we were working on the letter B and the number 2. There is this boy in class, Jorge, who is Mexican, but is picking up English very well. Today right before they were to go home, he has a book out (the infamous Cat and the Hat). He says to me in his cute Mexican accent "Miss Emily - one! two! A! B!... he was pointing out these letters and numbers on the page. It made my day!! Here he is Jorge- who is just learning English - showing me what he's learned!! I LOVED IT!! I love teaching!!!

Other than this, Life is going great! Morgan is on fall break - sadly I think that he will be doing school work during the bulk of it, such is the life of a grad student. The weather is finally cooling down. It's so funny to see people wrapped up like eskimos when it's 55-60 degrees outside in the morning. I hope it says cool!! Morg is staying pretty happy with success of the Boston Red Sox. Nothing like baseball in October!! My sister Rachel is going to be having her baby pretty soon. Only about a week left. I'm flying to Atlanta two weeks from today. I'm getting really excited to see the new addition to the family. I'm also really happy to be flying rather than driving! An 1.5 hour flight is much better than an eight hour drive any day!

My house (the downstairs)

Backyard Patio

Our Kitchen (Note the table top made by my grandpa!)

Our Living Room with our massive Love Sac

So, here are some pictures of the downstairs of our townhouse. We are really enjoying it so far. We've bbq'ed a good bit on the patio already. I think we will even more when it gets a little cooler outside. Our furniture is so comfy. We are happy to have it at last!

Has it been a month?

I cannot believe that I haven't posted in almost a month! Morgan and I have definitely become much more busy lately! Morgan is starting his thesis. . . along with work and school! He is also working with the Cub Scouts in our ward. He's going to have a lot of fun with the 8 - year olds!
I've started working! I'm teaching Pre-K and am LOVING it!! I enjoy circle time and all the fun things that we do in class. My day starts at 7am. It's nice working early, and since I really don't get a lunch hour (which I almost prefer) I'm done with work by 3pm daily!! I am also working with the Young Women's now. I'm in with the Mia Maids. I have just three girls, but it's been a lot of fun so far. I'm also starting the preparations needed to start a Master's program next year! I'm applying to the Masters in Teaching at ECU. It's just one calendar year, which makes it really appealing! Hopefully everything will go well with that.

We finally have all of our furniture! It's taken long enough, but that's OK. I'll post pictures once I take some! I think now we are completely settled. (such a sigh of relief). It's been a lot of fun setting up house.

Cooler weather is here! I think this past week was the first week since moving here that the temperature didn't reach into the 90's or high 80's. I love fall and all the things it brings. Morgan is anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Red Sox Baseball season. We are also enjoying BYU football! We've found some more BYU Alums in the ward, we get together to watch the games. It's fun. But mostly, I love the crispness in the air, fall foliage, and cooler evenings.

Hope all is continuing to go well with you. I'll try to be better at posting!

Moving, furniture, DIY

So, Morgan and I have recently moved to North Carolina. Besides the sweltering heat and humidity, we are absolutely loving it. I parents and sister, Laura, came up last week to help us settle. It was so nice to have them up here. Our place looks so much better due to their help!!

Morgan and I bought new furniture! Although, it hasn't been delivered yet(it's taking FOREVER!). Here are some pictures....
I LOVE the armless chair. Hopefully they will be delivered this week, (I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I had my first attempt with "see it on HGTV, and make it" as well. We didn't have a headboard and I have seen many times in HGTV (my fav. channel) how to make upholstered headboards, so I decided to make one! With some help from just about everyone, it's made! I'm so impressed with the way it came out... here's a pic

It's made with UltraSuede material. It also has covered buttons on it, giving it that classy look.

Right before the family went back to Georgia we went to Wilmington Beach. It was so nice! I think that Morgan and I are going to enjoy living so close to the Atlantic!


Morgan is getting ready to start school on Wednesday. This is his last free weekend for a while. He's pretty excited though.

Well, I gotta run, I'll post more later!

And We're Baaack!

So, I figured that the reason why I haven't posted in the last 3 months (yikes!) is that I've been having SO much fun! (Plus, I haven't gotten in the habit of posting...)

After graduation Morgan and I packed up our belongings shipped it across the US to North Carolina. We went to Georgia for about 6 weeks. He and I drove to Georgia nonstop (since our hotel money went towards an unexpected first speeding ticket for Morgan in Nebraska). Nonetheless, we enjoyed the roadtrip! While we were there we had a great time spending time with the family. We went up to my Grandparent's house in Ellijay. While there Morgan, Lollie, and I hiked all the way to the top of Amacalola Falls (It's the beginning of the Appalachian Trail) Morgan and I also went to a Braves Game. We also had a lot of fun by going to Grandma and Grandpa's pool and also going to Rachel's pool to play with Mikayla. Mom and I drove upto Greenville so I could scope out the place where we'll be living. We found a townhouse and placed a lease on it! I was relieved to know that I have a home when we move there! When we got back, we got ready to go on VACATION! But out highlight of our time in Utah was, simply having a blast with our time with my family!!

After our time in Georgia had passed, my whole family toke our biannual trip to Seaside Beach in South Carolina. We stay in the same house and everything. It was nice to have Morgan as a husband this time around. Seaside Beach is pretty special to us, since that is where Morgan surprised me by being there without my knowledge to propose to me! We spent our days being beach bums getting sunburned (see photo of Lobster Morgan) and our evenings having boys vs. girls games nights. Mikayla was so much fun at the beach! She loved the water, making sand castles, and looking for sea shells. We had a family portrait made by the pier via Dan's contraptions. There was actually no one behind the camera! He had a remote. We thought that was pretty cool. We really had a great time and can't wait until our next vacation there!

After the Beach, Morgan and I drove the 20 hours (nonstop once more) to Orono, Maine! For the first time, I saw a bit of New York City. I see why it's called the city that never sleeps. When we were drving through Lower Manhattan at midnight, there was a traffic jam!! I was also surprised once we got into the state of Maine at about 3:45 while I was driving the sun started to come up! By 4:15 the sun was up!! (this made it much easier to stay alert!!) I was fabergasted. While here, we have had a great time spending time with Morgan's parents. It's been nice for me to get to know and love them much more. We kayaked one day to our "Private Island" and spent the day relaxing and reading books. We saw a Bald Eagle that day! We have also gone Strawberry picking (for the first time for me). They were the sweetest strawberries! We picked 40 quarts! (we probably ate a quart or two while picking them) It doesn't get any fresher than that! Morgan has enjoyed working with his dad and going to the gym and golfing together. I've been working through a temp agency and have mainly been working in downtown Bangor. I've really enjoyed poking aroung during my lunch hour. There are a lot of neat little shops and bakeries.

Well, know our summer is nearing over. We are moving to North Carolina next week. We are getting pretty excited. We thankfully have a place to live in a nice area and Morgan has school and a job lined up. (I'm still working on the job thing). We'll keep you posted!