schMORGANsborg

I’m not sure anyone else will think this is funny, but go check out Katie’s video here.  That’s my mommy:)  I love you mommy! 

I’ve been thinking about getting a computer of my very own.  I’m currently in the dark ages at my house.  no computer.  no internet.  I sit in front of a computer all day, though.  I’ve never really had the urge to go home and do the same thing….until recently.  I certainly don’t NEED a computer at home, but I think I might want one.  I don’t know.  Is that a good use of my money?  What kind should I get?  I think I want a laptop…so I can be cool and carry it with me like everyone else in the world:)

I hope your’s started off as good as mine:)

…was good.  I loaded up!  My parents are crazy…but I’m ok with that….especially when I’m the beneficiary of it:)  I got a new camera…woohoo!  That was supposed to be all that I got, but parents these days just don’t listen.  They got me a big stand up mixer and I can NOT wait to use it!  My mom also got me a cake decorating book and all different kinds of decorative icing tips…I think she wants me to be a baker:) They also got me a karaoke machine!  Don’t laugh…that joker is going to be so fun!  I can’t wait to have a party so I can force people to make fools of themselves for my amusement:)  My niece, Karson, and I had an impromptu karaoke session Christmas morning and it was quite enjoyable.  I was messing around with it last night trying to figure out how to hook it up to the TV and before I knew what happened I had just sang through 3 songs…in my house…by myself.  Anyway, they got me a whole bunch of other good stuff…I am blessed to say the least!

My mom, dad and grandmother all went to church with me on Christmas Eve and that was so nice.  I love having people to sit with at church:)  Rebecca and her crew did an AWESOME job pulling this service off…there were SO many people there.  Good stuff!

So all in all it was a nice Christmas.  Lots of family…lots of food…lots of presents…and lots of Jesus…in no particular order.

How was yall’s?!  

I had the TV on VH1 last night when I was baking in the kitchen.  They were counting down the top 100 songs of the 90’s.  Here’s a little jewel for your enjoyment full of quality advice like "never trust a big butt and a smile".  Ain’t that the truth.

When I was at my company Christmas party the other night somehow we got on the topic of dreams.  I mentioned that I have a recurring dream that I’ve been having for as long as I can remember.  When I explained the dream 2 other people at the table said they had the same dream!  crazy I know:)

So here’s the dream.  I’m back at good ol CGHS.  It’s just after Christmas break…or some kind of break.  I’m walking down the 600 hall to where my locker is.  When I get there I realize that I have totally forgotten my locker combination.  Like I can’t remember it for anything.  Then the bell rings and I realize that I also have no clue where any of my classes are.  I guess my schedule is in my locker:)  So I spend the whole dream wondering around the school trying to remember what class is next and where I’m supposed to be.  It’s very stressful. 

Does anyone else have that dream?   

I just lifted my hands above my head to stretch and I heard about 10 different things pop….when did that start happening?!

that’s what the lady who cleans my teeth always says to me when she wants me to move…I’m gonna let you turn your head a little to the left.  Really?  That is so kind of you to LET me turn my head.  I’m gonna let you stuff that toothbrush….never mind:)

I hate going to the dentist…if you hadn’t caught on to that.  I never have anything wrong it’s just so uncomfortable….and expensive! 

At one point she handed me a mirror and then proceeded to floss my teeth.  I can only assume that she gave me the mirror so I could watch her floss my teeth, but all I could see was her hand crammed in my mouth.  So instead of "letting" her move her hand I just took the opportunity to get acquainted with the inside of my nose…it was thrilling. 

After all that fun was over she began her usual diatribe about how I needed to get my wisdom teeth out and about how I needed to get orthodontics and a whole list of other stuff that I need.  I kindly told her that I would love to have all of those things done but unless someone else was going to pay for it I was going to have to pass.  To which she responded "I’m sure they have a monthly plan that they can set you up on".  Thanks but I have all the monthly plans I can handle right now.

the no egg cake turned out ok.  I bought another one to take with me just in case, but there was no need. 

Here we all are holding our ugly ornaments…except Mrs. McIver…she’s holding a beautiful Bella:) 

Oh party games…gotta love ‘em.

Tangy and I were the lucky ones. 

Since I have my own kitchen now, I’ve discovered that I really like to cook and I LOVE to bake.  I don’t know why but it’s very enjoyable to me.  I never bothered to try cooking when I was in my parent’s house….so this is a whole new world for me.

I made a cake last night for a party I’m going to tonight.  I got it out of the oven to cool and noticed that it was kinda falling.  Not real bad but enough to cause concern.  As I pondered what the problem could be it dawned on me…I forgot to put the dad gum eggs in!  Sometimes I do the most genius things. 

Kinda reminds me of foods class my senior year.  I was in a group with three guys…Chris Green, Brian Green and David O’Neal.  Being the only girl in the group naturally we all assumed that I would be doing most of the cooking.  The first day arrives and I get to it.  Cookies!  Sounds easy enough.  As I recall the guys pretty much just sat around while I cooked.  When it came time to eat my master piece we all dug in.  Hold up!  Something isn’t quite right about these…mainly the part where they tasted like doo.  Turns out I had forgotten to put the sugar in…whoops.  After that I was demoted from head chef to dish washer.  But I did have three cute boys cooking for me all semester:)

do you ever think about the people that you come into contact with everyday, but you don’t know them?  ok, I just read that sentence and it doesn’t make any sense…I’ll elaborate.  Almost everyday on the way to and from work I pass the same car.  Actually I probably pass a lot of the same cars, but I always notice this one cause it’s the same kind of car I have in a different color…isn’t that cute:)  The only difference in our cars besides the color is that I have a Georgia tag on the front of my car and he has an Auburn tag.  One day I thought I would be friendly and give him a wave.  You know the kind that motorcycle people give…the whole "hey we’re cool cause we both drive motorcycles so let’s wave and let everyone else know how cool we are"….yeah, that wave.  So I waved at him…no response.  I think he was hating on me cause Georgia had just waxed Auburn.  I haven’t had the courage to wave again…maybe I’ll try this afternoon. 

This reminds me of another story…I can tell you’re so excited:)  When I was in college I lived in an apartment with some of my friends.  Well the walls in this place were paper thin.  So I could pretty much hear everything that the guy in the apartment next to ours was doing.  If he was having a conversation…I heard it.  If he was listening to music…I heard it.  If he was…well yes…I heard everything!  Including his alarm clock.  Buddy didn’t like to get up in the morning.  So his alarm clock would go off for forever until he would finally get his butt outta bed.  To add to the awesomeness of being able to hear everything this guy did he always got up earlier than I did…I guess he liked those 8 am classes.  After about 2 days of listening to his alarm go off for 30 minutes I took things into my own hands.  First his alarm clock would go off…I would give him about a minute to respond.  If he didn’t then I would bang on the wall 3 times in 2 minute intervals until he got up.  And it worked….usually after the first bang…on the wall…he was up and at ‘em!  We went on like this for the 2 years that I lived in that apartment.  I was like his mom coming in and dragging him out of bed.  But I never actually knew him.  Of course I would run into guys from that apartment in the parking lot or other places, but I didn’t know who had the room next to mine….so I never knew if it was my morning buddy or not. 

Funny how many different people you come into contact with everyday and you never know what kind of an effect you have on them.  That Auburn guy WILL wave at me.  And I’m pretty sure I made the apartment guy want to beat my head in.  I wonder what kind of an effect I’ll have today.  

in helping out Kelly and Bobby with their new adventure we now have a list of needs….and they would be so appreciative for anything you could do.  Just leave me a comment or email me at morgancollins@hotmail.com for more info.

that was one of the highlights of my life in elementary school!  races, hokie pokie…and the ever popular couple skate.  You actually got to hold hands during that and if you had real skating skills one of you would skate backwards…I never did that.  Come to think of it I don’t know if I ever even did the less cool side by side version either…I can’t remember.  It always looked fun though! 

I went over to Rebecca’s house last night and her daughter Katelynn was at skate night.  Rebecca thinks the skating ring is gross because they have carpeted walls.  I say carpet anywhere but the floor=cool.  The only bad thing I can say about the skate place…aka sparkles for everyone born after 1990…is that I firmly believe there was a conspiracy to make you pee on yourself…I’ll let Rebecca tell that story, but let’s just say that I think the floors were sloped on purpose. 

ANYWAY, when Katelynn got home I asked her if she had couple skated with any boys.  She let me know real fast that was one of the grossest suggestions she had ever heard of.  She asked Rebecca to get some tape for my mouth.  Rebecca informed me that Katelynn highly values her purity to which Katelynn responded "tape it up and throw away the key".  I think she was referring to my mouth, but it sounded like she had come up with a sure fire way to preserve her purity.  There you go parents…tape it up and throw away the key!

what’s going on with Kel and Bob from their perspective check out Katie’s blog.

Just wanted to fill you in a little better about this situation.  Some of you know my good friends Kelly and Bobby Walker.  I went to college with them…lived with Kelly.  They’re my age and they’ve been married for about 2 years I think?  Is that right Katie?  They are two of my most favorite people in the world and I’ve had the privilege the past couple of days of seeing that they are even more awesome than I originally thought.

Bobby has a lot of family up in Maryland.  One of those family members is a cousin.  That cousin has a daughter (I think she has a lot of kids actually, but the little girl is who this is about).  That little girl has been living with Bobby’s grandmother for a while now because the mother….well she just wasn’t able to take care of her.  Bobby’s grandmother died this weekend.  So all of a sudden that little girl has nowhere to go.  As I mentioned there is a lot of family up there, but no one who is in a position to be a good parent to a 12 year old little girl.  So Bobby and Kelly left at 3 am on Monday to drive up to Maryland to see if they could get the little girl.  I’m happy to say that they got home early this morning and are now a family of three. 

This is not a temporary situation until they can find a more permanent solution.  Kelly and Bobby have taken on a 12 year old girl, who they’ve meet a hand full of times, to raise and love for the rest of their lives.  I am floored by their willingness to put their plans and dreams to death for the chance to really do what Jesus tells us to do.  Through them I have seen the beauty of Jesus more clearly this week than I have in a very long time. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve been reading a book about Ruth this past week.  She and Naomi came back to Bethlehem with nothing and no way of taking care of themselves.  But in the mercy of God they found their kinsmen redeemer.  Boaz fulfilled his duty under their law and married Ruth and took care of her and Naomi.  That’s the general idea of the story.  I always saw it as a pretty cool story of a guy who was obedient enough to do the duty he was supposed to do.  (Keep in mind that there was a closer relative in the story that was supposed to redeem them, but he wouldn’t for fear of losing his inheritance to another woman’s child).  The book I was reading about the story of Ruth was very romantic.  It made it seem as if Boaz wasn’t just fulfilling a duty but that he really loved Ruth.  I thought "that’s a sweet story, but maybe not so realistic".  But then I went back and read the book of Ruth again…and this time I noticed things that I never had before.  Boaz was doing more than a duty…he acted out of something other than a compulsion to follow the law.  He basically bent over backwards to make sure that Ruth was taken care of…before he even thought about being her kinsmen redeemer.  So maybe, just maybe he was acting out of love and not just duty.  You see Boaz is a picture of Jesus…our kinsmen redeemer.  And I KNOW that he acted out of love and not just duty. 

I say all that to say that I’ve seen such a beautiful picture of Jesus in Bobby and Kelly’s willingness to redeem this little girl…not just out of compulsion to do the right thing, but out of love.  Out of the hope that maybe they can be a picture of Jesus to her too…a picture she’s never been shown before.  A picture that says there is someone who does love you and who does want you!  

I’m sure this will be a difficult adjustment for everyone involved and I’m sure there will be days when Bobby and Kelly will wonder what in the heck they have gotten themselves into…trust me she’ll wonder that too:)  There will be a lot of hard times…but I’m certain that there will be even more good times…if not in this life then in the next.  

I praise God for the opportunity to live out our faith.  I praise him for giving Bobby and Kelly the courage to be obedient in that opportunity.  I praise him that he gives us picture after picture…not just in the Word, but in life…of how truly beautiful he is.  I praise him that I’ve gotten to watch this from afar.  And above all that I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit this little girl will have eyes to see Who Bobby and Kelly are a reflection of and will fall in love with Him.  Join me in that prayer.             

schMORGANsborg…care of Katie.  Gilly and Donna both came up with strong contenders, but in the end schMORGANsborg won out.  Mostly cause it’s so dumb that it makes me laugh for hours.  You can’t argue with that logic.

So two of my best friends in the world are in the middle of possibly taking on a massive responsibility that will change their lives forever….sorry for the vagueness, I’ll write more on it later.  As a few of us sat on the phone discussing what the best thing to do was we realized that the only reasons we could come up with to not do this certain thing were all pretty selfish.

The conclusion that I came to was "well your life would have completely changed when you had a kid anyway".  I mean that’s what happens right?  All of a sudden life isn’t about you and it totally revolves around that child….or maybe I was just a spoiled little kid.  Either way most parents gladly die to themselves and put the child’s needs and even their wants before their own.  (props to my rents for always doing that).  But then I started to think….I’m already supposed to be doing that.  Doesn’t he say to take up our cross daily and follow him?  What else is the cross, but a vivid picture of death?  Yes, I want to die to myself for my own kids one day, but I should already be doing that today…for all other kids…for all other people.  Jesus doesn’t say that I get to be totally selfish until I have kids and then I have to start making some sacrifices.  He tells me to do that now!  He says that’s the way that people will know that we’re his.   

So basically through the awesomeness of my two friends I’ve realized how much I suck at not revolving my life around me.  As Chris aka John Maxwell said so well yesterday…will we choose excess/comfort or significance.  I chose significance.  Bring me to death Lord!    

I just spilled my entire cup of coffee across my desk.  I love when I do awesome things like that.  Oh monday!