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Liebster Award Nominee!

by Simply Megan JoyLeave a Comment on Liebster Award Nominee!

Hey, everyone! I have been nominated for the Liebster Award by P.S. It’s Peri! She has a great blog about being homeschooled through high school. You can check it out here!

Liebster Award Logo

The Liebster Award is an award passed around from blogger to blogger. The word Liebster is German, meaning sweet, kind, nice, dear, lovely, pleasant, valued, and endearing. Here are the rules for this award.

1.   Thank your nominator and provide a link to their blog site. (Don’t forget to tell me

    when you post your answers so that I can read them!)

2.   Answer the questions presented by the nominator.

3.   Nominate several other bloggers and write them some new questions.

4.   List the rules and display the Liebster Award logo on your post.

Peri’s Questions

What’s something you’re passionate about and why?

One thing that I’m passionate about is music. It’s powerful, inspiring, encouraging, motivating, and memorable. Whether it’s a hymn, bluegrass song, jazz tune, classical composition, or movie score, all music has a purpose. As I answer these questions, I am listening to the soundtrack of “Little Women” on Spotify. It brings such joy to my heart that I can’t explain! I could never imagine a life without hearing or making music.

One weird food you like?

Hmm. . . A weird food that I like? I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary, but I do seem to be obsessed with chocolate milk. I often get a quart bottle and drink the whole thing on car rides.

Favorite part of the day?

I’d have to say that early afternoons and dusk are my two favorite times of day, especially in the summer.

Favorite holiday?

Easter is my favorite holiday for sure! It’s the time we celebrate the most important event in history, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Without this happening, Heaven couldn’t be our eternal home. Easter also comes with the springtime, which makes it all the more wonderful.

A random fact about you?

A random fact about me is that I love history. I find it so fascinating and captivating. It’s exciting to learn about the times in which my ancestors lived. I’m always dreaming of the bygone days.

My Nominees

Ruffles and Grace

A Farm Girl’s Life

Forever and Everly

A Peculiar Messenger

My Questions for the Nominees

1)      What’s your favorite tropical animal?

2)      What are two fiction books that you couldn’t live without? (For those of you who are 

           authors, preferably choose books that were written by someone else, even if yours

           are awesome!)

3)      If you had to decorate a cake, what would it look like?

4)      What is the most important thing you have accomplished in your life thus far?

5)      What are your top three movies?

6)      If you had to choose between living in the past or the future for a week, which would

          you choose? Why?

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How would you answer these questions?

Anyone can comment below with their answers, too! I’d love to read them!

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Megan Joy

 

 

 

 

Holiday, Random

A New Beginning: 2017

by Simply Megan Joy4 Comments on A New Beginning: 2017

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Wait a minute! It can’t be the end of 2016 already. It just started a few months ago, right? It seems impossible that another new year is ready and eager to take the wheel and label 2016 as history! This past year held so many events, emotions, stories, people, words, and thoughts in my life. It was a time for learning and growing, happiness and joy, and sorrow and heartache. Though I can’t truthfully say that I had continuously remembered that God was in control all 365 days in 2016, I can now look back at the year and know that He was and IS in control.

Now we must embark on a new adventure: 2017. The train has reached the station so we must step off and board the next one, with carpet bag in hand, and chin held high. With the new year, we must all change our calendars, re-train ourselves to write a different number at the end of every date and make New Year’s resolutions that we pledge to keep, when really…they usually only last a month. Yet, a new chapter of our lives must commence, whether we’re ready for it or not.

Looking beyond the unknown aspects of a new year, I find a new beginning a wonderful thing to have once a year! It’s a time to set new goals and strive to accomplish certain tasks. For me, some of those goals are learning how to crochet a hat, getting better at horseback riding, or practicing Irish dance more! This year, I have made a list of all the things I would like to accomplish before 2017 is over. I know that I won’t complete them all, but I’m okay with that.

The one thing that I would most like to accomplish this new year, is to remember that God is good, He is in control, and He knows what’s best.

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See you next year in 2017!

P.S. I’ve got a special new series coming up for the new year! Check back on Monday the 2nd to see what’s in store!

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Does is seem like the year just flew by to you, too?

Have you ever written the wrong date throughout the month of January because you forgot that the year had changed?

What goals have you set for 2017?

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Megan

Holiday, Random

Merry Christmas!

by Simply Megan Joy3 Comments on Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas, everyone! It’s Christmas Eve and all is busy-busy – getting ready for tomorrow’s celebration! Wrapping presents and finishing the last bits of decorating always puts that excitement of my second favorite holiday in my heart. I’m so thankful for the many blessings God has given me this Christmas season to celebrate His son’s approx. 2,012 Birthday!

Every year at Christmas we read Luke, chapter 2, verses 1-20. I’ve just about memorized the whole thing by accident. Reading the history of Jesus’ birth will always be special!

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Does your family have any special Christmas traditions?

Have you ever read Luke 2 and imagined what it was like for Mary or the shepherds?

Megan Joy

1940s, Dresses, Sunday Bests, Vintage Fashion

Sunday Bests // The Rust Colored Garment

by Simply Megan Joy3 Comments on Sunday Bests // The Rust Colored Garment

Hello everyone! It’s time for Sunday Bests again! I have been waiting to wear this dress ever since I found it in the Summer. I bought it at a flea market for a few dollars and fell in love. The shape reminded me of a dress worn by Katharine Hepburn in the 1938 movie “Bringing Up Baby” (one of my favorite movies)!

It was hand-sewn by someone many decades ago and has a zipper down the front, a sort of turtle-neck collar, a belt, and an odd extra bit of fabric which I think is to be worn as a tie? I left that part out, realizing it was never going to look right, anyway,

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These earrings once belonged to my Great Aunt Annie and I just love wearing them. They’re little white roses carved out of wood, and they are probably many years older than the dress!

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Here I am, staring into the sunset, which I wouldn’t recommend.

So, this is a very oddly designed dress, and scratchy, and I can’t lift my arms above my head in it, but I still love it. It makes me feel like such a vintage soul.

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Dress: thrifted, flea market

Hat: Kohl’s

Shoes: Payless

Earrings: once my Great Aunt’s

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Did you ever find an odd piece of clothing at a flea market?

Have you ever seen the 1938 movie “Bringing Up Baby”?

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Megan Joy

Inspiration for the Day

Inspiration for the Day // Discovering Hope and Joy

by Simply Megan Joy2 Comments on Inspiration for the Day // Discovering Hope and Joy

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Hello again! Today I wanted to write an inspirational post to begin a new series called “Inspiration for the Day!”

One day I was tackling some schoolwork when I glanced out the open window. The property border was thickly lined with tall trees that swayed in the wind. They distributed their crisp yellow leaves in the gusts, sending each golden parcel down to Earth in little flurries. The busy robins sprung around on the grass content with their melodious chorus. A sunset was blazing in the distance, sending warm rays in streams between the tree trunks. For at least five minutes, all I could do was abandon my blaring lap-top screen and gaze out into the woods with ever hopeful eyes. I didn’t know what I was hoping for and perhaps I never will. I was daydreaming alright, at my usual daydreaming window. Many of my books I’ve written have been founded on that sunset. It just cries hope.

The moment I looked away and returned to my typing, that hope called me back again. It whispered in song and drew my attention back to the sunset. What was this hope? Why had it come? Who had sent it?

The answers are simple. The hope was a gift of encouragement. It was given because I needed it, and it had come from the Lord. Only the power of God can captivate our hearts with a fiery planet in the sky, with towers of wood shielded in bark, and with feathery creatures. These things give me joy and hope because they’re God’s gift. I wasn’t aware that I was in sore need of hope and joy that evening because I was occupied deep within the depths of LIFE. But God knew that I needed it, and He sent it right to me, before I even had a chance to ask for it.

I guess my advice to go with this little story is, “Life is going to get you down, but don’t let it take away all your hope and joy. God will supply all your needs and will send you bundles of joy and parcels of hope. All we have to do is keep an eye out, receive His encouragement and reassurance, and say thank you. We shouldn’t let the busyness of life take away all our joy, nor let it devour all our hope. That’s not how God meant our lives to be.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13

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What gives you hope & joy?

Do you ever sit and daydream out of a window?

Do you have any advice for finding hope & joy?

Comment!

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Megan Joy

1950s, Skirts, Sunday Bests, Vintage Fashion

Sunday Bests // A Tad 1950s

by Simply Megan Joy2 Comments on Sunday Bests // A Tad 1950s

Hello again! I’m back for Sunday Bests, a series filled with the outfits I wear to church. Last week was crazy and brimming with things to do. You know those kind of days; when the only thing that gets out you of bed is the thought that you can get back in it after 16 hours of life. I find that whenever my schedule is overflowing, one of the first things to float away is time to put together a good outfit. I managed to piece this outfit together right before we had to leave for church and loved it so much that I wore it all day. In my neck of the woods, Fall has finally arrived and has chilled the air down to coat temperature, so this outfit kept me nice and warm.  Without further ado, here is a tad 1950s outfit!

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I love all the accessories that go with this outfit. The scarf, pin, and belt complete the Laverne and Shirley look. After a Sunday night bluegrass concert, we stopped at McDonalds for drinks. I’m not joking when I tell you that “Rock Around the Clock” was playing as we sipped our sodas! I just wasn’t brave enough to get up and start a jive 🙂

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I’m actually wearing my belt inside out and backwards. I didn’t have a black belt, so I took one with bright red Chinese dragons on it and turned it inside out and used the black side, putting the jeweled buckle in the back which was covered by my hair. (Another good reason for long hair!)

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It’s just lovely when you walk into your Sunday School room and find a table full of flowers to take home! This bunch matched the band around my sleeves and coat buttons perfectly. To me, flowers are more than just some extra color. Flowers are happiness!

Little yellow flowers

Dancing in the breeze

Little yellow flowers

Huddled round the trees

Little yellow flowers

Seemed to know my pain

Little yellow flowers

In my mem`ry will remain

–Valerie Dohren–

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Today was an autumn 1950s day filled of  flowers, a bluegrass concert, and a Happy Days enthused McDonald’s visit! Can Sundays get any more interesting?

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Skirt: thrifted

Sweater: thrifted

Shoes: Payless

Pin: thrifted

Scarf: My mom’s

Belt: thrifted

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Do you like the 1950s styles and TV shows?

Do you see flowers as more than just some extra color?

Do you have any useful clothing hacks?

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Megan Joy