Life: July 2020

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 4 Comments

Life_ July 2020

Soooooo July happened.

Straight up though, I really do feel like all of my Life posts are blending together. I’m trying my best to make sure I post about something other than my increasingly-boring corona summer life. (IDK guys, is it boring? Should I stop doing these posts?)

– Friends

I spent a lot of time this July going on big mountain bike trips with my dad and brother and also with my guy friend D. We did a 50 kilometer (that’s 32 miles) bike trip in early July:

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in black and white so you can’t see our faces 🙂

And here’s another one where I went with my dad and brother:

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Alaska: the most gorgeous place you could ever live

Hammocking is kinda like a sport here, and we did a lot of that too.

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look at my tie-dye hammock ahhhhh it’s so aesthetically pleasing :))

Oh wait, here’s a picture from yet another bike trip:

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hehehe D is a good photographer

Anyway, I’m going biking with D again tonight.

While we’re on the subject of friends, I had a few rough experiences with a specific friend this summer and I realized it was too unhealthy for us to continue to have a relationship and I’m no longer talking to her. If you’ve had to let go of friends recently to protect your mental health, just remember that you’re not alone! A lot of people have had to do that, unfortunately. The pandemic has caused huge divides that extend beyond our communities and states . . . they reach other states and countries. Sometimes you have to let go of people, but remember to extend grace and ask what YOU could be doing for others.

– Family

For Independence Day I cooked a huge dinner for everybody. We didn’t go to any barbecues but unfortunately a lot of other people did and we wound up with a HUGE Covid spike in Alaska. Our restrictions got a lot worse because people are *cough cough* having a veryyyyyy difficult time following rules. Oh yeah, my brother also had to get tested for Covid because he has some medical issues and was having a hard time breathing one day (and had low oxygen levels as well) so my mom took him to the doctor and he was tested. It took about ten days to get results back and it was negative, fortunately, but we had to quarantine better that week just in case.

– School

Ahaha, we’re back to having school be a part of my Life posts . . . school is starting in just a few weeks. Our district is going back online-only after an original plan of going three days a week. That’s kinda a bummer but I totally respect and understand why they made that decision. This school year is going to be a lot of work and I’m going to have to make a lot of big decisions and really stay on top of stuff. Even though I’m not happy about the prospect of online school, I cheered myself up by getting a cute new binder and decorated it with stickers. I also ordered my planner for the year, which I always do to stay on top of things. 🙂

– Skiing

I’ve sort of neglected ski training a little bit and switched to mountain biking more frequently. Skiing was kind of stressing me out and I lacked a lot of motivation, so my decision to cut back on training was a good thing for me. I still rollerski all the time and do strength training, but biking brings me a lot of joy and I’m really glad I’m making more time for that as well.

– The good stuff

  • I made these really cool Spotify-inspired decorations for my room (tutorial coming soon, guys!)
  • My mom and I FINALLY painted my trim and y’all it literally looks soooooo good, I’m so happy with it
  • I got a drinkbelt for rollerskiing (it’s like a fanny pack for skiing) so now I can stay hydrated on long skis – I know this doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s hard to keep up the pace when you’re dying of thirst
  • Our library opened for curbside pickup so I’ve been doing a lot of really good reading!
  • Our yard has looked so nice and we’ve had a lot of really great sunny days, like this one:
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look at my handsome boy, y’all

– July favorites

What I’ve been listening to:

  • Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” album
  • Gabby’s Barrett’s “Goldmine” album (review here)
  • “Send Me on My Way” by Boy Meets Girl
  • “Budapest” by George Ezra
  • “Buttercup” by Jack Stauber
  • “the 1” by Taylor Swift (did you guys even know she released an album? no one talked about it because corona-related news took over the media)
  • the “Watermelon Sugar” cover by Avenue Beat and Maddie & Tae
  • “Everywhere I’m Goin’ by Avenue Beat and Maddie & Tae

Shows I’ve been binging:

  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine (I finally finished it last night, all seven seasons!)
  • Atypical

Books I’ve been reading:

  • the System Divine series by Joanne Rendell & Jessica Brody (10/10 RECOMMEND Y’ALL)
  • Again Again by E. Lockhart
  • Brave Enough, Olympic Nordic skier Jessie Diggins’ autobiography (lol I read an autobiography guys, it was really good though)
  • the Glittering Court series by Richelle Mead

Haha this post was sort of short but like I said, the days really blend together. Catch you next week!

How was your July?

XOXO,

Morgan

Scrunchie Style Lookbook | Two-Fifty Scrunchies!

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 2 Comments

Hello my scrunchie-wearing readers!

At least, I hope you wear scrunchies. If you don’t, no judgement, but if you would like to know where to get some, look no further!

Natalie of Taking the Cake started an Etsy shop, TwoFiftyScrunchies, where she sells high-quality, functional, and stylish scrunchies. I absolutely love Natalie’s scrunchies. The colors are super vibrant and they compliment all of my clothes super well. She sent me some in exchange for a little review, and I decided to do my first lookbook featuring her scrunchies! Thanks, girl!

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The point I would like to make is that these scrunchies can go with anything. My friends and I wear scrunchies year-round at school. Here’s one of Natalie’s scrunchies (from her Grape Juice scrunchie pack) paired with a tee-shirt and shorts.

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Here’s one of her key lime scrunchies with my favorite black flowered romper!

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And finally, another Grape Juice scrunchie paired with a fall outfit (that familiar chill is approaching, guys . . .)

If any of you are looking for some lovely scrunchies, go check out Natalie’s shop!

XOXO,

Morgan

An Honest Review of Gabby Barrett’s Album, “Goldmine”

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 4 Comments

Hey y’all! Happy Monday!

Last summer I did my first album review on SS&SS (one of my first posts, actually). This album was “GIRL” by Maren Morris and you can check out the review here. I haven’t done another album review since then because, in all honesty, I haven’t discovered an album where I actually liked the majority of the songs since then. I’ll admit, I’m picky about my music – but then, who isn’t?

 

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not my image

 

Gabby’s music reminds me a lot of Maren’s. It’s country-meets-pop and is created by a wonderful female artist. Gabby is quickly becoming one of my favorite singers and her latest album, “Goldmine,” did not disappoint.

While I had to include a disclaimer in my review of “GIRL,” “Goldmine” is a very clean album. I’ve never encountered profanity in any of Gabby’s songs (don’t quote me on that, I may have missed one), so I honestly think her music is appropriate for any age.

Let’s start with the song “I Hope.” This song has been playing on both country and pop stations since it was released in July 2019. Gabby included a remake of “I Hope” that she dueted with none other than Charlie Puth. Personally, I like the duet even more than the original. This is by far Gabby’s most famous song – it’s about a scorned ex-girlfriend who discovers her ex got together with another girl.

I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive
I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night
I hope you never ever felt more free
Tell your friends that you’re so happy
I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans
I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand
I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams
She’s everything you’re ever gonna need
And then I hope she cheats
Like you did on me

10/10 very catchy.

“Write It on My Heart” is probably my favorite song from this album. Gabby sings about leaning on the person you’re in love with and letting them see all of the parts of your life, good and bad.

Give me all your secrets
Give me your hometown
Give me meet your mama
Don’t leave nothin’ out
Everything that came before me
Even all the broken parts
Every chapter of your story
Write it on my heart

It’s a super sweet song with a beautiful message. With the exception of “I Hope,” which is written with a slightly more vengeful tone, all of Gabby’s songs have good messages. “Footprints On The Moon” is about how anything is possible, considering people have literally walked on the moon. “Jesus & My Mama” is about how Gabby refuses to change herself for any boys – after all, Jesus and her mama love her, and that’s what’s important. “You’re the Only Reason” and “Hall of Fame” are, sticking with a classic theme in country music, about true love.

My one complaint about “Goldmine” is the very co-dependent message that one of the songs sends. Check out the lyrics to “Rose Needs a Jack.”

We all should have somebody
Makes us feel like we’re somebody
Every me needs you, every pair needs two
Every June needs a little Johnny Cash
Every Rose needs a Jack
Makes you dance, makes you smile, makes you laugh
Every Rose needs a Jack
That’ll love you if it all goes bad
Every Rose needs a Jack

Personally, I dislike how Gabby says that all girls need a boy in their lives. It’s not true at all, and let’s be honest, some girls don’t even want a boy by their side. If you do, great. If you don’t, also great.

I do appreciate how Gabby mixes this message up a bit with “Strong.”
Lovin’ somebody more than my own breath

Knowin’ that I’m right where he belongs, oh

Bein’ home in the arms of my best friend

Where the light always stays on

That’s where I feel strong, oh

That’s where I feel strong, oh

See the difference? In “Strong,” the man Gabby loves is complimenting who she really is. She can do anything she wants without him, but when she’s with him, she feels even more powerful.

To wrap this up on a good note, check out “Got Me,” featuring Shane & Shane. This is one of the few songs in the album that doesn’t discuss boys.

Nothing can separate me from amazing grace
Jesus, you’re all that I need
If everything falls apart and I don’t know where to start
You bring me back to my knees
‘Cause you’re good
And a God who’s got me
Who’s got me

It’s more like a worship song, in all honesty.

To wrap this review up, go check out Gabby Barrett’s album, “Goldmine.” Of course, you should consult with your parents first, and just remember that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

And if you need more country-meets-pop music by another talented female artist, here’s another link to my review of “GIRL.”

Have a great week, everybody!

What do you think of Gabby Barrett? Do you like country-meets-pop?

XOXO,

Morgan

Life: May / June 2020

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 5 Comments

May _ June

Better late than never, right? I got to mid-June and realized that I still needed to do my post for May and basically decided to combine them. May was pretty slow and basically nothing happened anyway, so if I add in June there are more stories to tell. 🙂

– Friends

So May was kinda cool, I celebrated my birthday and was able to have some friends over to hang out in the backyard with me. We played Heads Up! and ate cupcakes and it was overall very fun. I’ve gotten to see my friends a lot more and reconnect and do a ton of activities outside so that’s a big yay!

Recently my friends and I have been hammocking a ton with our lovely Eno hammocks. We bike on some of the trails in town and then go off the trail and into the woods and usually get eaten alive by mosquitoes, but it’s all in good fun. We just have to remember to take bug spray.

– Quarantine

Quarantine is pretty much coming to a close in Alaska. Our state reopened so we can go to restaurants, shops, and pretty soon, church. My family in general still isn’t eating out (unless it’s something like pizza) or doing shared food which is slightly awkward at barbecues but oh well. Unfortunately, a lot of cities have had to mandate masks because literally NO ONE wears them so that’s blown up and sparked a ton of debates in my state. At least we can be safe inside now.

My family decided to have me and my brother stop going to youth group though, because a lot of people at my church are way too comfortable getting way too close to other people. That’s really sad to me because now I can’t hang out with my friends at my youth group or help out with the younger kids at our middle school youth group. But I’d rather be safe than sorry, you know?

– Skiing

Ski training continues! I’m hiking, downhill biking, doing core exercises, and rollerskiing to prep for swim and ski season. (That reminds me, today is interval day 😉 I think all of my training is really paying off and I feel a lot stronger . . . plus when I flex in the mirror I actually look kind of muscular . . . don’t tell anyone. 😂 I went rollerskiing with a few guy friends the other day and one of them got their pole stuck in a storm drain and it snapped in half . . . so stuff like that happens. Oops.

– Storytime 😬

My brother and dad and I are very into downhill mountain biking and we go all the time. For a while, we were going around five nights a week. About four weeks ago, my dad sent it a little too hard on a jump and the back of his bike hit him from behind and he went down really hard. I was right behind him, so I braked really hard, almost running into him, and helped him pull his bike off the trail. Later that night, at around midnight, I heard this huge crash from upstairs and I got out of bed. Turns out, my dad had a HUGE bruise on his lower stomach and the blood had drained out of his head and to his stomach, causing him to pass out. What worse is he pulled my mom’s dresser on top of himself as he fell, and it was on half of his body. My mom called 911 and eight paramedics showed up at our house with an ambulance and two fire trucks. It was extremely scary, but my dad didn’t need surgery or anything. And now he’s back to biking, although he has to go kind of slow and be careful.

So that was our excitement for June!

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– The good stuff

  • I went camping with one of my friends and her family and my family the other week and it was super nice to not have to social distance with them as much . . . their family is super careful like ours so we’re more comfortable around each other 🙂
  • The weather has been amazing, it hit 75 on the Fourth of July!
  • Speaking of the Fourth, I had a massive food coma . . .
  • We did do takeout for something other than pizza for Father’s Day – we got Thai food, and it was DELICIOUS after four months of not eating it (although the time before that I got food poisoning, so it was a nice little break, lol)
  • We sold our old minivan and now my Subaru has an actual parking spot in the driveway 😂
  • I redid the photo light string in my room, the one you can check out in this post, with updated pictures of this last school year!
  • I GOT CHACOS FOR MY BIRTHDAY (those are shoes, by the way, lol)

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– May / June favorites

What I’ve been listening to:

  • “Summer Feelings” by Lennon Stella ft. Charlie Puth
  • “Miracles” by Colton Dixon
  • “Worth It” by Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink
  • “Savage Love” by Jason Derulo
  • all of Gabby Barrett’s album, “Goldmine”

Shows I’ve been binging:

  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Outer Banks
  • Dead to Me

Books I’ve been reading:

  • the Scythe series by Neal Shustermann
  • re-reading the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber
  • Chateau of Secrets by Melanie Dobson
  • not a ton of reading this month, unfortunately . . .

That’s about it for May and June! I hope everyone in the US had an amazing Fourth of July!

How’s everyone’s summer going? Are your quarantine restrictions lifting? How was your Fourth of July?

XOXO,

Morgan

 

Sunshine Blogger Award (Thanks, Faye!)

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 2 Comments

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Long time no see! Well, not that long I suppose. I’ve been outside, enjoying our beautiful summer (I hope y’all are doing the same).

Faye nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award – my first award on SS&SS! Thank you so much Faye. Go check out her blog, everyone!

The rules are as follows:

  • Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
  • Answer the 11 questions given to you.
  • Nominate 11 other bloggers and write them 11 new questions.
  • List the rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your blog post.

The questions for me:

What is your favorite song and why?

My favorite song changes on a regular basis, but the one I keep coming back to is “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid. I love Ed Sheeran’s voice and for some reason the lyrics in this song really resonate with me. The beat is also great!

Favorite book series and why?

My all-time favorite is The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick. The series is middle-grade fiction and I discovered it years and years ago, but the characters are all so different (it’s told from five different POVs) and the plot lines of each book are creative and fun. Plus, the author’s sense of humor is absolutely hysterical. They’re a great read for any age in my opinion.

Favorite movie and why?

I love The Parent Trap – the original and the remake. I can’t really choose which one is better. The twins are so mischevious and the movie is super entertaining.

Favorite flower and why?

My favorite flowers are hydrangeas because they’re super puffy (in a sense) and come in all different colors – depending on the pH level of the soil, in fact!

Favorite memory and why?

There are so many to choose from! I used to live in California (after being born in Alaska and relocated back and forth) and I have a lot of great memories from living there. My favorite one is actually from the day after I moved there. I got to meet our neighbor’s Chihuahua, Chloe. I was only eight at the time and Chloe and her owner were the first people I met there. Chloe passed away last year, but my own Chihuahua, Callie, reminds me of her.

What is a small thing you are incredibly proud of?

Hmm. (Anyone else have the problem where they have problems answering questions they would normally have an immediate answer to?) I guess I’m pretty proud of my bookshelf, actually. The one that’s rainbow color-coordinated, remember?

Do you have a bunch of friends or a few or really close friends?

I’m going to have to say I’m smack dab in the middle, honestly. I have two friend groups – my school/ski friends and my church friends. And then I have super close friends who aren’t in either of those groups who I love to death.

Are you a straight A’s kinda student, a few B’s and C’s, or failing kind of student?

Straight A’s, lol.

Do you play an instrument and if so, for how long?

I played piano for about nine years. I occasionally will go sit down and play, but I don’t do it consistently anymore. I would like to pick it back up, but I’m not sure I have the time.

What is a fact about yourself that is immediately apparent to new people that you meet?

Probably the fact that I’m pretty athletic. Besides the fact that I wear workout clothes a lot, I look like I’m in good shape. (Year-round ski training kind of shows.) 😂

Alternatively, what is a fact about yourself that only your closest friends (and now the internet) knows?

This is already on my blog, but the fact that I love swingsets! It’s easy to share that kind of information to my fifty followers, but I only have a couple of friends in real life who know that.

Here’s who I’m nominating:

Tess @ impatient, imperfect

Emmie @ Diary of a Daydreamer

Anyone over @ Yes, We Are Insane 🙂

Olivia @ Blogging and Bubble Tea

Arabella @ Sparks of Ara

Diamond @ I Have 12% of a Plan

… and anyone else who wants to do it!

Your questions are (I knew I was forgetting something . . .)

  • What is something huge you’ve accomplished that when you look back on, you are incredibly proud of?
  • Something you absolutely have to do before you die?
  • Biggest regret in the last month/year/your entire life?
  • What is something you would love to do, but you are too scared to do it?
  • What is something you admire that other people can do, but you can’t? (It can be about their personality or an actual skill.)
  • Go-to outfit?
  • What does your dream room look like?
  • What is the first thing you would do if you were the opposite gender? (Lol for me, it’s running at night . . .)
  • Favorite song to jam to in the car?
  • What moment in your life would you love to go back and re-live?
  • Where would you absolutely love to be right now?

Have fun! Thanks again for the fun award, Faith!

XOXO,

Morgan

 

I Made Mint Chip Ice Cream | Melty Melty Melt

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 6 Comments

This should be fun!

Ice cream is my favorite dessert – no, food – and it’s getting hot outside and it’s the perfect treat to cool you off.

You guys. I don’t cook. I can’t cook, rather. I burn everything, even things that should not physically burn. I do like baking a lot, though. I’m not sure where ice cream falls. But whatever. I made some, and if you would like to follow my incredibly uncomplicated (hehe) instructions, you can make some for yourself! (Or your family. Mine ate it all.)

For this recipe, you will need an ice cream processor. You can’t just put it in the freezer and expect it to do something. Haha.

I’m loosely following this recipe. Mint chip is my favorite flavor, and I’ve never made ice cream before, so we’re starting with something basic.

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Ingredients!

You will need 6 ounces of chocolate chips, a pinch or so of salt, a cup of heavy whipping cream, a cup of milk, six egg yolks (not shown, because we only had four eggs at the time and our chickens had make more eggs before I could get very far in the recipe, which resulted in the actual ice cream consumption being delayed by a day), 2/3 cup sugar, and either peppermint extract or food-grade peppermint essential oil.

Measure that milk and heavy cream . . . (they look the same lol)

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As well as the sugar . . .

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And the salt . . . and put it all in a pan.

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Stir stir stir! Combine it as much as you can.

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Put it on the stove and heat it over medium until all the sugar dissolves (this may take a little bit, be patient).

While that is combining, chop up your chocolate chips to whatever size you want. Just make sure whatever size they are will work in your ice cream processor. Mine won’t work with any add-ins bigger than the size of a chocolate chip.

Then pop those in the freezer in a plastic bag.

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Next, we’re going to whisk the egg yolks together. Ooh, pretty yellow color.

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Slowly pour the milk-cream mixture into the eggs. If you pour it in all at once, the heat will cook the eggs and then you’re going to have scrambled eggs and that’s yucko.

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Put it back on the stove and heat it up until it begins to thicken. It should coat the back of your spoon (preferably a wooden spoon, mine is not) and not run and be drippy everywhere.

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Get a bowl of ice water . . .

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And pull the mixture off the stove. Put it in the ice bath for about five minutes to stop the cooking.

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Now we’re going to add the peppermint! This is to taste, and if you’re using peppermint extract you’ll need more to get a miny flavor than if you’re using essential oil. Make sure your oil is food-grade! Some is and some isn’t. This Young Living Vitality peppermint essential oil is food-grade (not sponsored). I used five drops, but my mom said it was too minty so it’s really personal preference. I thought it was just right. You can taste the mixture to see if it’s the flavor you want.

Now, you’re going to either leave the mixture in the ice water for about twenty minutes – or put it in the fridge for a couple of hours, which is better. You just want it to be completely chilled.

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Now, process the mixture in your ice cream machine. Mine is this Cuisinart that I got for my birthday. Follow the manufacturer’s directions.

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Add in the frozen chocolate, carefully folding it in.

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Ta-da!

Now, leave the ice cream in the freezer in an airtight container (NOT the processor bowl –  that can damage it, apparently) for a couple of hours to solidify.

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My final product!

Guys, it tasted like legit ice cream . . . I’m honestly kind of surprised. The ice cream is pretty yellow for mint chip, it’s more of a vanilla-y color, but other than that, it’s real mint chip ice cream!

Would y’all try this ice cream? Have you ever made ice cream before? What’s your favorite flavor? Let me know!

XOXO,

Morgan

Got Assumptions? | Your Q’s and my A’s

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 2 Comments

Salmon New Year Goals Facebook Post

Earlier this week I asked you guys to leave me assumptions and boy did some of you have some good guesses!

This is really fun to do so maybe I’ll have a Q&A later this summer.

Diamond’s questions:

  • You want to get married within the next ten years

I would like to get married within the next ten years, yes! Not until after college though.

  • You like Star Wars, but prefer Marvel

I actually like Star Wars more than Marvel, but honestly I am not super familiar with either of them. My favorite Marvel character is Spider-Man, but for the majority of superheroes I really could not tell you who is Marvel and who is DC. 😂

  • Your personality is a ESFP

I am actually a ENFP (I think . . . I haven’t taken that test in quite some time).

  • You want to travel abroad for at least a year

I would LOVE to travel abroad for a year . . . I almost went on a two-week exchange over spring break but I wound up dropping the trip – which was a smart decision on my part because obviously it got cancelled anyway. We were supposed to go to Martinique, which is a French-speaking island in the Caribbean.

Grace’s questions:

  • Your real name is Christina Claire

Oddly specific – but no 😂

  • You’re an enneagram one

I am an enneagram one! Good guess! (Enneagram ones are “moral perfectionists” or “reformers” – if you don’t know what an enneagram is, click here to learn more.)

  • You absolutely love books and having a schedule

Correct . . . and also correct 😉

  • You hate lavender

Hahaha this is so random. I don’t care for the smell of lavender, no – but even if I did, I’m allergic to it so it’s not a good idea to have in my house anyway.

  • You’re about 17

Ahhh, I was waiting for someone to guess my age! I’m not 17, but you are not far off 😉

  • You love dogs

I do love dogs. I have four of them!

  • You really really like your boyfriend and potentially would like to marry him one day, maybe when you’re in college or close to graduating college

Again this is so specific I love it 😂 No comment . . . excpet I will say I don’t intend to get married until after I graduate.

  • Your favorite candy is Swedish Fish

I like Swedish Fish a lot! They’re not my favorite, but one of my top five for sure.

  • You really really want to travel more with your BFF

For sure! That’s a dream of mine.

Natalie’s questions:

  • Your favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio

I do like pistachio ice cream, yes. However, my favorite is mint chip!

  • You wear your hair down most of the time, but put it up in a ponytail for skiing and such

Correct! I wear my hair down unless it needs to be washed or it’s really hot, or if I’m doing something athletic – such as skiing!

  • You like baking

I love baking. Baking makes me exhausted so I can only bake one thing at a time, but it’s really rewarding (and delicious!)

Ashlynn’s questions:

(More like facts tbh because she knows me in real life.)

  • You recently officially changed the spelling of your real name

I did do that! My name was spelled one way until I was twelve, when I decided to change it. I’ve always disliked the way my name was spelled and changed it to something I like a lot more. I dealed with correcting the spelling a lot for friends and teachers and a couple of months ago my mom surprised me with a brand-new birth certificate. 🙂

  • You know too many languages

Haha I do . . . I almost-fluently speak French and ASL, and I’m learning Spanish and Russian.

  • You have two middle names

I do. 😝

  • You love whipped coffee

So I’ve only made this once but I do love it and I’m going to make it again tomorrow ahaha.

  • You and your boy are very cute together

Again, no comment . . . you guys. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

  • You are beautiful

Awww wow I love you. 💛

  • There are a lot of animals in your house like silly frogs

Um yes there are. We have four dogs, one bunny, chickens, and yes, my brother has a frog (and a few fish too).

That is all the questions I have for today! Thanks to everyone who guessed. I hope y’all are enjoying your weekend. 🙂

XOXO,

Morgan

 

Got Assumptions? | How Much Do You Think You Know?

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 9 Comments

Salmon New Year Goals Facebook Post

This post idea literally just popped into my brain and I thought, wow, I know I just posted two days ago, but wouldn’t this be fun to do? I’ve seen this around the blogosphere (I think Mary did one too) and thought I would jump on the bandwagon.

I blog anonymously, of course, but I do talk about my personal life quite a bit (after all, this is a personal blog . . .) But the question is, based on the information you guys have gathered over the last year, what do you think you know about Morgan McCartie?

I’m genuinely very curious.

So ask away! What do you think my real name is? My age? Things I like and dislike? It can literally be anything, guys. I may not be able to give you an honest answer for privacy reasons, but you are welcome to try. 😉

I can’t wait to see what y’all think about me! I’ll post your questions and my answers later this week/early next week, depending on how quickly I get responses.

XOXO,

Morgan

Life: April 2020

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 4 Comments

Blue Gray Background Sweet Quotes

Well, we made it. April and quarantine month #2! I don’t know how it went for y’all, but this month was definitely a lot better than March, which was basically an emotional roller coaster. I’m going to model this month’s wrapper-y post somewhat like last month – quarantine edition!

(End boring intro)

– Friends

So obviously, our school closure that was supposed to end by May 1st changed to being the entire year. The tedious routine of going to school is never something I thought I would miss, but I do. For my friend’s birthday, a bunch of us went over to her front yard and stayed apart and talked for awhile. And today, I went over to another friend, A’s, house and (staying ten feet apart and wearing masks) we filmed a video for our youth group challenge. After we did the first take, my A’s little sister pointed behind us and yelled “moose!” And sure enough, there was a cow running up the lawn (for those of you who don’t know, that’s a female moose). We scattered quickly as A’s mom started yelling at the moose to not eat her tulips.

For April Fool’s Day, my friend D and I played a prank on our other friend, E. D spent hours recreating E’s Instagram account by using screenshots of all of his posts and using almost the exact same account name. I FaceTimed E and told him that there was someone on Instagram with the same account as him, and when he checked it out, he freaked out and starting asking who would be creepy enough to have the same account as him. When D and I told him it was us, he just called us idiots and we started laughing hysterically . . . it was the best. 🙂

– Quarantine

Quarantine continues, guys! There’s honestly not a lot to say here . . . I’ve been doing puzzles, watching a lot of Outer Banks and Love is Blind, and working on my current writing project, which is my book So You Can Understand Me. I’ve been Zooming a ton with my friends and commiserating about not being able to hang out. And I’ve been streaming A LOT of online YouTube workouts. 😂

– School

Thankfully, I’m almost done with school. I think technically my last day is in late May, but I’ll be done with almost all of my classes by this Friday (I already finished my two foreign language classes, though!) The only thing I’ll have going on is a online writing workshop I’m doing until late June, which is when I’ll be done with my history curriculum, too. (That’s a homeschool class though, so it’s okay – remember I’m part-time public schooled and part-time homeschooled.) Being this close to the end of the year is super exciting, and I’m not going to bore y’all by continuing to talk further, as I’m sure you guys are just as thrilled to be done as I am. Keep up with the Zooms, guys!

– Skiing

The summer training has begun . . . if you aren’t super familiar with how cross-country skiing summer training works, we use what are called rollerskis (picture below) to imitate snow skiing. Now that the snow is melted in town, I can ski on pavement! Last summer it got up to 100 degrees here, which made rollerskiing absolutely torturous. But hey, when you love skiing . . .

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Not my image, and not sponsored by Fischer – though that would be cool

We use poles to make it as much like actual skiing as we can, and it’s super fun – and a ton of work. Seriously, after today’s ski, my abs are killing me. Rollerskis also don’t have brakes, which means if you start going down a steep hill . . . well, that’s the last we’ll be hearing from you. 😂 Just kidding, just kidding.

Or not.

– The good things

There was a lot of good this month! First off . . .

I BOUGHT A CAR!

I am now the proud owner of a Subaru. I guess it works. I ski. I sort of already portray that image to the outside world.

When I told A I bought a car I made her guess what kind it was and her first guess was a Subaru. When I asked her if I seemed like the kind of person who would drive one of those, she instantly said yes. So yeah, I guess it works. 😂

Second, because prom is obviously cancelled, I decided not to waste a perfectly good dress and decided to dress up and do my hair and makeup anyway. Here’s the final result:

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Hehe my dress is too long and it touches the dirt but it’s okay. 😉

Also . . . I cut a total of three inches off my hair since quarantine started, so it’s nice to have shorter hair again.

One last thing. It’s summer in Alaska, which means we get to have another Midnight Sun and be forced to use blackout shades in an effort to get decent sleep. It’s a lot of fun to be out at 11:30 at night and have it be warm and sunny!

Anyway, this month has overall felt more stable than last month. We have summer to look forward to. Everything will be okay. Continue to stay safe and far apart.

XOXO,

Morgan

How was your April? How close to being done with school are you? Are you ready for summer? 😉

So You Can Understand Me | Camp NaNoWriMo | #40k

~ Morgan McCartie ~ 4 Comments

Hey look, it’s another NaNoWriMo post . . .

Welcome to my first writing-related post on SS&SS! I talk about what I’m reading quite often and give y’all book reviews, but since it’s April and Camp NaNoWriMo is in full swing, I thought now would be an appropriate time to share a bit about the novel I’m writing.

So You Can Understand Me is not my first novel, nor is it my second. I finished what is now a 66k word novel for NaNoWriMo in eighth grade. It was probably the biggest accomplishment of my entire life, right up there with making state for skiing this year. I finished it that November with around 30k words, but continued to work on it the next year and more than doubled the word count. I now consider it finished, though I really don’t know if I’ll ever publish it. The writing is pretty juvenile, but I’ve edited the manuscript three times and it’s improved very much.

Anyway, this post is not about that book, it’s about the novel I’m titling So You Can Understand Me – though that may be nothing more than a working title. My word count goal for Camp is 40k, but if I’m not finished telling the story at that point, I’ll extend it. I’m writing this post on April 3rd, and my current word count is 5,731, but by the time y’all read this it’ll be much higher.

The book is categorized as young adult fiction, and I’m going to give you the basic plot and descriptions of characters (along with pictures!) I saw a post like this on a friend’s blog and I thought it would be super fun to do on mine (shoutout to Faye over at EOAJ! She is also one of my Camp NaNo writing buddies).

(This story is losely inspired by a fantastic middle-grade fiction book called Seven Stories Up by Laurel Snyder. Highly, highly recommend it.)

The Synopsis

“15-year-old Harlie Castello lives with her alcoholic mother Jennifer, fending for herself and hiding from the endless questions from her teachers and best friend. Desperate to understand her mothers actions and intentions, Harlie finds herself tranpsorted into a different time, when her mother was a very different person. As Harlie begins to get to know her mother in a way she never thought possible, she gains understanding and discovers secrets burried beneath decades of pain.”

The Plot

Harlie gets into a huge accident one night and winds up in a coma for two weeks. During those two weeks, she spends time back in the late 1980s, as her mother’s sister Danah. The twist – Harlie had no idea her mom had a sister. She spends what is supposedly four months (less time than that in real life, of course) in 1989 getting to know her mom as a teenager.

Suddenly, Harlie finds herself in the mid-1990s, when her mom was in college. No longer playing the role of her mom’s little sister, she realizes she is now her mom’s roommate, Mackenzie. Same situation plays out – she spends a while with her college-aged mother before traveling forwards in time once more.

Now, it’s the early 2000s, when Harlie was just a baby. Instead of taking on the role of some important person in her mom’s life, she is now an invisible bystander. She observes her mom and her now-absent dad fight and fight and fight some more, until the moment when her dad ups and leaves. In present time, Harlie had absolutely no idea why her dad left, but now she gets to see the entire backstory.

The story is broken up into those three parts, and at the end Harlie wakes up in the hospital. Her mother, realizing how close she came to almost losing her daughter, takes steps to recover from her alcohol addiction. Harlie also makes contact with her father, who she hasn’t seen since he walked out that day so many years ago.

The Characters

Yay! Now for the fun part!

So obviously, these Internet photos are super airbrushed and very unrealistic-looking, but you get the idea.

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Harlie
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Jennifer as an adult – picture her with green eyes
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Danah
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Jennifer as a teenager
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Mackenzie
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Harlie’s dad – though he doesn’t have a beard (or a name)

And there you have it! #pleasedontstealmybookideaandplagiarizeit

Are you doing Camp NaNoWriMo? What do you think of my story idea? Would you read it if you picked it up at the bookstore? Do you have any suggestions or feedback for me?

XOXO,

Morgan