Fall Engagement Pictures

I’m super excited to share our first session of engagement photos!

We planned to take pictures the weekend before last because it was supposed to be sunny and relatively warm, but it ended up being cloudy and 45 degrees, so that was a fun little twist. We were frozen solid and spent any chance we could get warming up in the car between locations.

We were lucky enough to have my dad as our photographer so we were able to comfortably talk about things we liked and didn’t like. We also got to take as much time as we wanted in different locations. There were really no limitations! He had some cool ideas and so did we, so we spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other.

I really love our photos because I see so much more than the picture. I remember all the fun moments we had between taking them, which were all super special to me.

I can’t wait to take more pictures and share them all with you all! Most of all, I can’t wait to show our children these pictures one day so they can make fun of us!

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Diving Into My Worship Playlist

Hi everyone and happy Sunday! Wow, posting on a Sunday feels so weird.

Welcome to the first installment of FAITH. I want to gently ease into things so I thought for our first FAITH post, we could take a little visit to my worship playlist. Music is a language that everyone speaks, so I thought it would be a good start.

For me, my worship playlist is for any moment when I am feeling particularly grateful, stressed, or alone. It gives me a great deal of comfort no matter what situation I’m in. And lately, I’ve been playing it much more than any other playlist I have.

Let’s be honest for a minute- there are SO many songs about bitches, money, and drugs. And for the longest time, I didn’t think that my opinions or personality were being skewed because of those songs I was listening to. But recently I realized that a lot of who I am is based off of the music I listen to. I also realized that I let the music I listen to dictate my mood. So I started to change up my listening habits. Now, most mornings I listen to my worship playlist while I get ready for the day and I’ve seen a drastic change in my mood. I’m always feeling ready to take on the day, and a lot more positive about whatever thoughts I’m having.

A lot of my favorite songs on the playlist have lyrics that have spoken to me. They’re lyrics that have changed my outlook and gotten me to think about things a little deeper. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like they hit me in the chest when I hear them and I immediately feel a deeper connection to the song.

Some of my favorites are:

“You will never stop fighting for me
When I can’t fight for myself
Every word is a promise you keep
‘Cause you love me like nobody else” Fighting For Me, Riley Clemmons

“Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me” Reckless Love, Cory Asbury

“So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away
You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held” Just Be Held, Casting Crowns

Click the photo below to be taken to my Worship playlist on Spotify. It is regularly being updated with more of my current favorites!

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An Introduction To FAITH

I always want to be transparent with everyone, and there has been something on my heart quite a bit recently. I’ve spent the last couple weeks working really hard on something that I think will be one of my favorite additions to this site!

For the last year, I have found myself diving back into my faith, which I had abandoned for most of my life. Don’t get me wrong- I’ve always had faith, but I haven’t practiced my faith much at all since I was a child. I’m not sure what exactly brought me back to a place of wanting to know God again, but whatever it was, it hit me like a truck.

I started watching videos, reading books, and referring to the Bible in times of confusion or worry. As it has become such a huge part of my life now, I thought I should let that reflect in my work.

I am extremely excited to start my next series- FAITH. Yeah, I spent the last two weeks coming up with that super creative name. Just kidding, but I had to acknowledge how basic it is. 

FAITH is made up of just about literally anything faith based- makes sense, right? That includes everything from bible studies to church notes and personal reflection. It’s my way of sharing my thoughts with you in a new and meaningful way.

I’m super excited to start this series and share this part of my life with you guys. I think this is something I was meant to do and although I feel a ton of pressure, this will be something I look forward to doing.

So stay tuned for new FAITH posts every other Sunday at noon, starting this Sunday!

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10 Things You May Not Know About Me

After last week’s post, I gained some new readers, so I thought now would be a great time to share a little about myself. So first of all, welcome to all of my new internet friends!

  1. My name is Megann Louise Rosecrans and I’m 22 years old.
  2. I am a college student studying communication with a minor in digital content creation.
  3. I am engaged (!!!) and plan to be married next year!
  4. I’ve been writing online for ten years, and four of those years were on this blog.
  5. My dream job is to be a full time blogger but I’d also love to be a PR agent, communications specialist, or a paralegal (I don’t know why, don’t ask).
  6. I used to have a podcast and have been considering starting another one (maybe with my fiancé?)!
  7. I just moved in with my fiancé in a city that neither of us are familiar with. It’s been quite the adventure so far.
  8. I love cleaning. I hate being messy and cleaning is such a stress reliever for me.
  9. I played the flute in middle school (and still could if given the opportunity).
  10. I’m extremely interested in interior decorating.

That’s just a little bit about me, but you can learn so much more about me in my other posts and by following along in my journey of life!

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We Moved In Together!

Exciting stuff is happening in the Shaeffer household! For starters, there is now a Shaeffer household! Colt and I made the leap and moved in together to finally put an end to the “long distance” last week. We talked about it for a few weeks but didn’t take any action, then out of nowhere we got the motivation to start looking. And not too long after, we found a place we both loved!

When I tell you guys that this place is perfect, I mean it. It’s the best mix of country roads and shopping outlets. When we drove down for the first time, I was holding back tears. But I wasn’t holding back the several excited slaps I was giving colt from the passenger seat. The location has helped out a lot since the move, since we’ve practically been living at the grocery store.

Living together hasn’t taken too much adjusting for us since we basically lived together at my apartment, but it’s definitely a little different. For starters, Chef Colt makes amazing dinner almost every single night now. I will never complain about that. But I will complain about laundry and dishes. With two people, dirty stuff piles up fast. Bath towels lasted at least a week at my apartment, and now I’m having to clean them at least twice a week. And dishes fill our sink after one meal, so there’s that too. Fun adult stuff I suppose. I’m super lucky to have a fiancé who steps up and helps out whenever I’m overwhelmed with things.

We’re still working on making this place a home but we love it regardless. Things are slowly coming together and I couldn’t be any more excited. Welcome to our home for the next 12 (at least) months!

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Wedding Dress Shopping!

Sorry I went MIA last week. I was a little wrapped up in moving! But that will be a post for next week, I promise you! But in the meantime, let’s rewind a week and talk about my first (and only) wedding dress shopping experience.

Being that I am the actual worst at picking a dress for anything (homecomings and proms were rough), I was not excited for this one. It’s the most important dress I’ll buy.

My whole life I was so excited to go bridal gown shopping with all of my bridesmaids. But with COVID ruining hopes and dreams, I had to compromise. My mom, sister, and soon to be mother-in-law were the ones that tagged along since I could only bring three people with me. Heartbroken was an understatement. But I was still beyond thankful I could at least bring them.

I sifted through so many gowns and pulled out my favorites. Who knew what they’d look like on me though? I was so scared I’d fall in love with one on the hanger and it would look bad on me. That would be so discouraging. I’d probably call it quits right there. We went to the fitting room and I tried on dress after dress and…

I found my dress.

I literally found my dress at my first appointment! And it was only the third dress I tried on. Maybe you guys think I’m crazy. But before I even looked at myself in it, I stepped out of the fitting room and told the girls that this was the one. It just felt right.

I wish I could tell you guys all about what it looks like or even share a picture but I like the element of surprise… and Colt would kill me if he saw it early. He refuses to look at pictures and says he wants to see it for the first time when I walk down the aisle. If he doesn’t cry, I swear I’m turning around and we’re trying things again!

I’m so in love with my dress and I can’t wait for you guys to see it! Stay tuned for other wedding planning content, as it has recently consumed our lives!

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We’re Engaged!

Ahh! I’m so excited to finally be telling everyone the big news! I’m going to be Mrs. Megann Shaeffer! Can you believe it?

It sure didn’t take long for him to put a ring on it but when you know, you know! We’re both so excited to start this new chapter of our lives together and I can’t wait for all that comes with planning a wedding and living life as a family (including all of the fun content)!

We’re both so thankful for our friends and family who have been nothing short of supportive and excited along with us.

Expect a lot more relationship content since I’m on a high right now! Also send me all your best advice! I’d love to hear it!

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Easiest Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Ok, unpopular opinion- I hate muffins. Well, most muffins. Pumpkin muffins are seriously the only ones I’ll eat. And when I start, I can’t stop. They’re so addicting no matter what time of year it is.Since fall has officially begun, I thought what better time than now to share the easiest and yummiest pumpkin muffin recipe?

My mom shared this with me a couple weeks ago and I chose to make a dozen for the apartment to see if they were any good. When I woke up the next day, they were all gone. They were a hit!

Ingredients:

-15 ounces of pumpkin puree

-1 box of spice cake mix

-white chocolate chips (if you’re feeling fancy)

-cream cheese frosting (again, if you’re feeling fancy)

Yes, that’s literally it. Just wait.

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix everything together. It will get pretty thick and your arm will hurt like a motherf***** but it’s worth it. Don’t give up!
  3. Pour into cups
  4. Bake for ~20 minutes
  5. Let cool.
  6. Frost.

This was my first batch, which ended up being a little sloppy. But I promise they were still so delicious! And since they require minimum effort, why not make them all the time for a nice fall treat?

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How I Organized And Customized My Laptop | 2019 MacBook Pro

Hi guys! I’ve been wanting to make this post for a while now but I wanted to wait until I was completely happy with how everything looked. Now it’s finally time for a laptop tour/ how I organize my laptop post! Why am I so excited for this one?

So here’s what my desktop looks like. Take it all in real quick. Also please don’t comment about my 5,000 emails. I know I suck!

As you can see, I have my folder icons personalized and sticky notes all pinned like a little virtual bulletin board. I love the way it turned out and how easy it is to find everything that I need. So let’s get into how it’s all done.

*Disclaimer: I learned all of these cool tricks from different people on social media, but I can’t remember all of their names. If they come to me, I’ll give them full credit! I just don’t want to take credit for any of these myself!

How To Customize Folder Icons

I found this trick on TikTok a while back and immediately ran to my laptop to try it out! So cute, right?

  1. Google clipart that you would like to use for the icon. This can be anything. I chose the white heart emoji. And it helps if the photo has a transparent background. But if it doesn’t, you can remove it through markup.
  2. Copy the image.
  3. Right click to create a new folder, or use an existing one.
  4. Once the folder is created, right click on the folder and choose “Get Info.”
  5. Click the folder icon in the top left corner of the information window.
  6. “Control” + “C”

How To Customize Sticky Notes To Create a Virtual Bulletin Board

Full credit goes to Julia Crist on Youtube for teaching me this one. As soon as I changed my folder icons I was hooked and went on a deep dive to find more tricks and this one changed the game, even though it’s super simple. I just love the look if it now!

Fonts

I wish I could remember where I downloaded these fonts from so I could share, but I love them! If you have downloaded fonts that you want to use to customize your sticky notes, here’s what to do!

  1. Open your stickies
  2. Click “Font” in the top left corner of your screen.
  3. Choose “Show Fonts” then select the font that you want to use.

Photos

This one was a little time consuming for me because I couldn’t quite figure out what size I wanted the photo to be. Stickies has a feature where you can simply add a photo to the sticky note but the photo is almost always too big. So I take a few extra steps to make sure it fits without cropping anything out. I’m sure there’s other ways to go about this, but here’s how I did it!

  1. Choose your photo.
  2. Create a new sticky note that is the size you would like your photo to be on your desktop. Use this for reference.
  3. Open Pages or Microsoft Word and drop your photo into a new document.
  4. Scale it down to a size that would fit in the sticky note.
  5. “Command” + “Shift” + “4”
  6. Trace a box around the photo by clicking and dragging the cursor. Release the cursor after you have highlighted the entire photo.
  7. Drag and drop the photo to the sticky note when it appears in the bottom right corner. It only appears there for a brief time before moving to the desktop, so if you cannot find it in the corner, check the desktop for a screenshot of the photo.

And there you have it! Nothing too fancy, but it looks so nice in the end! If you try any of these out, I hope you like the new look of your desktop! Let me know if there’s any other laptop posts you’d like to see!

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Just Beachy

Hi guys! Sorry I’m late. School ran me over with a truckload of assignments last week and I had nothing prepared on time (typical Meg). But I’m here! Better late than never, right?

Since fall is right around the corner, I’ve been trying to soak up all the sunshine and summer happiness while I can. That means frequent trips to the beach with my favorite people! I swear, I’ve lived by the lake for almost three years and I’ve never been to the beach as much as I have in the last month. Now, of course, I’m kicking myself in head for not going before, but I’m so glad I’ve finally gotten out of the apartment and enjoyed the fresh air.

Being that I haven’t had much time to write up something of great importance for the blog, I thought maybe I’d turn this week’s post into a purge of all the fun beach photos we took at the lake. Nothing special or exciting, but still something to post so my guilt doesn’t eat me alive!

But don’t take this as a “I’m going to miss summer” post, because who can ever miss summer when fall comes around?! I’m so excited for pumpkin spice, apple picking, and sweater weather!

 
 

 

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Why You Should Start A Blog in College

I started blogging when I was in high school, but I can confidently say that this was a great outlet for me to continue in college. If you don’t have a blog yet, I highly recommend it. And here’s why.

Resumes and Marketing

For starters, if you can build a successful blog, it looks pretty great on a resume! And when you blog, what you may not realize is that you’re simultaneously branding yourself. Look at it from a business aspect. It’s all about selling yourself to an audience.

It’s Your Journal

Depending on how you choose to approach your blog, it can become a digital journal for you to look back on. That’s how I consider mine. I share all of my memories and favorite moments and I can look back and see all of the big changes in my life that got me to where I am now.

You Can Make A Little Extra Money

If you keep up with your writing and people start to take notice, you can even make a few bucks from it! It’s a great side hustle if you’re really dedicated to it. However, if you start blogging with the main goal of making money, don’t do it. You have to have a genuine interest in writing and creating to keep it going long enough to make money, and even then it’s not a guarantee that you’ll ever cash out from it.

The Experience

If nothing else, the experience of owning a blog is rewarding in and of itself. I’ve learned so much from blogging that I will carry with me forever. I learned a lot about different programs, platforms, and this line of work.

Blogging is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I encourage anyone who is even slightly interested to try it out! The experiences and opportunities I’ve had since blogging in college have made every long night of writing completely worth it.

 
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Good College Investments if Your Classes are Remote Now

School supply shopping has been my favorite part of the back to school season for as long as I can remember. I love office supplies and planning, so I’m always in my element. Now with COVID, schools are offering remote online classes, which makes supply shopping a little different. Here are some great investments you should make to prepare for online classes.

1. Laptop Cooling Pad

If you’re going to be on your laptop all day long for classes, that puppy is going to be hotter than hell, I promise you. My MacBook Pro overheats super easily if I don’t make sure it has proper ventilation. A cooling pad works wonders and it’s super inexpensive in relation to the cost of repairs you’d eventually need if you were constantly overheating your computer!

2. Blue Light Glasses

Staring at a screen all day is torture for your eyes! Invest in a good pair of blue light glasses! I have three pairs of blue light glasses as well as two pairs of regular glasses with blue light treatment in them, so I guess you could say that I’m pretty stocked up in that department. I used to get headaches and eye pain all the time from being on my computer and phone a lot and I swear they’ve almost completely gone away since I’ve started wearing blue light glasses.

3. Lap Desk

Let’s be honest. Some- if not most- of your school days will be spent in bed. So get yourself a nice lap desk so you’re comfortable while getting that education! I love lap desks because they give me a nice surface for writing rather than writing on top of my bed and hoping my pen doesn’t bust through to the other side of the paper.

4. Computer Riser

Don’t have a lot of desk space for everything you’ll need for class? Try a computer riser! That way you’re “building up instead of out” and saving space for all your supplies. You can keep sticky notes, pens, pencils, highlighters, YOUR PHONE, and so much more under there while you’re in your Zoom classes!

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