American Heart Association: Charlotte Heart Walk

September is always a hard month for me and my family. To most, it represents the start of new beginnings with school and fall with the cooler weather, pumpkin flavored everything, and football.

To me, it represents loss, grief and sadness with the passing of my brother on Sept. 26, 2010 due to heart issues. I make no secret that this has changed me greatly. Losing my brother made me reconsider all of the decisions I had made in the past and really start to live more intentionally in my life. This has not only changed my outlook on life but who I am today and who I want to be in the future.

I've been wanting to get involved with the American Heart Association (AHA) but never knew when or how. In late July, I got an email through work about volunteer opportunities and one was for the AHA Heart Walk on Sept. 20th, 2014. This timing was eerily close to my brother's passing and I knew I had to be involved.

I started campaigning and sharing my story on my heart walk page in late July. I shared my story with my teammates at work (since I was joining through my company's involvement in the walk) but was hesitate to share with others for fear of putting myself out there and how others would react. I finally got brave enough to send an email to close family and friends the week of the walk and post to Facebook the night before the walk. I must say, I had no idea how much support I'd get from everyone I know!

With the support of my amazing co-workers, family, and friends, I managed to raise over $900! I was blown away with the support of everyone around me. It is so humbling to hear others share their stories of heart disease and how it has affected their lives as well.

This heart walk has helped me grieve the loss of my brother in such a positive way. T and a few of our friends did the walk together.

Team JPC at the Charlotte Heart Walk

Crowds of walkers before the start of the walk

My friend Erin made a beautiful sign in memory of Justin - such a sweet and thoughtful gesture that meant the world to me!

Erin's amazing sign

T held my hand especially tight when we walked over the finish line and I started to cry because I was so overwhelmed with emotion. This was such a special experience for me and I am so thankful and humbled to have been able to be a part of it.

Finish line selfie

Thank you to all that donated and made this experience so much more special to me. I am looking forward to many more heart walks in the years to come as a positive way to honor and remember my brother.

Meet the Morgans: New Addition

On Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, T and I drove to Gaffney, SC to "look" at a precious 9 week year old Boston Terrier puppy.

Boston Terrier Puppy

We didn't have any intentions on bringing him home with us and I was looking to T to tell me no, this wasn't the time for us to get a puppy before I bonded with him too much while we visited with him... but my sweet hubby couldn't resist this adorable little guy either and we became the proud pup parents of Muggsy Morgan!

First family photo with our new pup at the farm in Gaffney!

Meet Muggsy Morgan!

In this first week, Muggsy has already stolen our hearts! We are spending a lot of extra time at home, training him and loving on him.

Muggsy on the car ride home!

He is so playful but also loves to cuddle up on our laps for a nap. He loves playing with the other dogs in the neighborhood and is friendly to everyone he meets! We plan to enroll him in puppy preschool so we can train him properly when it comes to housebreaking, socialization and basic commands.

He is already a great car passenger!

We are so excited for this next phase of our lives... and we can't wait to watch our little puppy grow into our best friend for years to come!

More nights like this are in our future... :)

I have a feeling that Muggsy will be making lots of regular appearances on the blog as well so check back for your puppy picture fill! :)

Favorite Photos: The Gals Getting Ready

As part of my "Favorite Photos" series, here are a few of my favorite pictures of getting ready for the wedding.

My bridesmaids and I got our hair done offsite and then came back to Crestwood to get dressed and have final touch-ups before pictures, first touch and the ceremony.

Random tidbit: Apparently it rained all day in Blowing Rock (but not in Boone where we got our hair done) and started to clear up right as we got back to Crestwood - I had no idea that it rained so hard on our wedding day until friends and family told us weeks later! We were so lucky and thankful to have had such beautiful weather!

My favorite photo!

All photos are MelissaJoy Photography

Favorite Photos: The Guys Getting Ready

We had so many wonderful photos from our wedding so as I previously mentioned, I wanted to capture a few of my favorite shots in a mini series of posts.

T and the guys played golf in Boone on our big day then came back to Crestwood to dig up the bourbon, take some pictures, have our first touch and prepare the ceremony.

Here are a few of our favorite "getting ready" shots of the guys.

All photos are MelissaJoy Photography