Currently | February 2016

Currently....I'm pretty dang sick! I could barely even move earlier this morning. So, I'm taking it easy and sharing with you what I am currently up to.

By the way, how ADORABLE is this dress from Agnes and Dora?!?!?

Sending | Prayers that I get better so I can start working out. Also, sending Justin and mom a lot of adorable pictures of Rhys.
Eating | Mom's good home cooking. Although, I am trying to eat better, so I've been having cooked broccoli for snacks whenever I've gotten peckish. And, I'm downing a ton of orange juice today.
Dreaming | Of the day that Justin and I own our own house, of the day I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, of the day that I don't get sick or headaches/migraines.
Smelling | Nothing really, right now...well, except for my parents' dogs...they're due for a bath!
Hearting | Target! I have gone to Target at least once a week for the past month or so and I have loved looking at all the adorable $1-$5 stuff! Am I basic, or what?!? We have also been enjoying an enclosed and fenced in backyard to play in, snow to sled in, and lots of cuddly naps on comfy couches.

What have you currently been up to?

Guys Behind the Blog // Jan 2016

We missed December's version of Guys Behind the Blog, but we are back into the grove! So, I'm going to sit back and let Justin take over to say what he is currently up to...by not talking at all.

Watching - 

Reading - 

Listening to - 

Dreaming of - 

(Tayler: Substitute "food truck" for "bar")

Eating - 

Learning - 

Wishing - 

Obsessed with - 

Loving -  

Planning - 

Golden Vlog // January 2016

I am loving doing these Golden Vlogs, and have been doing them over a year now! How awesome is that! It is so fun to actually hear and see people. You get more personality out of watching them than you do from just reading.
This month's Golden Vlog inspiration is "Currently". I love doing these types of posts!

What are you CURRENTLY up to?

Currently // November 2015

October disappeared in a flash! It is already November, and just when I got used to telling people that Rhys was 15 months old, tomorrow he turns 16 months old! Holy cow!

Cooking: Lots of casseroles and crockpot dishes. I'm working on starting to research and stockpile freezer dinners since I don't always feel like cooking at the end of the day. I'm also cooking a lot of pumpkin desserts!
Planning: My novel for NaNoWriMo, and my blog plan for the rest of the year. I have almost all the posts planned out, and I have some ideas on how to make this community better!
Smelling: All the fall scents! I love Scentsy's fall line this year and have a lot of their scents that I use everyday!
Appreciating: All the gifts and blessings God has given me. I am finally getting to a place mentally that I am truly content with my life. And, if you know me, being content has been an issue for years!
Anticipating: Some good news to come to us within the week that will determine our near future after the holidays. Also, my brother is leaving for his mission to south Argentina in two weeks! It's a bitter sweet thing. I'm so excited for him to be able to travel and experience a different culture and to preach the Gospel, but I'm also sad that I won't see my only brother for two whole years!


What is currently going on in your life?

Desiree from Macke Monologues

Hi Morrell Tale readers!

I'm Desirée and I blog over at Macke Monologues.

On any given day you can find me posting about life as a domestic engineer (or as most call it, SAHM). My three year old, Marcus keeps me on my toes, so we are always on the look out for new adventures. To add to our family fun, we are expecting our second child - a little girl! - August 14. The weeks are fleeting, and our family dynamic will certainly change when the little lady arrives.

Over at Macke Monologues I love to post new recipes (this Chicken Fried Rice is a family favorite), occasionally I'll write about my love of running, but most days I post about my little man and all that we do to keep our days busy. Some of my favorite daily posts are about life currently. To get a quick glimpse of life I thought I'd share that with the Morrell Tale Readers today.

Currently I am…

Thinking about :: just how fast this summer has gone, and our Bucket List of things to do. Marcus and I have really made the most out of last few months together as Marcus and Mommy. I'm hoping we can complete all the items on our List before the baby arrives.
Do you have seasonal bucket lists? If so, I'd love to hear what fun things you do!

Working on :: finishing up the nursery for our little lady. We just have to hang curtain rods and curtains and the room will be complete. Here's just a peek at the room. I'll be sharing a full reveal as soon as I'm sure the room is totally finished.

Prints are from TheDigitalStudio.
Oval frames are from primitivepincushion.
Rectangle frames are from ThePaintedLdy.

Reading :: The Garden on Sunset by Martin Turnbull. Most of the books I've read as of late have been thanks to suggestions from BookBub. Many books are at ridiculously reduced prices, sometimes they are even free! I've also noticed many of the books are by up and coming authors, so the books and authors aren't as well known, and I love supporting those authors.

Are you reading anything you can't put down? Let me know! I love adding to my ever growing must-read list.

Listening to :: Marcus is completely obsessed with the Luke Bryan song, "Kick the Dust Up." That's pretty much on repeat right now.

Eating :: watermelon and popsicles all the livelong day. Summer heat plus pregnancy cravings at their finest!

Watching :: my husband and I are HGTV addicts. Fixer Upper, Flip or Flop, Love It or List It, and Property Brothers are among our favorites. Maybe someday we'll actually have the courage to try a few at-home renovations of our own.

Wanting :: a backyard. We live in a townhome and our small back patio just doesn't cut it. I'd love to let me kids loose in a big grassy yard complete with a swing set and sandbox.

Feeling :: pretty big and tired these days. At 36 weeks pregnant that tends to happen.

Loving :: all the bows and headbands! I just received some adorable headbands for our little lady and I'm certain a girl can never have too many.

bow/headband

Do you have a favorite bow and headband shop? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Thankful for :: these two and the little miss we'll be meeting soon. They're pretty awesome and make my world go 'round.

So tell me, what's going on in your world, currently?
Thanks to Tayler for allowing me to take over. Feel free to swing by Macke Monologues and say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

~Desirée

Blog // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest

{Check out this lovely lady}

Currently // July

Here's a story:

We had a busy, almost spontaneous weekend, and I loved it! However, that meant that I wasn't able to prepare a good post for today...but, coming Wednesday, is "Backy Tips, Tricks, and Hacks."

So, for today, I'll be doing a Currently and talk about my weekend!

Craving // Oreos and Pepsi. I always crave Pepsi in the summer and we just had a box of Oreo last week, and it disappeared all too quickly.

Grilling // Nothing, sadly. Justin has all but given up on his small little personal grill. But, next week there will be a lot of grilling when we go to our Morrell family reunion!

Listening // To a lot of Disney and toddler stations on Pandora. Got to indoctrinate my one year old in the ways of Disney, and we have fun dance parties to "The Wheels on the Bus."

Planning // The rest of July's blogging stuff, getting all my unit plans typed up and sold on Teachers Pay Teachers and organizing/cleaning out our storage and closets.

(Re)Decorating // We just got a new couch, so we are rearranging our living room. Post will come in a few weeks of the before and after! I love it! Some subtle changes, but a huge difference!

So, this past weekend was a whirlwind!

Wednesday evening, we were supposed to get pictures taken by Ashley Ziegler, but the weather got the best of us. (Wish us luck tonight!)

Thursday was Justin's birthday. He got (half) a package of Oreos and a (full) banana cream pie, as well as a t-shirt with one of his favorite anime's insignia on it from Rhys and me. I went to a blogger dinner with a few of my closest blogger friends. Then, we went to meet up with Justin's sister who just flew in and had ice cream with her.

Friday I got a mani-pedi with another blogger friend. Then, our couch arrived, and we had a fun time deep-scrubbing the living room, moving couches out, and assembling the new couch.

Saturday, we went on an early morning grocery trip (thank you Rhys for waking up without fail between 5:30-6:30 AM even on weekends). Then, that evening, we were invited to go bowling with some of Justin's friends. It was nice to be able to get out spontaneously and have fun with adults our age. It was also fun to watch Rhys bowl!

What did you do over the weekend?

{Check out this lovely lady}

Get Fit Thursdays // Me, Currently

It's Thursday again! That means it's time for another Get Fit Thursday! This week is all about where you are now and your goals.

Thursday, March 26, 2015
Weight: 153 lbs
In 30 minutes of running (no stopping): 2.5 miles
Curl ups (without a break): 30 
Push ups (without a break): 15

Currently, I'm not eating added sugar (dessert, soda, candy, junkfood, etc.), but that'll only last until April...of course, I'll only eat it in moderation. I am trying to eat healthier. Both Justin and I are watching our portion sizes. I trying really hard to make sure we both have fruit and veggies throughout the day.

As of now, I am running with Rhys in the stroller in the morning. We'll go as soon as he has had breakfast, which is around 8-8:30. Then, I'll cool down and work out in the living room for about 15 minutes. These include stretching, curl ups, push ups, planks, lunges, wall sits, jumping jacks, etc. Then put Rhys down for a nap and shower. However, it's been a little colder this past week, and rainy, and I don't want to take Rhys out since he has a little cold. So, I've also gone running by myself in the afternoon while Justin watches Rhys.

I typically have either a slim fast or a bowl of Cheerios with fruit for breakfast. For lunch, I either have a sandwich, hummus and veggies, or leftovers. I'm trying my best to cut out afternoon snacks, but I will typically have cheese or a granola bar. For dinner, we typically have at least one vegetarian meal a week, and we hardly ever eat red meat (more because of the price than the health). I always have a water bottle on me throughout the day.

But, I am really, really disappointed in my workout status right now. Before my pregnancy, I could get 3.5 miles in 35 minutes. Knowing that I've lost an entire mile is so much more disappointing than the amount of curl ups and push ups. The last run I went on, I went to Google Maps to see how far I ran, and (ask my husband) I was so mad that it was only 2.5 miles! That is my goal, to get my old pace back. I mean, I'm running a half marathon in July, so I need that pace back!

Goals for the end of July 2015
Weight: 135 lbs (this goal is for the end of the year!!!)
In 30 minutes of running (no stopping): 3.5 miles
Curl ups (without a break): 50
Push ups (without a break): 50

I'm pretty confident that I can get to these goals, especially since come Memorial Day weekend, I'll have more time because school will be out! Wish me luck!



Today: "Me, Currently"--routine, schedule, workouts, meal plan, what you want to change
Th 4/2: "Motivation"
Th 4/9: "Meal Planning" (for healthy living)
Th 4/16: "Workout Routines"
Th 4/23: Your Choice--make sure it's relevant!
Th 4/30: Your Choice--make sure it's relevant!
Th 5/14: "Workout Fashion"
Th 6/18: "Q&A"--where are you since day 1, and ask us 3 whatever relevant question you want!
Th 6/23: "Results"--we'll answer your questions and you give us final results!

Where are you starting from? What are your goals?

Golden Vlog #2--Currently

Don't forget the Salt of the Earth 12oz jar ($32 value) giveaway! Only a few more days remain!

It is the second installation of the Golden Vlog series. This month's theme was "Currently."