Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Visit Me At My New Web Address (URL)

***Update 6/4/16***

This blog is now at www.morgan-jennifer.com

Morgan Jennifer | A Lifestyle Blog

Hope you'll continue to follow along over there. All posts from here have been migrated over there. Please be sure to update your bloglovin' and follow the new bloglovin' address. I was working with them to get the current followers switched over, but not sure if it was 100% successful, so please be sure to check! Facebook & Google+ will remain the same. Instagram and Twitter have changed. If you follow via Blogger, please find a new route!

Thank you for reading. xo.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Thoughts on Thursday

If you haven't noticed {and let's be real, you probably haven't because I'm not that big of a deal}, I haven't posted here in a bit.

I can't quite put my thumb on it, but I'm sure the reason is like ten-fold - what with the pending move, a new job role, and just in general not having much to blog about. I don't want to be boring and just post random shots of my children all of the time, which I feel like I have been doing as of late.

I keep feeling like I'm in this state of waiting...waiting to close on the new house, get moved in and settled. I mean, I certainly have no house decor or organization posts to do at the moment, what with my entire house in upheaval mode right now. It's basically an obstacle course of cardboard boxes. I'm really stoked about my ideas for the new house and I just can't wait to be at that point where I can dive into those projects and share them here with you.

Speaking of here, that is actually going to change soon. I've finally decided to make the migration to Wordpress and I've got a new url at www.californiatocarolina.com. Keep in mind, this site is still under construction and I don't plan to officially make the change and start posting there until after I've moved next month. I'm going to use this time to build it, design it, organize it and move a lot of my old posts from here over there so they will still be searchable there. As for here, I will still try to post in the meantime, but just ask that you bear with me as I go through this transition. It might be slow over here for a bit. Once I can get my focus back for this and put some more energy back into blogging {when it's not being taken up by moving and the stress associated with it}, I plan to come back full-force. My Facebook page, Twitter and Pinterest will all be the same, but I'm sure my Bloglovin' link will change, so I will work on that and hopefully get all of my current followers migrated over and give you all a new link to that when I have it.

I do have my fitness blog, The Gym Bunny, running on Wordpress and hope that you've had a chance to check it out and follow. I will likely be more active there than here over the next month as I'm transitioning this site. I've also got great plans in the works for that site as well, so please head over and follow if you love fitness, or just want to learn more.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me...I'll have much to share of our new house and new outfit posts in the next month or so. I hope you'll still continue to read. xo



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Friday, August 7, 2015

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!

Here are the goings-on...

{one}

Most of the areas in my house are beginning to look like this:




Packing, packing, packing...that is going to be my life for the next 5 weeks...and then after that, UN-packing for the next 5 months I'm sure. I'm making some headway though...I'm mainly trying to pack any thing and everything we can live without for 5 weeks. Furniture of course is staying put until move day and we will probably wait to take things like beds and the crib apart until the weekend before the move.

{two}

All the hectic-ness of the last few weeks had kept me away from the gym. This week, I got back to it and I feel great...a bit sore, naturally, but the good kind of sore. Just have to keep at it. I finished this week's workout plan and here is next week's ready to go (it starts tomorrow)...




{three}

I stole this meme from another friend's Facebook page and I just loved it because the background was of a girl painting. I am an artist, but in recent years, I hadn't spent much time at the easel...my mind has been bogged down with work, kids, etc. and I haven't taken the time to do something I really love - which is paint.




Recently, though, I've taken the time to do it more...here is a painting I've been working on. It's not finished, but I plan to frame it and hang it in our new house when it's done {hopefully very soon!}




{four}

I am two weeks into my new job and it's going great. I will definitely have a lot to do and it's definitely a good opportunity to have visibility to a lot of the "big-wigs" in this company. I am also excited about taking advantage of going back to school completely paid for by the company after one year of employment. That will do so much for my career path with the company. I'm hoping to start in Fall 2016.


{five}

And, fittingly for #5, tomorrow my middle child and youngest son, Breckin is turning FIVE. I can't believe this guy is already headed to Kindergarten...time seriously just flies by, people.




Not much on the docket for the weekend...Jake has his USCG Reserves duty, so we are celebrating Breckin's birthday next weekend instead. I will probably do something special for him tomorrow, with just the kids and me. Other than that, just packing and cleaning...woohoo! Have a wonderful weekend - xo.


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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

20 Questions Tuesday

I stole this from Natalie's blog :-)





What is your road trip essential snack?
Trail mix or oddly enough, something I never eat unless I'm on a road trip - Slim Jim.

You've been handed two free round-trip tickets...who are you taking and where are you going?
Take the hubs and I to backpack in Europe for a few weeks. There are so many places there I want to see before I die.

What was your high school jam?
Music questions are soooo hard because I love so many and from many different genres. I loved Blink-182, anything Britney, Say My Name by Destiny's Child...and I will definitely say my taste has gotten better since I got older.




Would you rather have a perfect bum, or a flawless face?
Flawless face...it's the first thing people see. I gotta work on my ass as it is anyway, so what difference would it make?

What shows are you ashamed to admit are on your DVR?
I don't have DVR..antenna and Netflix only.

What's your ringtone? 
It's the normal iPhone ring. I used to be cool, but now I'm boring.

How old were you when you had your first kiss? Was it meh or toe-curling?
First Frencher, probably 8th grade...and it was meh. And anyone that says their first was t0e-curling...I gotta know how that even happens.

Do you have any siblings, and if so, where are you in the birth order?
I have two brothers. My older one is turning 34 in November, I'm 32 and my younger brother just turned 30.

What physical quirk were you born with?
It's not super quirky, but I have a birth mark splotch on my right abdomen. I hardly notice it now because it's just always been there. Now that I think about it, I wonder if people see it and think it's weird? Eh, whatever. I also have one thumb that is a lot smaller than the other...kind of like Megan Fox.

Can you see the birth splotch? ;-)
What was your first car, and did you name it?
It was Rhonda the Honda...a gold 1988 Honda Accord. Leopard covers on the seats and steering wheel and matching fuzzy dice in the mirror. Yeah, I was that girl.

What would you request for your last supper?
Fish tacos!


Have you ever been hospitalized, and if so, what for?
Only for childbirth.

How tall are you? Do you wish you were taller, shorter...or are you just right?
I might wish for an extra inch (I'm 5'7") and that way my weight would be better distributed ;-)

Do you prefer to DIY or hire it out?
Depends what it is. I really love to DIY these days...I prefer my husband to do the carpentry stuff just because naturally he's better/faster at it, but I did love shop class in junior high. If it's painting a large area of the house, I'd be more quick to hire someone to do it, though it usually ends up being Jake or me anyway.

What do you eat for breakfast?
Lately, it's 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese and 1/3 cup blueberries.
  
What would you do for a living if you didn't need money?
I'd paint and sell my work...it would be nice to not have to worry about needing to sell everything. I'd also be a personal trainer.

Finish this sentence: Every room needs....
Something that is special to you...and heirloom from your family, a token from your past, or something that has a lot of meaning to who you are as an individual.

How frequently do you wash your hair? Do you have any hair secrets or tricks?
I wish I could say like once or twice a week. I tried that before and couldn't quite stick with it long enough for it to not be greasy anymore. I'll have to try again sometime. Now I'm back to pretty much every day. But I use a non-sulfate shampoo and conditioner. And I pretty much always wear my hair straight...need to work on finding the time to add a little curl.

Will you leave the house without makeup?
Nope.


You just unloaded your Halloween haul...what candy do you go for first?
Runts, Smarties, Skittles, Sweet Tarts and Reese's PB Cups {OK, I love all of it, except Tootsie Rolls...ew.}

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Monday, August 3, 2015

Monday Musings

I'm in need of a good, solid nap after this weekend. I went out both Friday and Saturday night...managed to get back on the right track with weight training sessions on Saturday and Sunday...and I grocery shopped, meal prepped, did a bunch of laundry...and also went to meet this little guy...

Meet the newest member of the Smith clan...he won't be ours for a few more weeks yet, but we had to meet the breeder and put our deposit down to hold him for us. We have named him Badger {Jake's a Wisconsin guy} and he is currently about 6 weeks old and already weighs 10 lbs! He is an Olde English Bulldog{ge} and he may get somewhere between 70-90 lbs! Hard to believe seeing him this small right now.


Did y'all watch the Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia fight? We didn't watch it, but I've watched some old fight videos of Rousey and that girl is a BEAST! I am so glad she knocked that girl out in under a minute...she had been going to far with her sh**-talking from what I heard. I also loved a clip from an interview with her in which she made this quote:


Amen to that, am I right?

And honestly, I had a bit of a hiatus from weight training the last couple of weeks. I had been so bogged down with house selling/buying and the move coming up that I just lost focus for a bit. I also was sort of nursing my hamstring...turns out it's tendonitis and every time I was running, it was getting inflamed, causing pain to radiate from my knee to hip...sometimes even just walking. I did leg/glute day on Saturday and for whatever reason, at least for now, it actually has felt a little better since. I'm hoping it's on the mend.

A little pre-workout selfie on Sunday...I did my back/shoulder workout at home that day in the interest of saving time {you can see a video with short clips of some of the exercises I did on my Instagram}. I've still got some work to do, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished since having Farrah. I'm definitely ready to take it up a notch though.


And in the spirit of taking it up a notch, I've been keeping good with my clean meal prep. Here's a view of what my evening looked like last night:


Hope y'all have a great week!

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Friday, July 31, 2015

Five on Friday



I know I say this every week...but this week has been a blur. They are all definitely like that lately. I honestly can't wait for when I can say, "Well, not much went on this week."

Anyway, we're moving along in the home selling and buying process...just basically waiting on me to get my 30 days worth of pay stubs in my new position with my new salary and then we are good to close on schedule on September 15th.

Here are my five random thoughts for this week...

{one}
I packed a good bit away into storage when we listed the house, but now I've got to actually look at really PACKING and the thought of it has me overwhelmed. I need some good tips. I can't decide whether to go by room or like items...I'm thinking by room...but I am scouring Pinterest like a mad woman to find any and every good tip to make this process smoother/easier/efficient. I've been collecting boxes as I can and I'll probably spend a good portion of this weekend throwing away a lot of things. Here are some of my favorite packing tips I've found so far that I will definitely use.


The fastest way to pack a closet. This also keeps your clothes on their hangers, for much faster unpacking. Hang in closet when you arrive and tear off the bag and you are done! This would also work for off season storage.
This is perfect and will make it so easy to just
hang everything back up. Tear off the bag and go!

I want to move, just so I can do this! From: http://www.designmom.com/2013/07/living-well-6-secrets-for-a-smooth-move/
I started doing this one already when I was
putting boxes in storage.{tw

{two}
I had my job orientation last Friday and Monday and on Tuesday I was finally sitting in my desk. It's been an interesting week. My boss is actually out of town this week and next, so he's left me a list of to-do's...basically just talking to a few key people in the organization about what they do and where I will fit in. So it's been somewhat of a lax week, but still busy trying to take it all in.


{three}
I feel like all the stress and busy-ness of the last few weeks has gotten me seriously off track fitness-wise. I'm definitely not feeling like myself...and of course, not working out only makes me more stressed. I think I've found that I can squeeze in the gym right after work and I'm going to do that. The 4am thing was just wearing me too thin because I can't seem to get to bed before 10pm most nights. I also can't wait until school is back in session for the kids because it just makes it SO much easier. And not to mention, it's a lot nicer to run in fall weather.


{four}
Despite not being so good about working out lately, I have been good about meal prepping and clean eating. I figure that's actually the most important factor, so if that's on track, I'm not too shabby. I'm not perfect...man, if I could give up wine, who knows what I could accomplish?! Haha, like that's ever going to happen.



{five}
I've got nothin'. I'm exhausted. Have a great weekend!


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