Tag Archives: currently

home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts

Currently… – Back Again!

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If you’ve been following me for a while, I used to do a Currently series every Monday and link up with several other blogs. Well, that Currently series kinda tapered off, and I’ve been missing the weekly prompts. So, when I visited From the North to the South and saw her Currently post, I was ecstatic to join Becky at Choose Happy for her Currently link-up! So here’s my rebooted, brand new (again) Currently series kick-off!

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Thinking About || What to name our sweet (healthy!) baby. I feel like we are getting nowhere. We used family names we loved for our first two kids, and now there isn’t a name that I feel super strongly about, and I’m not finding inspiration anywhere else yet.

Reading || Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It’s semi-historical fiction about architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the woman he had a years-long affair with. It’s actually a great read, despite the cheesy-sounding nature of it, and I’ll be sure to post a review when I’m done! It’s a little slower-going that the Divergent Series (I wonder why? Oh, teen fiction. Got it.) but I’m loving it all the same.

Crafting || Nothing. At. All. Y’all,  my crafting game has been out since Christmas. With this basement reno (they’re drywalling today! WOO!) my space has been more limited, we’ve been hopping around to friends’ houses to do laundry and avoid noise, and also hopping around to pick out cabinets, tile, carpet, etc. I feel like my “crafiting” has morphed into “interior designing” for the time being. And I’m totally okay with that! I’m sure I’ll find a lovely project for the kids’ new rooms that I can blog about.

Watching || The Bachelor! But I’m way behind, so please don’t post any spoilers. The next episode for me to watch is the fourth one… so I haven’t even seen why (apparently) I’m going to dislike Kelsey from now on. Sad times. Anyway, I’ve never watched a season of the Bachelor or Bachelorette, and so this season has been a new thing for me.

Excited About || A gal pal’s recommendation for Piko shirts. I’m pretty sure they’re going to change my life. I’d never heard of them until last night, when my friend Sarah was wearing one, and I knew immediately I needed to live in them for the next… rest of my life. I ordered two last night from Simply Dixie (very cute boutique, by the way!). They were reasonably priced and had tons of colors. I may be ordering… all of them.

Thankful for || A good report for my tiniest baby! A supportive, wonderful Hubby. Two (soon to be three!) healthy, adorable kids. LOTS of sweet friends and family who have loved us well, and let escape to their quiet houses to do laundry.

What are you Currently up to? Join the link up!

food, home, mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently: The Thanksgiving Edition

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Today’s Currently isn’t a link up. But I just haven’t posted anything in what feels like AGES, so here I am, telling you what I’m Currently up to, in the style of the link up!!

Thinking about || Thanksgiving and all that that entails. For me, it has entailed rearranging my basement for guest space, two (so far) extremely expensive grocery store trips in preparation for cooking and baking, ordering a Honeybaked Ham (we could give or take a turkey, haha!) and making copious amounts of phone calls and emails planning, preparing, and getting excited. My parents, my brother and his girlfriend, my grandmother, my aunt, uncle and cousin are all coming up here from GA for the holiday. It may be a little hectic, but wonderful. And I haven’t even gotten to things I am thankful for!

Thankful for || family, friends, food to eat and a roof over my head. Here in North Carolina, we’ve had a couple of weeks of drastically changing weather, and I’m thankful for warm boots, rain boots, coats, scarves, and heat in my house. I’m also thankful that I have wonderful family and friends to spend my holiday with. It’s nice to not dread the family coming into town and the hours and days that we will spend together. I know many who are not this fortunate.

Cooking || some of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving staples to take them to Hubby’s family’s T-Giving meal. This will include my family’s dressing recipe and our well-loved cranberry salad. Today I also worked on one of my favorite holiday snacks to have around the house: ranch oyster crackers (basically a package of oyster crackers baked with olive oil, ranch mix, dill, lemon pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper) – yum! I’m also baking some cookies (the cherry shortbreads I talked about a few weeks ago and a gluten/dairy/sugar free sugar plum recipe that is SO GOOD. I’m basically excited about it.

Anticipating || some renovations around our home! Hubby and I have decided we’re staying put, and hiring a friend’s company to renovate the basement. The idea is that we will get two more bedrooms, a bathroom spruce up and a laundry room out of the project and we are PUMPED. Hubby and I also have a few projects on the main level that we’re going to be working on during the times that EK is at preschool and J is napping, such as repainting baseboards, touch up painting on walls, etc. I’m excited about this process, and loving my (already well-loved) home even more.

Hoping || I’ve been praying and hoping for more patience with EK. Confession: I don’t know how much better I’ve been getting. She’s amazing – communicating, behaving, potty training, being sweeter to her brother… but still there are attitude issues sometimes (I mean, she’s 2!) and some things she does (to her brother, mostly) that I feel like trigger me losing my cool. I’m working on it. Prayers for that, if you’re the praying type.

Loving || two new pairs of leggings and two new chunky, tunic-length sweaters, all from Crown & Ivy. They are comfy, the leggings are thick (think can’t see through them when you bend your knees, and no panty lines, because they aren’t painted on, either!) and therefore warm, and the sweaters are cozy. Basically, I’m living in them.

Alright. There’s my long-overdue update. What are you up to? What are your Thanksgiving plans and recipes?

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Crumbled biscuits and cornbread that I made this morning in preparation for the dressing I’ll put together tomorrow!

 

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Ranch Oyster Crackers, straight from the oven. The ones that I haven’t already eaten, at least.

 

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Cranberry Salad – a little complicated, but always a hit. My great-grandmother’s recipe (one of EK’s namesakes!)

 

home, mommyhood

Currently

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New edition of Currently, linking up with Hannah at Joyful Life and other stupendous bloggers that I love. It’s all about sharing life and building community. Check it out and join us!

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T H I N K I N G  A B O U T || My weekend. Hubby was out of town in NYC this past weekend, and I was a temporarily single mom. I survived and thrived a little better than I expected. Honestly, I figured I’d drown in the household chores and baby stuff and only barely keep my kids alive. Hubby and I often have a good cop/bad cop thing going on (if you’re wondering who the bad cop is, you’re looking at her) and I was afraid I would be too much bad cop. But I was alright playing both roles for the weekend!

L O V I N G || Great conversations I’ve been having with friends from church. There are so many inspiring people that I get to be with on a weekly (and more often than that) basis. One of these great times was yesterday… I blogged about it here.

T H A N K F U L  F O R || Sweet friends and family. While Hubby was gone this weekend, we had a couple of friends who helped feed us and in-laws who pitched in to keep the kids while I was at church for my normal Sunday marathon, and it was the biggest help. J is usually napping during church time, and so he’s in a phase of hating the nursery. It’s too loud for him to sleep, but he’s super cranky when he doesn’t get to. Thankfully he sleeps just fine at his grandparents’!

L E A R N I N G || I’m constantly learning this, and I’ve written about it before (here and here, for example), but each day it’s more true… I’m learning patience. It’s one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever learned, which must be why it’s taking so long. Breaking generational curses and trying to be slow to anger, quick to love can sometimes be difficult and exhausting. It can also be extremely rewarding. That must be why I’m still doing it!

H O P I N G || I am truly hoping that the next two months are filled with joy and family and fun, and not stressful and too busy. I like being busy with fun things during the holidays, but I also know that sometimes busy can be a curse, too.  So here’s hoping that we aren’t overly committed, but that we have just the right amount of cooking and shopping and partying and giving.

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mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently

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This week’s edition of Currently is on INSTAGRAM! If you already follow me on Instagram, you know I’m a big fan… If you don’t yet, follow me (@whitneymaeve) to see what I’m currently up to! If you want to link up, add your link at Hannah’s Joyful Life and use the hashtag #currently on Instagram.

In the mean time, here’s a couple of photos of the kiddos from Halloween…

Three little rodents... and we didn't even plan it! Mama Deer holding her little field mouse, Rafaella and Master Splinter, and April O'Neil interviewing Mickey Mouse!
Three little rodents… and we didn’t even plan it! Mama Deer holding her little field mouse, Rafaella and Master Splinter, and April O’Neil interviewing Mickey Mouse!
It's hard to get all four of them looking and smiling, so this one might be the best! At least no one is crying!
It’s hard to get all four of them looking and smiling, so this one might be the best! At least no one is crying!

After we got a few pictures of the kiddos dressed up, we had dinner together, and then we all went out to Hubby’s gig. It was a night of being silly and dancing. What fun!

What did you do for Halloween?

And don’t forget to link up to tell me what you’re currently up to!

home, mommyhood

Currently

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Linking up this week with Hannah at Joyful Life for another edition of Currently – a quick, easy update on you life, right at this moment. Join our community!

T H I N K I N G || I’m really consumed by two overwhelming feelings this morning… Thinking about how wonderful it was to have Hubby’s grandparents in town (his dad’s parents live in Hawaii, are 87, and come to town once a year for two weeks) and how relieved I am that life is returning to normal since they are safely back home. Would we love it if they lived here? Absolutely! However, having them in town for only two weeks a year means that our lives revolve around spending as much time with them as possible while they’re here (as it should be!) but that gets exhausting with two kids thrown from their regular schedules and places and planned into extra family events, meals, etc. It’s wonderful, and a lot. We should just get them to move here!! Best of both worlds, right?

D R E A M I N G || This one is an interesting one. I’ll tell you about an actual dream that I had. I was in a group of girlfriends, and several f them announced they were pregnant. So I said I was too. I wasn’t. And that is what I dreamed last night. Ha!

O R G A N I Z I N G || We are still going on the basement/garage. I feel like every time I gain a little bit of ground, I have a few days where I just don’t have a moment to get to work down there until I am way too tired to consider it. One of the next items on my list is to go pick up some of those Rubbermaid (or comparable) bins to store some of the kids’ stuff (read: clothes) that I don’t want to part with, in case Hsu baby #3 (also read: not pregnant) needs them later. Anyone know of a place selling those bins on the cheap?

L A U G H I N G   A T || EK has had some HILARIOUS kid speak recently. Strawberries are “raw-be-yeah”. Applesauce and apple juice are both “applesaucejuice” (it’s a toss up to determine which item she’s asking for). Water and swaddle sound the same. “Tee-tee shoes” is EK speak for “princess shoes”, also known as those plastic dress up shoes from T. J. Maxx. She wants to wear them everywhere and does not appreciate it when I tell her she can’t because she’ll trip.

R E A D I N G || Less and less every day… I know that’s sad, but I’ve been so busy. Hubby and I have both had some family in and out of town, and have been working a lot. Not to mention, you know, keeping house and raising kiddos. Ha. But seriously, I love reading, and I’m always sad when I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like. I’m also a bit sorry (and a tiny bit excited) to say the lapse in reading is also partially due to the return of tv shows in the fall. Gotta catch up with Jess and Nick, right?

What have you been up to? What’s going on in your life currently?

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Currently

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This is my sixth time linking up with some awesome bloggers to share life, connect, and give and get ideas! Love this link up – join us!

D O I N G || We are working on potty training and house purging/organizing, almost to the exclusion of all else. Both are very productive and healthy for us to be doing, and we have a ways to go yet.

P L A N N I N G || We have already started making our plans for the holiday season. Are we going to go see my family in GA? Will we invite everyone to come here? Will we plan lots of things or be a little more relaxed? All valid questions. All have no true answers yet. My schedule is already gearing up for church, since there are extra services and functions I’ll need to attend, as well as social gatherings of friends far and near. It’s going to be a busy few months, folks.

R E M E M B E R I N G || My maternal grandfather passed away in November of last year, and I think about him all the time, but especially now. My son has his eyes and his hairline (read: cowlick) and sometimes I look at him and want to weep for his great-grandfather and the fact that he won’t know him. He so would have loved my son, and my son would have loved him.

W I S H I N G || I love my kids at their stages right this minute… I’m wishing they could stop time for a few months and not change.

L O V I N G || I got a tip from my friend Aida about some fantastic boots on Amazon… so I bought them. And they are wonderful. I have worn them every other day almost. I’ve worn them with dresses, jeans, leggings, tights, and been completely happy every time I’ve put them on. Here’s the link: Very Volatile Women’s Mel Boot. I got the dark taupe. They come in teal, and I’m thinking about telling Hubby that’s what I want for Christmas…

What’s going on in your life currently?

health and fitness, mommyhood, random thoughts, Run Away.

Currently

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Today I’m linking up (belatedly haha) with Hannah at Joyful Life for the next installment of the Currently series. I love building community with these fantastic bloggers who inspire me. Join us!

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T H I N K I N G || As you might know, I’ve been training for a 10K that’s on October 25th. I ran 6.23 miles (just a little over) on Monday for the first time – usually I have been doing between 4 and 5 miles – and it killed me. I am still sore. I thought that when I lost the stroller (I usually run with my double jogger and both kids) the last mile and a half would come easily. It didn’t. I managed to finish, but I was really dragging my booty at the end. I’m hoping I can get at least three more of those actual 10k-length runs in between now and the race. I’m not going for a certain time… I just want to finish!

M A K I N G || This makes me think of crafting… but Lord knows I haven’t been doing that. I love to craft, but just haven’t had the time. I will stick with making friends. Building relationships. That’s a good thing to be making, right? I’ve been learning more about the gals in my women’s small group and I love it!

A N T I C I P A T I N G || I’m really looking forward to church this Sunday. I’m leading worship at a different service since J and his cousins are getting baptized, and all of our family will be in town. It’s going to be a joyous occasion all around!

W E A R I N G || Scarves. And. Boots. And. Boots. And. Scarves. Seriously. I’m wrecked because the weather hasn’t really gotten that cool for more than a few hours at a time, so I’m sweating in my boots and scarves. Oh well, it’s October, and I’m in the right and the weather is in the wrong.

T H A N K F U L   F O R || I’m thankful right now for a mother-in-law that I not only get along with really well, but who also speaks truth and goodness into me, Hubby and the kids. She’s a fantastic lady, and she is one of the reasons our family is so darn awesome.

Here’s a little glimpse of our fall photo session from last Saturday. I’ll go into detail about it later… But we love working with Sophie Van Zandt – the best 16-year-old photographer you’ve ever seen! She always cranks out tons of cute photos of my kids and our family.

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faith, mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently

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I’m joining Hannah at Joyful Life (her first time hosting!) for the Currently link-up series. I love connecting with y’all, visiting new blogs, hearing from you, and growing community. Join us!

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Thinking about my decision to stay home with my kids this school year. It’s hard – not that I’m surprised – and it’s rewarding. I love it and struggle with it all at the same time. I know that I won’t regret this decision to spend the extra time with them, but it’s also been difficult to find any sort of routine to balance quality time with them, time with Hubby, and time to keep the house, cook, grocery shop, etc. If you’ve got it figured out, send some suggestions my way!

Listening to the sounds of J lolling his tongue around in his mouth. He’s got a lot of “la la la la la” going on!

Doing is a little difficult to tell y’all about without taking all day, but Hubby and I are doing some purging/cleaning/reorganizing/etc in the midst of our deciding whether to stay in our home, renovate/add on, or move. We are praying for major wisdom in this area; we want to make the right decision for our family and for hopefully 10 or 15 years. This is a life move, y’all.

Thankful for the crisp fall weather and the sunshine that’s been accompanying it (for now). The kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside, enjoying the weather. We are also thankful for our deck – it’s a great space to enjoy the sunshine and the breeze!

What are you currently up to?

 

faith, mommyhood, music

Currently

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I love linking up with Jenna at A Mama Collective and all the other fantastic gals for the Currently series. Here goes nothin’!

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Thinking about high school. I never really reminisce like this, but my ten-year reunion was this past weekend. I saw some great people I haven’t seen in years, and partied with some good friends (and teachers!) that I don’t get to see often. On the one hand, I love seeing people in person and looking into their eyes while we catch up. On the other hand, thank goodness for social media because otherwise I’d have reverted into my awkward, high school self because I wouldn’t have known anything about anyone’s life nowadays. It was actually easier because I knew a little bit and was able to make conversation. Anyway, it was a blast. I loved reconnecting with several people I never get to see.

Listening to Kari Jobe singing “Forever” by Bethel Music. Here’s the link for my favorite video:

This song (we actually talked about in our worship team meeting last week) is a perfect example of a great worship song. Structurally, dynamically, lyrically, and just in the open-ended nature and worship opportunity that the song creates. One of my favorite things is that it all starts with a reflection on the cross. In short, I am digging it.

Thankful for Hubby. I’m always thankful for him, but I’m in a season right now of really appreciating the way he loves me well, the love he has (and shows!) for our kids, and the commitment he has to our family. He is an excellent man, folks.

Loving the fact that TV has started back up for the fall. I know that’s a silly thing, but I am so happy!

Enjoying  my new small groups. Hubby and I are a part of a community group that meets every other Sunday. Six couples, all in different stages of life, and I love it. Such fun people! I’m also in a new women’s small group on Thursday mornings. The gals I got linked with are great, different ages/walks of life, some I know and some I don’t yet. It’s already been fun, and we’ve only met twice! Yay for beginning this year full of great new relationships!

Doing life with my mama friends these past couple of months has been awesome. For instance, this morning, my friend Steph popped in for a cup of coffee after dropping her son off at preschool. We just visited, chatted and watched the kids play. I love being so close to her (geographically and as friends) that she can pop over while I’m still in my pajamas and we can just drink coffee and be.

Join the link up party! What are you up to Currently?

faith, mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently.

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What my days look like. See "wishing".
What my days look like. See “wishing”.

Here is my second Currently. post to link up with A Mama Collective and When At Home! I love being able to connect with so many awesome writers and believers and thinkers and doers. Y’all are really, really wonderful.

I am currently:

thinking about my family. Not just Hubby and the kids, but also my parents, my grandparents (of which I have only one living, but three dearly loved and missed), my great grandparents (two of whom I knew well), my brother, my aunts and uncles and cousins… We have a circle of love and support, a tight bond that can only be forged by doing life together. Living so far away from them and missing things and coming home not as often as I thought I would has only made me think more about spending intentional time with them, wherever it is spent.

reading Dragonfly in Amber. It’s the second book in the Outlander series. My mom and one of my best friends (and 947204275 other women) read these when they came out, and I am just now reading them for the first time – partially because now that Starz is making a series about them, I want to SEE it, not just read it! So far, I’m a third of the way in, and it’s a little more slow-going than Outlander was, but I’m still in it to win it.

eating banana bread and macarons. I am in the middle of finding all the banana bread recipes I can, and make them healthier without losing their yum factor. Also, on the subject of macarons, my best friend Lauren is in a macaron-making swing, so naturally I’m on the helping and receiving side of that. Let me not complain!

loving this fall weather. NC hasn’t seen as much fall yet as some more northern states have I suppose, but it’s definitely cooling off a little, and I’m seeing a few yellow and orange leaves. Also, the temperature drop has really helped my running (read: I’m not as miserable doing it) because I tire less easily and I pick up the pace when I’m not sweating into my eyes and stopping to take a drink every 12 feet.

wishing my sweet daughter would extend her sweetness to her brother. Every time he gets near her, there’s a squeal almost at the pitch that only dogs can hear. And he adores her. I just want her to tolerate him a little, ya know?

watching all of those lovely shows I’ve been missing all summer. The shows Hubby and I are excited to start again include Modern Family, New Girl, Once Upon a Time, Parks and Recreation (SO SAD it’s on it’s last season!), Grimm, and 30 Rock.

listening to Citipointe Live. They’re an Australian Hillsong-like group that writes tons of worship music. A friend recommended them to me for possible new worship songs for church, and I was happy to listen to several great tunes to share with the worship team!

anticipating fall and winter and CHRISTMAS! I know, Halloween isn’t even here yet, but fall/winter weather and holidays are my favorite (yes, Hubby and I both have birthdays in there) and Advent through Christmas is by far my favorite few weeks of the year.

thankful for my incredible Hubby. When he found out that my grandmother had passed and I needed to get to GA, he cancelled his weekend, helped make a plan and pack, drove all the way here, and has done everything he can for the past few days to make my life a little less stressful. He is the biggest supporter and encourager I have, and I don’t know where I’d be without him. Love you, babe.

There ya have it – what’s happening with me Currently. in a nutshell. What are you doing currently?