Saturday Obsessions: Breakfast, Books, & Beach.

Summer has taken over life in the Morlet household. All good, but definitely not the best for routine. But I have been recently obsessing over these three things in the last couple weeks and wanted to share! 


I Heart Breakfast

{breakfast photo credit}

Yesterday I made Cinnamon Burst French Toast with special bread from my local Great Harvest Bread company and I just about died. All their stuff is handmade and fresh-made. They provided the bread for our wedding, that's how much we love them! 
--Directions are super easy: Slice bread to the thickness you prefer [the thicker it is, the longer cook time]. Mix eggs [2 eggs per person], alot of cinnamon, and milk [til it looks a little creamy]. Dip bread slice [don't soak, dip]. Lay on griddle. Done. 
Eat it with some orange juice and bacon! 


Books Worth Reading

{books Photo credit}

Right now I'm reading through The Joy of Promises Kept which is a study on the roles wives play but I'm simultaneously re-reading through BitterSweet by Shauna. I think I'm getting better at dedicating time to read actual books [I've decided blog posts don't count ;)]. I was talking with a dear friend and she mentioned how her attention span for reading seems to be decreasing because there are so many things buzzing around her mind. That reading is becoming more of a discipline we are soon forgetting. So I'm trying to reverse that effect in me. 


Beach Babes

My favorite thing to do is lay on the beach and let my body soak up the sun. Sometimes I don't even get in the water. Ty says it's a waste of a beach trip, but I don't care. I love it! There's nothing like a California beach. [Can't wait for you to see Cara!]


Happy Saturday! 


What are you obsessing about lately??


Love,

#Friday #Follow: Pretty Things and a New Journey

Well yesterday was fun huh? :) My head is still reeling and I wanted to say thank you all so much for the sweet comments and phone calls and text messages. This is gonna be fun and I'm glad you're gonna be here for it! Ok, enough of that. Ready to read??? 

Sugar & Charm

A place for pretty entertainment.
Having a party? Get together? Girls night? You need this site. So many ideas and pretty pictures and original stuff. Just trust me. 





The Pretty Life Anonymous
Two sisters who write about affordable fashion.
These girls are hilarious in their writing and super practical in their projects and reviews. I could spend hours on this blog, just wishing I had time to do all their fun projects. And to add to their cuteness, they never show their faces. It's always covered by something creative. An element of mystery.





She Seeks
My new journey as a writer.
It's so weird to say that this site will soon be a new writing outlet. However, the JM blog isn't going anywhere! I will still write here 4-6 times a week and over there on a monthly rotation with the other 5 girlies. If you haven't check it out already, do it! The She Seeks Blog is an inspirational blog for 20-something year olds [like me!] who are wading through all the seasons life may bring. This is a place where girls can know they're not alone. Where community is built, conversations are had, and healing is found. Sounds perfect eh?? 


I'll be sure and let you know when my Intro Post goes live, but til then Happy Friday Reading!


Love,

They Picked Me! {I'm a She Seeks Writer}

Hello Friends. 
Remember this video??


Well, today is pretty giant for me. My heart is STILL pounding from 1:30AM when I watched this video and heard my name announced as the new team writer for a site called She Seeks [A division of Proverbs 31 Ministries]. She Seeks, is a site for the 20-something woman, where we seek to encourage, inspire and motivate!  Our goal is to provide relevant topics and be a voice for the needs and concerns of the young adult community. 


Yes, today I became a writer. Well, I am learning that I have always been a writer, but today I get the title too! 


So to celebrate, I want to give away some music! You can go here to download the track title from our Love Song EP. [Click on "FREESONG"] 

I can't wait to share with you the whole journey and I want to say thank you to you guys, my readers, my friends, and my family for supporting me through this whole process. 


Your encouragement has meant THE WORLD to me and I need you :) 


Be sure to check out the She Seeks site to see more about what I'll be doing. My post that I submitted as my final stage of the process will go live in a couple weeks so I'll let you know about that too! 


I'll write more later but for now, I gotta go celebrate. 


Love,

In the Office Today

Today I'm in the office working on worship and girls conference odds and ends. 


My Reading for today:
12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin


My Listening Playlist for today:
Colbie Caillat's new album: All of You


What are you doing this fine Monday?


Love,

I'm Blogger Potty Training :: Blogher Convention 2011

Blogging to some people is like the food pyramid. There are necessary elements needed for everyday survival and others that are just for treats and cheat-days. 

As the dawn of this convention sneaks closer, I am discovering that the Blogher Convention is a necessary element. 


So I'm going. I'm scared, nervous, excited, and a bit starry-eyed. Kind of like potty training a toddler [minus the starry-eyed part]. There will be alot of big time bloggers, along with alot of little fish in the sea [like me!] mixed into one space. It's going to be dynamite, or so I hear. 


There are workshops pretty much all day and parties all night. In San Diego. Near the gaslamp. Oh snap. I'm not quite sure what to pack yet but I'm hoping @hollywoodhwife will write a post on that [*wink wink*]. 


The thing that I'm most excited about is hearing from the professionals and getting some long-time questions answered. Like -how to market, -how to establish a following, -how to write tailoring to your audience, -how to maximize social tools like Twitter and FB, -what makes someone a good "blog writer" and is that different from a "regular writer", and -maybe some -fun blogging ideas. 


Last, I hope to meet new people. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those events where everyone tries to out impress the other with their blogging skills, interviews, data, and numbers but I'm gonna try really hard to just sit and watch. This may be the naivety talking, but I wanna see how this whole thing works and if it's something worth being a part of. I can't really imagine it not being, everyone I've read who's been LOVES it, but trying to be cautious. Maybe. haha. 


I will of course be tweeting and picturing through the whole thing so make sure to follow on Twitter. 

Annnnnd, if you're going to #Blogher11 tell me so maybe we can high five or something. 


Happy Saturday! 


Love,

Our Mountain Vacation in Photos

Vacay photos as promised :) It was once said, "A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." And that's pretty much what we did. No agenda, no places to be. We ate pie for breakfast and marshmallows at midnight. We slept in til 11 and went to be at 8:30. It was amazing. 

Our fearless 6 hour driver.

I scoured for yellow boots, but only black ones. They were good though.

My attire for the week: Sweatshirts and ball caps. #heaven

1) We had a marshmallow eating contest. 11. That's all I can say.

2) This was the river our tent was next too. No joke. It was heaven!

3) Just me and my no-heat curls.

4) Tom's Place milk-shake. Yummmmmy. Faaaaatening. 

For all you haters out there, [you know who you are] I caught a fish

AND I cleaned it. Yes, yes I did. But never again. 

The BEST pie place ever. The one pictured is cherry. But I had coconut. !!

1) We read. Alot. I got through this whole book. And I recommend it.

2) And Ty watched Harry Potter. Of course. 

This picture was a toil in my mind to share, but I had to because my legs

got SOO disgustingly dry that I would put lotion on and it wouldn't rub. It just

disappeared in the abyss of my leg. And that's never happened to me before.
So it was worth sharing. Don't judge. 

Read 'em and weep. It's gross I know, but I was stunned when I saw that

the hard core fishermen use these guys. Bleh.

Friends. Old and new friends. 

[Not that you're old Jen, just that I've known...never mind.] 

Overall, our trip was so fun. Relaxing, restful, exciting, and fresh. And I'm glad to be home. In my own bed with clean clothes :) 

Did you like the guest posts by Amber and Jo?? If you missed them they're right here:

-Marriage Myths Intro

-Marriage Myth #1, #2, #3, #4

-A New Song

Happy Taco Tuesday! Eat one for me.

Love,

Tuesday To-Do List :: Free Printable

Good morning world! 
Today is a busy day. Worship meetings all morning [we're discussing Christmas already!!], planning for the Girls Conference, returning vacation phone calls and emails, and studying.  
BUT I'm going to try to make time to put up photos from our trip :) And like I promised, there's a video too. 


What are you doing this fine Tuesday?


{here's a free printable for your own to-do list this week! enjoy!}

To Download: Click image, Right click, Save As
Photo Credit

Love,

//Guest Blogger// Joanna Schultz

**Hi friends! I am on vacation until July 15th. Til then you're in the hands of some of my best friends. See ya in a week!** -JM

Hey Everyone! I'm Joanna. 

As Julianna mentioned in my bio, I love singing. I remember when I was a child my parents left the huge living room/dining room open for me to have as my very own music room. I would dance, sing, play musical instruments and perform the occasional musical in which I would make my parents pay admission and the necessary popcorn I had popped all on my own. 

When I sang, I felt joy. Genuine joy that would make my heart feel like bursting.

Let's now fast forward to today -- I am about to turn 30 in 5 days. Talk about a milestone. To be honest, it didn’t really get to me until July 6, 2011 when my husband turned 30. It got me thinking; 30 is a good amount of years! It’s 3 whole decades! Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand that it’s still young and to be honest I am very happy to get OUT of my 20’s. But still, it's kind of a reality check for me, so I decided to write out some years of my life and the main happenings- where and who I was at that time. You know, to reminisce. 

However, it turned out to be a bit daunting.

You see, before the age 26, I lived my own life without Jesus. I was a mess. I was lost. I was seriously depressed and I didn’t know why. Looking back at that time I saw that life happened and joy and happiness disappeared.

I couldn’t help but begin to feel that I wasted 25 years of my life. In tears from being bogged down with regret I got on my knees and cried to God. It was then that He reminded me of the verse He showed me earlier that day, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy” (Psalm 33:3).

He reminded me and reassured me that even during those years He always had a plan for me. There was never a time He wasn't guiding or directing my life. 

He had a new song for me to sing.

In that moment, I lifted my tear stained face and began to sing my new song. I picked myself up, having the revelation that a “new song” means more than an actual song. Through Jesus, He offers a new life, a new start, a new JoAnna.

And that is exactly who I am.

“I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.”

~Psalm 40:1-3

What’s even more awesome is looking back at the years in the past DID include Jesus, He was always there, I just didn’t notice Him then. But now I do. My life is a new song. 

And I am singing it joyfully! Happy 30^th Birthday to me! 

::Your turn:: 

When you look back on your life, does it make you frown or smile? 

What is it missing? 

What new song are you singing today?? 

Love,

Marriage Myths Wrap Up

Amber Pitts: Marriage Myths
Marriage Myth #1
Marriage Myth #2
Marriage Myth #3
Marriage Myth #4

//GB// Marriage Myth #4

**Hi friends! I am on vacation until July 15th. Til then you're in the hands of some of my best friends. See ya in a week!** -JM

Myth #4: People Don’t Change

But when they do, screw the marriage & screw the wedding vows. Right? Wanna know most common thing I’ve heard from broken marriages? Sadly: “I loved him so much. But he just isn’t the man I feel in love with 12 years ago, he’s changed so much.”

Newsflash: So have you.

At least let’s hope you grew up from when you were married @ 23. Truth is, people change. They grow up, they appreciate different music, different food and different aspects of life as they learn life. The best part about it is growing together. 

We haven’t learned anything if we are fooled into thinking our spouse is going to be the exact same person from when we first married them and fell in love, esp. if we exclude ourselves from thinking we haven’t changed. “Through good times & bad,” circumstances and hardships are bound to arise that we can chose to allow to make or break our marriage. 

Fighting for your marriage means allowing each other to mess up and not be perfect. Life changes & life changes us.

Fight. Fight hard. 

Love,

//GB// Marriage Myth #3

**Hi friends! I am on vacation until July 15th. Til then you're in the hands of some of my best friends. See ya in a week!** -JM

Myth #3: Marriage is for Our Happiness

No. It's not. It’s for your holiness.

Why do we get married to begin with? B/c we are “in love?” B/C we can’t see ourselves living with out that person? B/C “Jack” or “Jill” is your soul mate? All great reasons. But here’s the truth: if we make this mentality our worldview, we can prepare for disappointment, unfulfilled expectations and eventually looking to others (outside of our spouse) for happiness. The great thing about marriage is that God desires us to be married! However, in every relationship we are expected to love one another, encourage one another, not to judge one another, we’re to be kind to one another…the list of “one another’s” continues. My very first lesson in marriage: the hardest thing about it is yourself. Once you get married and your spouse is requesting something of you, which you absolutely despise, hate or just never imagined yourself to ever have to be in that situation of considering the task, then what?

Newlyweds Jack and Jill have one day off together and she desires to be @ that happiest place on earth, Disney Land. Jack is a little more audacious and would much rather go to Magic Mountain. But Jill hates roller coasters and Jack hates mice. And Tea cups, not too much of a fan of princesses either. Seems like no big deal, but when you’re actually in this moment, it can make or break the entire day together. Who wins? Who yields to each other?

Fast forward 5 years and Jill is pregnant with baby #2, planning on having her tubes tied after her delivery. Jack wants @ least 2 more kids. Who wins? Who yields to each other? This can make or break the entire marriage, not to mention a hormonal pregnant woman.

Similar struggles are bound to occur in every marriage…until death do you part. Jill would be ecstatic, spending her time @ the happiest place on earth, but in turn, this would cost Jack his anticipation and his hopes of spending his time elsewhere. Here we have a situation where one person wins, and the other loses their excitement and delight of a day well spent.

Solution: Holiness. Somebody here in the amusement park drama gets to choose to be selfless and yield their desires to the other. Someone here is going to have to chose to humble themselves in order to make the other happy. But this solution is not easy, especially in the daily mundane tasks of marriage—not least when you feel that you are continually giving and giving and never receiving back. But we know that the Bible does in fact tell us holiness isn’t easy and will always be challenging through this pursuit. 

Nowhere in the Bible are we told we are going to be happy in marriage. Quite the opposite: we are told that in all relationships we are to be humble with one another, love one another, encourage one another, we’re not to lie to one another and if we do are we are to forgive one another…the list continues here. 

We’re actually not really told how we should be feeling about a relationship, just how we should be reacting towards people. These exhortations are challenging just to read, but practicing them daily is a challenge. Trying to practice them daily with your spouse whom you feel has wronged you in some area…you then really begin to see how selfish you are. 

God’s grace is sufficient for us in our weakness through our attempt of pursuing holiness. 

Love,

//GB// Marriage Myth #2

**Hi friends! I am on vacation until July 15th. Til then you're in the hands of some of my best friends. See ya in a week!** -JM

Myth #2: We’re gonna be in love forever!

I call it the fairy tale stage. I also call it infatuation. It’s totally there, you will always love each other, but will you always be in love with each other?

Maybe for some couples yes, but for other couples, myself included, I love my husband in a completely different way than I did during that fairy tale stage, and I love him more now than I did then. After 10 years together I have seen him in an entirely different way than when we first began dating. I love his quarks and I love knowing what can make or break him as a person; that is such a privilege that only I have attained. Being together for so long, we have grown to know each other in ways that other people will never know. 

There is something so much more intimate and personal about this confidential knowledge than the fairy tale of infatuation that nothing on earth can compare to. When you first begin dating, the unknown about each other is intense and full of anticipation and excitement. And then, through the early years of marriage, you come these prior mysteries about your spouse become the daily rewards and quirks of married life. You have studied them and can actually anticipate their needs, sometimes even before they can.

A love that has been enriched by joys and sorrows; by the experiences of shared sufferings and loss—as well as disappointments. This is a completely different love that is only generated by years together.

It’s the difference between a love tempered by time and one teased by mystery.

Love,