I'm still here...

I've had a terrible cold for the last week, and the majority of the last two days have been spent in bed! This morning, while still not 100%, I'm definitely on the road to recovery. This, I hope, explains the lack of posting.

In the meantime, I thought this would tide you over! Isn't she just the cutest? This is her Easter outfit! Shannon Payne took these, and I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone looking for cute, affordable pictures! Her normal sessions start at just $40, which includes 3 images on a cd for you to print or do whatever you want! You also have the option of buying prints from her! Be sure to check her out, if you're in the market for a photographer!

A VERY long day!

Well, the sewing machine arrived two days ago, and today was the first day I had a chance to head over to mom's to get started. I woke up bright and early with an eager and excited spirit! 9 hours later, however, my spirit may have been a little more subdued, but all in all, the day was a success!!

We had a few rough patches... such as me being an idiot and threading the machine incorrectly, which resulted in 3 shattered needles! After a friend graciously stopped by to get us on track, though, things started going much more smoothly!

These are in progression from 1st to last. Hopefully you will see a noticeable improvement in the succession!


While this one is my favorite design and adorable... it definitely has some flaws. The letters are a little messy, and the stitching isn't perfect. Still very cute and useable, just not up to professional par yet!




This one is a gift for Eric's cousin, and I thought it turned out perfect! Simple, yet fun! I was very pleased with it!


This one is Allie's easter egg bib! I lOVE how easy applique is!





And, this one made the day all worth it! Definitely up to professional grade if I say so myself! I am IN LOVE with this design!

What do you think? Keep in my I've never touched a sewing machine in my life, so with that in mind, I'm pretty pleased with myself!

MPM: Let's Play a Game

Ever played that game 2 truths and a lie? It's sort of meant as an ice breaker/get to know you type game. I always thought it was a fun game. We'll see how well I can fool you.

If you haven't played before, here's how it works. I give you 3 statements, and you guess which one out of the 3 is a lie.

* At one point, I had 7 body piercings.

* I've only had to go to the Emergency Room once in my life.

* I once broke my foot while jogging.

Your turn: Tell me which one is a lie, and if you're really into the game, give me 2 truths and a lie, so I can guess for you.

Alright... I've now answered the mystery in the comments, but feel free to still leave your 2 truths and a lie for me to guess!

A New Endeavor

My wonderful mom just ordered this fun sewing and embroidery machine for us to have fun with! To say I am excited about this is an understatement! This week I've been researching like crazy to find the best deals on supplies, designs, etc! I simply cannot wait until this beauty comes in!

You can better believe I'll be making some adorable things for Allie, and I'll be sure to show you! I am pretty sure that once I get the hang of it, I'll be offering to sell things to you, too, so stay tuned! This should be a very exciting venture for me!

MPM: Mmm Mmm Good ~ Quick & Easy Style

Hmm... I think I'll go with a theme on this one: The Rotisserie Chicken....

I suppose I was just completely out of the loop, but never, before this year, had I taken a cooked Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery, shredded it up, and used it in my recipes! This little trick makes any recipes that needs shredded chicken a BREEZE! This secret was shared with me in a class called SECRETS (the secrets of homemaking, that is!) It's a Bible Study I go to on Wednesday mornings, and we've learned things like cooking, mending, ironing, decorating, painting, organizing, and MANY more! However, this little "secret" has just revolutionized my cooking! Here's the secret you'll want to remember when you go to the store to buy your chicken. Don't buy the one that's already hot (I mean, you're just going to go home and put it in the fridge anyway). That one is $5.99, but if you want a few feet to the deli, they have the cooked ones cold for only $3.99! What a deal! Take it, and in the next few days shred it all, throw away the rest, and store it in the fridge or freezer (depending on how soon you're planning to use it).

Here are just a couple recent recipes that I love to use my rotisserie chicken for:

YUMMY Chicken Enchiladas!

chicken (about 1/2 the meat you can get off of 1)
1 large jar HOT salsa
small container sour cream
1 block cream cheese
1 pkg taco seasoning
tortillas (medium sized)
1 package mexican cheese


heat chicken in a skillet with taco seasoning and a little bit of water (1/2 to 1 cup)
once mixed, add cream cheese, mix thoroughly
add 1/2 jar salsa
grease 9X13 dish
spoon mixture in tortillas, (probably 8) then place in dish, seam side down
mix sour cream and remaining salsa, and pour over tortillas
pour cheese over entire dish

Cook at 350 for about 10-15 (until cheese is nice and melted)

These are spicy, but DELICIOUS! Def a favorite around here!

Chicken Pesto Fettuccine

1/2 chicken
3 yellow squash
3 zucchini
1 pkg fettuccine
1 jar pesto

chop and saute squash and zucchini in olive oil and garlic salt. cook pasta according to package directions; drain and add pesto, mixing thoroughly in pasta. Season chicken with a little italian seasoning. Add chicken to squash and zucchini until warm, then mix in with pasta. This makes a TON, but is EXTREMELY good for leftovers! You should def try it if you like squash and zucchini!

There you have it. But really, if you don't already, start using that rotisserie chick! It really does save so much time!

What about you? I'd love to add a few quick and easy's to my collection!

You know you're pregnant AGAIN when:

10. You find yourself dying to go to sleep when your baby does (at 8), and if you aren’t actually in bed by 9:30, you feel like you really may just die.

9. When someone asks you if Dear John was sad, you really can’t tell them an accurate answer, because, although you did cry through a large part of it, you can’t decide if the tears were actually merited or not.

8. You think of things like, “It’s really gonna be embarrassing to go in public with Allie when I start showing, because people are seriously going to think I’m insane!”

7. Instead of counting down weeks and days... you find it much easier just to round to the nearest month when someone asks you how far along you are.

6. The only kind of food that ever really sounds good is Mexican (unfortunately, no one else wants to eat Mexican for EVERY meal…)

5. Elastic waist pants are starting to sound more and more appealing each day (although, you have not broken down and gotten out the maternity clothes yet, because you’re determined to wait as long as possible to go down THAT road again) After all, it just doesn’t seem like that long ago that you joyfully got to put them in storage!

4. Instead of hoping and wishing the due date would hurry up and get here, you think that 9 months all of the sudden seems REALLY short! Of course, in the summer heat of August, I may be feeling differently! =)

3. You count down until nap time each day, not for the reasons you did before, (so you could actually get productive things done around the house) but because you’re not sure who’s in more need of a 3 hour nap: you or your 9 month old.

2. You have caught yourself almost buying newborn (GIRL) clothes in a store, before you realize that it’s not guaranteed that you’re going to have a girl this time around.

1. Instead of reading up on things like how my baby is developing week by week, you spend most of your time worrying about things like, "I won't even be able to get Allie in and out of her crib for the first two weeks (b/c of a c-sec) ... what am I gonna do!? And many other related worries....

Do you Like to Save Money?!

Then, Groupon is for you!!! All you have to do is go here to sign up. It takes literally about 5 seconds, and Groupon will start sending you one awesome coupon a day for your city! Today's Memphis coupon is awesome!! It's for Smoothie King. You spend $5 and get 3 - 20 oz smoothies! What a deal! This is basically buy 1, get 2 free!! I know there are some other Smoothie King lovers out there! So be sure to go here to sign up today and start enjoying awesome deals in your inbox each day!

Sick, Sad Mama and a Sweet, Happy Baby

First of all, I'd to apologize to all of you out there who have been so patiently waiting for this week's edition of "Mystery Post Monday". Unfortunately, it's 3:30 in the afternoon, and I basically have gotten nothing done today, and right now, frankly I still don't feel like putting time or energy into coming up with a creative answer for MPM, so I'm taking the liberty to skip it this week.

Last night, I realized all too late that I had forgotten to get my new Zofran prescription from the pharmacy, so as you can imagine (or maybe if you've never been sick while pregnant, you can't imagine) I have felt pretty crummy to say the least. I did eventually get some this morning, but unfortunately if I don't take it first thing, the rest of the day isn't too pretty. I doubt I'll make the mistake of forgetting again!

THANKFULLY, I have the most adorable and wonderful baby in the world, who literally hasn't minded sitting next to me on the bed all day with a few toys to keep her occupied! Wow, if all kids could be this easy, maybe we'd have a dozen or so (JUST KIDDING!)

THANKFULLY, God has blessed us tremendously with this new child who we haven't even met. Even though it's quite overwhelming to think about at times, I am excited to know that this is the plan God had for us all along, and we will never look back wanting things any other way. I am thankful for our family. And, while the sickness itself is not so fun, I'm thankful that it reminds me how blessed we are for a healthy pregnancy so far.

We truly do have so much to be thankful for.

Let's Talk About Love ~ Pt. 3

Yes, we had a great time together that night... but, more importantly, it led to a friendship that eventually turned into more. We just really enjoyed spending time together. We continued to hang out with friends and talk on the phone a lot and during that time really got to know more about the other. I wanted to observe his character and see what he was really all about, and I liked what I saw.

We dated for about two years before we got married. Some thought we were completely crazy for marrying so young. But, it's not anything I've ever regretted. I knew without a doubt that he was the one and couldn't think of a reason in the world to wait to marry him. Our families were also totally on board. Now, looking back, we were not (and still aren't, I'm sure) the epitome of maturity, but we have grown together, and in turn, grown in our love together, and grown spiritually together. I wouldn't have ever done it any other way! I love Eric with all my heart, and have so enjoyed these years together. We've had so much fun and experienced so many adventures with one another. He truly is a godly man that I look up to, and a man who never leaves me doubting that he loves me wholeheartedly.

It's hard to believe that we've been married for 4 years tomorrow. Happy anniversary, sweetheart. I know every day has not been perfect, because, well that's just not life; but I am and always have been so proud to be your wife! I love you!

The End.

Let's Talk About Love ~ Part 2

If you haven't read part 1 yet, please start here.

From the moment we asked, Eric set out to make it a "romantic" experience. I, however, kept assurring everyone involved that it was totally platonic, and really more of a group thing. He insisted on paying for the dance, as well as dinner, with the instructions, "Ya'll choose wherever you want; price is no object!" Boy, did that get my attention! It is a rare find that a high school boy will be so kind (or maybe so stupid) to say that. Steph and I set out to find the fanciest restaurant we could thing of. Poor boys... We asked around, and Joey Roland informed us that Texas de Brazil was for sure the most expensive restaurant in town. That decided it for us!

I can't lie; it did get my attention that he was willing to pay big bucks, when I barely even knew him, and we were going as friends. He tried his very best to make it a great night. Some things were corny, but they were also sweet. One thing was obvious... he was excited about going with me.

MPM: Let's Talk About Love

Eric and I first officially met in 12th grade. We knew each other from a distance from youth group for longer than that, but I had no real recollection of talking to him before then. He claims he talked to me in middle school, and I was very rude to him, and while I can't say it's not true, I simply don't remember anything about it.

Back to 12th grade... there was a school dance coming up, and my best friend wanted to go. I didn't really care too much about going to dances, so I told her I didn't care to do that. She was persistent, though. She thought it'd be fun to go with Eric and his best friend, and we could just all have fun as a group. She had recently become friends with Eric and Joseph. I kept saying no, until two very important things happened in one day. One, a guy had been talking to me more than normal at school, and one of my friends said, I bet he's about to ask you to the dance. Two, I was at the mall after school, and I found a dress that was amazingly beautiful! Now, I knew two things, I didn't necessarily care about going to the dance with Eric and Joseph, but I really didn't want to go to the dance with this other guy. Nothing against the guy, I just hardly knew him, and didn't want to go with someone I didn't know by myself! I knew if he asked, and I didn't have a good excuse, it'd be very hard to just say "no" for no reason! Also, I knew I sure would LOVE to have somewhere to wear that beautiful dress to! Neither of these may sound like good reasons to ask someone to a dance, to you, but ask we did. (they didn't go to our school, which is why we asked them)

to be continued