she said "gleeba"!

confused by this title? not a "friends" fan, then i assume (i think nick and i have watched all ten seasons from start to finish at least three times through in the almost-three-years we've been married. we love it, what can i say). to summarize: rachel is "talking" on the phone to her baby girl and excitedly proclaims that emma said her first word... "gleeba". now that i have a child, that sequence makes me chuckle a bit more. as parents, we are always looking for what our child may be learning, accomplishing, saying, doing... and we may get a little too excited over things that aren't really a big deal (or, in the case of the friends episode, words like "gleeba" which aren't really words at all).

i promise this post isn't an example of this... or at least i will try my very best not to be one of those parents.

(you all know exactly what i'm talking about)

i just want to try to write everything down and remember every little thing of this stage of bella's development because it has been one of my *favorites*. so far, at least :)

like any other parent of a ten month old, i am daily amazed at how my daughter is changing. it is unbelievable! since i have completely dropped the ball on her baby book (one of my biggest mama-guilt-sources), i want to document these things somewhere... and then one of these days i can sit down and catch up on that dad-gum baby book. here are a few things that bella grace is up to these days...

-crawling.

a couple weeks ago, she was trying so hard to master the art of crawling. she would take one stride and fall. and then eventually just roll her way to wherever she needed to go (which she still does from time to time... this girl hasn't stopped rolling for months). then, one friday morning after a week of struggle, i was in the kitchen making breakfast and i looked up to find my sweet pea crawling like she had been for her whole life. now she is incredibly speedy and we've had to close doors to the rooms we don't want her in or else who knows where she will end up before we can catch her!

- pulling up.

she is pulling up like a pro... and she loves it. whenever i go in to get her out of her crib now in the mornings or after naps, this is what i find:

between pulling up and crawling, whenever i go to change her diaper her sweet lil knees are always red!

- dancing.

we've found a new love, bella and me. in the mornings, after breakfast we play music and dance around the living room. she LOVES it. she has the sweetest little belly laugh and inhaling noise she does now when she's excited and it's just the cutest. when i picked her up from the church nursery this past sunday, the nursery workers excitedly told me "she has some moves!" they said they put on music and bella started dancing (she loves shrugging her shoulders up and down to the music... i told you she has moves). ahhhhhh so cute! she makes her king-of-the-dance-moves-daddy very proud.

- touchdown!

when i was a baby, my parents taught me how to raise my arms above my head in the to sign "touchdown" whenever they would say it. we started doing this with bella a while ago, and now she has it mastered. it is one of the cutest things i've ever seen. she gets really into it and arches her back and looks way up at the sky and then starts clapping for herself and saying "yaaaaayyy".

-mealtime.

she is doing soooo well with table food! she loves eating cut up grapes, bananas, chunks of avocado, pears, peaches, summer squash, pineapple, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots! she loves oatmeal, torn up grilled cheese sandwiches, waffles, cinnamon raisin english muffins and loves when mama and daddy give her some of their saffron rice... mmmmm. she also completely digs graham crackers and does well with ground turkey and chicken that i puree. she has always been in the 25th percentile for weight, our lil peanut, but when we took her into the dr today, she had successfully broken into the 50th :)

-no no.

even though she likes to pretend that she doesn't hear us when we say the word "no", this proves that she really does listen...

-kisses!

one of the sweetest things she's doing these days is "giving" kisses... which really means leaning in and letting us kiss her on the forehead. and making a "mah" sound as she's doing the obligatory "lean in". ohhhhhh i love her.

- a few of her favorite things...

*getting in bed with mama&daddy on weekend mornings!

*baby einstein, but she has a greater love for praisebaby (which makes mama thankful!)

*riding on daddy's shoulders

*chewing on mama's scarfs and necklaces...and earrings...and whatever else she can find

*olivia kate, vivian and luke... the kiddos mama watches and bella's bff's

*pulling out her hairbows and ponytails

*peek-a-boo

*her ellie (her stuffed animal that's an elephant/blanket) and mama's old baby blanket

*trying to go after daddy's xbox and the controllers (i think the fact that we always say "no" makes them MUCH more appealing...)

*shrieking at the top of her lungs (we're trying to work on this... but really; how much can you work on this with a ten month old?! and when she's excited its cute... when she's mad? not so much. *sigh*)

*making her "excited" face

*reading books (she has a little reading "nook" in between the recliner and couch where all of her books are, and we often find her there :)

*phones and shoes. uh oh. this does not bode well for the future teenaged girl years.

*mum-mums. by the dozen.

i can't get over how much i love my lil sweet pea. she has completely stolen my heart and nick&i have found such joy in being her mama and daddy. my favorite time with her every day is when she first wakes up in the morning. i love the smile on her face when she sees me and how she excitedly begins bopping up and down on her knees. when i pick her up, she squeezes me and lays her head on my shoulder... it may be just for a second before she's wanting to get down and play, but it's one of the best seconds. ever.

i love you so much, my sweet bella grace! you are one of the greatest joys and blessings of my life and i love being your mama.

multitude monday.

122. bella's face when i go into her room in the morning to get her.

123. creating things.

124. good quality time with the mr.

125. enos pizza with friends.

126. mod podge.

127. seeing god bless my friends :)

128. countdown to see my family in just a few days!

what's for dinner tonight {homemade chicken pie}.

let me just preface this as a very, very non-healthy recipe. but i was making a meal today for nick's brother and his wife who just had a baby, and anyone who has just had a baby knows what you need those first few weeks: comfort food.

lots and lots of comfort food.

you may not have sleep, shampoo-ed hair, painted toenails or a stitch of makeup. but you can have comfort food.

this recipe looks oh-so-good. let's hope it tastes just as good for our two-new-parents brother and sister-in-law.

homemade chicken pie

* 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed

* 2 carrots, sliced

* 2 stalks of celery, sliced

* 1 potato, cubed

* handful of frozen peas

* 1/2 small onion, diced

* 1/3 c. butter

* 1/3 c. flour

* 1/2 t. salt

* 1/4 t. black pepper

* 1/2 t. garlic powder

* 1/4 t. thyme

* 1 3/4 c. water + additional for boiling veggies/chicken

* 3 chicken bullion cubes

* 2/3 c. milk

- preheat oven to 425 degrees.

- peel and prepare veggies, cube chicken. place in large stockpot and fill with water until veggies and chicken are covered. add one bullion cube. boil for 15 minutes. drain. set aside.

- in stockpot, melt butter and cook onions until soft. add flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme. stir in water and two remaining bullion cubes and milk. whisk and simmer over medium heat until thickened. remove from heat. prepare pie crust.

crust:

* 2 1/2 c. flour

* 1 c. butter flavored shortening, diced and chilled

* 1/2 t. salt

* 3-4 T. ice water

- combine flour and salt, cut in shortening until mixture resembles peas. add ice water until dough is formed. wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

- combine sauce and chicken/veggie mixture. pour into bottom crust. layer with top crust. pinch edges top/bottom crust together, fold under and use fingers to create crust. slice three slits in the crust.

- bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

my mom always serves chicken pie like this and it has always been my *favorite*. i just spiced up her recipe a bit and used my own pie crust recipe. add or subtract your own seasonings to suit your preference. mom serves her chicken pie with jellied cranberry sauce. just reminds me of home.

love it. comfort food at it's finest.

wall art.

ohhhhhhhh i am so addicted to home decor blogs right now and finding dyi crafty ideas. i'm not even kidding, friends. it keeps me awake at night. i look around my house and think of all the things i want to do. and i have to do all of them. right. now. which obviously is not possible. time wise or money wise. but thinking about scouring thrift stores, flea markets and antique shops and filling my home with lots of pretty lil goodies seriously makes me start twitching.

i really may need help.

{obviously you know i'm being dramatic}.

but as i am able to do little projects here and there, i'll be sure to post them for all of you, my lovely readers. maybe you will get the craft-dyi-decorating-bug too. i hear it's highly contagious.

but here is a lil project i worked on a couple of weeks ago. i love finding inexpensive ways to decorate a large, blank wall. this project cost me hardly anything since i already had most of the materials on hand. i did purchase a can of green spray paint, three saucers from goodwill and some decorative paper and foam board from hobby lobby.

here's a pic:

as you probably already know about me, i love reusing things i already have and giving them a new look. these frames used to be silver collage frames. i was getting tired of them. enter: green spray paint.

i love the look of white plates on a wall (remember my recent dining room project?) so i took the glass out of one of the frames and hung them down the middle. love. it.

i love google images. i knew i wanted to do a mod-podge creation for the other frame. since i have a hard time visualizing a design on my own and do MUCH better copying an image, i googled "bird on a branch" and browsed through the images to find one i wanted to re-create. with simple scrapbook paper and mod-podge i created this cute lil piece and mounted it to some foam board and secured it in the frame. i love this lil song bird!

i love, love, love this frame. i decided to spray paint it green and i am in love with the anthropologie-inspired look. i also heart prints in sepia tone, and family photos instead of random artwork...

i found this pretty lil plate at homegoods for 5 bucks. so cute. i'll post a how-to of how i hung my plates soon. i love the clean look instead of having those plate-hanging-prongs showing.

tada. my wall of art. i'd love to add some fun mirrors, some vintage skeleton keys and some more pictures... ahhhhhhh. one day.

multitude monday.

114. family time.

115. my cheap ebay finds: a vintage fan and two antique candle wall sconces.

116. bella's dance moves.

117. watching ncaa basketball with nick: eating chips and salsa and staying up late.

118. cinnamon raisin english muffins.

119. making bella laugh; her sweet belly laugh and toothy grin.

120. rocking my sleeping lil sweet pea, feeling her arms grasping around my neck and holding her tight.

121. good worship time with my jesus.

his glorious riches.

"and my god will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in christ jesus." (phil 4:19)

i never want to forget this truth. i never want to forget how god has been faithful to provide for us through all the seasons of life. the theme of god's faithfulness, his provision and his blessings is the thread that is woven through this blog... starting with the title "my cup runneth over". it's because i want to always anchor my heart in gratitude; in remembering who god is and that his character is grounded in his ability to carry through that which he has promised. i have to work hard to remind myself of this truth; to allow it to allay fear and anxiety that i am prone to feel in times of uncertainty.

from day one of our married life, god has tested nick&i in the area of finances. literally: day one. you know those honeymoon stories you hear about that you wonder if they're really true or just legends that have been passed down and exaggerated over time? well let me tell you that nick&i's honeymoon contains some of those stories. we had the most amazing, wonderful start to our marriage in the beautiful mayan riviera... there were just a few things that happened that forced us to trust god with our finances right from the very start. we got married in an old inn on a lake in maine, and spent our wedding night there. my sister and brother-in-law were so sweet and decorated the room for us with candles and left a picnic basket with wine and crackers and cheese. so nice. let's just say that we went to bed that night having put out several small fires from the lighted candles... sleeping on burnt bedding next to a beautiful antique nightstand that had also gotten pretty charred. oops. a few days later, while honeymooning on the mexican coast, my wonderful husband was fiddling with his wedding band while we were swimming in the ocean. i'm sure you can see where this is going. before we knew it, the band had dropped to the ocean floor and while we searched and searched for it, we never saw it again.

and so, we began our married life together with over a thousand dollars less than we had the morning of our wedding. most of our wedding money that people had so graciously given to us had to go straight toward that inn in maine to repay them for the fire damages (trust me, "repay the fire damages" was never a phrase i though i'd say when referring to my honeymoon) :) i remember the first night we were home i was planning what to make for our first dinner in our home as a married couple. i had settled on pasta, and as i prepared everything, i went to find a pot to boil the water and realized we didn't even have pots and pans. many tears followed and probably a frozen dinner that night, although i can't remember.

throughout our marriage either nick or i have been working in a ministry-related job at a church, a christian school, or providing counseling for those that needed it but couldn't afford it. finances have never been plentiful for us, but god has always met our needs. there were the four flat tires we had in the first six months we were married, countless car repair issues that drained our savings accounts including finding out we needed to have our transmission replaced the day before we found out i was pregnant with bella. it was a month after we had our precious daughter that the daycare we had lined up for her called and told us they were closing. i couldn't continue to work and we were without a second income--or a plan of how to make it all work.

god has continually brought us back to a place where we are forced to trust. trust his provision, trust his faithfulness, trust his character. he has given us a gentle shove here and there to take a step of faith, to follow his leading... and we have found his paths to always be FAR greater than what we could've ever come up with on our own. when we have been forced to trust, we have seen his provision in ways we would have otherwise never known. and even greater than that... he has been molding and shaping our hearts to know him in deeper, more vivid ways and teaching us about the important things in life; the simple things. looking at the needs of others and how we can serve them. seeing life as more than what we can have and what we can buy. placing our significance, our worth, our happiness in him and the blessings he has bestowed upon us. and in this, finding the deepest sense of joy.

it has not been easy for this stubborn, wayward, materialistic heart of mine. but i am SO grateful for god's gracious favor. i have this distinct memory of bella&i going with nick to his school downtown one sunday before the school year was about to start. we were still in this cloud of nervousness and uncertainty, not knowing how we were going to make it financially with me not working. it felt heavy. while nick was working on his classroom, i put bella (just 3 months at the time) in her stroller and walked laps through the halls. i prayed as i walked to calm my anxious heart. as i rounded one of the corners, i saw a poster on the wall with this verse: "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. test me in this, says the lord almighty, and see if i will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." (malachi 3:10) i went and got nick and showed him that poster and we claimed that as our verse; god's promise to us through that season of our life.

this weekend, by god's abundant grace, we paid off our credit card (ie the ridiculously-expensive-transmission we had to buy over a year ago!). i guess that's why i've been so reflective. it seemed like something that would never happen and it just felt like a huge weight we had been dragging around. i was talking with a friend the other day about how i don't take for granted anymore going to the grocery store and being able to buy the things we need without having to worry about it. i feel *so* blessed by our two cars that work and run well and have not needed major repairs in over a year (knock on wood). we live a simpler life now, finding joy in sushi takeout, a good ebay find, target coupons or gap jeans that were on clearance... but more importantly in our family time and in our savior; who has been--and will always be--our anchor, our provider, our hope.

he has filled my heart and my life with his glorious riches.

my cup runneth over.

what's for lunch today {egg white sandwiches}.

this is a lunch or breakfast meal... but i love eating it for lunch. i'm obsessed. last week i had one of these lil guys every afternoon before heading off to work. so good and so good for you.

my friend, holly, posts yummy pictures all the time of the healthy, good food she eats and last week she posted a snapshot of an egg white sandwich she made for breakfast. that's all it took. i came up with my own creation and paired with a grapefruit, it's the *perfect* lil lunch (or breakfast) for me.

here. you. go.

egg white sandwich

* 1 egg

* 1/4 of an avocado, sliced thinly

* 1/4 of a tomato, sliced thinly

* 1 slice of sharp cheddar cheese

* 1 whole wheat bagel thin (these are my newest obsession. only 110 calories and 5 g. of fiber per bagel. you can find them in the bread aisle at the grocery with the other bagels)

- spray a small skillet with pam and over medium heat, cook egg white until done. pull off heat, top with cheese and set aside.

- toast bagel thin. cut avocado and tomato into thin slices. when bagel is toasted, top with egg white&cheese, avocado and tomato. season with salt&pepper. top with other bagel slice. serve with fruit or a side salad (my favorite side? a pink grapefruit, of course).

i made these for nick&i for breakfast the other day and added some turkey bacon. super yum. save the rest of the avocado and tomato for another sandwich the next day because i know you will want another one of these (or... if you have a baby who is eating solids, avocado is a great food to cut into chunks and let your munchkin learn to pick up. bella loves it, so we share our avocado... mine for a sandwich, hers for her high chair tray... and hair, and nose, and ears, and the floor...wherever it may end up these days! you can also save the yolk from your egg to scramble up for your baby. my favorite baby food site: www.wholesomebabyfood.com suggests this as a good form of protein before your baby is able to eat whole eggs)

enjoy :)

thursday three.

so this week's highlights are pretty much the same for all three of us (even though bella is not really aware of two of them... i'm still going to go ahead and say that they are some of her top moments. i'm her mama. i can do that).

here is this week's thursday three.

1. welcome, sophia!

our precious niece, sophia joyce cornwell, was welcomed into the world on tuesday afternoon at 5:15 weighing 4 lbs, 11 oz and measuring 18 inches long! she was born five weeks early but is doing splendidly. we are so grateful she is here and that she, jd and stella are doing great! we haven't gotten to see her yet since she is still in the NICU... but we are praying that she will be able to go home with her mommy&daddy on saturday! nick&i cannot WAIT to hold our beautiful niece (our first one!) and--even though she doesn't know it yet--bella is super stoked about her brand new cousin!

2. girls/guys weekend

last weekend was such a gift... for all three of us! nick left friday night with two of his guy friends to go on a camping trip in oklahoma. they had a great time hanging out by the camp fire, rock climbing and hiking, aaaand, you know, other stuff guys do on camping trips out in the middle of nowhere (??). us girls chose a different route: a hotel suite at the omni in las colinas. i know. this was a much wiser decision than camping in oklahoma, right?! my friend, amanda, works for the company that owns omni hotels so she hooked us up with a beautiful room complete with a couple bottles of champagne. yes, please. we had such a wonderful, fun, girly time. we ate sushi takeout, took lots of ridiculous pictures, stayed up late, ate junk food, slept in and had brunch sunday morning. did i mention it was perfect? i felt like i was in college again. minus the animal crackers and frosting-out-of-the-can.

bella got to spend the day saturday with her nonnie (nick's mom) and then spent the night and all day sunday hanging out with her uncle james, aunt jessica and cousin wyatt. she had a ball. i mean, just look at this pic: i don't think she could love that little guy any more than she does!! little cuties!

3. march madness, baby.

oh yeah. ever since i was in junior high this has been one of my *favorite* times of the year. second only to christmas. it's true. ever since nick and i started dating we've competed against each other with our brackets and we spend these days infront of the television, watching games as often as possible! (we are watching now as i type) bella loves it too--i promise. this year is extra special because the final four is in houston and my parents are flying in town! we have family there so we are all meeting up for some family time/final four craziness in exactly two.weeks. cannot WAIT!!

the cornwell thursday three. it's been a good week. so thankful for our family time (nick's been on spring break this week!), watching our little girl grow (full fledged crawling, pulling up, destroying her crib at nap time, shaking her head "no", repeatedly doing things we tell her not to do--while looking at us with a smile on her face, pulling out her ponytail and hair bows...this girl has no lack of personality, that is for SURE!) and praising god for his miracle of life and adding to our family this week! he is *good*

ten things {in my pantry}.

here are ten things that are always (or almost always) in our fridge, freezer or pantry. the cornwell essentials we can't live without. i can honestly say we have all of these items in our kitchen right. this. second.

1. turkey bacon.

an absolute staple in the cornwell household. ever since we were married, every saturday and sunday morning, nick makes turkey bacon and scrambled eggs. even if i make waffles or cinnamon rolls or something else of the sweet variety, he still will make his faithful tb&se combo. love him. and loooove turkey bacon! only 35 calories per slice. please and thank you.

2. blueberries.

not as wonderful as fresh maine blueberries, but we always always always have a carton in our fridge. i'm obsessed with blueberries and cheerios these days. my daily weekly breakfast. and i'm super determind to make bella like them too. i don't really know why. but more importantly, i don't know why she is weird about them right now. i ate anything with blueberries allllll the time when i was pregnant. number one: blueberry pancakes. oh. yum.

3. steam-able veggies.

we eat these almost every night. if you open up our freezer, it is always packed with these lovely little packages of veggies. just pop 'em in the microwave and voila... you've got servings of vitamins and minerals within minutes.

4. yellow saffron rice.

we keep these yummy lil rice packets in our pantry as a staple to our weekly meal of tilapia, rice and veggies. so easy and suuuuuper delish. bella loves it too!

5. real maple syrup.

waffles love to make a saturday or sunday morning appearance in the cornwell household and we love our maple syrup. we always used to use light variations of hungry jack or aunt jemima until we watched jamie oliver's food revolution when he specifically talked about how much garbage is in that man-made-brown-concoction-of-stickiness. thank you, jamie oliver. and you are right: the real stuff tastes sooo much better.

6. hazelnut coffee creamer.

i *have* to have coffee creamer in our fridge. it's a must. i go on kicks in terms of my flavor preference. for a long time it was vanilla. then it was caramel-vanilla. then it was the holiday-inspired creamer. now it's hazelnut. i just love it. can't have my coffee without it. which is probably unhealthy but i don't care. it's one splurge i can live with, that's for sure.

7. tofu noodles.

these are my most recent discovery and i am in love! low in carbs, fat and calories these lil noodles are awesome. just be sure to rinse thoroughly and they taste great! i love adding them to a stir fry with fresh bok choy, carrots, garlic, ginger, broccoli, water chestnuts and a little soy sauce and honey. hungry yet??

8. laughing cow cheese.

i first discovered this lil gem when i did weight watchers a few years ago to burn off some extra graduate school weight. only 35 calories per slice. spread 'em on some crackers and they are simply delightful. perfect pairing? try wasa crackers... high in fiber and protein and low in fat and calories. also like whole wheat flatbread with them too.

9. cheerios.

oldie, but a goodie. especially necessary when you have a nine-month-old. as i said earlier, this is my breakfast staple. a bowl of these sprinkled with some fresh blueberries or banana? the perfect combo.

10. pink grapefruit.

when i was pregnant with bella, this was definitely my biggest craving. pink grapefruits... but more specifically pink grapefruit juice. weird, i know. but i still love them even when i'm not with child. a perfect breakfast side or a mid-afternoon snack. and good for you, too. what's not to love?

thursday three.

it's been a really great week! although, i am exhausted; probably the most tired i've been in a while. but it's a good exhausted. bella has been becoming more and more active and keeping us on our toes... so now that she is more on the move, so are we! active baby=tired parents!

so here is this week's thursday three. please excuse any typos or sentances that don't make sense. i'm on my second cup of coffee, but i can't promise anything. here. we. go.

nick

i'm going to go out on a limb and guess my husband's highlight of the week. i think it would be two-fold. the first one: saturday night was "guys night" for him. he went over to his friend, robert's apartment with two other guys to play robert's xbox kinect. i wish i could have been a fly on the wall to watch these four men. let's just say i got lots of text messages from nick that evening about how fun the kinect is and how we have to get one. i would guess that nick's second highlight of the week will be tonight... bella is going to hang out with her aunt jessica, uncle james and cousin wyatt and nick&i are going on a date! and we're going to one of his favorite places: johnny b's in southlake. if you live in the dallas area and like hamburgers, you have to check this place out. oh-so-delish. so, although it hasn't happened yet, i anticipate tonight will be one of his highlights for this week! if you have ever tasted one of their burgers, you will understand.

meg
while nick had guys night saturday, i got to have "craft night" with my good friend amanda (who is an amaaaaazing photographer, by the way... check out some of her work here when she took some family photos for us!) anyway, i had some craft projects i wanted to work on, including a few decorating ventures for our home. i got quite a bit done that i was really excited about, and having quality time with a girl friend? even better. crafting has been something that i've really enjoyed as of late and has helped keep my creative juices a-flowin' since becoming a stay-at-home-mom. just a few little changes and sprucing-up and it feels like we have a new home! love it. next up for my craft projects? some more wall art, hair clips, perhaps some pillows for our couch and my attempt to replicate this flowered belt for bella:

isn't that the sweetest lil belt you've ever seen? i'm going to try to re-create it. let's keep our fingers crossed, friends.

bel
our sweet lil pumpkin has been changing so much this week. probably more than any other week in her 9 1/2 month life :) on monday, she began pulling up in her crib and prompted nick to lower her mattress... tuesday, she began to sit up in her crib... so now whenever i put her down, i peek in on her about ten minutes later and she's sitting in her crib, talking to herself. so. cute. but making naptime a little more challanging... and wednesday night she interupted our girls prayer night by doing this:

she totally loved the audience she had, by the way. so sweet. it's SO amazing to watch her learn all these new things on her own, and how she grows and changes and develop! i love getting to cheer her on and encourage her as her mom and just watch her discover life. she is now such a little girl with her sweet lil teeth, budding (and crazy!) personality and giggles and squeals. i never knew how much joy i could find in such a tiny little person who i've only known for nine months, but it's true. i'm loving this stage sooo much and nick&i have so much love for our sweet bella grace and how much she adds to our little family :)

see you next week for another thursday three, lovely readers. same time. same place.

what's for dinner tonight {pulled pork sandwiches}.

i'm not originally a texas girl, although i do enjoy occassional barbeque (thanks to my meat-loving-husband) and i LOVE, love, love pulled pork sandwiches. i actually had these growing up at a little cafe in the center of our town... yes, it's true...they have pulled pork sandwiches in maine. and they're good. i created a health-ier version made with lean pork tenderloin that is just as moist and just as delicious AND... you guessed it, done in a crockpot (as all of my favorite recipes are these days!).

as i've said before, usually when i'm inventing in the kitchen i don't pay attention to how much of what ingredient i'm adding... i usually just add, taste, add more, taste again. so... here is my best attempt at giving measurements for the ingredients. you may need to add/subtract according to your taste! have fun!

pulled pork sandwiches

*3/4 c. barbeque sauce

*1/4 c. ketchup

*1/4 c. white vinegar

*1/4 c. light brown sugar

*1/2 c. italian dressing

*1 T. soy sauce

*2 T. worcestershire sauce

*2 cloves garlic, minced

*1 lb. lean pork tenderloin, frozen

*6 whole wheat sandwich/hamburger buns

- whisk together the first seven ingredients in a small mixing bowl. place frozen pork tenderloin in crockpot, cover with sauce mixture. mince two cloves of garlic, toss in. cover, cook for 4-6 hrs on high or 6-8 hrs on low.

- when pork is tender and cooked, use two forks to help shred meat (it should fall apart!) toast sandwich buns and fill with pulled pork.

YUM. i plan on these making lots of appearances next year during football season on lazy sunday afternoons. serve with salad, veggies, beans or a healthy version of coleslaw. enjoy!

thrifty decor.

this weekend i wanted to spice up our apartment a bit. i was getting tired of some of the existing decor and i wanted to add some things to our blank spaces. i went to work. my favorite place to look for items for decorating? goodwill. yes, you read that right; a thrift store.

i love scouring through a bunch of junk to find a few gems. and this weekend, i found them. here are a few ideas, a few of my projects over the weekend, and a few of my past projects that have all started as thrift store junk.

1. wall o plates.

one of my favorite decorating ideas is hanging plates on a wall. nick&i have a rather large wall behind our dining room table that used to have just two canvases hung on it. i was getting sick of the canvases and have been wanting to fill it with plates for a looong time but didn't want to spend alot of money. enter: goodwill. i bought 13 plates and saucers for $11. yes, please. here is the before/after. gotta say i loooove the "after" (which also includes a new vintage-y-hand-me-down table from some sweet friends!)

2. wall o frames.

these have been in our home since we first moved in almost two years ago, but i love this idea. we have another large wall behind our couch and i needed something to fill this large space... again, without spending alot of dough. i saw this idea at a friend's apartment when we were in college and i loved it. so, with a trip to goodwill, i dug through tons of really, really ugly picture frames and bought a few. throwing away the crappy pictures, glass and giving them a quick coat of spray paint did just the trick. i also used this idea to hang bella's name in her nursery (see here)... again, goodwill frames.

3. shelf of bottles.

as i've said before and will say again, i love anthropologie. it's whimsical, vintage, fun style is just what i *love*. i enjoy walking through the store and getting ideas--in clothing and in home decor--that i can try to replicate for much, much less money. last year while i was wandering around, i saw a display they had of a shelf filled with lots of old bottles. i loved it and immediately copied. we bought a wall ledge shelf at ikea and mounted it above our tv. i found a ton of bottles from--yes, you guessed it--goodwill and added this cherry blossom branch i found at world market. i'm in love.

4. antique accesories.

i love little knick knacks and accessories that i can display in our home. they add so much character for not alot of money. i like to browse through these sections at goodwill, and again, dig through alot of ugly stuff to find little beauties such as this sweet lil creamer i got this weekend for only .99 cents.

fill it with some cute flowers (i'm obsessed with these yellow ones i've been drying out to add pops of color around the house) and it's the perfect addition to my kitchen.

with a little imagination and minimal cash, these little thrift store finds can give your home a whole new look. and as julie andrews would sing, "these are a few of my favorite things."

multitude monday.

104. the sight of bella's little teeth when she smiles. they are just *so* cute.

105. eating pizza in bed with nick because we were just that tired.

106. craft nights with a good friend; feeling inspired and creating new things.

107. family photos.

108. green spray paint.

109. midnight snuggles with my baby girl on the couch.

110. cherry blossoms just starting to bloom.

111. god's word.

112. dancing around the living room with bel and hearing her laugh.

113. nick: everything.

thursday three.

this week has been fun, exhausting, long and happy all at the same time. my cousin, rachel is a 20 year old photography student at rochester institute of technology, and she chose to come visit us for her spring break! we were happy to have her. that was the fun, happy part. the exhausting, long part? our poor baby girl was diagnosed with rsv last friday (which included coughing until she threw up her oatmeal and prunes all over herself just as we pulled into the dr's parking lot... poor baby; and poor mama!). and she had a few pretty awful days before that. so, all in all she has been pretty sick for over a week now. fortunately, her rsv hasn't been a serious case--thank you jesus. it's just been a nasty, nasty cold that we will gladly bid adieu. we are ready to have our sweet, fun, cute baby girl back!

now that i have given you that intro... (drumroll please)... here is this week's thursday three.

nick

i cannot even begin to describe how thankful i am for this man. not only am i so blessed with him as my husband, he is such a wonderful father. i *love* watching him care for bella and so naturally fill this role over the past nine months. he is so gentle and loving as he cares for her, as he rocks her at night, and prays over her before bed. he is so patient as he disciplines her and tells her "no". and he is so playful and fun; this week bella squealed and shrieked as he gave her several rides around the living room and through the kitchen in the laundry basket (which does double as a pretty fun go-cart for little ones, i must say). this week nick&i had to juggle our schedules quite a bit so we could keep bella at home to get healthy and still try to work as much as we could. nick was in heaven to get off work early--or miss it altogether one day--and get to be at home with his baby girl. he played with her, rocked and watched "baby einstein" and "praisebaby", administered all the saline drops, steam baths and suctioning, and even cooked chicken enchiladas one night when i got asked to work late. while he said he had a whole new appreciation for moms, this was definitely his highlight of the week... and i'm sure it was bella's too :)

meg

as i said in the intro, my cousin rachel came to stay with us this week for her spring break. since i am ten years older than her, we haven't really gotten to spend a whole lot of time together as i've been out of state for college, graduate school and our life in dallas. even though we had to change our plans a bit because of a sick baby, we did manage to get out and have some fun. we took bella for a walk to the park and for fresh air one day, got mexican food from one of our fav restaurants, watched movies, got sprinkles cupcakes, went shopping at two of my favorite malls, walked around deep ellum (a funky, artsy area in dallas) and did a drive-through-downtown-dallas-tour. we had a lot of fun and it was a good distraction for me... it's not easy for me to watch my sweet bella feel so bad :( i missed her a lot this week... i think it was the most i've ever been away from her since the day she was born, since i usually get to bring her with me every afternoon to my babysitting jobs. this week i was so glad she got to have some special hang-out-time with daddy, but i missed her. alot. so it was nice for me to have rachel's comany and go do some fun things! it was a great visit and definitely the highlight of my week!

bel

getting extra time with daddy this week was definitely a highlight for our little girl, i just know it. she also squealed and kicked and laughed every time she saw rachel and would just stare at her. she loves people, our little social butterfly. and she loves having company in our home! which works out well, because we do too :) since we had to be extra careful bella wouldn't get dehydrated along with her rsv, her pediatrician told me to get her some pedialyte and add it to her bottle. since we don't give bella juice, this was like a little treat. it was orange flavored and she *loved* it. let's just say when i mixed up her bottle, it looked a little bit like a creamsicle. i was a little jealous... although i'm pretty sure it didn't taste like a creamsicle. anyway, bella grace managed to have a pretty good week even though she was feeling so crummy. i know i can safely say that us suctioning her nose with that blue-suction-bulb-they-give-you-in-the-hospital was definitely NOT the highlight of her week. but holy cow, i never knew you could get that much snot out of someone so tiny. phew.

hopefully next week's thursday three will be sick-free! we have high hopes. if not, you may find me wandering around the street barefoot. why, you ask? because i will probably lose my mind. happy almost-weekend, everyone!

ten things {around the house}.

so i'm doing a new blog-thing called "ten things". it will be random posts of exactly what it sounds like... ten things. this week is ten things around the house: ten of my favorite things in our home. some of them i just think are pretty. some of them are helpful. some of them i couldn't live without. well, maybe... but they make my life a whole lot easier.

1. chandelier table lamp (target).

i've had this lamp for seven years... i purchased it for my room when i first moved to dallas (awww). now it is the perfect addition to bella's nursery. i love this character piece and it adds so much elegance to a room for under thirty bucks. love it.

2. letter stand (anthropologie).

i bought the "c" version of this home accessory when nick and i first got engaged. it was our first decoration that we had in our first apartment and looked great on our mantle. i love, love, love anthropolgie and these vintage little stands are $28. which meant i could actually afford it. i love this as a wedding gift idea!

3. toaster oven (ge).

this, in my opinion, is one of life's greatest inventions. not only can you use it to toast your bagels or bread in the morning, but you can make pizzas on english muffins or tortillas, heat up pastries or items that would dry out in the microwave or take too long in the oven, or cook frozen items. such a time saver. makes my life so. much. easier.

4. parker bowls (crate&barrel).

hands down my most-used wedding gift (besides my dishes). i l-o-v-e these bowls. one of them are always in my dishwasher. perfect everyday use gift for someone else, or for yourself. cute enough to use as serving dishes too for a fun, casual dinner.

5. neti pot (neil med).

my savior. i get terrible allergy headaches and i discovered this goody when i was pregnant and couldn't take any medicine. it quickly became my best friend. it's pretty disgusting, i'm not gonna lie but if you have allergies--and especially if you're pregnant or limited in what you can take for meds--buy one NOW!

6. media baskets (target).

stocked up on these babies when i was doing bella's nursery. perfect for stocking diapers, toys, hair accessories, and i have one on her changing table to hold wipes, lotion, medicine and other items. perfect for storage for grown up items, too. we have one on our tv stand to store cords, our flip cam and camera for quick accessibility. a mama- must-have.

7. hair straightener (chi).

an investment, but *well* worth it. priced at $99.99 at target.com, its is definitely the most expensive item on this list, but i couldn't live without it. with my thick, kind-of- curly hair this is the best thing i've found to help smooth and straigten. and you can also use it to add wave or curl to your hair as well. love. the. chi.

8. mug collection (starbucks).

my name is megan and i'm a starbucks mug addict. i have a thing with mugs... i can't stand puny ones. i love the big, oversized ones and it doesn't hurt if they're really cute. nick has banned me from buying any more since we have no room in the mug section of our cupboards, but i *love* them. buying them puts a smile on my face.

9. lamp pendant (ikea).

this lovely lil lamp hangs in the corner of nick&i's bedroom. i just think it's really fun and cute. for some reason i also see these lamps hanging in frozen yogurt places. strange, i know. but it's only 34.99 at your nearest ikea. have i mentioned i get the warm fuzzies just walking around that place? i mean, everything is so cheap and the whole store smells like fresh cinnamon rolls. it's like disney world to me. almost.

10. garlic press (pampered chef).

my mom got my sister and i these for christmas and it was one of my favorite gifts this year. not even joking. i realize this probably makes me sound like a huge nerd, but i really don't care. if you get one, then you will understand. i looove using fresh garlic in my cooking but i abhor dealing with it. whacking it, peeling it, chopping it and trying to get the smell off my hands... this lil beauty minces garlic--peel and all. it has changed my life.