My Bestie has a BLOG!

So if you've read my blog for a while you may remember me mentioning my best friend since forever, Rachel. We have been best friends since kindergarten and are quite proud of that! She recently got married and guess what y'all....SHE NOW HAS A BLOG! I am so excited to read along and follow her journey as a new wife waiting to see where God takes her and her new husband. 

Her hubby was quite the college basketball player and is waiting to see where he will play professional basketball. Is that not the coolest thing?! So if you're looking for a fun, new, blog to read then I am suggesting you hop on over and visit Faith Hope Love and Basketball. I may be just a tad biased because she is my best friend AND I had the privilege of designing her little blog but I seriously think it's going to be a great one!

It's always exciting for me to introduce my "real life" friends to blog land. So y'all go on over and give her a nice welcome!

Facelift

Well you might have noticed a few changes in the old blog's layout/style lately. I did a blog design for my bestie, Rachel, a few days ago and when I talked about it on instagram I had a few other ladies ask if I would give their blogs a little facelift. So in order to practice for that, I spruced up my blog a bit. I still want to add a custom menu bar. I worked on that some last night but didn't get it just right so I am putting that off until I have more time devoted to it!

Today I finished up Natalie's blog facelift. I am kind of obsessed with it. She asked for a design that was clean, simple, and she said she loves teal/coral. Done and done. Love all of those things in a blog!

I love love love how it turned out! So light and fun. Perfect for Natalie! 

One of my favorite parts of her new look is the updated family pictures on the sidebar. There wasn't a sono pic for baby C2 on the blog yet and I was excited to add one for her! I also ADORE the newest picture of Miss Callyn. She is ah-dorable! 

If you don't read Natalie's blog then you should! Go check her out!

Extraordinary Love 

 

Our Little Prepster

Yesterday the hubs was supposed to work...on his day off...no surprise there. But we did get a big surprise when work called and forced him to NOT come in on his day off! WOO HOO! He's only had a few days off the past several months so we were very thankful. We had a fun day but that's another post for another time. {Read: when I have more time to actually WRITE a post! ha!}

So yesterday we got all ready to go and headed out for a day of fun. Not without snapping a few pictures first! Emma Claire was sporting possibly THE cutest outfit, a little navy polo dress. This dress was actually a yard sale freebie. Free AND cute?! Score! 

Okay here's a few fun things about this picture...

- You're getting a little peek into our formal living room re-do! I painted it the other night and if  you don't follow me on instagram then this is news to you! It's the same color as our kitchen/dining room (bher: dolphin fin) and I LOOOOVE it! More pictures once the room is put together!

- Emma Claire is holding onto one of our NEW {to us} kitchen chairs! We drove past my fav consignment store the other day and sitting outside I saw four of the cutest white ladder back chairs with rush seating. Again, if you follow me on insta this is old news because you've seen all four chairs already. 

- What can I say...if you follow me on insta you pretty much know everything about me! ha!

This next picture just melts my heart. 

Seriously, y'all. How adorable are they!?

This  might just be my new favorite picture. Ever. So adorable. The hubs was loading up the car for our day and Emma Claire just stood and watched him the whole time. And then he came up and this moment happened. Be still my heart. I just love them!

On another note {aka: the child is independently playing right now and I have a few more minutes to myself! ha!} Emma Claire has decided today that she is a walker. She has started letting go of the couch/toys/my leg to WALK TO THINGS. Yes, she is taking 5-6 steps at a time to get to what she wants. And most of it is away from me. Up until now she was ONLY walking towards me. Now she is choosing to walk away from me. Hello independence. This is a bitter sweet moment for sure. 

 

Okay the child has found her way back into my lap. So my free time has ended! Don't forget to scroll down and link up for Tasty Treats Thursday! Or get some great meal ideas!

Tasty Treat Thursday

This is one of my all time favorite meals and I make it many different ways. I pulled this recipe from my blog archives. And I cracked up reading this post because I made this in our old condo in Waco. And it was served in my OOOOLD bowls! Flashback!

Ingredients

1/2 Yellow Onion

1 Clove Garlic

1lb Chicken

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce

Pasta

Directions

1. Brown chicken in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil.

2. Boil water and add pasta to cook! For this recipe I use elbow maccaroni, but you can use whatever you want! :-) As for the amount of pasta...I think I cooked a cup? You can have more/less depending on how many people you're feeding!

3. Dice onion and garlic, add to skillet to sautee with a pat of butter. Cook until onions are tender.

 4. Add diced tomato's to onions and garlic

Allow this mixture to cook until onions are clear. (About 5 minutes)

 5. Add cooked chicken.

6. Add in 1 can of spaghetti sauce. My favorite is Wal-Mart's "Great Value"...I know, it's the cheapest one....but I just love it! I've tried so many other kinds, but I keep coming back to this one!

Here's a little trick that I use when making this recipe...

Add a little bit of water to the jar to get all of the sauce out!

***At this point you can just combine the pasta and sauce and enjoy! I however like to put everything in a casserole dish and top with cheese and bake at 350* for about 10 minutes! This works perfectly if you have bread to warm!***

This also makes it easy to store...just cover with foil, place in the fridge and enjoy the next day! The Hubster actually claims that he likes it even better the next day!!!

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Our Little Baylor Baby

Last weekend before the Baylor game we dressed Emma Claire up in her little cheerleader outfit. She looked darling, if I do say so myself...so you know we had to do a little front porch photo shoot.

When I was attending Baylor I always LOVED seeing all of the little Baylor babies running around campus on visits or at the football games. My roommate, Vanessa, and I had a little obsession with them and would always talk about when we had our own Baylor babies. Now I have my own and I LOVE dressing her up on Saturdays {when I remember! ha!} and taking her out and about in her cute outfits. 

I just wish we could take her to Floyd Casey stadium to watch the bears play. Hopefully we will be able to take her next year! 

Sic'em Baylor Babies!

The Countdown is ON!

Happy OCTOBER everyone!

 

 

It is officially Emma Claire's birthday month.

I can't believe it's here already!

 

 

Only THIRTY days separate my BABY from turning into a ONE YEAR OLD.

 

 

This year has gone by faster than any other year of my life.

 

 

This past year has also been the best year of my life. I look at her each day and am still blow away that she is MINE and gets to call ME mommy. Okay I'm going to end this blog post before I become a blubbering mess. I've got birthday crafting to do!