This is the follow up to my Thrifty Treasure: The Before. Pictured below, is my hubby at work turning this treasure into the after I was after! Cutting this room divider into three parts allowed me to make it useful in my house whereas, all in one piece, I didn't have a spot for the thrifty treasure.

 

Mike and a circular saw and one Sunday afternoon gave me what I had envisioned to make use of it for now. The truth is that there are even more possibilities still. I'm pretty sure those metal panels are magentic-memo board? And I'm pretty sure they'd make a cute collage of photo frames going down my basements stairs if separated instead of hinged. Hmm. . . For now, the smaller sections are backdrops in our office/ mudroom and the large portion is used as a fireplace screen shown below.

Yay for making use of an awesome find! 3 pieces (and more potential for possibilities) for the $20 find of a friend. . . completely worth it!

Recipes to Share: Easy Chicken Ramen Bake (Beyond your college Ramen)

At a million months pregnant, you'd think I'd stop cooking. . . or, at least, caring about what gets cooked. However, I seem to be cooking even more. Can't sleep? Oh, I'll just get up and make french texas toast and bacon to wake Mike up to-that sounds like an idea!

I have been trying to do things a bit easier though, I must admit and my brain doesn't think all that creatively these days either (if at all). I was pretty proud when I came up with this little hubby-pleaser with easy staples from my freezer and cupboards:

3 pkgs Ramen Noodles-chicken flavor
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Milk (fill the soup can after emptied)
Dark meat (maybe a pound), heated and fully cooked
-I typically have this on hand from my baby fryer chickens I cook in the crock with known intention for the white meat and the dark meat just neglected in my freezer waiting to have its flavor somewhat masked in a baked dish.

Cook the ramen according to instructions and strain. Add flavor packets.

Put in baking dish mixed with chicken and soup/milk mixture.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes to set.

Serve with biscuits and a quick veggie for an easy quick meal that will give you a slight college flashback!

C'mon Kid. . . Nursery's Ready!

Another reveal:

And. . . On to Week 40: Baby Name Revealed!

Are you one of those people that knows the exact meaning or origin of your name? Do you know the story of how your parents came up with it? Is your name super important to you (or one you've tried 10 different nicknames in order to get rid of)? With a name like Breezy, we all know there's got to be a story to that, right? My parents were not hippies and it's not my "real name", but I earned it early and have lived up to it since. It was based on those nights I'd be put to bed in my crib and told to go to sleep only for my parents to find me wide awake chatting to myself a couple hours later. I haven't shut up much since!

The real name? Brienna Rose Marie. We all have two middle names and all the girls have Marie in the pairing. Rose is my maternal grandmother's name and Brienna came from Brian as I was anticipated to arrive a boy. To femenize Brian, we got Brianna, but my parents couldn't just spell it like everyone else so it's Brienna; pronounced like Vienna. It means strong and I hope I continue trying to live up to that.

Michael has even more meaning in his name. He's actually a Gary. Gary Michael Decker. Gary after his father and Michael after a great uncle. As he wasn't intended to be a junior, Gary never stuck and he's gone by his middle name his whole life. Michael means who is like God. Boy, could that go to his head! While I think the hand-me-down name tradition is extremely sweet, it was just a bit too traditional for me. So, we just had to change it up!

So, starting week 40 tomorrow, I thought it a good time to do the name reveal:

What? You can't read that? Try this:

There it is. That's the name of the little guy we're anxiously awaiting. Garrett is close enough to Gary to carry meaning for his dad and grandpa but with a twist I am happy about. Ross is from Rose so there's a little bit of Mama in there too. Considering all of our parents put thought into our names, they're really all represented in his as we derived his names directly from our own. So, grandparents, feel equally loved!

He clearly doesn't recognize his name yet. How do I know? I keep telling him, "Garrett, come on already" and he's still nestled comfortably inside. He's not worried about being early; perhaps not even on time. He is already his father's son! :)

10 Days To Go & 10 Things We're Looking Forward To!

This post is simple. It is a bit unbelievable in that we are really down to 10 days until our due date which comes down to any day now. . . OR weeks to go. In honor of the technical 10-day mark, here are 10 things we're reminding ourselves we're looking forward to (instead of focusing only on the anxiety and stress to come).

In no particular order, we're excited to:

1) see who he looks like.

2) hold him close.

3) see his hair color.

4) watch him sleep.

5) see each other hold him.

6) introduce him to his 4-legged siblings.

7) overwhelm him with the frequency of pictures taken.

8) put all these tiny clothes to good use.

9) snuggle in our sleep (and catch that with the camera too).

10) call him by name even if it's months before he recognizes it!

Love & Marriage. . . AND Parenting!?!?!

From bouquet to baby:

I've been told a few things about my marriage from people very close & important to me. Two in particular have stuck with me in the few years we've been at it. One was when a friend told me how surprised she and her husband are that we are doing "so well". Surprised? Hmm. . . Wait-it gets better. We were a pretty quick engagement after a relatively rocky start in a relationship that didn't look exactly like the ones we had had previously. Thus, I was made aware my friends were skeptical from the beginning. I had always had the suspicion but this was confirmation. I wasn't offended; just proud. She wasn't insulting; just congratulatory. So, thank you and we hope to keep surprising you and others for years!

The second comment that stuck with me came from within my family. I was told that this person believes what makes our marriage so special is that we both obviously feel like we're lucky to have the other; like we've won the lottery; and that we both think we hardly deserve the other. This was a pretty powerful compliment and I've seen it play out over and over. No matter how many "fights" take place, we both value the other and take time to recognize our contributions to our partnership and to each other's individual lives. This continues to remind us how "lucky" and blessed we are strengthening our marriage when we need it most.

I'm guessing we will be needing it most in the weeks to come. We're pretty good at love, getting better all the time at marriage and, now, we're taking on the challenge of parenting. There's no doubt this rewarding time will come with challenges we cannot begin to name right now. Thank goodness we have each other, supportive family and friends, and the grace of God to turn to! We'll need them ALL now more than ever. . . there, I admitted it-I can NOT do all things through my power alone. We can NOT do all things on our own. Thanks in advance for all the love and patience that will be afforded to us as we start our family!

A woman's heart plans her way, but the Lord directs her steps. ~Proverbs 16:9

Thrifty Treasure: The Before

One advantage to posting all your projects is that your friends quickly get to know your "style". Then, when they find deals they'd love but just don't fit in their own house, they clue you in. Thank you to my friend Michelle for this thrifty find. Can I use it as is? Probably not, but. . . who can pass this up? Thus, here's the "before" and I'll clue you in as to what it becomes "after" whatever we decide to do. . .

All 6' plus of this for just $20 and it goes to the church fundraiser? Sure!

Look at this detail. Hmm. . . think it's magnetic?

Clearly, many of my friends and family feel they've gotten to know my "style". Another blog I follow, Living with Lindsay linked to your right, has been talking about defining your eclectic style. I don't know how to exactly title mine. I definitely have Traditional elements so that's a given. I wouldn't call my "old" stuff Vintage in that it's mostly meant to look old while not always being old so it doesn't classify as Antique either. I'd call the draw to the old look Shabby as Rustic sounds too rough to qualify, so Shabby it is. What's my third style? Any ideas? Perhaps you'll do better at naming it than I can!

Recipes to Share: Sunday Brunch: Sausage Gravy from Bisquick

Love comfort food? Want to give your family a reason to get out of bed OR something to look forward to after church? I always loved the days we had sausage gravy and biscuits when I was a kid. I since found a way to make it using bisquick along with my beloved ground turkey. It's easy. Plus, I will show you how I prep my biscuits for baking that makes for faster plate-fixing and easier leftover assembly.

Sausage Gravy:
Honeysuckle Ground Turkey Breakfast Sausage
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 cup Bisquick
2 3/4 cup milk
Seasoning salt and black pepper to taste

Tube Biscuits


Start by browning your turkey sausage and add the ground sage for more flavor when almost browned.

While the meat is browning, cut your biscuits in four to six pieces. This will mak ethem easier to fix and bit-size for kiddos. Maybe moms will actually get a HOT plate of food using this trick!

 Once the meat is browned and the biscuits are in, sprinkle all of the bisquick on the meat and coat throughly. Then, you'll gradually add your milk while still on medium-high heat. Continue stirring frequently while adding milk and thickening the gravy.

Flavor with salt and pepper and serve warm with your biscuits for a yummy Sunday brunch (that might be followed by a Sunday nap)!

To make it dinner-worthy, serve with biscuits AND mashed potatoes! :)