Ingredients:
2.5 tbsp Light brown sugar (or dark if you don't have it)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1.5 tbsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1 cup BBQ sauce - I didn't really measure this, I just poured some on! (We like to use Sweet Baby Rays!)
2-2.5 lb pork [baby back] ribs

• Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl - making sure to mash up the brown sugar so it isn't clumpy
• Cut your ribs in half, leave the membranes on to keep them together, 
• Rub the dry mix on the ribs - front and back
• Stick the ribs in the crockpot with the top thicker part towards the outside of the crockpot and the thicker side down.
• Pour your BBQ sauce all over the ribs
• Stick the lid on and wait 6-8 hours

So I definitely didn't follow through with my original plan of posting pictures through out the process of laying new floors down.

Not only did I not do regular updates during the project - I haven't posted ANYTHING in over a MONTH. *hangs head* Why am I finding blogging so difficult lately? Especially with all of the fun and exciting things happening this summer for our family....you'd think I'd be more on top of it.

I guess late is better than never though, so finally here are pictures of the finished project!





Here is just a quick picture of the floors in our dining room. I love the way it looks with our table and chairs... I just need to figure out if I want a rug in here or not.

Mark still has to lay all of the quarter round along the edges of floor to finish the project off - but other than that it is done! He got it all finished in a week and then a second weekend to finish the dining room. He did it almost all by himself - with the help of his dad 1 day and then I tried to help in the evenings after getting off work. I'm impressed with all that my man did that week - learning the new skill of putting in floors and then completing the project beautifully! Very thankful for his handy man abilities that save us money.

Hoping your May isn't speeding by too fast! I can't believe Memorial Day is this weekend! Hopefully I'll be a little more regular around here, maybe even post some baby bump pictures???

Phase I:

• Step 1: Tear up tile in foyer/back door way and carpet in family room/hallway - COMPLETE
• Step 2: Replace some of the subfloor particle board - this step is a new one thanks to finding some wet/swollen? particle board after pulling up the carpet. Projects are never as easy as you think they're going to be are they? Mark plans to finish this step tomorrow and start on step 3
• Step 3: Lay the laminate flooring in the family room, hallway and foyer

Piper likes to photobomb my pictures... she apparently needed to go outside... :)


 AND here's what it looks like now:

A super big project is actually commencing at the house on Stockleybridge this week. We are putting in the new laminate wood flooring that I talked about in my last post. Getting new floors was always on our "eventually" list when we bought the house 2 1/2 years ago. Its not that we hated what we had (carpet in the living area, hallway and dining room, laminate in the kitchen and tile in the foyer and back door way) its just that I never LOVED the color of tile, the style of laminate in the kitchen or having carpet in the dining room. Not to mention after we got a puppy, the carpet started to gross me out in a way it never really had before. You know, puppies have accidents, and even with all of the scrubbing and carpet cleaning I never liked the thought of the "mess" having soaked in to the padding during those potty training days. Also - our dog sheds like she's putting on a new outfit every day.  Even with daily vacuuming I never seem to get all of her hair up. So keeping those things in mind - knowing that we have a baby on the way that will be crawling all over said floors by next year - we decided to use our tax return money to put in new floors this year! I also won't be working much, if it all, after the baby is born, so we are using the extra money from my paychecks to get some things done before we lose that second income. We know major projects might come to a stall following baby as we adjust our budget to one income.

Anyways, enough rambling on about why we're getting new floors. I could go in to more details, but you get the gist...

Here's the wood flooring we picked out:

As an older sister to 4 younger siblings I like to proudly think that I've got a little bit of a head start on this mommy thing, as in, I won't be a total newbie when it comes to caring for a baby. And thanks to my upbringing of being homeschooled and always knowing I would end up staying home with my kids I have in fact read similar books growing up during school. HOWEVER, when it hits you that you will be the primary care-giver aka giver of baby's life aka sustainer of baby's life aka mommy - it makes you want to go back a really read and glean any information you can get your hands on. So far I'm liking everything I've read in this book so far in regards to parent directed feeding and scheduling. That will definitely be my plan. But we still have a long way to go...


We are just at 16 weeks today and had our 4 month appointment this past Wednesday. Baby Poindexter's heartbeat came in at 150 beats per minute - on the higher end of the spectrum - which according to old wives tales indicates that Baby Poindexter is a girl... ?!?!? We will have our answer April 23rd!

Aside from baby news we are prepping for a pretty major project at the house. In the next few weeks we are going to be ripping up the flooring in every room in our house except the bedrooms to replace the carpet/tile/old laminate with brand spanking new laminate wood flooring! I'm so excited and can't wait to share pictures of the before/during/after! Hopefully I get myself back into a better blogging schedule : )

Wow! Its been 2 months since I've posted anything. I definitely didn't mean to be away from my blog for so long. But I have a good excuse...

Lots of happy things are happening here at the Poindexter house and it all revolves around this little announcement:

Okay guys, I wasn't sure if I was going to share this one here or not because I'll admit that every once in a while I like to jump on some crazy "cleanse" or "detox" band wagon and try to lose some weight and feel like I'm getting all of the yuckiness out of my body...Unfortunately it doesn't usually work and I never really feel any different. But this time I have sort of a different goal in mind so I figured I'd give myself some accountability for sticking with this thing. I just started Day 1 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox.

Yes it is called the a sugar "detox" and yes I would love to lose a little poundage in the process, but after I read up on it I realized its probably something I should be doing anyways! It basically has you avoid all processed foods and sugar like the plague (including sugary carbs - and man do I love my carbs!) and it is Paleo based. If you've never heard of a Paleo diet, it's a school of thought that pretty much says if it didn't exist 3,000 years ago you shouldn't eat it. I don't necessarily agree with all of the Paleo diet and I am by no means an expert on nutrition, but I do like the idea of getting back to whole, natural foods! So that's why I'm doing the 21DSD. I'm hoping to curb my sugar cravings a bit and learn new ways to cook veggies and meat using natural ingredients and not a seasoning packet that has a bazillion ingredients that I can't even pronounce... you know? I know after the 21 Days I'll be looking forward to having some Papa Johns pizza, so I'm not trying to change my entire lifestyle forever through this, I'm just hoping to tip the scale on the side of "we eat natural foods 80% of the time and other foods 20% of the time" instead of the other way around.



So how did I do today? Well, let me tell you I had an 11.5 hour work day today so I was pretty hungry and wanted to munch on some chips or cookies when I got home! But I stayed strong. (its not a good sign if you give up on the first day!) As soon as I got home I pulled out a recipe for apple muffins and got those in the oven right away - I had one for a snack with some whole milk and plan on using them as my breakfast muffins for the rest of the week.

Last weekend I told you how I was in Philly and then heading to Ikea on the way home in my short New Years post... Yea. So..... Ikea = awesome. I had never ever been there before so I was excited about going. My mom and sister Erin are both in love with Ikea, both having been twice last year, so they couldn't wait to show me!



If you don't know what Ikea is, take a look at their website. They're a European super store that sells just about everything you could possibly need for your home. Literally everything you need. From kitchen appliances and countertops to furniture for your bedrooms/living rooms/dining rooms, all the way down to small kitchen gadgets, dishes, pillows, outside plants and napkins. I kid you not. There is everything there.

A shopping DAY is needed at this store and it is quite the experience. I think we spent 4 or 5 hours in there.You start out on their top floor going through what they call the "showroom". Basically they have all of these little mini rooms set up (kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms) with their furniture in it so you can see what everything looks like and how you could potentially use their items. Here's my mom and sisters and cousin Olivia discussing furniture options:


 I saw these pretty kitchen carts/islands that I really loved too but didn't end up buying:



After you walk through this area you come to their cafe - they know you're going to be there for a while and you might be overwhelmed and in need of coming up with a plan before you head down to their "market place" (or maybe that was just me feeling overwhelmed?) so they are kind to offer a place to sit and fill your belly.


My Mom and sister Mallory posing in their twinsy GAP hoodies while we were eating lunch.

After the cafe you go down stairs to their "market place" where you get a cart or a giant bag and can start picking up the things you saw upstairs in the show room and then tons more stuff they didn't show you! I saw a new dish set that I loved and some furniture like a side table for our recliner but I decided to hold off on the major purchases and look at those things with Mark before buying them. (Plus it gives me an excuse to go back up there with him!)




Pretty planters $2.99 for the small ones and I think $6.99 for the big one. I want to use the small ones to plan some fresh herbs to use in my kitchen! And maybe create a center piece for the table with the big one. The napkin holder was also from there - $3.99. :)

..... All that it will bring remains a mystery! Last year we had so many plans and we travelled and saw so many new things. Looking back I'm amazed that all of this happened in one year and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities we had to see the world, update our house, check things off of our "bucket list" and see God's grace evident in our lives. Here is a short summary of what happened to us un 2014!

Technically I'm 5 days late wishing everyone a Happy 2014, but better late than never!

I've kicked 2014 off with some busy weekend travel up north to Philly for my cousin-in-laws baby shower. My mom, grandma and sisters are along for the ride and we are making the most of our trip by hitting Ikea on the way back - which is tomorrow/today (its 12:55am!). We gained a cousin on our way home too!

Since we've jumped right into business in this new year I haven't had much time to sit and think about  the new goals I want to aspire to in 2014. I plan to get right on that once we get home and get a little more substantial post up here for me to refer back to over the year, but for right now I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!

I Love ... L-O-V-E Love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I love driving by the houses seeing lots of cars parked outside, the soft glow of candles or Christmas tree lights coming from the windows and just knowing that for a night - most of the world around me has slowed waaayyy down. Even in all of the business leading up to Christmas, those 2 days, life feels still.