finally!

a Monday shocker for my friends... now that all families have been told, I'm now at liberty to share that mr. bell and I are totally pregnant. :)



(Jones soda is a perfectly awesome celebratory beverage, btw)

I'd so much rather tell you all in person... in my head, it's a total girls' night scenario that involves copious amounts of pizza... but the week is really busy, I'm out of town for a part of it so I'll miss church Wednesday night, the phone is such a boo thing, and I simply can't wait until Sunday. we've been biding our time, attending doctor visits and ticking off the days... we're eleven weeks, and our due date is June 19. I'll elaborate on the story of it all later, but the short version is that I had a hunch and the doctor confirmed we were pregnant at 5 weeks, and we've been watching and waiting and praying for the last six. we decided to tell our families at Thanksgiving, so we could share the news personally with all of them, and everyone is so happy and excited. our last sonogram was last Tuesday, and the baby was pronounced to be healthy and developmentally perfect for where it should be so far. we have a nuchal translucency test next week and all sorts of other stuff coming up (since I'm in the over 35 category those tests seem to be more important)... we keep reminding ourselves that God is knitting this baby together, and we have faith that He is good.

a few tidbits of note:

I feel mostly really good (except for the fact that some of my jeans aren't cool anymore around the waist). I've had a little nausea, but nothing major. the worst is when I have to drive early in the morning, blech. the only time I've been actually sick was one morning while driving to Dallas... at around 7a I had to pull over and yak on the side of I-45, butt in the air, truckers blazing by. which is why I'm driving up a day early this week... I'll do anything to avoid that sickness. I'm really forgetful lately, just sort of bubble-headed. I've also had fits of intense, violent emotion... I mean, I'm a little weepy by nature to begin with, but there have been a few instances when my emotional life surprises me with it's need to express itself so FORCEFULLY. it passes quickly and it's honestly kind of funny, but I feel like I've been knocked out afterward.

mostly, I'm just so glad to be able to share the news, as it's been really hard to keep it to ourselves. we feel so blessed and grateful, and we're ready for the people we love to know and help us celebrate and prepare for parenting this little person.




love,

the bells

a continuing gratitude list...

1. husband fixed our old Whirlpool dryer all by himself!!! taking things out, testing coils, replacing parts, the whole bit. he's totally handy.

2. the December issue of Real Simple came in the mail.

3. wheat blend rotini + safeway select vodka pasta sauce + freshly grated parmesan = much pleasure

4. WE MET OUR THIRD BABY STEP GOAL!! our 3-6 month emergency fund is now fully funded! whoop whoop!

4.5 that means we can start on our next goal!

5. gorgeous day out.

6. getting my hair cut tomorrow (finally). my stylist is going to look at my weird, multi-layered bangs/half-bangs/long-bangs-wings? and ask me what happened. all I can say is... it's been awhile. so I took the scissors to myself a time or two. oh, and then on that shoot the makeup artist went after them with a razor. *smile* now please fix it all, stephanie, and help me look cool again.

7. this dish, which is a staple every time I go work in the metroplex:



it's the curry tofu noodle dish, or N9B on the menu. it's so good, I can't tell you, and the fact that I usually try to polish off this huge plate is more than a little alarming. makes for drowsy, sleepytime afternoon recording.

over and out for now -
m.y.

if you're looking to get out of the house today...

why not come down to Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park between 10-2p? the City of Houston and the American Kidney Fund are hosting a Wellness Fest with free kidney screenings and such, and yours truly will be emceeing the stage. that means I'll be facilitating the three cooking demonstrations with local awesome chef Monica Pope, owner of t'afia. and she's sampling. yum. the event has usually been targeted to city employees and their families, but I believe the hope is to grow it into a larger festival. anyhoo, it should be a pretty day and I'd love to see you there.

-m.y.

kicking off november thanks...

rather than make some excuse for my lack of blogging insight lately, I'm going to plunge right into a list of current blessings. enjoy this happy song while you read! may there always be joyous public dancing.




to begin... my husband! I know it's hard to hear me blather on about his awesomeness, but really... he's the cat's meow. he's fun and good and takes such great care of us. plus he brought me two presents recently - some killer rubber rain boots that look like riding boots and a darling blue hat - for no reason at all, both of which blew my mind and made me squeal.

work! I had a slow September and October, which was both good and a challenge, and God has been bringing me some really great projects and people in the last couple of weeks to the point where I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm so very thankful for it as well as for the downtime, and more aware than ever that everything comes from Him. I must learn to accept what's given and take it all in stride... I can really be the Queen of Wigging Out when things slow down OR speed up.

Chino! who's so funny and a precious lamb... and even more dear to us since Ripley isn't here.

by the way, I got a very sweet cremation certificate in the mail today from 'Fond Memories Pet Cemetery and Crematorium' today (which is the facility my vet uses to dispose of deceased animals). I sobbed for 2 minutes and then it was over.

Simply Apple Juice! I just can't quit you.



Flexibility! I know it's not a noun, but I'm still so thankful that my life is fairly malleable and people will usually work with me so everyone wins.

Mad Men! you turned out to be a truly wonderful third season. sniff. sorry you didn't make this photo, Betty, but I'm peeved at you right now anyway.



SWC! right now, I feel our church is teaching me ways to serve and develop better interpersonal skills, and I'm grateful for it.

M's homemade stuffing (the recipe was in Cuisine at Home this month)! for real, he even made the herb bread that ended up being toasted to go into the stuffing, and it was the freaking bomb.

Baby Step 3 is ALMOST complete! come on 3-6 month emergency fund, we're almost there...

the 'holidays' are almost here! I totally need family and parties and presents and gift lists and Bing Crosby and general merriment. I want to bake cranberry pistachio biscotti and cranberry coffee cake. I want LC's monkey bread. and Grandma's fudge.

there's more, but I'll stop for now. can't use up all of my praises all at once now, can I? off to record one more radio spot that dropped out of the sky today (thanks again, Lord!).


-m.y.

rock out!

sorry, I know I already had a memorial post for my cat but the husband just sent me this doozie of a picture, and I love it so much right now.



life goes marching on. long live rock and roll.

swc halloween 09

ripley shanequa christian-bell

this morning we chose to say goodbye to our sweet kitty. she'd been going downhill for a few weeks, and we were really hoping she'd die naturally at home before being terribly compromised. her breath's been short and labored, she became more and more weak and listless, and she's not been eating well... for the past few days she was unable to eat or drink unless I maneuvered water or wet food under her nose, and even then she wouldn't swallow enough to do much good. when she stopped moving at all, even to relieve herself, we knew it was time to face some sad decisions. I called M and he met me at the vet, and we cried and lived through that hard experience together. I'm so glad he was there, I can't even tell you. I'm so glad I married a man that I can fully share these times with, as they overwhelm and ebb and hit you in different waves... you don't really know what it's going to be like until something happens, but I'm acutely aware today today of the comfort, love, and safety of his presence. thank you, God, for giving me this man. he took off the rest of the day and we made it the best one it could be... Champ burgers, DVR'd Office, errands, some work, a movie. every now and then we'd say, 'I'll miss her. She was a sweet cat. I'll miss cuddling with her. Remember when she..." it was good day, living and mourning her. when we came home, there was this brilliant sunset... I ran inside and grabbed the camera, hoping to catch it before the light disappeared:


there are blessings in everything. I'm so glad I got to have this kitty for my family for so long. she's been with me fourteen plus years, and her passing feels like the end of something. she picked me in the beginning, both by walking into my house as a tiny kitten and preferring me above others... she saw me through a divorce, endured it when I introduced a dog named Chino into our lives, grad school, the move to Houston, my crazy years, my sober years, that wretched hurricane evacuation, the passing of her son, Owen Meany (she became a lot needier after Owen was gone), and my courtship/marriage to mr. bell (who was as much her knight in shining armor as he was mine, for real). while we were living at my aunt's house, Rippy was so skinny and beat up from having to fight with the other cats for food that M took pity on her and whisked her away to come live at 406 with him until I could join them after the wedding, and she showed her gratitude by attempting to sleep on his face every night and eating her weight in cat food, loudly letting us know if her bowl looked like it might be getting the slightest bit empty-looking. she had a really wonderful last two years, and I'm grateful to have married a man and extended family who care for animals the way they do. the bells have shown such love and generosity... words really can't express the extent of our gratitude, both for them and for my own sweet family. thank you, all of you.

and so, our hearts are a little broken. we're thankful for what we've been given, and I praise God for Ripley and what she brought to our lives, and His kindness to us today. I still wonder if there will be animals later, in the afterlife. I'm inclined to believe it could happen... I mean, God prioritized to fashion them once for His pleasure, and He deemed them Good. here are some pictures of her... if you want to see M's favorite, it's the one in my sidebar where she looks like she sprouted out of the flowerpot. I keep thinking about this song tonight, so I'm going to dedicate it to my fun, fluffy, mouse-catching, sweet-smelling girl.

in Baton Rouge

Ripley's son, Owen Meany. this was one hilarious cat.

'you want a piece of me, dog?'

this was taken just yesterday morning.

I love you, pippy.
-m.y.