I {heart} Clearance Items!

Peter and I were out this evening and I found some great clearance items. I've already admitted to my weakness to the red stickers at Target. Those little suckers just pull me in.

I've seen this apron before and thought about getting it. At $3.74, I just couldn't resist. Surprisingly, that's the only thing I bought at Target. My husband can attest to the fact that this is certainly not the norm. Although I do have my eye on some other home clearance items that I'm hoping move from 30% off to 75% off in the next few weeks...

While at Joann purchasing zippers to redo our current non-Christmas living room pillows and a few other random supplies, I happened upon their 90% off Christmas section. I couldn't believe there was still stuff left! Tons of wrapping paper. Too bad I'm trying to use up my current supply before purchasing more. I have a love/hate relationship with wrapping paper. I love it because I can find tons of cute paper, but I hate it because it seems so wasteful. I have resorted to many boxes/bags that already have Christmas pictures/scenes/prints on them so that no paper is needed. Thanks to the Dollar Tree at 50% off, those can be pretty cheap (10 cents each or so) and many of my family members save them for reusing themselves or just give them back to me haha. I digress...back to Joann.

I picked up a few ornaments. None that I actually plan to use as ornaments, though.

I thought this little star/bell was super cute to just put on a shelf somewhere. I love the country-ish feel to it and super love the metal. Peter asked if I was going to use it to decorate for the 4th of July. I hadn't thought about that, but now that he mentioned it, I think it could be cute mixed in with some red, white, and blue. Good eye, hunny! :)

It was originally $9.99. Thanks to 90% off and a coupon for an additional 20% of, I snagged it for a mere 79 cents! Now I'm wondering if there were more and if so, why I didn't get them. This may warrant another trip to Joann this week.

This little metal heart with "FAITH" on it is cute, but I actually liked the plain backside of it better. Originally $1.99, I got it for 16 cents!

I plan to use it on my hurricanes. Looks super cute, right? I think I need to change the wooden beads out for the red ones again as a shout out for Valentine's Day.

This cute little tree was the same as the heart with "FAITH" on the front. I again plan to use this on a hurricane at Christmas time. I'm thinking red beads, green twine, and this cutie hanging on the front. I have several things to use on my hurricanes at Christmas time so I'll be switching things around, hanging them from knobs on furniture and some may even be wrapped around candles next year.

All of my purchases tonight came to a whopping $5.36. Can't beat that!

Tortellini Soup Recipe

A few weeks ago, Peter and I had lunch at a friend's house where she served a delicious tortellini soup. It was so good that the next week I had to get the recipe from her and I've made it several times since. I did make some adjustments based on personal preference and this is the version that I use. It's an awesome soup - hearty and perfect for cold, winter days and nights. I just made some tonight and plan to freeze a small portion as a test to see if it's a good freezer soup.

Ingredients (Parentheses contain more specifics, but you can use any type of the item):

12 oz. package of (Alfresco) Sweet Italian (Chicken) Sausage

64 oz. (Nature's Basket Organic) Chicken Broth

15 oz. can (Nature's Basket Organic) Diced Tomatoes

8 oz. Carrot Chips

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

8 oz. sliced Portobello Mushrooms

Italian Seasoning

4 c. Water

Directions:

1. Boil water to cook tortellini.

2. Remove sausage casing and cut into bite sized pieces.

3. Dice the 1/2 green pepper.

4. Combine sausage and pepper into pan with olive oil. Cook until sausage is browned. Remove from heat.

5. Cook tortellini as usual and rinse. Set aside.

6. In the same pot used to boil the tortellini, combine the broth, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and italian seasoning. Add sausage/pepper mixture and water. Bring to a boil.

7. Turn down heat and let simmer 20 minutes or until mushrooms are cooked and carrots are slightly soft.

**Tip: I put the amount of tortellini I want in a bowl and add the rest of the soup to that. If you add the tortellini, then it soaks up a lot of the broth and becomes soggy. I also store the tortellini separate from the rest of the soup.

Makes about 10-12 bowls

Snowy Christmas Celebrations

Well, we made it to Nana's and back again...and it was quite the adventure!

We decided to pack up the presents and food to take to Nana's because we didn't want her to be out on the roads when it was snowing. We left almost immediately after church. Our drive to Nana's was uneventful and it had only begun snowing. There was a dusting when we pulled in her driveway, but the snow was starting to fall heavier and faster. In about an hour, there were easily 2 inches on the ground and it was still coming. We enjoyed a delicious Italian Wedding Soup courtesy of Peter's mom as well as yummy crusty bread that Aunt Marian brought. It was the perfect meal for a blistery winter day.

Afterwards, we exchanged presents and ate desserts at the same time as to move things along since we could tell it was getting worse and worse out and we all needed to get home still.

Bella and Caleb have grown so much since we've seen them last. Caleb is quite the handsome little man and has the cutest pouty face!

Peter and I brought along a tiny Christmas tree that is usually found at my desk at work. It was the perfect addition to our festivities. See it under the lamp? haha...told you it was tiny! Andrew had the job of passing out presents since he sat near the pile.

Bella loved opening presents and would help everyone to unwrap their presents. It was so cute!

She was excited about every gift she received!

I put a green bow in my hair from the first gift Bella and I opened and forgot it was there for like an hour...oops!

Aunt Marian got Tim/Vasti and Peter/me awesome fleece blankets from Land's End. Tim can be seen below opening theirs.

Bella helps Andrew open the present that we got for him:

Nana with her knives that were a group gift from several of us:

Aunt Marian shows off her adorable new necklace from Matt, Ruthann, Wesley, and Zack:

Peter took most of the pictures today so I had to make sure to snap one of him opening a gift, too!

Bella and I show off our new bracelets (that match!) from Matt, Ruthann, Wesley, and Zack. :)

Mom is shocked when she opened her present from us (a Christmas tablecloth) because she couldn't believe that we remembered her saying last year that she really wanted one. Those are the best gifts to give! Things people want and forget they say. :)

Peter and Dad were talking here as Peter snapped a quick picture.

Tim opens a box of goodies from Mom and Dad:

After realizing that it was starting to get dark and time was quickly escaping us, we decided that we needed to be on our way. By this time, it was starting to become a whiteout. The roads were covered and the snow was till falling - fast and furious. We cleaned cars off, salted walkways and steps, and got everyone going. The drive home was slow. There were (surprisingly) lots of people out on the road, it was getting dark (and was completely dark by the time we got home), and many of the roads were untouched. We were probably out in the worst of it actually. Since the snow was falling so fast, it was hard to keep the roads clear. It is supposed to stop snowing by tomorrow and then they should be able to get a handle on clearing the roads.

There were some crazy drivers out there, obviously ignorant to how the conditions were. That coupled with the slippery roads made me nervous. I usually love taking pictures of snow, etc., but was too nervous to even do that! You'll just have to take my word for it. I was sure glad to arrive back at Peter's parents' safe and sound. We eventually heard from Tim and Aunt Marian and everyone else got home safely as well. What an answered prayer!

Now we are picking a movie to watch, grabbing leftovers for dinner, and preparing for a fun, relaxing evening! There's something so fun about being snowed in, watching movies, and hanging out with family. :)