gitter done.

happy election day!

have you gone to vote yet?

the littles and i were waiting in line early this morning with snacks in tow. . .  which we spilled all over the carpet, incidentally.

also, i'm pretty sure we left a half eaten twizzler somewhere in there.
sorry about that, guys.

also, i wore sweat pants and looked a hot mess and pretty much fulfilled the SAHM stereotype this morning.
and if that wasn't enough i dragged our snack-covered, sweat pants wearing selves to target after that.
halloween clearance was calling our name and we came a runnin.

you know i ran into a ton of people that i know.
you never run into people when you're looking sassy.

little mr. brown eyes talked me into a darth vader costume.
i realized when we got home that we already had one.
maybe not as fancy, but still.

i'm not too sad over it, since it was $3.50.
and honestly, it is hard to resist that little boy.
hard. to. resist.
heaven help me.

okay back to the vote.
i feel so privileged and happy today that we get to vote.

last month we watched argo. 
have you seen that movie?
so. good.
it was such a good reminder that we are so, so fortunate to live in the country that we do.
it's not perfect...it's a mess in many ways.
but we are so free and we can vote and say what we think and babble on and on about our opinion and worship freely.
we are so blessed.
take a tiny look at the world around you and you will see that we've got it good.

let's not take that for granted, k?
courageous men and women have fought hard to give us this freedom.
we have to be good stewards of that freedom and do our part.

soooo....all that to say, get your booty in gear and go vote!!

p.s. i will be on pins and needles tonight watching the outcome...will you??

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dear pinterest, i love you but . . .

so i have a love hate relationship with pinterest.

is anybody with me?

on one hand there are so many great ideas and beautiful photos. . .

on the other hand, i think if i read anymore pins that say, "brilliant!""why didn't i think of that?!" or "genius!!" i might run away and join the circus.

also, every recipe seems to be described as the world's best ever in the history of the universe.
which we all know is not true.

and i'm sorry but i don't want to see another hair braid tutorial.
am i a jerk?

i guess i'm in a sassy mood today.

that is all.
you may go on with your day now.

;)






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chicken tortellini soup

this soup is so yummy.
my friend liz brought it to us when we had ruby.  
it was so great, i had to have the recipe.


we had it for dinner last night...perfect winter night soup.


ya wanna make it?


here's what you need . . .

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (15 oz) can Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilies)

12 cups chicken broth

1 traditional rotisserie chicken, boned and cut into bite sized pieces

1/3 cup jarred pesto sauce

20 oz package fresh, refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 (10 oz) bags fresh spinach, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

{a cheaper option would be cooking your own chicken & making your own broth. obviously that's a bit more time consuming}

i don't love cutting chicken off the bone...who does? 

it's pretty grody.

but it is nice to have an excuse for some quiet time in the kitchen.  

do you have one of these things?

it is a must have for me.

for onions.

i used the heck of the one we got for our wedding and it finally gave out.

i bought a new one at walmart for like 10 bucks. 

i was crying just from cutting the onion into big chunks to put in the chopper.

i put a matchstick in my teeth and it helped immediately.

so crazy.

learned that from the help. 

·   Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté for 10 minutes or until tender.

·      Add the garlic and Rotel and sauté for 10 minutes

·      Add the broth and bring to a boil. 

·      Add the chicken and reduce the heat to low.  Stir in the pesto and tortellini and simmer for 5 minutes. 

·      Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper and serve

it makes a ton.

that's an 8 qt. pot and it was nearly full. 

it was so yummy....we stuffed ourselves.

yes, our whole family eats this. 

we don't make separate meals for the kids...what we eat, they eat. 

i would definitely say that spinach is probably not their favorite. 

they didn't say so, but they did refill their water glasses about 4 times during dinner.

so i guess that's a clue. :)

but i'm proud of them....they're learning to eat whatever is served to them with a happy heart.

that's a big deal to us.

we want them to be able to eat at anyone's table with a grateful attitude. 

we also want them to appreciate all different kinds of foods.

we don't want them to miss out! :)

let me know if you try this. :)

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rambling and another soap box.

 

via pinterest

it's june!! yay!

i love june.

warm and sunshine and summerrrrrrr!!!

this week avery has swim lessons every day at noon. 

it's a little crazy but also fun. 

we are working on getting our pool opened....i think it will be ready tomorrow.

so. excited.

we've never had a pool so this is a new adventure for us.

i love love love to swim so i think this will be a wonderful summer. :)

plus i think it will be nice to float my large whale-ish self in the water all day.

did you think i forgot about the dayspring giveaway?? 

okay well i kinda did.

for a minute.

but we have a winner!

congratulations. . . 

*Shelly*

shelly's name was chosen using a random number generator. 
shelly...email me & i'll give you the code! congrats. :)

have you found and attached yourself to pinterest yet? 

ooooh, i love it.

if you haven't, it's a much better way of bookmarking stuff across the interwebs. 

it's super easy to "pin" your favorite photos and sites for future reference. 

plus you can see each other's boards and get inspired.

you can follow people whose taste you like to get even more ideas.

it's already helping me get organized. and it's easy. 

i'm a fan. 

 


the other day a facebook friend posted a question about tipping.
i was so surprised by the responses.
one person said 0.
one guy ranted about how sick of tipping he was. . .
how 10% wasn't good enough anymore and now that the norm was 15 or 20% he was just going to eat at home. 
so......
i was appalled. 

one word: generosity.

when aj and i are wondering how much we should tip or pay a babysitter or give to someone in need, etc., we always remind ourselves, "let's err on the side of generosity."
and you know what, we don't have much money.
but God has always taken care of us and provided everything we need and more. 
i think if our approach is, "how can we bless this person?" we would not be ticked off about paying a 20% tip. 
it would be our pleasure. 
should money be that important to us? 
i am preaching to myself as well....let's hold loosely to our stuff and our money.
let's always put people above possessions. 
if we are that attached to our pocket change, then we should throw our money in the trash, literally, because it is becoming a god. 
okay there's my soap box for today.


mercy...i think this pregnancy is making me fussy.
i also decided today that another of my pet peeves is people who cut in line. 
watch out for pregnant sara, she's on a war path! ha!


okay friends...have a wonderful june day! 
hope you're all having sunshine. :)

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