My Favorite Season

I love the Fall!

As we enter into this new season, it reminds me of the changes that will occur. Leaves change colors and the outside temperature begins to cool. I love it! There's a special feeling in the air and it is so pleasant. We are blessed!

The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. Psalm 33:5

Me & Lulu

I love my girl! Thank you Jesus for blessing me so much! :)

Encouragement

Isaiah 58:11

The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Missing my mom

I was just looking at pictures of my aunts and cousins in Argentina and I started missing my mom and realized how much I push out my feelings of loss and try not to think about it. I do miss her so much and still need her. I miss her laugh, her hugs, her smell, her voice, her nurturing and godly advice. I miss sitting with her and just being together. This August will be three years since she went to be with the Lord.

I am also pondering the fact that God has blessed me with a restored friendship with my dad and I am enjoying having him in my life. I can see how God has brought us closer and how much it means to him and to me.

Another thing I have noticed is how much Lindsay and my mom are so alike. Mannerisms and talents. I see so much of my mom in her and it really makes me smile and thank the Lord for her.

Status Report

Sitting: on my bed with my swollen foot propped up :(
Thinking: about going to work in the morning and about getting more things done around the house.
Enjoying: the time that I spent with Lindsay this weekend.
Pondering: the bible study that Lindsay and I are doing together and the wonderful prayer times we are sharing.
Wondering: how things will turn out.
Anxiously Awaiting: reconciliation
Excited: about going to the Ocean next month!
Wishing: that I could spend more time at home and have weekends like this one. It was Awesome!
Thankful: for my precious daughter and the relationship we have!

My Five current Faves

1. I love chick flicks. Having a small group of about eight friends that come over to cook together, eat and relax to a wonderful movie has been such a fun activity! Everyone arrives at 6pm and there is a flurry of hugs, everyone is talking all at once and there's lots of laughter. I look forward to this every month and am so blessed to host it! Tonight we are watching "Raising Helen" and making homemade pizzas and Italian sodas. :)

2. I absolutley LOVE to scrapbook. I can never get enough of it and there are never enough hours to do it. Even when we spend ALL day scrapping, it never seems like enough and we never get tired. I always look forward to any chance to scrap!

3. I love going on road trips. I haven't been on one in a long while. I think we are about due for one.

4. I love my new exercise bike and the way that God blessed me with it right down to the details of the kind I wanted. He is always reminding me of how He cares about the little things in our lives that make us happy and he blesses me so much!

5. I love all the new fun purses that are available now. I am fighting the urge to go shopping...

Tea Time

I have discovered a fun website: www.oldfashionedliving.com.

Lindsay and I just LOVE tea time and this website has some fun recipes and ideas.

Couponing

Thanks to a very dear friend of mine, I have re-discovered the world of clipping coupons and all of the different fun ways there are to save money. Forever I have used the excuse that I just don't have time to mess with it. Tonight I saved a bundle of money and not only that, but I came away with quite a few free things and money back, it was very exciting to see the results! I am definitely going to make it a priority from now on to be much more purposeful in the way I spend my money. Over time I've gotten way to carefree in my spending habits. My desire is to get back to the place of financial responsibilty that goes beyond just getting the bills paid. Being frugal and wisely investing the financial gifts that the Lord abundantly blesses me with, that I so often take for granted and throw away so frivolously. I am excited to see the results and blessings that will come from being more aware of what I have and being obedient to God with my finances.

The Bondage of Busyness

Time and time again I find myself bound to a very busy schedule. Just when I think I’ve eliminated a few things and I can spend more time at home, I turn around and two more things have been added in place of the ones I had given up.

A friend of mine recently said to me “we all need to 'live' more! I don’t mean be busier, I mean be more excited about things!”

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this concept! It’s so simple, yet so difficult to do sometimes. (We live as if there are never enough hours in the day and the weekends are always too short) I’d like to make it a goal of mine to “live” more in the timeframe I've been given by being purposeful in finding things to be excited about. I don’t think it’s very realistic to think life will ever slow down, but if my outlook is definitively more focused on what God is blessing me with, I'd be able to say that I really enjoyed those moments throughout the day more and “lived” more in those times, so when I look back at the calendar and see the crazy schedule, I can still feel at peace and not feel as tho I might have missed out on something due to being so busy.

25 things about me

Rules: You are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you.

1. I am the first person in my family that was born in the US. My family is from Argentina and came to the US in 1969. My Sister was 10 and my brother was 6. I was born in Seattle two years later. My grandparents on my dad’s side came to Argentina from Sicily and my mother’s family came to Argentina from Spain. The only other family I have here is my cousin Chiqui who lives in Idaho and my cousin Claudia who lives in Texas. (Both cousins married American missionaries bringing them to the USA) My brother’s daughter Sarah and my daughter Lindsay are the only other American born in our family.
2. My favorite color is Pink
3. I LOVE to scrapbook, especially with my friends. We get together once a month and scrap for a straight 12 hours. I love it! I scrap every chance I get.
4. I love to travel and would love to see more of the world. When I was 12 I visited Argentina for 3 months, and in High school I visited Spain for a month. I’ve also been all over the US. My favorite city is New York. I was a teenager when I visited there and stayed for a month while my sister was living in Queens. The food was amazing/Little Italy and the shopping was great! I’ve been up in the Twin Towers and saw the amazing view from there.
5. I’m a single mom and I love every aspect of being a mom. I have an amazing daughter, she makes my job easy.
6. Jesus Christ is my Savior. He gives me my hope. Because of Him I have a deeper sense of peace and joy. Knowing Him personally has given me strength and security and given me a deep love for him and everyone that I have been privileged to know throughout my life. My favorite chapter in the Bible is Psalm 139.
7. I work at a Hospital in the ER as an Administrative Assistant.
8. My all time favorite music group is ABBA. Lindsay loves them too! I’ve had her listening to their music all of her life. When she was little, she and I would dance around the room to the likes of Dancing Queen. I can still envision holding her in my arms and dancing around and her giggling and eyes sparkling. I can thank my sister Myriam for my love for them. In the 70s she bought their record album (I still have it!) and she and I would lie on her bed and sing their songs for hours. The words were printed out on the record sleeve. I love my sister!
9. I love old movies and old TV shows. Audrey Hepburn movies, The Quiet Man, I love Lucy, too many to name, but I LOVE to watch movies. All kinds, especially Chick Flicks and comedies and musicals. I host a chick flick night at my house once a month with about 8-10 ladies and we cook dinner together, gab and then watch a movie. It’s a great time!
10. I love tea. I love having tea time. I was raised with tea time. After school I’d come home and my cup of tea would be waiting for me. I had a wonderful mom, she always had the kettle on and some kind of home baked goodie made.
11. As a teen I wanted to go to college to be a Psychologist. Instead I ended up going to a community college for Hospitality and Tourism, never finished and then years later I returned to the same college and got my degree as an Admin Assistant with a certificate in Bookkeeping.
12. I used to work at the Puget Sound Baptist Association. Working there hugely impacted my life. I was truly blessed to have been a part of that ministry. I thank God for the friendships I made and the wonderful people God brought into my life.
13. I’m a night owl, I HATE getting up early. Yuk. I get up at 5:45am every morning and grumble every time. I’m so ungrateful at that hour.
14. I love to cook. I’m not that good at it, but I love it and I love to have people over
15. I love getting to know people one on one. I’m pretty shy in large groups and the thought of getting up in front of a group of people makes me physically ill. I much prefer an intimate setting, this is my comfort zone.
16. I’m addicted to American Idol
17. I love reading People magazine. Who knows why? I think it’s because I love getting to know people. It’s the psychologist in me. Either that or I’m just nosy.
18. I secretly dream of singing in front of people, but would rather die than actually do it. (I can sing in front of Lindsay, I can be myself completely in front of her. We are definitely two peas in a pod. She’s the outgoing pea.)
19. I love chocolate
20. I LOVE going to the movies. I wasn’t allowed to go as a child or as a young teen. My mother was super strict and about this for some reason. My sister was 12 years older than me and she used to sneak me to the movies all the time.... ;) I have vivid memories of seeing 101 Dalmatians, then later all the 80s break dancing movies, then the Karate Kids movies. I still LOVE going. Oh the thrill of a new movie!
21. In the seventh grade I was in love with Michael Jackson
22. I used to work in a nursing home as an activity aide.
23. I love playing card games with friends like Hand and Foot. Fun!
24. I love listening to Lindsay play the piano
25. I would love to learn to speak Italian fluently

I love my daughter!

Tonight Lindsay and I watched "Mamma Mia" for the hundredth time and LOVED it!!! We sang our guts out to all the songs. It was so wonderful and we worked on our scrapbooks. It was a great night. I love spending time with my daughter. She is such a great joy and wonderful company. I am so blessed!

New Blogger

I'm excited to begin blogging although creative writing has never been an easy thing for me. I will give it a try in hopes of getting to know my friends more and giving them some more insite into my life and who I am. I am looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2009 and the many ways He will reveal himself to us and teach us new things. I hope you have had a blessed year and are looking forward to the future as well.