BACK TO THE GARDEN STATE

We had dinner at 7:00 pm with our friends, Denise and Dennis. The plan was to sleep over their place and then hit the road at 5:00 am the morning after. So, I made sure our apartment was clean and empty.

It took me literally 3 days to pack the car. I was trying hard to mush the stuff together because I did not want to leave anything behind. The last night in Florida, I was so tired of trying to shovel everything in the truck that I decided to pull out my white flag and give up.I needed to leave a few things behind.

As you can tell, my husband, after 2 years in South Florida, decided to go back to teach in New Jersey. He missed the Garden State too much. Our journey started in June when he interviewed in Jersey. He flew in the morning, got the job and was back home by nighttime. I remember the look on his face, he was tired but pretty happy about the position. Unfortunately, weeks later we found out that we did not have the job anymore. So, he had to fly back to New Jersey again. This time he decided to stay up north for a week and go for a second job interview. I prayed and waited for a few days, hoping to receive good news about the second interview. We both felt a great relief when he got the job because now we were able to move on to the next part: the move itself!

Our trip to New Jersey was a great new adventure for us. Even our fury little baby Hooch enjoyed it. We were able to stop to North Carolina for a nice dinner at The Pit(a BBQ restaurant) in the city of Raleigh. We also made a quick stop in DC and York, Pennsylvania.

Once we made it to New York, we stayed with family for a few days while we looked for a place. After 1 week or so, we were able to move into a new place in Union County. Finding a home, by the way, was very hard since most places in Northern New Jersey are not dog friendly and we were not going to give up our fury little baby.

We slept on the floor for a week while we were waiting for our furniture to arrive. It took a lot of patience and strength and we could have not done that without the Lord. He was there with us.

Finally, we are able to go back to our routine.

New Start

We are getting ready to move. Right now, our place is full of boxes, things to sell and things  to toss.

I am trying not to stress out about it but how can you not?Everybody knows that moving means new changes, new places and new friends.
This is the hardest part of moving. Leaving the people you care about behind.

This last year in Florida has been great, definitely better than the first one.
I made friends, saw new places and got to enjoy working from home.
We do love Florida for sure. My hubby and I have given a lot of thought about

moving  way back to New Jersey. 

When we moved to South Florida, our hope was to find a place to call home.
I am seriously ready to settle down in one place and call it home.
My ideal would be to live in a small town with few stores, a park
and the beach.

I understand that in some ways, you need to compromise on things because
you can not really have everything.

But I should have known this. I thought I had learned my lesson long time ago
when I had to give up the beauty of South Italy to move to America.
I am not gonna say that Florida is a disappointment but this is not home.We are moving in two weeks or so. And the last few weeks I have been trying to take as many pictures as possible.

I will trasure the photographs and I will look at them with a smile and sadness in my heart.I will miss our walks at the golf course, the late night talks sitting in front of the lake, and the sofa in my living room, full of dogs.

I will treasure those memories and the people I met.---------
This post is dedicated to Nicole, Julia, Alane, Randy and Dan.

Thanks for the beautiful year together.
I will miss you all.

 

The Parable of the Sower

I took a walk this morning with Hooch, and I saw the seed on the grass under the palm tree. Matthew 13 came to my mind.

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Love Bond

I woke up at 6:30, had a nice cup of tea made with love by my lovely hubby, and a chocolate muffin from Whole Foods.

After I walked the dog and my hubby left for work, I decided that it was time to clean and do some laundry. If I do laundry early in the morning, I will be free in the afternoon.
Then, I decided to rest a little and browse the internet.
I love to read bible scriptures and the news.
Of course, I will always end up reading some articles about dogs, especially since we adopted Hooch. It’s amazing how many things you learn from the internet.

I found the article 'Why we bond with our dog like our baby?’' After I read it
I thought this is absurd.

A few weeks ago, I read about this woman who loved her dog dearly.
I believe she had her dog since he was a puppy.
When she found out she was pregnant, her maternal instinct kicked in.
She was fearful that her dog would harm the baby.
When the baby was born, she said that her feelings towards her dog started to change
to the point that she did not want to have her dog around the baby.
Eventually, she made the decision to give the dog to a new family.
If it’s true that we bond with our dogs like we do with our babies, then she would have kept her dog.
Now I am sure that this lady loved her dog, but she did not bond with him the way she bonded with her child because, by nature, we are made to love our baby more.
I do not blame her for giving the dog away. She was simply being a mother.Sure we are called to love our pets. God created them for our joy, but he called us to be mothers first. He gave us the ability to carry a child for 9 months, the love and emotions, and feeling that comes with the child we are carrying. That is not comparable to anything.

God calls us to have authority of the things on this earth.
Proverbs 12:10  tells us, "A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel."

We are called to love and respect out furry friends but we are called also to love and raise and protect our children. We must be careful in this role.The Bible also indicates that when an animal is a threat to people or other animals, it should be put to death (Exodus 21:28-35).I am blessed today. I have a husband that I love and adore.
I also have a cute pet dog. I love him dearly and I do treat him like a baby.
I am sure that the love I will have for my kids one day will be more than the love I show for my dog.
I hope that I will be able to manage raising my child along with my pet. It’s my desire to teach my kids to love and take care of animals, and to experience the joy of having a pet in the house. But the motherhood instinct will be strong and my kids will come first.

Baking Through Memories.

I grew up eating Nutella, the Italian chocolate and hazelnut spread. It was always my favorite.
I remember my mother being a great cook but when it came to baking, it was not her thing. 

So Nutella was the sweet treat that she would make for us.
A slice of bread with Nutella. The fact that she would fix it for us made it really special.
She would attempt to make 'pan di spagna' Italian sponge cake.
According to my brother, it was so yummy that he would always ask her to bake more.

She would spend hours on that cake! And when it was time to pull it out of the oven,
she had a happy face. The only thing that will make us go "oh no" was if the middle of the cake sank. 
But it did not matter... Mom made it and we were happy.
Baking is not my thing either, and I truly believe it’s hereditary.
I am seriously trying to learn how to bake.
I am a big fun of the bakery, and I like healthy deserts, so today I put my Nutella away. 

Instead, I decided to use blueberry jam and dark chocolate.

Today, I attempted to bake cupcake chocolate chip cookies.
I found this recipe on a English website.I was feeling frustrated at first because I had to convert recipe measurements. Fortunately, I found

a chart online that changed grams to cups.
When I finally put the cookies in the oven, however, I realized that I forgot to add the baking soda. D’oh,
too late! The cookies were already baking. 

 When I was working as a nanny in New Jersey, I

learned how to bake jelly jam cookies.
The kids’ grandmother would come over for the holidays from Canada. She would bake the cookies for us.
So I asked her to show me how to make them. After 2 attempts, they came out delicious!
I love to cook, but the art of baking is what I need to improve for the sake of my own children.

Today, when I was baking these yummy cupcake chocolate chip cookies, I forgot to add the baking soda and they did not rise like they were supposed to.
My mom’s cake would sink, and my cookies would not rise.
I realized today that I am a lot like her. I put my heart and passion into my cooking.
I know she did the same, and we loved her for that.
My mother 's sweet memories are associated with her baking mistakes.
How great is it to be able to smile thinking about it?!
Hopefully one day, my kids will enjoy my baking and have the same sweet warm feelings I have for my mother.

The Girl Next Door and Her Furry Foster Pets.

Let's make it clear: I am not a dog person. I love cats. 
Let say this again. I LOVE cats. 
Unfortunately, my lovely husband, Jay, is allergic to cats. 
The weirdest thing about this is the fact he used to have one ' Gucci ' when he was young and living with his mom.

Jay always loved to talk about Gucci and how he used to sneeze around her.
When we moved to south Florida, we agreed that maybe we needed a cat
and maybe he could deal with the allergy problems.
He did manage them back in the days, so why not now, right?

Well, one weekend we were in Deerfield Beach. We were visiting our friend, Anthony, who owns a nice black cat named Dante. Dante is a good looking cat who's sweet and friendly too. We spent 2 nights over Anthony’s house only to realize that a cat was not a good idea. Every time Jay attempted to play with Dante, his allergies would get bad. He would sneeze and his eyes got so watery. I could tell that he was feeling miserable. 

So no, the cat was not an option. 

I was sad because I really wanted a pet, and we were not dog people. 
Besides the need to have a cat, I had to make friends as well.

One day, I was outside my small apartment for some reason.
I remember it being a hot day of July and I saw this girl outside with 2 small, cute dogs. I remember saying hi to her and the dogs. She seemed nice and always looked like she was in rush. I could tell she was a busy girl. I would only see her in the morning or on the weekend.

She was the foster parents of these two little pups. She explained to me that she was caring for these two dogs until she found a forever home for them. It was the first time I heard about fostering pets and I thought it was so interesting.

What a smart girl I thought!  She works, takes care of animals, and dresses wonderfully. She looks very mature for her age, and was easy to talk to.

She said her name is Nicole and I thought “she is definitely Fancy.”
I also noticed that one of Nicole's furry foster pets was super cute.
He was small, brown, and begging for attention.
When I saw him, my heart melted.
I just liked him so much.I believe Nicole also noticed how much I liked him, so she asked me if I wanted to foster him for few weeks. It helped her out, since the 2 dogs together were giving her a hard time. I did not waste any time. I called my Hubby at work asking if we could foster this little fella ' Hooch'.

We wound up keeping Hooch after fostering him for a couple of weeks.
We realized that we were dog people after all.
We could not let him go with someone else.
My husband was the one who made the final decision to keep him, and I was happy about it.
Later, I found out that the girl next door is indeed Fancy(lol).
She invited me over to her place and I loved every single thing she owned.
We both like the same things(I steal ALL of her design ideas.)

We have a lot in common, which I guess makes me Fancy too. 

Nicole with Atlas. She adopted him in January. 

the holidays are gone.( Old post- January 02 2014)

january 02 2014.


I love Christmas. Back in Italy I would celebrate the holidays with mom and dad.
Mom will make homemade pizza and we will eat around the table all together.
I miss those days and Especially Mom.
Around the holidays I think  a lot about the old days.
When you are a child you think that every single christmas of your life is going to be  just like that.
I will pictures in my mind the same routing we had .With my  mom making homemade pizza and
wating  for Dad to come back from work. Some holidays Dad will needed to go to work since there will be no one to cover him up for that day.
He will come back around 10: 00 o clock with a plastic bag with some goodies on it.
Salame , olive, cream cheese named Philadelphia and my favorite treat Nutella chocolate spread.
I still remember the  funny look of my father' face  while looking at me and my small brother  going toward him excited to see what kind of goodies he had brought home.


Today I talk to my dad on skype, Our Holidays are hours apart from each other and the lady next to him is not my mother.
Sure I was naive.As a child I did not know back then that life would  take different turn
But one thing I know now. I get to replay the holidays i my mind all over again what a good comfort.





Our tree is down.
Me and hubby put our first real tree down January 1
In Italy people will put the tree down only after January 6th in this day Italians will celebrate ( Lepifania) and
this last one close the holidays season.

New Year is here.

My hubby and I spent thanksgiving with our friend Anna and Christmas day with Brandy