Are you a good person?

I grew up in a Christian family.
My parents would take me to church every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
I used to go to church just to make my parents happy.
 I learned about the bible and the beautiful story that comes with it at Sunday school.
I had a hard time making friends at church, because I was pretty shy. But I did love Sunday
school cause I got to learn about Noah and the Ark, how Moses helped slaves escape from Egypt and the story of Sarah, who got pregnant at 91 years old.

Growing up I hung out with people who did not know God at all.
I would call them  'GOOD PEOPLE'.
The truth was they were not that good. Who is really Good?

I was not Good. I was lost for a couple of years. I was not really following God or looking for him.
I thought I was doing the right things. I thought I was Good.

 Now, I know the difference between following him and being without him.
 I knew it was time to go back to church.
After I moved to New York, I had the desire to reach to God.
I am glad that my parents raised me inside the church,
even though I understood much later how God was important to me.
I am glad I reached a point in my life where I recognized that I am not good, and that I am wrong
and that I need him.

I decided to give my life to him and I am still working on doing this everyday.

I want to share this video with you. Open your heart and give your life to Jesus today.

It's beginning to look alot like christmas.

Afternoon with my girlfriend Brandy and her kids.
we went shopping and you can see Christmas decorations everywhere.


  

At the pet store.... :)

Before she left to go back home, she decided to do  a few jumps from my couch. How cuteee :)

Home sick. I miss Dad.

Every year, around the holiday season, I feel sick...home sick.

Back when i was a teenager, i would always spend the holidays with my parents.
I love to cook. Since the holidays required us to cook yummy foods, I was always happy to celebrate in the kitchen with my mom.

My last Christmas with my family was in 2006.
Mom left us in august 2007. That year was a sad and devastating year.
I remember my mother feeding us with pizza, lasagna, lamb with potatoes and other delish Italian dishes. I have learned a lot from her cooking, but none of my dishes are as good as hers.

Christmas and New Year's were very special with my parents around. I wish I understood this earlier
than now. Some teenagers do not get it till it's too late. And sometimes I feel like I am one of those who got it too late.

I left for America in 2008 and did not go home for 4 years. The hardest thing I ever did was leave my dad behind.

My dad and I have a beautiful relationship. We call each other everyday.
We almost fight everyday and we love each other everyday.
One thing we have in common is being stubborn.
We are also both slow when it comes to understanding things.

Dad has recently learned to use Skype(well...he is still learning.)
Gosh he is driving me crazy!!! It doesn't matter how many times I explain to him how to start the video call or how to click a few icons on his desktop. (Remember: first you need to explain what a DESKTOP is...) He will ask me the same questions all over again. LOL.
Only after a few hours of explanation, we realized that we didn't even ask each other "Oh, by the way...how are you today?" LOL

I wouldn't trade our conversation for anything. I love them just the way they are.



This past weekend, i did a photo shoot for this beautiful family of four.
I was impressed at how sweet and well mannered these 2 girls were.
When I got home, I looked at the pictures and while organizing them, I came across one that made me emotional. The picture(below) captures a sweet moment between a girl and her dad.

I miss my mom a lot, but I know that she is in a better place and I can not change that.
Dad is home, he is fine and happily married.  Being able to talk to him is a blessing, but its surely painful to know that I don't get to spent the holiday with him.Or simply go over a weekend for lunch or dinner time.

Today, I am blessed with my own family . My husband is a great man and we both fear the Lord.
God has been blessing us so much.
The holidays are close and I am very excited to spend it with my husband. But deep inside, I am also sad.
I understand that holidays are made to be with your parents. If your parents are still alive, please make time for them. They won't be here forever.

HERE IS THE PICTURE THAT GOT ME EMOTIONAL
THE 3 YEAR OLD BABY GIRL, WITH HER DAD.

WITH DAD.
MY WEDDING DAY IN ITALY.

Smelling pumpkin pancakes

Pancakes are usually reserved for weekends.
Big and yummy breakfast make  your weekend more relaxing and sweet.
So This morning i was thinking....  Monday can start in a sweet way too.
Waking up early and getting ready for work is not always so excited.
So lets make pumpkin pancakes . The smell of it will remind us the Holidays are coming soon.



You will need :

1 Egg
Vanilla
Brown sugar
Pumpkin
 Cinnamon
Baking soda
Baking powder
Milk

Here is a video of this yummy recipe.

Have a good Monday. :)

Value of children.

Forgive me, for what I am going to share here I don’t know who to give credit to.  I was reading on another blog and in her attempt to direct the reader to the source the link didn’t work.  But, this was too good not to share.

I grow increasingly convinced that God values children much, much more than we do.
We value a clean floor more than children. We value free time more than children. We value the good dishes more than children. We value going out to eat or watching grown-up television shows more than we value children.
All the world, including the church, tells us that children are a bother, perhaps even a mistake. If you don’t believe that, introduce a family with many babies into your church and see how long it takes for someone to say, “They know what causes that, don’t they?”
We have let the world convince us that a large family is a curse, when the Bible clearly teaches that many children are a blessing, a sign of God’s great favor.
If I had the choice right now, there would be more children in my family. And I think I might be brave enough to let God decide how many.
I remember that it seemed a little frantic around my house when the children were little. I never got “it all” done, whatever “it all” is. There was not much privacy or money or free time. There was lots of laundry and garbage and stinky stuff. The boys were going to be 2 and 4 forever. It was never going to end.
Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed my boys. But it was all colored by that worldly, selfish, hurry-up-and-grow-up attitude. And then it was over. I woke up one morning and they were almost as tall as me. The next day, or so it seemed, they didn’t even live with us. Now there is not much garbage or laundry or stinky stuff. And there is much more privacy and money and free time.
I’d trade it all in a heartbeat.
I would do laundry around the clock if it meant I could have one more day with my little boys in my home. I want the piles of blue jeans back. If my family had been larger, perhaps I would have grown in wisdom and learned to treasure the tiny victories and agonies of everyday. Perhaps not, but at least it would have lasted longer.
You think they’ll be little forever. You can’t imagine being able to handle – afford – care for another little life. But you can. And it will be over before you know it, with plenty of years left to use the good dishes.

Amen 
 

  My friend 's kids. Kids are a blessing from GOD

Note: I liked this post a lot and that's I shared it.

But there is something that i am not agree with
.

'All the world, including the church, tells us that children are a bother, perhaps even a mistake'

I know the church is teaching us how precious  the kids  are. And they  are indeed  a gift from GOD.
It's hard to believe that a church wont teach you this.
If your church  is not teaching you the value of children.
the church is not doing a good job.

 

  

Pumpkin patch.

Finally, I get to experience the pumpkin patch.
Back home, we do not celebrate Halloween or Fall.
In Sicily, it's pretty hot in the summer and our weather is mild in the Fall.
I did not get to see the changing leaves colors in Sicily.
Jersey in Fall is pretty amazing. I did share some pictures of Jersey in fall in my preview post.

So this weekend my friend Brandy told me that she wanted to bring the kids to get a nice pumpkin
to carve for Halloween.
Me and my hubby Jamel do not celebrate Halloween for religious reasons, but we do celebrate Fall.

So here I come, pumpkin patch!!! :)
As a child, I used to see pictures and movie scenes about people getting ready for this event.
I am glad that my hubby, who is not a fan of farms and pumpkins, decided to take me.

We got at the place early in the morning. Gosh it was hot out there!
I love the heat. But i must say that after 30 minutes, I was melting like an ice cream cone.
The place was packed with people and we were lucky to get a spot for our car at the parking lot(the grass).
The farm offers different food stands and rides for kids and family.
Jay and I skipped the rides and went for the food . Hot dogs, barbecue and pretzels.

We met our girlfriend Brandy and her kids at the farm and enjoyed the afternoon together.
Besides getting a nice pumpkin, we get to eat some goodies too.

Baked apple and vanilla ice cream

I saw this yummy recipe on internet. I thought I could make it.
I did change it a little.
here is what you need.

2 Red or Green apples
1 Spoon of Brown sugar.
2-3  Teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
Vanilla ice cream



Carve your apples

Add brown sugar and cinnamon

Put apples in the oven for 30-35 minutes.



Once you take them out, it will look like this.

after it cools down...add the vanilla ice cream.

PS: When you carve your apple do not toss the inside
instead add brown sugar and cinnamon and heat it in a small pot. When ready, put it on top of the ice cream or inside the apple before you add your ice cream. :)