Easter

The day before Easter my family gets together to prep for the amazing feast we have the following day.
I thought I'd share some of the pics of our yummy Easter.

This is a Kaduda. It's our family tradition. Growing up we always would get our own on Easter morning and then we would spend the following 2 days scarfing it down. It's our family take on Italian Easter Bread. The family debate has always been what tastes better: Anise or Vanilla. I always go with Anise.

Nono showing us how it's done

Almost done

Finished product

Cannoli filling

Ravioli filling

The left over mess

Stuffed Raviolis

 Pasta sauce: Italian sausage, meatballs, pigs feet, and artichoke stuffed with meatballs

 So tasty

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11 things

I usually don't do these things, but I was tagged by a dear friend, kacie, and I'm trying to be blogging more often.......so I thought I'd try it out




There are five rules:  

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

11 Random things

1. I have seen my favorite band, Switchfoot, 18 times in concert

2. When i was growing up I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. Still to this day I have a slight addiction to Killer Whales

3. I hate beans

4. I would chose camping over staying in a hotel 99% of the time

5. I grew up in the city but my heart belongs to the country

6. Growing up I had a cat named "freckles". I was going through a phase where i hated my freckles and our cat had a litter of kittens and my Dad told me one of the kittens had freckles so I instantly was attached and HAD to keep him

7. The movie UP makes me bawl every time I watch it. I mean common.... her name is Ellie..... I was totally like that as a child..... she's not able to have kids (which is my biggest fear)..... so I relate to her character maybe a tad too much

8. I really enjoy watching UFC

9. I bite my cuticles

10. I really dont like Styrofoam. The sound of it is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I dont even like the styrofoam to go boxes they give you at restaurants

11. I used to work in Loss Prevention at a department store. Sitting in an office watching cameras and arresting people for shoplifting, credit theft, and counterfeit cash

questions to answer:

1. what is your happiest memory?
My obvious answer would involve something about my incredible Husband, Jon. Instead I'm gonna shake things up and I'm going to share about my fav memory before I met Jon. I'm going to paint a picture of how awesome it really was...... Summer camp.... backpacking trip for our Counseling Leadership group (CILT heck yes!!)...... pouring rain..... 2 of my favorite people in the world (Ms. Parge and Ms. Quail)........ sitting in our tent..... playing card games........ listening over and over to Eisley's "Trollywood". The day itself was pretty amazing too..... getting lost on the trail...... coming across a snow cave in the middle of July....... It truly will always be one of my happiest memories.


2. what's your favorite drink? (alcoholic or non)
It's a 3 way tie..... Vernor's Ginger Ale, Shirley Temple, or Squirt

3. what is your favorite post you've written?
Well I haven't been blogging for long or often really but probably my last post. I didn't think I would ever write it. I never thought I could get that far.

4. any words of wisdom you'd like to pass along?

Comparison is the thief of JOY. 

5. what traditions have been passed down in your family?
We dont have many that i can think of but my favorite would be Easter. We make homemade pasta, past sauce (with pigs feet... yum), raviolis, cannolis, and Kadudas(prob spelled wrong). Kadudas are a type of Italian pastry cake thing. Its tastes like a biscotti and cake combined. Ill write a blog post about it this year for sure!!!

6. who do you look like more? mom or dad?
Definitely my Mom. 

7. if you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

Steak, some kind of potato, asparagus, salad, and bread.

8. do you like reading fiction or non-fiction? why?

Im not a big reader.... with my TV fast I'm slowly becoming more enthralled by books though. I would probably say that I LIKE reading fiction books more. I love connecting to the characters and to the story. I do read much more non-fiction "christian living" type books than fiction books though not because I LIKE to but because I know they stretch my thinking. 

9. if you could have breakfast with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go to eat?

My Abuela Franca (my great grandmother). She helped in raising me and was one of the most loving people I will ever know. She would make her pastries and the amazing dulce de leche coffee she used to make for us growing up.

10. would you rather be rich or healthy?

Healthy for sure

11. describe yourself in one sentence.

Work in progress

My Questions to the bloggers I tag:

1. If you could see any band or singer (dead or alive, still together or broken up) who would you see?

2. What's your favorite book and why?

3. If you were stranded on an island what family member would you want to be stuck with?

4. What's your favorite vacation/trip you've taken?

5. If you had an entire day alone with no responsibilities what would you do?

6. If you were to run a non profit organization what would it be?

7. Who's your favorite movie or TV character? Why?

8. Whats one thing you want to do before you die?

9. If you could have any job/career (and you didn't need any training) what would it be?

10. If you could relive one moment/day what would that be?

11. What's one thing you enjoy about how God has made you?










Erin and Amy...... tag..........you're it :)










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Productivity and LIFE

So yesterday marked 60 days of no TV.......
With the exception of Super Bowl and the worst day ever when Jon and I BOTH got sick and gave in and watched some TV it's been TV free.

I've been super productive with all that extra time that I don't put towards TV

-I've read 2 complete books
-I'm about halfway through 4 other books
-I've been able to do some spring cleaning and organize the apartment
-I've been crocheting a lot and have finished a lot of fun projects-including this beauty (Kindle cover)




Jon and I have had lots more time to just BE together too..........
-We've been reading the Harry Potter books out loud together and we're halfway through the 3rd one
-We've been playing 2 person card games-which is super fun and super frustrating sometimes since we're both so competitive
-We even took a nice long walk last night around our neighborhood (after I had to get 5 layers of clothing on since it's been so cold at night)

Other than all the productive things I've been able to do I've also found that I have more time to just BE and enjoy LIFE!! I'm not as stressed and overwhelmed all the time. I'm able to just take LIFE in.

I even took a 2 hour nap on Tuesday after a very tasty meal with my mom and Nono (grandma) at Red Lobster... 2 HOURS!!!


God really has been revealing a lot about my heart during this process as well. Realizing how much I've been trying to escape my feelings and escape him. I want to be PRESENT with him. Not escape him.


I really do feel like I'm slowly learning how to just BE..... and that feels fan-freaking-tastic

Desire

You know that Scene in “Up” where Ellie and Carl are laying down looking up into the sky and she starts to see the clouds turn into babies. 

Well I feel like that’s been me since I was a very little girl. I’ve wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember. I’ve always had this deep desire to have a kid. That desire went way further than playing house or carrying around dolls as if they were real babies. And right now, at 24 years old, that desire is exploding. Jon and I know 13 couples that are pregnant right now…. 13!!!! And on top of that in the last year a lot of our friends have had babies.

Babies and pregnancy are all around me.

From songs about being a mom (this one's dear to my heart)

to Pins on Pinterest of babyish things

to articles about the joy of being a mom

to baby birthday parties.

While my desire hasn’t evolved into full blown hallucinations of clouds turning into babies, it’s still an ever present feeling.

So to go back to the movie “Up” for just a quick second……… It’s one of the only movies that makes me full on SOB!!! Now, If you know me, you know I cry at almost any commercial but not cry like I do when I watch “Up”. There’s a reasonable explanation why. First off…… her name is “Ellie”. So instantly I’m feeling super connected to the character seeing we have the same name. Then you throw in the fact that she’s not able to have kids......... Because this desire in me is sooo strong to be a mom and be pregnant, inevitably I fear that that desire will never come true for me.

The bottom line is I don’t know when my time will come or if it even will come. All I can do for now is to trust that God’s plan is bigger than me.

 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. 

Extra Time

So far what I've been learning with this fast is how much extra time I have 




Monday I ended up working a half day and with the rest of the day I took my kindle to Starbucks and started reading "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. I love her books..... I've only read a few but I've wanted to read this one for years. When Jon got off work we took Cooper to the dog park then went into Huntington to have a little date. We used a gift card to go to CPK and then went over to REI (twist my arm) where Jon spent his Christmas money on 5 finger shoes. Jon can handle shoes like that from all his years at Hume Lake walking around barefoot everywhere. 


When we got home we continued reading Harry Potter out loud together. Jon's family did this growing up and Jon and I began doing this a few years ago when we started "The Hobbit". We're about 3 quarters of the way through the first Harry Potter book. I have to tell you though.................................................................................................
I am sooo excited to be reading the books. We both LOVE the movies and we're so excited to hear more background on a bunch of the characters.


Tuesday after work I met up with Lauren and we went to Disneyland for a few hours. It was packed.

The new Little Mermaid ride is really cool

Wednesday after work I stopped off to get my new fav sushi roll on my way to join Jon at Biola. It has shrimp tempura, crab, and cream cheese...... you should get the picture of its amazingness. Jon is taking an inter term class that has him most nights at school till 9:30. During the night they watch a movie and discuss all the difference ways faith can play into it. The movie was "Amazing Grace" and it was a really amazing historical movie thats def worth the watch........ ( now for those of you that are freaking out going..... you just watched a movie during your fast....... well for me I decided that movies would be okay as long as it was intentionally watching and I wasn't by myself- this was about as intentional as it can get)

Thursday after work Jon and I took Cooper to the dog park again. It was later than we usually go so Cooper didnt have his usual friends to play with so instead Jon kicked around a deflated basketball with Cooper and man was he obsessed. I dont know if I've ever seen Cooper that attentive.

The coolest thing about this week is all the little pockets of extra time I"m finding I have....

-I'm taking longer showers

- I'm actually taking time to get ready for work as opposed to doing my makeup in the car on my way to work (which is only .5 miles away)

- I'm playing in the apt. with Cooper more

- I'm listening to music

And tonight I'm going to go help out Jon's mom and Dad babysit my beautiful nieces. 

90 days

TV has always been MY thing……. 

Even though we don’t have cable I find ways to make TV shows my thing……. HULU, Netflix, different season of shows I own on DVD. I ALWAYS watch TV.

I’m in this Women’s study on Monday nights and it gave us a challenge to give up the thing that was “your idol” for 90 days. For me I was able to identify that it was TV.

Now you may be thinking like I have done many times…. TV isn’t an idol…. It’s just a way to relax. But the thing is……… it is for me. You can call it an Idol, a negative coping mechanism, whatever. For me I know my interaction with TV SCREAMS unhealthy.

If I’m having a bad day I go to TV instead of praying about it or giving it up to God.

If I’m bored I go watch TV not go do something productive.

In the mornings when I have extra time because I’ve woken up early I watch TV not go read my Bible.

After a long day when I get home with Jon I watch TV not clean the house together or go for a walk together or read together or play music together.

TV has been robing me of things I want in my life. But it’s not TV it’s because of my own doing.

And even worse I’m turning to TV to cope. Coping is defined in psychological terms as "constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing". Basically what this is saying is that I’m trying to cover up what I’m feel when I cope. The external and internal stuff is too “taxing” so instead I’ll change my thinking onto something else. This is not healthy……... Bottom line.

So I’ve chosen to stop watching TV for 90 days. I could have picked something easier or said “Ok so I wont watch TV on Thursdays” but I know that TV is my issue. I know that I want to change my relationship with TV. My hope is that after 90 days I wont call in sick at work and binge on TV for days but that my relationship with TV will have changed dramatically. I know that this will be hard…. I’m only on day 3 and I already want to jump on HULU to see what I have on my queue. When someone I know fasted from their coping of choice for 90 days they actually went through some pretty weird withdrawals. Halfway into the process they woke up feeling intense anxiety that they had been masking with coping in unhealthy ways for years and years.

So stay tuned for, I’m sure, lots of crazy posts about all the extra things I’m able to do with all my extra time.