In Everything Give Thanks

When I think of all that I have to be thankful for, I am overwhelmed by God's grace and goodness. No matter how bad things get in the world around us, I can look at the person sitting next to me, listen to Nora's laughter as she stares at her brother, look at the basil plant thriving by the window, remember all of the people (friends and family) that God has placed in my life, rest sheltered in my house, etc...and remember how very blessed I am. In this last year, we have experienced many, many trials and yet I am thankful I had someone as special as Alessandro to walk through them with. We have lost a home, been jobless, my health has been attacked, and we have faced much discouragement. I will tell you that the discouragement doesn't linger. God can turn a situation to favor you in an instant! We always hold on to that hope. The hope that God will act suddenly on our behalf! I pray that we don't go through difficult times in vain. What is the purpose of experiencing difficulty if you don't learn from it? I am so thankful that both Alessandro and I are learners and we always take something positive out of every experience we have to go through. Good and bad.


So...don't look back in regret, but press forward and learn from everything you have the opportunity to experience.

I got to spend the majority of the day at home decorating for Christmas. Traditionally this happens the day after Thanksgiving in our family, but Alessandro had to work this year, so Thanksgiving Day it was! Luca felt so special as he "helped" his daddy outside with the lights. He loves to spend time with Alessandro doing "man" stuff outside.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with my sister and her in-laws. They are so kind and always open their home to us for every holiday when we are unable to travel to Texas or St. Louis in order to see our families. It is so nice to spend time with the Enyarts. They are such wonderful people.

Uncle Lance and Auntie Keturah gave Luca his birthday present early because they won't be able to come to his birthday party in December. He is going to have so much fun with his new fort! I remember as a kid we would make our forts by tying sheets to chairs and draping them around tables.

John Deere

The look on Luca's face was priceless when in the midst of riding his John Deere Tractor Toy, it snaps in half resulting in his bottom on the concrete. Poor little guy! I guess I know what he's getting for Christmas!

I know that the post about Nicole's wedding has already been published, but a friend of mine just sent me this picture and I had to share. I just adore this outfit on Nora!

Nicole's Wedding

Last night we went to our friend Nicole's wedding. She and her new husband Chris were stunning and the ceremony was beautiful. They were joined at the altar by his two teenage children. Chris was widowed and God brought Nicole to him and his kids.  If you read my post on Single Moms and Single Men, it compliments this one. I think God is always thinking about the children. I am so happy for Nicole as I know that she has waited faithfully for the right man to come along and sweep her off her feet!

One of the few pictures Alessandro and I have together since having kids!!!

Me and my friends Nancy, Nicole and Julie. Nancy traveled all the way from Belleville, Illinois to be a part of the celebration.

Sweet Nora all bundled up. The reception was outdoors so it was a bit chilly, but so beautiful. We brought Nora with us but left Luca at home with Hailey.

Single Moms and Single Men

What do I know about single moms? Well, I was a single mom for 12 years, so I know quite a bit. For years I struggled with the idea that I was undesirable to any man who was going to be worth having because I came with "baggage". I thought that if a man had a choice between marrying me along with  a child that wasn't his or marrying a girl without children or the baggage that comes with single parent homes, he certainly wouldn't choose me! I will tell you that I agonized over this! I didn't come up with this notion on my own, there were people in my life who expressed this to me and I adopted the thought process into my own life. Then, one day, the Lord ministered to me that Hailey was going to be a tremendous blessing to whomever her stepfather was going to be because children are a blessing from the Lord. He also ministered to me that it was because of Hailey that He was going to give me someone great. If any of you know my husband, you know that God fulfilled the promise he put in my heart.
Did you know that one of the most humble, loving men in history was Joseph? You know, Joseph the carpenter, the husband of Mary, mother of God? Do you realize that Mary was a single mother? She was. She was a young, teenage, single mom who loved God. Joseph married her, adopted her son, Jesus and raised him as his own. Mary, the most blessed of women, was a single mom. Think about that.

A call to men, don't overlook the single moms around you. They are amazing in more ways than one. Let Joseph be an example to you. For a more in-depth look at this piece of history, watch this video sermon from Mark Driscoll. I wish I had heard it as a struggling, single mom. How it would have encouraged me! Share this with single men and single moms everywhere.   
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-birth-prophesied

The sermon is an hour long and for some reason I was unable to download the clip, so the part I want to make sure you see begins at minute 55:00. Fast forward to that and listen to the end. God is good and He has a future and a hope for you.

Held Hostage

I entered a giveaway for a hand-held, small vacuum and it prompted me to tell you of an experience I can now laugh about, but at the time, I shed tears over.
I used to work the night shift on a labor and delivery unit here in the valley. We lived in my home in South Scottsdale and I had two very dear friends as roommates. Betsy and Jen were so gracious to offer to be home with Hailey while I worked. This allowed me, as a single mom, to work during most of Hailey's sleeping hours, sleep during her school hours and be home with her as much as I could. As you can imagine, living in a state of exhaustion is an understatement for my condition at that time.
One afternoon, post shift, somebody rang my doorbell. Betsy and Jen were at work and I was home alone with Hailey. *Probably not a good idea for me to have opened the door to 3 men in the first place, yet there I was, letting them into my home with promises of cleaning my house for free... all I had to do was watch their demonstration!  That sounded great to me! Two of the guys stayed behind and pulled out all the stops with none other than the Kirby Vacuum. The third, an older man, seemed to be the "leader" and he left in the vehicle that he had dropped them off in. About an hour later, he came back and went over the financials with me. I declined their very expensive offer and the man walked out the door, leaving the other two young men behind. I clearly remember him saying to them, "I will be back after you have made a sale". What??? Really??? I already said "NO"! Didn't they hear me???  I most certainly did not have that kind of cash flow. The vacuum was originally $2995 and they were going to "let me have it" for a mere $1995. What a deal, right? Still, I tried to politely decline with Hailey watching this entire process very intently.
I am not going to bore you with all of the gory details, but basically, this is how the story ends...after a total of ONLY 4 hours, I finally caved in and put the darn thing on my credit card! I just really wanted them to get out of my house!  I had been held hostage in my own home by Kirby Vacuum Salespeople! At one point, I remember Hailey asking me why they wouldn't leave! If I had any guts at all, I would have called the police, but I was weak in my state of exhaustion.
Buyers beware, these sales people are not easy to get rid of or to say no to. They have great, friendly and flattering personalities making it difficult to be assertive or if need be, rude! Anyhow, the next few nights, I had to work and I missed my opportunity to cancel the contract I had signed. Yes, I know that you are thinking I have no brains at this point...and rightfully so.
The guy told me that the vacuum could mop my floors, so you can imagine my disappointment when I attempted to do just that and found that the machine was spewing mud all over the place!  My roommate, Jen, was less than thrilled when she walked into the house to witness this disaster. She rose up to defend me and called the Kirby company to complain about the high pressure sales I had to endure after working nights. The secretary's response was this, and I quote, "Well, I was a single mom when I bought my Kirby and now I work for Kirby!" Was that supposed to make it better? Jen hung up the phone absolutely livid. Made me feel special that a friend would be that concerned.

So, approximately 7 years later, I still own my Kirby Vacuum. It is heavy and difficult to manuver, but I refuse to buy another vacuum because as far as I'm concerned, the cost of my Kirby plus the interest I paid on that credit card was more than anybody should ever spend on vacuum products in their lifetime!  
I know you may be laughing at my folly, but thankfully, I can laugh about it now too! What did I learn? I learned NEVER to open the door to anybody I don't know, unless my husband is home. So if you are selling something door to door, skip my house.

This is my friend Betsy

My friend Jen. 

Favorite Friday- Desserts

I never really ate a lot of dessert until I met Alessandro. He used to have dessert after almost every meal! Sometimes even breakfast is dessert for him. When we started dating, of course I had to partake with him!
Today, I will say that my favorite dessert is called "Snicker's Pie". I had it the other night at a BBQ restaurant at Tempe Marketplace. It was an ice cream pie with crushed snickers throughout and a chocolate cookie crust. It was amazing! I wish I had a picture, but I don't, so you will just have to deal with sweet baby pictures!

Nora is now balancing herself in a sitting position. I can't believe how the time flies and how big she is! I just love her!

Joe's Farm Grill

Last night we loaded up the family and went to Joe's Farm Grill to celebrate their anniversary with free cheeseburgers, fries and sodas. It was such a great experience!  We left our house at about 4:00 pm and there was a sea of cars in a dirt lot across the street! We stood in line for about an hour before we reached the finish line! By the time we got to the front of the line, we looked back to see that the line had grown to wrap around the entire building! If I had to guess, there were some that probably waited twice as long as we did!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thankfully there was plenty of grass and running room for Luca to enjoy the outdoors.

Once we got our food there was a table waiting just for us. It was delicious!  Joe's Farm Grill just might be one of my local favorites! It is a great place for kids, amazing and quality food and very friendly staff. Although we were very hungry while we waited in line, it was a great time for us to just be together as a family. Worth every minute from beginning to end!

Politics in Schools

Hailey came home yesterday very frustrated about an assignment given to her in her honors English class. They had to review an article given to them and choose a quote from the article supporting their position on the topic. The topic was none other than Universal Healthcare. The article was written by none other than a left-wing columnist from the New York Times. Here is the link just in case you want to see it for yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/opinion/30krugman.html?_r=2

Hailey has been raised with conservative values and she has adopted them herself and is actually very passionate about politics, especially for someone her age.

She read the article in class and raised her hand to ask the question, "How am I supposed to pick a quote that supports my position? This article is biased and my position is not represented in it." Go Hailey! Stand up for what is right! Why shouldn't her position be equally represented? I am so proud of her! Of course this protest didn't get her anywhere because the teacher's response was that the article was not biased and "I am sure you will figure something out." Wow!
Trust me, indoctrineation is happening and not just at the high school level. Our young children are like sponges and they admire and look up to their teachers. It is in elementary education that parents need to beware. By the time they are Hailey's age, they have their own set of values and the "brainwashing" is not as simple.

Hailey did a great job on her assignment and somehow managed to take a partial sentence from the article to use as support.

Harvest Festival

We had our Harvest Festival last night and it was amazing!  It was held on a family farm. There was so much land for the kids to run and play on it was amazing!  This is uncommon here in Arizona with so many track homes with small back and front yards. It reminded me of how I grew up in El Paso, TX. We had land! We would love to have land for our children and grandchildren. It is one of the things we dream of as a couple. Big, spacious backyards. It is so good to dream together because it gives you something to look forward to, goals to meet and helps you to grow together as a couple and as individuals.

There was a hayride, a bouncy, games, music and lots of food and candy, as evidenced by Luca's face! The kids looked adorable in their costumes. All you could see of Nora in her costume were her sweet cheeks. I guess Luca is still a bit young to enjoy dress up because I had to literally wrestle him to the ground as he kicked his legs and screamed while aligator tears were streaming out of his big, brown eyes, down his cheeks. He wasn't happy until Alessandro picked him up and put him in front of the mirror in a horizontal position, while I held his cape as if it were blowing to pretend he was flying around. We got a smile out of him then! Hailey missed most of the fun because she had to work. She came by when she got off of work and was able to eat something before we left about a half an hour later.

Here is the costume that I thought to be the funniest:

Chad Walker

Now here we are, November 1, 2009. Time flies, so we have to treasure every moment and remember not to take for granted the people in our lives.

I found myself with an ungrateful heart about something very trivial this morning on my way to church. We passed a man with no legs, in a wheelchair, strolling himself down the road with a smile on his face. Puts things in perspective, doesn't it? Conviction set in on my heart in that instant! I am so thankful for what I have and for the love I have been so richly blessed with in my life.

More Politics and Poor Policies

I really try not to post too much about politics on my blog, but this must be said...
Take money from those who work and pay people who don't work??? Anyone else see anything wrong with this??? If you don't, let me explain. If taxes are raised on the people who are providing the jobs and doing their part to stimulate the economy, they will eventually take themselves out of the marketplace and with them the jobs they are providing for the American people. Which means those who work, but may not be considered "rich", will loose their jobs, the government will pay them (welfare) and it will continue in that pattern. The latest incentive to quit your job is that not only will you get food stamps, but our wonderful government will also pay for your home phone. Listen, my family makes certain sacrifices so that we can pay our phone bill and our grocery bill. We live without many of the luxuries that many, who are utilizing government assistance as a way of life, enjoy. The government is pushing for complete dependence on them. Just look at Cash for Clunkers and how that turned out. How about the USPS. Is that really how you want your future to look? Take control. Don't let the government run our lives. Contact your representatives and my goodness...get out there and vote! If you are thinking that you won't be affected by the tax hikes on the rich in 2011, then think again. It is a trickle down effect, regardless of what "they" tell you.

Check back later for Harvest Festival Photos and stories!