Hi, and take a snoop around

Hey there lovers.

'Tis been a while.

And believe it or not it was quite intentional.

Sometimes a woman just needs some time to step away from all forms of social media and reflect on the important things in life.

Like God, herself, her messy household, potty training (more on that later), trying not to get herself (literarily) strangled by her patient, unshaved legs, and the work homework that she was supposed to do in December, that had been extended to March and that is still nowhere near done.

And on the top of my list?

I've been rearranging furniture.

Mostly in Giada's room.

I don't know if you've ever picked up on it, but I have never really had a whole post designated towards her room.

I've been decorating our house in little portions at a time, which pretty much means that no room is completely done.

It's been 1.5yrs since we've moved in this house, and my living room still does not have curtains.

Yes, that is sad. And yes, I am working on it.

And even though she's almost 15months old...

Giada's room is no exception.

But last week I added a couple of small touches to her room, and I thought that, even though it's not finished, I'll let you snoop a lil.

Let's not kid ourselves. I'm a snooper too, when it comes to other people's houses.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more changes coming up... just don't hold your breath, 'cause it may be a while.

A few things on a friday

Have I told you guys how awesome you are? Because it's so true. Thank you so much for all your kind words on yesterday's post. Y'all rock my world. Thank you.

Giada is having some kind of a 'teenage-symptom' growth spurt going on. Lately she has been really testing my boundaries and has huge meltdown tantrums when I won't give into her ways. She breaks down over the smallest, most insignificant things. I mean face full of tears, and gut wrenching sobs accompanied. Let me tell ya, disciplining a toddler is not an easy task. And still, I've been doing a lot of that around here lately. She obviously doesn't grasp the full extent of the hows and why's as far as discipline goes, which makes for some very challenging days. But that's a whole post in itself. Needless to say, I still love the girl to pieces. When she's not acting like a pmsing teen, she is a total sweetheart! It just melts my heart.

I've been on this odd, non-intended daily diet of big salads and fine chocolate this week. I may have gotten a little bit ahead of my self with the chocolate the other day. Ooops.

Every time I open my pantry door, I can practically hear it scream for some TLC. So yesterday was the day! I went to good 'ol Walmart and bought myself some helping tools. And as soon as I proceeded with my grand cleaning plan, my ever so helpful daughter came over to help... by stuffing her mouth full of every piece of candy she could get her munchkin hands on. Aaannd then I spent the next 10 minutes with my fingers in her mouth, making her spit it all out. Which of course brought out the waterfalls. So I was done. I gave up for the night. My kitchen may or may not have looked like this when I went to sleep.

For the last few weeks I've been daydreaming about decorating our bedroom. I keep on going back and forth on the wall color choices, if I want to buy my nightstands or repaint the old ones, rearranging furniture in my head. You know, the usual all dreaming and no action. BUT... I have finally taken the first step and purchased the fabric for my curtains. Isn't it purrty! I can't wait to see them come to life!

If nothing else, girl-fren sure knows how to entertain herself during nap time. That's a whole package of wipes on the floor, whom have come to know their death prematurely.

This girl's a diva. End of story.

I hope this weekend will treat you right.

Have fun!

The way I fell in love... with God

This has been another one of those thoughts that has been eating at me more recently. I don't talk much about religion over here. Partially because it's such a controversial topic, and partially because I don't want my words to be misinterpreted.

That being said, sharing the way I fell in love with my Savior was not an easy task for me. I have debated posting this for quite a few weeks now. Even as I'm typing this, I'm not sure if I should click 'publish.' As you read it, please try not to judge too much. Even though I may have. I was living in a different world when some of those things happened. It's almost like both I and some of the people taking part on this journey didn't know any better... even though they should have and did.

I won't go on any longer.

Here goes nothing...

Most of my life I grew up in a very conservative Christian environment. But before that, my very young years were spent in a remarkably religiously liberal, Greek/Russian Orthodox household. We went to church on Easter and Christmas, for tradition's sake, and sometimes not even then. We were good, happy people who would pray to God when heavy rains would fall or when times were hard. My grandparents were and are wonderful, hardworking, kind people who consider themselves christians. They are not aware that in actuality, they are some mixture of agnostic jews, since they choose to believe in God whenever it's convenient for them, and think that Jesus was just a good man.

Those were my views as I entered a real Christian faith at the young age of 7. And I think I would have been happy with that knowledge for the rest of my life. However that was not the case. Our new beliefs, left me in a total religious shock. An 180 degree transformation, from my life style to what I ate. Never being much the type to question authority, I embraced the new beliefs, and obeyed them, even though I didn't always understand them.

This new God I was serving was different. He was an almighty, powerful God, who loves me so much that He died for my sins...and who could strike me down dead if I stepped out of line. I wasn't just afraid of Him. I was terrified. Like a battered wife would be of her husband. She'll obey him because he may kill her. The story of Uzzah would play in my head over and over again every time I did something wrong.

I followed all the rules because I was supposed to and because I really believed that this is what God wanted me to do. There was no makeup, no jewelry, no dancing, no wearing clothes to church that were an inch above your shoulder, singing nothing but hymns in the sanctuary. The drums were a devil's instrument. No talking in church, no going anywhere but the park on the Holy day. Even though forgiveness was preached much, you were not left with a lot of room for error.

The church leaders made sure you were behaving according to 'protocol' or you would be excluded. Never mind that they were judgmental gossips, who treated people like dirt the moment they stepped foot outside the church. Modern day pharisees.

As I was trying to reach the status of a perfect Christian, and going through the routine of obeying all the rules, I was broken on the inside, never fully happy. I alway felt that no matter how hard I tried, how much I pushed myself in this walk with God, I would never achieve satisfaction. I would always fall short of the cross, and beat myself over and over again because of it. That's a lot to take for a young woman.

Somewhere in my teens something happened. We moved to the States, I was older, and I started to question things more. While in church one day, the pastor told us that it's ok to question God. After all, Job did. That's the only ok I need to gain some courage. I just took it and ran with it, never looking back.

For the first time in my life I was looking at God with different, questioning eyes. I was tired of living a life of fear. I was not happy in that relationship, so why was I still in it? I wanted more. I needed more. My heart was hungry for knowledge, and understanding, and most of all for peace and love. I read the Bible for myself and for the first time I realized that I was really believing what I was seeing. Not because my parents, or the church leaders were saying so, but because I believed it. Me. And because what I was reading MADE SENSE. And even though I was still obeying all the rules, my fear had lessened significantly at that point, and I was really starting to fall in love with this God for the first time in my life.

Things only got better from there on. I went to college at a christian university, and my eyes became wide open as I discovered God in a whole different way. My first couple of years there I found the true meaning of the fact that He is not only the God of the Old Testament, but also the New. He is not only just and all powerful, He is also a great listener, kind and loving, and someone who wants to be my confidant and best friend. He accepts me exactly the way I am: broken, with tons of baggage, and stained by sin, with His blood on my hands. He is forgiving, and creative, and brilliant, and funny. I was no longer intimidated by my relationship with Him. I was falling deeper and deeper in love with Him. My soul was happy, my heart was full, my relationship was stronger than ever. The huge rock that has been hanging around my heart for years, was now gone. I was free at last. And while I was at it, I discovered that dancing, wearing makeup and jewelry will NOT give me an automatic ticket to the gates of hell. I can not express how liberating that little piece of information was.

Every year that passes by, my relationship with God takes new dimensions. It's almost like being married: every day you learn something different, and (hopefully) you love that person more and more because of it. In the last couple of years, I've been learning so much more about my God, and how truly wonderful He is.

He wants us to serve Him not because we're scared, but because we love Him. He wants a real and pure relationship with us that would put a fire in our heart and butterflies in our stomachs at the very thought of it.

As I'm concluding my never ending Love Story, I will leave you with the song that describes my journey so perfectly.

Read it's words. Feel it's lyrics. Take it in deeply.

And let yourselves be loved.

"He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so " ~ David Crowder Band

I never want to forget

Go ahead and call me a melancholic sap, but I LOVE living those days with my girl.

I want to breathe them in, forever tattoo them on my heart and mind.

With every single milestone she reaches, there is a new tinkle in my eyes, a new smile on my face, a new worry line on my forehead, a new kind of skip to my heart.

So this post is about remembering her the way she is right now.

At this very age where she's 14months going on 15years.

Because I'll never get them back, and because I already miss every single yesterday.

I never want to forget:

The deep conversations that we share:

"Ma-ma?"

'Yes, Giada'

"Ma-ma!"

'Yes Giada'

"Maaaa-mmaaa"

'Yes Giada'

"Ha-eeeeee. Hi."

Can we just say, dramatic much? I think so.

Or how she has mastered pinching anyone she's comfortable with...

And while doing it over and over, and OVER again, she'll say "OW" (said like Ouch without the 'ch'), as if it really hurts her.

I have lost many of arm hairs over this game of hers.

On a second thought, I would like to forget that.

Or how she's got perfect timing for calling her kitty while we're in the garage and our next door neighbor AND all of her young kids are conveniently watching...

"Titty! Titty! Titty!"

"Ma-ma!"

"CAT!"

Ummm.... "She's calling her cat. I swear!"

Oh, if only that were the first and last time she embarrasses me.

But it won't. This is just practice for the next 18+ years.

Good thing I love her.

Good, bad, and ugly, that girl has all my heart for all my life.

Friday Faves

'Member when I told you that the husband had a surprise present for me for Valentine's day? Well this is it. My new baby. Since my old one bit the dust, I was in desperate need for a new one. So needless to say, my jaw almost touched my knees, and I just about soaked my undergarments when he gave it to me. Love at first snap FO SHO! Her and I are getting to know each other a lot better these days.

Girlfriend here has a bit of a tv addiction. Which is my fault. She is a total zombie when I turn it on. But on my defense, it's the only way to get her to drink her milk. When we're out and about with no tv, she'll only drink about 3oz and be done, compared to 5 when she has a distraction. And for you tv Nazis out there who are judging my mothering skills, at least I'm not making her watch Jerry Springer. She does watch educative, age appropriate shows. So see, it could be worse.

Tiramisu is going to put me in the grave. That stuff is the death of me. By far, my fave dessert ever. Coffee and sweet rum mascarpone in one desert? It's a no brainer in my book. I'm not much of a baker but man do I make a killer tiramisu. And when it does happen, I make a huge pan and then proceed on eating at least half of it by myself. Because you can't stop after having just one slice. Trust me on that.

And while we're talking about yummy desserts. I made those sopapillas last week, and they were one mouthful of deep fried, finger licking, sugar-cinamony sprinkled goodness. The husband and the in-laws agreed.

I love watching those two cuddled up and enjoying time together. The bond that they share? It's heart melting you guys.

And with that, I'm going to enjoy my weekend with my favorite peeps.

I hope you do the same.

Linking up here.

And here's the scoop

So it happened.

And it has to be documented because it occurs as often as you see an albino monkey.

Our date night, that is.

But of course it wouldn't be a real date unless I had a little wardrobe malfunction 30 min before we left.

It wasn't so much a malfunction as it was that almost none of my pre-Giada dresses were willing to let me zip them over my back fat.

No matter how much I pleaded, bargained or sucked my fat in, this one particular little red dress I had set my mind on, would not budge.

So I settled for the next best thing.

A blue one, with plenty of room to let me eat.

And oh.my.gosh! Did I ever eat!

I may or may not have loosened my belt or completely taken it off half way through the meal.

Bam! Just like that! Belly hanging out.

I'm not kidding when I say I looked anywhere between 3 and 5 months pregnant.

Thank God for dim lighting.

And the husband over here?

After a few minutes of seriously considering the 'slim' menu...

He went ahead and got himself a deep fried mac and cheese burger.

With fries.

Which in case you didn't know, are also deep fried.

But the man enjoyed every single calorie.

I say good for him.

'Cause then he went home and ran 2miles. He may have worked out about 2 fries.

And of course I could not end the meal without getting some tiramisu cheesecake.

I think I hear angels sing with every bite.

But don't worry. I went home and did my 15min of P90X abdominal workout.

And I actually did it this time.

It's not like that one day last week when I was doing crunches and eating Oreos.

At the same time.

Needless to say...

The date was a success.

A much, much needed success.

Not having to share our meal with a hyperactive toddler also helped our case.

But as soon as I got home, I was missing the mess out of that child!

Because at the end of the day or a hot date, we're still parents.

I hope you guys had a beautiful Valentine's day with your loved ones or at the very least with some good chocolate.

It's a Galentine's Date

Happy Valentine's day lovely peeps!

Hopefully, later on today I'll be wearing some skimpy dress, getting my hurr did, and enjoying some good food with my own version of Mr. Darcy.

With no kid.

Say WHAAAAT!

I'm sure it will take some kind of supernatural, divine intervention for all those things to actually happen in one night.

But I haven't had a one-on-one date in months, and I'm determined to make this happen, dang it!

Never you mind that the plans to my fave restaurant in town got canceled thanks to the other 300 couples trying to get in.

I may have stomped my feet a couple of times when I found out.

But I'm sure you'll hear all about my date with the man and all the mushy details (hopefully) later on in the week.

The rest of this post is reserved to a ladies' date.

My friend Sarah came up with this genius idea of having a 'galantine's' date.

Girls time AND a good meal?

You know you can count me in!

So a bunch of us ladies got together on Sunday and had a great ol' time chatting and laughing our ears off.

It was just superficial stuff that we discussed.

Work, kids, future kids, which boys we loved, which boys we hated, which boys we should totally forget about 'cause they is just bad news.

I almost felt like I was back in my college days.

It was a nice mixture of women.

We had everything from married with kids (ok, just one kid. I was the only mother there; those girls need to hurry it up!), just married, engaged, dating, and single ladies.

That diversity, gave us a wide range of men-topic to discuss.

Some of it may have been silly and superficial.

But that's exactly what I needed.

I can't even tell you how good that felt.

My insides were screaming for some relaxing time alone with girlfriends.

In all honesty, I knew I required some time to myself, but I didn't know how badly I really needed it until I got in my car and went home.

It was like a breath of fresh air.

I felt relaxed, and stress free.

After that, I told myself that I have to do this more than just once every six months.

It really is good for this momma's brain.

I'm not gonna cry you a river, but I have a hard time justifying not having my girl with me at all times.

I have even a harder time justifying the fact that Brandon has to babysit while I'm going out and having fun.

It's that motherly guilt. It gets me every time.

And that's how I end up coming out of hibernation every six months.

But for now, I'm taking one day at a time and counting all my busy blessings along the way.