I must be getting old

Rach @ This Italian Family — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:29:35 +0000

When I was in college I did an internship for a local church and part of the deal was that they would provide me with housing. Well… they got busy and on my first day I found out that they had totally forgotten to line up a place. Next thing I knew, I was standing on a stranger’s porch and without giving them any prior warning, the youth minister asked this couple if it would be okay with them if I moved in for the summer. They didn’t hesitate at all. They welcomed me with hugs and took my bag from me and walked me to my new bedroom. I still remember Debbie running around trying to put things away so I would have space to live for the summer. And I especially remember how overwhelmed I was that these complete strangers would take me in on the spur of the moment for an entire summer without knowing anything about me other than that I was the new youth intern.

Since then, Doug and Debbie have only continued to bless both Christopher and I. Honestly, I can’t even begin to name all the things they have done for us over the years. Letting me live with them for TWO summers as I interned for their church, late night conversations, mentoring us, loving on us, Doug hiring Christopher for the summer and teaching him how to fix up an old house, helping plan our wedding, helping us move after we got married, and on and on. Christopher and I decided way back then that we wanted to serve and love others the same way Doug and Debbie had served and loved us.

We got to see Doug and Debbie this past weekend because we were in town for a wedding and it was so so so good to catch up with them!

Speaking of that wedding… it was actually the wedding for one of the girls I was closest to during my days as an intern. I’ve known her since she was a cute little 8th grader and now she’s all grown up and married! I must be getting old if these girls I used to mentor are all old enough to be getting married now.

Us nearly five years ago at mine and Christopher’s wedding and then us this past Saturday at Kylie’s wedding. Love love love this sweet girl.

Many things have changed about Kylie as she has gotten older, but her height is not one of those things. Her wedding was fun and so sweet. I couldn’t be more happy for her.

No More Hurting People…

Rach @ This Italian Family — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:03:57 +0000

I’m sure many of you saw this photo of Martin Richard (the 8-year-old victim of the Boston Bombing):

{source}

Just this past week, Vapor featuring Marc Martel (from my favorite band Downhere!) released a song inspired by this photo of Martin Richard. See it here:

The sign for love, a cry for peace from a city’s child to the grieving streets. With simple phrase the banner pleads what heavy hearts want to still believe.

Let the dreamer’s dream never be in vain. Let the words ring out for heaven’s sake: “No more, no more hurting people. No more, no more hurting people.”

The tears will dry, the wounds will heal. We’ll always live with the loss we feel. Make no mistake, we’ll run again ’cause the light won’t ever let the darkness win!

Let the dreamer’s dream never be in vain. Let the words ring out for heaven’s sake: “No more, no more hurting people. No more, no more hurting people.”

Love is still the answer. Love will conquer all. Light will overcome the darkness when it falls.

Oh, I believe there will some day be no more, no more hurting people. No more, no more hurting people. No more hurting people…

{Lyrics to “No More Hurting People” by Vapor featuring Marc Martel}

—

You can download the song for free here. There is an option to donate to the artist with 100% of the proceeds going directly to The One Fund Boston (to help the victims of the Boston Bombing & their families).

Those Neighbor Kids

Rach @ This Italian Family — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:20 +0000

Will, the little boy that I nanny, asks me every now and then if we can go play with “those neighbor kids” who live in the house by mine. Every time he asks, I remind him that “those neighbor kids” moved to Florida with their parents a few months ago. Weeell… this week, they were back in town! Their house sold so they came to sign the final papers and such. When I told Will that we were going to see those same old neighbor kids he was SO excited! However, he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that we weren’t actually going to Florida in order to see them. I kept trying to explain that they were back HERE visiting, but geography is a tricky thing for a four-year-old.

Anyway, we met up with everyone at My Big Backyard at the Memphis Botanic Garden. All in all, there were 10 kids with 6 adults so we were quite the crew walking around.

The kids had a GREAT time! There was so much to explore and see and they loved it.

Will and Judah saying goodbye. They kept calling each other “Best Buddy” which I thought was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I knew Will had missed “those neighbor kids” but I didn’t realize how attached he was to them.

Speaking of those neighbor kids… they have grown up SO much since I last saw them. On Wednesday evening, our old neighborhood friend group all got together again.

Baby Amos is nearly a year old! And he has so much hair!

Rivers is still a mess and never stops going, but he has only gotten cuter as time goes on. Check out all those blonde curls!

Judah is still just as adorable. I’m not exactly sure where his shirt went, but well, these things happen.

And big sister Elizabeth is still trying to fend for herself with three younger brothers.

Tim & Stephanie (who are still our neighbors!), Rachel & Tony with their four kiddos, and then us. We miss this sweet family, but are so thankful that Tim and Stephanie still live just two houses over.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Rach @ This Italian Family — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:03:25 +0000

You know those delicious Garlic Cheddar Biscuits from Red Lobster? Right well, Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny has recreated them and they really couldn’t be easier. I mean, the main ingredient is Bisquick so most of the work is done for you already! I’ve made these a couple of times and they are always a hit! The first time I made them was the only time I took a photo and I completely forgot the parsley, ha! They are good like that, but they are even better with that fresh parsley on top!

{original recipe here}

See, super simple. So make them. And impress your friends.

Save the Date Photo Shoot

Rach @ This Italian Family — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:52:33 +0000

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I really like taking pictures. I’m definitely not a professional, but I am learning as I go and having fun along the way. You guys have seen some of the fun little photo shoots I’ve done with the kids I nanny… well, one of their mom’s friends saw the pictures on Facebook and asked if I would take photos for her Save the Dates. So this was my first official paid photo shoot!

Kathleen and Joey were great! We shot these at Shelby Farms and I can’t tell you how many runners/bikers yelled “Congrats!” as they passed (especially the shots of her holding out her ring). It was definitely a fun experience!

Tee Ball and a Graduation

Rach @ This Italian Family — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:53:51 +0000

Last night we had quite the busy evening. Right after Christopher got off work we headed out to Will’s Tee Ball game.

Mallory flying with her daddy

We had fun watching the kids play and hanging out with Will and Mallory’s parents and grandparents (Will had a huge cheering section, haha!). I love the kids I nanny and I love their family as well so it’s great fun at events like this. Right after Will’s game we drove to the school our teens attend for their graduation!

Christopher with his mentee, Willis. It has been really cool to watch him grow up and mature over the past couple of years.

When we first started working with the teens 4 years ago Christopher and I decided that if we had to pick a husband for our future daughter from one of the guys, it would be Ryan. We told him that and ever since I have been his “future mother in law” and he is always bugging me about when I’m going to adopt an 18-year-old for him to marry. He was a good kid back then and he is a good man now. He still is the kind of man I would hope my future daughter will marry.

It was a busy evening, but definitely a fun one. Before I know it, little William will be walking across the stage at his own high school graduation… time is flying!

Sunburst Mirror

Rach @ This Italian Family — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:48:26 +0000

Back in August, Kristen from SwankyDietitian wrote about creating a Sunburst Mirror and I pinned it immediately. Kristen’s inspiration for this idea actually came from Richelle at ImpartingGrace where there is a full DIY tutorial for this Sunburst Mirror! I knew it was something I would want to make eventually and last week I finally got around to putting it together.

The only thing I really changed was that I spray painted the clothespins because I wanted them to be a bright yellow!

Sunburst mirror!

Spray paint clothes pins. Clip around the edges of a large dinner plate and a smaller dessert/salad plate. Glue the two plates together. Then glue a mirror to the center of the smaller plate. Well, I actually used 3mm strips to connect my plates to each other because it was even easier than glue, haha! SO simple! And really inexpensive. Ps. if you decide to make this and are looking for a cheap circular mirror – look at candle plates! I found this one at the Dollar Tree for (you guessed it!) a dollar!

In other news, Will (in the yellow) had his final school program last week. They performed nursery rhymes and it was too cute. Ps. check out the little girl in the striped shirt – cracks me up how excited she is to be there.

Happy Monday, friends!

A bit of Randomness for your Saturday Morning

Rach @ This Italian Family — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:10:16 +0000

Prepare yourself for a bit of random. I’m sort of all over the place today, ha!

Starbucks happy hour for the win! Half priced fraps are right up my alley! Have you guys tried the Java Chip one?! It’s amazing! Even if I do have to get it decaf, skinny, and with soy.

Sweet little love bug. {Ps. this chair was totally mine when I was little!}

Me up close and without make up. Not that I wear make up often (maybe once or twice a week), but I also don’t often take super zoomed in shots of myself, ha!

So tell me honestly, which do you like better? Black & White or Color? I can’t decide which I like better. I’m not even sure what I’ll do with it once I have a favorite, haha! Told ya this was going to be random. Have a happy Saturday, friends!

The Elvis Sandwich

Rach @ This Italian Family — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:09:43 +0000

Have you guys heard of this? It’s a simple concept: a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. Apparently it was Elvis Presley’s favorite sandwich combination {I mean, Wikipedia said so, therefore it must be true}. I’m not sure why it took us so long to try this out, but oh-my-wow, it is GOOD!

Two slices of buttered thick Italian bread topped with sugar and cinnamon. Filled with peanut butter, banana, and bacon and grilled to perfection.

Can also be topped with a drizzle of chocolate syrup

Or even drenched in maple syrup

I can’t even begin to tell you how good this was. I mean, I love all the components to this sandwich and they really go together surprisingly well. I will say, this was super rich tasting so neither Christopher nor I were able to eat more than one, but oh my, it is tasty! Christopher loved it so much that he posted a picture of it to his Facebook wall which is saying a lot since he seldom uses Facebook. He called it a “magnificent, celestial sandwich.” So really, trust us, you should try this.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Rach @ This Italian Family — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:10:24 +0000

Today was my mom’s birthday. So in honor of that, I want to share a few of my favorite things about my mom. {Mom I know you are reading this so forgive me for this first story… I just have to share it!}

{my mom at my age}

First of all, you should know that my mother has a certain sense of decorum in the way she carries herself, speaks, and acts. I was ~~raised~~ reared (my mom says you raise corn, you rear children) to be polite and respectful. Certainly to never draw attention to myself by acting inappropriately. Which is why one of my favorite stories about my mom involves the time she let loose a little and actually MOOED (loudly, I might add) in the middle of a restaurant. I am so not kidding. My younger sister was also present for this and every time we talk about it, the two of us dissolve into giggles all over again.

{dancing with my mom the day before my wedding. She is more laid back and cuts loose more often now that we’re all grown and moved out}

On a more serious note, my parents always emphasized education and hard work. And they led by example. For example, my mom has her masters in education. I can’t tell you how many of my thought processes have developed because I grew up with such an intelligent and well educated mom. I thought most gender stereotypes were a joke until I moved back to the States and came to college where I met people who were deeply entrenched in certain ways of thinking. To be honest, intentional or not, my family brought me up to be a bit of a feminist. And I am so grateful for that.

{on my wedding day}

I get my love for cooking from my mom. Even in my most angsty teen years when I didn’t want to talk to my parents, you would find me helping my mom prepare dinner every evening. It was a way we could connect even when I didn’t want to share my feelings. {side note: that phase did come to an end, my mom and I are close now!} You can certainly learn to cook by using a cookbook, but it is so much easier to learn by helping out someone who really knows what they are doing. And my mom is an incredible cook.

{seriously, how many times have I shared this photo? Haha! Sorry about that. It’s just that I’m always talking about my mom and cooking and her recipes! For anyone who hasn’t seen this before – this was my 19th birthday when my mom gave me her most coveted recipes!}

This isn’t something I realized until recently, but I learned to have quiet time from my mom. When we all lived at home, she would wake up at the crack of dawn (or before) in order to have quiet time to sit and study scripture and pray. I always knew this when I was growing up, but didn’t think much of it. I guess I just assumed everyone’s mom did that. After I became a Christian, I began setting aside quiet time every day to journal, read my Bible, and pray. It wasn’t until much later that I realized how many people struggle to prioritize quiet time with God while it was seemed easy for me because I had such a great example of it at home.

{last summer}

I learned about hospitality from my mom. I can’t tell you how often we ended up with a new person at our dinner table. I can remember so many times when my dad would bring someone home with him and mom would pull out an extra place setting with a smile. And the first time I brought my 19-year-old boyfriend home for Christmas, my parents treated him as one of the kids. My mom is a wonderful mother-in-law to Christopher. When he hears crazy stories from some of our friends about their mothers-in-law, he just shakes his head in disbelief because he can’t relate at all. It does my heart so much good to know that my parents love the man that I love.

{mother’s day a couple of years ago}

Finally, I learned about self sacrifice from my mom. My dad moved around a lot when he was growing up, but my mom didn’t. At all. However when she and my dad decided to move our family to China, I never heard my mom say a negative word about moving. She left behind friends, family, and a life she loved to minister alongside my dad in a place without air conditioning or even reliable electricity and internet. I know what it looks like to follow God’s leading because I watched my parents do it as I grew up.

{My parents, their five kids, and six grand kids! And yes, my nephew is trying to escape in this photo hence why I think it’s hilarious!}

Happy birthday, Mom! I love you.