It's Official

Even though it took four months, I am officially Donna Marie FAVINI. I'll miss Picariello, but Favini is pretty fun, too!

Favini Fiesta

Last night, I had my entire family over for Tuesday Night Supper Club (TNSC). I hadn't had the whole family over yet, so this was a big deal! TNSC is a weekly tradition at my parents' house. My mom watches her grandkids on Tuesdays, so with parents picking up kids and others who need a free laundering service, it's a nice excuse for all of us to hang out once a week. However, my parents live in a house. A child-proof house. With a kitchen table that fits all of us. And a backyard and basement for the five kids to run around and play. And air conditioners that work. Eric and I live in a one bedroom apartment. With a small kitchen table. No place for children to run. And an average temperature of 86 degrees!

But you know us.... we made due and had an awesome time! It was so great to have my whole family over our place. It was very natural and a lot of fun! 

Lauren took the themed party to the next level!

I made delicious chimichangas! They came out great if I do say so myself!

Ask and You Shall Receive

Lately, I've been struggling in the area of finances. I've wished we had more money, so we could live "better" and be "happier". Well, God really does know our hearts, because that is exactly what church was about on Sunday. Rick preached a sermon titled Profit and Loss. You can listen to it here:

http://mounthope.org/node/14

Some of the key points I took out of it:
- We have inflated the assets of our economy that we think can give us joy.
- The things of this world were not meant to provide the level of value that our relationship with Christ can.

- The status of this world is just Monopoly money.

It was extremely convicting. And of course, as all of you already could have guessed, God decided to test me this week. Eric isn't used to having to put in time sheets to get paid, so he forgot all summer, and last week, got paid a lump sum. You can only imagine what Eric and I wanted to do! We wanted to put it towards a vacation next year, and Eric wanted to  print some of the gorgeous pictures that he's been taking, and I wanted to go back-to-school shopping. Our initial reaction was "we've lived on so little for so long, we can afford to spend some of this". Then, the very next day my extremely reliable 7 year old car started making a HORRENDOUS noise. It was an engine problem which immediately brought Eric and I back to reality.

So we prayed. 

And now we're praising God for what is a cheaper fix than what we imagined!

 Psalm 66:20
Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

Isn't it so relieving to know that no matter how many times we screw up and make life about selfish desires that God will never withdraw his unfailing love for us? 

(And in case you're wondering.... We've learned from God's lesson and we put the rest of the money in savings and towards our school loans.)

Just Swing

After being with kids every day during the school year, I still can't pry myself away from them, so I nanny in the summers. I have to admit, as much as I LOVE children, the daily routine can get a bit monotonous. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy my job! I get to go to the beach, take walks, sit by the pool, have picnics, and occasionally, just sit and read! I nanny an 11 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. This week it has just been me and the little girl so instead of being occupied by her brother, she needs me to play. It's so easy to sit back and watch kids be, but to be a kid with them takes effort. It's hard to pretend to be a patient at a doctor's office, or to prepare a dance routine for Barbies, or have a play-date with other "moms" when playing dolls. But today, I was a kid and it was so much fun! 


With my foot still in its stylish shoe, I could have easily sat on the bench at Simonds Park today, but I didn't. I swung instead. I forgot how freeing (and yet, how much work) swinging really is. It has been so long since I've swung that my stomach felt like it was falling every time I came back down. And I loved it! And then, to bring me back to my childhood even more, the ice cream truck came! I forgot how happy that song makes people! Kids from every direction were running amok while their parents lagged behind. I recognized that life would be less stressful and more fun if we just acted bit more childish every once and awhile. We should all make an effort to do child-like things more often... even if kids aren't around! Here's a few "childish" things that I've observed my kids do this week that adults should try every once and awhile: Get an extra scoop of ice cream. Eat all the cool whip with a spoon and skip the strawberries. Swing. Get dirty. Have a Dove bar for lunch. Draw. Make forts. Watch hours of the Disney channel. Pretend to be someone else. Be proud of the little accomplishments in life. And swing. 

(None of these pictures are kids that I nanny. Didn't think it was appropriate to put other people's kids on the internet!)

  

Weekend Fun!

Eric and I had a wonderful weekend! It started Thursday night. We went to a Farewell Fiesta to say good-bye to a good friend who moved to Brussels for a year. We are so happy for you Jess and miss you very much!

Eric took the day off Friday and helped me run errands. (I recently had minor foot surgery and anything from climbing stairs to grocery shopping is quite the feat). Then that night we had another farewell party for our good friend Janae who is moving to Palestine for a year! Way too many good-byes in one week.

The cake Jamie made. A suitcase with bumper stickers of all the places Janae has been and is going!
 (www.SweetCakesbyJamie.blogspot.com Check it out!)

Saturday was beautiful! Eric and I went on a date (our first, maybe since the wedding) to the Minuteman Park in Lexington. We have heard from so many married couples how important it is to date even after we're married, so we're going to start doing something at least once a month.  We had a picnic lunch, then I read while Eric took pictures. He got a fancy camera a few months back and photography/photoshop have become his new hobbies. I love it because I get really beautiful pictures to hang around the apartment!

That night we watched the Newburyport fireworks by boat with my whole family. One of my favorite annual boating traditions! It was a great time with family, food, and a beautiful fireworks display!

Glow Stick Fun!

We finished off our weekend with yummy food at Eric's father's on Sunday afternoon. For the past few years, Eric has gone to his dad's every Sunday afternoon for lunch, and when I joined the picture I started going too. It's always a really relaxing day with delicious food! (His father is a chef!)

Overall, a very refreshing weekend with friends and family. 

Testing the Waters

I have recently become addicted to blogs. Whether I know them personally or not, I read them. I check on pretty much a daily basis to see if my "regulars" have updated. So I decided, if their lives seem interesting to me, maybe I'll seem interesting to them. (Maybe not). Either way, it's a good way to journal my new life as a wife and keep friends and family updated!