Beyond the Garden Gate

  Hi little one, Today I am pondering how life is full of contrasts and how only by the Grace of God we are able to navigate them… to celebrate happy events in the midst of mourning a loss, to feel both joy and sorrow simultaneously… Today we celebrated your grampas in their 46 year anniversary and yet is also the one year of the last time we had dinner with Tia Lety in Florida together as a family in this world. This year keeps reminding me why it’s important to make the effort, even thought sometimes it requires time or monetary sacrifice, to spend time with loved ones… specially family because we never know when they will be called back home and all that we are left with are the memories- even the simple and mundane times spent together- the laughter shared, the stories, the love… I hope you never loose yourself in this world, get blinded by the “successes” our society dictates (the degrees, the $, the big house, the fancy cars, the stuff…) But always have your compass set on what r

  “Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” Wayne Dryer (The wind blowing the sand)

  Well, it’s pumpkin season and hopefully you are not tired of pumpkin everything yet (like there is such a thing!) These muffins are so good it’s the only way I can convince Stephen to buy nutella. Nutella was banned from our house… because if there’s any at home I may or may not eat spoon fulls during the day, who knows?! Lol. No matter how hidden it is I find it, like the time he came home and found me reaching for it with a spatula (I may be 5.4 but trust me I will find a way!) now I have discovered that he grill tongs work much better muahahaha So, after going with you to the pumpkin patch I was inspired to well pumpkin-fy my baking! You were looking for a square pumpkin like the one from the movie you watched at school… and you found this one and called it “spookly” Since were are working on being frugal I got these  muffin pans  and just spray PAM (no need to buy muffin liners) Ingredients 2/3 cup pumpkin puree ( if you are like me you might need this: two 1/3 cups) 12 oz granul

  My little one today is one of those hard days for mami, today would have been the birthday of her sister Tia Lety. It has been 10 months since God decided it was time for her to go be with him, with no warning, no signs, we were forced to say good bye. Te\naching me one of the greatest lessons: you never know when it is someone’s last day in this world so always love, love unconditionally, forgive quickly, let go of little annoyances, always be kind and speak/act like it will be the last time you see them again because it might, Answer the phone, make the call, go have coffee/dinner, hug a little tighter and longer, kiss more lovingly, dance/ laugh/be silly with them, enjoy the little things in life together, make memories… I am eternally grateful that I did all those things with her (except the kiss), I don’t have any regrets in that sense, and those memories are what I have left, what keeps me going, and what soothes the pain. I am grateful for the God wink of Florida weather this

Today I had a bit of an emotional meltdown… sigh… we drove by aunt R. to drop off the kiddos. It is so hard when loved ones are sick and we are faced to wrestle with the big questions... why them? why her? why like this? such a holy and loving person. So, naturally that triggered me thinking of my actual sister “Tia Lety” who’s in heaven since January ( something we were not prepared for and was totally unexpected…) Both thoughts going round and round in my head sent me on a baking spiral. I noticed I anxious clean and emotional bake, who knew?! Fascinating… not sure it was the best thing to do in my surgical recovery, journaling might have been a better idea, but oh well… we have lots of muffins in the freezer now. I took out the bag of frozen apples our friend from  tea with toddlers  gave us a while back and you helped me turned this apple spice cake recipe into muffins. I like doing these types of cakes in  muffin tins  because it makes it easier to just plop one out of the freezer

By now is no surprise that I consider a homemaker not a stay at home wife/mom but the woman with her feminine qualities as well as the man with his masculine ones work together to build the foundation of the family- the home. And no you don’t have to be married or a woman in order to start learning and applying my homemakers principles- practical, relational, personal- because they will come in handy even if you live at home, college, with roommate’s, alone, or with your significant other. Ok, today I wanted to touch bases on something I had to learn, and I am still learning. Lets be honest this one is one of the hardest ones for me to apply and yet is the most important one…  to be frugal…  is the Homemaker’s biggest obligation. Let me explain how and why I think this: Why do I call it an obligation because it is a duty and a commitment, yes I know it’s not fun (at all) yet again obligations are not normally fun. They are part of being adults, we get our freedom yet we have to do thin