Waiting for Patience

--- 1 --- Well, today is Halloween - my absolute least favorite holiday.  It has nothing to with the devil, religious reasons, calling it 'all hallow's eve' or any like that.  It's actually because I don't like dressing up or acting like someone I'm not.  I can appreciate what Kendra has as a tradition with her children - super scary, super cool saints and Halloween costumes .  I am also excited to see all of the babies in my life dressed up in super cute costumes - Doug, a puppy, and an old man are in the works for today! --- 2 --- This week I had a chance to put some old pictures from CDs onto my computer and upload them up to my google photos ... check out some of these fun ones! Mike (now Father) and I in Germany for WYD more here Yes, that is JPII!!!  A SAINT! more from WYD here There are more, but you'll have to wait a few weeks! --- 3 --- Brenda, over at Triple Braided Life , featured me on Tuesday as a Single Wo...

This is kind of exciting ... about two months ago Beth Anne posted about Brenda over at Triple Braided Life looking for Single Women who are making a difference to interview.  I reached out to her and now this is happening today!!! Read the entire interview over at Brenda's place and then come back her for some NAS talk about Discernment, which I might look like I know something about but really - that's all smoke and mirrors, I am clueless! Now that you're back - unless you never left - some stuff about discernment from the Not Alone Series gals (and me)... We all agree that discernment is challenging. Figuring out what the Lord is calling you to do with your life can be frustrating and exhausting. But, then add on lack of family support, cultural pressures, and your personal expectations... ugh. And, this isn't just in relation to vocational discernment, but general life discernment, too! How do you keep going? What helps you to push thr...

--- 1 --- I have spent the entire week recovering from last Saturday's smashing success at World Feast 2014 .  It was a LOT of work, but totally worth it!!!  I posted a few great ones on Instagram  on Saturday and was 'live posting' on Facebook all day to get people over to our campus ... and it must have worked because we had at least 1,000 people come to the FEAST.  Everyone had a blast, the food was amazing, and so many smiling faces!!!  That's why my Friday  takes are on Sunday  - either that or extreme laziness ... one or the other! --- 2 --- Oh, and my parents were here to visit last weekend as well - they brought me this: I had it tuned yesterday morning and am loving being able to play the piano again whenever I want - which I've never really been able to do, but alas, it's nice having a piano in my house - and the ability to play!  Makes it more of a home! --- 3 --- For about a month now I've been doing yoga ever...

Some words of wisdom from The Catholic Company  on Facebook today: If you don't follow them on Facebook , Instagram , or Pinterest , they are a great company - posting all kinds of saint quotes, great pictures (many from my parish actually), and their products are awesome too.  The woman who does their social media is a good friend! And today is the Feast Day for our Beloved John Paul II ... what a blessing! One of my favorite quotes: It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness. In the design of God's Providence, there are no coincidences. Now there are so many more, with the Theology of the Body, Love and Responsibility, and hundreds of letters, encyclicals, and speeches during his time as Holy Father - but for today, just three! What would a Feast be without a great little joke!?! The Pope Visits America The Pope just finished a tour of the East Coast and was taking a limousine to the airport. Since he'd never driven a limo, he...

Our culture is obsessed with sex. With anyone! At anytime! If you want to, just do it! But, the Church teaches that sex was created for the context of marriage. Why do you choose to abstain? Why aren't you going around having sex with just anyone? How would you encourage others to do the same? How do you remain strong when everything in our culture is encouraging you to abandon your convictions? What a topic this week!  Could be controversial, but how can we not discuss the elephant in the room?  I'm going to quickly answer all of the questions and then dwell a little longer on the last one.  So here we go: Why do you choose to abstain?   Because I believe the Church knows what will create the best marriage for me. Why aren't you going around just having sex with anyone?   Because that sounds the least amount of fun ever ... why ... because I know how I become attached to men I am interested in and the random hook-ups sound like a recipe for heart...

--- 1 --- On Wednesday, Kendra posted this picture on Facebook: I thought it was an excellent source for inspiration as I prepare for the festival that is tomorrow at my parish.  There's so much to be done and so many people involved.  I have been having the hardest time keeping it together, being kind and charitable toward others, and making sure that I get the things done that I have to get done.  It's been touch and go, but on Wednesday I was able to actually remember this in those hard moments to prevent me from screaming aloud in my office all day long. --- 2 --- What would I have screamed?  Well, "The Ship is Sinking" would have been the first words out of my lips! It wouldn't be the first and honestly it probably won't be the last! --- 3 --- A couple of weeks ago the Fathers stopped over my house for a blessing - but the other day as I was coming in to the house during the rain was the first time I noticed the inscripti...

Continuing our reflections about our make-up routines, let's chat about modesty! What does modesty mean to you? Does it just involve the clothes you wear and how you wear them? What about the things you say or do? In what ways can we improve our overall modesty? What does it mean to be modest? Well, it for sure isn't summed up in the phrase Modest is Hottest . I've been thinking about this a lot lately and almost turned this post from last week into my modesty post for the link up this week, but alas - I have graced you with multiple posts of my writing! Back to modesty, I think it's about more than what we wear and how we do our make-up.  Honestly, if we aren't modest in our speech, actions, spending habits, what we eat, how much we work, the amount of time we work out, watch tv, and everything else we do, then our modest dress and make-up doesn't much matter.  Modest is just another form of temperance, self-control, and moderation. Am I g...

Well, Shepherd turned one on Tuesday - and we are celebrating today with a super cute birthday party!  So what's a godmother to get her godson for his birthday?  Figured I'd share in case others are looking for something to get your super cute god-baby! Well, I was reading Carrots  a few weeks ago and got a brilliant idea from Haley.  So I made this for baby Shep! It's a homemade canvas bag (complete with his name) to take to Mass filled with the following fun items for great Mass attention for little ones ... hopefully! A Children's Wooden Rosary LINK Faith with Letters LINK Great to read at Mass! LINK Loving the St Joseph Board Books LINK Children's Bible I got in a stack of free books a long time ago. LINK And this one for his mum mostly - but I love everything KK writes - so I think D will really love reading this to Baby Shep (and future siblings)! LINK All in a special bag to carry them along to Mass each week!  Happy F...

--- 1 --- I don't have a lot of thoughts this week for my quick takes since I blogged so much already for one week!  (Don't get too used to it ... although I even have a great post scheduled for tomorrow to celebrate Baby Shep's First Birthday!) If you missed it, check it out! This Happened Over the Weekend NAS: Rosary and The Single Life The Bachelor is About Marriage? Or Is It? So I'm going to post some of my favorite things from around the interwebs for your enjoyment! --- 2 --- Did you see the story about the 29 year old woman who's choosing euthanasia rather than treatment?  Very mixed comments regarding this, but I just finished Matt Walsh's take and really liked what he had to say.  The suicide equates bravery argument has been rolling around for a while, ever since the passing of Robin Williams.  As a society, I'm not sure we know what to do when this happens.  It's a difficult time for the family with a situation we r...

On Monday I started this book: amazon Before going to bed on Tuesday evening, I finished it. Why did I read it?  I think that Grace over at the Camp might have made a mention of it or someone she links to with The Bachelor  scoops did.  I don't even watch the show - gave up years ago when the same guy was The Bachelor  twice.  I stopped watching it on a matter of principle since I determined that it was less about love and more about money.  I know that most people knew that already, but I had blocked it out of my mind. So I put the book on my holds requests list for the library and picked it up about two weeks ago.  When I picked it up, I already had a book I hadn't read so when I returned the other in just the nick of time before the fines kicked in, I almost returned this one too. However, I'm glad I didn't. The book is ridiculous.  That is my honest assessment of the situation.  However, it did remind me of some very inter...

October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, so we wanted to honor Mary and reflect on her help during this time of singleness. How have you called on her intercession before? What is your relationship with our Blessed Mother like? If you don't know much about Mary or the Rosary, is there something keeping you from getting to know her? There are two things that keep me sane as a single lady.  One of them is the rosary and the other is this: So I try to stick with the Rosary on most days!  And today is a special feast for Our Lady of the Rosary  so it's great that Morgan and Jen chose October 7th to talk about it!   A few years ago I was in a Women's Bible study and Immaculee  came to speak in Charlotte at our Eucharistic Congress.  A woman who I was very good friends with was with me and a few other ladies at lunch at the best Chinese Restaurant in Huntersville!  She asked me if I was praying the Rosary for my husband.  I said, ...

A recap of the weekend in pics! A new pizza with Naan Bread as the crust , beet hummus as the sauce , all topped with spinach, tomatoes, and honey goat cheese.  And yes that is my SUPER messy desk (only one section) ... it still looks like that - until World Feast 2014  is over, I think it'll look just like this!  If you're in the Charlotte Area, come on over on the 18th of this month! All of these great fall veggies, turned into this... Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Apples, Carrots, Onions, Garlic ... YUM-O! No one ever brings me flowers at work ... so I took matters into my own hands by picking  my own after Mass.  So now happiness on my desk! I even attended Mass in the Extraordinary Form  on Saturday morning in Honor of Our Lady.  It was lovely - and really quite peaceful.  There was music, but I think I may have liked it even more without - just quiet morning time with the Lord.  And I could not ...

--- 1 --- The last time I linked up I was heading to Pennsylvania for my grandmother's 90th Birthday party.  Check out this super cute family picture from the event! and one of gram, the siblings, and me! Grandma, the Siblings, and Me --- 2 --- When we were home, we celebrated Amy's Birthday!  Of course, a cake was in order! Amy's Birthday (9/20) Nate's Birthday (8/31) This couple seems to have a similar "lighted candle, cake, birthday" face!  I'm glad I was able to spend time with both of them on their birthdays - seems like this is pretty unlikely to ever happen again. --- 3 --- I also had a chance to see Matt Maher at the fundraising dinner for the  Pregnancy Resource Center here in Charlotte. He gave a great concert! a beautiful girl's night! --- 4 --- When I was in New York, Nate, Amy, and I tried a roasted beet salad which was delicious (I thought I disliked beets, but I was proven wrong wi...