Waiting for Patience

In the 7 years I've been in Charlotte, I've had some interesting Christmas Tree creations.  The first two years, I was tree-less, no ornaments, just a Nativity.  Even the year I lived at Hope House  as a resident adviser I had a nativity in my room, just for me!  But alas, no pictures of those ... so you just have the opportunity to re-live the last 3 years before bearing witness to this year's spectacular demonstration in the new house! 2011 Sister Gloria helped me cut down this beauty from the back path on the Church property. It became this, just in time for our Ugly Sweater Party that year. That is one of my favorite Christmas trees, and I have wanted a real tree again ever since.  But since I'm usually gone for two solid weeks at Christmas and New Year's, having a real tree doesn't make sense - it'd die while I'm away and the weeks after Christmas are the best part!  Last Year (2013), we had the 'tree' up until the beginning of...

Thanks to Beth Anne for creating and hosting an Advent Blog Hop!  I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with over the next couple of weeks.  I love the books Annery at Home showcased, the prayers shared by Melody's Harmonies are so beautiful (and I love the beeswax advent wreath candles), This Domestic Church talked about incorporating Advent traditions slowly (super great advice), the St. Nick's Bag from over at 2 by 2 is an amazing idea (and her twins are so beautiful), Joe Sales Says talked about waiting - basically my theme song, the dialogue of Saint Nicholas on Tactical Catholic is fantastic,  and all that to say that you stopped by this gal's blog for some Advent inspiration is quite humbling! I was going to tell you about how I always wait until the Immaculate Conception to decorate my house for Christmas.  I had great plans, then they all went south when I saw this picture from my friend Stephanie on FB Saturday morning when I got home from (...

--- 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...

Welcome to My New House (again)! Well, I've been back in my house for a week now, and it's so fantastic!  Since I wrote about the saga here on the ol' blog, figured I'd take you on a little photo tour!  The entire place is great, but my two favorite rooms are the Living Room and my Bedroom ... although I really love being able to put my personal style on the entire place! I'm glad most of the downstairs was done by the contractor, that sewage backup was a blessing in disguise.  After painting my bedroom, I'm not sure I would have survived the rest of the downstairs.  Apparently, I'm not the biggest fan of the brush! The Living Room The Mantle (with Our Lady)  The couch looks great with the paint, rather than this ! A little reading nook, all it needs is a lamp! The best view in the house! The Hallway A Lovely Van Gogh Upstairs a gallery of some amazing Katie Originals Guest Bath A little bright, but the pictures rea...

Years ago I read part of this book, 20 Something Manifesto , and the one thing I remember was her discussing what she called Expectation Hangovers .  She defines them as a "group of undesirable feelings that arise when a desired result isn't met." ( source ) We'll I'm having one this weekend.  I wrote on Friday (ie: Thursday evening for 7QT) about how my house was supposed to be done on Friday and today I would be super ready to move back in, having floors to walk on downstairs, curtains up, furniture in its place, and everything!  Well, welcome to the hangover. They began to lay the floor and then I was called to the house in a state of panic because it was looking like this: It's hard to see, but the finishes are different on the boards - so when the light hits it and it goes all the way down the hallway, it will look, well as Ben (the contractor said), "not terrible...".  UM... we're going through this whole thing I want my floor to ...

Do you ever feel like you are irrationally afraid of things?  I do! Almost six years ago during my first Advent in Charlotte, Father Pat gave a great homily about being afraid of all the wrong things.  It was so good, I remember it to this day almost word for word - and don't worry, I'm going to share it with you!  He began: Did you know that more people are killed every year by champagne corks than poisonous spider bits? Um, Father - NO I did not know that! The point of the homily was that we are more concerned with if the cookies will be made and the presents purchased and wrapped than if our hearts are prepared to meet Jesus on the day of His birth.  All of the cookies and pies will be baked, but if we don't prepare our hearts, we won't be ready for Jesus. I think about this all of the time when I get a little afraid of flying and remember that statistically more people are in car accidents every year than are hurt in plane crashes.  And my college r...

If you've been reading, you know that I purchased a house last month, August 8th to be exact.  It was the result of my roommate moving back to Chicago and the rent in my area being a giant money pit I could no longer afford to play in.  So I went house shopping and made an offer on the 2nd one I saw.  After all the crazy that's been the past month, I still think I chose the best option I saw.  I like the layout, I enjoy the neighborhood, and the location is perfect for me from work.  No one could guarantee I would have the same or different issues at another place.  This one was the best price for the area to keep the mortgage at an amount I can afford on my church salary. So I cleaned it that first weekend - just preparing the house to be moved into and it looked like this! 1. The Blue Bedroom 2. The Amazing Kitchen,  3. The Purple Living Room 4. The Wood / The Tile Floor. Then I moved in with the help of my amazing friends and stayed ...

Well, as you may have read a few weeks ago, I purchased a house . Then last week my house rebelled against me . Now I, FINALLY, have water again as Kyle (my new best friend who I also happen to pay to fix plumbing for me) spent the day replacing the Back Flow Device in my front yard.  It involved digging a giant hole, cutting the current one out (which was full of stuff such as roots, TP, and conveniently, NOT a back water flap - which is it's main purpose), putting in a new one and then rerooting (hopefully it takes) my bushes. Plumbing is my LEAST favorite thing The new one is all bright and shiny! Except now it's covered in dirt! Hopefully the HOA doesn't have an issue with that small gap! The plumber also found a few extra issues - well one item that will be a problem when putting the toilet back and another that could be an issue in the future and also the reason why my kitchen sink had the pressure of a thousand waterfalls. What have I learned from ...

--- 1 --- Well it's been a pretty crappy end of the week around here ... sorry for the language  but yesterday evening Mer, MG, my neighbors (so glad I finally got to meet some good neighbors who were incredible) and I spent the evening cleaning up sewage that came up my toilet spreading it's nastiness throughout the entirety of the downstairs of my house.  Yeah, you read that right - sewage.  It was a pretty terrible experience.  The floor looked alright, but you could feel squishing below and water would come right up from the seams even after you dried it.  Today a water restoration guy came out and now it looks like ... --- 2 --- Well, this: Downstairs Bathroom - the offending toilet was right there. Hallway sans Flooring and Baseboards Dining Room sans flooring, baseboards and part of the wall Front Entry Way, you guessed it, sans flooring Living room, no floor but got these nifty air dryers. They add a very interesting...