February 29, 2016

Leap Day

What if on Leap Day, we all leapt everywhere we went?  Would our mothers tell us to look before we leap and mean it terribly literally?  Leap frog should be the national game on Leap Day.  We should leap forward on the time change too.  I know it's "spring" forward, but springing is a kind of leaping after all.  I have to wonder if today is the day that John leapt for joy at the sound of Mary's voice.  If you were expecting something quality today, you probably took a leap of faith...I hope I didn't disappoint.  This post is but one small step in the writing process, but also kind of a giant leap for creativity.

Today's prayer is for my friends and family and my friends who are my family.

February 28, 2016

The Name Game

Sometimes my sister and I make up random sounding names for characters.  Typically they are describing characters we see in children's books.  For some reason, a list of crazy names keeps going through my head, so I thought I'd find some crazy looking characters online and make up names for them...this was meant to be a writing blog after all.  But when I started typing into google to find some images to use, I came across a trove.  I had to force myself to stop, but here are a few of what I found:

Admiral Paddington

Major General Bandytail

Duke Eddington III

Bearded Anne

Lady Sophia Mitzypaws

The Venerable Madam Whiskerton

Queen Eloise

Young Prince Danderfluff

King Sorfloof IV

Today's prayer is for joy.

I finished with this post and then I realized I missed a couple:

Sir Reginald Bandytail

 Master B. Cattington

Lydia Bristlebottom and Aldalyn

February 27, 2016

Neurotic Animal

I've had Lexi for about two years now.  The most interesting of her behaviors is how she reacts to getting a new bone.  If I let her take the bones outside, I'm positive I would never see them again.  She has an impulse to bury.  I don't think she can bypass this impulse as other dogs can.  Here's how it goes:

I give Lexi a bone.  She spends the next 30 minutes to an hour running all over the house searching for a place to hide it.  She's succeeded a couple of times in losing bones this way.  I have absolutely NO IDEA where she's hidden at least half a dozen of these things.  Her former favorite spot was underneath a green tablecloth on an end table, which is why I have kept it standing where it is, because I sure as heck want to be able to find where she's putting these things.  There are a couple of rules that she follows most adamantly, though.  Rule 1, she cannot be seen burying the bone.  If I'm watching her, I have to pretend not to notice or she'll just pick it back up and hide it somewhere else.  I let her know I can see her if I know she's putting it somewhere that I don't want her to, because she will jump up as if she's been caught doing something she shouldn't be doing and run off with it.  Rule 2, she can't bury it somewhere if I've moved it from that location.  This only matters if she's seen me move it, so if I want her to have it while I'm gone, I have to move it while she's outside or she knows I did it.

So this week, I gave Lexi a new bone and she arbitrarily decided that she didn't want to bury it under the tablecloth, presumably because she must have seen me move it or figured it out finally.  I was trying to find her new hiding spot, which turned out to be under the first step going upstairs.  For some reason, I decided to antagonize her so I picked it up and gave it back to her, then told her that she would have to do better than that.  Later that evening, I was upstairs brushing my teeth when I heard a clattering noise.  At first, I thought that she was trying to hide the bone in our radiators, because our house is old.  I was not happy about this, because it's a marrow bone and all I could think of was how fast that was going to rot.  Instead, I came downstairs to find her acting as if nothing was amiss.  I discovered her bone tucked very neatly into the corner by front door.  She had painstakingly straightened it so that it was parallel against the back wall, and also flush with the corner wall.  In order to make sure that it was good and buried, she retrieved her duck toy and laid it very carefully over the top of the bone so that it was also parallel and against the wall.

I still wish I would have taken a picture to share because I couldn't stop laughing at how horribly it was "hidden" and yet how ingenious she was to go to such lengths to make sure that it was buried.  Kudos Lexi, kudos.

Today's prayer is for joy.

February 26, 2016

Missing Piece

I had no idea how much I would miss Angela until she decided to get pregnant and have a baby over our lent blog.  I rather miss her articles.  I hope you all do too.  She's a great writer and this is the time during the year where I feel like we draw really close to each other and get a better glimpse into our current lives and thoughts.  It's hard keeping up a friendship long distance.  It seems like even though we have technology to keep us together, it is very easy to forget to contact someone.  Suddenly when they aren't there anymore, you have regrets over not spending more time with them.  The time we have goes so quickly too.  Yesterday it was Monday, and tomorrow it's going to be March.  I can't believe how fast the time's gone.  In a few more weeks, we're going to be getting ready for the Easter Vigil.  More than that, though, my niece is about to start driving, my oldest nephew is almost in high school, my younger nephew is starting kindergarten, and I'm about to turn thirty.  When did time start slipping by the way mom and dad said it would?  I still remember being a child and feeling like growing up was going to take forever and ever.

This post got away from me again.

Today's prayer is for Angela and Family.

February 25, 2016

Stagnant

I totally forgot to pray yesterday.  I don't even know how that happened.  And I almost forgot to post tonight.  I suppose with everything that has been going on this week, it isn't entirely surprising, but I am sorry I haven't been overly invested in these posts lately.  I feel distinctly like I lack inspiration.  This is pretty much how life has been going for me for some time.  I feel like all my creativity is just gone.  Maybe I need to buckle down and do a writing regiment to inspire my muse.

I have also decided that I need to get more exercise so I went ahead and ordered an elliptical.  I'm actually really excited about this.  I've been wanting to get in shape more lately and I don't feel like I've been doing enough to do that.  Maybe I'm just feeling stagnant.  Maybe I'm also feeling the weight of year 30.  Either way, I just feel like I need to make some changes with life.

Today's prayer is for peace.

February 24, 2016

Raining and Pouring

Things have not been going well this 2016.  I could go through the list of stuff that I've been through in the past two months, but I suspect I wouldn't be the only one.  From the few people I've talked to, it sounds as if the year is either going incredibly well or incredibly awful for most people.  And the incredibly awfuls have been significantly higher statistically.  We were supposed to get this huge snow storm today and I was really hoping that we'd get a snow day, but it didn't stick and it also it didn't snow all that much, so I guess it's on with the grind.  At least I like my job.

Today's prayer is for peace.

February 23, 2016

Super Annoyed

So pretty much since three in the afternoon, things have not been going my way today.  I don't want to discuss the details because I've rehashed events enough for the day, but I do want to say this:

If you are in a vehicle, you stop for pedestrians.  Period.  It doesn't matter that you don't think they should be walking where they're walking.  It doesn't matter that they started to cross the street and you're delayed.  It doesn't matter that you're in a car and can force them to move to not inconvenience your selfish self.  Stop.  Your.  Car.  You can easily seriously injure or kill someone and they aren't going to make you that much later anyway.  Think of how much time you waste on any given day with staring at your phone or online or doing other pointless stuff.  It's about as long, or less so, as you'll spend waiting on a pedestrian.  Oh yeah, and if you drive away after striking someone, you're pretty much the biggest dick ever.

Incidentally, I'm alright.

Today's prayer is for peace.

February 22, 2016

Baby

I don't want to give too much away because it's not my news, but we won't be hearing from Angela for a while.  She and John will be rather preoccupied with the growth of their family.

Congratulations you two!  And welcome Marshall!

Today's prayer is for the [redacted]s

February 21, 2016

Poems

I haven't written any poetry in years, not since a series of incidents which caused me to become far too embarrassed about what I write occurred, culminating when I was in my first year of college.  I don't know what happened really.  I know my poetry was never really good, that it certainly wasn't ever something that was going to be stunningly fantastic.  I seem to recall last year I wrote a poem in our blog, which was the first one I had written since high school.  Today, I started work on another.  Really it's less of a poem and more of a song, though, because some music came to me while I was working on it.  I only started the poem and intend to finish it, so maybe I'll post it up once that's done.  I'm actually kind of excited about, but I think I need more time to consider the next verse, and hopefully my inspiration didn't come from being stuck in between exhaustion and wakefulness.

Today's prayer is for mercy.

February 20, 2016

Just a picture

I'm last minute blogging today.  I don't know why I kept putting it off but now I don't feel like writing.  I think my brain shuts down after 8 pm.  I guess I've trained it to be that way.  Instead of meaningful content, here's a cute picture instead. 

It's Bishop from earlier this week playing in the sandbox.  Everything was warm and dry and there was only one spider that kind of looked like a black widow.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't because it was way too small.  It was an impostor.  Of course that doesn't mean it's not poisonous.  I probably should have killed it instead of just kicking it out of the sandbox. 

Fries Guys!

So as promised from yesterday, today's blog is about curly fries.  Most importantly, it's about why curly fries are the best fries and how Arby's has the best fries of any fast food place for being the one to offer them on their menu.  How can I definitively say that curly fries are the best fries you might ask?  I invite you to ruminate whilst I illuminate you to the facts.

I present to you evidence 1:  straws.  Everyone knows that bendy straws are superior to straight straws, as they allow for maximum consumption with ease of effort.  However, if presented with the choice between plain old regular straws, bendy straws, or crazy straws, EVERYONE loves crazy straws.  And what do crazy straws look like?  They are curly and loopy.  Ergo, curly straws are better than straight straws and bendy straws.  They are the best straws.

Enjoyable, but inferior

Much more crazy, much more awesome!
On to evidence 2:  roller coasters.  There are a few kinds of roller coasters that you might find yourself able to ride.  Some just go around on a regular track and while it's entertaining and enjoyable, everyone knows that the best rides are the ones that have loops.  Loops are curly.  Ergo curly roller coasters are better than straight-tracked roller coasters.

Okay, yeah, we all rode one of these, nostalgic and fun for kids
Hell yes!


I submit evidence 3:  games.  There are many games that are well known and enjoyable to play, but what's the stereotypical game that's practically always referenced in television shows?  Twister.  Twister makes you twist around to win the game, and being twisted is a kind of curly.

Uh...huh...



You know what, this one may have gotten away from me a bit here.  Also, what the hell is going on with that box cover?  Is that guy pointing out how uncomfortable this is?  I hope this isn't an actual family.

On to evidence 4:  movies.  Everyone likes movies and everyone knows the best movies are the ones that end in a twist.



Did you think I was going to talk about Twister?  WHAT A TWIST!

In conclusion, twisty things are like curly things which qualifies them to be counted as part of the twisty/curly argument.  People prefer curly things to regular things.  Ergo, curly fries are the best fries, and Arby's-being the leading supplier for all our curly needs-has the best fries.  I mean, I know they offer regular fries too, but if you're going to Arby's and you don't order curly fries, I just want to know why the hell you're bothering to go to Arby's at all.

Today's prayer is for the church.


February 19, 2016

Free Ranting

I had this great blog post in mind today about curly fries.  I mean, I legit had it all planned out in my mind what I was going to say.  Then I picked up a friend of mine and we went to the bookstore, and on the way home, he poked me into ranting about a bunch of deep things.  When we got back to his house, he playfully insinuated that he intentionally prodded me to make me rant.  He is not the only one.  At least two other friends have admitted to intentionally poking me me in an attempt to get me to rant (not mentioning any names, ANGELA), others have acknowledge how easy it is to get me going, and others have jokingly prodded at me as a nod to the fact that I rant a lot; although I find it doubtful that the latter actually want to hear what I have to say on a given subject when they do so, and it is far more likely that they are just pointing out the fact that I've ranted at length on some particular thing previously.

When I asked my friend why he prods me in an attempt to get me to rant, he said that I always make him think way more deeply and critically about something than he usually does.  At least I have that affect on people.  Most of the time my ranting sounds like pointed ramblings about nonsensical or inconsequential things, and I know I tend to harp on certain points again and again.  I don't know why you crazy people enjoy my cantankerous nature.  You're the weird ones.  I'm just crazy insane.  But I love you all and I appreciate the way you put up with my rantings.

Anyway, my friend said that my stream of conscious ramblings are like "free writing" but in the verbal sense.  So I'm apparently a "free ranter".  And I don't charge either.

Today's prayer is for Tommy.  Tomorrow's blog will be about fries.

As a special postscript, I apparently have at least three tags about "rant"s, "ranting", and "angry/rage/rant" in case there was any trouble in believing that I rant a lot.

Bouncing Toddler

So, I'm sitting here listening to Bishop talk to himself in his room.  He's suppose to be napping.  He actually seemed like he was going to and I didn't hear him for at least 20 minutes and then I walked to the bathroom and heard him talking to himself.  Well, at least him being sort of calm in his crib is better than him screaming to get out and then running all over the place.  Of course as I say this, I can hear him bouncing on his mattress.  Last time I heard that, it was *bounce bounce bounce bounce* *quiet*.... *door opening* and then he walked into the dining room.  He hasn't gotten out of his crib since then but it's only a matter of time. 

I'm also waiting for someone to come over.  I'm participating in a study through the hospital and a woman is coming over to do written consent and other such stuff.  Don't worry, they won't be doing any crazy experiments on Marshall.  I just have to feed him a supplement that babies produce naturally anyway.  Maybe.  The study is randomized so half the babies get it and half don't.  That's science. 

February 18, 2016

Exhausted Incoherence

Lack of sleep is kind of a fun state for me.  I've been having trouble sleeping since the new year.  I spent the first couple of weeks of January with insomnia, the next couple of weeks of January unable to sleep because of circumstances and being generally busy, and this bled into the first couple of weeks of February of not sleeping because of being generally busy.  This week has been the first time that I started to catch up on sleep in a while.  I slept pretty well on Sunday and Monday night and had high hopes for the rest of the week, but then Tuesday night and last night again I was unable to sleep well.

I've been so tired so much that I've been in a perpetual state of dizzy, half-consciousness.  It feels a little bit like when you sit in a chair that spins and you spin around and around and around, and then you try to walk, except I am able to walk straight at least.  My sister pointed out to me that my train of thought has seemingly been random in my blogs lately, and initially I blamed the issue on the fact that I tend to jump from topic to topic typically anyway.  However, I'm starting to think that it's just lack of sleep that's causing the problem.  I have never been so incoherent, neither have been so unable to recall details of recent days past which is a little disconcerting.  I was going to try to go to bed early tonight too, but here it is, quarter to midnight and I have to be up at 6am.  Woo.

Today's prayer is for Angela :)

37

I'm 37 weeks today.  I'm officially full term.  Kind of.  This is the stage were they don't try to stop you from going into labor.  I'm a little depressed today.  Marshall is still breech.  We have an appointment to try to turn him around next Tuesday.  That means if I go into labor before then, I'll probably end up with a c-section.  Also if he doesn't turn around, I'll be scheduling a c-section for 39 weeks.  I don't think I'll even make it that long.  I can't wait for this to be over.  Just not knowing whats gonna happen is the worst part.  I just want to be excited about meeting my new baby but I'm just anxious about how he's going to get here. 

Maybe this is a good time to pray and try to let it go. 

February 17, 2016

Inspiration for my Seester

As per a request from my older sister, I have decided to write about something inspiring today.

Every now and then when I'm considering theological things, I keep getting reminded of the fact that Jesus is truly human as much as he is fully divine.  This week's homily at mass was about how Jesus was actually tempted by Satan after his fast in the desert by things that would have been a temptation for him.  That blew my mind.  I don't believe I spend enough time considering how Jesus must have felt and thought and what he desired and sacrificed in life, what he enjoyed most, what concerned him.  These things are all so human in nature and I think there tends to be a general aversion to focusing too much o the humanity of Jesus.

I believe it was Kierkegaard who wrote about how one must come to Christ in his lowest state and accept him in order to truly follow him, not just the Christ in glory.  While he was speaking about Jesus before the revelation of his divinity, I think it's accurate to suggest that we also must accept Jesus as fully human to better follow him.  Jesus wasn't just going through the motions, pretending to be human, but he lived a human life.  In moments like these where we are told that he was tempted and we know that the temptations would be something that would have been desirable to him, we are not only getting a deeper glimpse into his nature, but we are also receiving affirmation that we follow a God who understands what it means to be human, and therefore understands us inside and out.  I can think of nothing more inspirational or uplifting than this.

Today's prayer is for my sister and her family.

Two Babies

I have a doctors appointment today.  It's a pretty big day as far as baby appointment go.  Marshall has been breech for a long time and we find out today if he has turned around.  If he hasn't, I'll be scheduling an appointment for next week to have him flipped.  If that doesn't work, I guess I'll be scheduling a c-section.  I'm not really sure how that works.  I've heard babies can flip during labor so I don't know if they would just wait for me to go into labor.  Hopefully Marshall is already flipped around and makes this whole process way easier on me. 

On another note, Bishop is being very 2 today.  That's a nice way of saying he's being a jerk.  At lunch time, he spilled his juice all over the table.  Then I put him on time-out while I cleaned his mess and when I went to get him, he had taken his poop-filled diaper off and threw it on the floor.  Luckily it stayed in diaper and there was only poop on his butt.  I put him in the shower to rinse off because he also had apple juice all over his arms.  Now he's quietly watching TV which may sound like he's being good but he's probably just staying quiet so I forget to put him down for a nap.  He's sneaky like that. 

February 16, 2016

Cats

I have 3 cats.  I have discovered that 3 cats is too many cats.  2 cats felt boring and I was excited about having another cat but once that baby cat grew into a normal sized cat, I realized we had too many.  I'm hoping its because he's still young and crazy and once he gets older, he settles down a bit.  Then maybe 3 cats won't be too many.  I've had 3 cats before when I was growing up but those were indoor and outdoor cats so they had plenty of room to be crazy outside and not crowd up the house with their insanity.  Now we just have a house full of crazy cat antics. 

I did let them outside today for a bit.  They're all fixed now so my main purpose for keeping them inside is to cut down on the flea problem.  Etta has a weird relationship with the outdoors.  She gets along great with the other cats but after being outside for about 30 minutes today, she was hissing at both of them.  It's like she has a feral reset button.  Except she still wants to come inside because she knows there's food in here.  She's back to normal now.  I think all of the outside smells wore off and she realized that she's a civilized cat. 

She probably called this conference to apologize


Crazy or Creativity

A couple of years ago, I created a character that I've been role playing with for a few years now.  Up until this point, I'd always sort of written and played around with telling stories by running D&D games, but something is different with this particular character.  I've started having weird dreams where this character is leading me to deep subconscious conclusions and every once in a while when I am thinking about something random, I get this character's perspective and reaction to it as if we're having a conversation.  I've heard of other artists who have experienced this and it makes me wonder how much of this is insanity and how much of this is imagination fleshing out a character.

Honestly, I don't think I'm crazy, but this is definitely a unique experience that I'm rather excited about.  Perhaps my writing will start to head in the right direction with a little more work, especially since I'm having such an easy time working with this particular character.  I have yet to master the techniques of having two characters really converse and react in my head with one another, but perhaps a little more effort and insanity and I'll be there.  One day I would very much like to see a completed story that isn't just a short story about Jake's pants.  Shout out to Jake!

Today's prayer is for mercy.

February 15, 2016

President's Day

I have never really given President's Day a lot of thought.  I mean, in schools we never really discussed the significance of President's Day at all.  It's sort of just a free day off from school when you're a kid.  This year, however, I noticed the holiday way more than I ever have before.  The amount of commercials and reminders that I encountered makes me realize if I've just been oblivious this entire time or if commercials are taking advantage of any inch they can get these days.

I don't actually have a favorite president either.  I'm not sure if that's weird.  I haven't really ever been asked who my favorite president was so I've never really given it much thought.  I'll just be different and say my favorite president hasn't served yet.  This way, when we get a good president, I can say this was a prophetic statement.  Take that everyone else who thought Lincoln was so great!

Today's prayer is for leadership and those in positions of authority.

Love Day

We didn't really celebrate Valentines Day this year.  We were all celebrated out after our early anniversary dinner.  John did give me a flower... that he stole from our neighbors bush in the front yard.  Although it crosses into our driveway so I'm not sure if that's technically stealing.  Not that our neighbor would care anyway.  He's a nice guy.  He brought us a piece of our mail that accidentally ended up in his mailbox and there was a check inside. 

We celebrated Valentines Day by doing our taxes.  It's kind of romantic cause at the end we find out how much money we're getting.  It's pretty much enough to refund our savings account from the money we took out to refinance the house.  Which we really could have done when we didn't have a mortgage payment in January but we chose to put that toward the plumbing bill to fix our messed up plumbing.  We had to finance the plumbing bill but we're trying to pay it off asap so it collects less interest.  What does this all have to do with Valentines Day?  EVERYTHING!  Money is a big deal in any long term relationship.  You have to figure all this stuff out before you get pissed at your significant other about finances and then break up.  Then what will you do on Valentines Day?  Buy yourself flowers?  Or steal your own flowers from the neighbors?  Or do your taxes by yourself?  That's no fun.  Taxes should be something you do with your soulmate.  I mean, it's fine to buy your own flowers but crunching numbers should be a couples activity. 

I should end this post before I start to ramble.  Happy day after Valentines Day! 

February 14, 2016

Following the Rabbit Hole

Today has been one of those days where you have your life laid out in front of you and realize that you have to make some decisions that are going to completely affect the rest of your life.  You realize that what you decide is really going to shape you.  It's a defining day.  Maybe years from now you will look back and reflect upon it, or maybe you'll have trouble remembering exactly what it was that brought you to your current point in time, but you won't forget the decision you made that helped you to become the kind of person you are.

I'm not trying my hand at fortune telling, although when I looked back over that paragraph to proof read it, it certainly came off sounding like one of those vague horoscope blurbs.  I just had a series of deep/real moments today and have decided to move forward in an attempt to become a better me.  This has been a crazy end of the week to me.  Lent has started out way deeper than I had been expecting it to.

Also it's Valentine's Day which surprisingly turned out to be one of my favorite holidays.  As such, I have decided to pray for an increase love sharing.  Happy Valentine's Day!

February 13, 2016

Cravings

I was thinking about how my eating habits have changed with this pregnancy in relation to my first.  With Bishop, I feel like I craved so much stuff and I was hungry all the time and could order a huge meal at a restaurant and finish the whole thing.  This time it seems like my appetite has barely changed.  I eat about the same amount at meals that I used to.  The only real difference is sometimes I wake up hungry in the middle of the night and need a snack to fall back asleep.  I do eat more but I feel like it's because I don't have a reason not to.  When I go grocery shopping when I'm not pregnant, I usually look at things I want and then tell myself I don't need them.  Now its like "I'm pregnant and uncomfortable, I deserve that cake".  Plus I'm suppose to gain weight anyway so I don't feel bad when I put on extra pounds.  Pregnancy is like a vacation from self control.  I mean concerning food at least.  I'm growing a person; I'm gonna eat what I want.  Even if I'm not hungry for it. 

On another note, Kris mentioned turning 30 this year.  I will be turning 30 as well although a few months behind her.  I was kind of dreading it like a year ago but now that it's getting closer, I seem to care a lot less.  Maybe because I have other stuff to think about.  Or maybe it's just not scary anymore.  I mean, my husband has been in his 30's for 2 years now and he seems perfectly okay.  Sometimes I forget that he's older than me.... and that he's a different person.  He's such a part of me now. 

Oh! Speaking of my soulmate, we celebrated our anniversary at Cheesecake Factory last night!  It was awesome as usual.  But the best part was before we left, we opened presents.  I got him a PS4 and he cried.  It's always a good day when you make your husband cry.  Happy tears of course.  Those are the best kind. 

Anyway, here's my cutie just because. 


Maturing

Today was such a crazy day.  Things kept falling apart no matter what I tried to do.  Eventually, everything worked out, but it was terribly frustrating while it was happening.  I learned something about myself today though:  1) I'm able to let go way more than I used to be able to do.  When things were falling apart and there was literally nothing I could do to fix it, I was completely able to let go and just trust that everything was going to work out alright.  I had this concept in my head that "everything had to go perfectly, without a hitch" but once I was able to let go of that perception, everything worked out quite well in fact.  2) I don't get as stressed out when things aren't going the way I think they should anymore.  3) I definitely have the determination to turn around do something to fix the situation instead of allowing the situation to determine my mood.

As I sit here facing my thirties, it's good to know that I'm more adept at handling craziness than I used to be.  Phase two will be ensuring my crazy increases with age as well!

Today's  prayer is for our candidates and catechuman.

February 12, 2016

Yearly Catch Up

I don't have anything terribly interesting to talk about today.  I've been feeling pretty tapped out in terms of creativity lately.  I've had to do a lot of overtime and a lot of extra work this week and it took a mental toll on me.  I thought I might use this space to catch up on a little bit of my last year, though.

I took another new job this year (I'm feeling like this is a trend).  I do purchasing now.  I've also been taking ministry formation classes which have been pretty amazing.  It reminds me how much I enjoy studying philosophy and theology and how inspiring I find it.  I wish I had more time to devote to these classes.  Rather, I wish I had more time to take more classes.

Not much else has changed terribly much this past year, and as a result, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the direction my life is heading in...again.  I probably do this post once a year now that I think about it.  It seems like we're doomed to repeat the experience of change and reflection, constantly seeking the best possible solution for how one should live their life.  How do the people who are content with their careers do it?  That's a really deep question.

Today's prayer is for vocations.

Anniversary!

Okay it's not our anniversary but we're pretending it is because Marshall is due 2 weeks after our actual anniversary and it's very possible he could be here by then.  We're celebrating early just to be safe.  I just hope he doesn't come on the actual day cause I don't wanna share it.  Anniversaries are suppose to be days you get away from your kids and that will be hard if its Marshall's birthday. 

So, we're going to Cheesecake Factory tonight!  It's the best place to have a fancy dinner and a delicious cheesecake.  It's been (almost) 4 years since I married John in that tiny courthouse.  I read an article the other day that said the less you spend on your wedding, the longer your marriage will last.  I told John I guess that means we'll be married forever!  I think I only spent like $20 on my dress and then whatever the marriage license costs.  The most expensive part was our 'reception' at Cheesecake Factory afterwards.  So we go back there every year to relive our wedding day. 

In commemoration of our marriage, I'm posting all 3 of our songs.  Yes we need 3 songs.  Although, if I had to pick just one, it would be 'ghosts that we knew' cause we're planning on getting some of the lyrics tattooed on us someday (this year hopefully). 




February 11, 2016

Ruminations

I spent a lot of time thinking about church today.  I am not at this point in time ready to put together all of my thoughts on the matter, however.  I feel like they need a few more days to simmer, and possibly for me to write some things down for myself before I string something more solid together.  I will say this, though, I am very sad for the Church today.  I'm not talking about being sad necessarily for the current climate the Church is in or the Church as it stands today, though.  I mean, thinking about these things has made me quite sad for the Church, and also quite sad for the people who feel ostracized by the Church.

I've found a lot of solace and beauty in the Church, her teachings and doctrine, and the rituals and meditations offered since I joined the Catholic faith.  The more I learn and experience, the more I fall deeper in love with my faith and feel myself drawing closer to God.  I know not everyone has had this same experience, but I wish I could share these feelings with others sometimes.  I'm pretty sure that's why I enjoy teaching RCIA so much.  I want to share the things I've experienced and the things I feel with others in a meaningful way, in a way that they can understand and maybe experience themselves.

I felt like praying for the Church and for the world today, so I prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet.  It touched me in one of those profound ways that you can't really explain.  Love to all.  I will try to make tomorrow's post more coherent and less vague, but I spent a lot of time in thought today and being unwilling to talk about until I have a better grasp on my thoughts-not to mention having nothing else to talk about-I wanted to share something meaningful-ish today.

36 weeks!

I'm not gonna count down everyday but I'm 36 weeks today.  That's means one week until full term.  Now I just need this baby to turn around.  He's kinda sideways right now.  So far he's turning out to be a stubborn baby.  When I was 15 weeks pregnant, he refused to show the doctor his penis and I had to wait until 20 weeks to find out he was a boy.  Maybe that means he'll act more like me.  He'll be shy, quiet, and a picky eater.  And stubborn.  Not that I'm extremely stubborn but I'm definitely more stubborn that John.  John is a flexible teddy bear.  Bishops kinda stubborn cause he's a toddler but he's pretty easy to redirect. 

So I was looking through blog posts from last years lent and one of them mentions Bishop getting a new baby gate.  We bought it so we could open it and walk through instead of stepping over it.  That thing only lasted about 6 months before Bishop figured out how to open it.  So we got the exact same gate but way taller so he couldn't reach the lock to open it.  It's currently still working even though he can reach the lock now.... he just can't get enough leverage to get it open.  I feel like it's days are numbered though.  He's getting taller and smarter every day.  He already stands on his toys to reach things he's not supposed to get into.  Hopefully by the time he figures out the gate, it won't be necessary anymore.  I've been leaving it open more and more and let him have free reign but there are still times I like to have him contained. 

February 10, 2016

Ash Wednesday or How I Stoned the Soup

Apparently our soup for Ash Wednesday was a complete hit this year.  We made about as much as we did last year and we had less left over.  That's a win in my book.  The RCIA group did an awesome job with making and serving our soup and Tommy and Haily even came to help out, which was totally awesome.  I enjoy being able to share my faith with my friends who are Protestant with the mutual understanding of respect and communion.  This is probably one of the things I love most about the gifts God has given me; my education at Greenville and my general attitude towards others of differing beliefs has allowed me to make friends and share my faith without offending any of them.  Also, I firmly believe that I have carefully cultivated an amazing set of friends who are very open minded and engaging in these areas anyway (this is the shameless shout out of love to everyone in my life!).

I love the Ash Wednesday service and the Easter Vigil services best because there are always multiple Sacraments occurring on these days.  Confession is going on during Ash Wednesday service while the Eucharist is being distributed, reminding us of God's graces and the importance of drawing nearer to Him.  On Easter, there is baptism, confirmation, and mass occurring on the same day, once again reminding us of how we all enter into communion and a covenant with God.  The diversity and fullness of faith is partly what makes me love Catholicism so much and I am so very grateful for the opportunity that I've had to help direct RCIA.

Today's prayer was for Tim.

First Day of Lent!

So I haven't made any lent promises this year.  I'm 8 months pregnant right now so I've already had to give up alcohol, being comfortable, sleeping well.... and probably more stuff.  I'm not even sure if I'll be able to finish lent blogging but I figured I should at least try.  The first few months of Bishops life are kind of a blur now but I do remember napping a lot.  I'll be 36 weeks tomorrow which means I'm 8 days from being full term.  I'm expecting him sometime between 37-39 weeks.  Bishop was almost 39 weeks when he decided to come. 

Speaking of naps, I could really use one right now.  Bishop was awake at 7:30 this morning for some reason.  He's usually up around 8:30-9.  I do have a better chance of getting him to nap though.  He's watching Thomas and Friends right now.  That's means I have at least 30 minutes of peace and quiet.  He is in love with trains!  And cars.  Pretty much anything that moves.  He will not ride on his tricycle though.  He likes to push it around but he gets upset if I put him in the seat.  I guess it makes sense; he has to be afraid of something.  He's not afraid of people at all or trying food that he's never seen before.  He's not afraid of dogs barking at him or the cat scratching his face.  He is afraid of spiders though.  I'm very happy about that because we have lots of black widows in the back yard during the summer.  I don't want him making friends with any of those. 

Here's a cute picture I took today. 

























Until tomorrow!

February 9, 2016

Lent 2016

I am so grateful to Angela for leading up to the blog.  Usually I try to put up a post a week in advance as advertisement, however, due to unforeseen circumstances last week, I didn't have it in me.  To be honest, I've been rather depressed for the last few weeks, dealing with some hardcore insomnia issues and a whole epic list of problems I wouldn't wish on anybody else.  The idea of logging in today to do a lead up blog felt overwhelmingly difficult.  You know, there's the whole remembering what e-mail I used and the password to it.  It's an entire thing.

Then the most amazing thing happened:  after I quite easily remembered the e-mail and password (absurdly easy, considering the amount of time I spent trying to convince myself that logging in was going to be a whole thing), I saw that we have over 7,000 page views and several followers.  7,000 page views.  SEVEN THOUSAND!

You guys are honestly the most awesome ever.  I never imagined we would have anywhere near that much.  We really only post for 40 days out of the year...well Angela posts for 40 days.  I don't believe in the Sunday vacation from Lent deal, so you get posts from me, which technically brings it to more than 40 days, but I have it on good authority from a priest that this is perfectly valid...so there Angela!  Haha!  Of course I feel obligated to mention that he said not doing the Lent thing on Sunday was perfectly valid too, but my point still stands.

All this being said, and now that I'm fully logged into my account again, I intend to continue our tradition of a daily blog throughout Lent.  Additionally, I will be praying a rosary a day.  If you have any intentions you would like me to pray for, please feel free to mention so in the comment sections of my posts (preferably the daily posts I'm currently posting) or to message me with any requests and I will happily pray on your behalf.  My intention is to pray for others anyway, might as well be you!  Since we are in the Jubilee year of Mercy, I'm hoping this will help me to be more merciful towards others.

SEVEN THOUSAND!  That still blows my mind.