June 2008 Archives

The way Brian loves books, I love magazines because at this point of my life, I don’t have the time to sit and read like I used to. At least with a magazine, I can take ten minutes to read a whole article before I have to stop and clean up the box of cheerios Andrew dumped on the floor. One of my favorite Catholic mags was Envoy. I loved its mix of solid Catholic teaching/apologetics and zany humor and I was bummed when they stopped publishing. Then out of the blue, I received a new issue with the notice that they are back up and running. I was happy to hear it! You can get your own free issue of Envoy Magazine here.

The other resurrected magazine is True Girl, now called TG Magazine. The mag is geared for Catholic teen girls and older. Although Bella was too young for it, I ordered a sub when it first came out to support them and pass on to friends. I thought it was well done and am happy to hear that it is around again! If you have a teen girl you should check it out at TGMagazine.net. (The new website is not as visually appealing as the old one, but it is still early in the game.)

Lastly, since we are on the topic of magazines, if you are a Catholic wife and mother (or husband/father) you absolutely MUST order Faith and Family Magazine! The quality, both in production and content, is excellent! It has practical and informative articles on living your Catholic faith in all aspects of family life and I have never been disappointed in an issue. I love it! Plus, now you can read a sample issue online at FaithandFamilyMag.com. (We are so excited to get others to read F&F that we started selling subs as a fundraiser for the RoL website. Just use promo code “Q91286� when ordering online. Thanks!)

It has been a stressful day today so it was nice to forget it all and watch my little man take his first steps around the house. So far, he averages about three steps until he falls to his knees and books it across the room crawling. Last night he discovered Bella's baby stroller and realized it was not only his chance to walk freely without falling, it also allowed him to care for someone smaller than he is!

He's going to make a wonderful dad (whether biological or spiritual Fr.) someday. He has already been practicing the fine art of cleaning – give the boy a rag and he'll shine everything in his reach; laundry – he’ll put the wet clothes in the dryer, along with anything else close by; and baby sitting – as long as he sticks to dolls, the occasional spills will be okay!

A friend forwarded this link for the Catholic Summer Reading Program. There is a program for adults and kids. The kid’s page has a reading sheet they can color and write the names of 12 books they’ve read. They mail it in and receive a prize. There is a list of recommended books for grades kindergarten to 6th. So even your young ones can participate.

For the adults, they took a list of 64 possible books, then chose a top 10 for summer reading. Of the original 64 books, I must admit that Brian has many of them (and I mean many of them!) He is a total book lover! (Note to Brian: We’re out of bookshelf space, Sweetie!)

Here are some books I see sitting on his desk right now:
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Meg Meeker
God Alone: A Spiritual Biography of Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron by Gonzalo Maria Fernandez
Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life: A Practical Guide to Prayer for Active People by Robert J. Spitzer
Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales
A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World by Carl Anderson
A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz

I enjoy reading but I tend to read only one or two at a time – one “educational� and one fiction or biography. My current reads (plus those next in line):

Passport by Christopher Blunt. (A new Catholic novel)
Spiritual Progress: Becoming the Christian You Want to Be by Thomas D. Williams
How to Raise Good Catholic Children by Mary Reed Newland
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza

(Andrew loves books as much as his dad, although he prefers eating them to reading them!)

I was thinking about yesterday’s post this morning and it got me to thinking about suffering in general. There are various degrees but whether you are suffering from infertility, the loss of a child, the death of your husband or any number of things, there seems to be a point where you are able to lift your eyes and see that you are not the only one suffering.

A friend struggling with infertility told me about a book she was reading about a Japanese woman who was persecuted for her faith – they tortured her and her 3 yr old child. Despite the horrors she faced, she kept her faith saying, "Remember that life on earth is very short and eternity is very long." It brought to mind friends who have suffered tremendous loss – a newly married friend whose husband was accidentally killed while she was pregnant with their first child, another friend whose mom was brutally raped and murdered, and an acquaintance who suffered eight miscarriages in a row. They could not comprehend why God allowed these things and the internal anguish was acute but they relied on God’s grace and only He was able to bring them through it.

This was a tremendous example to me. I don’t think the pain of loss ever fully goes away but it helped when God’s grace allowed me to take the focus off of myself and realize that there are many who suffer, and suffer greater than I do. After some time, I finally reached a point of saying, “Ok God, you obviously have a different plan for me right now, so what are you asking of me?� And He let me know. There was work for me to do while I was single (looking for a husband,) childless (praying for a baby,) parent of one (missing my miscarried babies) etc. It was difficult but God used these opportunities to bring me out of myself so I could stop focusing on only what I wanted from God and start focusing on the larger picture (eternity) and asking God what did He want of me?

I received an email the other day from my friend Maria who is suffering from infertility. She forwarded the links to two blogs (all you who hope.blogspot.com and the apostolate of hannahs tears.blogspot.com) and one article in This Rock that helped her deal with her cross. I found the All You Who Hope blog to be especially touching since I went though some of the same things.

As some of you may know, Brian and I have had our ups and downs with conceiving and maintaining pregnancies. The first year of our marriage, we hoped to get pregnant right away but it never happened. I was shocked since I figured I'd take after my mom who had nine children. It was a time of pain and soul searching as I was reminded of my BC days (Before Christ) when I didn't want kids. (But we'll save that story for another time.)

I was not seeing any doctor at the time but I knew that my crazy cycles (they would be really long with no signs of ovulation) always improved when I was at a healthier weight. I changed my diet and lost about 20 pounds but our first anniversary came and no baby. Our disappointment was tempered by the incredible opportunity to start the new year with a trip to Rome. We made it our prayer pilgrimage, asking Our Lady to help us conceive a child. Two months later, everything seemed to click and we finally conceived Bella.

After Bella turned two years old, we tried to conceive again. Nothing happened. We tried more self-help means with diet and such but it wasn't working this time. I was getting fed up and with trying and failing and tried to just be happy that we at least had Bella. Two years later, we got a huge surprise. I was unexpectedly pregnant. We were ecstatic! I remember starting another baby journal as I did for Bella and writing to our little one. Unfortunately, our joy shortly turned to despair when I suffered my first miscarriage. We were devastated. It happened during Lent and I remember how keenly I experienced the sorrow of the season. But as painful as it was, it brought me so much closer to Our Lord.

The feast day of Bl. Junipero Serra is coming up (July 1) and the Carmel Mission Basilica will be celebrating Founder’s Day on Saturday, June 28. There is an opening ceremony at noon in the Basilica and the grounds will be open until 5pm. (You can tour the grounds, museum and the burial place of Bl. Serra free of charge.) “Fr. Serra� will also be strolling the grounds and there will be games, tortilla making, Spanish colonial horses, acorn grinding etc. BBQ food will be sold throughout the day but there is an actual dinner (tickets needed) after Founders Day Mass is at 5:30. It should be enjoyable and a great way to learn more about Fr. Serra and his life. So if you are in the area, be sure to stop by!

I was asked the other day about leaving comments on the blog. For awhile I have had the comment box turned off because of all the spam coming through. However, I have turned it back on but you'll need to sign in. If you've never left a comment on TypeKey before you'll need to sign up first, which takes a couple minutes. Thanks!

Okay, first that is a great line but it was never actually uttered in Casablanca! But you get the point. We now have music on the blog! I added a number of my favorites to the playlist and hopefully there will be something to your liking. If not, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and turn the darn thing off! Thanks to Eileen for the link. I tried another player before but didn’t like it. This one seems to be much better.

Speaking of Eileen, she is a dear friend that started blogging over at Our Happy Clan blog. We don't see each other as often as I'd like (we live about 70 miles apart) so the next best thing is keeping in touch online. Check it out!

A belated happy birthday (6/17) to my sweetheart, Brian. It is funny that this morning I was reading the headlines of my Yahoo homepage and one of the articles was about celebs that were voted as the sexiest bachelors. Some of these guys are pretty handsome and some are a little too Ken Doll for my taste, but it got me to thinking about how subjective attractiveness can be. I don’t know what others see when they take a look at Brian , but I have to admit that there are times when he looks over at me and I still swoon like a crazy schoolgirl. But it is far more than his good looks that get to me. He is one of the most incredible men I’ve met – loving, hardworking, funny and an example of finding the holy in the everyday. It is one thing to be married to someone you love but to be married to someone you like so darn much, yeah! And I know that no guy is perfect but it is safe to say he is MY perfect match, bringing out the best in me and I in him. I love you, Sweetie!

Congrats to Bella – now a first grader!

Well, we finally survived the last week of school but I have to admit that Friday was crazy! I had an early dentist appointment at 7:50 am. The doc checked things out and said I needed a root canal and asked if he should do it right then. I wanted to get it over with so I asked him to take care of it. Thankfully it went fine and afterwards a couple advil took care of the discomfort.

An hour later I was rushing back home so Brian could get to work and I could get to the Carmel Mission for Bella’s last school Mass. I was late, but I got there. After school we drove to the airport to pick up my mom who is visiting for a few days. Then we got ready for my father-in-law's surprise birthday party this weekend. I never would have survived it all without my mom being here to help me out! (She just finished washing and ironing all my laundry! And then she babysat the kids so Brian and I could go out to eat. How awesome is that! Thanks, Mom!)

All the activity has been fun but I am looking forward to when the dust settles and we can just sit back and relax and enjoy our summer vacation!

I was surprised today when I heard that one of our favorite authors Ann Ball died a few days ago. We loved the various saint books she wrote, particularly the Faces of Holiness books. May she rest in peace and may her family be given peace and strength.

Well-loved Catholic author Ann Ball passes away.

Here are some articles worth reading concerning Obama and his radically pro-abortion, pro-same sex agenda.

Obama's Abortion Bombshell: Unrestricted Abortion Over Wishes of Individual States a Priority for Presidency

Top 10 reasons Obama voted against the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act

Obama Supports Sex-Education in Kindergarten

Last night I was sitting on the couch lamenting my tooth ache and fearing a root canal and needed a little diversion so I check my DVR for something to watch. I had forgotten about The Next Food Network Star show and happily watched. It is too early to have a front runner favorite (unlike Season 2 when I was rooting for Guy) but of the girls I like Jennifer and Kelsey and out of the guys I like Aaron and Adam. On the top of my “gotta go� list is Nipa (pain in the) Bhatt. I’m just hoping that after her break down that she learns to be less arrogant. With a little humility and enthusiasm, I’m sure she could have an interesting show!

Speaking of cooks, Andrew is learning his way through the kitchen. The other day he was trying to sauté a building block. Perhaps there's a Food Network star in the making!

Well, he is not actually the Papi (Daddy) of the family but the nickname stuck since he is our little man. It is hard to believe that just a year ago today he entered into the word! I still remember how the doc and all the nurses were amazed at how quiet he was after his birth. He stood there with his huge, dark eyes observing everyone and everything. He has plenty of spunk at home but outside the house he reverts to his quiet observation. Happy 1st Bday and may you be blessed with many more to come!