Halloween 2010

What a busy night!!  But we planned for it much better this year.  First, we decided to give out candy from the garage this time.  We live on the main road (a very loooooooong road) in a very large subdivision.  People who don't live in subdivisions or who live out in the country end up here for "trick or treating."  So we have a constant flow of kids (and teenagers and ... even some adults!).  The garage space worked out so well!  It got a little chilly by the end, but so worth it.  The mobs were much easier to handle.

But let's back up a bit.  We carved our pumpkins this afternoon (sorry, pictures are still on the camera).  A few funny things I thought I'd never hear while carving pumpkins:

"Nothing says fall like the Death Star."

"I'm taking my pumpkin into the bathroom."

I laughed about that second one good and hard, more than once.

My pumpkin was carved with a pattern of four ghosts singing and wearing bow ties and top hats.  It was cute, but way more intricate than I thought it would be.  Hubby had to help me out.

His pumkin was an owl in a tree with a crescent moon.  His was the type where you just scrape off the outer skin and leave the flesh and the candle inside makes the fleshy part glow.  It looked really cool.  I promise, I'll post pictures, though the pics aren't as good as seeing it in person.

Dinner was the usual Halloween night pizza.  I got to introduce hubby, aka, my personal chef, to one of my all-time favorite frozen pizza brands.  He actually liked it!

As soon as we finished up dinner it was time.  We put the pumpkins on top of the cars, set out some chairs and a TV Table, and on the trunk of hubby's car set out three little candle holders I have that say "B-O-O" when you line them up (a gift many years ago from my mom).  With a coat on and a blanket tucked around me, we were set.

And the kids came, dressed in all sorts of fun and cute costumes.  I saw three UK Wildcats (all probably about a year or so old), several princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, etc.), cheerleaders, Buzz Lightyear, super heros, all sorts of other cartoon characters, police men, Michael Jackson, and lots of non-descript "costumes."  Plenty of the goulish stuff too, the "Scream" face never seems to go out of style (do you think Edvard Munch would approve?  Or has that face been made popular by some other more recent thing in pop culture I'm blissfully ignorant of?). 

Hubby's favorite costumes were: "Spaghetti dinner": kid had one of those cheap plastic red and white checkered table clothes draped over him, a bowl of "spaghetti" (string?) and meatballs in his hand, and another bowl on top of his head with the fake spaghetti and meatballs spilling out over him; and a 4 or 5 year old dressed as a UPS man.  Hubby said he may start handing out special treats for the costumes he thinks are the best.  Any ideas?  (I suggested full-size candy bars.)

Hubby and I were commenting on the teenagers while we sat out there.  So many of them!  They are obviously too cool to carry Trick or Treat bags, so they come with plastic grovery bags, backpacks, or purses; and some are apparently too cool to wear costumes, so they don't; and many are too cool to say "trick or treat" so they either say Happy Halloween or nothing at all (at least they do, generally, say thank you).  If you're too cool for all those things, might it be possible that you're too old to go out Trick or Treating?

For my own future reference, for those with older kids, when do you tell your kids they are too old to go trick or treating?  Is it in high school?  Or possibly earlier?  I don't remember when I stopped going, but I'd guess it was sometime around 8th grade, give or take a year.

And the garage set up ... totally worth it.  It didn't feel overwhelming, we weren't constantly opening and closing the door, we weren't trying to hold open the storm door while also handing out candy in the little narrow space that is our front porch, and having 10-20 kids show up at one time was manageable when you are sitting in a very open space.  Definitely worth doing again!

How was your Halloween?

Due Date Anniversaries

It's really hard for me to imagine how different our life would be with a two-year old running around.  Would we have had a birthday party this weekend instead of just cleaning the house and watching football?  Would I have nearly the amount of papers and books and just things laying around as I currently do?  Would we have done all our grocery shopping afer 4pm, not getting home until after 6pm to start making dinner?

As each anniversary passes I have different emotions.  The very first time that due date rolls around is hard because you know you should be having a baby, but instead your arms are empty.  The first anniversary you wonder about what your child's first birthday party would have been like.  The emotions may also still be there.  In my case, my arms were still empty at this point, having lost two babies by then.

Now here I am at the second anniversary.  My baby should be turning two had she not died 7 months earlier.  Again, my arms are still empty, even after three pregnancies.  But today my thoughts are all with my first little one.

She is the only one who we never knew if she was a boy or girl.  Over time calling her "she" has become habit.  I sometimes wonder if that is God's way of letting us know; it just sort of happened, it wasn't a conscious decision.  She's the only one for whom we never saw an ultrasound picture.  She's the only one for whom we never had a reason for losing her.  She's also the only one who we were unable to bury, which still sometimes makes me sad.

My emotions have changed a lot in two years.  I no longer get overly emotional about losing Casey.  On occasion I feel guilty about that.  But I know I don't need to.  She is and always will be in my heart, always my daughter and my first baby.

After losing Casey, I never knew how to respond when people asked if we had children.  I often would just keep it simple and say no.  The guilt in my heart each time was horrible!  But we live in a cultural where people don't want to hear about your dead children.  And miscarriage isn't usually even counted among the children you have.  But a little less than a year after Casey died we lost our second baby.  He was so much further along!  I was visibly pregnant at that point.  As a result, the sympathy I got was so much greater.  How could I ignore that child?  And if I don't ignore that child, I certainly couldn't ignore my first.

That's when my answer changed. After that I responded to the question about whether or not I had children with a "Yes" qualified by adding "I have two in heaven."

Such a relief!!  I felt so much better.  Finally I was acknowledging my children to the world.

The first time I used this was at a retreat.  IIt was about 4 months after my second loss and I was standing in line for lunch when one of my table mates asked me.  I responded positively and with my addendum.  There was a slight pause (totally expected) but then a smile and the reply, "That is beautiful."

It still makes me cry when I think about it.

My children are beautiful.  And today I gave my thoughts to Casey Marie.  My little girl who could have been born two years ago today (or around today).  Wow, how different things would be with a two-year old.  Toys laying around, little feet running through the house, child locks on cabinets, and so much more.

Casey, we miss you and love you.  Please pray for us and be a wonderful big sister to Zachary and Brigit.  We love you, little girl, and look forward to the day when we can join you in the Heavenly Kingdom.

7 Quick Takes vol. 9

~1~

It seems that my blogging has become nothing but doing these Friday Quick Takes.  It's good that I have something to keep me doing a little blogging, but I would like to post other things as well.  I've been pretty busy lately, that hasn't helped, but I have ideas, really I do!  So maybe once I get through all the reading I have piled up on my coffee table, I'll actually do a bit more blogging.  I hope!

~2~

Speaking of reading, I can't believe how much reading I have piled up into my life.  And I can't seem to get rid of any of it.  I have several blogs I follow now and many of those bloggers post much more frequently than I do (adding to my reading and my guilt).  And then there is my diocesan paper, which only comes out twice a month.  You'd think I'd be able to keep up.  Apparently not.  Then there are about 3 other magazines I get, one magazine I just got 2 free issues of, and another that a friend keeps bringing me her old copies of.  Eventually I'm just going to have to skip some of these things.

~3~

Last week I posted about my drive to Normal, IL.  I was there for a conference of the Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association.  It was a really great meeting.  We had some wonderful programming and it is always nice to visit with other music librarians.  We had a really interesting presentation on collecting for music therapy programs, another great talk about the Circus Collection, specifically the music part, at Illinois State, a very informative talk about Illinois Wesleyan's new Digital Repository, and we were fed well throughout the period of the conference.  I love going to these type of meetings and I really feel that I came away with a lot from this one.

~4~

Okay, forgive me, but I need to vent!!  I don't understand why people don't get the concept of a pedestrian cross-walk.  Do you know how many times I see people come to a cross-walk and stop 3-5 feet back from the curb and wait??  All the time!  No car is going to stop for you when you are that far back.  The other day I even saw a woman waiting at a cross-walk and she waved a car through that was slowing down for her.  Lady, it is a *pedestrain* cross-walk!  YOU have the right of way.  Why do people not get that?  And it's not just the pedestrians, it's the cars too.  There is a cross-walk near my office that I have to cross to get to where I park.  It's not at a light, so the cars are supposed to stop for you.  I usually walk right into the bike lane (assuming no bicyclists are flying by) and then stop to make sure that the oncoming traffic is going to stop.  Most of the time they just keep going.

By the way, yes, it is the law around here that pedestrians have the right of way at a pedestrian cross-walk.  Where I used to live pedestrians really didn't look, they just walked.  And drivers got ticketed if they didn't stop.  Okay, vent over.

~5~

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of my due date for our first baby.  She was due on Oct. 30, 2008.  Lately I've been thinking about what it would be like to have a two year old right now.  Hard to imagine.  I may have more thoughts to share on this tomorrow.

~6~

Today is the last day of the 40 Days for Life in my town.  Officially I think it ends on Sunday, but the vigil outside our abortion mill was only done on weekdays, so today is our last day.  I heard a story this afternoon on our local Catholic radio station about a life that was saved today.  A young woman was at the clinic today, went in for a little bit and then came out again.  She then left with a friend who had come to pick her up.  Shortly after that one of our local coordinators got a text message from her.  She had looked up the 40 Days for Life online (after seeing it on one of our group's signs) and found the Lexington page and the phone number of the coordinator.  She texted to say that she changed her mind and was going to be talking to her parents to tell them about her pregnancy.  The coordinator sent her the number of a pregnancy help center which the girl thanked her for.  That was it.  But so totally amazing!!  Praise be to God for helping this girl to give her child life.

~7~

After telling this story on the radio this afternoon, the host of the show then talked about how important it was to vote in the upcoming election and to vote for pro-life candidates.  Your vote counts, and not just in the way we usually think about it.  You are also held accountable to God for all your actions in this life, including the people you may help elect to office.  Voting for pro-life candidates is one of the most important things you can do.  On that note, if you are a Facebook user, I encourage you to join the event Vote Pro-Life WAVE through November 2.  There is nothing to "attend" just change your profile picture to one of the "Vote Pro-life" pictures available from now through November 2 and then help spread the wave to others.  All the images may be hard to find, you have to scroll down the page a bit to find the link.  To help you out here is the direct link to the images.  I believe that you do have to have a Facebook account to view the images.

Enjoy more Quick Takes at the very popular Conversion Diary blog.  Lots of great posts!!  You won't be disappointed!

7 Quick Takes vol. 8

On Thursday I drove about 6 hours to Normal, IL.  For my 7 Quick Takes this week here are seven things I learned.

~1~

During rush hour traffic in Louisville, trying to merge will cause the person you are merging in front of to beep at you.  This was normal behavior in New England, I guess it's considered rude in KY.  I'll be sure to send an invitation next time ... in the whole 2 seconds I have between getting off I-64, merging onto I-70-something, and merging into your lane to get onto I-65.

~2~

The little bags of old-fashioned peppermint sticks you can get at Cracker Barrels everywhere are great companions on long, lonely car drives!!

~3~

Talking on your cell and trying to write down what you are being told while driving 70 mph is not a good idea.  Don't worry, I decided instead to memorize what I was being told and I wrote it down when I got off the phone .... still driving 70 mph.

~4~

The stretch of I-74 between Indianapolis and Bloomington, IL is the longest I have ever driven in a straight line.  Ever!

~5~

I am still wondering why there were so many corn and soy bean fields that looked like they had a dusting of snow on them.  Anyone know why so many looked so white??

~6~

Harvesting season must be over.  Everything is shades of brown.  No corn, no soy beans.  It was kind of sad looking at the emptiness.

~7~

Most surprising thing: the absolutely beautiful little lakes/ponds I passed in Illinois!  They were so blue!!  What a spectacular site to suddenly come upon one in the midst of all those brown, empty fields.  They were always so surprising I kept wanting to get a better look, but alas I could not.  What a great reminder of the beauty of life even in the midst of desolation and emptiness.  Beautiful!!

Check out more Quick Takes posts at Conversion Diary and have a blessed weekend!!

Underfoot

My awesome hubby spent all day Saturday working on the yard: racking, edging, mowing, seeding, fertilizing, and watering.  I finally took some time to do a little vacuuming around the house, which had not been done in a while.

I was pleased with what I got accomplished ... until today.

All that new seed and fertilizer on the yard requires some water for a week or more.  So hubby is in and out moving the sprinklers and hoses around to get all corners of the yard.  He did this Saturday evening and then again Sunday afternoon.  Given the drought we've been in, I expect he'll be doing this each evening for the next week of more.

Yep, the evidence is on the floors.  I guess yard work and clean indoor floors don't mix.  Oh well!!  Hopefully we'll have a nice looking yard come spring!!

7 Quick Takes vol. 7

It's Quick Takes time again!!  Enjoy!  And don't forget to check out other Quick Takes at our host's Jen Fulwiler's blog.

~1~

I had wanted to do a whole post about the lecture I attended last Thursday about the Council of Trent, but I never had the time.  So instead of a whole post, thought I would mention one interesting thing about that talk here.  The Council of Trent was held from 1545-1563 and was in response to the Protestant Reformation.  One of the main things that got done at Trent was the standardization of the Roman Rite Mass.  But the talk itself actually focused much more on the history that led up to Trent than anything really about Trent.

So the one thing I found really interesting was in regard to the elevation of the Eucharist during Mass.  Up until about the 10th century the Eucharist wasn't elevated right after the consecration.  Also remember that the priest faced the same way as the people, so without the elevation the people could not see anything and did not know when the consecration happened (I don't know when the bells were instituted, but once that was instituted that would have been the only way the people knew that the consecration had happened).  It was around the 10th century when at the request of the people, the priest started elevating the host, the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.  The people wanted to be able to see and adore Jesus in the Eucharist.  So around 1000 AD was when this was put in place.  Interestingly, it was only the Eucharist that was elevated, not the chalice.

~2~

Our front porch is done!!  Last weekend, hubby stripped the columns and railings, primed, put up molding on the columns, and then painted the whole thing.  He also replaced the outside lights with something much, much better than what we had.  It looks so much better!!  This weekend we're (hopefully) going to go get a tree and plant it in the big hole in our backyard.

~3~

On Monday I attended another session of what is being called "Companions on the Journey."  It is at my church and being led by the rector of my parish.  This session was all about gratitude.  Unlike the first session, I feel like I got a lot more out of this one.  One thing that gave me food for thought:

When you greet someone and they ask, "How are you?" you should respond with "I am blessed!"  I bet you'd get some surprised looks at the bank or the grocery store, but also just from your friends.  I haven't started this yet, kind of hesitant to do it.  And think about saying that if you're having a bad day.  It'd be hard to be too down on yourself if you had to admit that you ARE blessed despite what may be going on in your life.  Definitely something to think about!

~4~

Wednesday night we attended the "Evening of Excitement."  It was a lot of fun!!  This was a dinner/fundraising event for our local Catholic radio station.  It was free and a big announcement was promised.  We saw lots of people we knew, met some people we hadn't met before, and got to see some people we hadn't seen in a while.  The Bishop gave the keynote speech and then we got the big announcement.  The Catholic station currently runs on an AM station and is required to power down between sunset and sunrise.  So it really doesn't come in at all during those times.  You can get it online, but that means only at home or work, not in your car.  So first (not the big announcement) they are increasing their wattage so that they will cover more area (maybe we'll get it in our house!!).  Second, the big announcement was that they will be simulcasting the station on an FM channel sometime in early 2011!  Woohoo!!  That means 24 hours a day it'll be available in the metro area and it won't get hard to hear because of static when you're under power lines at a red light or in a parking garage.  I'm looking forward to the change.  Hopefully more people will discover Catholic radio as well.

~5~

We've been going to a lot of things lately.  We attended the third part of the Liturgy series on Thursday of this week.  The priest who presided at our wedding and is now pastor at a few parishes about an hour south of us came up to give the talk on Vatican II.  He is such a history person!!  I've heard him give different talks at Church as well as at Theology on Tap events and he obviously knows a lot of history.  He gave a good talk and made a point to talk about the fact that what happened to the Mass following Vatican II was not the only major change to the Mass in the history of the Church.  I feel like I have a deeper appreciation for the history of the mass overall.

Unfortunately I'll be out of town next week for the last talk.  That one will be about the changes that are coming to the Mass starting in Advent of 2011.  Wish I could be there, but hopefully there will be other opportunities to hear about the changes coming before they get here.  I expect we will.

~6~

After the talk last night we went to a new frozen yogurt place that just opened in town.  Actually, Thursday and today was their "soft" opening, the grand opening is Saturday.  It is called Orange Leaf.  It's self-serve frozen yogurt with a topping bar and you pay by the ounce.  There were about 10 or so different flavors of frozen yogurt (everything from vanilla and chocolate to coffee to mango and pomegranate) and lots and lots of different toppings (fruit, candy, sprinkles, cereal, granola, etc.).  You can take one flavor or mix some flavors, take as many toppings as you want, and then you pay depending on how much it weighs.  For the two of us we ended up paying a little under $7.  I didn't think that was too bad.  And the bowls were pretty big, it'd be easy to fill that thing up!!

~7~

Finally, just wanted to mention that today was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  There is a lot about this day on the website October 15th.  I lit three candles this evening starting at 7pm for my three babies.  I'd like to see a larger public event in my city to commemorate this day.  But I think I'll start with my church first.  I may talk to our rector soon about doing something next year.  A year to plan should be plenty of time.  Any ideas?  Did you attend a public event?  What did they do?  Was it at a church or somewhere else?

Don't forget to head over to Conversion Diary and check out the Quick Takes from many, many other bloggers.

7 Quick Takes vol. 6

For more Quick Takes, check out Jen Fulwiler's blog Conversion Diary, where she is on vol. 100, for her Quick Takes and links to many other's.  Hope you enjoy!

For my past few Quick Takes posts I planned a little ahead.  This week, that didn't happen.  So I'm winging it!

~1~

I finally started going back to the gym this week!  Made it a whole two days.  It's a slow start, but it is a start.  I've been slacking off on the diet and exercise thing, but luckily I've been maintaining.  Hopefully this means a little exercise will jump start some loss again.  We'll see.

~2~

Monday evening I attended a talk sponsored by the University of Kentucky Students for Life organization.  The speaker was Rebecca Kiessling, who had been adopted and found out when she was 18 that she had been conceived through rape.  It was a pretty powerful talk.  I wrote a post about what I took away from her talk.  Go check it out if you have a chance.  The post includes a link to her webpage as well.

~3~

My husband and I want to one day sell our house.  But we didn't feel like we needed to move while it is just the two of us.  We think this house will fit us fine for one baby, but after that we feel that we need something a bit bigger.  But due to our three losses, we keep putting off our plans.  After our last miscarriage we decided to go ahead and move forward, with or without a baby.  It'll happen one day and we are now in a position financially to afford a new home.  So we're shooting for next spring.  In the meantime, that means fixing up this house.  We redid the kitchen last year.  Our current project is the front of the house.  I wanted to hire a contractor to completely replace the columns and railings on the front porch, hubby decided differently.  So he spent some time last weekend stripping the paint and fixing up the rusted areas above the windows and doors.  Tonight he started priming, he'll finish tomorrow and hopefully paint.  Then we go shopping!!  That's my favorite part.  We'll buy trim to finish the columns off and new light fixtures for by the door and on either side of the garage.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have much better curb appeal.  I'll post a picture eventually.  Unfortunately I did not take a "before" pic.

~4~

Twice in the last couple months I've gotten involved in conversations that somehow evolved into a debate on the clergy sexual abuse scandal.  I find myself defending the Church on charges people throw at it based on misinformation they have heard through the media.  It's very frustrating, as I'm sure many others who have been in the same position know.  I'm considering writing a bit more about my feelings on this topic, once I can get all my thoughts together in some sort of coherent manner.

~5~

This past Sunday I had a meeting in the town just north of me.  I'm a city girl and I live on the north end of my town.  So just two miles from my house I was already in what I consider the "country."  Whether or not it is, I don't know.  But no traffic lights, few houses, and long windy roads equals country to this city girl.  What I thought was funny was how comfortable I was driving on these roads.  Winding through areas I hadn't been before, roller-coastering over the hills without adjusting my speed (too much), and enjoying the expansive fields and open areas.  I still prefer to live in a city, but it is nice to drive through such pretty areas.  And I think my cute little car (a Honda Fit) makes it even more fun to drive through such an area.

~6~

The meeting I went to was at a little country church.  Amazingly only about 20 minutes from my house.  As I pulled in I noticed a historical marker by the road in front of the church.  It looked like a really cute little church, but unfortunately I didn't get to see the inside.  Our meeting was in a small building behind the church.  I did learn, however, that it is the oldest church building not only in our diocese (Lexington) but also in the Diocese of Covington, from which we had been split off in the late 1980s.  I didn't get a chance to read the historical marker when I left (it really required walking down to the street to read, which I didn't get a chance to do).  So I have several reasons to go back there!  Good thing it isn't too far away, maybe we'll venture up there for a Sunday Mass sometime.

~7~

This is my first post using a new template in blogger.  I recently updated my settings so I could add Tabs on the top of my page (which I haven't had time to work on, so nothing is there yet).  I don't know if this is the reason for this new template or if blogger just happened to update things at the same time that I had made some changes as well.  It was a little startling at first, but I do like that I can see what things will look like on the actual post rather than the HTML, although I can still easily switch to the HTML view and edit that way as well.  I'm a bit annoyed that when I change the justification (left justify vs. center) it doesn't necessarily seem to take the first time and I have to click on it a second time.  Maybe it's a user problem too, who knows.  I'm sure I'll get used it eventually.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Conceived in Rape: Rebecca Kiessling

I stayed late at work tonight to attend a lecture being sponsored by the UK Students for Life organization. The speaker was Rebecca Kiessling, a lawyer and pro-life speaker who was conceived in rape. For her full story, the stories of others who were also conceived in rape, and more, check out her website.

Her talk was great. She had a great style for speaking with college students and her story of discovering that she had been conceived in rape was truly amazing. To hear how it effected her perception of herself for so long was remarkable, especially how she moved beyond it. Most notable of course was her emphasis on putting a face on the issue of abortion. As someone who is a product of rape, she is a face for all those people who think abortion should still be an option in the case of rape.

I was struck by the connection she made so vividly between the value of every life (hers and everyone else in the room), the false promises of feminism, and the tragedy of abortion. The feminists tell women that they can't handle being a mom at that time of their life, that they aren't strong enough to deal with raising a child, and so on and so on, thus telling them that abortion is really their only option. All that does is make us feel weak and helpless. I don't believe that was the original idea behind feminism. Don't the struggles and challenges in your life make you a stronger person? Isn't it better to give life and give a child the gift of adoption than to murder that child? That child is precious and his or her life is valuable. All our lives are valuable.

But that doesn't mean that our lives always go as planned. Rebecca wanted to be a lawyer; she imagined owning a fancy car and being a wealthy partner in a fancy firm. She did not envision being a mom to five kids, driving a 12-person van, and practicing family law. Her perspective on life is different now because of her own journey of discovering herself and the value of her own life.

Why do feminists make women feel that they can't raise a child alone? Why are these women made to feel that abortion is their only option? Shouldn't the feminist movement be about building women up, helping them when they face difficulties and unplanned events in their lives that will make them stronger in the end? Rebecca is a woman, too. Why is it okay for people to tell her that her mother should have been able to legally abort her? She is here only because abortion was illegal at the time (1968/69). Norma McCorvey's daughter is also walking on this earth today because her mother was unable to obtain a legal abortion. (McCorvey is Jane Roe, from the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.)

I am pro-life, have been for a while. But I got a different perspective tonight. I saw a face on the abortion issue. I was reminded that there are many men and women around, not much older than me, who could have been aborted had abortion been legal at the time of their conception. It's heartbreaking to know that my generation and all those that have followed are missing many of our brothers and sisters.

Abortions in this country peaked at around 1987. When were you born? I sat in that room tonight with a bunch of college students, all of whom were probably born around 1989/90 or thereabouts.

I wonder how many more students could have been in that room tonight.

7 Quick Takes, vol. 5: Respect Life Month

Since this Quick Takes falls on the first of October, which we celebrate as Respect Life Month, I thought I would dedicate this post to that commemoration. For more Quick Takes posts, check out ConversionDiary.com.

~1~
One of my favorite Mother Teresa quotes:
Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

~2~

As you drive up one of the main roads that can be used to get to my church you come up the hill and find yourself at a fork, with the Church right in front of you. In the space between the where the roads split and the church building itself is a large green lawn. Every October we place white crosses in that large space as a tribute to all those lives lost to abortion. I have always found it such a great silent testimony for all those who pass by our church every day. I'm expecting that we'll start putting them out on Sunday after Mass. In the picture on the right from our wedding (we got married in October) you can see some of the white crosses in the lawn behind us.

~3~
The national campaign 40 Days for Life is also going on. Are you participating? My city has one abortion mill and we have people sitting outside of it every day praying for an end to abortion. I haven't been able to get myself to actually go there and watch people enter those doors. One day I hope I can, but to be sitting there knowing that I so want to be pregnant and have to watch others destroy the life they are carrying is too much for me right now. But I'm praying for all those who are there praying, all the women who feel that abortion is htere only choice (that they will be educated about their real choices), and for an end to abortion. If you can't participate yourself, I encourage you to offer some of your prayer time or make some sort of sacrifice for an end to abortion.

~4~
Did you know that 80-90% of children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome before birth are aborted? 80-90%!!! That just blows my mind! This week I heard that the Down Syndrome Association of Central Kentucky was having a "Buddy Walk" this Saturday. I can't participate this year, but I am definitely planning on it for the future. I believe the Buddy Walk is a national event so there may be one near you too. It's worth checking out. If you can't do the walk, you can do what I did and make a modest donation (or larger if you are able) here. (That link takes you to my local DS Association, but if you explore the website some you should be able to find the one in your area.)

~5~
I find it fitting that Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day is during the month of October as well. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. It is held on October 15 each year and I have been participating in lighting a candle for my children the past two years and plan on doing it this year as well. Click here for more information on Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day.

~6~
Abortion is one of the biggest tragedies in our nation today. However, Respect Life Month is much more than that. The focus on abortion is not meant to diminish the other life issues facing our society today. Not by a long shot. Abortion is just one of many issues, but it is also one that has a far-reaching effect, thus why there is such a focus on it. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued this statement on Respect Life Month. In it he addresses a whole host of life issues that we face today. Please take a moment to read it (it's only two pages).

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Finally, I found a wonderful list of resources for Respect Life Month on this website. This was posted on the Diocese of Columbus website under their Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. It's a very comprehensive list, totally worth checking out!