Ten Months of Silence is Too Long

Hello blogging world!! With the exception of my recent Easter post, it's been a while. Like, ten months! You wouldn't know it, but I do think about this little blog of mine quite regularly. I keep wanting to write, keep getting distracted, and then nothing happens.

Quite a while ago I even questioned why I keep this blog going at all. Blogging certainly isn't what it used to be. With so many different social media outlets available now that allow everyone to create short content and get maximum exposure, I know many bloggers are no longer blogging as much and instead are making use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (and whatever else is popular these days) to interact with readers and create communities.

As for me, I really do prefer this platform. So I want to continue this little bitty blog of mine and I do hope to be a bit more regular. Hopefully more than every ten months! Let's definitely hope for a bit more there.

So here we go!!

First, after looking over the last couple posts I did do (wow, those are old!!), a bit of an update is in order. [And I promise to stop using the word "bit" now.]

In one of my previous posts from spring 2016 I announced that I had submitted my resignation at my job of almost 16 years. In August I had my last day and I left with many wonderful memories and promises that I'd be back to visit (and I have). It was bittersweet. I loved that job for a long time; the last few years were starting to feel hard. I still liked aspects of it but my desire to be there had definitely started to fade. I miss the people, but I was definitely ready for something new.

Once I was no longer working, the boys and I had about 4 weeks at home together before they started school. We didn't do as much as I had hoped in that time period, but we got them set for school (uniforms, supplies, etc.) and we rested and had lazy days. We all just really needed some lazy days.

Since September we entered the world of school. But only partly. I am planning on blogging about this more so you'll have to wait for the details. But, we've really enjoyed this year! Homeschooling in a hybrid or collaborative environment is interesting and it really does feel like the best of both worlds. Like I said, more soon.

We had an unexpected development in our family early this year. Hubby hadn't been feeling well for over a year and had almost no energy most days. Finally in February he got a diagnosis of Celiac Disease. It hasn't been too difficult to transition to a gluten-free diet, but it does have it's challenges. I'll likely share more about this, too. The kids and I are not completely gluten-free, though more so than we were. I am considering going 100% along with Hubby for my own health too, I just haven't bit the bullet yet.

I have plenty of ideas in my head for upcoming blog posts. Let's hope I actually make them a reality. Hope you'll stick with me (whomever is still reading). I'll share more about what school things we're doing at home, other activities, homeschooling pre-school next year, and just whatever random things pop into my head. Oh, and I hope to also blog some on Benedictine Spirituality. If nothing else, it'll benefit me to write about the things that I should be living as a Benedictine oblate.

Blessings for this Easter season to you and yours!

Small Success Thursday: Interviews and Blogging

Another week has gone by and I'm struggling to figure out where my successes are (which is also why I'm doing this so late in the day, too). I'm reminded each week when I do this that because I struggle is exactly the reason I need to do this. So here we go.

#1

I wrote a blog post for Catholic Sistas last Friday. I wasn't sure I was going to get that one off the ground, but it is an introduction to a series of posts I'll be doing over the next year. It is in honor of the Year of Consecrated Life that Pope Francis declared. I'll be interviewing (hopefully) people in consecrated/religious life and sharing those on the blog from now until next January. Hopefully we can also do something on February 2, 2016 for the World Day of Consecrated Life, but I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Anyway, if you want to see my first post it is here: Pope Francis Declares a Year of Consecrated Life. You'll be able to see the interviews on Catholic Sistas as well, just check in on the 3rd Friday of each month, or better yet, subscribe to the CS feed! We'll have a category in the pull down menus at the top for "Year of Consecrated Life" that will get you to all the posts as well.

I'm very excited about this, I have two interviews in hand, one other that I'm expecting to come back to me soon, and the possibility of at least one more plus a few lead for others. I don't know of any other big efforts this year for this Year of Consecrated Life, so I'm excited to be doing this one at CS.

#2

For my novice year as a Benedictine Oblate I have monthly lessons to read and reflection questions to answer. I don't have to submit answers to the Oblate director, but I feel like I should so he knows that I am actually reading them. I had fallen behind, hadn't submitted anything, but had scratched a few notes in the margins next to the questions. I finally went back and reread the five months of lessons and typed up some replies to the reflection questions. Just yesterday I finally sent him my answers/reflections to the first 3 lessons. Only 2 more to go! (Although, I'm expecting to find Lesson #6 in the mail any day now.)

#3

I completed a "featured bloggers" interview for Catholic Sistas. That sounds weird, since I write for CS, but I'm also a blogger on my own (obviously) and when our fearless CS leader said she wanted to do a series of posts with different Catholic bloggers (including any of us) I decided I should. So I managed to fill out the interview and submit it yesterday. It was kind of nice to do because it actually got me thinking more about my blog and what I do (and don't do) here. Plus I've been considering some changes so it offered my the opportunity to do some reflecting on the whole purpose and future direction of my teeny tiny corner of the blogosphere.

Speaking of interviews, I also participated in the "Working Mother" interviews that Erin McCole-Cupp conducted as a promotion for her novella Working Mother. My interview went up today, so go check it out HERE.

For more Small Success Thursday posts, go check out CatholicMom.com. It's always a fun time!

While I wasn't writing here ...

... I was still contributing over at Catholic Sistas.

Although, I've cut back on my contributions over there slightly. I was handling a 7 Quick Takes post there once a month, but I have handed that on to someone else. I help her out some with it, but mostly just logistics. She's handling the ideas and writing the posts.

My usual once a month post is still there every third Friday and I've apparently been neglecting sharing those posts with my readers here. So I thought I'd share the links to my last few posts.

"7 Quick Takes Friday: Role Model Saints for Dads"

In honor of Father's Day in June, I used my last 7QT post to explore some saints that are good role models for dads. St. Joseph is in there, of course, and 6 other great saints or blesseds.

"Marriage: A Catholic Understanding"

I asked my Catholic friends to describe marriage in 5 words or less and compiled them for this post. I got a whole range of responses and it was fun to see the variety. A couple to whet your appetite:

Two imperfect people walking together.

The foundation of the family.

Two words: redemptive suffering.

I like it a lot.

"The Revolution of John XXIII: The Second Vatican Council [Review]"

My first official review! I was so excited to have this opportunity. This movie appealed to my fascination with both history and the history of the Church. I learned a lot while watching it.

"The Assumption: Finding Mary in the Darkness"

A short excerpt:

At a young age I developed a fear of death. I don’t know what it was that caused me to fixate on this. It wasn't the death of a relative or family friend. Not that I recall, anyway. I would often find myself lying in bed at night thinking about what happens to a person in death. My imagination ran wild during my bouts with insomnia at a young age. Often my mind would zero in on a feeling of complete and utter emptiness or nothingness. For a young girl, this was incredibly scary.

"Do You Fit God In Or Do You Have An Appointment?"

My September post was a short one (I was out of town and didn't finish it prior to my trip, so ...). But I ask an important question and was hoping for some good comments and maybe some discussion. And I did get some good comments. Check it out and leave a comment if you have something to add (or just to say hi).

I hope some of these sound intriguing enough to go check them out. More updates to come very soon. Still trying to come up for air.

Now on Bloglovin'

I started using the blog reader service Bloglovin'. I was interested in seeing what it was and checking it out, but I still really like Feedly. So I'll be using Feedly mostly, but using Bloglovin' some too just to see how it all works.

Anyway, if you are interested in following me on Bloglovin' check it out here:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Bored Puppy Syndrome and Other Odds and Ends

Recently a friend of mine referred to her young children as bored puppies. The reference was to the craziness that seems to come out of nowhere when it is time for quiet time or nap time or bed time. I immediately realized that I too have a couple of "bored puppies." Every. Single. Night.

We have the same bed time routine every night. It hasn't changed in months and months. But that doesn't matter. Put them to bed, turn out the lights, crack the bedroom door ... and then the partying begins.

Part of the issue is that it is still light outside at this time of year. That certainly doesn't help things. You leave two three year old boys in a semi-dark room for just a couple of minutes and the chatter starts. That chatter quickly escalates, especially if no one goes in to put a stop to the madness!

This was Monday night. Which really isn't any different than most any other night. I was feeding Silas in his room listening to things slowly get out of hand in the room down the hall. Nothing like two bored puppies chewing up everyone's shoes and nothing being done to stop it. At least in this case there was no destruction. But still ...!

By the time I was finally able to put Silas down (who was only half done and didn't care for being stuck in his crib when he wanted his second course) I walked into the other room to find Bored Puppy Syndrome in full bloom: they were in the opposite beds, there was lots of giggling and shrieking, stuffed animals went flying through the air, and bed sheets were all twisted up. Honestly, I have no idea how I managed to NOT laugh at the antics. I play mean mom on TV, but really I'm laughing on the inside.

The amazing thing is how quickly these two little guys can hop back into their beds and have all the stuffed animals back in place. Two seconds flat. Seriously! Those are some mad skillz!

Threats of timeout, a chat with Hubby, and then I managed to get back to Silas. I continued to listen to things escalate once again (they just can't help themselves) and watched as Hubby enforced timeout. Eventually we had two sleeping boys. It just takes us an hour or more to get there. It is so much like watching bored puppies it's surreal.

In other news, Silas is now 6 months old and I did not get a picture of him on the day of. But we're finally having some professional pictures done this coming weekend and I can't wait to see some beautifully done pictures of all three boys! He also had his 6 month well visit and he's doing well. He's growing and gaining weight but apparently plateauing on the growth charts. He's healthy though, so we're not concerned. I'm going to take him back in a month just for a weight check and as long as he's going up we're not going to worry about it. He may just be a peanut. That's okay with me.

We did attempt to start him on some rice cereal, but it didn't go over very well. He was completely confused by the spoon. The boys had no interest until well past 7 months old, so I'm tempted to just put it away and wait. Hubby thinks we should keep trying. "We" would prefer to wait, but "he" is welcome to keep at it if that's what "he" wants to do.

Finally, I forgot to post here that I had an article up on Catholic Sistas this past Friday. Check out Marriage: A Catholic Understanding when you get a chance. I was especially surprised that Big Pulpit linked it up on their Friday Extra post. Never would have guessed that in a million years, but very honored by the link up.

Speaking of Catholic Sistas, if you don't follow the blog, I encourage you to check it out. We're currently working on a series of posts on the Anima Christi prayer (part 5 went up on Monday), there is a series started on Proverbs 31, and this coming Thursday I put up a guest post that is a letter from a mom to her unborn daughter who is not expected to live very long after birth (prayers for all of them, please!). The Thursday post will bring tears to your eyes! I'm amazed too at how this worked out. I won't go into details, but as it turned out, Thursday is also the day this precious baby will be induced. Putting the post up that day is a total coincidence. God works in amazing ways!! Anyway, all I can say is, we have a lot of good stuff going on at the blog. Posts go up usually four days a week and we have a lot of great talent.

There's a brief update on the goings on in these parts. I've been so sporadic with my blogging lately, but I do like to share when I can. I'm hoping to do another Lawn Chair Catechism post this week, too (I missed last week). Hopefully you'll hear more form me soon!

What Every Catholic Should Know: 7 Quick Takes

Today I have a post up over at Catholic Sistas as part of the 7 Quick Takes series. In this installment I list (with the help of the other sistas) 7 things that every Catholic should know.

I tried to keep the list brief and added links and references to the Catechism. In many ways it should be a review or a way to build a bit more knowledge on something you already know as a Catholic. The intent was not to address things that Protestants don't understand about our faith or to provide Catholics with answers to questions from their Protestant friends or family members.

Quite simply, what should you as a Catholic really know? That's the goal of this post.

The list could be a lot longer, but I only had 7 spots. So it is what it is. But that doesn't mean you can't add to the list. Come on over and check out today's 7 Quick Takes post, Catholic Catechesis installment and leave us comments with what else you would add to the list. Add any references too if you can easily find them.

This, hopefully, is a great post to file away somewhere to refer back to when you might need it. Especially with additional comments added on.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Things I Contemplate Over

I have a new post up today over at Catholic Sistas in which I reveal a recent contemplation I had over a diaper change. The whole idea was what a privilege it is to do this often unrewarding task.

In writing the piece I mostly was thinking of my thoughts from that one particular day. However, it did briefly occur to me that I have this privilege where others do not. Where I almost thought I never would either. I didn't include that in the post, that wasn't my point, but it is definitely another way of looking at it.

When you suffer from multiple pregnancy losses or infertility, being able to change your own child's diaper is looked at much more as a privilege. It's something I don't take for granted, this ability to tend to my child's basic needs. I have three children who I was not able to do this (and many other things) for.

So you get some additional thought from me on this topic just from stopping by here. But don't just stop here, I sincerely hope you'll head over to Catholic Sistas and check out today's post, Contemplation Over A Diaper Change.

Look forward to seeing your comments there!

A Saturday Post

I've learned that posting daily is not in my temperament. But here it is, day 6 and I'm posting something. Probably a quick one, please ignore any grammatical infractions and misspellings. Thanks!

I actually just spent the boys' naptime working on a post, but I think I'm going to get it set up for tomorrow. Needs some proofing and maybe a few cuts. Maybe not.

In the meantime, I'm posting today just to post and say I did it.

We went to a birthday party this morning. It was a pool party. You'd think at the end of July it'd be warm with the sun shining. But no. It was a nice cloudy day with temps in the upper 70s. It even rained earlier this morning and I think we had a few drops of rain during the party.

Most of the kids there were not deterred by the cloudy cool day. They jumped right in and had a great time in the pool. My two wouldn't even put a toe in. I tried to get Ethan to put his feet in and learned that he's capable of a mid-air split.

Next summer we'll be in neighborhood with a pool and I hope to get the boys in some sort of introductory swimming lessons. How can a child of mine be so afraid of the water??

And speaking of the new neighborhood, Hubby did not come with us to this morning's pool party and instead working on packing non-essentials around the house. This coming week is our big move. Carpet goes in on Monday, granite people come out Monday afternoon, my parents come up on Tuesday, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning on Tuesday, and then we'll be moving what we can on Wednesday and the movers move everything else on Thursday.

Busy week ahead. I guess in a way, these 7 posts in 7 days gives you a chance to "see" me again in the blogging world for a little bit before I'm on a brief hiatus. One more post for tomorrow!!

7 Quick Takes Friday, v. 53

~1~

I hadn't realized that I had been neglecting 7 Quick Takes. My last one was in March. This is July!! I've been doing some on Catholic Sistas once a month, but not here. Oh well, my brain only stretches so far.

~2~

We had a retreat at work on Thursday. As part of the day we had "lightning talks." Basically a series of talks by different presenters, each presentation being 5 minutes or less. When you hit your 5 minutes, you get gonged and your presentation is over. Whether you were done or not. I was one of the lucky ones to do a presentation. I was asked by my supervisor to organize one for the team I manage, which meant I was going to be doing the presenting. So I collected the info, made a PowerPoint, practiced, edited it down A LOT, and timed myself some more. I got it down to 4:30 or 4:45. But during the actual presentation, I must have slowed my speech down a little. I got gonged. Luckily I was only one slide from the end anyway, so I got most of my info in. 5 minutes goes by FAST!!

~3~

My boys are so cute! I love seeing their personalities coming out more and more. Peter has this thing with lining things up. And he's so proud of himself when he finishes. All the cars in the toy basket and anything else that he can get to work, all end up in a straight line across the floor or on the couch or wherever he finds a spot. He has even started lining up his food, plate, and cup when we're at the table. The funniest part is watching Ethan's reaction to all this. He either completely ignores it and does his own thing, which is nice, no arguments. Or he steals one item from Peter's line and Peter goes ballistic. I swear Ethan is purposely antagonizing his brother. Yet, on some occasions Ethan starts helping Peter out. At those times, Peter is good about it and lets him. I love watching them when Ethan helps Peter line up all the toys. It's so cute to watch them working together so well.

~4~

House update: The basement carpets have been cleaned and it looks like the second floor carpets will be replaced early next week. Yay!! I'm looking forward to a clean look. Now I just have to go over their sometime and clean the rest of the floors. There is so much dog hair and other crap all over those floors. Ugh, I hate it. 

~5~

It's been on my mind for a while now to write a post about the phases of our lives and how that impacts our ability to be more or less active in our parishes. This has been swirling around in my brain for a while after having conversations with two different friends at two different times. I've been thinking about it more tonight because Hubby and I recently started discussing whether or not we want to get more involved in something at our parish. The timing seems all wrong, but at the same time a lot of other things seem to be lining up in favor of this. So I'm not too sure yet. But it is getting me thinking again about that post idea. Maybe I'll try to make that my Saturday post. [Don't hold your breath.]

~6~

Can you believe I have posted 5 days in a row?? I haven't posted this much all year! It's been fun, not too stressful, but still a challenge to do. I don't think I'm a post-a-day kind of girl. The weekend is going to be my biggest challenge (maybe I can get two posts written on Friday night). So I've learned so far that I can post a little more frequently and it doesn't seem overly stressful to do so, but daily is not going to ever be my strong suit.I think 2-3 times a week is probably my max. But this has been fun as an experiment.

~7~

And speaking of the weekend, I hope everyone has a good one! We will be going to a birthday party on Saturday and then spending the rest of the day packing as much as we can and taking things over to the new house. Although Hubby may be ripping out carpet, so I may just be home with the boys and packing what I can. Next week is going to be the big push!

For more Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary!

7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge and Some News

I saw Jen. F. of Conversion Diary post about doing a 7 posts in 7 days challenge. My first reaction was to dismiss it. I've barely had time to do much posting on this blog all year and I didn't feel like I wanted to get bogged down in trying to post for 7 straight days.

But then Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting at my desk catching up on blogs and email, Hubby is at the grocery store and the boys are napping. It's quiet and peaceful and I'm feeling relaxed and I see Jen's post and I think, "okay, what the heck! I have time!"

Ah, the deception of quiet!!

So I'm in! I'll try to post 7 posts in 7 days. "Try" being the operative word here. It is time for me to pick up the slack some, so this comes at an opportune time. I figure even if I don't get all 7 in, even doing half is more than I've done in a long time.

For my first post, I thought I'd share some exciting news. Today (this morning, in fact) we are closing on a new house. Surprise!!! Those that know us in real life got the news just a couple weeks back. We were pretty quiet about this change considering that we only moved to our current home about 16 months ago. Honestly, it comes as a bit of surprise to us too.

Although we had been talking about selling again, and buying again and moving AGAIN, we figured we'd wait until at least next year, maybe even a year after that. But the market started really hopping around here and especially in our neighborhood. So we listed, had an offer by day three, and worked out all the negotiations by day four. We went looking at homes ourselves on day two of our house being on the market and so we were able to put in an offer the day after we worked out the deal on our house.

As of this past Friday we closed on our current home. We are still here under a post occupancy agreement and are basically renters for the next two weeks. Later today, after our closing, we are getting the new house measured for new carpet on the second floor. We hope to have the installed before we do any major moving. Then we need to get a granite person in the house this week sometime to see what their recommendation is for replacing a section of granite so we can get a better, more functional sink. A lot is happening over the next two weeks!!

This move helps us out in some ways. We are moving into a house that is comparable in size but set up very differently. All the bedrooms will be on the second floor again!! Yay!! We'll also have a backyard that isn't so shady that we can't plant a garden. Actually, there is already a garden area at this house (neglected, but there) so we plan on using that starting next spring. The house is also cheaper than the house we are currently in. We are saving some money there which will be nice.

For my posts this week you may get many more updates and hopefully some pictures as we start the journey of moving to a new home with two toddlers and a 20 week high risk, pregnant momma. Lots of fun to come!!

7 Quick Takes at Catholic Sistas

It's a little later in the day than I usually post, but I wanted to go ahead and get this in here. In case you're wondering where I've been, I'm still writing over at Catholic Sistas. And I have lots of ideas for posts I want to do over here as well. Eventually I'll get to those too.

In the meantime, I polled the Ink Slingers at Catholic Sistas about their favorite blogs. Today's Quick Takes post is a sampling of some of the blogs they shared with me, as well as some of my own favorites. Our only requirements were that the blogs were Catholic and that none of them on our list were written by any of us. We didn't want to appear too biased.

So come check out the Sistas' favorite blogs (or as many of them as I could squeeze into one post without going overboard) and then leave us a comment with some of your favorite blogs. And shameless plugs for your own are more than welcome!!

A Sweetest, Nicest, Beloved, Welcoming Award!

I mentioned a little over a week ago that I was given a blog award. I was stunned, to say the least. But here now, finally, I am getting around to sharing the award and all the things that go with it. So I am pleased to present, the Liebster Award:

I was given this by Nancy who blogs at The Breadbox Letters (among other blogs and places she writes). I love her blog and if it wasn't her granting this award to me, she'd surely be on my list. And I want to quote Nancy in what she said about this award:

What is the "Liebster Award," actually?  The award is given to up and coming bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers.  From what I understand, liebster is German for: "sweetest," "kindest," "nicest," "dearest," "beloved," "valued," "endearing," and "welcoming."

This award is supposed to be fun. So along with receiving it, there are a few things that I have been asked to do. Here are the five "simple" rules for accepting the award:

1. List 11 things about yourself
2. Answer the questions that the nominator has posed for you.
3. Nominate 11 up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers
4. Create 11 questions to ask the nominees
5. Go to the page of each nominee and tell her about her award

Simple, right? Hopefully! I always struggle a bit with these kinds of things (listing things about yourself and coming up with questions for others), but I'm going to give it a try. So here are 11 things about me:

1. I almost never wear make-up. I do for special occasions, like a wedding or a formal dinner or something, but generally, no, I don't. The last time I went to use my make-up (in November) my foundation pump was actually clogged up by the dried up make-up. Maybe I should use it a bit more often.
2. I'm shy and very quiet around new people or in large groups. I have to know the person or persons really, really, really well for me to be more open. Or have a glass of wine in hand.
3. I often worry that people find me unfriendly due to #2 above.
4. I am a musician (sort of), BUT ... I do not sing, I don't know much about choral music or Broadway musicals, and my classical listening preferences are usually for instrumental music, not choral music. Why do people always assume I am a singer?
5. When I was a kid I wanted to be famous. Famous at what? No idea. Just famous. I really had no clue when I was a kid.
6. I am in awe of writers who can write about an experience that was difficult, exhausting, traumatic, or demanding and make it sound funny. To all you who can make readers laugh through your difficulties, I tip my hat to you. I admire that kind of witty writing.
7. I love York Peppermint Patties. LOVE! If you ever need to get on my good side, just come by with a bag of those.
8. I find coming up with 11 things about myself very difficult. I wonder if that makes me a boring person or just a person with a horrendous memory?
9. I started writing sometime during elementary school (around 4th grade, maybe) and kept it up until sometime around 10th grade. I always wanted to be a writer, but my focus changed around that time. I guess I've been trying to find my way back the last few years.
10. I tend to write most of my blog posts at night and have them post the next morning. Except for this one. I'm once again home sick, so I'm using my time to do this post.
11. I used to always read fiction, but now I almost never do. These days I prefer to read things that challenge me, make me think, or help me grow as a person. I think that's why I like reading blogs as much as I do.

And now for the questions Nancy asked in her post:
1. If you won a trip to anywhere, where would you go?
I would go to Europe somewhere, not sure where exactly, but it would definitely be in Europe.
2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
One year my dad read James and the Giant Peach to my sister and I, a little bit each night. I always loved that! Years later when the movie came out (and I think we were already adults by then), he gave us each a copy of the newest edition for that Christmas. That was very special because usually my mom handled all our Christmas gifts, but this one he went out and did totally on his own. I'm not sure my mom even knew about it until we opened them Christmas morning.
3. What is your favorite season?
Fall
4. Favorite kind of music?
Instrumental chamber music, usually wind instruments. Mozart, Beethoven, Reicha, Danzi, and many others.
5. If you could spend tomorrow with one canonized saint, who would it be?
St. Gianna Beretta Molla. I think I could use the advise and perspective of another faithful Catholic mom who worked outside the home.
6. What is your favorite Scripture? (either chapter or verse, or a whole book)
I did a Bible Study once on the Gospel of John. I don't know it as well as I would like, but I find John fascinating because it has so many layers. Specifically, I love John chapter 6. I don't know how anyone can read John 6 and not see the Eucharist there. Beautiful!
7. If you were dressing up for an elegant evening out, what would you wear? ...
I'd probably have to go shopping if it was something really elegant.
8. ... and where would you like to go?
Oh! Well, if I get to choose ... probably a symphony orchestra concert and a nice dinner out.
9. Who has modeled the Christian life for you, or taught it to you, in an inspiring way?
I think this is hands down my husband who has always left me in awe of his knowledge of the faith and his humble ways.
10. What is your favorite poem?
"I'm nobody, who are you ..." by Emily Dickinson. Thus the title of this blog.
11. How do you like to relax and wind-down?
How I *like* to do this versus how I actually do this are two different things. I tend to veg-out in front of the TV when I am in need of winding down. I wish I could just pick up a book or something instead.

And now, my list of 11 nominees. In some cases I don't know how many followers these blogs have. If they have a widget listing followers it's pretty easy, if not ... it's a bit impossible to tell. So whether these are all "up and coming" blogs or not, I don't know. In any case, these are some blogs, in no particular order, that I enjoy and I'm happy to nominate for the Liebster Award:

Pass the Flu Bug Please

Meagan

Candid Catholic Living

The Confused Homemaker

Percolating Petals

My Favorite People

Cheerios and Lace (hasn't been updated in over a year, but she writes really well and it's such a pretty blog. Hopefully, she'll come back one day.)

Franciscan Mom

Fear Not Little Flock

Theological Librarian

Lox Populi

Phew!! That was harder than I thought it was going to be! Many of the above blogs are friends of mine, some I discovered through Facebook, and a couple I discovered years and years ago when I first started reading blogs and I still follow them. I'm not sure what the definition of "up and coming" is supposed to be, but all these blogs had less than 200 followers on any sort of Following widget they had up on their blog. If they did not have any sort of follow widget, then I added them anyway. Just because.

So, to my blogging friends who I've nominated for this prestigious Liebster Award, I hope you'll participate. If you don't feel you have the time, to write a post like this, please accept the award anyway. I know I have many busy mamas on the list above. And here are the 11 questions I am asking of you (though I'm stealing a few from Nancy, because she asks good questions), should you choose to participate:

1. What is your favorite prayer?
2. What volunteer activities are you involved in?
3. What do you like most about having a blog?
4. What is your favorite childhood memory?
5. What most makes you smile?
6. What is your favorite religious icon, statue, or other image?
7. If you could spend tomorrow with one canonized saint, who would it be?
8. What is your secret favorite indulgence? ...
9. ... And, do you have to have a hiding spot in your house for it?
10. Who has modeled the Christian life for you, or taught it to you, in an inspiring way?
11. Chili: beans or no beans?

And with that, I am done. Thanks to Nancy for the Liebster Award. This post took a long time but it was kind of fun, too. Now I'm off to let my 11 nominees know that I have bestowed this award on them as well.

The Non-Resolutions-In-Late-January Post

If you remember, I took a short break from blogging beginning at the end of November. It wasn't a complete break since I still added an occasional  post here and there and continued writing over at Catholic Sistas. The break was really a good way to just focus on other things for a while without feeling any pressure to keep something new and fresh going on here.

Plus ... well ... I just had a lot going on.

And I still have a lot going on. Somehow there is always something.

Regardless, I am picking up writing again when I can, but I liked not feeling like I had to write something. Not that I have any pressure from anyone but myself, but myself can be pretty demanding sometimes. Myself is learning to be less demanding and I am reconsidering what I want to use this blog for.

I want this blog to reflect more who I am. Yes, I did read Jen's post about being authentically yourself, but no that is not what inspired me to think about this. It was actually on my mind during my little blogging "break" in December and I spent a bit of time reflecting on that. Jen's post helped articulate what was already in my head and I so appreciated that because she is definitely more articulate than I am.

I don't yet have any plans for what I am doing next. But I have a lot of things in my life I want to work on. So I think for starters, while I am going to try and get back to blogging on a regular basis, my "schedule" may be a little less than it has been in the past. Not that I was even a daily poster anyway. I know it helps to post as regularly as possible, but I don't think my mission is to gain readers. So if you're here, great! I hope you stick around. If I get new readers over time, that's great too. I hope those who are here enjoy reading what I post. But I'm not going to be trying to be a "big time" blogger.

That's one thing that will help the pressure I tend to put on myself. As for everything else in my life ....

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. I've done them in the past, they never last long. It's now the end of January anyway, so we're way past the period where everyone posts about how they are not making New Year's resolutions and instead doing x, y, or z, blah, blah, blah. So consider this my non-resolutions for the foreseeable future.

I have a new goal to be done with any sort of emailing, blogging, blog/internet reading, or Facebook time by 11 o'clock each night. I managed to do this for a short period in January and then I got sick and my desire to follow any self-imposed rules fell by the wayside. Whatcha goin' to do.

If I can do the above, I also plan on doing a little bit of reading from an actual book (or maybe the Kindle) before bed. The goal is about 5 pages or so from a good Catholic book. I also added a new tab at the top of the blog to my reading list for the year. Feel free to check it out.

Speaking of good Catholic books ... I am not looking for recommendations. Sorry. I actually have tons of good books that I've never read. I'll be lucky if I read 12 books this year and I guarantee I have more than that around the house. [Probably mostly still in boxes because we have nowhere to put books currently, but I'll figure that out as I go.]

I'm also taking a new look at what I'm choosing to read. I'm not anywhere near the spiritual level required to read some of the books that I have; books that were purchased because they looked so interesting and came so highly recommended. I'm being more realistic with myself. I get bogged down in some of those books. I need to take a step back and read something I'm going to get more out of, something that will lead me down the right spiritual path, something that will prepare me for higher levels of spiritual reading down the road. I think I'll be a lot more successful this way.

Finally, I need to get up when my alarm goes off in the morning (as opposed to an hour later) and spend at least 15-20 minutes in prayer. If I don't do it then I won't do it at all. I know, because I haven't. It's really a very simple solution to a problem I've been struggling with for a very long time. And yet, I can't seem to implement it.

These things are all works in progress. I think over the next year you'll see more posts on how I am progressing in this area and where I am struggling. It's a journey, I know we all have challenges on the journey and I welcome your thoughts and experiences in your similar struggles during the year.

And with that, I will say goodnight. Because it is already way past 11. C'est la vie!

Keeping Busy, Keeping it Real

The blog has kind of gotten away from me the last week plus. If you've been following the Saturday Smiles posts you know that I've fallen down on the job the last two weeks. I do plan to continue those posts, but sometimes life gets busy.

Busy. Ack! I hate that word. I especially hate using it as an excuse. Everyone's busy. My time isn't any more valuable than anyone else's.

Regardless, things have been a bit crazy. At times like these it is the blog that falls by the wayside. But I'm not giving up, I'm just taking a break and may be blogging a little less from now until the New Year. We'll see, I'm not making any promises.

Right now, my focus (after God, family, and work) is getting through a retreat weekend that is coming up soon. I'm not attending the retreat but I am one of the people working in the background to make it happen. It's also my last retreat to work on, I'm rotating off the group and handing the reins off to someone else. I don't know who that someone else is yet, though. If you could say a prayer that we find someone to replace me and that this next retreat weekend is successful, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

After all that, I am obligated to do two posts in December for Catholic Sistas. One is already started and I'm working on it this week. The second is totally up in the air. Anyone have any ideas for me?

Oh, and then there is this holiday coming up. I can't even think about it yet. I have no idea what I'm getting for my boys for Christmas this year. Hubby and I did decide that we are not doing gifts for each other, but instead we're buying a new TV for our family room. One thing decided!

Finally, I am thinking about adding a couple of things to the blog. I hesitate a bit to do this because the blog is already a bit busy looking. I have two things in mind and may do it as pages at the top rather than adding more stuff to the side bars. The first is a list of my current prayer intentions (thanks to priest's wife for the idea); the second is a list of what I am currently reading. I think both ideas would be good for me to have to keep track of these things. Might as well share it with my readers too.

So that's what's going on with me. I'll be here on and off during the next month and hope to be back blogging regularly in January. I miss it, it's a good outlet for my desire to write. And because I like sharing fun things here too, I hope you'll enjoy this as much as I did:

From Catholic Memes on Facebook

Have a wonderful Advent and Christmas!! I'll post when I can.

7 Quick Takes Friday, no. 50

~1~

I had a few friends over for a prayer group meeting on Tuesday evening. We hadn't gotten together in several months! So it was great to catch up and share what we've all been doing in our prayer lives, what we're currently reading or studying to help us become better Christians, and how we are evangelizing others through how we live our lives. At the end as we started gathering our stuff my friend C says to me, "Oh, I have maternity clothes in the car for you." Okay, I said I'd go out with her and grab them. Then I notice my friend S looking a little surprised and she says, "Wait, do you need them?" She thought maybe someone had inadvertently spilled the beans.

Haha! No, no, I do not need the maternity clothes. C was returning them to me, she had borrowed them during her last pregnancy. We all had a good laugh at that one.

~2~

We bought a carpet for the boys' bedroom. Our house is all hardwood floors and since moving in we've bought one area rug for the living room. We have been wanting something for the boys' room for a long time ans we finally did it. It got delivered Wednesday night during dinner. So after dinner, we put the boys in the playroom and we go up to roll out the carpet. It took us a while to line it up with the pad underneath, but we finally got it. Taking the boys up later was an interesting site. They were fascinated by this softness under their feet. It was funny to watch their reactions! Ethan loved it and kept laying down and putting his face down into the carpet. He also did a lot more crawling than he has done in a long time. And then he discovered that the hard floor was still there on either end, which led to him crawling to one side to see the hard floor and turning around and crawling back to the other to feel the hard floor on the other side. He was so silly!

~3~

What was even funnier was that Ethan immediately laid down on the carpet Thursday morning when I got him out of bed. I think he loves his new carpet.

~4~

I've fallen behind on blogging recently mostly because of perpetual sickness in our home. First Peter was sick, then I wasn't feeling well, then Ethan got sick, then we had an appointment with the allergist who also diagnosed ear infections in both boys, then I got sick again. Through all of this Hubby has remained relatively healthy. He woke up one morning with a frog in his throat causing his voice to sound an octave too low, but he otherwise feels fine. At the moment, he's fine, the boys seem to be back to normal, and I'm (hopefully) shaking off the last of whatever this is. I'm just so tired of being sick!

~5~

On a more positive note: I bought my first Christmas gift of the year this week! It's a gift for my goddaughter. I'm so excited to give it to her. 

~6~

Next week is Thanksgiving! I love this holiday. The pretty fall colors, the cool air, being surrounded by family, the warmth of good food. Most important of all, an entire holiday to give thanks to God for all of our blessings. What could possibly be better than that! 

This year we're having some people over to our house for the holiday. Adults and kids included, we'll number about 13. What are you doing for the holiday? Also, tell me what one dish you must have at your Thanksgiving dinner?

~7~

In just a couple short days I will be celebrating another birthday. I am not one to hide my birthday or my age. I think we should all be proud of our years no matter how many or how few they are. I'll be 38 this coming Sunday. We'll be celebrating with a breakfast date on Saturday morning while Ethan's godmother comes over to watch the boys and her own two children. I hope she'll survive four kids at once: ages 3, 17 months (my boys), and 5 months. She is such an awesome friend!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

For more Quick Takes, head over to Conversion Diary by soon-to-be reality TV star Jen Fulwiler.

7 Quick Takes, vol. 49

~1~

When did my babies become toddlers? Seriously, they walk, they climb up stairs, they talk babble a lot, they are starting to use some sign language, they can tell you what sound a fish makes, and they can point to their noses, ears, mouths, heads, and bellies. I'm amazed at the little persons they are becoming. And I love it! As much as I loved them as babies, I really do like seeing the tiny bits of independence starting to develop in them. So cool!!

And I'm going to have to get a video of the fish sounds, there are just no words to describe it.

~2~

And speaking of the boys and their cuteness ... Ethan suddenly has a great love for dogs. He is fascinated with them! I'm not sure where it came from. We do not have a dog. But he will make some sort of sound when you ask him what a dog says. He loves, loves, LOVES a book we have (thanks, Nanny!) called Doggies. Hubby isn't too fond of this book because it has no plot. Plot is important to Hubby, not so much to the almost 17 month old. There is a reason why the subtitle is "a counting and barking book." Just saying.

There is also a toy dog at daycare that Ethan always has with him when I get there in the afternoon. And he always puts it away in the basket before we leave. This boy loves dogs!!

I've already told Hubby that he's handling the "no, we aren't getting a dog" line when this boy is older and desperately wants a dog of his own.

~3~

This past Saturday was our anniversary. We've been married 5 years now! I can't believe it's been that long and yet, I also can't believe that it's only been 5 years! We celebrated with dinner on the  KY Dinner Train. It was a lot of fun and the food was really good. My foodie husband even said the food was good and it was worth doing again. And let me tell you, that is not a compliment he gives out readily! If you ever find yourself in that part of KY and you're looking for something nice to do, we'd recommend it.

~4~

I have had a very busy week and thus did not do any blogging. I'm hoping to remedy this situation next week. I like blogging if for no other reason than it gives me a chance to write and think out ideas. That didn't happen this week. But that's life, sometimes we have to let some things go in order to do other things. That was my week this week.

~5~

I just realized too that I still haven't done part 3 of my series on why I am pro-life. Oops! It really has been one of those weeks. If you haven't been following, check out part 1 here and part 2 over here. I promise part 3 will get published before too long. Really.

~6~

Halloween is next week! Already. Where did the time go? I went out earlier this week to find a costume for one of the boys (we had something already for one, just needed the other) and I was amazed at how difficult it was to find costumes. Do people buy their costumes as soon as the calendar hits October? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I did see a Christmas shopping commercial on TV last night and it's not even November yet.

By the way, I was looking for a dog costume. Couldn't find one and didn't want to order something online. But I found something just as cute and the boy is too young to understand ... or care. At this age it's all for the parents anyway. And I'm okay with that.

~7~

Finally, I'd like to wrap up this post with a request for your prayers. I have two friends that could really use some extra prayers right now and for as long as you're willing to pray for them. Both have recently lost their spouse. Both deaths were completely unexpected. Both were way too young and leave behind very young children. One of my friends is now without her husband raising her twin 6 year old children. The other is now without his wife, raising his four boys ages 1-10, and looking for a different job, one that will allow him to be home with his family more than his current job does. Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

Have a nice weekend and go visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Tuesday Ten: Jumping on Board

My stop watch is going and here I am. This is totally off the top of my head, no planning, no nothing. I had to do this in graduate school, although I don't know that I was quite as rigorous about it. In other words, I didn't use a stopwatch. But I really wanted to try this and so I'm finally doing it.

I also wanted to do it because I have two blog posts I have to write {this NOT being on of them} and I'm feeling blank. A frustrating place for someone who wants to call herself a writer and is facing two deadlines. But hey, writing for ten minutes like this means I'm writing something and maybe I'll have a few brainstorms in the process.

So let me tell you what I am trying to write. Why not, I have nothing better to do anyway. Hahaha!

First there is the series of posts I started last week which I know left some readers hanging. I don't want anyone to forget and so I really do need to write a second post in the series and get it up this week. So this is a self-imposed deadline. Still, I don't like to keep people hanging. I know what my topic is, I just have to sit down and do it.

But more importantly, I have a post due for Catholic Sistas. Due to publish on Friday morning, which means I technically have to have it set up and ready to go by Wednesday afternoon. I know my topic here as well and this is where I need a little brainstorming. I want to explore the spiritual world from the perspective of children. In 1200 words or less. So I'm not going to go very deep, but I want to present a few things.

I got this idea from a couple different places. First of all around the time of the Feast of the Guardian Angels friends were sharing stories about their guardian angels. If they had seen them, if they knew their name, ways in which they are aware of their guardian angels, etc. The most fascinating stories were those from their children or from when they were children. Then the Gospel reading from a few weeks back from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus tells the apostles to let the children come to him got me thinking too. I struck me in a different way than it usually does. Both of those things combined along with a few other stories friends of mine had shared with me put this idea in my head.

I guess what I'm really looking to do is present these ideas and stories and ask readers for their own experiences. Now I just have to get that written in a coherent way.

And with that it looks like I've used up my ten minutes. Great exercise!

This post is being done under the inspiration of Rachel Balducci at testosterhome.net. I will link up her Tuesday Ten post here once she has it up. But go visit her awesome blog anyway!
Post is up: Tuesday Ten at testosterhome.net

Saturday Smiles, no. 7

How did I recognize God's presence in my life this week?

One morning as I pulled out of the driveway to head to work I was startled by the presence of a huge spider web in my way. It was strung up between a tree on one side of the driveway and a tall bush on the other side. From the window of my mini van I could see the thin threads stretched across the driveway just barely above my eye level. In the very center, directly in front of me was the the intricate, complex spider web. I was startled by the perfection of it and the incredible place it was hanging. Something like this amazes me, that a tiny insect could create such perfection. I don't think it is an accident, I think God created the creatures of the earth to astound us in their beauty and the things they can create. Nature has such an awesome way of showing us how awesome God is.

It also made me sad because I knew it wasn't quiet high enough to clear the top of my van. So I was the only one who got to marvel at God's awesomeness that morning.

Second, I have recently connected with another Catholic blogger that happens to live in my same city. We've been emailing and it has been fun. We've even found a few things we have in common and I find it amazing that God used the blogging world to introduce us. Thank you, God!

What made you smile this week? How were you most aware of God's presence in your life? Share in the comments or link up your own "God moment" post from your blog by clicking the button below and filling out the fields that appear. Don't forget to also include a link in your blog entry back to this one, please. Thanks!

Image source morgueFile

Expanding to Facebook

Come join me on Facebook! I've created a Facebook page for this blog. So if you're on Facebook, I'd love for you to come over and become a fan. Eventually I'm going to get some social media buttons up in this space so it'll be easy to click over and join. But until then, I'll just have to share the link here. 

Become a fan of Journal of a Nobody on Facebook! I'd love to connect with my readers there!!

At the moment I am only posting links to my posts here. I'm sort of in an experimentation phase with this. I know there is a lot out there and no one wants to be bombarded with more stuff on their Facebook newsfeed. So I'm going to be careful about what I post. So for now, I'm sharing the posts here and the daily prayers for the 40 Days of Prayers for our Shepherds, which ends August 9.

Anything else I share through the new Facebook fan page will be few and far between. But I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance for becoming a fan on the Facebook page!

In addition, you may notice a few changes to the look of the blog. I've been debating these changes for a while and finally decide to start making some. I removed several of the saint pictures and moved some other things around. I still want some pictures of saints on the blog, so some of them may return and some new ones may come in as well. Still praying on that one.

Change is always exciting! Don't you think?

7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 44

~1~

Can I just say how cute little boys in little sneakers are!?! Oh my goodness. The cuteness factor just went up by a billion! I'll have to post a picture later, it's on my camera and I just don't have time tonight to download it (and I don't have the patience to deal with Hubby's very slow computer). Their little feet look so much bigger in their sneakers. Thursday was the first time we put them on them. So cute!! 

~2~

It's been pretty dry here this summer until just recently. We have thankfully gotten a lot more rain these past two weeks. Lawns are starting to look somewhat green again and the ban on fireworks was lifted. All those fireworks everyone had bought for the 4th were sitting around until just this past weekend. Saturday night there were pops and booms going on all over the place. I'm hoping it is over now until New Years Eve.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a stick in the mud. But I'm okay with that.

~3~

We had the torrential downpours last week which I mentioned in my Quick Takes last Friday. The rain continued over the weekend with a few strong storms and some lighter rain showers. Sunday evening while I was feeding the boys their dinner I was looking out the glass doors on the back of the house and noticing that the rain looked a bit strange. We have a large covered porch off the back with sliding glass doors. I could see rain coming down along the edge of the porch but not much beyond it. I stepped outside and looked down toward the driveway and this is what I saw:

Notice the left side of the driveway is wet and the right side is dry. The edge of the rain shower was right there. I was standing at the top of the stairs, it was raining lightly directly over me, but I only had to reach my arm out to my right and I couldn't feel any rain. Very strange!

~4~

I also took this picture:

This is the sky right above where I was standing in the picture in #2. The sun was shining down and if you look carefully there are some rain drops visible in the picture. Not far beyond that there is no rain. You really can't get a sense of the rain shower in this picture, but I thought it was pretty anyway and wanted to share.

~5~

For the first time I am seeing a breakthrough with the boys. At almost 14 months old I am getting very tired of feeding them bottles and having to hold them. I can't do anything while I sit between them holding both their bottles for them. But just the other day Ethan actually drank out of a sippy cup. Amazing! It was the fifth one we have tried. Unfortunately he wanted nothing to do with it the next day. In the meantime, Peter has miraculously started holding his own bottle. We knew he could do it, he's been capable for a long time, he just utterly refused. Wednesday evening they BOTH used a sippy cup. I feel like I'm witnessing a miracle! And I'm not exaggerating. If this has been so hard I can't even begin to imagine potty training.

Can I wait until they are 5 for that? Yeah ... didn't think so.

~6~

Because of Pinterest, which I reluctantly joined [because I needed something else to eat up my time like I need a hole in my head], I have been discovering articles and blog posts about blogging. It's been nice to get tips for improving how to write, how to blog, and how to put it all together. Wednesday I stumbled onto this article by Devin Rose which I found very interesting and so "pinned" it to my "Blogging Tips" Pinterest Board. I have been wondering lately about this blog and whether it needs more of a focus. I do tend to have a few main topics I focus on from time to time but this is mostly a multi-topic-blog, albeit with a Catholic spin a majority of the time. Devin's article was encouraging to those of us who write about whatever we feel like at the time. He had some interesting insights, so go check it out. And the comments he got were also insightful, so don't forget to read those too.

~7~

My husband bought a cloud this week. There's a sentence I never would have thought I'd ever say. So anyone know what I'm talking about? Any guesses?

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

Cloud image source: morgueFile