Sweet Niki over at A Catholic Heart for Home, tagged me for a blog hop about writing. It has taken me awhile (Sorry, Niki!) but I finally got to sit down and finish the post.  She asked me to answer four questions then I tag three bloggers to do the same. So here we go…

1. What am I writing?

I have always loved to write, even as a young girl. In my late teens and early 20’s there weren’t blogs. Instead there were underground magazines (or ‘zines), which were basically B&W self-produced booklets. After my reversion, I started my own called handmaid. The first half covered music reviews and photos from local shows in the Christian alternative music scene. The second half was a collection of thoughts about the faith, journal entries and poems. I loved the creative process and kept it up while I discerned if I had a religious vocation or not.

After Brian and I  were married, we decided to join our efforts since we both loved to write and we started Revolution of Love.com. Back then I was newly married and Bella was our only baby. Brian and I both wrote about the Catholic faith and family life but the articles we posted on our website were more serious. I wanted a place where I could just chit chat about daily life so I started the blog. That was over a decade ago.

Nowadays I write mostly about motherhood, homemaking and family/ life happenings. My blog motto is “Little things with great love” because it is what I desire to do…to love God through the caring of my husband and family. God knows that dealing with all the little crosses in mommy life with a patient and charitable attitude is little a martyrdom. Writing about it helps me to keep my attitude on the positive side and to see the blessings disguised under the mess. I want to capture the simple joys of my life. Trying a new recipe or taking a pretty picture or making my messy house more homey, and then sharing it with other women online, feeds my creative hunger and builds new friendships. 🙂

Life is not all daisies and sunshine.

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Well, I don’t know if it is very different since there are so many mommy bloggers out there but I hope I can be an encouragement to those moms who don’t feel like they measure up to the “perfect” moms. I love organizing blogs but I am so messy it’s just sad. (As I type I am trying to see the monitor over a mound of paperwork and random objects.) I am trying to tame the messy beast within me and get my home in order but it is a slow process. However, I like sharing the cleaning projects I do finish in order to say, “See! If I can do it, so can you!”

Also, while other moms post about their running marathons and cross fit classes, I am excited to share how I got off the couch and tried to walk a couple miles without having a heart attack. When they talk about trying to get back into their size 4 jeans, my eyes glaze over. I can’t even relate to the “normal sized” moms trying to get out of a size 14 or 16. Dang it, I’m trying to get into a size 16!

Sometimes I talk about struggling or having a bad day because I want other moms to know that it’s normal to struggle at times. Being a mom is incredibly hard work and it is physically, mentally and spiritually demanding! But God can use us – with our strong points, weak points and quirks – to change the world one diaper and one load of laundry at a time.

3. Why do I write what I write?

I have to admit that I first write for myself. I love the sound of the tapping and the feel of the keys beneath my fingers. I love the smell of blank paper and watching my pen dance across the page. Typing or writing things out helps me to reign in the thoughts that are running around my head. It allows me to express myself in a way that I sometimes can’t verbally. The creative process of blogging – finding the right things to say, taking photographs to suit the subject, and making it look pleasing to the eye, all those creative components energize me and make me smile.

The other reason I write is for the community it builds. There is a real joy when someone comments or tells me that they appreciate what I  have written or that they understand what I am saying because they have felt the same way. It builds a sisterhood and I love that. I love the bond it creates. Sometimes I feel like my online friends know me more intimately than some of my real life friends, but that’s a topic for a different post. 😉

4. How does my writing process work?

Well, it has been sketchy as of late but in general when a thought hits me and I want to expand on it but can’t write at the moment, I make a note on my phone, whether it is a word or a phrase or a few rudimentary ideas. Later when the kids are asleep or playing relatively quietly during the day I’ll go back to those notes. If it is an “easy” topic, I just sit and write. If it is something that is a little harder to express or close to my heart, then I say a prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Sometimes I need to stop typing and finish in the morning so I can have fresh eyes and mind to look it over. Usually, the post will “click” and I feel I did the best I could to express my thoughts. Life is busy and I often don’t have time to do all those steps. Consequently my thoughts will often sit in my draft folder for weeks. I am working on getting things out more often and hopefully this post is just the nudge to get me going. 🙂

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Okay, now the fun part! I get to nominate three fellow bloggers but I’m going to cheat and nominate four since I took so long to keep this blog hop going. Here are the ladies I nominate. (The first pick is a no brainer since she is my sis and an awesome mom. 🙂 )

Elena at Barefoot and Sometimes Pregnant

Elena says: I am mom to five little munchkins and one little saint in heaven. Edith is 6, Frank is 4, Greta is 3, Harriet is 2, Ike is 1 and our little St. Joan went to her Maker on July 11, 2014. I love every moment of being a mom…okay, okay, I admit there are times when I want to sell the kids to gypsies, but the thought never lasts long. 🙂

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Sarah at Fumbling towards Grace

Sarah says: My name is Sarah and I have a wonderful husband “Atticus” and three amazing children: Maggie, Charlie, and Mary Cate. We’re Catholic, by baptism and by choice. We love the Church, warts and all. We strive to follow all of the Church’s teachings. We love taking our scruffy, black dog Sirius to the park. Every Saturday from September through November is Notre Dame football. We’ve been known to conduct a culinary experiment from time to time.

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Erica at Saint Affairs

Erica says: Hi!  My name is Erica.We are a Catholic homeschooling family. We love the Lord, the Catholic Church, and each other.  I am married to my high school sweetheart. I homeschool our three children. In my free time, I enjoy reading, knitting, cross-stitching, gardening, and running. I cook and clean, too, but only because I promised my husband that I would take care of him and our children. I used to scrapbook, but I stopped several years ago. I keep this blog to record what is happening in our life, my craft projects, and the books that we are reading. Occasionally, I write about things like clothes, food, and my struggles with polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility.

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 Christina at A Catholic Reversal

Christina says: Hi!  My name is Christina and I am a Catholic wife to Greg and mother to 6 kids ranging in age from 14 to 7 months.  We are cradle Catholics married in our mid-twenties with a lack luster faith life.  Through a series of (divine) events we discovered Pope Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body were led back to the Church.  Our reversion/conversion has been ongoing for the past 7 years as we have gradually and sometimes feverishly tried to learn the Truths of the faith that we never knew or had barely been exposed to.

Our reversion led us to a deep change of heart as we learned about the Church’s teaching on marriage and contraception.  We had chosen to have a vasectomy after the birth of our 3rd daughter and would come to painfully regret this decision.  By the grace of God we were able to have Greg’s sterilization reversed and have since been blessed with four more children, three of whom are here with us.

I hope to share about the joys, struggles, and other what nots of going from a family of 5 to a family of 8.  We have had many reversals in our marriage especially since our conversion led to many new family members.  As if growing our brood to 6 wasn’t enough, we will also be homeschooling some of our children this fall!

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Okay, the writing torch has been passed. I hope you enjoy getting to know these Catholic blogging mamas. 🙂

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