bobbi | Revolution of Love

When I first heard about Hallie Lord’s new book Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter I was ecstatic to find that many of my favorite Catholic writers/ bloggers/ moms were contributors. I preordered my book and when it finally arrived I planned to devour it immediately. Unfortunately, family circumstances prevented me from having much free time and when I did have a moment the book was never within reach. Finally I downloaded the book onto my Kindle & iPhone so I could read it anytime I had a spare moment. I’m so glad I did!
When I told a fellow mom the title of the book she was a bit skeptical – “Style and Sex?” Those were not high on her radar at this time of her life. Another single friend didn’t consider buying the book since she figured it was only for married moms. In reality, there is something here for every Catholic woman (and as this reviewer shows, Catholic men too!) The authors and topics covered are…

Jennifer Fulwiler – How I Fell Out of My Minivan and Found Myself (Catholic Womanhood)
Hallie Lord – Style: Balance, Beauty, and You
Karen Edmisten – God & Godiva
Elizabeth Duffy – Sex, Passion, and Purity
Anna Mitchell – Single and Seeking God’s Plan
Rebecca Ryskind Teti – What Works for You?
Rachel Balducci – Fruitful Friendship
Danielle Bean – We Said Yes (Marriage)
Simcha Fisher – Receiving, Creating, and Letting Go: Motherhood in Body and Soul
Barbara Nicolosi – Plugging In and Embracing Discipleship in the 21st Century
I breezed through the pages loving the sense of humor and honesty displayed but I found myself time and time again stopping and re-reading a sentence because it was as if the Holy Spirit was tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to pay attention to the lesson He was trying to teach me.
Although, I read quickly through the book, it is not sufficient to stop there. I really need to go back and think about the points that stood out to me. There are also excellent discussion questions after each chapter that can be answered alone or within a book club. Because of this I’ve decided to read the book over and dig a little deeper. For the next few Wednesdays (starting April 18) I’ll share with you my thoughts about each chapter. Feel free to read along and share your own thoughts as well.
If you don’t already have a copy you can order it at Amazon (paperback or kindle) or enter the RoL Birthday Contest to try and win a copy – along with some other goodies! 🙂
As a side note: This book is also a great gift! At the last baby shower I attended I gave the new mama a care package of tea, chocolate and this book. A perfect treat when she finally gets five minutes to herself! 😉
Have a great day and we’ll start our discussion next Wednesday (4/18) with Chapter 1. 🙂

Happy birthday, RoL! It’s hard to believe that nearly 10 years ago (it’ll be 10 years in Nov) Brian and I were a young married couple who loved the Catholic faith and loved to write so we started Revolution of Love.com. The following year on April 11, 2003, I started this blog as an outlet to chat about every day life and to have someplace to put fun and less serious posts.

Brian, Bobbi & Bella back in the day.

That was nine years ago! Even though I’ve been around awhile there were some years I took a break from writing and only posted a handful of times. In 2003, I only had 22 posts. In 2011, I had over 100 so I am slowly making time to post regularly. 😉
Whatever the amount, I still want to celebrate being here and the new friends I’ve met along the way so I’m having a RoL Birthday contest! To enter the contest, just leave a comment or send me an email at rol@revolutionoflove.com. (I know the comment box hasn’t been working for some people.) In one month, on May 11, 2012, I’ll randomly pick a winner to receive an RoL care package, which will contain these 5 gifts:
Gift 1 – Choose one of the following Catholic books below. (These are all books I’ve read and loved or I’ve heard great reviews and want to read soon.)

Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter by Hallie Lord

The Catholics Next Door: Adventures in Imperfect Living by Greg and Jennifer Willits

A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms: 52 Companions for Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul by Lisa M. Hendey

The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years: The Nuts and Bolts of Staying Sane and Happy While Waiting for Mr. Right by Emily Stimpson

Gift 2 – Choose one of Carmen Marcoux’s books.

Arms of Love

Surrender

The Parish Picnic (A Children’s Book)

Gift 3 – A Small (4×6) Divine Mercy Icon

Gift 4 – Mystic Monk Coffee or Tea (Your Choice)

Gift 5 – Chocolate (What’s A Care Package without Chocolate?!)
Over the next few weeks I’ll have “Flashback” posts – favorite posts or articles from RoL and the blog and reminders to enter the contest. I hope you enjoy the fun and good luck!

This is going to be a short post since we are on Easter break right now. I tried watching the second part of Great Expectations last night but I was so tired that I kept drifting in and out of sleep until I woke up and didn’t know what the heck was going on. I gave up and went to bed instead. This morning I was able to finish watching and my emotions are mixed.
The storyline itself is rather dark and depressing and I just never really clicked with the actor playing Pip. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the movie; rather, it just was not one of my favorite stories. I was pleased with the bits of redemption that came at the end – Pip reconciling with both Joe and Magwitch. Estella finding love.
My favorite character was Herbert Pocket (the little red headed brat in part 1) who changed his ways and became Pip’s most loyal friend. It is interesting to note that the actor Harry Lloyd who played Herbert is actually a descendant of Charles Dickens. Fun fact. 🙂
Well, we have plenty to watch next week with Julian Fellowes’s Titanic on April 14 and 15.
Plus Masterpiece’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood on April 15th. My DVR will be working overtime!
Have a great day, hopefully, enjoying some gorgeous spring weather! 🙂

“And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22:43)

I have always enjoyed the paintings of Carl Bloch and Gethsemane is one of my favorites. Since I was a child I was intrigued with the thought of an angel consoling Jesus during his agony in the garden. Years later, I heard a priest give a talk explaining that part of Jesus’ agony was carrying the weight and the guilt of all the sins of the world. However, he received strength when he saw all the future souls that would love Jesus and would do their best be faithful to God. That thought always stuck with me.
Another time, I was at confession and the priest talked to me about being a comfort to Jesus. He told me to let my heart be a dwelling place that brings comfort to Christ. I immediately thought of the painting of the angel. It is easy for me to call on Jesus and seek his help but something struck a nerve when the priest told me that I could console the heart of Christ. Since then I have often prayed, “Lord, may I never bring you grief, instead may I be a comfort to your heart.”
I know I have failed miserably numerous times, but today is an especially good reminder that we are all called to be that solace. Whether we are giving our little ones a hug or helping a troubled coworker or sitting before Our Lord in the tabernacle, our love for God and his children brings comfort to Christ.
In these final days of Lent, let us make a special effort to act as that angel in everything we do. Let us be a source of strength and comfort to Jesus in the garden and on his road to Calvary.
Have a blessed Triduum and Easter Sunday! (I won’t be posting again until next week.)
With love,

– I wrote this earlier this morning and then I started cleaning the house. As I was straightening Brian’s desk I saw this book: Consoling the Heart of Jesus. A Do It Yourself Retreat Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by Fr. Michael Gaitley.

I started thumbing through it and it looks really good and talks about the very things that have been on my mind in regards to consoling the heart of Christ. I think this will be the perfect book for me to read next. (There is also a condensed companion book.)

**Taming the procrastinating, ADD, mess cat within me.**

It seems that since the holidays last year, I haven’t been spending any time on my cleaning and organizing projects. However, now that spring it here, it is time to get back to work! I thought I would go over the segments of Operation Clean and Organized that I have done so far and to see if I have been keeping up with the organization.
Vol 1: Cleaning Charts & Recipe Clip Board – My master project list is still being used and I am slowly crossing off the projects as I get to them. The daily cleaning chart is sometimes used (usually when my brain is so scattered I need to remind myself what to do first) and sometimes forgotten (usually when I am running around all day and haven’t been home more than a few minutes.) I still use my clipboard for that week’s recipes all the time. I love it. I’ll have to try and post my almost done recipe binder next week.

Last week, I also added this small fabric board from Target to the little wall on the other side of my fridge. I haven’t put anything on it yet but I love the bright pattern.

Vol 2 – Weekly Menu Board
I still love my menu board and use it every week! I did need to make more blank labels to write in the names of new meals I’ve tried since then.

Vol 3: Shopping Lists & The Outdated Pantry
My fridge shopping list has changed a little but the rest are still working.

Vol 4 – The Cupboards/Pantry (Part 1)
I don’t think I’ll ever be fully happy with this mini-pantry since it is so narrow but so far it is okay. The mini drawers work great. The stacked baskets are okay and I finally replaced the random black one with a white basket.

My only complaint is that when I want something from the bottom basket I have to lift all the others to get my hand in there. I would love to get bins like this from The Container Store but even their mini sized ones are 9 ½ inches wide and my shelf has a depth of 8″ so I wouldn’t be able to close the door. So for now, I will have to stick with what I have.

As for the master pantry lists and rubber band-hook to keep the little kiddos out, still works well.

Vol 6 – The Cupboards/Pantry (Part 2)
The pantry still looks good but I do have to stay on top of it. I did however update my spice rack. The last time I just used mini labels and wrote the names of the spices. When Martha Stewart came out with her Avery labels, I loved the round ones, especially since it had a red border. (In case you haven’t noticed, I love red!)
I think they look a lot better!

Vol 5 – My Desk AND Vol 7 – Book Shelves & Desk Area
My desk area still looks good but it is a CONSTANT job to daily sort out and put away the various things that pile up when I am not looking. However, it is a job I don’t mind doing since it is my little corner of the house and it makes me happy to see it neat and nice looking. Now I just have to work on taming the cords underneath the desk. (BTW, I have to keep the big throw pillow in front of my chair to block munchkin hands from putting cheerios into the CD drive of the computer.)

Earlier this week, I was at the craft store and bought some ribbon and card stock to make labels for the top four bins on my side bookshelf. I got a lot of great suggestions from a commenter (thanks, Kate) but as hard as I tried, I didn’t like the way it looked on these fabric bins. I wanted a plain, clean look. However, I still liked the idea of the ribbon and labels so I used it instead for the baskets I am using to redo our DVD shelf. It worked great for that. (I’ll post the results when I complete it.)
When I bought the Martha Stewart labels for my spice jars I also picked up a pack of oval red border labels. Yesterday I tried sticking one to the fabric bin and it stayed on perfectly (since they were out of reach of curious little hands.) I used some black letter stickers to label the bins and I like the clean look with a minimal amount of money spent.