This post was made years back but it is just as heart felt today.
When I was younger I used to always wonder why people would ask “Where were you when Kennedy died?” I didn’t get what the big deal was. Now when someone asks me “Where were you on 9/11?” I understand perfectly what they were talking about. On 9/11 I was no where near NY. I was living in Pacific Grove, CA with Brian. I was almost 8 months pregnant with Bella. I woke up to kiss Brian goodbye for work and he told me I had better check the news because he saw online that there was news of a terrorist attack.
When I turned on the TV, I first thought a single terrorist flew his own plane into the Twin Towers. Then a realized a regular commercial flight with innocent people on board were made into human bombs. And not just one flight – many of them. I kept thinking that the Twin Tower workers probably never saw it coming but the people on the plane were aware and watching it unfold. I was dumbstruck until all I could do was sob. (Even now its hard to hold back the tears when I think about it.) I don’t think I ever got off the couch that day as I watched and cried. Brian came home and eventually made me turn off the TV so I’d stop thinking about it.
I remember at one point someone told me that it was a shame that I was bringing a baby into a world such as this. For a moment I thought she was right but as I came to my senses I thought – no! This child of mine is a sign of hope! It is a breathe of joy and peace in the midst of evil and darkness.
Two weeks later Bella was born a month premature. (I always wondered if my stress at that time had something to do with it.) Weighing only 3lb, 12 oz she was tiny but had a feisty, fighting spirit and came out fine. My beautiful little Isabella Rose Marie. She was my proof that no matter how troubling things may look or how small and insignificant we may feel, with God, you can find a purpose, a means, and always hope.
Blog Archives
10 Year Anniversary: Where Were You on 9/11?
7 Quick Takes: Memory Lane & NFP Edition
Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.
– 1 –
It’s been nearly eight years since I’ve had this blog and it is about time I do some maintenance on it! I’ve been going through old posts and deleting all the ones with dead links and updating the others with tags. It’s amazing going back and reading where I was so many years ago. It’s a great walk down memory lane.
– 2 –
I also added LinkWithin. However, as the system is getting used to my blog, it is suggesting posts with dead links that have since been deleted. So I apologize if you click on a page that won’t open. Hopefully I’ll get the bugs worked out soon.
– 3 –
Speaking of memory lane, this morning/afternoon we were at Bella’s school for Grandparents Day. There’s a special Mass, a class visit and then each class does a little presentation. It is so funny to see Bella and her friends and how much they’ve grown. They are getting out of that little kid stage and getting closer to tweens. I remember when they were in kindergarten doing their little songs up there and now they are 4th graders making their presentations. Time goes too fast!
– 4 –
To prove it, here is a shot of Bella in kindergarten…
…and Bella today.
– 5, 6, & 7 –
I don’t know if I want to get into this, but since it has been on my mind a lot, Quick Take # 5-7 are rolled into one. (TMI Alert: skip this take if you don’t want to read about fertility, cycles and sex, or lack of it.)
I was talking to my NFP teacher last night. She has been helping Brian and I get through a rough patch in our NFP charting. She told me to let her know how things are going in the next couple weeks and then jokingly said that maybe she could tell by the tone of my blog…but probably not seems it is usually pretty upbeat or positive or whatever the exact word was that she used. I’ve been thinking about that. The last time I wrote about NFP was a couple years after Brian and I were married. Since then I’ve had a love-hate relationship with NFP. When my cycle is “normal,” it is great but when it’s not, it’s a lot tougher.
After Matthew was born my cycle has been really crazy which has required a lot of abstinence…for weeks….and weeks…and weeks with no end in sight. I’m really struggling with being faithful to the church’s teaching and having to die to myself again and again. Normally, I would not mention something so personal and private in a public place especially since it doesn’t just involve me. (But if you are reading this now, then Brian gave me the okay to post this.)
I decided to mention this topic because over the summer Danielle Bean wrote Five Ways I Don’t Love NFP and shared about her concerns and Jennifer Fulwiler gave her take in Bad at NFP and Proud. Their words were encouraging to me and I discussed the topics they brought up with Brian. They gave us that little boost we needed to hang in there and know that there are others who love God, love their Catholic faith and are trying to be open to new life yet are struggling with some of the challenges of NFP. So if by chance you are one of those people struggling, hang in there. We’re in this together. I’ll say a prayer for you. Please say a prayer for me.
Later I’ll write a longer post about what I’ve learned about NFP over the years and what I do love about it. But right now, I am not in the right frame of mind because the only title I can think of is “NFP Sucks, but I’m Using It Anyway.” š
(UPDATE: Maybe I just needed to get this off my chest. It is days later and although we are still waiting, God’s grace has increased and we are resolved to wait it out as best as we can. We are praying that it draws us closer to God and to each other in the end. I have to remember the motto I use during the difficult newborn months, “And this too shall pass.”)
Okay, that’s it for this week. Have a great weekend!
PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope or Katch (past Periscopes), GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, š
{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 12
~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
{pretty}
The other day I watching the 1946 movie Devotion starring Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino. It was an interesting story about the Bronte sisters. My all time favorite book is Jane Eyre so I was intrigued. I tend to forget about the third sister Anne and wanted to read her novel Agnes Grey. I checked out the local Borders store since they were clearing out all their merchandise (RIP, dear Borders.) I found this three volume book of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey. Although I already have more than one copy of the first two books, it was too pretty (and too cheap) to pass up. It looks lovely on my bookshelf!
{happy}
Matthew has been turning over for about a month now and he just loves turning and scooting around the room. Here he is after a rather robust flip. He’s very proud and happy.
{funny}
Out of all the kids, John-Paul is the one most likely to conk out and fall asleep wherever he lands. Here is yet another episode of him doing that. This time it was the kitchen, with the iphone still playing. (He reminds me of my little brother NC who used to do that all the time. NC is a grown man now but he is JP’s godfather. I wonder if there is a connection? š
{real}
The other day it was a little too quiet in the boys room so I went to go see what JP was doing. Well, he found one of my dry erase markers and decided to mark his territory. Did you know dry erase does not wipe off walls easily?? I hope one of those magic eraser things work. (And now you know why he is always so tired. Mischief making is exhausting.)
Operation Clean & Organize – Vol 3: Shopping Lists & The Outdated Pantry
**Taming the procrastinating, ADD, mess cat within me.**
Over the last week I was hoping to work on organizing my pantry and making master shopping lists. However, all four kids have been sick with colds and sore throats, which has made the baby extra cranky, so I didn’t get very far. I did, however, realize how much I not only needed to organize and replenish the pantry but I needed to throw out old expired items. Yesterday I wanted to make quick BBQ chicken in the slow cooker. I saw this recipe on Pinterest. It looked super easy and I had all the ingredients.
Well, I had the ingredients but they weren’t exactly fresh. My vinegar was expired not just by a couple months but by a few years – as in, I bought it about three pregnancies ago! (Yeah, you can see how often I used to cook homemade.) But that was fine. I had another kind of vinegar that I could use instead. Wait, that was expired too but not by so many years. However, it had a lot of gross gunk in it and I wasn’t going to use it.
Okay, forget that recipe. There was this easy recipe that I found that didn’t require vinegar. It sounded a bit weird to mix Italian dressing with BBQ sauce but all the reviewers raved about it. I ran to the garage pantry to grab a bottle of dressing. Brian likes it so I keep an extra bottle for him. What?? I ran out? Oh. Em. Gee. What kind of pathetic kitchen is this?!?
By this time my 20 minute window of opportunity was up and the baby was crying and JP spilled his milk. Ugh! Finally I just threw in the frozen chicken in the crock pot and poured a bottle of BBQ sauce on top (it was a miracle I had that) and flipped it on for 3 Ā½ hours. Soooo, my pantry needs more work that I thought. It’ll be at least another week before I post about them.
I did, however, finish my shopping lists. I used to keep four post it notes on the fridge. One for each store I shopped at – Target, Costco, Trader Joe and the local market, although I usually only go to the market for quick last minute things. This made a quick run to the store easy because you grabbed the post it you needed and left the ones you didn’t.
However, once I put up my menu board, it took up too much space, so now I use a narrow magnetic notepad sectioned off into four. Since I no longer make sporadic shopping runs, I don’t need separate post its. I organize my shopping lists, check over the week’s menu and do my shopping once a week.
Since I usually always buy the same items at Costco and Trader Joe, I use my iphone Shopper app. (The ads can be annoying so I paid the $1.99 to be ad free.) I made a template shopping list for each store. When it is time to shop I take down my fridge list and mark off what needs to be purchased to create an e-list for that week. I’ve used the e-list on my phone while I shop but I usually have one of the kids with me and they like to play with my iphone so instead I email the list to myself and print it out. It makes things so much easier!
(Apple photo)
For my Target shopping, a master list didn’t work because it varied so much from week to week – from new shoes for the baby to a school notebook for Bella. A blank list worked best. However, my Target was recently redesigned and it is taking me some time to get used the new location of favorite items. I decided to make a shopping list with categories according to the layout of the store. That way I can start at one end and work my way around to the other side. I’ve used it a few time and it is so much easier to get things done.
For a larger view: View image
Well, that pretty much wraps it up. This is the system that works best for me. What works for you?
Over the next week I’ll continue working on the pantry – oh, and don’t even get me started on the bug infested wheat flour I had to throw away! Oh, well. On the plus side, the chicken with only BBQ sauce was a hit! Brian took leftovers for lunch and he said his coworker wanted to know where he got that delicious smelling BBQ chicken. If he only knew. š Happy organizing.
UPDATE: For shopping list tips check out the blog Family Menu Planning Book.com by Catholic convert Elizabeth Hawbaker and her e-book Family Menu Planning: A Practical Guide to Mealtime Management. I just downloaded it and there is a lot of great info that will help me with my meal planning and shopping.
{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 11
(Sorry for the late post. I was having trouble with the blog but better late than never.)
~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
{pretty}
My sister and my parents were visiting a few days ago and my sister took this photo of the ocean on her morning run. I am sure it was a nice break from the desert heat!
{happy}
School has started – Andrew is in his first year of preschool and Bella starts 4th grade. They are growing too fast!
{funny}
After a long first day of school Andrew wanted to unwind on the couch with my iphone. It cracked me up.
{real}
With my family visiting, I had ready and eager babysitters for the kids. My sister took this shot of Andrew and JP. She was watching them while I was getting my hair cut.
Brian and I even got to go out on a breakfast date over the weekend. Loved it! Special thanks to my familia. xoxo