7 Quick Takes – Top Posts of 2011

By bobbi
January 3, 2012
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Happy New Year! We are back in town, back to school, back to work and I’m back at my computer. I have a house full of Christmas decor that needs to be packed, suitcase that need to be unpacked, and huge messes wherever you look. The thought of tackling all that does not sound too appealing so for the moment I am going to make the posts I was supposed to do last week! This should have been posted 12/30/11 but I didn’t make it online until now. Oh, well. 😉
It’s funny that the top three most popular posts this year all had to do with Brian and I meeting, dating and marrying. I guess we are all suckers for a love story. It is also no surprise that the top three were all initiated by blogging queen and fashionista Betty Beguiles. So kick up your heels (or flats, in my case) and enjoy!

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Heart of Gratitude: Day 1 & The Email That Started It All (Engagement – Synopsis Version)
It’s been so busy lately that I hardly have any time online to blog or catch up on my google reader. I had a few moments this morning and I saw that Hailey started a “Heart of Gratitude” 14-day challenge for your husband. I looked at the date to see when it started and I realized it was today, November 9th, which is a special date for me and Brian.
It was thirteen years ago on November 1 when a young man left the seminary after a year and a half stay. He had discerned that it wasn’t his vocation and felt God calling him to a new chapter of his life. He thought about marriage but he had dated before and it never really worked out. He recalled reading about a new Catholic online dating service (AMSCOL) and gave them a try, filling out their questionnaire that day. Later he knelt before God and humbly poured out his heart. He told God that if he was called to the vocation of marriage, then God would have to place the girl on his doorstep. With a resolved sigh, he began the first day of his novena trusting that it was all in the hands of Our Lord and Our Lady. (Continue reading…)

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Our Engagement Story: An Answer to Prayer (Longer Version)
Yesterday Hallie at Betty Beguiles had the great idea of asking bloggers to post their engagement stories. It was so much fun to go back to my old journals and read about our early months together. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the romance when you are dealing with the every day busyness of raising little ones. It was a good reminder that Brian and I need to carve out a little alone time no matter how busy. I don’t have time to write out the story (I’m typing with one hand and holding a restless baby with the other) so instead I’ll just repost the story of our “courtship” which includes our engagement. Brian and wrote this together so you’ll get his side of the story too. (Also, after we were married I found the notes Brian used write down what he wanted to say when he proposed. I was so happy to find that because in the emotion of the moment I don’t think my mind was registering all the beautiful words he was saying to me. Now that they are in my scrapbook I can go back and relive them word for word. )

Now, on with the story…
BOBBI: In my late twenties, it started to become the family joke that if I was not married the age of thirty then I was going to pack my bags, move to Zimbabwe, live with the natives and die for a noble cause! (Okay, so I was a little dramatic.) Time was ticking and I was trying to grow closer to God and accept my singleness at the moment. My younger sister Elena suggested I try the website Single Catholics Online (now known as Ave Maria SCOL). I laughed at the idea, insisting that I was not desperate enough to look for a good Catholic husband on some dating service! She gave me that knowing look, smiled and walked out of the room saying, “Instead of crying about wanting a husband, get to work and check it out.” How does she know me so well? (Continue reading…)

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Betty’s Wedding Dress Round-Up
Betty at Betty Beguiles.com asked bloggers to share about their wedding dress and if they still loved it or wished they had done things differently.
When I was prepping for my wedding and looking for a dress I was a little worried since I hated wearing dresses to begin with and I’m a plus size and didn’t have as many choices as other brides-to-be. I remember my sister BC and I were shopping in Orange County and we decided to stop into a bridal store just to see styles and prices. After looking at the stick-thin girls and big price tags, I felt really out of place and didn’t stay very long. Shortly after, my family moved to the Calif high dessert where it was more “cowboy country” than we were used to. I was driving with JC, another one of my sisters, and we came across a local wedding boutique. It looked more home-town humble than high-class snooty so we stopped to take a look.
The sales lady was really nice and brought out some dresses in my size. The first one I tried on confirmed all my fears. It had a “western” look to it and in it I looked like a big, white marshmallow cowboy bride. I looked over at my sister who was in the dressing room with me and we bust out laughing. Not quiet-giggles laughing but the I’m-going-to-wet-my-pants-if-I-don’t-stop laughing. The sales woman came over and asked if anything was wrong. I bit my tongue hard enough to make myself calm down and told her that we were fine. I quickly changed and after a few more tries we came across a dress with an empire waist and I loved the way it looked and fit. I looked at the price tag and even the discounted $800 was more than I could really afford. But at least I now knew that there was a dress style that would work on me and not send me into hysterics.(Continue reading…)

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Those Perfect Catholic Moms Are Killing Me
I recently added a number of new blogs into my google reader and I’m sifting through them to see which ones I’ll read regularly and which ones are good but not where I am in life.
The first ones to go are the blogs that depress me. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that have countless posts by talented moms showing their beautiful gardens, their homemade baked goods and home cooked meals, their hand sewn clothes, and their Catholic craft of the day. I can take these in small doses but not all the time. Like I said, it depresses me.
And it’s not their fault. It’s mine. I just can’t seem to follow their lead. I’ve tried to garden. Truly, I have. In fact, just a few months ago I decided to start again but to keep it simple. No veggies or elaborate flower beds. Instead I have two simple window boxes of flowers and three herbs – basil, Italian parsley and cilantro. I was doing really well but as usual I forgot to water and not just once or twice but for days. Yesterday I went outside to check on my herbs and lo and behold, I’m the only person on my block to have a garden of dried herbs. (Dried… dead… is there really much difference?) Yeah, so gardens and I don’t do so well. (Continue reading…)

– 5 –

Operation Clean & Organize: Vol 1
I’ve discussed in a number of previous posts (like here and here) about my battle with keeping a clean and organized house. I’m naturally messy and the amount of work I have to do to clean up and organize our house is overwhelming. However, it’s a project I want to undertake because it’s important to me. I think there is some truth to the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Someone once told me that a person’s exterior life reflects their interior life. I don’t know if that is true but I do know that after awhile I get tired, frustrated and grouchy with all the piles of papers and junk and disorganized areas of the house. A house with little kids will never look like a museum – and never should – but I could definitely use a little more order in my life and I know the difference it makes.
When I do clean up an area and have it organized it makes my life run a little bit smoother. (Who can’t use that?!) I am more at peace and feel that I am better accomplishing my mission in life – to raise a happy family and make our home a little taste of heaven on earth as we work towards entering our eternal home. It is my small way of showing God that I love him – to put aside my natural messy tendencies and find the orderly and creative woman I know is lurking in there somewhere. (Continue reading…)

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Catholic Baby Shower Ideas
I’ve updated our main website Revolution of Love.com with ideas for a Catholic Baby Shower. I thought I’d post the prayers, activities and gift ideas on the blog as well.

Activity – The Catholic Baby Shower Rosary – Joyful Mysteries

The First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. The angel said to Mary, “Hail full of grace! The Lord is with you. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:26-29, 38)
Blessed Mother, through your humility and obedience God’s plan of salvation was put into motion by a simple “yes.” May (NAME) be given the grace to say yes to God in the small and big things of her life, so that she, too, may participate in God’s plan of salvation through her vocation as a wife and mother. (Continue reading…)

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10 Year Anniversary: Where Were You on 9/11?
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. (Continue reading…)

7 Quick Takes – (12/23/11): TMI Edition

By bobbi
December 23, 2011
1 Comment

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Is it true it’s already December 23? It’s hard to believe but that’s what the calendar says. At least I’ve been able to count down the day with this really cute kitchen advent calendar.

It is a magnetic mini cookie sheet tray that I hung on the fridge. (I found it at Hallmark.) I love it. 🙂

– 2 –

Thankfully we are all over our colds, except for a random sneeze here and there. I usually never get sick when the kids do, but it got me this time…

It all started two weeks ago when I was going to do a quick post about making a big pot of soup and freezing individual servings so I can easily have a hot lunch on these busy days. I made a pot of one of my favorite Chicken Posole soups and froze individual servings in Ziploc freezer bags. I’ve had it numerous times but this day I forgot to take out the soup the night before to defrost in the fridge. Instead I took it out in the morning, snapped a photo for my post and then let it defrost on the sink.

– 3 –

Maybe I left it on the sink too long. Or it could have been because I warmed it in the microwave then forgot about it for awhile. Whatever the reason, when I finally finished eating the soup I started to feel a little sick…then more sick…then I-hope-I-remembered-to-sign-my-will sick. I had food poisoning. Ugh!

– 4 –

This all took place while the kids were sick with a nasty cold that seemed to take forever to clear up. Normally I am used to being sneezed on (usually right in the face while I’m talking so the germs can head straight into my mouth.) And I’ve learned to live my life as a human Kleenex. I’m not exaggerating. A kid will walk up to me and literally wipe his snot nose against my pant leg leaving a huge slime trail on my leg. Ah, the glamour if motherhood. Normally, I throw a fit shrug it off but with the food poisoning all my defenses were down and those nasty germs were going to make up for all the times I avoided them. The cold wasn’t too bad but I swear (TMI alert) the stuff coming out of my nose was straight from an alien horror movie.

– 5 –

Thankfully the cold didn’t last too long but the plugged up nose and pressure stuffed head wouldn’t go away. On top of it all, I lost all sense of smell. Perhaps it wasn’t a huge deal but I am big on smells. I could live without smelling the Christmas delights like fresh pine and baked goods. What troubled me is that I couldn’t smell when the toast was burning. I couldn’t smell the questionable milk to see if it was still good. Matthew wore a stinky diaper for hours because I didn’t notice he stunk until Brian came home from work and told me. And have you ever tried to shop for perfume when you can’t smell?? I was in the department store snorting a bottle of fragrance when the saleslady suspiciously asked me if I needed help. I resigned to my fate and simply picked out the prettiest looking bottle hoping it wasn’t actually gag-inducing.

– 6 –

Then it happened. A couple days later I woke up and heard Matthew pushing and “doing his business” in bed. As I laid in bed and waited for him to be done so I could change him, I slowly started to smell the stench. I jumped out of bed and took a big whiff of his behind. Man, I was never so excited to smell a stinky diaper in all my life. I could smell again! And the heavens rejoiced. So it seemed.

– 7 –

Anyway, did I really spend all seven takes talking out food poisoning, snot, and poop? Wow. That’s sad, Bobbi. Oh, well. Let us rejoice in the small crosses in life. Compared to what could be going wrong, that is nothing. God is good!
Have a blessed Christmas!!! xoxo 🙂

It’s Just What I Needed at Four in the Morning

By bobbi
December 21, 2011
No Comments

(Although this isn’t posted until now, I wrote it this morn. 😉
It’s 5:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. I haven’t been able to sleep since 4am. Matthew woke me up and he needed to be changed and fed. Since his bed is right next to mine I can usually do this quickly and fall right back to sleep, but not this morning.

Since it’s nice and cozy in my bed snuggled between my baby and my hubby I pulled out my iPhone (yes, I sleep with it) and opened up my google reader to find a ridiculous amount of posts waiting to be read. I must admit that although it is insanely early, it is so nice to be able to just relax and catch up on the news and activities of my fellow Catholic moms. I always find inspiration, humor and a little pep talk when I need it most.
God has a way of giving you exactly what you need when you need it.

As I was reading certain posts it brought to mind my experience at Confession on Saturday. It had been a rough couple of weeks and I could feel my insides all tied up in knots and stressed. I knew I had to make the most of this last week of Advent and Confession was the first step. After telling my sins to the priests he spoke to me about a few things but what struck me was his reminder that God’s gifts to me this Christmas are my husband and my children, despite any personal difficulties I may have in being a good wife and mother. It’s not as if I don’t already know that but it was as if my life flashed before my eyes and I saw a quick glimpse of how blessed I am and how much I take for granted. It moved me to tears. These tears were just what I needed since, coupled with God’s grace, they washed away all the muck in my soul and refreshed my spirit. It was just what I needed.

Of course, those moments after confession are like the moments after a retreat. You are gung ho “on the mountaintop” with Jesus but once you return to the real world, life can dampen your resolve. However, God gave me a quick reminder of Saturday’s lesson at four in the morning when I read It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost by Kate Wicker. She spoke about whether or not we should bring our rambunctious younger children to Mass. I’m not entering that debate right now but what stood out most for me was this paragraph:

Yet, I kept thinking about a recent post over at Rosetta Stone. (I know I should have been paying more attention to Mass, but it was enough for me to be thinking about anything besides strangling my toddler.) Michelle wrote that, “Nothing compares to a three-year-old boy. Nothing.” I’m not going to start comparing who is harder – girls or boys. I loved what someone wrote after an older post of mine that wherever you’re at and whatever you’ve been given is probably the hardest for you. If God is trying to prune us and sanctify us through the vocation of parenthood, then it makes sense that He gives us just the kind of children we need – the kind that will push our buttons and throw us down to our knees and force us to realize that we cannot, absolutely cannot, do this on our own. We need Him. We need to keep a constant dialogue open with God throughout our days. Even when we find ourselves questioning everything about God – whether we’ll ever have a personal relationship with Him, whether He even really exists or cares deeply, profoundly about us and our children – we have to keep talking. We don’t have to pray like others pray. We have to pray as we pray. Sometimes we have to simply show up – and stay put once we’ve arrived even if every part of us is screaming to just go, escape, get the heck out of there before you or your child really loses it [at Mass].

“If God is trying to prune us and sanctify us through the vocation of parenthood, then it makes sense that He gives us just the kind of children we need…” I love that. It is so true. Our vocation is tailor made with small crosses (or big) that will sanctify us and lead us along our path to heaven. And we are never, never alone on our journey. We just have to always keep our eyes and hearts set on the Lord. Thank God that He is so patient with us and never stops reminding us and sending us what we need when we need it.

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Coming Soon: “Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter”

By bobbi
November 3, 2011
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I was so excited to hear that one of my favorite bloggers, Hailey at Betty Beguiles, has a new book coming out in spring. It is titled Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter and features many of my favorite Catholic female writers, including Simcha Fisher, Danielle Bean, Rachel Balducci, Betty Duffy, Jennifer Fulwiler, Rebecca Teti, Karen Edmisten, Anna Mitchell and Barbara Nicolosi. How cool is that?
Here is a summary of the book.

In Style, Sex, and Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter, ten of the top Catholic female writers come together to offer tips, encouragement, and a bit of humor for their sisters in the trenches of daily life. From the difficulties of fitting in prayer time to the impact that lots of babies have on intimacy to the unique challenges of the single life, each author digs deep into the issues that real Catholic women think about. With the tone of a group of gals gathered around a bottle of wine, it is sure to be a hit with all Catholic women, whether they need practical tips in areas in which they struggle, words of encouragement, or just a bit of entertainment after a long day.

Although the book will be released in March, preorders are available at Amazon today. You can get in line after me. 😉