Five Favorites (Vol 15): Songs, Bakeware & Planners

By bobbi
February 5, 2014
1 Comment

Today started off as one of those terrible days when you just need to go back to bed and have a good cry. I never got to have my cry because there was too much to do. However, the day did get better and for making it through in one piece I now get to spend some quiet time blogging while everyone else sleeps. 😉 Right now it is time to link up with sweet Hallie for Five Favorites.

~ 1 ~

Maria Miller – “You’re Not Alone”

When I went to the hospital to go pick up Brian, I heard this song playing on the radio and I fell in love with it. The lyrics were just what I wanted to say to Brian. Although we may have a rough road ahead with his recovery from surgery and then chemo, he isn’t alone. I will be by his side fighting for him.

~ 2 ~

This Guy

Speaking of my Sweetie, I love seeing him home! And walking outside enjoying the sunshine! I also like this photo because it reminds me of a holy card where the person has saintly rays coming out of them. Lord knows he has the patience of a saint living with me. 😉

~ 3 ~

Cute Bakeware

Trying to switch over to “whole food” cooking means no more running to the market to get some baked goods for a family treat. Now I have to bake things from scratch with healthy ingredients. Well, that can get old fast. So to make it a little easier, I saved up all the free gift cards I’ve gotten at Target (you know, the “buy 3 and get a free $5 or $10 gift card” promos) and I had enough to pay for these CUTE bakeware items from Target. (They are the Cake Boss line.) Now I am just trying to get one or two more gift cards so I can get the matching measuring cups too. 😉 Meanwhile I’ll post the recipe for these carrot & apple cinnamon muffins next week. 🙂

~ 4 ~

Seafoam Green

I think that is what you would call the color of this sweater but I am currently in love with it.

~ 5 ~

Planners

I am a sucker…a sucker for a cute planner! I love to see posts about other people’s planners and how they organize and decorate it. I get giddy in the Martha Stewart section at Staples. Nerd. So I finally shared about my planner here. 🙂

Have a great day! 🙂

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, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉

7 Quick Takes (1/30/14): Brian Comes Home, Mr. Knightly Inspires & Twue Wuv Lives

By bobbi
January 30, 2014
6 Comments

I’m linking up with beloved Jen for this week’s 7 Quick Takes.

~ 1 ~

It’s been a loooong week. Brian went in for surgery last Friday and it has been a roller coaster ride of good moments and bad moments. However, all I can think about now is that I get to take this handsome man home tomorrow! (It’s Thurs night now so he comes home Friday.) We are ecstatic! I told the kids they could stay home from school and we are having a welcome home party instead. 🙂 Woohoo!

Brian will still need to go through chemo but he can’t do anything until his body is completely healed from the surgery. (He is still in some pain and barely getting used to food again.) The doc talked to him today and said the “good news” is that his panel of 16 nodes showed cancer in only one node. It is hard to think of that as good news. But then we found out that another patient down the hall had a panel of 22 nodes examined and he had cancer in all 22 nodes. Yeah, I guess when you look at it from his perspective, Brian is lucky. The doc said Brian is strong and (comparatively) young so once he gets his strength back, he can fight and beat this. We are praying that he does!

~ 2 ~

My mom and my sisters are back home now so I’ll be managing the house, the kids and Brian’s recovery solo. It’s a little daunting but I know God is using this opportunity to help me grow in the virtues I struggle with the most like patience and selflessness and fortitude. Yeah, this is going to be really interesting. 😉

~ 3 ~

This week was the 201st anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. In honor of the day, I ordered the Jane Austen bookmarks I mentioned in last week’s Five Favorites. Okay, truth be told, I had no idea it was the 201st anniversary when I ordered them. It was just a coincidence. However, I danced a little jig when happy mail arrived from the UK. 😉

~ 4~

Speaking of Pride and Prejudice, as much as I love the book, it is not my favorite Austen novel. Persuasion is actually my favorite. I also love Emma but that is more because I fell in love with Mr. Knightly at a time when I was choosing all the wrong kind of men. Mr. Knightly was my inspiration that lead me to dating Brian. In fact, I think I have a post about Mr. Knightly in my draft folder. I should find it and finish it. In the meantime, what’s your favorite Austen novel?

~ 5 ~

Speaking of posts in my Drafts folder, I forgot I had to finish the post about my planner. I am big on making check lists because if I don’t, all that info just pours out of my brain like a sieve. My planner is a collection of my to do lists and other info. I’ll finish it up and post it, hopefully, on Tuesday. 🙂

~ 6 ~

There is still time to join this week’s Pinterest Party and Link-up. My sister linked up a recipe she found on Pinterest for grain free chocolate donuts. For being a healthy treat, they look delicious! I definitely want to try them. 🙂

~ 7 ~

And since I am mentioning family, congrats to my little brother Jake who recently got engaged. I am so excited to welcome Amanda into our big, crazy family. 🙂

Okay, time for bed. Have a great night/day!

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 17): Catholic Valentine’s Day Cards

By bobbi
January 28, 2014
No Comments

Good morning! I didn’t get Monday’s Downton post up until midnight and this morning I am off to visit Brian so I don’t have time for a new Pinterest Party project. Instead I will repost a craft I did last year. Enjoy! 🙂

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

Pinterest Pin – Catholic Valentine’s Day Cards

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For the last few days I’ve been looking at Pinterest for Valentine’s Day ideas. Some of the local Catholic moms are getting their kids together for a St. Valentine’s Day party so I was looking for some Catholic valentine inspiration. I didn’t want to give the usual candy with our cards so instead we bought bubbles, Play-Doh and fishy cracker packets. Here are the results.

John-Paul is giving small containers of Play-Doh to his friends so I paired it with Jennifer’s adorable St. Valentine download from CatholicInspired.com.

Instead of gluing St. Valentine to the heart, I taped him to the container of Play Dough. I can either use the blank part of the heart to write each child’s name or just shrink down the heart. (It could also be used as a name tag/table setting for each child.)

* * * * *

Matthew is giving small bottles of bubbles so I went online and found a photo of Snoopy (a favorite of the kids) and added the words “God’s love blows me away. Happy St. Valentine’s Day!”

* * * * *

Lastly, Andrew is giving small packs of fishy crackers so I downloaded an image of a little boy fishing and made this valentine. (Note: I purchased the image for $1.25.)

We were pleased with the way they came out. 🙂

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

7 super quick Quick Takes (1/24/14)

By bobbi
January 24, 2014
1 Comment

I am linking up with Jen for 7 Quick Takes.

~ 1 ~

It’s nearly midnight and I have a ten minute window until I crash onto my pillow but I know I won’t have time to post these tomorrow. My sisters arrived and I love that they are here. Although they are here to take care of the kids, I think they will be my moral support more than anything else. I can already feel my stress levels dropping. 🙂

~ 2 ~

Yesterday, Msg M from our parish came over to our home to give Brian Anointing of the Sick. The prayers were beautiful and it was just what he needed to strengthen his spirit.

~ 3 ~

The recent change in our diet and trying to eliminate the processed food, sugar and white flour and cook with whole foods has been going well but it takes SO. MUCH. TIME. Maybe its because I feel like I have to relearn how to cook. I have to find new recipes and cook them enough times until they feel like staple meals. Although, I have fallen in love with my slow cooker! I think I have enough new recipes to last me for the next few Pinterest Parties.

~ 4 ~

One of the blogs I’ve been enjoying and getting new recipes from is 100 days of real food.com. Do you have a favorite healthier eating blog?

~ 5 ~

Bonnie over at A Knotted Life is hosting The Sheenazing Blogger Awards, which is like the Academy Awards for Catholic bloggers. All my faves are nominated for various categories, which makes it really hard to narrow it down to just one per category! But what really excited me was that I was nominated for “Best Under Appreciated Blog.” Aw! Thanks to anyone that nominated me. 🙂

You can cast your vote here and you don’t have to be a blogger! And if by chance you do vote for me, well, thank you, dawling. Mwah! (Nothing like a bit of fun diversion during this stressful time.) 😉

~ 6 ~

Oh, and while you are voting, make sure to cast a vote for my sister’s blog Barefoot and Sometimes Pregnant for Best Blog by A Mom. She rocks.

~ 7 ~

Okay, my time is up and I’m beat. Have a great weekend. Thanks again for all the prayers. Please keep them coming, especially tomorrow at 11 AM, Pacific time when Brian will be having his surgery. May that cancer be gone for good! xoxo

Theme Thursday: Catching People Unaware

By bobbi
January 23, 2014
3 Comments

Today I am linking up with Cari’s Theme Thursday: Catching People Unaware. I need to cheat a little since my sisters are arriving today and I still have tons to do. Instead of taking new photos I’m using ones taken last month when I was visiting my parents.

Brian and the boys were outside playing a ring toss game. I kept hearing Matthew exclaim, “I win! I win!” I started to wonder how he was able to win so many times. I went outside to find out.