Moments of Gratitude…

Today I am especially thankful for

• A last minute breakfast date this morning with Brian.
• The beginning of longer days and warmer weather.
• Family and friends, near and far.
• My father-in-law for taking all four kids to his house for a couple hours on Friday. They love it and I enjoy the weekly down time.
• A warm home, running water and food on the table.
• Sweet hugs and precious kisses.

Beauty in the Ordinary…

I’ve been loving Blessed Is She’s photo challenge #projectblessed. Here is one of my favorite shots for the theme “morning glory.” This is what I saw that morning on my walk.

In the Kitchen…

It’s an off dinner week since Brian is working the late shift tonight and will miss dinner. On Thursday he is fasting for his medical tests and Friday he has to eat very light once his tests are over. So mostly clear broth for him and soup and sandwiches for us.

Praying…

• For all those suffering from cancer and other illnesses.
• For those who have lost loved ones, especially those that died suddenly.
• For the depressed, lonely and mentally ill.
• For all the pregnant mamas and those trying to get pregnant.
• For all those who have asked for our prayers.
• For the souls in purgatory.
• For some special intentions.

On the homefront……

 Jacob and Amanda

Life has slowed down just a tad now that the holidays are over. A couple weeks ago my younger brother Jacob was married to his sweet bride Amanda.

The wedding cake. Amanda used the wedding figures from her parents’ wedding. So sweet!

The trip to SoCal went surprisingly well and it was a JOY to be reunited with all my family members. I am the oldest of nine and we were all there.  Even my sister in VA was able to fly in with her husband (and their youngest) to attend the wedding.

My beautiful sisters. It’s funny how Bridgett and Jacinta in the middle look alike while Elena and I on the ends look alike. 🙂

My handsome brothers.

Can you believe that I FORGOT my big camera?? Well, Matthew told me not to worry. He took shots with his Leapster camera. Aw, a boy after my own heart.

Luckily Amanda’s mom took this great shot of the boys at the wedding. (Thanks, Carol!)

Now that we are back home, it is back to school and I am busy with my room mom activities. (Wait, tell me again why I volunteered for this?) The rest is just life in general.

Brian Update…

Brian had to go into work later for an evening meeting so we decided to go out to breakfast.

I took extra time to get ready and look nice for Brian. Matthew saw me and explained, “Mama! You look so clean and shiny!” It was a nice compliment until I wondered, well, what the heck do I look like the other days?? 😉

Walking hand in hand downtown reminded me of our early years of marriage. I still sometime pinch myself to see if I am really dreaming. How did I deserve such a man.

Not the best picture because we both kept laughing that I was too short and had a hard time getting in the shot but I like it because it reminds me of how much fun we have together. 🙂

A couple of people have asked me how Brian is doing and if you don’t follow along on Facebook or Instagram, on Friday he goes for his big annual testing for cancer. (He also has bloodwork done quarterly.)  In 2013 is when they first found the cancer. In 2014 is when the cancer came back. We are praying that in 2015 he is cancer free! We truly appreciate all your prayers and messages you leave us. Brian is amazed that so many people are asking and praying. I assure you he is on his knees every day praying for you too. (Me too! I just don’t stay on my knees as ling as I should!)

Pondering…

Praying for Brian and knowing that his test is coming up has me a little worried. Part of me is just leaving it all in the hands of God but the other part of me is still a little worried.

Photo Credit: Team Paul and Ann Coakley

It has especially been hard today (Tuesday, Jan 20) since Paul Coakley died this afternoon. If you don’t know him or haven’t been following along on Facebook, Paul was a young dad and Franciscan University alumni married to Ann. They have three young children and Ann is pregnant with their 4th. (They also have 4 babies in heaven.) It was just a month ago that they found out that Paul had cancer. It was already advanced and Paul fought valiantly but he was called home today.

Through it all Ann’s faith and trust in God has been amazing. In one of her posts she shared that at the end she told Paul, “If God was calling him home we both had to accept that. I would take care of our babies here and he could go play with our four angels in heaven.” That just breaks my heart. I pray I would never have to say that to Brian (or he to me) for many, many years to come.  But if I did, then I pray that I can have the same grace of surrender. Please remember the Coakley family in your prayers. I can’t even imagine what they are going thought right now, especially Ann and the little ones wondering when their Daddy will come back home. (Now, excuse me while I go get a kleenex to wipe the makeup I just cried off.)

Okay, I’ve composed myself and am back at the keyboard. I struggle with situations like these. I can’t help but think, why bother praying for a person’s recovery if God is going to take them away anyway. What use is our prayers? Deep in my heart I know our prayers are valuable and that Paul and the family received much grace – grace of a peaceful death and strength to endure the cross they are bearing. I know that I cannot see all that God sees and the countless lives and souls that Paul’s death has touched. Even now, as I sit hear crying to God, God has taken this opportunity to draw me closer to Him. To remind me that this life is fragile and that we are not our own, but children of God. He knows the bigger picture and the blessings that this particular cross will bring.

Paul sparked that. A man I didn’t know existed a week ago and yet he has touched the lives of all of us in the family as we prayed for him. God knows exactly what miracles that will take place because of Paul’s life and fight at the end. So while, I still struggle with it, I do accept that our prayers are efficacious, but only God knows exactly how. I can only imagine how many more lives Paul will help now that he is united with God. (Okay, I need another kleenex. I should just keep a darn box on my desk.)

UPDATE: Just as I was about to publish this, I saw this beautiful post from Paul’s’ close friend Mary – Did God Answer Our Prayers…

Around the house…

Ugh, there are many problem areas!  I just finished putting away the last of the Christmas decor last week. Now I have the spring cleaning bug. (In Cali spring arrives in January.) As I mentioned in my 2015 goal list, I signed up for A Bowl Full of Lemon’s Home Organization 101: 14 Week Challenge. This week I am working on the pantry. (I think my record so far has been finding a food item that expired 5 years ago.)

UPDATE: I’m actually switching my cleaning challenge. I’ll complete the more intense ABFOL challenge later in spring but for now I am doing the 31 Day to Clean: Having A Martha House the Mary Way hosted by Christian blogger and author Sarah Mae.  God has been putting Mary and Martha into my life left and right! I’ve already started and I must say, it is just what I needed! I’ll blog more about it soon. 🙂

Reading…

I know I said that I wasn’t going to buy any more books until I finished the huge stack of books I started last year, but I had to get one more to help me with my Theme of 2015. I lot of people have said it was good but I just started. I’ll post about it as I go along.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy With God in the Busyness of Life

Listening to…

Silence. (This can’t be good. I better check on the kids.)

Watching…

Well, you already know I am watching Downton Abbey and commenting on the episodes here but Brian and I just started two new shows.

The first is Grantchester. We only say the first episode but Brian and I both liked it. We are big mystery fans and it reminded us of the Fr. Brown Mysteries only with a cuter clergyman. It stars James Norton (who was also on Death Comes to Pemberley)  as Sydney Chambers, a young clergy man who doesn’t seem like your typical man of the cloth. He enjoys jazz music, drinking whiskey and spending time with a female best friend (whom he secretly loves but she doesn’t return the feelings.) Yet, he also seems introspective, spiritual, has a heart for helping people and is fighting some PTSD from the war.  The first episode has the usual violence with a murder (nothing graphic) and a flashback of a couple having an affair but again, nothing too graphic as long as no kids are in the room. Anyway, if you already saw it, what did you think?

The other show we started watching was one of the Marvel “comic book shows” Agent Carter. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I love the 40’s setting and the clothes and hairstyles and ruby red lips and the butt-kicking lady in a skirt and heels was a nice touch too. It was a fun diversion. 🙂

On the blog…

In the past two week I posted:

Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol 34): Epiphany Party Add your post. It is open until the end of January!

TV Talk: Downton Abbey, Season 5, Episode 2 Recap

Theme of 2015: Be Still

Goals for 2015 & Mini-Goals for January & February

Downton Abbey, Season 5: Episode 3 Recap

In the blogosphere…

It’s that time of year again! Time for Bonnie’s 2015 Sheenazing Awards. Yours truly was nominated for “Best Under Appreciated Blog.” (I have mixed emotions about that title. 😉 )

If you want to make me feel like a school kid picked first on the soft ball team, go give me a vote! 😉 You can read the full post here or just go straight to the voting page here. (You can skip any categories you are unfamiliar with.)

I am privileged to be nominated. (Thank you, whoever you guys are!)  I know I am just a small blog with a small audience of friends but it’s still nice knowing that others appreciate the work I put into the blog. Ultimately I do it for fun and to connect with other Catholic women and to share my love of Our Lord. There are so many other small bloggers who are touching lives but aren’t as well known. Erica over at Saint Affairs had a great idea to do a link-up cerebrating our favorite lesser-known blogs. She says:

But what about all of the amazing Catholic blogs that didn’t make it onto those lists? Surely you know a few because I know I do. I would love to support all of them, let them know that their words are being read, that they are making a positive difference in the blogosphere, so let’s do a link-up.

Let’s do this!

Blogs That You May Not Be Reading, But You Should Be link-up

Visit Erica’s post here for more details!

Pinned…

I’ve been wanting to organize my books so I can lend them out (after I finally finish reading them.) When I do, I am going to use these Free Printable Library Cards.

Photo credit: clementinecreative.co.za

My sister just posted this on Facebook this morning. It seems very appropriate considering the thoughts that have been going through my head lately.

Plans for the Week…

Brian’s test, paying, attending a friend’s’ baptism and party, doc, ortho and dentist appts, and numerous school activities, especial during Catholic Schools Week.

And looking ahead, I am making plans to attend the Catholic Women Blogging Network California Conference in April! I am so excited that there is something I can attend on the west coast since I couldn’t make it to Edel this year. Will you be joining me???

Captured…

The prompt for the #projectblessed photo challenge was Childhood. I love the signs of childhood around our house. (The toys and Legos on the floor I can do without, but this was cute.) In the scene Darth Vader and Kanan are battling it out for the last remnants of banana bread. 😉

Have a blessed week!! 🙂

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, Letterboxd or Instagram. 😉

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.