Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

7 Quick Takes (12/28/12): Anniversary, Romance & Duck Dynasty

Hosted by Jen.

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Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today – A great big happy 13th anniversary to my sweetheart! It may be a cliché but it feels like it was just yesterday, yet I feel like I’ve known Brian all my life. Maybe because he was an answer to my prayers long before I knew him.

 

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Now you are my Mr Knightly – It’s funny that when I was single and still living at home, I remember watching love stories with my sister and we’d love it but laugh and yell, “Fake!” at the screen. This was in the mid to late 90’s when all the amazing Jane Austen adaptations came out such as the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion etc. All those tender love scenes were simply the dreams of fairy tales…until I met Brian.

I distinctly remember one scene in Emma (with Gwenyth Palthrow) when Mr. Knightly professed his love to Emma as the music swelled and small flower blossoms fell from the tree. It was picture perfect.

I think back to the first weekend Brian and I finally spent together. (We met online and corresponded for 5 months before meeting in person. By then I already knew I was going to marry him.) There was one point when we attended a Marian Conference and during the lunch break we found a grassy area under a tree to have a picnic. Suddenly, a nearby building turned on their sound system and classical music stared playing in the background. Then a breeze rustled through the tree and small flower blossoms started falling from the sky as Brian turned to me and gave me that “look of love” that said he wanted nothing more than to kiss me. Part of me was reeling and the other part of me was inwardly yelling, “Fake!” Stuff like this does not happen in real life. (If you want the whole story of how we met, you can read it here.)

Well, it was real and 13 years later we have far too few moments lounging under a blossom tree but he’ll still get that “look” when he has to steal a kiss. So the fairy tale lives on, you just have to look and listen a little harder with all the family chaos surrounding it. 😉 Here’s proof. I still find love notes left for me. Swoon.

 

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The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and his coffee cup) – Speaking of Brian, for Christmas I made him one of those baskets I talked about in my Gift Ideas for Guys. It was all his favorites things to have a relaxing afternoon. Along with books, a blank journal and treats, I added a new coffee mug and coffee. He loved them! We have long been supporters of Mystic Monk Coffee but bought it less once we switched to the Keurig single cup coffee maker. But I’m happy to see that Mystic Monk now carries the single serving K-cups. (Which are also compatible with other single serving machines.)  Brian loved the Mystic Monk blend and I will buy more of the other flavors. (Note: I think they sold out of the Mysitc Monk blend but hopefully more will be available soon. They do have other flavors ready.)

 “Monk Shot” single serving coffee

Here is the mug I bought him.

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Are you seriously watching this? – Okay, here is another speaking of Brian story. The other day Brian was up late and I could hear him laughing at something on TV. Usually when he is watching TV it is either on EWTN or the NFL channel so I wasn’t sure what would be so funny. I go into the family room and he is laughing hysterically and I saw these guys on the screen.

 

Yes, it is the millionaire “rednecks” of Duck Dynasty. At first I could not believe Brian would be watching a show like this but he convinced me to sit down for a minute and soon I was laughing so hard I was crying. Granted that is not hard to make me do but still these guys are so over the top it’s hilarious. Here’s a little taste of an episode we recently watched.


 

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And this one is fuzzy but Si as a scary Christmas elf is a classic.

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I need rehab – Okay, I am sitting here staring at the screen wondering what to write next. I usually jot down ideas for QT on my iphone notes but one of the boys has confiscated my phone to play Star Wars Angry Birds and as he sits here quietly at my feet, I can’t bear to disturb him. I also jot down ideas in my planner but since Christmas my desk has slowly relapsed into a candidate for a hoarders reality show and my planner if buried under a pile. Like an alcoholic who fell off the wagon, I have fallen off the organizational wagon and if these piles on my desk get any higher, I won’t be able to see the computer screen. You think I’m joking? My kiddo just returned my phone. I’ll snap a pic.

Yesterday the blog I’m An Organizing Junkie posted Introducing the New Year’s Organizing Revolution!! So maybe I should check it out and get back on track. It takes a while to build up but I have that “I’ve got to clean this mess or I’m gonna scream” feeling right now and I have to seize it before it fades away. So let’s wrap this up.

 

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Anne with an E – Did you notice the angry bird calendar in the above photo? My sis BC bought that for the boys to hang in their bedroom. This week we had the pleasure of watching the Star Wars trilogy for the first time with them. (I fast forwarded a bit of the scarier parts) but they loved it. John-Paul is amazed that they made three movies about one phone app. Every time he came into the room and saw Darth Vader on the screen he yelled, “It’s Angry Bird pig!”  LOL.

The next movie I want to watch for the first time with my kids is actually a movie for Bella and me. She just read Anne of Green Gables so I thought she’d enjoy watching the movie with me. Can you believe it’s been over 25 years since that movie came out?! Am I really that old?? Never mind. Don’t answer that.

Have a wonderful last weekend of 2012!!


Saturday Evening 7 Quick Takes (12/22/12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} Mash-Up

Hosted by Jen.

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Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

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I’ve been away from the blog all week. It has been crazy busy with Christmas and family things so I haven’t had time to post. I’m catching up a little today by posting a {pretty, happy, funny, real} and 7 Quick Takes Mash-Up. I only have half an hour, so I’ll set the timer…and start.

I just made a post entitled Ways to Help the Victims of Sandy Hook & Newton. There’s info on the Snowflakes for Sandy Hook, #26 Acts of Kindness and the letter from the sister of Fr. Luke Suarez, who is a priest at St. Rose of Lima parish, a Catholic church just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary. Ten of the children killed were their parishioners. (Fr. Luke is the younger priest in the above photo.)

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I’m still shaken up by the Sandy Hook tragedy. The other day my mom called and when she started talking about it I couldn’t speak. The tears wouldn’t stop. I keep holding onto that feeling every time I start to complain about something. I just think of those grieving moms. They would give anything to have my “problems” as their only worry. Consequently, I’ve just been wanting to spend time with my kids and embrace our family life. Since I love snapping photos, Beth Anne’s #adventphotoaday has been a welcomed distraction to the news. Here are my favorite photos of the week.

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{pretty}

#adventphotoaday Day 15 – Something rose or pink. I saw this small pink rose on an almost bare bush at a local church.

 

#adventphotoaday Day 16 -Candle. From the Mission’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

 

#adventphotoaday Day 18 – Heart. This is my favorite icon in our home, the Sacred Heart/ Divine Mercy. We bought this on our honeymoon when we visited the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Redwood City. (It was New Year’s Eve of 1999. Everyone thought the world would end with Y2K. We figured if we were going to die, this was the place to be.) Now look, we survived Y2K and 12/21/12. God still has work for us to do. 😉

 

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{happy}

On Wednesday we had two Christmas performances scheduled. Here are my three performers.

 

A class of 3 year olds singing is both sheer cuteness and unintentional comedy. I love this shot of John-Paul afterwards.

 

Andrew was my little angel. So precious.

 

My sweet Bella sang with her class and I am still astonished that she is growing up so quickly! Wasn’t it just a short time ago I was cradling her in my arms??

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{funny}

I found Trader Joe’s at the end of the rainbow.

 

#adventphotoaday Day 20: Free Day. Matthew was dreaming of a White Christmas so he used the flour to make one. Ugh.

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{real}

#adventphotoaday Day 17 – Christmas tree. When I go to look for a tree I usually drive Brian crazy as I look for the “perfect” one. This year I rolled the dice and bought a tree that was wrapped up and didn’t open it until I got home. I got lucky. It was perfect.

 

#adventphotoaday Day 21- Christmas tradition/ decorations. Every year we add a new ornament to our tree. Here’s a few of my faves – 1. House – for the year we moved out of an apartment and into a real house. 2- Our 1st visit to Disneyland as parents with our own kids. 3 – Baby angel for the two babies we lost in miscarriage. 4 – A little stocking for the year I was surprisingly pregnant with Matthew.

 

For 2012, I added a set instead of one ornament. To represent this year of really embracing motherhood & homemaking, I have four knit animals to represent my four kids. (Thanks to Target, natch). There’s an owl for Bella, my oldest girl. An owl for Andrew, my oldest boy who is so fond of Bella. A bear for my John-Paul who can be cute & cuddly bear but also a grizzly when he’s mad. Lastly, a fox for my mischievous Matthew who can cause trouble but then give a cute smile and win you over.

 

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Okay, time is up and I’m 5 minutes over. Have a wonderful weekend and last few days before Christmas!


7 Quick Takes (12/14/12): Baby Jesus, Santa & Star Wars

Hosted by Jen.

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Oh, Never Mind – My little spitfire conked out on me so now’s the prefect time to catch up on my one-handed blogging.

Well, it is Friday afternoon and I still haven’t posted my Quick Takes. Yesterday I thought to myself, “I’m tired of being #285 on Jen’s link-up. I live in Cali for goodness sake. I can post at 9 PM Thursday night and it will officially be Fri on the East coast…” So I started writing my QT after I tucked the kids in bed and I knew Brian would be busy for ½ an hour or so but I didn’t get very far. Brian finished early and I abandoned the QT’s and cuddled on the couch with him and watched an old episode of Parenthood. (We are just finishing Season 2.) Oh, well.

 

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Trending Topic – Last night Twitter and Instagram were buzzing about Jen’s show Minor Revisions. I’m really bummed I missed it but frankly if I can’t DVR it, then it ain’t gonna happen. Maybe someone will post a play by play account of the episode so I won’t feel so left out. 😉

 

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Han Still Rocks – Do you know what online video HAS been played on my computer (and iphone and iPod)? This Angry Bird Star Wars video.

 

I finally got wise and when the boys ask me if they can watch it I say they can AFTER they clean the (fill in blank with the messiest room at the moment). Boy, do they get hopping!  Between Santa and video rewards, I’ve got the most polite, semi-behaved kids in town! I just hope these good habits last after Christmas.

 

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Hey, and if you’re looking for one of the Angry Bird Star Wars plush dolls, they have them at almost ½ price at Amazon.com for around $7. I’m partial to Princess Lea and Han Solo. 😉

Or if you have a hubby or older child who loves Star Wars, they may enjoy this funny book I saw at the store yesterday – Darth Vader and Son. Here is a sample page.

It’s funny. It reminds me of another favorite Good Night iPad. LOL

 

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More Than Just Santa – Okay, back to Take #3 about Santa vs Jesus,  the other day I had a talk with the kids about the importance of being “extra good” not so Santa will bring them presents but because they want to show their love for Baby Jesus. They should want to do these things for Him. Andrew piped up, “Of course we know that, Mommy!” Okay, I was just checking.

Today I also posted Part 2 of Keeping Christ in Christmas Ideas. They are suggestions that were sent to me from various Catholic families. I love the suggestion about writing a letter to Baby Jesus instead of Santa. The mom says:

An old Catholic custom is the writing of “Christmas Letters” by the children. These letters, addressed to the Child Jesus (NOT Santa Claus) are written or dictated by the little ones some time before Christmas. They contain their wishes concerning Christmas presents, petitions for various intentions, and a promise of sincere effort to please Our Lord in preparation for Christmas. When they go to bed, the children put their letters on the windowsill, from where “angels” take them during the night to bring them to the Child Jesus in heaven.

This charming custom helps the parents to impress on the minds of their little ones the importance of a sincere spiritual preparation and at the same time great confidence in God who is concerned with our temporal and spiritual needs. Parents who favor this custom will often be deeply touched when they discover that some of their children put more stress on spiritual graces than on material gifts even on an occasion like this. I t can also alert parents to the need for more guidance and direction toward this goal.

 

I really love that. We were never really big on writing to Santa but I will have the kids write their Jesus letter this weekend and then work on their birthday cards to Baby Jesus next weekend. You can read the rest of the ideas here.

 

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Oh boy! – Speaking of babies, my sis found out today that she is having a BOY! She has three girls and one boy so this will even things out a bit. I am so happy for her! Stop by and send her some congrats. 🙂

 

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No Words – Lastly, I heard a little while ago about the horrific tragedy in CT. I am still in shock. I had to turn off the news because I couldn’t stop crying and I was freaking out the kids. Even now I can’t think about it without starting to cry again. But for now, go hug your kids! Kiss your hubby or if he’s not home, text him and tell him that you love him. Call that family member or friend that you are arguing with and apologize. Because you never know if the last word you said to them is the LAST word you will say to them.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Have a blessed weekend.


Saturday {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 53 / 7 Quick Takes (12/01/12) Mash-Up: Disneyland & Thanksgiving Recap

 

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
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Is It Really Dec? – I just looked at the calendar and noticed that it says December 1st. Is that correct? How did that happen? Then as I browsed Instagram and I noticed a number of bloggers that already have their tree and pretty Christmas decor up. Meanwhile, I’ve got scarecrows flying around the front porch during this winter storm and I’m tripping over plastic trick or treat pumpkins as I’m still doing laundry from our Thanksgiving trip. I’ve got until tonight to get all the fall decor down and at least get the Advent wreath and calendar project done so I’ve got to make this a fast 7 Quick Take/ {pretty, happy, funny, real} mash-up sharing a few highlights of our trip.

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We’re Never Doing This Again!…Until Next Year. – For the last few years we’ve had the tradition of spending Thanksgiving week in So Cal. We are at Disneyland the first half of the week then we head to my family’s house for the rest of the week. The kids and I count down the days and debate which ride we will go on first (even though it is always It’s A Small World.) Brian on the other hand, well, Disneyland is more of an exercise of erasing any time he may have accumulated in purgatory.

However, to be honest, as much as we love the staff and larger rooms at Howard Johnson, there is always a moment (or two) during our hotel stay when I ready to lose my mind! At that point everything is usually chaos…the kids are hyped up and jumping from bed to bed, Matthew is emptying out the mini fridge again and pouring milk into our clothes drawer, not to mention that I forgot to pack a family member’s undies (hence, I even have to make a Target run while on vacay.) I remember at one point I told Brian that he should video record this moment and play it for me anytime that I have the ridiculous idea of taking this trip again. But he knew it was of no use since, as usual, a little time passes and I forget all the horror moments and only remember the warm and fuzzy times. Heck, it’s only been two weeks and I’m already marking off the calendar for next year’s trip! So with that, enjoy the photos. 🙂


{pretty, happy, funny, real}
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I hijacked this collage photos from my sis Jacinta!

The kids in front of It’s A Small World.

 

One of the evenings we camped out on Main Street to countdown the lighting of the Christmas Tree and Main Street, followed by the Christmas parade. Granted, we had to bribe ourselves to sit there on the hard sidewalk with coffee, hot chocolate and churros but it was worth it.

Andrew and Bella

Main Street

 

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I think the kids were most excited about going to Disney California Adventure and seeing the new Cars Land. It is so cute!! For lunch we ate at Flo’s V8 Café where the boys got Christmas Lightning McQueen kid meals. They couldn’t have cared less about the food, they just wanted the car!

John-Paul

 

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I loved that we were able to meet up with family members while we were at DL.

My brother Jacob helped babysit his nephew/godson Matthew.

It’s a sisters (& Bella) day out!

 

Somehow I didn’t get a photo of my bro Rob with Maria & Max. Ugh!! And as for my parents, well, they are old school in thinking that you keep your private life private and not post it for everyone to see. Go figure. 😉

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On our final night there, the lights were off and I was trying to get the kids to sleep in vain. Then at 9:30 pm the fireworks started pounding the sky so they crawled out of bed to watch from the window.
Revolution of Love Blog _ Ho Jo Anaheim

(Taken with my iphone while I was still in bed. LOL.)

 

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Finally, Brian was rewarded with his favorite part of the trip…leaving all the crowds and the noise and getting to the quiet and subtle beauty of the desert where my family is now living.
Revolution of Love Blog

Brian

The boys were in heaven with their dirt play time, especially Matthew.

 

The kids also got the treat of watching the original Star Wars for the very first time. Of course they then begged me for their own light sabers, and being the sucker that I am, I made another quick Target run.

John-Paul and Andrew

My favorite is this action shop that my brother IC snapped.

 

All in all, it was a lovely trip and we had plenty to be thankful for, especially for (almost) all the family being together and for the new friends/loved ones that shared the day with us.

One of the three tables we had set up.

(If you didn’t already read it, this is the Thankful Tree that my long-distance sis EL inspired.)

 

Have a great weekend! xoxo
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7 Quick Takes (11/16/12): A Blogging Vacation Edition


Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

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I’ll be taking a blogging break for a week or so as we go to So Cal to visit family (and Disneyland) over our Thanksgiving vacation. I won’t be posting on the blog but I will be posting updates and photos on the RoL Facebook page so we can keep in touch there. 🙂

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On Monday, I said that I was hoping I’d have my packing all done (or close to it) by today. Did I accomplish it? Wait for it…

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I washed all the laundry and picked out clothes for the six of us for seven days…

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I packed a separated suitcase with food and snacks for the hotel/Disneyland portion of our trip…

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I even filled the car with gas, paid the bills and arranged for someone to pick up our paper and mail…

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…She sayeth never.
Sigh.
I guess I better get to work.

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In the meantime, I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!! Lots of love to you and yours!

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