1. He makes super pie crust (which I like to eat) and give lessons. With my love in the kitchen we will never starve!
2.We like John Deere Backhoes. They pay the bills and are very useful machines.
3. We went on two first dates. The first first one didn't work out. The second first date did!
4. He is a fantastic birth coach and is basically good with all things that involve injury, blood, and bodily fluids for which I am grateful, very grateful.
5. We look at the world differently (as you can see in this picture) but usually that's a good thing as long as we talk through our perspective. I find the differences in our thought processes fascinating actually.
6. He planned our honeymoon and surprised me-- we went cruising in Alaska.
7. As much as he can drive me crazy...he is the one that drives me to be a better me. Who drives me to examine myself, my motives, my loving and work on improving them in turn.
8. Some of my favorite 'dates' include having drinks with his brothers, putting up trim (there have been at least two such dates), deer hunting (think 4:30 a.m. and elder brush swamp), and a high school musical with my love snoring.
9. He is always thinking of little things to do for me or bringing home flowers, groceries or a kiss. This makes me happy.
10. He makes me laugh and will laugh with me.
I got this post from Betty Beguilles. Go check out what others are saying about their better halves!
Kate says, "Mom, JuJu and I are tigers in the zoo..."
"And your the Momma Tiger!"
Welcome to the zoo that is my life! The tigers and I have been busy. We're preparing the cages for company this weekend. One of the baby tigers is turning three! Rawr!
" I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them [...] Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here in idleness…while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son? [...] Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation [...] Teach them their catechism, how to sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you."
I recently had the privileged of making a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help where in 1859 the Queen of Heaven appeared to a young woman named Adele Brise. After making the journey (with my dear friend and two children in tow) and offering intentions in the Chapel and attempting to pray a decade of the Rosary (while my two year old had a meltdown), I thought to myself, 'I am I going to take anything away from this day?' However, perhaps in hindsight I've gotten more in reflecting on the words of Our Lady to Adele and there application to my life and there continued relevance to the world today.
I was particularly struck by the title Queen of Heaven. Just a year previous of this apparition, St. Bernadette of Lourdes, France had an apparition of the Virgin Mary, where Mary called herself, the Immaculate Conception. Certainly, this title has significant meaning within the Catholic Church and especially in our understanding of Mary and the life that God had chosen for her to lead. It has also shaped the faithfuls' devotion to our Blessed Mother over the years. So it is with the title Mary gave to herself to Adele, Queen of Heaven. What follows is my personal reflection on this title and the words of Our Lady to Adele. In this reflection I feel like I've gained some insights that continue to help me grow in faith.
As a Queen Mother, Mary reigns with her Son with a love for her people. She, like any good ruler wants what is best for those under her rule. Totus tuus Latin for "totally yours" comes to my mind (in what seems eons ago I was part of a program by the same name). The prayer in Latin is: "Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt" ("I am all yours, and all that I have is yours"). That to become closer to the King you go to His mother, to Jesus through Mary. I have been thinking about how I make Mary the Queen in my life. And how her love for me is so great and her desires for me so pure.
Heaven- what matters in the 'big picture'. How often I forget this and cling instead to my little earthly problems and things. I really have a desire to let some of these go so I can focus more fully on what is really important. We need to keep an eternal perspective. What changes we would come about if I kept an eternal perspective in my married life, family life, work, politics, our world view etc.? Am I living each day with this goal in mind? How can I do this? I feel as if Mary was asking me, "What are you doing here in idleness...while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?" Each of us, myself included, has been given a job to do in the Kingdom. Adele from that point forward busied herself in teaching the faith to the children of the area. I feel like I'm called to do the same. With our Blessed Mother's help and the grace that comes from God I will give it a go.
After a very eventful evening of preparation, our family enjoyed dinner with my friend Molly. We celebrated the Annunciation on the eve of the Solemnity with a meal of grilled chicken, salad, penne noodles, pretzels and good beer.
After Molly left Julia was quick to find and enjoy her bottle. Cheers to good friends!
Happy 9 months to Christmas! Hooray for Mary's YES!
These enchiladas are EASY, fast, filling and can feed bunches or make for good leftovers. My good friends the McKenna's are credited with sharing their recipe for them with me back in my graduate school days. It is one of my most frequently shared recipes and it is very forgiving as far as the quantities and mix of ingredients.
Personally, one of the reasons I love the recipe is for its name- there's something that makes me smile about Irish Enchiladas- and if you knew the McKennas you'd smile, too.
McKenna Enchiladas (chicken)
(makes 6-8 tortillas depending on how much filling you put in them it could make more....)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. sour cream
1-2 cans of chopped green chiles
1/2 t. salt
2 c. grated cheese
2 c. cooked chopped chicken
1/2 c. green onion (optional)
Mix all ingredients, spray pan and fill tortillas "Taco Bell" style
Cover with cheese, remainder of filling or your favorite enchilada sauce.
Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes
Foiled pans work great for this recipe. It is also a wonderful dish to take to new mom's, friends who have just moved or Mexican fiestas! The enchiladas are just as good or better the second day. Enjoy!
So I was cleaning boxes out of the basement this weekend. I conquered more than 4 boxes of old stuff that I moved here when I got married and haven't gone through and organized it or tossed it since. Yikes.
Anyway, one of the MANY things I stumbled upon was some poetry, some mine and some others that I copied for my 'collection' that has been collecting dust. Here is a sampling.
I throw my arms in the air I cry my heart out to God I couldn't understand I am a drop in a pond A face in a faceless crowd Life has given me fruit useless unless I understand its purpose Tasteless unless I unleash the juices I must learn to squeeze the lemon Only then can I quench my thirst _________
Freedom Flightful fullness free Without chains, walls, words Full of life and love To let what happens happen Now, later No crap no parents no time
Freedom Of speech, of thought Of bondage, of narrow-mindedness To see the big picture and see the big picture To show the world your second identity Seen only in the shadows of your mind felt only in the depths of your heart
Freedom Out of the box that binds you Fly and stretch in bliss Ignorant bliss that has no end. To think your own thoughts uninhibited by the cultural norm No standard of deviation Complete deviation Complete freedom I'd like to try that.
__________ potent dark ice clouds my spring joy not fair is it no but nothing is trust it will be then and it can be when we love all always in Christ
- R. Johll
_________
Snuggle up with a drink
a lumpy cocoon
warm blossom of life
found out there
Beneath the weight
of my day
1. Saw two robins this morning poking around for worms and nesting materials in our backyard.
2. Went for a walk in the double stroller with the girls to get the mail for the first time in MONTHS.
3. Kurt, while cleaning out the garage this weekend, found these growing. I'd meant to plant them after he bought them for me last spring but this works. ;-) We can watch the tulips right from our dinner table.
2. Secondly, you might be wondering where we've been. The girls and I had planned a trip north to visit my friend Mary Beth. We were classmates in graduate school, IPT Central WI 2005. Our plan was to head north on Sunday and return home on Wednesday.
Kate and Mary Beth out for sushi!
We enjoyed time at daily Mass, conversation and cups of coffee, playing with her dog Snowflake and dining out for sushi, something Mary Beth and I have done many times though this was Katie and Julia's first.
Look at her use those chopsticks!
We also made a pilgrimage to visit The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI. This site, where Mary appeared to Adele Brise in 1859, was recently approved by the local bishop. I was personally moved by Our Lady's message to Adele and its relevance to today in Wisconsin as it was at the time it happened. I am planning on posting some reflections about this part of our trip later this Lent.
3. We'd planned on heading home Wednesday but my Uncle Dan 'Boone', my mom's brother, died and the funeral was set for Saturday. So, rather than drive the trip back home to Kieler and promptly up north again. We decided to make a round trip of it. From Mary Beth's we head to Medford.
May Dan's soul and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.
It was good to spend time with my family. My mom was able to take some time off and my SIL and I spent some quality time together, too. It was a real blessing.
4.Unfortunately, we came home and promptly got sick. The girls battling a virus of sorts and me with mastitis, probably a symptom of the same virus. I've recovered pretty quickly but the girls are still not on the mend.
Kate's sick spot- Notice the trash can full of kleenex.
5. Fortunately, it was the start of Lent this Wednesday and all these things have been FUN in the Lenten sense as a friend reminded me this afternoon. It has been a spiritually fruitful time for me. A mom recommended the book, Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss. I must pass on this recommendation wholeheartedly. It was Providential that I was struggling with simplicity and February's focus was, you got it SIMPLICITY! Now, we're into March focusing on SACRIFICE.
They're small steps but they've really helped me direct my prayer and focus on particular virtues.
