True confessions: every so often (AKA when I have a newborn) I binge watch a show on Netflix. I’ve watched plenty of embarrassing shows during 3am nursing sessions but I’ll only name one today: ABC’s Once Upon a Time fairy tale drama. Written by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis of LOST, it’s similar to everyone’s favorite stuck-on-an-island-with-polar-bears series in that it has an ensemble cast … [Read more...]
The One Thing I Regret About My Wedding
I was 20 when we were married. Generally speaking, I didn’t know much of anything. I knew I wanted to marry Daniel in a church. I didn’t even care so much which church (it was a few years before we became Catholic). I didn’t care what our wedding colors were. It didn’t make much of a difference to me what song played when I walked down the aisle. It was before Pinterest. I just wanted a white … [Read more...]
Welcome to My Little Oratory (And a Giveaway!)
I know we’ve been talking a lot about books lately, but there are so many good books coming out of the Catholic blogosphere right now! Cari Donaldson’s Pope Awesome, Jen Fulwiler’s Something Other Than God, Sarah Mackenzie’s Teaching from Rest, and now The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home by David Clayton and Like Mother Like Daughter’s Leila Lawler (and illustrations by … [Read more...]
The Novel that Made Me Catholic (Introducing the Carrots Classic Book Club)
It sounds strange, but Evelyn Waugh’s 20th century British novel, Brideshead Revisited influenced my decision to become Catholic perhaps more than anything else. I read the Church Fathers and studied Catholic theology and my intellectual obstacles to becoming Catholic were slowly crumbling. But at my core, I need story. My brain works narratively. I slog through non-fiction, but I can devour … [Read more...]
The Freedom of Giving Up
We have a very mixed up idea of what freedom is. We think that freedom is choice, and more specifically in our consumerist society, we think true freedom is having a multitude of choices. We expect the t-shirt we want to be available in every color under the sun. We expect hundreds of flavors of coffee to be waiting for us at the grocery store. But on a deeper level, we think moral freedom is … [Read more...]
Becoming a Family of Prayer
When I read Kendra of Catholic All Year's Day in the Life post last week, I immediately asked if she would write about how she fits prayer into her family's life. We just started trying a family Rosary again after taking a break since Baby Gwen was born, but I was inspired by how Kendra centers her family's whole day around prayer. Enjoy! - Haley (p.s. Our only computer died this week, so … [Read more...]
Liturgical Living At a Glance: April
I’m always trying to figure out how to make it easier for families to observe the Christian Year because we felt so overwhelmed when we first started that journey (which is why we wrote the book we wish we had then). I thought it might be helpful for our family to have resources compiled for the month ahead so that we can plan in advance which special saints days we want to observe and I hope … [Read more...]
Preparing for a Child’s First Confession (And Giveaway)
I don't know the first thing about how to prepare a child for the Sacrament of Reconciliation which is why I'm glad there's people like Kendra who are a few years ahead of me in the journey of motherhood and know what they're doing. And, because she's helpful like that, Kendra wrote a book about it! AND IT'S AWESOME. And she sent me one to give away! Hurrah! The crowd goes wild! My oldest child … [Read more...]
Liturgical Living at a Glance: March
I’m always trying to figure out how to make it easier for families to observe the Christian Year because we felt so overwhelmed when we first started that journey (which is why we wrote the book we wish we had then). I thought it might be helpful for our family to have resources compiled for the month ahead so that we can plan in advance which special saints days we want to observe and I hope … [Read more...]
Jesus in the TARDIS (Or, Why Fandom Is So Complimentary to Catholicism)
(This is a guest post by Christie of Everything to Someone) Growing up, I was kind of isolated--as a Catholic, and as a fangirl. I went to a Catholic high school but knew very few people who were genuinely Catholic, what we'd call a "loyal Catholic" but of whom my spunky sister says, "Just Catholic Catholics. You're either Catholic, or you're not. You either follow the Magisterium, or … [Read more...]
