(Guest post by Daniel) I can no longer eat that little tomato wedge that comes with side salads at restaurants. You know, the little half moon that sits to the right of the iceberg mix with the texture of styrofoam and a taste vaguely reminiscent of watery ketchup. I used to be able to eat them but then I had a real, fresh tomato with soft, meaty flesh and vibrant tomato flavor. Now, I could … [Read more...]
The Good Thing About Being Sick on Christmas…
(Prepare yourself for some poor quality iphone pics with bad lighting. Lucky you!) Waking up in the middle of the night Christmas Eve with a head cold that gets progressively worse all Christmas Day and becomes a throat infection until you're shivering, achy, and feverish, on the couch with a hot cup of tea might not be the ideal way to celebrate..... However.... The good thing about … [Read more...]
Advent Unplugged Wrap Up (Link Up)
This year I tried to do some intentional social media unplugging during Advent and lots of other folks joined me. You can read about it in the original post and the updates for Week 1 and Week 2. Advent is coming to a close and Christmas is almost here! Take a few moments before Wednesday and reflect on this season of Advent. Here's a few things I'm taking away from this season and I can't wait … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding in Public, Hungry Babies, and Pope Francis
I saw this snippet of a recent interview with Pope Francis on Jimmy Akin's post: "At the Wednesday General Audience the other day there was a young mother behind one of the barriers with a baby that was just a few months old. The child was crying its eyes out as I came past. The mother was caressing it. I said to her: Madam, I think the child’s hungry. 'Yes, it’s probably time…' she … [Read more...]
What Happened to Christian Art? (Why Is CCM So Awful?)
A friend recently shared a piece on Facebook by Michael Gungor of the band Gungor that explored issues in the Christian Music Industry. Anytime the words “Christian” and “industry” are used in the same phrase is a sign there's a problem. But the main question Michael Gungor addressed was, why is CCM (contemporary Christian music) so dreadful? I’m just going to assume that we’re in agreement that … [Read more...]
Advent Unplugged: Week 2
I am so enjoying reading all of your Advent Unplugged posts. The insights you are sharing are so motivating to me and the accountability is really helping me strive to stay on course (or get back on course when I get wrapped up in my laptop again!) Here's some insights I'm having as I struggle to be/stay unplugged: The distraction of social media was becoming such a focus in my life that it … [Read more...]
Amazon Sells Our Book for 30% Off and Why That Is
I'm just dropping in to let you wonderful readers know that you can get our print book for cheap on Amazon and why that is. Here's the deal (and it's kind boring so feel free to scroll down to the bottom line at the end), we set up our print version with a company called CreateSpace that is a part of Amazon. When Daniel and I set the price, we priced it so that we would receive the same amount … [Read more...]
New Shoes and St. Nicholas Day
Each year we get the kids a new pair of shoes for St. Nicholas Day (the ones above are for the girls, my favorite shoes for babies and toddlers!) and then we fill them with treats. It's our big gift-exchange day instead of Christmas (although we do Christmas morning fun with Daniel's family). We start out the day with Mass, then the kids get to open their gifts and try on their new shoes while we … [Read more...]
Advent Unplugged: Week 1
Joining me for Advent Unplugged? Basically, I'm make some commitments to unplug from social media and my laptop during this season. You can read more about my Advent Unplugged goals and read what other bloggers have shared in the original link up. But each Monday during Advent, I'd like to share with you about how my Advent Unplugged is going and open up a new link-up for you to share and for us … [Read more...]
Why Advent Should Terrify You
You can find me over at Catholic Exchange today talking about the scary side of Advent--something I've been thinking about since I went on an Advent retreat last year. "We’ve made a huge mistake. We’ve made the Incarnation safe and comfortable. We like it warm and fuzzy with soft lambs bleating as they rest on clean hay. And, yes, it is beautiful and joyful and splendid. But we’ve sanitized it … [Read more...]
