Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Holy Mass, my husband, my three kids, my MOM, my brothers, my whole family really, my little job, chocolate, a mouse-less house, health, insurance, new glasses, wine, chai tea, Rachel's hand-me-downs, hamburgers, indoor plumbing, British accents.

What have you done?

Friends left comments on this post telling me amazing things about themselves that I never knew. And now I want you to do the same. I'll even let you comment anonymously, although I'd prefer to know about YOU.

Did you graduate Summa Cum Laude?
Have you volunteered every Saturday for the past year?
Where you prom queen Senior year?
Are you fluent in Italian?

Brag about yourself a little bit because I want to know so I can be excited for the things you've accomplished.

I'll start. The summer after my Junior year at EC I had an internship at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing center & pirate supply store in San Francisco. Dave Eggers, who was my favorite author at the time, is the founder of 826 and I was able to work with him some while there. (Dave was nominated for the Pulitzer for his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. He also founded a publishing company, McSweeney's and wrote the script for Where the Wild Things Are.) I was completely alone - not knowing anyone - but I went out on my own. I traveled the city, going to museums, plays, the opera, restaurants. I randomly met Tatjana, who is still a good friend even though she's a German living in South America. I helped kids become excited about reading and writing. I learned all kinds of things that helped me become the employee and mother I am today.

I saw on Oprah...

On a fairly recent episode four viewers were challenged to do things they don't normally do: roller derby, skydiving and skinny dipping. They were four women who felt un-special, stuck in a rut, like they were going through the motions. As they stepped out of their boxes they were awakened, or at least saw that they were capable of more than they realized. In the end they were given charm bracelets with charms representing the things they had done.

I really liked this idea - to wear a constant reminder of the things I have done which have built my character, challenged my intellect, pushed my body and shaped me into who I am. A constant reminder of the amazing things I have accomplished, my little victories and successes.

I want one of these charm bracelets to help me feel beautiful. I would have a charm for:
-the 50lbs I lost when I was in college (see! I did it once, I can do it again!)
-my internship in San Francisco
-Lydia
-Bennet
-Peter
-my work in campus ministry
-my marriage

What would you have charms for?

super cute baby video

I know I'm biased, but my kids are super cute.

to Liz

Dear Liz,

Allow me to quote you and then follow up with my thoughts.

#1: being in a particularly non-religious country isn’t doing a whole lot for my spiritual life.
--- I know the USA is a lot more religious than the UK, but outside the cocoon of a Newman Center and college life it can be very hard to keep a spiritual life. I have found that in this stage of my life, where I am not surrounded by good Catholics and a chapel, it can be very hard to love, trust and serve God. Suddenly my challenges are much more mundane - like not losing my temper or not using foul language - but they are also so much harder to do. Sometimes I feel myself resenting God for how hard the easy is.

#2 I spent a lot of time admiring God’s handiwork on the island and in people around me. I took time to think about where my life will take me and what I want to do for a career.
--- I am so glad you know how to do this already. It will make the rest of your life easier and more joyful. Keep up this practice so that it becomes a good habit.

#3 And, I realized...that I need to take time to spend with God.
--- Yes! Do this as much as you can now! Please! Some day you will have little children and attending daily Mass will seem like such a daunting task it will make you want to cry just to think about getting them there on time and keeping them in line during the 30 minutes. I give up before I even try.

#4 I know I have a lot of work to do and don’t expect... an immediate cure-all for my life, but... The hidden solution to everything: prayer—even when we don’t feel like it or can’t do it. It’s then that we find the greatest treasures of all.
--- This shows much maturity; which doesn't surprise me one bit.

I love you and miss you. I look forward to when you come back to EC.
xo, Bonnie

tips from the Sisters of Life

This comes from the latest newsletter from the Sisters of Life:

Tips if you are discerning Religious Life

1. Pray! Go to Mass as often as possible; enter teh silent alchemy of love in Eucharistic Adoration
2. "Do whatever he tells you": entrust yourself to the Blessed Mother
3. Clean out the Pipes: go to confession at least once a month and get a spiritual director to guide your prayer
4. Finders Keepers: read up about vocations and different charisms in teh Church (like the charism of Life!)
5. Go on a Diet: cut your intake of movies, music and magazines that don't glorify God
6. Thougt Revolution: don't worry about wht is most "useful" in religious life; study what you love to study!
7. Theology of the Body: learn it

Let teh Games Begin: contact communities and keep an open heart!

songs for a bridal shower

Sunday was a bridal shower for a Newman friend's fiance. I was in charge of games and we played one where everyone had 3 minutes to write down as many songs that they could think of that had the word "love" in the title. Everyone goes around and reads their list, crossing off repeats. When all was said and done I gave two cd's away. The bride got a burned cd of love songs and the winner got, along with her prize, a burned cd of love stinks songs. I then read the following stories, which are the playlists for each cd.



Love Sweet Love

We all know that Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. In fact, we were Made to Love. Now, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and usually this is how it plays out: a man and a woman meet and maybe they fall Accidentlly in Love. And the next thing you know the man is telling the woman Your Love is Lifting Me Higher and she's telling him that he's bringing her Closer to Love. Soon the man tells her, with a look in his eye, When a Man Loves a Woman... and he's begging her to Love Me Tender. But she exclaims that if it's Real Love then there will be Love and Marriage. Well, The Power of Love finds the two at the altar and at the end of the night she tells him to Come and Get Your Love. Nine months later they have a baby and little money, but All You Need Is Love and they tell their new little one You Cannot Lose My Love. Through the years he tells her How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You. She tells him "I have a Neverending Love for You and I've Always Loved You." In old age they look back at their marriage, their kids and grandkids and they look forward to Heaven, to a Love Without End, Amen.

Love Stinks

For some people Love Stinks. There's one man begging "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." There's a woman yelling at her boyfriend, "You Give Love a Bad Name. There's another guy worrying about This Love, the Tainted Love until he finally decides, "I Need a Lover (who won't drive me crazy)." One person begs Love Me Do and another thinks, "I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love Tonight?" What's Love Got To Do With It? Well, even though Love Is a Battlefield everybody wants Somebody to Love. You say you Can't Help Falling in Love but in the end all you have is an Elephant Love Medley. But hey, at least you can just tell yourself I Love Rock & Roll as you head on down to the Love Shack to mend your broken heart.

The songs, according to my itunes library, are by:

Love Sweet Love - Blues Brothers, tobyMac, The Darkness, Counting Crows, Ghostbusters soundtrack, Mat Kearney, Percy Sledge, Elvis, Regina Spektor, Sinatra, Huey Lewis and the News, Redbone, James Taylor, The Beatles, Sara Groves, Delaney & Bonnie, Third Day, George Straight.

Love Stinks - J Geils Band, Cake, Bon Jovi, Maroon 5, Soft Cell, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Beatles, Kate Rusby, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, Queen, Elvis, Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, B-52's.

If I could download music right now I would get:

Sigor Ros' Hoppipollo
DeVotchKa's How It Ends
Meiko's The Piano Song
TobyMac's City on Our Knees
Michael Franti's Say Hey (I Love You)
Jay Z's Run This Town
Len's Steal My Sunshine

What would YOU download?

small successes

Today I cleaned the carpets, paid the bills, cleaned the bathroom, prepared games and food for tomorrow's bridal shower and painted my nails. I feel really, really good about all this.

My mom was babysitting the kids, by the way.

Happy All Souls Day!

St.s Joan of Arc, Elizabeth, Joseph, Michael, John the Baptist, Maximilian, Kateri, Ann, Mark, Nicholas and Holy Mary -

PRAY FOR US!

tickle tickle

One of these days I will remember to NOT hold the camera vertically while filming.

October in pictures

Starting the month off in their Halloween clothes.

Lydia carries her baby doll around and says, "I know..." She also picks up my pump, holds it to her chest and says, "pump." :)

We're all tired.

Bennet's original sin is washed away!

Bennet, parents and godparents.

Lydia with her godparents. She actually does love them, despite what her expression looks like.

Daddy time.

Free fun at Tanner's.

Trick-or-Treating at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

My little boy is so cute!

Trying to get a picture of the kids in their costumes. Lydia the Bumble Bee and Bennet the Giraffe.

Lydia and I went Trick-or-Treating around our neighborhood and it was one of my favorite experiences with her so far. It was so sweet to walk around, holding her hand, in her cute little costume. She was having so much fun and was such a big girl. And I loved the way she made people smile when we went to their door.

A good month, October was. :)