Category Archives: Photos

Friday: The Rainbow edition

A Friday tradition is to join in with Jennifer and her international friends @ Conversion Diary and share a weekly wrap up, not only is it a great way to boost the stats on the blog BUT……it’s a great way to find NEW blogs to read. Win-win, people, win-win.

I’ll be doing this in (mostly) photo version today, mostly because I need to wake up a bunch of kids and get to work, and because it seemed I took a bunch of pictures on my iPhone this week…..so, I thought I’d share!

1. We are ready for the Olympics!!! Are you??? We are so excited!! In fact, several months ago we gave up cable (no one was really watching anyway AND it saved us about $70 a month), BUT….in order to watch the Olympics (not on the laptop) hubby put up an antennae to grab signal so that we can get the local affiliate and join in. It took MUCH sweat and effort on his part, lots of brain power and in the end….a sweet, crisp picture and now we also have a few local channels (which is great for severe weather, usually we are just oblivious and watch the skies) and SEVERAL Spanish channels. Bring on the Olympic torch!!

Set up and ready to go!!

2. Speaking of Olympic prowess and excitement, my personal buff and ripped self 😉

came to a screeching halt this week when somehow, someway I managed to pull something in my shoulder/upper back and had to skip most of the week babying it. My new best friend is:

These things are the BOMB! Seriously, they last like 8 hours!!! And as a bonus, I don’t feel like I’m 80 anymore!

3. Also, in preparation for the Olympics, we bought a great little buffet at an estate sale for $50 (Hubby is a good negotiator!) and after much sweat (his), some cursing (his) and some muscles (mine and his, I had to help him move it around a little) it’s been refurnished and now is our new entertainment stand…more to come in a before and after post:

Much cleaner look than our previous entertainment center.

4. In other entertainment news, my current read

This book is FASCINATING!!! Why did I take so long to read it?!?!

5. My forgetfulness has come to a whole new level, not one but TWO reminders this morning from my little entrepreneurs…..

Apparently my mantra of “if you want me to remember, write it down” has finally sunk in!

6. An awesome sight the other night

Something about rainbows…

Our daughter looked up and said…”God’s promise”. Love it. A double promise this time!

7. No picture of this, but since I’ve been getting as much overtime as possible this and last week, I am super glad it’s Friday. It will be worth it when it takes the sting out of the back-to-school shopping comes. Soon. Far. Too. Soon.

Blessings to you all!!

When do YOU have time to blog???

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Be not of those who think perfection consists in undertaking many things, but of those who place it in doing well what little they do. For it is much better to do little and to do it well, than to undertake much and do it ill.” St. Francis de Sales

My blog posts are becoming fewer and further between. WTH? When do you people have time to write? Do you pound it all out at one sitting or draft and edit and edit? I’m a sit down, get it done, publish kind of girl. I like to wrap it up. No loose ends.

My writing time is in the morning and since I started morning boot camp last week that killed 3 days during the week of “writing” time. We also implemented a new scheduling system at work that has opened up a whole box of cluster for our company as there are MANY people trying to learn (all at different paces) AND utilize the system all at the same time. We’re waiting to see if a head will roll (or two), but in the meantime our company has offered OVERTIME (unheard. of.) to get the backlog of scheduling caught up. Yours truly is all kinds of up on that train. We have back-to-school in 4 weeks (already?!?!?) and the OT will definitely ease the burden of supplies and new shoes, shorts, shirts, etc., which means even less time for blogging!!! I guess until the blogging pays for itself that’s the way it will be and since I’m not really in it to market anything, nor really found (or am looking for) a niche to fill, I don’t foresee that any time soon! So, in the meantime, (or at least the next 3 weeks I have boot camp in the mornings) my blogging will be sporadic. Unless you all give me some good ideas.

This weekend when I wasn’t blogging I was here:

Walking with one of my oldest and dearest friends for ONE WHOLE HOUR on the beach early Saturday morning! Great sweaty girl time!

Then, later in the day when I wasn’t blogging we were here:

Ending the day with friends on the beach

So, really. How and when DO you blog? Does the beach (or other fun) get in your way? I really want to know….

By the way, it is Natural Family Planning Awareness week. For those of you thinking it’s the ol’ Rhythm method here are a few sites to check out and learn a little somethin’ somethin’ about your body (or your wife’s), save a little dough and avoid added carcinogens in your body (because don’t we get enough from everything else we face on a daily basis?). So, I may (or may not) have a few re-blogs here this week on interesting NFP stuff. Excited, aren’t ya? 😉

iusenfp.com

1Flesh.org

Lazy cat

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Having never owned a cat before, the last few months have been interesting. Lots of figuring out on both sides. However, amusement at our little feline’s expense is never-ending. One thing we never tire of is his sloth-ness. Cats TRULY do sleep alot. Apparently chasing and eating chamelons takes quite a bit of effort, as does stalking birds and rooting around in the stickly bushes in order to tramp half the sticks into the house on the fluffy tail.

Morning coffee time—he only likes to sniff it, promise.

So confident that no one is going to mess with him….

ZZZZzzzzz

and again…

loves the backpack!

claws out….stop with photos already!!

Life giving friendships

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These girls, ladies, women, amazing friends and sisters in Christ. They’ve been an integral thread in my life for a dozen years. We met during a women’s retreat at our parish and many of our husbands participated in the men’s retreat that took place after ours. Our retreat group was probably twice this size after formation, but this group……THIS group struck a bond. A bond that went beyond formation and providing the next retreat. A bond strengthened over bible studies, rosaries, dinners and desserts. In spite of busy lives and season changes, we’ve managed to stick together, each taking a piece of the other’s heart so that we are all forever sisters regardless of distance and life’s plans for us. These are life giving friends.

This picture captures a rare moment of togetherness recently, and marks the move of one friend and her family to Washington D.C. The fact that we were ALL able to make the dinner (with school over and summer ON, one with laryngitis, one leaving the next day with her husband and 6 kiddos on vacation, myself being 4 hours away, and one with a newborn) was an amazing accomplishment in itself–on a Wednesday night no less! It was a bittersweet dinner (saying goodbye is NEVER easy) however, we were ALL able to take turns “catching up” in a roundtable discussion and enjoy each other’s company, laughing at stories and enjoying super delicious food, too–BONUS!

12 years brings much opportunity for prayer, encouragement, hope, love and comfort. What a blessing in these friendships, an abundant harvest resulting from following the prompting of our Lord to attend a weekend retreat.

These friendships are a tapestry of prayer and God reveals the image one story at a time. Through the years He’s weaved that tapestry through praying for one another and sharing in each other’s lives.

Prayers for struggling marriages and praises for God’s gift of forgiveness, compromise, commitment, and strength in fighting through the challenges and the fruit of healed hearts.

Prayers for babies born and unborn and praises for those who took their sweet, sweet time.

Prayers for being open to life and praises for the many varied gifts of life in this culture of death.

Prayers for children’s health, novenas for treatment and praises in God’s gift of talented physicians, compassionate nurses and a network of prayer warriors storming heaven.

Prayers for children lost in the sea of peer pressure and hurt as they spread their wings and fly solo, praises for God’s path and the gift of healing through angels on earth who allow the Holy Spirit to form their words and gently redirect their path.

Prayers for the unfairness of cancer and all the promises it robs, praises for the power of prayer, God’s will and the promises of His plan far exceeding our own.

Prayers for guidance and advice in the ongoing vocation of motherhood and marriage, and praises for God’s wisdom and love provided through friends as we all weave our families through this obstacle course of life.

Prayers through job loss and financial struggles and praises for jobs found, opportunities presented a faith to step out of comfort zones into Trust.

Prayers throughout a family’s prison ordeal and praises for a family restored.

Prayers for friends who move away and praises for the unexpected gifts received in stepping out in love and hope.

Prayers spoken, fears whispered, tears shed, hope restored, love shared, faith renewed. Prayer warriors and lifetime friends. A bond not weakened by distance. A bond strengthened through prayer, sharing, love and faith.

Thank you, Lord for the gift of friends. I am truly blessed.

Proverbs 11:14

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

For more on friendship Scripture check here…