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Florence: A Hike Before Sunrise and Finding Quality Time
“Quality time is found in the midst of quantity time” ~Deacon Randolph~ When thinking back on our trip to Florence, there is one memory that brings home the truth about quality time: it’s often found in the more ordinary moments and it can happen anywhere, at anytime, and it is the glue that holds family together. Sure — we were in Florence — and that isn’t an everyday occurrence for our family. But the memory that I am thinking about started off in a way that many family memories start out: a little conversation between husband and wife. We knew we hadn’t slept much since the beginning of our trip…
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Florence: What Art, Beauty, and Naked Statues Have to Do with Being Catholic
“This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair”. ~John Paul II, Letter to Artists~ One of the reasons I love being around kids is that they ask the honest questions that adults are too afraid to ask. When traveling to Florence with kids, a question that will almost inevitably come up is, “Why so many naked people?” I’m not talking about the people passing by, but everywhere you look — in churches, piazzas, and museums — there are naked people depicted in very life-like reality. It might surprise you that the Church was one of the greatest patrons of the arts — and without the Church,…
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7 Quick Takes: The Do’s and Don’ts of Family Travel
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” ~Charles Dickens~ I just returned from a two week family pilgrimage to Italy, and on the morning of my return, I woke up thinking, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — though Dickens was actually writing about the French Revolution, his words perfectly encapsulate our family trip– it was truly the best and worst of times. But it was worth it! If you find yourself traveling with one child, or multiple children, I guarantee you will find yourself thinking and saying things that definitely aren’t your best thoughts and words — but you will…
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Surviving Houseguests
I recently survived 6 days of guests at my house! If you’re thinking, “Um, I fail to see the difficulty in that feat” — then you’re most likely an extrovert and you are going to want to read this to gain perspective on your poor, introverted friends. If you are an introvert — well, you get it already, but I’m going to share my tactics for surviving and actually enjoying (yes, it is possible) houseguests from time to time. I have to begin by saying that introverts are a thing, and I’m making that point right up front because my husband tries to insist that introverts don’t really exist. If you fall into that…
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Facing Our Fears
There have been a lot of really tragic events in the news lately, and it’s enough to make me want to stock up on canned goods and build a bunker — a place where everybody I love would live in relative peace, away from the rest of the world. Does anybody else feel that way? But the thing is, we’re not meant to hide away in our homes because of the fear of what might be. We aren’t supposed to have a spirit of fear or timidity, but one of power and love and self-control (2 Tim 1:7). But when I look at my life, there are times when I definitely have…
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Living the Life….Confession
Confession…it’s a thing…a really good thing…a run out to your local priest and get this thing done, thing. If you’re Catholic, you’ve probably gone at least one time this year, because frankly we’re asked to go at least that often. But maybe instead of saying that it’s something I have to do, what if I said that it was something that I get to do? I get to go to confession as often as I want, like everyday if necessary. I’m not saying you should go everyday, I’m just saying you could. But why go at all? Well, right before Jesus was getting ready to die, he spoke to the apostles, the first bishops of our Church and…
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Why start a blog??
I have thought about starting my own blog for a few years now. I briefly blogged for a local news site, and had one article published in the local newspaper, but life with little kids was busy — crazy busy — like it was impossible to carve out the time to do both well. Something had to give, and I knew it couldn’t be my attention to my kids. So I gave up something that I enjoyed doing because I knew that the timing was off. I’m happy that I did that — no regrets. But recently, I began finding myself doing crazy things to express myself, like spending 30 minutes…
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And So It Begins…
