7 Quick Takes Friday

Here we go...

 

--- 1 ---

Last weekend we had an office cookout. All of us and our families were welcomed to the homestead of another staff member. The kids enjoyed the farm animals and almost everyone enjoyed riding Daisy. She is a great horse that put up with being led around the yard with toddlers on her back to being taken for a full trail ride by an adult and the a few more people decided they would take a ride too. It was a beautiful day with delicious food and great conversation. It was a really nice time to get together with everyone outside of the office.

My Hunter taking a ride on Daisy.



--- 2 ---

I came across this short article the other day. It says a lot about the value of every life. It is called “When sparrows fall: A tribute to a baby girl". You can read it here, I highly recommend it.

--- 3 ---

Lately my son has surprised me with tidbits of thoughts he is having. This sort of thing is usually the funniest when your kids are toddlers, but when they are 14 I guess you just don’t expect it as much. Anyway, at the county fair, while eating deep fried Oreo’s, he says “these are like the opposite of baptism, they are so good they are sinful”.

Then the other night he comes out of his room and asks to get on my computer. He then pulls up a Youtube video that is the theme song from the video game “Civilization IV”. The song is titled “Baba Yetu”. So he plays it and then says guess what it is? It’s “The Lord’s Prayer” sung in Swahili. He knew I would appreciate it and decided to show me, I’m so glad he did, it really is beautiful.

--- 4 ---

Did you see Anderson Coopers interview with Antoinette Tuff? She is the lady that talked down the Georgia school shooter last week. What she did was amazing and she is completely up front that God did it through her. Her words “God has a way of showing you what’s in you”. What an amazing witness her story is! This is a small clip from the interview. 

--- 5 ---

School starts next week. Hunter says “I think I’m excited but I know it won’t last long”. It seems like only a few weeks ago when I was posting about all his end of year activities. Summer goes by way to fast.

Anyway, I did his school supply shopping today. And I hate it. Maybe everyone hates it, but it is just crazy. First of all, the stores put the supplies out with great prices at least a month ago. The problem is you don’t get the list of what your kids need until the week before school starts. So by the time you can go fight through the masses to find the right size binders and the correct color of folders, everything has been picked through, half of everything doesn’t have a price on it, and most of what is left is the most expensive of it all.

Now, I guess the solution is to pick up what you think your kid might need as soon as the stores have it out, the problem with that is the lists are specific and different by teacher and grade that you don’t really know what to get. For example, you probably can’t go wrong if you buy pens, pencils and notebook paper, right? But if you try to buy binders you definitely won’t be getting the right size. One subject needs a 1 inch binder, another a 3 inch, and on and on. And I certainly don’t need heavy duty, sure kids are rough on their stuff but they are going to destroy it anyway, so I would rather just get the economy priced one. Sorry for the rant, but I am cheap economic, and it is drives me crazy to not be able to get the best deal.

--- 6 ---

I have decided that I would take on another blogging challenge. (Do you remember the 7 Posts in 7 Days challenge?) Well this one was brought to my attention by a sweet blogger that I recently discovered. Her name is Nay and she is just adorable, and she is so real, she just makes you feel good when you read her posts. She blogs over at coffee-n-ink. 

The Blogtember Challenge is hosted by Jenni at “Story of my Life”. The challenge is to blog a total of 20 days in September (you get Labor Day and weekends off) and she gives you a topic for each day of the challenge. That is what clinched it for me. So be on the lookout for many posts coming from me in September! 

--- 7 ---

This has been an exciting week for me at work. I took a new position. It is really a promotion and I am excited. I have a lot of ideas and can’t wait to get started. It means a lot of changes and that is always hard, but I am up for the challenge and hope I can make a difference. Keep me in your prayers, I may need them.

 

Have a Fun Labor Day Weekend!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Theme Thursday: Faith

Linking up with Cari at Clan Donaldson for Theme Thursday, this week’s theme is Faith. 

Since I had the honor of photographing the closing Mass of St. Patrick’s Church, one of our parish churches that closed this July after 179 years, I thought they would be great for the theme of Faith. 

The Church was incorporated as the Church of Saint Patrick on November 7, 1834. Over the years, it became the mother church of approximately fifteen parishes in the surrounding area, it served as headquarters for several groups of sisters, it burned and was rebuilt, and was faith home to so many generations of families in our local communities.

Even though it wasn’t technically my parish, I feel a sense of loss about its closing.  You see, because we don’t have enough priests in our diocese for each parish to have their own, we share with other parishes.  We have three parishes that share a priest, administrative and maintenance staff.  So when I converted to the Catholic Church, it so happened that I began my religious education at St. Patrick’s.  My daughter received her first communion there and I was confirmed and brought into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil at St. Patrick’s.  St. Patrick’s Church was a significant symbol for my faith.  Here are just a few shots from the closing liturgy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How I Feel Right Now

Sitting here with a crazy headache

Crazy day that made me feel bad, because apparently I made someone else feel bad

Someone who is the last person I would ever want to make feel bad

I didn’t know it

I didn't intend it

Feels like a no win situation

Realization today is that no matter what I do, feelings are going to be hurt

I desperately don’t want that to be the outcome

I care about these people

And

Things happening that are beyond my control

Issues that have been forced into my life by someone I had taken out of my life

Trying to be there for the one left to pick up the pieces

Trying to be there for the ones left with no answers

Trying to be there for the ones that don’t know yet how this will affect them

 

These are my crosses for now

11 Things Meme

I've been tagged by Tracy over at Making the Trek...so here's how it works:

Rules
1.) The first rule is to post these rules.
2.) Post a photo of yourself then write 11 things about you/your life.
3.) Answer the questions for you set in the original post.
4.) Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5.) Go to their blog/twitter to tell them you have tagged them.

Me and my Hunter in D.C. last summer.

11 things about me:

1.       I was born and grew up in Colorado but have lived in upstate New York for the last 19 years
2.       I like to run around barefoot, even outside
3.       I have done a lot of work on my genealogy
4.       I have a relatively small extended family
5.       I was recently commissioned as a Lay Minister for my Diocese
6.       I used to scrapbook a lot but I just can’t get back into it
7.       I’ve been Catholic for 12 years
8.       I will own a Ford Mustang someday
9.       I do not love cooking on a daily basis (I do it, but I hate it); the funny thing is I really love
          making big Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners.
10.     I love reading but don’t do it as much as I would like
11.     I am new to blogging/reading blogs and have found great community in them.


Tracy’s questions for me to answer:

1.     Single or married? Married 20 years
2.     Kids, furbabies, how many and ages? Daughter Kayla is 19, Son Hunter is 14, and dog
        Sophie is 6
3.     What kind of car do you drive and what was your first car? Currently a Saturn Vue, first
        car was a Mercury Monarch I bought from my parents
4.     Best live concert you went to? Haven’t been to too many, and none of them are really standing
        out in my mind right now so I’ll just pass
5.     Favorite TV show growing up? Tom and Jerry or Three’s Company
6.     Best road trip? To Washington DC
7.     Favorite way to unwind? Hangout with the girls and have a glass of wine
8.     If you could pick a reality show to be on, which would it be? (Hope this qualifies as reality)
        Who Do You Think You Are
9.     Jillian or Bob? Bob (Jillian kinda scares me)
10.   Coffee, tea or Mountain Dew? Coffee, Coffee, Coffee and tea sometimes



And then My questions for Lee, Kelly, Britt, Haley, and Amanda

1.       What is one of your favorite quotes or bible verses?
2.       What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?
3.       If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
4.       What was the last movie, TV show or book that you loved?
5.       What are your hobbies?
6.       What you wanted to be as an adult when you were a child?
7.       Travel by plane, train, or automobile?
8.       If you could become a character in a TV show or movie, who would you chose to be?
9.       Apple, Android, Windows, or Blackberry?
10.     How many siblings do you have?
11.    Are you more like your mother or father?

 Thanks for the fun Tracy! :)

**edit** So I decided it would be much more fun if any of my readers wanted to play along... If you do, please comment below with the answers to my questions and if you want, leave questions for me to answer. Now, won't that be fun too?