2013 in Photos

 

Dwija over at House Unseen is hosting her annual phone linkup for the year.  I love to look back at the photos from the year, so I thought I would add mine.  2013 was a great year for me, let me show you a few of the reasons.

 

 

This is pretty much how the beginning of any year around here is.  It was a pretty major snow storm but it was so beautiful, I had to stop and take pictures.  I used this for a Theme Thursday post.

 

 

This was my picture for my one and only "What I Wore Sunday" linkup.  However, I wanted to include it because it was what I wore to the Easter Vigil Mass.  Lent and Easter 2013 was an amazing period of spiritual growth for me.  It was also when I began attending daily Mass, which I haven't stopped attending since.  My original WIWS post is here and I included some thoughts about this Lent and Easter in this post.

 

 

Shortly after Easter, the parish where I attend daily Mass hosted a Forty Hours of Eucharistic Devotion.  The Blessed Sacrament was exposed for Forty Hours and was kept vigil by various parishioners and priests throughout the Forty Hours.  It was an amazing thing to be a part of.  In this Quick Takes post, I talked about being a part of it.

 

 

 At the end of April, my son Hunter was Confirmed.  I also got to be the sponsor of a girl that hasn't had the easiest life.  At her young age, she has had to deal with the loss of her mother and many close relatives and friends due to untimely deaths. I was honored to be able to be present for her and still hope she knows that I will always be here for her.

 

 

 This weekend in May was our last Formation for Ministry Retreat as students.  It was a beautiful time to spend with my classmates and the icing on the cake was that it was led by the same priest that brought me into the Catholic Church.  That fact made this weekend extra special for me. Thank you Father Lauzon for your guidance twelve years ago and for the beautiful retreat to bring our two years of formation to a close.  I wrote a small amount about it here.

And, by the way, these beautiful photos were taken by one of our youngest classmates.  He is an inspiration to me and gives me hope for the future of our young people.  Thank you Jesse, for letting me use them.

 

 

 These are photos from our Commissioning to Lay Ministers.  The group photo is not the official one obviously, but it is my favorite because everyone was laughing and smiling.  Even the Bishop was laughing with us.  I've said it a few times, but we have the best Bishop!  On the right is me with the other two ladies from our parish that went through the program, along with our priest.  My original post is here and also includes some comments about the next photo.

 

 

 

 This is the group photo from the 2013 Catholic Heart Work Camp trip in July.

This trip is always a blessing to me.  To get to see so many young people spend a week of their summer helping others less fortunate then themselves and then come back and spend hours in praise and worship of God.  It really is a life changing week, and I have been fortunate enough to be a part of it for the last three summers. My reflection from the week is here.

 

 

 This was from the closing Mass at one of our sister churches.  In its early days and over the years, this parish was the start up for many of the other parishes in our area.  I was honored to be able to photograph the event.  It was one of the saddest things, but also one of the most beautiful things I have experienced.  This post includes more of my pictures from the closing Mass.

 

 

My Hunter in the Kayak...isn't he cute?

 

 

 Me and my kiddos!

 

 

 Hunters first day of 10th grade.

 

 

 A nice family day together!

 

 

 And to finish it off, these from Christmas!  Including the new kitten, Otto.

 

 **EDIT: So crazy me forgot to link back to the linkup - go check out all the best at Dwija's.

 

Most! plus {7QT}

Sarah over at "Amongst Lovely Things" is holding a link-up.  So since I am coming to the end of my first full year of blogging, I thought I would do it...and heck....link-ups are just plain fun!!

And since it is Friday, I'm also going to link up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday.

So, my Most Posts for 2013, as follows:

Quick Take #1 - 1st - Post with the Most Clicks - Theme Thursday: Secret

This one surprised me the most....but it was a link up, and in hind-sight the title probably drew some clicks too...who doesn't want to know a secret...

Quick Take #2 - 2nd - Post with the Most Comments - My Bookshelves

Again, another link-up, but one of my favorites.

Quick Take #3 - 3rd - Post with the Best Picture - 7 Quick Takes

The picture quality isn't the best, but I'm voting it best because I love when my kids have fun together.

Quick Take #4 - 4th - Post that was the Hardest to Write - Where I Come From

I did a blogging challenge in September called Blogtember. The first challenge was to write a post about where you come from.  I really opened up on this and put a lot of stuff out there for all to see.  I don't regret it for a minute, and this is one of my very favorite posts.

Quick Take #5 - 5th - Post that was My Personal Favorite - Sacraments and Confession

This post and the time around when I wrote it was a spiritually charged time in my life.  I had finally come to an understanding of Confession and was able to celebrate the Sacrament fully knowing I was receiving God's Grace.  I knew without a doubt that I was doing what I should be doing, what God intended for my life.

It was a little hard to pick a favorite post.  (So that's how I am going to make this 7 Quick Takes...)

Quick Take #6 - Another Favorite Post - My Conversion Story

This is the post that I expected to the be the Most Clicks...It's second.  Anyway, this one is a favorite for a couple reasons.  First, it's the story of how I came to this beautiful Catholic faith. I can't imagine where I would be today without it. I have been given so many blessings that I wouldn't have otherwise recognized, and I wouldn't have been shown God's love in so many people that have come into my life because of it. And second, it prompted my interview on SiriusXM's Catholic Channel with Gus Lloyd. I know God wanted my story heard....I trust Him that the one who needed to hear it did.

Quick Take #7 - Another Favorite post - New Job

This one is one of favorites because it is when I really started seeing God's active plan in my life.  And I haven't stopped since.

So, that's my contribution for this weeks quick takes and also my 2013 Mosts!  Thanks for stopping by!  You are welcome anytime!

Feeling Proud

Today is my dad’s 76^th birthday.

Growing up, he was a great example to me of a good Christian man.  He was involved in the church, helping out wherever needed, even building a church building at one time.

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am open about becoming Catholic.  Anyone who is my Facebook friend also would easily be able to tell that I am Catholic.  I have often wondered what the people that I grew up protestant with think about that.   There are a couple of them that often ‘like’ my status updates, which makes me feel good, but I just sometimes wonder.

Since becoming Catholic, I haven’t had any conversations with him about that decision.  Part of the reason being that we don’t live near each other; the other reason is because we just don’t talk as much as we should.

I called him to wish him a Happy Birthday.  We had a really nice conversation, and I was telling him all about my recent promotion and about how many doctors’ offices I manage, and his reply was that his is proud of me but then he also said how proud he is of me for what I have been doing in the Catholic Church. 

I have always wanted to make him proud of me, and to hear him say that about my faith was one of the most beautiful moments I never expected.  In the midst of me trying to make him proud about what I have done in my career, ultimately it was my relationship with God that made him the most proud. 

 

It meant the world to me and I will cherish that conversation always.

 

Thanksgiving

I’m showing up a little late to the party, but I wanted to put something on here about the blessings in my life that I am Thankful for.

First and foremost, I am Thankful that God is in my life.  He has given me so many blessings and gifts that I couldn’t even begin to count them.  I try to see them every day; however I know I miss many more that he has given me.

I am Thankful for a loving family, my husband, my beautiful, smart, and caring children, and all of our extended family. That I always feel loved and appreciated, and a part of something much bigger.

I am Thankful for all of my family that live far away, that we all know that we love each other even though we don’t talk every day. 

I am Thankful for special friends who support me in my faith.  They are always there for me when I have questions or am in need of support. They always show me what good faithful people of God are like and have been wonderful examples of devout Catholic Christians to me. 

I am Thankful for my Church family. It gives me great joy to serve on the altar at our Parish and to greet the parishioners as they leave Mass.  It truly fills me with love every time I get to do it.

I am Thankful for the deacons and priests in our diocese, along with our Bishop.  We have been blessed with some wonderful men who have truly dedicated their lives to God and strive every day to be faithful shepherds to His people.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without a few of them.

I am Thankful for my co-workers (some of whom have become great friends) for all they do every day. I am proud to be their leader and I couldn’t do it without them.  I want them to know every day how much I appreciate what they do and cherish whatever extent of a connection I have with each of them.

I am Thankful for blogging.  I never could have imagined how much of impact it would have on me.  It’s been amazing to ‘meet’ lots of new friends through blogging and feel like I have a whole set of prayer warriors at my beckon call.  It has been incredibly beneficial for me to put my thoughts down in written word.  That is something I have never done before and am so glad I started.  I am Thankful for all of you who spend a little bit of time reading what I have to say.

 

 

 

Linking up with Cari and the others at Clan Donaldson for today's Theme Thursday!

What a Week!!

 

I took this last week off just to take a week off with nothing to do, much...

 

My Hunter man.

This was last weekend, Hunter and I spent some time together stacking our last load of wood for the winter. 

He is so smart it scares me a little. We had a long conversation about energy.  He really knows a lot about it, and is fascinated by nuclear energy.  We talked about renewable energy sources, fuels, and what the future of energy will be.  I should say HE talked about, I just listened and tried to come up with good questions.  (Although I knew I was completely out smarted)  Now I'm not positive, but I'm pretty certain that he didn't learn all about it in school.  He has taken his own time to learn it.  Those summer days when he is home, he isn't just playing Minecraft, he is actually learning about things he finds interesting.  His future looks so bright, I might just have to wear shades... :)

Oh yeah, and an interesting gem he found out recently, Pope Frances was actually a Chemist before becoming a priest.  Hunter thought that was pretty cool.

I had a hair appointment on Wednesday to get a cut and all of my gray covered up.  Those of you who have seen me recently will agree, it was getting pretty bad.

Ohhh how I hate selfies

And then the most exciting, nerve racking thing happened,  I received an email from Sirius XM's The Catholic Channel about doing an interview with Gus Lloyd about my conversion story!  I was so surprised, it took me a little while to respond.  I mean really, I'm not sure my story is that interesting, but you never know what will capture someone's attention and maybe the simple stories are good for people to hear too. 

Anyway, emails back and forth and it has been settled that I will be doing the interview on Monday morning at 8:00 am EST.  I'm nervous as can be, but with a lot of support and prayers, I will make it through.  So please, send up your prayers for my peace and confidence and that the Holy Spirit works through me on Monday.

Thursday was a lazy day at home, but I got to spend it with my daughter Kayla.  That rarely happens anymore, but it was really nice.  She cracks me up...that kid can talk.

One last thing...you may have seen my post about the Matthew Kelly talk I attended a couple weeks ago.  I recently came into possession of an extra copy of his book "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic".  So I would like to give it away to one of my blog readers.  I know I don't have much of a following yet, but I would really like to share the wealth a little bit. 

So if you are interested in winning this book, please leave me a comment below.  I will leave it open until the end of November and then draw a lucky winner.

My goal for this week was to get rested up.  There is so much going on in healthcare lately that I really needed to get some time away so that I could rest and prepare to jump back in refreshed and whole heartedly give it all my best.  I believe I have accomplished that.

Thanks for stopping by!!

7 Quick Takes Friday: Great Posts edition

I've been accumulating these links for a little while now to share with you.  There really are some great people posting great stuff out there in the big ol' world wide web.  Please enjoy!!





 

--- 1 ---

This author expresses so many of my same feelings about the Catholic Church.  It is worth a couple minutes of your time.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Click here!
 

--- 2 ---

This piece is a great example of what I feel is needed in the Church today.  I would love to see more cradle Catholics be able to express their faith the way this author has.  But it takes work, I would love to figure out how to help others learn more about this beautiful, full faith that we have.  Click here!

--- 3 ---

This is a great piece that will give hope for young men today.  Click here!

--- 4 ---

I had written a little post a couple weeks ago about some questions some cradle Catholics had about my protestant upbringing.  One of them was about the authority they use.  Then a couple days later, I came across this blog post with a video by Fr. Robert Barron on the same topic.  Here it is!

--- 5 ---

This is pretty interesting.  The author demonstrates twelve traits that show us the true church.  Click here!

--- 6 ---

If you have ever wondered about your prayer life, this is a great blog post that should give you some encouragement.  Click here!

--- 7 ---

 

Leila at Little Catholic Bubble recently posted this about how people come to God.  As a very intellectual person, she tended to think that people come to God through truth, however it is more usual for people to come to God through love.  Click here!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

My Bookshelves

I saw this great link-up on Modern Mrs. Darcy. If you haven't stumbled on this blog yet and you are a reader, I would recommend you go and get to know Anne. She's a sweetheart and cute as can be.

Anyway, she is doing a link-up of other peoples bookshelves. It can be really fascinating what others are reading, and it is a great way to get some good ideas about what to read next. 

I have several bookshelves in my house and often have a stack of books on the coffee table.  I also have many books on my Kindle.  Often when I hear about a book I want to read I download the sample on my Kindle.  Then I don't forget about it and I don't have to buy until I am ready to read it.

You might be able to tell by the books that these first several pictures are my bookshelf.



These are a couple stacks that I pulled out lately to read.



 And then these are the ones I have loaded on my Kindle:

 The books on this bookshelf are my husbands, but the bookshelf is mine.  It was always in our house growing up and I love it.  It also fits his small paperbacks really well.  He mostly reads soldier books or westerns.



This one is mostly my husbands hardcover books, but some Life "Year in Pictures" books we have collected.

 And this last one is a catch all of miscellaneous books, but includes a lot of the kids favorite books that I didn't want to get rid of.

I hope you found something you like, and I can't wait to see all the other linkers' bookshelves.