School's Back in Session

Hello out there! Apparently I went on an unplanned summer blog hiatus, as my last post was over two months ago. Like I'm guessing you had, I have had a very busy summer. Here's a bit of what I have been up to:

-It feels like every weekend had a birthday, party, or holiday, and I was finally able to visit my sister at her work in Disneyland. She is having a blast working in the happiest place on earth, and it wasn't too bad getting to spend a day in the park with her, either. My autumn weekends look like they will be just as busy, too. Good thing I have the work week to recover.

-I have been doing a lot of cooking lately (um, like always, actually). I have decided that I will be keeping a food diary of what I'm cooking with notes about what that food or recipe means to me. I will be sharing family memories, the special occasions at which we have this food, and anyone I cook with. This will be off the Internet, but I am thinking I will occasionally share the recipes as well as the notes here on the blog. Would you be interested in that?

-I have been taking some classes, including learning more about my faith at church, and I am about to start learning American Sign Language and taking another Bible study (super excited about both of these). And, this week Stephen and I finish up our introductory fencing lessons. That's right, fencing. Like with swords. I will have a larger post about what we have learned, and a bit of fencing humor for you guys in the next couple weeks, but I will tell you that it is just as fun as you expect it to be, and I highly recommend you make a "point" (eh? EH?) to try it for yourself! If you are in the Fresno-area, we went here, and recommend it very highly!

I plan to blog a bit more than I have been. I know you've heard this promise before, but I am ready (and really wanting to) get back into my writing routine. I miss writing and I miss the awesome feedback I get from anyone who reads about my crazy life.

See you very soon!

Hello Out There!

I was just thinking to myself, as we begin to really welcome spring in Fresno, "I just finished that winter 30 for 30 challenge, right?"

Then I took a look at the blog and realized that it's been, like, 3 weeks, and that, with the exception of sharing some super awesome tunes with you, I've done nada.

Oops. Well, here's what's up with me lately.

I'm headed towards the last third of my semester of paralegal classes. I am learning a lot about the legal system and a paralegal's role in that, but at this time I don't think that going into this field is the right fit for me. I won't be continuing the program next semester, but I will be finishing up my courses in case I ever want to go back and finish it later. Hubby is also going to school and is both much better at it and is enjoying it much more than I am. So, next semester will be Stephen going to school full-time, and me trying to work more. Sound like a plan? Good, we thought so, too.

We've also lost a family member in the last week, so I have a renewed sense of love and thankfulness for all my family and friends. Not that we ever like to lose someone that we love to death, but Lent is probably one of the better times of the year for this to happen. It truly makes Easter that much more meaningful for us.

My dad's birthday is this Sunday, and I'm trying to remember if he has a favorite kind of cake or dessert that I can make.* It made me realize on a more general level that I don't really know the eating habits of my loved ones. I ate the majority of the meals of my youth with my immediate family, and eat most of my meals now with my husband, but I am still discovering food loves and food loathes among them. Just last month, I discovered that my sister didn't like tomatoes (which I seriously love), or mustard (which is seriously just a weird thing to not like). So, does anyone know what my Dad's favorite cake is, because right now I'm leaning towards a tomato-and-mustard cake since Steph will be gone.

Even though this is my blog, I do want to give everyone a bit of an update on Stephanie. She is really loving her time at Disneyland, and is all set to graduate from Cal Poly in June. We are very proud of her.

So proud that I'm sending her mustard packets in the mail, to remind her of her roots.

This will still not be the creepiest thing she's received in the mail.

And that will just have to remain a mystery...

(unless you just ask her).

So...

What have you been up to lately?


*Normally I wouldn't discuss my dad's birthday here since he is one of my three avid readers, but he's busy with tax season, and I'm gonna chance it. And if you are reading this, Dad, what's your favorite cake?

.

Happy Halloween!

I have been waking up all week to this guy.



He's modeled after a pumpkin carving my sister did last year. We call him Canny, short for Cannibal.

Well, we would if we named molding squash. He is going fast. Once the last of the trick-or-treaters has cleared out, he will meet his demise in The Great Molding Pumpkin Patch (aka our dumpster).

Hope you have a great Halloween, and that is prepares you for All Saints' Day tomorrow and All Souls' Day on Tuesday!

The St. Crispin Crisp, and Other Funny Phrases

Since I'm doing a lot more cooking and baking lately, and because I like learning more about the saints, I thought I'd briefly share another kitchen adventure with a lesson about faith.

And this adventure involves ice cream, so stick around.

Yesterday, October 25, was the feast of the French evangelist, St. Crispin. I learned this from one of my favorite blogs, Waltzing Matilda, who posted a delicious-sounding recipe on Catholic Cuisine. This post of hers featured a St. Crispin Apple Crisp.



Which it is. It absolutely is. This is the crust you have been waiting for, the crust you thought you could never recreate, the crust that haunts your dreams. All pies, tarts, crumbles, cobblers and pastry-like items that I can try to make with this crust will be made.

...

(Thanks for sticking with me after that awkward last sentence.)



The faith lesson you ask? Well, only a world that our good Lord has designed could allow you to apply flour, dairy and a little heat to this:



And get this:



(This is your cue to be upset that you don't live in my house.)

The Times They Are A-Changin'

It has been quite a month.

In addition to trying to get the blog updated, and doing lots of other things (wonderful things like weddings and bridal showers), there has been another change in our life.

And no, unfortunately it's not the one (I hope) you are thinking of.

My position at my company was eliminated.

I, like so many others, am now unemployed. While my family and friends have wrapped their arms around me in love and support, I still feel a bit of disappointment, and nervousness as I wonder, "What now?"

I am so thankful at times like this that God has blessed me with the right amount, with just the correct level, of stubbornness.

You see, I think that God places us each in the position in life where we are given what we can handle. He has created us with a certain temperament to handle that which surrounds us. And, I believe God knew that when he created me that he'd have to set me up in a home and community that would value faith, and God's influence on our daily lives and ultimately our salvation.

If he had placed me somewhere else, well, I am certain I would not be at such peace. Peace knowing we have some money saved up to live on while we look for work. Peace knowing this is not the end of the world. Peace knowing that family and friends are behind us. Peace knowing God's will is driving this car.

While September was quite a month, I am looking forward to seeing what October will bring. I anticipate what God will teach me during this financial drought. I'm looking forward to new opportunities, to the possibilities that lie ahead. And, I look forward to what I will learn about myself in the process.

A Look at St. Maximilian Kolbe

Saturday (August 14) is the feast day of one of my favorite saints, St. Maximilian Kolbe.

I say favorite like when parents say they have a favorite child, or rainbows have a favorite color, or me picking a favorite food.

Ok, glad to have cleared up how I feel.

Seriously, St. Maximilian is probably one of the coolest, best examples of saintly living in the last century. He is the patron saint of journalists (which makes him inherently awesome), so I have had a special connection to him for years.

In brief, he was born in Russia-occupied Poland, grew up to be a Franciscan priest, created and published the magazine Militia of the Immaculata (on a prayer and zero capital), took his missionary work to Japan and India, returned to Poland, and was arrested alongside his brother priests--twice.

The second time, 1941, he ended up in Auschwitz.

Truly, the most awe-inspiring element of his life is his death: In July 1941, one of the prisoners in Auschwitz escaped one evening. It was not until the next morning that both the other prisoners and the guards discovered that he was gone. To scare the other prisoners out of doing the same, and as a projected punishment, the Nazi guards selected ten men from the camp to be locked away and starved to death. One of the men selected had a wife and children, and begged to live.

Father Kolbe asked to take the man's place.

While the ten men, weakened from work at the camp, should have died within a few days, they remained alive for much longer (up to two weeks) by singing hymns and praying the Rosary. Father Kolbe was the last to die. He didn't starve to death, but rather was killed by lethal injection by the guards.

There is so much to admire about a man like this. Instead of thinking things like, "I could never be that good. I could never do all that," I like to think more about achieving what I can through the same route: a service of love. St. Maximilian lived to serve our Lord and His people. And really, there isn't a better way to live.

Like so many other topics that make their way to this blog, I cannot begin to do St. Maximilian Kolbe justice here. I highly recommend reading more about him here and here, learning about the Militia of the Immaculata here, and learning a bit more about martyrdom in general here and here.

Getting Sucked In By The Good Stuff

Television is one of those tricky media.

While you can find great shows that teach and share, and you can experience events as they happen (like sports, politics and other important stuff), TV can also be a serious time suck. You're flipping channels one afternoon, and before you know it you've spent two hours entrapped in the bowels of daytime television.

But enough talk of reality shows.

We have AT&T U-verse, which is different than the Comcast Stephen and I were used to before moving into our current apartment. While skeptical at first, we actually really like it. However, much like you can get trapped in all of TV's offerings, you can get mesmerized at the sheer number of channels. For example, to listen to some of the music stations our package provides, you start at channel 5100.

Yeah. So when I went on my mission to find some of my favorite channels, I was concerned it would be a fruitless hunt, and that I'd be sucked in by more new-to-me-but-not-good-at-all television.

Thankfully I found EWTN yesterday evening just in time to listen to a talk by Father John Corapi.

I seriously love Fr. Corapi. I listen to him on the radio (1250 AM in Fresno and 1240 AM in Clovis) every chance I get (which unfortunately isn't often). When I get a minute or two at work, I'll listen to him online at Immaculate Heart Radio. But, I had forgotten that his recorded lectures also appear on EWTN at 7:30 p.m.

He really knows his stuff when it comes to the Catholic faith, and you'll soak up everything he says because you can feel his passion and love for our Lord. His personal testimony alone will give you chills. If you're looking to learn more (or start learning) about the faith, or just want to hear a great speaker, you'll really enjoy his lectures.

Way better than Cake Boss.

The Rosary

Last night, Stephen and I attended the rosary for the a family friend we lost last week.

The rosary is such a beautiful prayer that most times I begin to pray it, I get mad at myself for not making more time to pray it.

It's a good thing.

So, partly because I am attending the funeral this morning, and partly because I want to share the rosary with those unfamiliar with it (or those who could afford to learn more about it), here are a few resources that may be helpful for you.

How to pray it

A brief history

A discussion

Some not-so-FAQs about the rosary

And if you're a prayer, please pray for the family and the repose of the soul of Dexter Aquino. I know they appreciate it--and so do I.

Educated Autopilot

So last night I attended the start-up meeting of a new young adult group at my church, Young Adult Life. It was really cool to see some current friends and to make some new ones. I have usually been in a position of ministry leadership, so it was kind of a nice break to “sit back” (as much as icebreakers allow you to sit back) and take it all in.

While I took it all in, I spent some time recalling the Gospel reading and homily from the weekend. It was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), which is, to me, one of the epitomizing Sundays we celebrate all year. Father’s homily asked us to reflect on what we have been given, and what we have turned over to God to see what he can create. It was all very beautiful.

And I really didn’t pay it much mind while it was happening. Which is exactly where the problem has been the whole time—me.

For quite a while now, it has been very easy for me to go through the motions. I don’t know what made me feel like keeping faith an inactive but visible part of my life was justified. It doesn’t even look good reading it back to myself. Yuck.

I have a large amount of head knowledge about my faith, but lately have very little conscious participation coming from the rest of me (mind, body and soul). On some kind of educated autopilot, I guess.

The super lame part is that it is way too easy to stay this way. I have certainly run into my fair share of faithful adults (Catholic and otherwise) who are very good at going through the motions. I’m saying (without calling anyone else out) that I don’t want to be one of them.

God gives us so much more than the routine, and I need to start giving him way more than what I had been. I believe that I have a purpose in this life, and I am 99.3% sure it isn’t to just go through the motions. I’ve been given a lot, and He deserves way more than I can ever offer in return. So, I guess I’m done “sitting back.”