This light is entrusted to you...

Our newest godchild, Declan Zachariah, was baptized on July 24, 2010.

I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you new birth
by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into His holy people.

As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you always live as a member
of His body, sharing everlasting life.

May He soon touch your ears to receive His word, and your mouth to proclaim
His faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.

Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly.

Declan Zachariah, you have put on Christ, in Him you have been baptized, Alleluia. Amen!

During our visit to the W. coast we were so blessed to be able to witness the baptism of our newest nephew and godchild; thanks be to God for the perfect timing!!  Amanda was an amazing trooper and was determined to be there even though she had just been released from the hospital and was sans pain meds.  She was just so joyful that her little baby was able to be baptized...beautiful and inspiring to see!  We were so happy that Andrew's sister Lisa, and her precious children could be there as well; it was a special moment for us all.  Little Declan, you are always in our loving prayers and we hope to help you always keep your light burning brightly for Christ!

(Photo Credits: Andrew's brother, Paul)

Peace in the kitchen

After a busy and scrambled past few days, I took to the kitchen for some culinary therapy this afternoon. Bread was needed anyways, and why not whip up some cookies for a special sweet treat this week? :) A few months ago I received my favorite cookie cookbook in the mail courtesy of Amazon. The pages of this book hold many pleasant memories of cookie baking/decorating as a young girl with my mom and sisters, and some simply delicious recipes! I highly recommend it, as it presents the good old fashioned recipes along with unique cookie recipes for every holiday and season of life. Today I chose to keep it quick and easy with the snicker doodle recipe and also cranked out a batch of my staple honey whole wheat bread. And nothing goes better with the aroma of baked goods than some poetry...

KITCHEN MAGIC

by Violet Rouke Broder

When gray days sometimes leave you

At a loss for what to do,

Fill your house with warmth and fragrance...

Bake a pie, a cake, or two.

Make some heart-shaped sugar cookies

Or a creamy pudding, fine;

A batch of fudge or brownies

Helps to pass the gloomy time.

A tin of golden muffins

Or some loaves of fresh-baked bread,

I am sure will be more pleasing

Then some "store-bought" bread, instead.

What a thoughtful, cheery greeting

For your loved ones...at the door

When they sniff your homemade goodies,

Wafting welcome evermore.

**Yes, I did give a new look to my blog and did create the header all on my own (simple as it is) = I impressed myself a little!  I was delighted to come across that graphic, as I wanted something whimsical and colorful to portray joy, movement, and the ever-changing seasons in life.

Following a brief hiatus...

And I thought we were going to have a relatively slow summer?!? Its many events have been enjoyable however...

June 17-19 We move into our new house.
June 17-21 Laura, Gabe, and boys visit and help with some unpacking.
July 1-5 Andrew to Salt Lake City for the National Association of Teachers of Singing bi-annual conference.
July 4-8 Melissa drove up to Gainesville to spend time with Laura's little family.
July 5-12 Andrew to Washougal, WA to await my arrival at my family's.
July 12-28 Melissa flew out to the W coast and much fun was had with her family, relatives, and Andrew's family.
August 3-5 We drove up to visit Laura's clan for a few days - they've just moved into a lovely house with lots of room for little feet to run about.
August 4 Andrew is approved to teach an Acting-For-Singers course at Ave Maria University. (In addition to his 7+ voice students! Will we ever see each other? :)
August 6 Melissa confirmed her return to teach music at Ave's grammar and prep. school which begins Monday of next week!!

In between and among these summer adventures, we've encountered the usual joys, sorrows, stress and frustrations of earthly life...but have been attempting to approach each one with prayer and trust - the rewards are abundant.

We plan to make the most of the few days we have left before everything shifts into high gear upon Andrew's return to school August 24. Our new home is slowly but surely getting unpacked and settled into. I hope to get EVERYTHING finished by the end of this month. Catherine Stone comes to FL to visit August 31-Sept. 11 and both the Steele's and Dilanji's are very VERY excited to see her.

I am very determined to ease into the fall with a calm frame of mind and spirit and organized home life, leaving plenty of time for relaxation, prayer, rest, and personal care. We hope to catch a few more of these before our evenings are enveloped with studies, class prep., music planning, etc.


Hope all my readers are having a beautiful and blessed summer!
Especially my dear brother, CHRISTOPHER STONE.

We LOVED spending time with you and are very proud of the man you are becoming. Please come visit anytime - we can not offer you mountainous hikes, but jet skiing, kayaking, swamp biking, sailing, and alligator hunting awaits you! We love you.
(Are you blushing from the shout-out yet?)

Setting up house

Just a quick update, as we are still busy unpacking and organizing. We LOVE our new place and are so thankful for it. Thank you to Gabe, Laura, and Christa for helping us move in! It made the work load MUCH lighter for us. This past week has been spent unpacking boxes, cleaning, laundry, lawn care, picture hanging, etc. Craig's List has proven useful once again, for a lovely little piano now graces our living room. We've also glanced around some thrift shops and I found some cute chairs to add to the living room, in need of a paint and reupholstering job, yes, but that only adds to the fun and satisfaction of saving money and making an old thing "new"! I am excited to have a little corner set aside in one of the rooms for a craft table where scrapbooks (wedding and honeymoon) lay awaiting some creative manipulating...

This weekend has been a lovely one. My dear friend Christa came out from Ave to visit and spend the night, and a movie, good conversations, and much laughter were enjoyed. She also assisted me in picking out some flowers and herbs which we began planting. I'm so thrilled to have space to plant! And I'm off to finish my little herb garden right now...

"Give thanks to the Lord, who is good, whose love endures forever." Psalm 106:1

Here are some images captured around our new home this week...


It is fun to see our diplomas on the wall.

Needs a good tuning and a new bench cover!


Someone enjoyed mowing a lawn for the first time in 4-ish years.

A few large patio friends...



The 2 green thumbs ready to plant (We love you, come ANY time!)

And so it is.

Our last night here. Last night in our first home together as a married couple. As I look around at the (almost) empty rooms, walls, cabinets, ect., I feel a great sense of gratitude for the love, work, fun, laughter, and tears we shared here, but also a huge sense of peace that we are doing the right thing in moving out and moving on. It was time. To separate ourselves from this busy and close little town and watching eyes, from politics. I am very thankful for the time spent here and have some very sweet memories of living here, but am more thankful for our new place down the road a ways. Space, peace, and quiet for personal growth and reflection is an essential element in life and I thank the Lord for providing us with this needed change. Andrew will be able to return (drive!) to Ave Maria for graduate school in the fall with a healthy sense of detachment and thus be less distracted. And we are thankful for a real HOUSE. We are ready to stop feeling like students and thrive on completing the mundane, routine upkeep of a HOUSE. Bathtubs. A garage for storage. Kitchen space. Guest bedrooms. Room for planting. A lawn to mow. Simple tasks, but ones we will enjoy doing because it will be for our home, our peace of soul, our private lives, our continued growing together.

To those dear friends that I am "leaving behind": I'll be back to visit very very often and you're always invited to drive out!

I am especially grateful for a considerate hubby whose immediate thought (on my obtaining my new job) was to shorten any stress/fatigue that driving 45 min. to work and back would cause me. Thank you, my love.

Moving day tomorrow. And nephews coming to "help." Can't wait to see those precious faces. Pictures to follow...some day. :)

We're moving

Just a quick update...since I got my new job (located 45 min away), we have been on the lookout for a rental home that would make my drive shorter while still being close to Ave Maria for Andrew's schooling/work. We went to look at a few yesterday, applied for one, and were approved today to move in NEXT week. We are looking forward to living in an actual home (3 bedroom, 1 office/den, 2 bathrooms, garage) and amazed that we can get it very close to the price of what we are paying now for our little townhouse. It sounds like Laura and Gabe may be able to come down next week to help with moving - it would definitely make it more fun!

Some reasons why I am excited about this place:

-I will have a shorter drive to work; for organ practice, early Sunday morning Mass, for last minute funerals/weddings, ect.
-The kitchen has 5+ cupboards vs. 2.
-2 separate walk-in closets in the master bedroom.
-Lots of room for visitors.
-Lots of room for parties.
-There is room for a piano.
-I can hang curtains.
-The lanai has room for more than 2 people and a barbecue for Andrew.
-I can finally do some gardening; fresh flowers, herbs, tomatoes, peppers - yes please!
-This house has bathtubs! Bubble baths and Epsom salts here I come...
-We will no longer be wall-to-wall with our neighbors; in fact, no one else lives on this street.
-Closer to the airport.
-The house is less than a minute off the highway to Ave Maria.
-All in all, we will have 'elbow room' (no more small town living). However, we are thankful for the time we have spent living in Ave.

Here's a little preview of our new digs (yes, the lawn needs to be mowed!); more to come of course, as we move in and settle.


Now begins the packing rush...

Summertime...

It's been peaceful, albeit a little busier than I thought, around here these past few weeks, but that summertime feeling is truly setting in...

THESE DAYS I...

-enjoy being out of the classroom.
-sleep in a little later than usual.
-pause to listen to birdsong in the morning.
-have more time to read; currently the Bible, a Willa Cather novel, & some St. Therese of Lisieux.
-think about sacred music...lots of it, for my new job.
-spend non-rushed, quality time with dear friends.
-finally have time to sort through honeymoon pictures to be sent for printing so the scrapbook can commence.
-kiss my husband more often. (Am glad that Andrew decided to forgo summer classes this year in order to spend time with me :)
-stop to soak in a little sun while running an errand.
-paint my toenails, bright colors.
-have time to write more thoughtful letters and emails.
-delight in great book finds at Goodwill for .99 or $1-2, particularly children's books.
-indulge in an occasional movie during the daytime!
-crave sandwiches stuffed with veggies and lots of salads; the FL heat does not inspire one to stand over the hot stove all evening. On that note, I always want my water with ice and lemon.
-have been to the beach 3 times in one week (but I fear beach time may come to an end for a while as the oil spill creeps nearer).
-have bags full of lovely shells begging to be implemented into some crafty project; hmm, maybe a picture frame for a beachy picture or a Christmas ornament?
-simply relish the thought that I actually have the luxury and time now to 'do' crafts...and I do have some ideas.
-am especially enjoying breaking in my new-to-me car (pictures coming soon!!)
Here's to a beautiful and blissful summer!