8-ish weeks.

Daddy snapped this picture of me terribly naseous and exahusted. This is how mama spends most of her time these days...plus lots of prayer for strength to make it through - but you are worth it all! First ultrasound in 2 days...hope to see that heart beating strong.

6 weeks.

Well, little one, you are in there, as we found out the morning of July 13. You were quite a surprise, because mama has been gone a lot this summer, leaving poor papa very lonely. But God has blessed our hard work and self-sacrifice with YOU!  So far you've been making mama pretty warm, extremely exhausted (I didn't know it was possible to be this tired all the time!), and slightly sick just starting this weekend. Blood tests will be run this week and we are praying for strong results, and as always, to whole-heartedly embrace the will of our Lord. For now, know that we love you very much and dedicate you to the precious Sacred Heart of Jesus.

There you are at 4.5 weeks.

We discovered I was pregnant while in St. Louis, MO vacationing a few days prior to our good friends' wedding. I had a suspicion, due to being 4 days late and also having a spiked temperature so had brought along a pregnancy test on our trip. Sure enough, the test was positive Wednesday morning! We were fortunate to be able to attend Mass at the beautiful Cathdedral Basilica of Saint Louis that afternoon and gave thanks for the gift of another life. We also saw items used during the visit of Pope John Paul II and were able to touch the chair he sat in (as it's a relic now!) He will be one of our special patrons during this pregnancy.

Mama saying a prayer for you.

Mama and Papa on the day we found out.

Well hello there...

Yes, it's been awhile. But I have good reasons for it considering I was out traveling the majority of June and also 2 weeks of July!

Recap(s):

June 3 was my last day of teaching and I will not be returning next year. I am happy to say I went out on a good note - our high school music presentation was well received and my juniors did a fantastic job singing at the graduation Mass. They were so good they were mistaken for the Ave Maria choirs. :) The kids were very sad to see me go and I will miss them, their jokes and their craziness, but it is time for me to be at home more.

June 13-18 I was at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh for the Church Music Association of America's annual sacred music colloquium. It was excellent. So thankful my church was able to send me. I really needed a refresher in chant and conducting techniques and it was a blessing to be able to sing more intricate music with advanced musicians again. There was a great number of young people there; very encouraging, and I made a few great new friends. I had an absolutely splendid time and returned with renewed vigor. Below is a short video summary of this year's colloquium.

http://vimeo.com/25764590

Good lecture: http://vimeo.com/25776981

Then it was home for a week to prepare music for a friend's wedding and Corpus Christi. I pushed for a very simple procession at our church this year and Fr. agreed. I did a little extra work with the choir and everything came together beautifully - I hope the parishioners were somewhat inspired to have more reverence/devotion to the Blessed Sacrament; something I always pray my music will help them achieve.

The next day I flew out to Portland, OR to help my family finish packing and clean the house. It was such a joy to be with my sisters again, and although we were pooped at the end of each day, we made cleaning fun. Thursday we headed out on our road trip to TX! Many fun stops were enjoyed along the way including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park = gorgeous. The mountains, evergreens, and fresh air were balm for my chapped FL soul (I know I exaggerate this point). Hikes, boating, bears, bison, elk, hot springs, and waterfalls were the highlights of our adventures.

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone

Old Faithful, Yellowstone

Grand Tetons

Mom, Chris and I hiked to Hidden Falls one morning.

The overall trip was just great; so good to be with my family again, especially my dearest youngest sister, Elizabeth, who was my car companion for most of the trip and made sure I was nourished and comfortable as much as she could. Love you. :)

We arrived in Dallas, TX a week following our departure. It was very hot; I actually appreciate FL and it's breezes much more now. I was able to be there one day to help with some truck unloading, but the boys did the majority of that. The family has a lovely home in a nice, quiet neighborhood. Friday afternoon I flew home to hubby, and it was great to see him after 2 weeks apart!! There were so many times I wished he was traveling with us, and my siblings also expressed this sentiment which was sweet. But my parents really appreciated him loaning me to them for this trip - thanks, hubby. :)

The very next Monday, Andrew and I took off for Missouri/Kansas to attend our dear friends' wedding which was that Saturday. Since Andrew had not been able to have any vacation time, we had decided to turn that week into a semi-vacation for us both and spent a few days seeing some of the Missouri sights, including the Meramec Caverns (SO cool), a winery, the St. Louis Cathedral, the Arch, and many other highlights in St. Louis.

Thursday we headed back to Kansas City to prepare for Dan and Lillian's wedding, as Andrew was in the wedding party. Friday was rehearsal and dinner and it was great to catch up with some Ave folks and Fr. Fessio. Dan and Lillian looked very much in love and ready to be done with all the marriage preparations. :) Their Saturday wedding was beautiful; Lillian was stunning and very peaceful. The ceremony was proceeded by a Rosary, which really exemplified how large a role that prayer and Our Lady has played in this couple's relationship. The Mass was lovely; I was fortunate to be able to sing the Psalm and Alleluia verse. Everyone got a kick out of Fr.'s homily, sometimes to the chagrin of the bride and groom, just because they are so humble. :) Reception followed in the church hall and directly after, Andrew and I were the lucky ones, being able to take the newlyweds to the airport for their honeymoon since our flights left at the same time. We are so happy for them...they have been so faithful and patient and I know God will bless them exceedingly.

Phew! That just about sums up the last few weeks...more updates to come soon. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and fruitful summer!
(Many more pictures from my summer on my FB page.)

Gift wrapping alternative.

Ever have that gift to send and realize you are out of wrapping paper?  This wasn't the case for me today, but has been on many occasions.  However, today I was looking for alternative options for gift wrap and came across fabric wrapping.



A bit of history: This trend may very well come to us via Japan where fabric wraps are a cultural staple; they are called furoshiki (meaning "bath spread").  This word comes from historical use of transporting clothes while at the public bath houses, but the term furoshiki now extends to all fabric wrappings.  Applying the principals of origami to fabric, you obtain the perfect wrap to decorate and transport gifts and lunch boxes, or even home decor.

Ever wonder how you will use your left-over fabric scraps, un-used scarves or bandannas?  Save 'em up, save money on gift wrap, and present lovely, uniquely wrapped gifts to your loved ones!

Here are 2 tutorials to get you started:
Chewing the Cud #1

Chewing the Cud #2

My fabric-wrapped gift.  (My fabric scrap was a little odd sized for a rectangular gift, but I made it work!)

Weekend Sevens. {First edition}

Since I often entertain the question, "What did you guys do over the weekend?", I thought that I would present this option for answers.  As usual, I will probably not be religious about posting such a post every weekend, but hope you enjoy those times I do! 

 1) First off, not quite time yet for the rapture/end of the world as evidenced by this post...praying for those poor misguided souls, that they do not lose their faith and hope in Christ but search for, and find the truth.

2) Friday before work I met up with a dear friend to catch up and also chatted with a new one.  Thankful for friendships, encouraging words, smiles and hugs.  Need to schedule more of those this summer!

3) Hubby and I saw Pirates 4...it was good, though not as good as the first three. 

Miss Elizabeth, what are you thoughts? :P

4) First outside car wash of the year occurred.  Took twice as long to clean bug debris from the front of the cars, but I had a fun time out there with hubby. :) Some sunburn is proving to be not so fun; sunscreen next time.  My car is clean and waxed...forgot how much I love its color!

5) Some piano playing ensued this weekend; quite enjoyable (thank you, Mary for the book!)...I'm finding that as things slow down for the summer, I will have to find activities to occupy my free time.  Thinking about resurrecting my violin...

6) As I finished the Francine River's Mark of the Lion trilogy last month, (which I highly recommend for some [very] light fictional reading centered on the life of the early Christians) I've started Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter - will report back later on that. 

Summer=time for reading=yay. 

I'm also loving reading St. Faustina's Diary again, Divine Mercy in My Soul; especially appropriate for this month!

7) Grateful for my life, health, faith and peace.  From today's Gospel:

"And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way where I am going...I am the way, and the truth, and the life..."

~John 14:3-4, 6

Such comforting words, and so easy if we only follow Him...which does entail picking up our crosses.

Hope you all had a beautiful weekend!

Back in business.

Hi Folks,

After a considerable hiatus, I'm back to the blogging world.  I retreated for a few months to focus on getting closer to the heart of Jesus :) my jobs, home, and self, and now as summer quickly approaches, obligations are lessening, leaving me with time to say hello and to share a few pictures from the past months!

Rewind. Christmas was a quiet one for us this past year; due to my church job, we were obligated to stay in town over the weekend. My choirs did wonderfully and the congregation was very appreciate of our efforts. I also had the pleasure of helping out with the children's Christmas pageant - the kids were delightful. Lots of great families at this parish; we are very much enjoying getting to know more parishioners as the months go by. Hubby and I got away for a few days after Christmas - thankful to spend some much needed time just for ourselves! Laura's clan went to CA for the holidays...I really missed seeing my family this Christmas season...here's to next year!

Hello 2011 - We trade in Andrew's '94 Chevy truck and get a '05 Toyota Camry. Goodbye 'ole bessie, you served us well.

It's been a busy spring....both teaching, my church job and giving private voice lessons kept me on my toes.  I had a very successful Holy Week/Easter - my choir did superb. It is certainly one of the most rewarding jobs in the world to provide beautiful liturgical music for Mass, especially during such beautiful and holy seasons.  My students also had a few successful events this spring, performing for a Fashion Show held at AMU, and singing for the Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation at Ave Maria Oratory, the latter of which was a highly anticipated event, as Bishop Dewane presided at both the Mass and unveiling of the Annunciation Sculpture which now graces the facade of the Oratory.

Andrew too had quite a music-filled spring as he was hired in the fall by Opera Naples, and so was kept insanely busy for a few months both performing in their Young Artist group and in two operas, in one of which (Carmen) he played the principal role of Dancario, and was really superb.  In addition, he has been teaching voice at AMU and taking a few continuing education classes. 

My brother Ben graduated on May 7, and Mom came down for this occasion and to spend a week.  It was SO lovely having her here, especially for Mother's Day weekend.  We spent time doing crafty projects around the house, going shopping, cooking, enjoying wine and chocolate and watching movies...ahh so relaxing.  Laura and co. came down for the weekend, which added to the fun.  Her boys are getting extra cute and entertaining by the day, and we look forward to welcoming Baby Girl Dilanji in September!!

2 more weeks of teaching, then summer will truly start for me.  We have a few weddings to attend this summer, family to visit, and hope to plan a few get-aways just for us.

Hope all is well with you!  Nice to be in touch again.  :)  God is good!

XO

Hi, Christopher Stone.

I miss you.

<3