now selling

Hi everyone! Here's the merchandise. If you click on the image you'll see pricing! Find me on facebook! My line is called, "Adorned with Christ". Thanks for looking!!!

Favorites around here

I met some new people tonight that are new to our area. They're friends of a friend and they came to Rosaruck. In conversation this evening we brought up several cool things in our area that I'd like to pass on. There are a lot of local treasures around here!


Alleluia Catholic Store!!
This is a really great Catholic Store. Every time I go here I can't help but spend at least an hour parousing everything. They always have new and exciting stuff! I just found out recently that they also have Catholic DVD rentals!! Woohoo!

Spotted Cow
We go to the one at Mill Creek Town Center. This is my favorite local spot for gelato and ice cream. They make their own gelato and ice cream and they come up with really creative flavors! All very good. They have some great sandwiches and other stuff too. They have local art on their walls, local wines, a variety of local merchandise on the bookcase at the entrance, a great coffee house feel, a kid friendly play area, host local musicians, free wifi, it's just a great place to hang out. Oh yeah and they have coffee (I've become a Mystic Monk coffee snob, so I haven't tried the Spotted Cow Coffees yet).

Nirvana Kebab and Curry
This place is a couple of blocks from where we live. Great indian and mediterranean food and absolutely wonderful customer service. We often have to order take out because we don't want Clare to start whining, squirming, screaming while we're in the restaurant, but when we get there we're seated at the special take out waiting couch and coffe table, given complimentary chai and very well taken care of. This guy is also a very experienced chef. The service at this restaurant is really great.

San Miguel Grill
17917 Bothell Everett Hwy, Bothell, WA
(425) 481-7870‎
There's no website for it. It's attached to a Mexican Store called "El Paso". It's got a really homey feel and has great food. It tastes like it was made with love by a relative who loves cooking! Good variety and better prices than the chain Mexican restaurants. And hey, who doesn't like a restaurant that has St. Michael as it's patron!?

Everything Tea
I'm a huge tea drinker so I was really excited to find this place! Not only is it in the very cute historic town of Snohomish, but it's loaded with hundreds of types of tea and tea accessories!! They scored points because they had my favorite type, "Monks Blend". A few other good teas I've tried are the creme caramel and Canadian Ice Wine Tea. Make sure to spend some time wandering around Snohomish. There are a ton of antique shops and a huge antique mall that's fun to poke around.

Country Village
This village has a lot of really cute shops, a small park like area with a stage, chickens that roam around, a children's train, and is just a neat place. One of my favorite shops is
Toys that Teach
The Whitehouse Antique and Candy Shoppe is also lots of fun. They have all the candies you loved when you were little but may have forgotten about.

Trader Joe's!
I know Trader Joe's isn't really local, but there's one around here and it's great. I love getting organic produce, good specialty foods and wines at low prices. It's just a great store to have around.

Aca Las Tortas
This place used to be a taco truck, but now it's inside a convenience store on 164th street across from Martha Lake park. Cheap, good, real Mexican.....I think.

Mayuri Indian Cuisine
Great Indian Food. Nicer dining atmosphere. Great Samosas and homemade mango ice cream!!

Thai Bistro
I don't know if this is locally owned or a chain, but they have great thai food, great service, elegant decor, and reasonable prices. This is the best thai food around here in my opinion.

Himitsu Teriyaki
20806 Bothell Everett Hwy, Bothell, WA
(425) 483-2152‎
Again, I don't know if this is locally owned. They have great sushi, teriyaki, etc. Really nice lady who runs the shop. Everything tastes fresh and it's fast.


That's all I have at the moment. I'm sure we'll add more as time goes on. Enjoy!

For those of you who aren't in the facebook world - A Clare update

She's getting good at standing and is probably going to be walking very soon.

She's trying out new facial expressions. I call this "stink face".

Doesn't it look like she's smelled something nasty?

She's getting more cuddly. She fell asleep on Daddy a few weekends ago while we were in Canada.

She's developing a naughty streak. You can see it in her eyes. Ha ha!

And some things haven't changed. She's still loud.

She likes being tickled and she has a lot of teeth!

She is giving "speeches" full of facial expressions and hand gestures. I have videos for proof of both of those statements, but they won't load onto blogger. I think I'll have to load them on to youtube and post them another time.

Happy Feast day of St. Teresa of Avila!

St. Teresa of Avila is the first female doctor of the Church, reformer of the Carmelites, and my mom's patron saint. Happy Birthday Mom! Here's the Second Reading from the Office of Readings today.


Reading - St Teresa of Avila

Let us always be mindful of Christ's love

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.

Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.

Rosaruck

So we've started a new mini-ministry at home. We're doing Rosary-Potlucks. Every week friends come over, we share a meal, write down our intentions, and pray the rosary together. It's only happened twice so far, but I'm hoping it continues and grows. For Jon and I, the rosary is something that has been really central to our marriage. It's nice to be able to share the devotion to this great prayer with friends.

If you want to join us come on over! We usually have it on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. Though this week we're either going to change the time or cancel because of the 40days for Life kick off.

Maybe in October we'll kick Rosaruck up a notch and read a paragraph out of Secret of the Rosary each week. Who knows, we're open to suggestions.

Anyone done anything like this before? What made the experience richer or more meaningful?

Seven Things I love

I was tagged by Carrie.

1. Watching my husband laugh really hard. Jon's face goes a bit red and his smile is so huge.

2. Waking up some mornings to Clare saying "mamamamamamama" and waving at me.

3. Going to Mass and recieving Christ. Bringing Clare to Mass. I love trying to face Clare towards the altar during consecration and whispering "that's Jesus" in her ear. She's distracted most of the time, but it's still cool.

4. When Jon and I have time to sit down and read together.

5. Cooking! I like trying new recipes. I like trying new recipes even more if I already have the ingredients. :)

6. Hosting parties, espeically ones that involve the Rosary.

7. Being with my whole family. It's so much fun having my parents, Joy and Peter, all the kids, the aunts and uncles, and cousins around. That's why the wedding reception was so much fun. The whole Ledesma family + Ramseyer family + all our friends!!! If we all get to heaven it's going to be awesome.

I tag...Jessica, Janet, Neil, Lauren Frisch, Jon, Colin and Brett

I know they don't all have blogs, but maybe they'll do it on facebook.

I had a dream of the Church Militant.

I had a dream on Saturday night that really struck me. It was quite vivid. I think it's worth sharing. When I have a dream it tends to be like watching a movie rather than being an actor in it. Though sometimes when I wake I can remember the emotions the dream-me felt. It's weird. Anyways, here's the story.

It began with me and a large group of my Catholic friends trying to find shelter. I had the sense that we were part of some military rebellion or something of the sort. We were trying to enter a large brick or stone building. My dream began with us standing at the door. When we entered the building it was quiet. We were in a long hallway with one door to the right. I had the impression that we would find shelter and safety on the other side of this door so I led everyone through it. The room it led to turned out to be an adoration chapel. We were to spend some time there preparing ourselves to meet CHrist the King face to face in his human form. He was the King we were fighting for.

After a few hours spent in adoration preparing ourselves, we went back into the hallway and we went down through it further. It was relatively dark, it looked like a castle. The hallway eventually opened up to an enormous Cathedral. Standing there in front of the altar was Christ himself. I can't describe what he looked like. I don't know if it's becaue I don't remember or because I just knew it was Jesus but didn't see his face or look at Him directly. Or maybe Christ just didn't let me take that away from my dream. I don't know, dreams can sometimes be hazy. In any case, CHrist celebrated mass for us and spoke to us about the battle we would be fighting in. He told us about how hard it would be. I got the impression that many would die. He told us that while we were not fighting, we should take shelter in the room we were in before. The adoration chapel. He told us that he would be waiting for us there.

After that we left Him. Some went to fight. I remember hearing the battle. Hearing people dying whilst siting in front of the Eucharist in the chapel. I knew some were dying in the battle. I remember hearing the battle go on in the great Cathedral where Christ said mass for us. I remember praying for Jon's safety, also knowing that I would soon be in battle.

I woke thinking, "The Church Militant".

I suppose it's some sort of wake up call. Possibly Christ telling us to go to adoration more. I can't get over how vivid it was. How much real meaning it has in life. Usually my dreams are completely random and have no sense whatsoever. But every now and then I have something like this. Something that makes me think twice and re-examine reality. I thought I'd share.

UIOGD

Happy Feast of St. Clare!

It's the Feast Day of St. Clare today.

An army of rough soldiers came to attack Assisi and they planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, St. Clare had herself carried to the wall and right there, where the enemies could see it, she had the Blessed Sacrament placed. Then on her knees, she begged God to save the Sisters. "O Lord, protect these Sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. A voice seemed to answer: "I will keep them always in My care."

"Totally love Him who gave Himself over totally for love of you."

"Ever since I have known the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ no suffering has been bothersome, no penance too severe, no infirmity has been hard."
"When You have loved Him, You are chaste; when you have touched Him, You become more pure; when you have accepted Him, You are a virgin."

-St. Clare of Assisi

Here's a little bit about her life.


Jon, Clare and I are hoping to get to the Cathedral for afternoon mass today for St. Clare's feast day. Early on, Jon and I discussed wanting to be a family that really celebrates Catholic feast days and the kid(s) namesake days. Hopefully we can keep this up! That's one of the cool things about being Catholic. There are so many reasons to celebrate!! So many people to celebrate! So many great examples that a life lived for Christ is possible in any age! St. Clare is also my Confirmation saint, so this feast day is special for me too!

I also learned something new today about her. Apparently her feast day used to be celebrated on August 12th (my sister's birthday!). I don't know why it was changed to the 11th. That'll take more investigation.
And....the first place Clare stayed before building her order was with...Benedictines! :D ha ha ha ha!! They always come through.

St. Clare is the patron saint of Television and is often prayed to for good weather because her name means Clear. :)

UIOGD

Sisters

I just felt like looking up the religious communities my friends are in on facebook and I found some cool stuff! I'm so proud of these ladies, I thought I'd showcase them on my blog.


Sister Kristina (novice) - Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburga [she's the Filipino one!]
http://walburga.org/Novitiate.html

Renee Myrick (postulant) - Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal
http://www.franciscansisterscfr.com/postulants.htm

Sister Donne Davidson (I don't know if she's received a new name as a novice yet) - Poor Clares of Mission BC [the one with the white veil]
http://www.poorclare.org/mission/pageone.html#intro

Sister Antoniana - Sisters of Life [the one in the picture]
http://sistersoflife.org/apostolates.html

Sister Julia Shideler - Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
http://www.mklsisters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=986&Itemid=1


Wonderful witnesses !!!

Too good not to share.....

Here's the second reading from the Office today. It was just too beautiful not to share. It's from the Imitation of Christ.

Uh.....as I was going to copy it from Universalis onto here I realized I read the wrong day's second reading. It's the feast of St. Mary Magdalene..... So.... anyways, here's the reading from another day as if it weren't that feast day. And I'm going to go read the real office for the day now....

From book 2 of the Imitation of Christ:


"Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest. Learn to despise external things, to devote yourself to those that are within, and you will see the kingdom of God come unto you, that kingdom which is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, gifts not given to the impious.

Christ will come to you offering His consolation, if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him in your heart, whose beauty and glory, wherein He takes delight, are all from within. His visits with the inward man are frequent, His communion sweet and full of consolation, His peace great, and His intimacy wonderful indeed.

Therefore, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this Bridegroom that He may come and dwell within you; He Himself says: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him."[9]

Give place, then, to Christ, but deny entrance to all others, for when you have Christ you are rich and He is sufficient for you. He will provide for you. He will supply your every want, so that you need not trust in frail, changeable men. Christ remains forever, standing firmly with us to the end.

Do not place much confidence in weak and mortal man, helpful and friendly though he be; and do not grieve too much if he sometimes opposes and contradicts you. Those who are with us today may be against us tomorrow, and vice versa, for men change with the wind. Place all your trust in God; let Him be your fear and your love. He will answer for you; He will do what is best for you.

You have here no lasting home. You are a stranger and a pilgrim wherever you may be, and you shall have no rest until you are wholly united with Christ.

Why do you look about here when this is not the place of your repose? Dwell rather upon heaven and give but a passing glance to all earthly things. They all pass away, and you together with them. Take care, then, that you do not cling to them lest you be entrapped and perish. Fix your mind on the Most High, and pray unceasingly to Christ.

If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ's passion and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and you will easily bear their slanderous talk.

When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare to complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.

Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer; for love of Him makes a man despise himself."

Office of Readings

I love doing the Office of Readings, but it is something I struggle with. In lent I tried to pray it every day and that went very well, but as soon as Easter came, I found myself growing lax in it once again. I know it's soooo good for me, but for some reason there's always this hurdle in front of it. I guess that's the way it goes with many things that are good for us. There always seems to be a great temptation to stay away from them. So, I'm attempting to re-discipline myself once again and get back into it during the laziest time of the year, summer.

I usually find myself saying the psalms in the office of readings quickly to get to the readings which I often find most fruitful, but today God had me really chew on the third psalm for the day. It's a good one! (In case you're wondering where to find it in the Bible it's a chunk of Psalm 73)


Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.

And so when my heart grew embittered
and when I was cut to the quick,
I was stupid and did not understand,
no better than a beast in your sight.

Yet I was always in your presence;
you were holding me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel
and so you will lead me to glory.

What else have I in heaven but you?
Apart from you I want nothing on earth.
My body and my heart faint for joy.
God is my possession for ever.

All those who abandon you shall perish;
you will destroy all those who are faithless.
To be near God is my happiness.
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
I will tell of all your works
at the gates of the city of Zion.

Glory to the Father....

Ant. Those who depart from you will perish; my joy is to remain with you, my God.

I thought this was really great to read this morning. The first stanza really spells out what we all fall into now and again. When we are bitter and short, when we are stupid and don't understand we're like beasts in the sight of the Lord. Hah! So true! It's often so difficult to look past the "stupid little instances" (the deacon at Bl. Sacrament mass mentioned these moments) and remember the peace and joy that we're constantly called to. We're always called to be in the presence of the Lord and to remember that the only thing we should want is heaven with Him. So even amidst the wonderful pleasures and irritating annoyances we're supposed to remember that our happiness and long lasting joy comes from God. Which brings me back to one of my favorite quotes from St. Teresa of Avila (mom's patron saint).

"Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth."

Well I hope that was as fun for you to read as it was for me to think!

a bit of St. Ambrose

I thought the office of readings today were really cool. Here's the second reading from St. Ambrose.


Reading
From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop

To the newly baptised on the eucharist

Fresh from the waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight. David puts these words into their mouths: The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water. Further on, we read: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.

It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.

Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.

If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow. They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us. You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.

Last night made me come to appreciate some things....

Here are a few things I love about my faith.

I thought I'd share.



1. 2000 years unbroken. We don't have any gaps in our history, the Holy Spirit has been guiding us along the same path (the path Christ gave us) for 2000 years.



2. I love these words, "You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."



3. I love that faith and reason are to go hand in hand. You can use your mind and your heart to glorify God because the Catholic faith makes sense!!!



4. I love the Eucharist. Christ in our Church, just like he said....until the end of the age.



5. I love the Bible and the fact that it is a product of Catholic Tradition. It didn't just pop out of thin air and King James didn't put it together!



6. I love that our sacraments are documented and they're the same from the beginning. I guess that goes with tradition, but it's also cool on its own.



7. I have more than emotion or blind faith to back up my religion.



8. I can count on the saints to pray for me. What great examples!



9. With the Catholic faith there is always an answer. I just have to go find it.



10. I'm so glad we have the Pope and Bishops and Priests. Where would we be without them? Thank you awesome priests and thank you awesome seminarians who are going to be there someday!




The conversion story of a former protestant pastor.
Read it here!!

business?

Soo....I've been thinking of starting an Etsy store, but I'm not sure about the whole paypal thing and the whole $0.20 per item listed thing, and just a general feeling of "I don't know if this is right for me" hangs over the whole thing. Anywhoo, I talked to the owner of Alleluia Catholic store in Mill Creek today and she said that she'd sell some of the stuff I make consignment! Cool! Anyways, here's some of what I'll be selling. Still working on prices, but I think the bracelets will be $15. I'll probably get chains for the pendants too. Let me know what you think! I'll probably be taking a trip to Michaels soon to get some materials to start making my own cameos too. We'll see how that goes.

Coerced abortion

This is disgusting. I just saw an article on American Papist talking about a Men's magazine that gave tips to men about how to coerce their girlfriends into having an abortion. Check it out.

"Outrageous: Absolutely vile’ advice column tells men how to pressure pregnant women to abort"

The blatant disregard for the fact that the woman is carrying a human person is disgusting. The liberal media's approval of abortion is just disgusting. Blech, I don't know what else to say.

Pray to end abortion.

Modern Physics and Ancient Faith

Jon just finished reading this book, "Modern Physics and Ancient Faith". While he was reading it he described a lot of it to me and it sounded soooooo interesting I had to start it as soon as he finished. It's by Dr. Stephen M. Barr a physics professor at the University of Delaware. He received a Papal medal for it. Yeah, it's that good!

I'm only on page 15 and so far the book is so great that I need to share some things.

Did you know that St. Augustine, St. Clement, Origen and other early Church people held this view about creation

"St. Augustine held that the six days of creation were not to be taken literally as a period of time or a temporal sucession. He held, rather, that all things were produced simultaneously by God in a single instant and subsequently underwent some natural process of development."

Sounds a little like Big Bang and evolution :)


I knew St. Augustine was an awesome doctor of the faith, but I didn't know he wrote stuff like this:

"Usually even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics, and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.... If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe our books in matters concerning the ressurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falshoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren, ... to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture, ... although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make the assertion."


SO AWESOME!!

This is why believers have a responsibility to educate themselves about the natural world and science. Basically you don't want to be caught spouting nonsense. Faith and Reason people, faith and reason. JPII said something at one point about Science and Faith both being out to find the truth. Since faith and reason go hand in hand we can't deny that which is found to be true! Something like that anyways....

In short, this book is rad. I highly recommend it, even though I'm only on the 15th page. Jon said the whole thing is awesome so I'd trust his opinion. I'll update more as I go on!!

Birthday

Last Friday was my birthday!
My husband once again surprised me with a cool get together bbq at Meadowdale Beach park on Thursday. It was a small gathering but loads of fun. We got a workout hiking back up from the beach though. Man that incline where the stairs are is brutal!!

The next day (my actual birthday) we drove up to Canada and caught the last half (Silly Everett traffic) of the Mass of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart then went to get Pho with my parents.

On Saturday I had an awesome BBQ in my parent's back yard with the family and some friends. Clare got to play with her cousins and her friend Seher and we all ate lots of great Filipino food that Mom and Dad made too much of. :)

Sunday and Father's Day we went to Mass then headed straight down to be with Jon's family for Father's Day dinner. Lots of travelling!

On Thursday someone at the bbq asked me what year # 25 was like. I didn't say too much besides, "pretty cool" but I've been thinking more about that.

What a blessing my 25th year was!

I...
...went to Australia for World Youth Day
...had my first child
...transitioned from work to being a stay at home mom
...my best friend Annie got married and I got to be her maid of honor
...learned how to make all sorts of things (spa stuff, cool jewelry, pretzels, naan, all sorts of bread stuff, butter chicken, much more)
...went to Eastern Washington for the first time
...celebrated my first Mother's Day
...am learning to practice the Little Way every day
...helped out with Theology of the body at another parish
...paricipated in 40 days for life while pregnant
...am growing in patience as Clare learns that screaming is her favorie form of communication
...took more pictures and video than I ever thought I would in my entire lifetime

I'm sure more will come to me, but that's a little bit of what my 25th year was like.

Thanks for another year God. You bless me in more ways than I can count.

my eight! Lauren tagged me!

Tagged by Lauren Frisch

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Jon coming home at a decent hour today.
2. My new niece being born in August.
3. Seeing my friends be ordained.
4. Clare's first word.
5. Open house at Evans Lake next weekend.
6. Starting Clare on solids this week.
7. My mom parents next visit down here in July.
8. Clare's first sign.


8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to mass
2. Drove for a few hours from Canada back here.
3. Wished Jon Happy father's day like 4 or 5 times.
4. Hung out with my family.
5. Hung out with Jon's family.
6. Changed a poopy diaper in the back seat in the Alderwood mall parking lot.
7. Taught Clare a few tunes on the piano.
8. Listened to Clare scream herself to sleep :(


8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Swim laps whenever I wanted.
2. Start an online Catholic jewelry store. (considering etsy, but still unsure)
3. Sew clothes.
4. Finish the 4 books I'm reading simultaneously.
5. Be disciplined enough to read the Divine office every day.
6. Buy a house.
7. Travel to the Philippines so Jon can meet the rest of the family.
8. Travel to Euyrope again so Jon can see how cool the Vatican, Lourdes, Fatima, Paris and Salamanca are.



8 Shows I Watch: - I can't get some of these anymore, but if I did I'd watch. Only Heroes and Fringe get weekly attention.

1. Heroes
2. Fringe
3. Legend of the Seeker (though I don't know if it's on anymore)
4. What not to wear
5. Myth busters
6. CSI
7. Law and order
8. Masterpiece movies

I tag Jessica!

Backwards Culture of Death

This is an article a friend sent me. She said it makes her angry. It makes me angry too, but I can't say that I'm surprised that this is happening since the man the nation elected as President was all about making abortion more available.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29864032/from/ET/

Doesn't anyone see how backwards this is? Why is there so much money going in to contraception and abortion? People want their babies!! Give them money so they can have their babies!! Not abort them!! God help us.

Clare's communication skills

I've been trying to get her making noise on the camera for a couple of weeks now. She finally got over her stage fright and let loose!! Ha ha!!


I don't know how to turn the video, so sorry for the neck workout!

Vaccines

I had heard that some vaccines were made using cells from aborted fetuses. That disturbed me, but I didn't check it out at the time. Recently a friend sent me an article about embryo adoption because we had a conversation about it a while back. It had some information about a company called avm biotech which is committed to producing vaccines without aborted fetal cell lines. So I started reading more about all this. Here's my info track so far. I thought you might find it interesting.

The article my friend sent me

http://www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/Progress/VaticanBioethicsDocument01-22-09.htm

the company that is trying to do things ethically
http://www.avmbiotech.com/home.html

more info about the vaccines and how they're produced
http://www.lifecanada.org/html/science/Vaccines/VaccineQuestionandAnswers.html

Moral implications
"On Vaccines Made From Cells of Aborted Fetuses - Pontifical Academy for Life Response "
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1452002/posts

"However, in this situation, the aspect of passive cooperation is that which stands out most. It is up to the faithful and citizens of upright conscience -- parents, doctors, etc. -- to oppose, even by making an objection of conscience, the ever more widespread attacks against life and the "culture of death" which underlies them.

From this point of view, the use of vaccines whose production is connected with procured abortion constitutes at least a mediate remote passive material cooperation to the abortion, and an immediate passive material cooperation with regard to their marketing.

Furthermore, on a cultural level, the use of such vaccines contributes in the creation of a generalized social consensus to the operation of the pharmaceutical industries which produce them in an immoral way.

Therefore, doctors and parents have a duty to take recourse to alternative vaccines [13] -- if they exist -- putting pressure on the political authorities and health systems so that other vaccines without moral problems become available. They should take recourse, if necessary, to the use of conscientious objection [14] with regard to the use of vaccines produced by means of cell lines of aborted human fetal origin.

.....


Summary

To summarize, it must be confirmed that there is a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems.

As regards the vaccines without an alternative, the need to contest so that others may be prepared must be reaffirmed, as should be the lawfulness of using the former in the meantime insomuch as is necessary in order to avoid a serious risk not only for one's own children but also, and perhaps more specifically, for the health conditions of the population as a whole -- especially for pregnant women

The lawfulness of the use of these vaccines should not be misinterpreted as a declaration of the lawfulness of their production, marketing and use, but is to be understood as being a passive material cooperation and, in its mildest and remotest sense, also active, morally justified as an "extrema ratio" due to the necessity to provide for the good of one's children and of the people who come in contact with the children -- pregnant women.

Such cooperation occurs in a context of moral coercion of the conscience of parents, who are forced to choose to act against their conscience or otherwise, to put the health of their children and of the population as a whole at risk. This is an unjust alternative choice, which must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Clare after 1 month

Our little Clare is already a month old. I don't know where the time went! Out the window with our sleep I guess!! She's had a busy first month what with snowstorms, Christmas at the Ramseyers', New Years at the Ledesma's in Canada, a wedding in Bellingham and her Baptism last week!

Her Baptism was really special. Our little Clare Scholastica was Baptised in a truck driving school on the eve of the Baptism of the Lord. Well....okay so it's a Church inside a truck driving school, but it's still fun to say. All parishes have to start somewhere! Fr. Frank made the private baptism feel extra special. It was wonderful having a priest we've known for so long be able to bring our baby into life with Christ. I wasn't sure how it would feel as a parent to have our baby Baptised, but I think for Jon and I the most prominent feeling was of relief. For me it felt like our first duty of being a parent was fulfilled. Task #1 get her baptised has been completed. I almost had a feeling that someone up there kept telling me, "The clock is ticking! Get it done!!"

So when it finally happened I was a lot more relaxed. Ah, who knows it might have been the great smell of the Chrism working some aromatherapy magic. ;) ha ha! j/k

Woohoo! Now she's without original sin! It's crazy to think that she'll basically be in a state of grace until she's 7 at the age of reason. That's so cool.

God does marvellous things with our lives. Baptising our baby was step one in acknowledging that. We had the chance to sign the sacramental child rental papers. I think it was St. Therese of Lisieux's mother who instilled the idea in her that God had only let her mother borrow her for a time before she was to be returned to God. That's a lot of what I thought about as the water was pouring over her head. I just kept thinking, "We'll take good care of her for you God."

Choice Fr. Frank quotes from the baptism:

"Yay no more pagan baby!" - after baptising Clare with the Holy Water
"This will be the most well documented baptism in a truck driving school ever!" - after all the camera flashes

Here are some of my other favorite shots of her in the past week. She feels like she's grown so much! My arms tire quickly now when I hold her and Jon found out last night that he can't secure her diaper as tightly as before. It seems that when you're a parent time just feels like it's constantly slipping away, so you really have to make a point to enjoy every second of their development. People aren't kidding when they say, "They'll be all grown up before you know it!"

Pictures of Clare from the Hospital

This is easier than emailing people. The shots we have are really big. My sister Joy took these while she was at the hospital for Clare's birth and through the next day.