About 15 years ago we got rid of, or at least didn't do anything to acquire, our television reception. Other than a short stint with Sky Angel and Catholic Familyland TV, the only thing our TV has been used for is to watch movies and play Wii.
Until now.
This is what happens when kids get older. They start to want to watch things like Downton Abbey, Dr. Who, Sherlock and Once Upon a Time (wait that's American...I thought we only watched British TV??) Every week we'd get on the internet and download whatever episode we were currently on and totally.kill.our.bandwidth, and then get frustrated when it would stall out on us. The one episode of Sherlock actually took us two days to watch! I know, the horror of it all.
Then one day, my cousin came over with a small TV and a portable digital antennae so the family could watch the Bears game during a family party. Hmm. What's that, you say? You can get one of these inexpensive little things, hook it up to your TV and get television stations?? For free??
Fast forward a few weeks to when it occurred to me that the Olympics were coming up. I've always had fond memories of watching the Olympics, especially the winter ones. "Hey," I pondered aloud to my husband, "if we got one of those inexpensive antennae thingies, we could watch the Olympics. And football. And we could get PBS and watch all our shows and STOP KILLING OUR BANDWIDTH!" He graciously acquiesced to my request and we hooked it up last weekend, which means, you guessed it, we can watch the State of the Union address tonight. I'm not sure if that is a good thing, or not :)
Like all things I get myself into, not going overboard will be the key here. I still want it to be only for things we've been watching and then only special things that we've missed out on in the past. Fortunately, from what I've heard, there doesn't seem to be much to worry about getting hooked on...except maybe more British shows. Any recommendations? Well, DON'T tell me about them!
just kidding. not really.
God Bless!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Moments of Grace - Online Daybook
A little late to the game, but joining up with Jenny and other great women over at Plain Grace!
Thanking God for:
* Getting our bathroom demolding project finished. We were able to repaint and clean it from top to bottom. Now to hang everything back up so we can shower in civilized conditions, instead of in the shower downstairs, in the basement, with the critters, and the cold.
* A warm house to weather the polar vortex II.
* Writing class cancelled for tomorrow - okay, so my kids are more thankful for this one than I am.
* A month with an extra paycheck - at least by my budgeting method :)
* A game day today for ourschool snow day. Yahtzee for math skills, Across America for Geography, Great States for Geography and Clue for critical thinking skills.
* A digital antennae that allowed us to watch Downton Abbey and Sherlock last night without internet loading interupptions.
Listening To:
* Mr 8 yo whooping it up because he actually won the game of Clue.
* The theme from "Sherlock" running through my head. Love that song!
Reading:
I have to say that since getting my Kindle, I have been reading a lot more. I wish I could say the same for finishing the books. I currently have the following going right now:
* The Napoleon of Notting Hill by Chesterton . I thought I'd give him a try.
* The Rule by St. Benedict. I've been wanting to read this for awhile so for $.99 I couldn't resist.
* The Life and Prayers of St. Padre Pio by Wyatt North.
I just read a little bit each day, or every other day. Okay, so maybe once a week if I'm lucky. But hey, I'm reading more than I used to.
Pondering:
* Why the italics keeps turning on every time I start a new line.
* The winds of change are blowing in certain areas of our life and I'm not sure any of us are all that excited about it. Pondering what direction we need to take.
Praying:
* That God will make His will known for us in this pondering situation.
* For all of the people who are suffering in so many different situations.
* For friends of ours and their car situation.
* For a friend of mine, mom of 10, who just got two compression fractures on her spine. Can you say, "OUCH"????
The Week Ahead:
* Cold, cold and more cold. And then warmer and probably more snow. And then maybe some wind. At least it looks pretty outside (see below).
* When the cold breaks, we have the usual to look forward to: basketball, Blue Knights for the boys, and theater and dance classes
* However, on Saturday is our yearly Father/Daughter Ball and this is a highlight for all of us, boys included because they get to go stay with Grandma!
Captured:
God Bless!
Thanking God for:
* Getting our bathroom demolding project finished. We were able to repaint and clean it from top to bottom. Now to hang everything back up so we can shower in civilized conditions, instead of in the shower downstairs, in the basement, with the critters, and the cold.
* A warm house to weather the polar vortex II.
* Writing class cancelled for tomorrow - okay, so my kids are more thankful for this one than I am.
* A month with an extra paycheck - at least by my budgeting method :)
* A game day today for our
* A digital antennae that allowed us to watch Downton Abbey and Sherlock last night without internet loading interupptions.
Listening To:
* Mr 8 yo whooping it up because he actually won the game of Clue.
* The theme from "Sherlock" running through my head. Love that song!
Reading:
I have to say that since getting my Kindle, I have been reading a lot more. I wish I could say the same for finishing the books. I currently have the following going right now:
* The Napoleon of Notting Hill by Chesterton . I thought I'd give him a try.
* The Rule by St. Benedict. I've been wanting to read this for awhile so for $.99 I couldn't resist.
* The Life and Prayers of St. Padre Pio by Wyatt North.
I just read a little bit each day, or every other day. Okay, so maybe once a week if I'm lucky. But hey, I'm reading more than I used to.
Pondering:
* Why the italics keeps turning on every time I start a new line.
* The winds of change are blowing in certain areas of our life and I'm not sure any of us are all that excited about it. Pondering what direction we need to take.
Praying:
* That God will make His will known for us in this pondering situation.
* For all of the people who are suffering in so many different situations.
* For friends of ours and their car situation.
* For a friend of mine, mom of 10, who just got two compression fractures on her spine. Can you say, "OUCH"????
The Week Ahead:
* Cold, cold and more cold. And then warmer and probably more snow. And then maybe some wind. At least it looks pretty outside (see below).
* When the cold breaks, we have the usual to look forward to: basketball, Blue Knights for the boys, and theater and dance classes
* However, on Saturday is our yearly Father/Daughter Ball and this is a highlight for all of us, boys included because they get to go stay with Grandma!
Captured:
God Bless!
Friday, January 24, 2014
7 Quick Takes - A Myriad of Photos Edition
We celebrated Ms 18 yo's birthday on Wednesday. She was my first baby after my reversion back to the Catholic faith, appropriately born on the 22nd of January, thus beginning our journey into the pro-life world.
What I really want to know is this: Who thinks of this clip when they hear the words "bundt cake"?
We even pulled it up last night and watched it before diving in. Love that movie!
God Bless!
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Theme Thursday - Catching People Unaware
Hop on over to Clan Donaldson to see other stunning photos of people caught unaware.
God Bless!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
March For Life 2014
We don't have anyone participating this year, but we are praying for all of the people who are marching today, despite the snow and cold. Oh how I wish to be out there some day!
Here are our two marchers from last year
and the group they went with.
March on all you faithful pro-life people and know that our prayers are with you as we beg God for mercy on our country and for an end to this heinous crime of abortion.
God Bless!
Here are our two marchers from last year
and the group they went with.
March on all you faithful pro-life people and know that our prayers are with you as we beg God for mercy on our country and for an end to this heinous crime of abortion.
God Bless!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Angela's Song
Right before Christmas I was contacted by an acquaintance of mine who worked at a now, unfortunately, closed Catholic bookstore. She told me about some free books she had received from Full Quiver Publishing, which is a Catholic publishing company out of Ontario, Canada. Since the bookstore was closing and they wouldn't be able to do anything with the books, she offered them to me.
Now, I have to admit that since getting my Kindle, I'd much rather read a book on that (you know, the novelty and fun of it), but I found myself with some time on my hand late one Sunday afternoon so I picked up the real, live book that was sitting on my shelf and began to read.
The book I chose out of this stack is called "Angela's Song" by AnnMarie Creedon. Let's just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I finished it about midnight Sunday night. I was so engrossed in it that I was reading snippets while we waited for the second episode of "Sherlock" to load (which, by the way, was my most favorite episode!!).
This is the story of Angela, a woman with three children whose husband was recently killed. It is the story of how she has to examine who she is and what she believes about herself, as well as establish a deep relationship with the God who loves her...all before she can fall in love with a dashing, Italian, near-perfect man named Jack.
I will admit that Jack does seem too perfect, but the more I thought about it, isn't that what makes a romance story romantic? I mean, if you're going to read about a woman and man who fall in love, wouldn't you want the man to be dashing, compassionate, chaste, intelligent and gorgeous? Let's just say that it works in this story.
What I liked the best, though, was that this love story was written from a Catholic perspective. Sometimes the conversations seemed a little too convenient as far as informing about Catholic teaching, but on the whole, it imparts a good picture of how wonderful a truly Catholic relationship could be. Is it always attainable? No, probably not; but why not put the ideal out there for people to strive for? While no relationship is perfect, this book gives you some ideas on how you can head in that direction in your own relationship, all in the context of a sweet love story.
The only downfall is that the author's use of tense seems confusing at times. Most of the time the story is written in the present tense, but then all of a sudden she changes to past tense and it can be distracting.
If you're looking for an easy, thought-provoking, Catholic, fiction read, then I would highly recommend this book to you. I have two more books to get through so I'm hoping that they are just as captivating.
God Bless!
On a side note, I've changed the commenting system on my blog so I'd love to have you give it a run and let me know what you think!
Now, I have to admit that since getting my Kindle, I'd much rather read a book on that (you know, the novelty and fun of it), but I found myself with some time on my hand late one Sunday afternoon so I picked up the real, live book that was sitting on my shelf and began to read.
The book I chose out of this stack is called "Angela's Song" by AnnMarie Creedon. Let's just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I finished it about midnight Sunday night. I was so engrossed in it that I was reading snippets while we waited for the second episode of "Sherlock" to load (which, by the way, was my most favorite episode!!).
This is the story of Angela, a woman with three children whose husband was recently killed. It is the story of how she has to examine who she is and what she believes about herself, as well as establish a deep relationship with the God who loves her...all before she can fall in love with a dashing, Italian, near-perfect man named Jack.
I will admit that Jack does seem too perfect, but the more I thought about it, isn't that what makes a romance story romantic? I mean, if you're going to read about a woman and man who fall in love, wouldn't you want the man to be dashing, compassionate, chaste, intelligent and gorgeous? Let's just say that it works in this story.
What I liked the best, though, was that this love story was written from a Catholic perspective. Sometimes the conversations seemed a little too convenient as far as informing about Catholic teaching, but on the whole, it imparts a good picture of how wonderful a truly Catholic relationship could be. Is it always attainable? No, probably not; but why not put the ideal out there for people to strive for? While no relationship is perfect, this book gives you some ideas on how you can head in that direction in your own relationship, all in the context of a sweet love story.
The only downfall is that the author's use of tense seems confusing at times. Most of the time the story is written in the present tense, but then all of a sudden she changes to past tense and it can be distracting.
If you're looking for an easy, thought-provoking, Catholic, fiction read, then I would highly recommend this book to you. I have two more books to get through so I'm hoping that they are just as captivating.
God Bless!
On a side note, I've changed the commenting system on my blog so I'd love to have you give it a run and let me know what you think!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Lesson in Gratitude #4,256
Being grateful to God for the many gifts and blessings in your life takes time to develop, but once you get the hang of it, it does become easier to spot the little things of every day that God has blessed you with.
Every once in awhile, however, God shows me that there is an area of gratitude that I don't always consider: things that haven't happened to me.
For example, the other day I was reading a blog post about the most ridiculous thing a doctor has ever said to you. Wow, some of them were truly idiotic; some were down right dangerous; others were so insulting I don't know what I would have done. That made me offer up a quick thank you to God for not having ever placed me in a situation like that. Okay, well once I had a chiropractor insult me because I was pregnant with #4 but that was tame compared to some of the comments I read.
Facebook is always a good ground for remembering the things that God has sheltered me from so far: terminally ill family members, jaw-dropping liturgical abuses, and relatives that are practicing witches to name just a few.
I don't think that this type of gratitude is something I need to delve into on a daily basis, but when it is brought to my attention, I make sure to offer up a hearty thank you for the small crosses that God has seen fit to bless me with. We have our fair share of them, and maybe other people might look at them and be grateful they don't have them; I don't know. What I do know is that God gives us sufficient graces to carry our crosses and I'm grateful for the ones He has given me and the ones He hasn't.
God Bless!
Every once in awhile, however, God shows me that there is an area of gratitude that I don't always consider: things that haven't happened to me.
For example, the other day I was reading a blog post about the most ridiculous thing a doctor has ever said to you. Wow, some of them were truly idiotic; some were down right dangerous; others were so insulting I don't know what I would have done. That made me offer up a quick thank you to God for not having ever placed me in a situation like that. Okay, well once I had a chiropractor insult me because I was pregnant with #4 but that was tame compared to some of the comments I read.
Facebook is always a good ground for remembering the things that God has sheltered me from so far: terminally ill family members, jaw-dropping liturgical abuses, and relatives that are practicing witches to name just a few.
I don't think that this type of gratitude is something I need to delve into on a daily basis, but when it is brought to my attention, I make sure to offer up a hearty thank you for the small crosses that God has seen fit to bless me with. We have our fair share of them, and maybe other people might look at them and be grateful they don't have them; I don't know. What I do know is that God gives us sufficient graces to carry our crosses and I'm grateful for the ones He has given me and the ones He hasn't.
God Bless!
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