Quick Takes #214: What I learned on my day in the Shenandoah

1. Last Saturday I had the great good privilege of attending a conference hosted by the CWBN (Catholic Women Blogger Network) Mid-Atlantic conference and it was awesome!! An amazing opportunity to step away from daily life, listen to great talks, and sit around a table sharing concerns and being supported by other women of faith.
2. Meet and greet; was lovely especially after I got over my nerves at meeting in the flesh such amazing, inspiring bloggers as Mary and Kelly.  Of course there was also the wondrous feeling of meeting IRL blogger friends like Lisa and them being as great as you knew they would be. Plus loving on all those beautiful babies!!
3. Mary's talk started off the day by offering a wonderful meditation on motherhood and encouraging us to call on our Blessed Mother for the courage to be who and write about what our Lord is calling us to; to show the committment of Mother Theresa and to believe in our vision with the tenacity that Mother Angelica demonstrated.
4. Elizabeth's keynote encouraged us to balance creativity with authenticity. I so appreciated the reminder to be true to myself on this blog and trust that if I share honestly of the insights gained from living my life and pursuing my vocation my readers will leave happy.  She also offered a lot of food for thought about how to honestly share my journey as a mom and wife without oversharing my children's story.
5. After a lunch where I got feed my body with yummy food; and my spirit by the wonderful conversation with my small group we were blessed as Jennifer Ryan shared her expertise in affiliate management which was so kind of her and gave me so much to think about as this is an aspect of blogging I have yet not explored.   This is also the point in the day when a bear cub ran across the yard adding a fun moment of excitement  to the day!
6. The day ended with all the speakers plus our emcee (and lovely link-up host) Kelly forming a panel and answering anything and everything we asked!
7. From crossing the Shenandoah in the morning to crossing the Susquehanna at dusk: blessings all day long!  My thanks to our lovely host Rosie and everyone else who worked so hard to put together such a wonderful conference!

Please head over to Kelly's for more 7QT's

New headshot featured above courtesy of Rachel Cupps who so generously shared her time and talent to the ladies of the conference.

Back to School ~ Fall 2016!

Tis the Season

                                                             3rd Grade

Kindergarten

At his table ~ First Day

Open Book: September 2016

   As I wrote a couple months ago after reading a memoir about the making of the movie The Princess Bride I'm interested in reading the book. While searching for the book (which I now own and hope to read soon) I found another book which inspired a favorite movie. Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis inspired the 1958 movie starring Rosalind Russell.  This book recounts a nephew's memories of being raised by an outgoing and somewhat outrageous aunt after his father's death. Starting in the gin soaked twenties and going forward for about 30 years this book is fun ride; Dennis has a great ear for dialogue and while the book is very light hearted it is not too saccharine and I may have been biased by liking the movie first but truly believe it is a good read even if you haven't seen the movie.

Currently reading Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston or actually rereading as I read it once back in college and while I remembered liking the book it has been long enough that I didn't remember why I liked it.  I liked it and am enjoying the re-read because Hurston is wonderful storyteller, with a wonderful ear for dialects as she brings to life the southern voice in Georgia and Florida in the early twentieth century.  The book largely tells the story of Janie as she navigates adulthood and three marriages starting at seventeen when the grandmother who raised her guilts her into marrying so her grandmother could die knowing she (Janie) would be cared for.  A little over half way through and am so glad I picked it up again.

Please head over to Carolyn's for more Open Book.

Quick Takes #213: Maine Livin

1. Incredibly blessed this year to manage two beach weeks. In addition to managing to get time to go to the Outer Banks with my family we were also able to get up to Maine to spend some time with Charlie's side.
2. Traveling with a newly trained toddler means extra potty stops and traffic was worse than usual but the kids managed to keep the grumps to the minimum and the welcome was wonderfully warm.
3. Water fun! As always the community pool at G-ma's was a hit and the boogie boards we bought earlier this summer were put to good use. Both Lisbeth and Liam have made great strides this summer and having a blast!
4. Food as usual played a central role with Dr Daddy and his mom and sister having a lot of fun in the kitchen and all of us enjoying the amazing meals that resulted. We also went to our favorite ice cream place a few times and tried out a new one.  Local seafood one night and making s'mores another were two other highlights!
5. One evening we drove to near by Kennebunk and visited St Ann Episcopal a lovely stone church dating from 1887 and it's beautiful outdoor chapel; an amazing place to watch a sunset. 
6. Most importantly time with family.  The kids with their cousins and all of us together in the evenings watching the Olympics.
7. Photo Dump!!

 Please head over to Kelly's for more 7QTs

P

Why Lie?

As most of you know my youngest sister is a financial auditor by day and author by night! And her latest novel Why Lie? is being released on September 12,2016 and here..... is the Cover Reveal!!!

Outer Banks 2016: the recap

   Outer Banks 2016 is in the books and a great time was had by all!

The trip there is just as long as I remember and we opted to make it a bit longer by stopping along the way for a vigil Mass. Aside TheCatholicDirectory.com is an amazing site which tells what churches are close to your location and their Mass times. Another highlight of the trip was getting pizza for dinner; not the best car food but Dr Daddy and Elisabeth did a great job tearing the box into mini plates. So while we arrived in the dark we were so happy to be there and so was the rest of our family.

   The rest of the week consisted of swimming in the pool; the two biggest on their own and Caitie doing amazing in her vest. During a couple of night swims Elisabeth was introduced to Marco Polo and held her own with her big cousins.  We were a 5-10 minute walk from the beach and so visited everyday sometimes a couple times a day.  Most mornings I enjoyed a walk with my mom and a sister and often late afternoon found us there for a quick swim before dinner.  The waves were best mid-day and so twice we braved primetime sun and let the kids get some practice boogie boarding.  Both times we saw dolphins in the distance and one time my middle sister's father-in-law taught the kids to net fish with decent results.  He and my sister Kim also saw to the renting of bikes which also added to the outside fun of the week.

Many hands indeed made light what with the adults all taking a turn with cooking dinner and enough grown-ups and bigger cousins available that I was even able to sneak out to a wine tasting one afternoon.

Amazing food ~ wonderful wine and best of all a lot of time to play and be together with each other and some extended family.

We came ~ we saw ~ we swam!!

Open Book: August 2016

Unexpectedly both my reads this month focused on widows and the lives they build for themselves after the deaths of their husbands.

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold is the latest installment of the Vorkosigan Saga. Set three years after the death of Aral Vorkosigan this book focuses on Vicereine Cordelia and her plans for the future and retirement.  In one sense it was a great read as Cordelia really feels to me the voice the author feels most comfortable writing in and this was a clearly a book she wrote for fans as it references a lot of events in earlier books with little to no explanation.  I did miss the swashbuckling of Miles and Ivan but am so glad I got to catch-up a bit with Cordelia and again enjoy her Betan wisdom.


Angelina's Bachelors by Brian O'Reilly tells the story of a young woman finding her footings and figuring out how to make ends meet after the sudden death of her husband. With a great blend of happy accidents and her advocating for herself Angelina finds an amazing circle of support and wonderful new life.

After a lovely first half the book sort-of drifts to its end.  Set in South Philadelphia I enjoyed all the references and look forward to trying out some of the recipes included.

Please head over to Carolyn's for more Open Book.