The Pity Me Post

I have now spent 28 days separated from my husband, who is 5,882 miles away in Stuttgart, Germany. Only 4 days left, then off to vacation in Catalina with his family.

FOUR MORE DAYS!

Small Successes

1. My IBD has been a lot better this week than it was when I got back from Europe, even the fevers have been a bit better, although the prednizone is still giving me insomnia and acne. I will be off of it soon though! Just glad to be feeling almost normal again.


2. I've managed to make it two weeks (halfway there) without my husband. Only two weeks to go until he comes back from Germany. That day cannot be soon enough! I cannot even begin to explain how empty the apartment (and my heart) feel without him.


3. Ordered a yoga DVD called Yoga for Stress Relief. A lot of the books I'm reading about IBD suggest yoga as a good tool for exercise and stress relief, so I'm going to go ahead and give it a try.


4. Got a pedicure and manicure with Courtney and Lindsay on Tuesday. It was so nice and relaxing and my nails are so PRETTY. I think I need to do this more often! Plus it was great to hang out that night and have girl time with Courtney, Jazzy and Madison. Love you girls!


5. My apartment is still clean since my mom last visited. Thanks Mommy!

Open to Life Series

Laura over at A Bird on Her Nest is doing a series on being Open to Life -- and it is excellent! I came across it a week ago and have been studying along since. Laura is a great writer who is comfortable interpreting from multiple sources and integrating them into her study. I highly recommend it!

To view the Open to Life Series, click the above image or this link. 

Thank you Laura for taking the time and having the courage to write this!

Saints and Scripture Sunday

I'm a little late this week for Saints and Scripture...but I figured better late than never! Sunday's gospel reading is one of my favorite parables, and I wanted to spend some time on it.

Matthew 13:1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

How often I feel like these seeds! At times I am like the seed that falls on rocky ground. I hear the Word and am joyful, but the roots do not develop and my joy withers at the slightest of troubles. Other times -- and I think most times -- I am like the seed that falls among the thorns. I hear the Word and feel the joy, but as I grow and take root, my leaves are choked by the thorns of the world.

Of course, we all want to be like the last seed that falls on rich soil. I want to accept God into my life, not just when it is easy, but when rough times come as well. I want my roots to take hold in the rich soil of Jesus Christ. Easier said than done, but no one said being a Christian was an easy call.

Each one of us can look into his own conscience today and discover to which class he or she belongs. Are some of us perhaps, like the seed that fell on the rocky ground? While Christianity makes no very difficult demand we are all for it, but when it demands mortification, the curbing of passion, real sacrifices for our neighbor, do we forget our Christian calling then and ignore its precepts? And how does our type of Christianity stand up to the temptations of the world—the desire to get all the enjoyment we can out of this life, licit or illicit, breaking God's commandments weekly or maybe daily? Are we chasing after wealth and power, using all our energies to rise in the world to be above our neighbor by fair or foul means? If the above are our aims in life, our Christianity has been or is being choked out of us.

There are millions of saints in heaven today, enjoying eternal happiness, who had some, if not all, of our present failings. We, too, can be with them one day, provided we do what they did. They repented sincerely and remained God's close friends, until he called them to himself. May the merciful God give us the grace to imitate them while we yet have time.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Catholic Review: Meet the Saints

Meet the Saints

The second book I chose to review through The Catholic Company was Meet the Saints. Now, when I received the book I have to admit it was a little bit smaller than I had hoped for. The entire text is less than 100 pages, not including the FAQ and Bibliography. So if you purchase this book, keep in mind that you will be meeting the saints, just a very select few of them.

On that note, I think this is the perfect book to "dip your toes" in the water. I would recommend this to someone who was not familiar with saints at all - a perfect gift for RCIA! It's an easy read and broken up into chapters that categorize the saints by what they were known for (Chapters include "Women Who Knew Jesus," "Male Founders," "Special Friends of the Poor," etc.). Each chapter gives a synopsis of three saints that fall into these categories, and lists their Feast Day.

My favorite part about this book are the "Stepping Out in Faith" sections at the end of each chapter. These are a call to action that really take the lives of the saints and put them into perspective as you try to incorporate them into your own life. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter:

Take advantage of the opportunities to do good. Follow in the footsteps of... 

* Salome, who transferred her skills as wife and mother to minister to the crowds that followed Jesus. Consider sharing your talents, abilities and knowledge in new ways within a parish ministry or social outreach effort.
* Martha and Mary of Bethany, who provided Jesus with the support of friendship and a refuge, a place apart. Invite your pastor or member of your parish staff to dinner or for coffee. Write a note to thank a minister for his or her efforts on your community's behalf.
* Mary Magdalene, who committed her life and possessions to Jesus and carried the news of the Resurrection to the apostles. Commit to more fully living your faith in Jesus and the promise of the Resurrection. What will that look like in your life?

The introduction by Bishop Robert F. Morneau has a great suggestion of taking the twelve chapters and studying one every week. This book could certainly be used as a jumping off point to learn even more about the saints featured in each chapter, to study their writings, research who they influenced, etc.

Therefore, I would recommend this book for those who just don't know where to get started. There are so many saints, it can be overwhelming to figure out who is who. The book also has a great FAQ section about saints, as well as an extensive biography list to look into. This book will definitely help you lay the foundation you need for learning about saints, and the "Stepping Out in Faith" sections will help you to implement some of their characteristics into your life. And who doesn't want to be more saintly?


This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Meet the Saints. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Schloß Lichtenstein

Schloß Lichtenstein is Brian's FAVORITE castle - and for some reason we missed it the last time around! So last Wednesday we asked Mama to drive us (it's about an hour drive) so I could marvel at it just as Brian does.

Our first glimpse of the Castle, perched on a rocky cliff, as we take the twisty road upwards.

On the drawbridge, entering the inner courtyard. Notice the gargoyle behind us.

This is the actual "castle" - the rest are outlying buildings.

It's absolutely amazing that they were able to build this on the edge of this rocky cliff, and it has still survived to this time.

The view, looking down at the village many meters below.

See the door? This was the emergency exit. Most of the steps have worn away, but if the castle were to be attacked, this is how they would have escaped back then.

An older section of the castle.

Waiting for our tour to begin!

The newer building to the right of the castle. I think this was constructed in the 1700s and it has been renovated.

All around the castle was a trench that would have been the moat. Wish it was filled with water!

We had the most amazing tour. We were told it would be given in German, which was fine with us. But lo and behold, the tour guide (who looked so much like my Uncle Steve it was scary...talk about a doppelganger) gave it in English...and we were the only two people! We got to ask whatever questions we wanted, and take our time looking at everything. It was really special -- too bad you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the Castle. There actually isn't that much to see inside anyway, since the Castle is still owned by the Duke's family there are a lot of private rooms off limits. We saw the "drinking room" and the armory, and a couple of formal living areas but that was about it.

I think the most amazing part of the Castle is outside anyway. I'm so glad Brian decided to take me!

Wordless Wednesday

We Love Museums!

So we went in search of another one. Actually, we happened on the Natural History Museum of Stuttgart completely by accident. We had gone down to see if we could take a boat tour on the Neckar, but it was closed that day. We saw a sign for the museum, but not knowing anything about it we decided to look it up at home.

We were surprised to find that it was only 5 euro entry, relatively cheap for a museum in Europe, and it included two separate buildings (a 15 minute walk from each other in 35 degree Celsius heat in which I nearly died and had to rest numerous times). So we went back the following day! Who can turn down dinosaur bones?

I can totally understand why people thought the platypus was fake. I mean, look at it.

I'd never seen the inside of a turtle before. Pretty amazing how the spine is fused to the shell.

I specifically asked Brian not to take a picture of this. Gross.

MAMMOTH.

The inside of a big whale. It even had an eyeball.

I'm convinced this was the inspiration for that horrible 80's TV show Alfie, or whatever it was called.

On the 15 minute death walk we passed by this. Why didn't we have this growing up!?

Brian likes dinosaurs.

I would not want to run into this guy. Though he looks like he might be ride-able?

MAMMOTH.

Is it just me or does his jaw have fangs? Seems like it would be really obstructive in certain situations. Like drinking.

So that was the Natural History Museum of Stuttgart. Once again, museums are your friend when it's deliriously hot outside.

Landesmuseum

Obviously I made it home alive from Stuttgart (barely - the turbulence was so bad on the two legs back I actually crossed myself when we landed in Los Angeles), leaving my husband in Germany for another 32 days!!! Being married to a graduate student isn't easy. But I enjoyed myself immensely and it was a wonderful getaway.

One of our favorite museums in Stuttgart happened to be free during the time they were there since they were doing extensive renovations and a lot of the exhibits were closed. That was fine with us! In fact, we were super happy to discover that the crown jewels exhibit was OPEN (it had been closed when we visited in 2009) so we were very excited. And did I mention it was free?

The King's crown - decorative only - the things was huge and would not have fit on even Brian's big head.

The Queen's crown, which she did wear. It was actually made of 3 pieces, so it could be worn as a headband, smaller crown, or as shown above. I want one.

The Queen's necklace - this was her wedding gift. DANG.

Here are some pictures from the other exhibits we saw, some we had seen before and some that were new!

Beautiful chessboard and pieces

I believe these were candle holders carved from ivory.

More carved ivory - I thought these were bizarrely beautiful.

Can you believe this is how people used to calculate astronomy and astrology!?

Close up view - not sure if these are constellations or the moon phases or what.

Then it was off to the clock room in the basement, one of our favorite exhibits. I love the square box clocks.

Amazingly detailed.

We had a very nice time walking in downtown Stuttgart and enjoying the day. It was a bit hot and humid so a museum was a must for visiting, and the air conditioning in the basement was delightful. Talk about an added bonus!