7 Quick Takes about Food, Clothes, & Saints!

Happy Friday and feast of St. Jerome, everyone! As I mentioned on my previous post, life has been a bit of a whirlwind around here, but my baby just fell asleep so-instead of working on things that I desperately need to get done-I'm stopping in here to tell y'all about life. Because that's what bloggers do, right? ;) Hop on over to Kelly's happy place for more quick takes from the blogging world! 

Simple Moments

I don't know about the rest of you, but life has been a whirlwind over here. Often, if I think of something I need to do, I'll put it on the backburner of my mind-for when I have time to do it later-and the next thing I know, a week has flown by. It's a joyful whirlwind, a peaceful whirlwind, and quite a bit of fun. But, it seems that every couple days, there will be a frantic burst where I have an article due for one site, an event to help out with, dishes to be done, food to cook, and tons of blog posts half-formulated in my brain. 

So it's really good, in those times, to take a step back and enjoy the simple moments that come with each exciting burst of activity. 

Chatting About Self Care with The Zelie Group!

Happy Hobbit Day, everyone! 
[For those of you who don't know Lord of the Rings, today is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.]

I have to get working on our celebratory food, but first I'd like to join The Zelie Group for their weekly link-up! After all, this week's topic is self-care, and I am all about self-care. 

On the Bookshelf: Memoirs & Some Delightful Novels

Hello, everyone! I've been reading up a storm in the past several weeks, so I think it's time to discuss some literature. First, though, I want to give a shout-out to Michelle, because her book recommendations are one of the first places I look when I want to read some new and exciting stories. Some of the books I'm discussing today I first discovered on her awesome blog. Anyways, let's link up with Tuesday Talk to discuss books!

Does Simple Food Have to be Boring?

Food has been on my mind lately. I guess that shouldn't be much of a surprise, since I-like most people-eat at least a few meals a day! But I guess I've been thinking more intentionally about what I'm eating, and how I'm eating it.

A few weeks ago, I watched the movie The Hundred Foot Journey, which is an amazing story of community and food. Really, really good food. Watching that movie led me to looking up food websites (which then led me to the discovery of coffee jelly!). Then, I picked up My Life in France, by Julia Child. As I read it, I thought, Wow, I want to start cooking fancier food. Not just for entertaining purposes, but even for myself throughout the day. The thought of "fancy food" seemed a little daunting, because I'm not a professional chef and don't have loads of time to dedicate to cooking. But still, wouldn't "fancy food" be nice? 

As I continued to let this percolate in my thoughts like a good cup of coffee (and yes, I'm on my second cup today, so that lovely beverage is also on my mind!), I realized that I often equate "fancy food" with "complicated food." I commonly want to make something quite easily, because I don't have time to make fancy food, right? I'm a one-bowl-per-recipe kind of cook (guess who ignores cooking instructions when they insist on separate bowls?). Yet, lately I've been thinking about how sometimes, the simplest of foods are quite enjoyable-and can be presented in exciting, fancy ways. 

Stories to Inspire You (7QT)

Happy Friday, friends! And happy feast of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian! I really should be doing a workout right now, since Peter just went down for a short nap, but blogging is calling to me. So, I'll keep this real short, link up with Kelly, and tell y'all about some awesomely inspiring stories I read this week. And give you a couple baby updates, because  who doesn't want some happy inspiration and baby news to brighten his or her Friday? 

Thrifting Fun and God's Providence!

GUYS.
Remember how God answered my very specific prayer about boots when I was making my Rey costume for the Star Wars movie? Well, He did it again! Only, not for boots. Let me explain.

Lately, I've been purging my closet and organizing the clothes that I want to keep and those that I should give away. After I organized my nursing-friendly clothes for this season, I realized that I would really benefit from another dress or two to wear to Mass. So, I headed out to the thrift store, and made a very specific prayer to God.

What Football Season Looks Like in Our Home

Social media is beginning to display pictures of people in jerseys, recipes for snacks to munch on during games, and relatives turning against each other as football season begins. There's even an option to put an NFL-themed filter over your Facebook profile picture! With all of this festivity celebrating football season, how can I not join in?  

BUT...I don't make cute snacks for Game Day, wear sports jerseys, or watch football. In fact, football season looks very similar to "normal" life around here. However, my husband and I have our own quirky little culture. As some of you may remember, I married a wonderful man who plays competitive video games. A while back, I talked about how video games help me learn about marriage, but today I'd like to share some practical realities of what life looks like over here during the season of pigskin and team rivalries (and year-round, really). 

[Keep in mind that every person, marriage, and gamer is different-especially since there is a huge range of competitive video games out there, so you can't assume that what applies to Jacob and I applies to every gamer couple, or even that it applies to every competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee player.]

Some Thoughts during Suicide Prevention Week

It's National Suicide Prevention Week. A year-ish ago, one of my friends from college started posting very startling things to social media. Many of us who know this person connected so we could pray and encourage this friend to stick around on Earth. Thanks be to God, this friend is still around and brightening the world with a presence and prayers :) After this whole incident, I began thinking about how sad it is that a few people (like myself) had let this one friend slide by, not really communicating until we saw things go way downhill. 

I'm not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or an expert in anything, but I know that this is not the way to do things. 

The Delightfully Jiggly Adventures of Coffee Jelly

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope that you all had a marvelous weekend. 

Our three-day-weekend was particularly enjoyable because my husband's family came to visit! It was pretty epic, and so good to hang out with Jacob's parents and siblings (we hadn't seen them in a little over a year) and, of course, to introduce them to Peter. In the course of one of our conversations, I mentioned how I recently discovered the existence of coffee jelly (Am I the only one here who pages through Japanese food websites in my free time?). Of course, we simply had to make some so that we could see what this gelatinous substance would be like.

Learning to Live Like the Samaritan (at Ignitum Today)

Happy Monday, everyone! And happy feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (canonized just yesterday)!!!!!!!!

God calls each of us to love and serve others, and often we look at the story of the Good Samaritan and discuss our need to participate in social justice issues and actively go out and help that poor person on the side of the road. Being like the Good Samaritan looks slightly different for each of us, and I'm over at Ignitum Today talking about how I think God is calling me to be like the Samaritan in my stay-at-home mom life: 
My Calling: To Live Like the Samaritan.