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Well I certainly know how to make some waves. Over a twelve hundred page views, eight new followers, and only a few ugly comments-I'll take that as a success.

If you're new here, don't expect that kind of creative rally cry very often. I'm passionate about a whole lot of things, but very rarely does it make it out of my head and into a blog post.

I usually just post about my girl.

Or brag on my husband.

Sometimes I reflect on infertility.

Or say a thousand words with a just picture from my day.

This blog is just about my life, my thoughts, my passions, my fears, my family. I'm really Catholic, madly in love, adventuring in sunny Florida hundreds of miles from my roots in Missouri, doing my best to raise a daughter that loves the Lord, and finding a few minutes in the whirlwind of life to catch my family, friends, and perfect strangers up on it all.

I'm glad you're here.

Breaking News

I cannot even believe the news I just read. Did you hear? The Obama administration just issued a press release stating that, beginning in 2013, all Hindu organizations will be required to purchase shares of beef for all of their employees as part of an employee benefit package.

That's outrageous! Aren't Hindus opposed to eating beef? I'm pretty sure they believe the cow to be a sacred animal and do not eat it for this reason. I could be wrong. I haven't ever really researched Hindu beliefs, but I'm pretty sure I heard this somewhere. Maybe they even think that you could go to hell (or the Hindu equivalent perhaps) if you eat beef? I knew a Hindu that ate beef. He said he didn't care that he wasn't supposed to. But I'm pretty sure that makes him a non-practicing Hindu, so should he even call himself a Hindu?

Personally, I think it's kind of dumb. I mean, Ted and I just ordered a half of a steer from a farmer in Georgia. Beef is tasty. And good for you! It has lots of protein and Omega 3s and other good stuff like that. And you can do so much with it-steaks, burgers, meatballs. Beef is really quite amazing. I couldn't imagine my life without beef.

But even though I LOVE beef and think it's the greatest meat ever, I can certainly understand why someone with a different faith could think differently. I don't really understand why Hindus don't eat beef, but I don't really need to in order to respect their faith. If I invited a Hindu over for dinner, I most certainly wouldn't grill burgers.

And now Obama is trying to force Hindus to buy something for their employees that's against their religion? Does anyone else see how scary that is? Isn't there something called the First Amendment that is supposed to keep this kind of thing from happening? 

Ted works for the state of Florida and occasionally they have meals and parties to celebrate certain occasions. The other day they had chili....with hamburger. But I'm pretty sure no one was Hindu so it was ok. But what if Ted worked for a Hindu organization? Would he demand chili at his "holiday" party? Absolutely not. He chose to work for Hindus after all. And working for Hindus means not getting any beef at work. End of story. If he didn't like-well he could just go work someplace else.

I'm not crazy, am I?  I mean, I don't understand why Hindus don't eat beef. I like beef. But I respect their freedom from government intrusion and their right to refuse to buy beef for their employees.

I bet Hindus are pissed.

Oh wait, I'm the one who is pissed.

Because it's not Hindus that Obama is attacking, it's Catholics.

Catholics do not believe that birth control is a moral option. Our Church very clearly teaches that birth control is a mortal sin. If a Catholic commits this sin, under the circumstances for a sin to be considered mortal, the Church teaches that they will go to hell. Intense? Yep. Scary? You betcha.

But Obama is now saying that Catholic organizations must provide contraception for their employees.

So how on earth can the government force a religious organization to pay for something that they believe will send its employees to hell?

I'm outraged.

And you should be too.

Even if you think contraception is the best thing since sliced bread.

Even if you cannot begin to understand the reasons for the Church's teachings.

Can't you show me and my faith a little respect? Can't you give us the freedom to live and worship as we wish? Can't you see that employees of Catholic organizations have the option to work someplace else if they want birth control paid for? No one is forcing them to stay.

It doesn't matter if you don't understand. It doesn't matter if you don't agree. It doesn't matter if you think we're crazy/total whackos/going to hell/hypocritical zealots. What matters is that the government is infringing on our religious liberty in a big, big way.

What makes you think your beliefs aren't next?

"The Catholic Church defends religious liberty, including freedom of conscience, for everyone. The Amish do not carry health insurance. The government respects their principles. Christian Scientists want to heal by prayer alone, and the new health-care reform law respects that. Quakers and others object to killing even in wartime, and the government respects that principle for conscientious objectors. By its decision, the Obama administration has failed to show the same respect for the consciences of Catholics and others who object to treating pregnancy as a disease." (Archbishop Dolan)

Delimma

What to do when you have five different blog topics floating around in your head and you can't decide which one to write about?

Avoid the decision altogether by redesigning your blog header of course!

Isn't she cute? Come on-you know she's adorable.

A Strange Turn of Events

I had a super long blog post rumbling around in my head last night and told myself I would use her nap today to write it out.

Her nap came.

I cleaned the house!

Weird.

My View

Quick Takes (32)

-1-

We've been in Florida for a whole week now. There have been highs and lows. High: Ted loves his job. Low: everything is expensive. High: We love having a deck and yard! Low: We found out we owe a ton of money to our old apartment complex. What we thought was a month to month lease-was actually a year lease. And they're not being very nice about it :(

-2-

Wednesday was a very bad day. Just a million little things that rolled into a very upset Kaitlin. I told Ted I needed a glass of wine-my mom gave me some Mommy Juice for Christmas. But then I decided that the day didn't even deserve wine. It was that bad. Mommy Juice is apparently only for semi-bad days.

-3-

Remember this giveaway post? Well it turns out that I now live in the same town as Mrs. Trendy Traditions! She's already been a huge help telling us about the town and we're planning to get together one day next week. After going to Mass Sunday and not talking to a single soul, we were feeling kind of down. Finding out she lives here was a huge boost to my spirit. Thanks Jesus!

-4-

Hannah and I have been to daily Mass three days this week and we plan to go again tomorrow. It's amazing what daily Mass does for the soul. I haven't been able to go regularly in years. And I have Catholic radio! I better be a lot holier at this time next year-such great resources.

-5-

Ted has Monday off and we are planning to take a day trip to one of the many places that are a short drive from here. Expect pictures next week. 

-6-

I'm so in love with my daughter. She is so much fun. She's officially walking and LOVES it. She walks down the hall and into other rooms just because she can. Tonight she even walked backwards! Hopefully that means she's got Ted's athletic ability. I've had a chance to spend more time with her the past three weeks than I have had in a long, long time and it's been wonderful. She loves to read books, play catch, be chased, and give kisses. She is perfect.

-7-

A picture of perfection:

A Bulleted List

because that's all my brain can handle right now!

-We made it to our new home in Florida on Wednesday and have been unpacking ever since. Our new place is pretty great-we like almost everything about it. We do NOT like the ugly gold that they painted every wall nor the way it makes all our decorations look weird. We DO like the backyard, and deck, and storage space, and neighborhood, and trees, and squirrels.

-Hannah is really close to walking. What qualifies as actually saying "she's walking"? She can take up to about 6 or 7 steps and even took 10 steps once. Just this week she started doing it on her own, without needing any prompting from us. Is that walking? She still falls after 6 steps or so.

-It's like she became a toddler over night. Seriously-I look at her and wonder who she is and what she did with my baby. She is already testing her limits and definitely understands my simple commands and chooses not to follow them. Grrr-it begins.

-She's so beautiful. Really, really beautiful. I can't even believe it.

-Our new neighbor came over and introduce herself and even brought us dinner our first night in town. What a welcomed welcome that was!

-This place has the best food. The grocery just the down the road from us has tons of affordable organic options, a huge produce selection, and just about anything you could ask for. I spent almost two hours browsing the aisles yesterday and loved every second. They had vegetables I had only heard about in Mississippi! And that was just the regular grocery store. We went to a Farmer's Market this morning and it got even better. There were more vendors in JANUARY than Starkville's market in peak season. Vegetables-check. I'm on the hunt for pastured eggs and good milk now.

-We already have dinner plans tomorrow! A friend's sister and her family live here and invited us over. Woo hoo!

-Mass at a huge parish tomorrow-3000 families.

-Ted's first day of work went great. I think he's going to love his job. Praise God.

-Two of our best friends just had a baby today! Gianna Therese-we love you so much and can't wait to meet you!

-Christmas was great. We got to spend lots of time with both families since I quit my job and Ted hadn't started his yet. Hannah didn't really understand how to open presents, but she enjoyed her toys after they were opened! Her favorites-her push walker that makes her smile every time she sees it and the drumsticks that came with her music set. She likes the entire music set too, but those drumsticks really make her happy.

-New Years was perfect and spent where we always spend New Years-in the middle of nowhere Missouri in a retreat house with our closest friends. We missed it last year due to being 9 months pregnant and it just wasn't the same starting the year anywhere but there. We were only there for one night-but we packed as much fun in as we could. Normally, we climb the mountain and pray the rosary at midnight, but this year we had Midnight Mass in the chapel-which was also cool. Hannah's godfather was the celebrant and he sure knows how to give a homily. Confession, fellowship, walks to the river, catching up with friends, reflecting on the past year and praying for the one ahead-perfect.

-I've been going to that same retreat house since I was 16 years old. It was there that Ted and I began our dating relationship. So many times we've talked about bringing our kids for the retreat and this year it actually happened. Hannah became the youngest New Years retreatant and thoroughly enjoyed her time there. It was pretty surreal having my baby there. And oh so wonderful. Everything is better with her around.