Quick Takes: Retreat, Lake Getaway, and Nerdy Catholic Links

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Isn't he just the cutest?

I would post an adorable picture of Hannah, except that she refuses to smile for the camera right now. And we're going to attempt Christmas card pictures this weekend. And I will bribe her with suckers.

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In case you missed it, check out yesterday's post about my friend's new book. And if you want to buy it, do it through my link on the side and I get MONEY! 

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I'm heading out tonight shortly after Ted gets home for a weekend retreat. Oh how I need this. It's at a retreat center in town so to save money I'm coming back home to sleep. But other than that I'll be there all weekend. It's with a Father of Mercy. I've heard a few others speak in years past and have been incredibly challenged and moved by them. I'm expecting this weekend to be no different. It should be a great time to get my heart and mind in order before Advent begins. There's so much to do in the next month and I'm already getting overwhelmed thinking of it. I want to spend the weekend checking off nice little boxes on my to-do list and it's going to be hard for me to instead shut myself down and just spend time with Jesus.

Would you please pray for me? Pray that I will be refreshed and renewed by this retreat so that I may better serve my family when I am finished. And that I don't miss these two too much.

And if you have any prayer intentions that I can pray for you, please let me know!

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There is a lot of down time built into the retreat schedule. I keep saying things to Ted like, "Well the first talk doesn't start until 11:00. So I could just skip Mass Saturday and stay home until the first talk so I can help with the kids." At which time he reminds that this is a retreat and I'm not supposed to just show up for the bare minimum and then rush back home to make supper. I'm supposed to, ya know, retreat. Thanks goodness for my super smart husband.

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Hey check us out. Beautiful lake. Sweet husband. Notice anything missing from this picture?

That's right, kids! Last weekend some friends watched the kiddos for a few hours so we could go on our annual trip to the lake. Sure, it wasn't a secluded cabin in the woods for the entire weekend, but it was a nice little break and a chance to be together. Every time we manage to get away together we realize how much we'd been needing the break. We've got to figure out a way to make it more than a once in a blue moon thing. Sometimes I feel like we're just two people who happen to be raising the same kids. Just co managers of the household who take turns doing dishes and bath time routines. But when we get away I remember that we're actually a married couple. Who like each other and like spending time together. And who had a whole life before these kids came along.

But yes, we do end up just talking about said kids for the majority of the time. I also had a chance to get started on this book and am really loving it. Hopefully I'll get to finish it on the retreat this weekend.

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Have you signed the Pope's birthday card yet? Get to it!

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Go read this. And buy this book if you're one of the five people who haven't already. And have a great weekend.

Five Years!

The desire to write a beautiful and eloquent post extolling the virtues of my husband on our five year anniversary is daunting and trying to keep me from writing anything at all. The last five years of marriage certainly don't wrap up nicely for a sweet little blog post. But anything less than perfection seems to come up short to express how grateful I am for my husband.

Five years ago, August 9. 2008, we said "I do" and meant it with our whole hearts. We still mean it. We always will.
We've lived in three states, had two babies, spent 10 weeks without a home, driven home to see family for more hours than I want to count, made countless friendships, joined three different parishes, reworked our budget 476 times, and did a million loads of dishes. And although our marriage is full of big, grand, wonderful things (things like, praying together and mutual respect and never yelling) it's the tiny little things that really make me love him more and more each year. Tiny things that no one else would even notice. Like when he catches me crying and gives me a look that asks, "what's wrong?" and then hugs me when I tell him I was reading Knuffle Bunny Free with Hannah instead of laughing at me like most people would. Or how, when I show him the tiny bobby pins I bought for Hannah's hair, instead of asking how much they cost or giving me a look of and I care, why? he smiles and gushes about how cute they are. Because he loves her. And he thinks she is the best and sweetest and most wonderful little girl in the world and the thought of tiny little bobby pins in her hair makes him melt. And he loves his son. He dances and sings and plays with him like he was born to be the father of this little boy. Like he's spent his whole life practicing to be world's best daddy.

He loves us. His family. He loves us. He gives us everything he has every single day. There are so many days I stand in awe of how awesome he is and thank God silently that I married someone so much better than myself. That's my advice to anyone out there choosing a spouse. Marry someone so, so much better than yourself. Someone who will lead you to heaven. Hold you accountable. Challenge you. Teach you. And give and give and give until you are sure he has nothing left to give. But then he gives some more. Because he's the husband and he's the daddy and he knows he has to.

So much grace.

There is so much grace in the sacrament of marriage. So much grace when you open yourself up to parenthood. We couldn't do this without His grace. And He gives it to us so abundantly.

Happy Anniversary my love. I know you probably won't even read this post for another couple of weeks because your inbox is so full of junk email you wont even see it. (See, there are a few things that drive me crazy about him.....) Here's to the next five years. And the next fifty. I love you and thank Jesus for you every single day. Thanks for choosing me.

30 Years!

Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad today! 30 years together and they still act like newlyweds. The most important example they've shown to me and Ted is how to be each other's best friend. They truly enjoy each other and love spending time together. They may bicker from time to time, but I can honestly say I've never seen my parents fight (they probably waited until I was in bed...)

Thanks for your commitment to marriage mom and dad! An inspiration to many!

The Tradition Continues

Ted and I have an annual tradition of taking a fishing trip every November. It started during our first fall in Mississippi when Ted surprised with a weekend getaway to relieve some of our infertility stress. The following year we sought out another lake and had an absolutely wonderful time just a few months before becoming parents. And the year after that.......we didn't go. Our "annual tradition" failed after only two years. But a sweet little nine month old that wasn't yet on solids didn't allow for the weekend away that we had come to love. Fast forward to this year-it wasn't a whole weekend. It wasn't even a whole day. But some friends of offered watched Hannah for the afternoon while Ted and I took the boat to a nearby lake.

The last time we had been on the boat alone together-November 2010! The last time we sat on the water and watched the sunset-November 2010. The last time I sat and read a mind numbing book while he fished-yep, November 2010.

Needless to say, this afternoon getaway was just what we needed. And although the pictures we took weren't nearly as good as they had been in years past-we documented this rare events and made the most of the few hours of peace we were given.

I sat in our little boat on a lake down the road and was just as happy as I would have been sitting in a yacht off some Caribbean island.

The fishing was pretty bad, but Ted never complains. He also didn't complain that he had to hold my awkward, pregnant self over the edge of the boat so I could pee three times in as many hours (not counting the two times I went at the boat ramp.)

I read some Nicholas Sparks book that held me at rapt attention but now I'm not even going to finish. I felt the little baby kick inside me-extra squirmy due to the fact that I was actually sitting for more than five minutes-and thought things like "I have the best life in the world." and "I wish I could always be pregnant-I don't want a day to go by without a little baby kicking inside of me" and "Man he's sexy when he's fishing."

And although the sunset wasn't the blazing orange we were hoping for, it was still beautiful. And the eagle that kept flying overhead was definitely cool. As was the alligator that came out of hiding right after we left its cove.

So much to be grateful for. Our life might not be conducive to weekend getaways at this stage (or any stage in the near future...) but that only makes little afternoon trips like this that much sweeter.

Our Engagiversary

Five years ago today, April 15th fell on a Sunday. It was also the first Sunday after Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday. And it just so happened that on that day five years ago Ted got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

Swoon.

We've had a date afternoon planned for over a week now and didn't realize the significance of this day until today!

It was oh-so-wonderful. A sweet friend that offered to watch Hannah for free. Christmas gift card from my Grandma covered almost all of dinner (thanks Grandma!). Free groupon to a cute frozen yogurt shop covered dessert. Walk in a beautiful park covered with gorgeous live oaks and perfect temperatures didn't cost a dime.

Total date: 8 bucks.

Yeah, we're cheap. But we knew exactly what were getting into five years ago.

Ted, I still do. And I always will.

I Get it Now!

I have been somewhat anti-Valentine's Day for most of my dating life. When I was a freshman in college (and not yet dating Ted) I protested the fact that people are celebrating a "Saint's feast day" with such materialism! Kind of like everyone uses Saint Patrick's feast day to get drunk. I walked around telling everyone "Happy Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius!" and, quite shockingly, didn't get the kind of reaction I had hoped for.

When Ted and I had our first Valentine's Day a year later, we decided not to celebrate.  After all, we knew we loved each other. We said it all the time. And we spent lots of time together-going out to eat, taking walks around campus, attempting to play tennis. And he gave me little surprise gifts. And I made him blueberry muffins for no reason. And he gave me cards and wrote letters because "it was the first Tuesday of the week." And one night I got a call from him in the middle of the night telling me to go to the window of my eighth story dorm room. I drug myself out of bed to see that he had spelled out a life-sized  I Love Katie in the freshly fallen snow.

Yes, we were romantic. And we didn't need an overly commercialized feast day of some obscure Saint to prompt us.

We dated for several more years, avoiding Valentine's Day each year. Sometimes there might have been a special dessert-but that was just more of an excuse to have sweets.  When we got engaged, still no Valentine's Day. And as a married couple, the day meant nothing to us.

And even though we are still madly in love, in only a few short years of marriage and one little kiddo later-those long hand-in-hand walks, sweet notes, and just-because cards are getting fewer and farther between. I can't remember the last time I got a "first Tuesday of the week" gift, and I haven't made him a special dessert in ages. And since we're in Florida now-I doubt I'll be getting a romantic message in some freshly fallen snow any time soon.

So, I think I want to change my opinion on Valentine's Day.

(This is a big deal-I don't change my opinions often.)

Of course, I didn't tell HIM that I want to change my opinion-so I will be getting nothing. But that doesn't mean I can't make the day special for him. I have seven hours until he gets home from work-I better get started!

But first thing's first-hacking into his email again so he doesn't know it's coming. :)

Happy Valentine's Day! And Saints Cyril and Methodius while we're at it.

National Marriage Week

Did you know that National Marriage Week is coming up? February 7-14. Starting on Hannah's birthday and ending on Valentine's Day!

Well now you know-so what are you going to do about it???

I'm going to attend my first Mothers as Preschoolers meeting and hear a talk from a marriage therapist about "keeping romance alive after children."

I'm going to post lots of Why I Love My Husband posts that week.

I'm going to make his favorite dinner.

I'm going to find out what his favorite dinner is.....

I'm going to dig some of the silky little numbers that I got from my bachelorette party out from the back of the closet. (Did I just say that on a blog that my grandma and perhaps some seminarians read? Why yes I did.)

I'm going to celebrate my girl's first birthday (but that's just a coincidence).

I'm going to spend some time reading Betty Beguiles and her awesome tips and reflections on marriage and romance.

I'm going to pray for my husband, for my sisters' future husbands, for Baby Leo Hannah's (potential) future husband, for my friends' marriages, for single friend's who want to be married, and for a strengthening of all marriages in our country.

And I'm going to try my best to be more patient, more loving, more giving, and more affectionate. Not just this week but every day of our marriage.

But first, I'm going to hack into his email account (which is subscribed to my blog) and delete the email alerting him to this new post so I can have the element of surprise.

What are YOU going to do for National Marriage Week?

Our Engagement Story

Betty Beguiles is asking readers to share their engagement stories. And since ours was pretty dern amazing, I'm joining in. I'm gonna do my best to make it fast-I tend to get wordy when reliving the experience.

Ted and I were in our third year of college and had been dating for about two years. We had already been ring shopping so I knew the proposal was just around the corner. On a Sunday afternoon (Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2007 to be exact) we headed out to the lake, as we did on so many nice days before.

We picked up our traditional sweet tea from McAlister's, a must have when enjoying the lake, and assumed our spot on the rocks beside the water. Ted fished from the bank as I basked in the sunlight. We had done this so many times before and I wasn't expecting a thing. (I was hoping that it might have been the day, but I had gotten my hopes up on so many occasions in the last few months that I wouldn't let myself think about it.)

I fell asleep while leaning on the rocks and woke up to Ted complaining. "Dang people. No one has any respect!" "What's wrong?" I asked him. He told me that he found a "limb line", which was illegal on this particular lake. I had no idea what that was-some fisherman's girlfriend I was! He explained that it's a line with a hook on the end that you leave in the water and check later to see if you caught a fish. The conservationist in him was angry that someone broke the rules. He snagged the line with his hook and pulled it in.

When he got the line ashore we found that there wasn't a hook on the end, but an old water bottle filled with rocks. I think he cussed under his breath about littering, threw the bottle on the rocks, and went back to fishing. Being the nosey person that I am, I immediately opened the bottle and dumped out all the rocks. Inside was a piece of folded paper. I took it out and started reading it out loud to Ted.

"In 713 days you can..... 

see 4 lunar eclipses.

take 12,320,640 breaths of air.

shed 1,150 upper eyelashes.

have 2.56 children

see the birth of 18.56 baby kangaroos.

Or you can spend 713 days preparing because....."

At this point I'm thinking it's something that some crazy Apocoliptic nut planted it in the water and thinks the world will end 713 days from when the bottle in uncovered. (I know-I have no clue why that was my first reaction.)

Ted continued to fish while I read it to him. When I finished reading he said, "What did that last line say?"

"It says you can spend 713 days preparing ____" and when I looked up from reading he was on knee and said, "Because that's how long it's taken me to propose to you."

I was floored!! I had no idea that Ted had planted that bottle-the thought never crossed my mind. I was wearing his hat at the time to keep the sun out of my eyes and I remember thinking, "Oh no I am NOT gonna get proposed to wearing a hat!" I threw it down on the rocks and shouted, "No way!"

Then he said a bunch of really nice stuff that's only for us to know :) And ended it with "Kaitlin Nicole Rose, will you marry me?"

I obviously said, "YES!" He had the camera packed and we snapped a bunch of pictures. I left to go pee in the woods because, really, who can hold down that much tea all evening? We watched the sunset together and made all sorts of big plans for our new life together.

Perfect.