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Here is a 33 min. video about how people today don't know, or don't think but are willing to listen. The gentlemen conducting the interviews was able to get people to listen and participate. However, there are a few things he mentioned, such as his stance on where you go in the afterlife and the lack of any form of purgatory, that are a bit off the mark.

I do highly recommend watching this, 33 min does sound daunting, but it's the weekend and it is "entertaining" enough (frustrating enough) that it's not as daunting as it may seem.

Just remember there are some incorrect things said, but the overall message of this documentary is a great one.

What do the blind dream?

We have all had dreams. Some are epic, some scare us, some are to real for words. It seems our dreams are relatable to what we see everyday, or what we know. You have my permission to laugh at this, but when I was a kid, I dreamt I was on the Titanic and Leo DiCaprio was my dad...I was 8, and had just seen the film (my parents were unaware of the sex scenes...I covered my eyes).

It's fun to tell others your dreams, because usually, they are so crazy and unrealistic that you just gotta share them.

My husband is a deep thinker. It's kindof amazing some of the questions he comes up with, they just make you sit there and think for a moment. The other day he asked, "What do the blind dream about?". My immediate response was, probably what everyone dreams; but if they have been blind since birth, what do they relate to visually that would make that movie in their head at night? They haven't seen roller coasters, or knights in shining armor. Maybe they dream their own interpretation of things we see, based on sound.

If I ever meet a blind person, I plan to ask ( as long as it isn't insulting).

It's right that everyone pay their fair share?

I could be really misunderstanding things, and I tend to do that when it comes to politics, but Obama's deficit plan seems to be a really bad move.

In today's Fox News article "unveiling" the new deficit plan I found out that basically that plan is about raising taxes to dig us out of debt. My favorite quote from the article reads "We can't just cut our way out of this hole. It's going to take a balanced approach. It's only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair share." I want to know how it's "only right" to ask everyone to pay their fair share, I realize we are one country, together, but I do not think it is in anyway fair to ask us to pay off our country's debt...says a fairly recent college graduate handling her own debt.

I leave it at that. If you are interested in reading the article you can find it here.

Help improve hair and skin with coffee grounds?

Already ladies, and gentlemen too, ever wonder what to do with those left over coffee grounds your husband, or you, left when you went to work?

Well I have a few solutions for you...

1. use it as a face mask: mix some used coffee grounds and egg white for an at home, skin tightening mask.

Coffee grounds can help improve skin quality by:

- Exfoliating

-preventing and diminishing fine lines and wrinkles

-Balancing pH

-controlling blemishes

-pulling toxins from the skin

-moisturizing

2. Exfoliant - massage your face with coffee grounds. (tried it and my face was really soft after).

3. Hair Color Enhancer - coffee grounds can add shine to brunette and black hair, improve scalp health, and prevent dandruff. Use in shower in between shampooing and conditioning (tried it today and unless you have a lot of time on your hands...don't do it, it's a bit messy and takes a while to rinse out of your hair)

There are other uses such as fertilizer and deodorizing a freezer, but the skin and hair stuff applied was more interesting to me. If you want to see more uses follow this link.

Have a great weekend!

Our Lady of Fatima pilgrim statue visits San Diego

Most of you know the story of Our Lady of Fatima, those of you who don't can follow this link to read more.

There is an international pilgrim virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima that was created in 1947 by Jose Thedim. The statue is based on the description Sr. Lucia, one of the 3 children to see Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. The statue was blessed on October 13, 1947 by Bishop Leiria at Fatima, Portugal to be the pilgrim.

The statue has traveled the world many times and is now in San Diego. Some of you may already be aware, but for those who aren't can see the San Diego schedule here. My husband and I will for sure be going, hope you can make it to one of the locations as well!

children have the faith

How much faith and trust in God do we really have? How about courage? Would we give up our life for God, just as His Son did for us? As adults we struggle with these questions. The society we are living in today make it very hard to stand up to ridicule, especially regarding our faith. It seems, children have no trouble with faith and trust in God.

I heard a story today, whether it is fact or fiction I'm not sure. I searched the internet for a while today and found the story on three separate sites. Each site says this story was an inspiration to Archbishop Fulton Sheen's vow.

Now, the story...

"When the communists took over China, they imprisoned a priest in his own rectory near the church. They locked him up in his own house and then proceeded into the church. The priest watched from the window as they proceeded into the sanctuary and broke into the tabernacle. Out of hate, they took the ciborium and threw it on the floor, spilling the Sacred Host. 32 Host lay desecrated on the floor (one site claimed they were then stomped on by the soldiers).

The Communists left not noticing a small girl praying in the back of the Church, who had just witnessed everything. That night, she returned slipping past a guard standing outside the priests house. She entered the church and made a holy hour of prayer to make up for the act of hatred that had occurred earlier. After she completed her holy hour she went into the sanctuary and knelt down. She bent over and with her tongue, she received Jesus in Holy Communion, since it was not permissible for laymen to touch the Sacred Host with their hands.

She came back every night to make her holy hour and receive Jesus in Holy Communion. On the 32 night, after consuming the last host, she accidentally made a noise that woke the guard. He ran after her, caught her and beat her to death."

One small girl, risked everything to save the Sacred Host and became a martyr for her faith. It seems like kids just get this stuff, why do we struggle with it?

Whether this happened or not it is certainly a testimony to the faith we should all be striving for.

me being crafty

So, Christmas is fast approaching.  Before Christmas there is, of course, Thanksgiving, and before that our precious gift from God will be here!

We can hardly wait, but in between work and visitors, I get pretty bored.  So I will be rug-hooking a Christmas stocking for baby.  I did the same thing for my husband for our first Christmas last year, so it's only right that I continue.  I'm so particular with design, though, and the rug-hooking designs offered everywhere are not desirable. So I sat down with my husband and we designed the stocking together.  My husband is amazing at free-hand sketches and he was able to draw a simple pattern that can be transferred onto canvas so I can work my magic.

We decided to bring our Catholic faith and traditional Christmas themes together to form a wonderful design the can grow with our child: the lion and the lamb.  There is a little more to why we went with that.

When I was a kid my mom started a stocking for me.  It was a Laura Englebright needlepoint pattern of the lion and the lamb.  It was a beautiful design, and I could not wait for it to be finished.  Well, it took 7 YEARS to make, because things would come up and it would be put on the back burner, then picked up again only to be put away when we got busy (which was all the time).  Finally, my Freshman year of high school it was finished!  It had beautiful rich colors, and a dark green velvety backing. I loved it! Then we moved.  I packed it in a box, or so I thought, but we haven't seen it since.  I can't even find that pattern.  It is now a family joke.
Anyway, I had my lion and lamb stocking, so now I am going to "live vicariously" through my child who will have a similar stocking.  ... Joking.

Well, I'm very excited to begin, although I better start soon, or else I'll end up taking 7 years just like my mom did :).  I will share the design below, and I will share the finished product...eventually.