A Newlywed Tale of Christmas Decorating

This weekend my husband and I decorated our apartment for Advent and Christmas. This is a special time for us since this is our first holiday season as a married couple. No children, tiny apartment, living in a town where the number of bodies laid to rest in the cemetery far outnumber the number of living residents. We're not completely happy with this arrangement. We'd much rather have a little one to dote one, live in a happy, cozy house and reside in a town that resembles civilization. (Maybe next year!)

Instead of focusing on the negative, we're choosing to look at the positive. This is time for us to really learn about each other's holiday traditions and favorite memories. This is a time for us to dream about what our future Christmasses will be like. A time for us to bond. A time for us to fall in love all over again.

Also a time to argue...playfully of course! We've come to a point where each of our family traditions differ. But this is also a time to work on building our marriage. Compromise, communication, sacrifice- all important tools for a good marriage.

Our fully decorated tree. Pretty isn't it? One of the points of disagreement was the use of sparkly garland. My mom and I have always used it. Ryan informed me that his family doesn't. But my dear husband, after seeing what the garland looked like, gave in.

Now don't get me wrong- I love Star Wars. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a huge fan. However, I didn't want the whole galactic gang on the tree. There's only so much room!

Good ol' George Brett. Hero of the Kansas City Royals. But look at my poor angel in the bottom right-hand corner. So little room for my ornaments!

Here is my very first "Mary's Angels" Hallmark ornament. It is #9 in the series. I have bought one every year since then. This year's angel is #22. That's a lot of angels to put on the tree. Ryan graciously let me put up all of my angels. Sigh....so I let him put up the Millennium Falcon, Satchel Paige, Cal Ripkin Jr., and Batman ornaments. It might not look "pretty" but it sure gives the tree character. I realize I need to stop being so selfish. And I think my angels like having Han Solo as company on the tree.

Perhaps one of my favorite memories of decorating this year's tree was the ornaments we bought together. Here is the ornament we bought at Mount Rushmore during our honeymoon.

This is the ornament we will always remember. When we're old and grey we'll remember this was the ornament we bought for our first Christmas together at the very first town we lived in as a married couple!

Another point of disagreement. This nativity scene is from the Holy Land. Ryan's uncle bought it while he was a seminary student. Ryan made the box holding the nativity scene when he was around 10 years old. He was bugging his mom (I can't imagine that!) so she told him to go down to his dad's shop and build a house for Baby Jesus. This was the result. I wanted to put it underneath the tree so it didn't look so bare. Ryan was worried that our dog Chandler would a) pee on the nativity scene b) eat one of the sheep or c) gnaw on one of the wise men. Seeing how Chandler kept wanting to sniff the tree and walk behind it, I put my pride in my back pocket, admitted to Ryan that he was right and put the nativity scene on one of our book shelves.

After a few days of disagreements and compromises, we ended up having a very blessed weekend. We watched the movie The Nativity Story. We lit the first candle of our Advent wreath, read a meditation and prayed a decade of the rosary. (We're taking Advent seriously this year!) We were safe and warm in our beautifully decorated home after a fun few days spend with our families.

Our disagreements were all in fun and I am thankful that Ryan takes traditions just as seriously as I do. I can't wait to make new traditions with him. I can't wait to see his mannerisms and characteristics in our future children and how he will make Christmas special for them.

But for now, our little family consists of him, Chandler and myself. Last night we used the self-timer on our camera to capture a family portrait in front of the Christmas tree. The dog wouldn't cooperate.

Finally we captured a decent pose, but Ryan had to hold a doggie toy off the the side to get Chandler to sit still!

"Is your house on fire, Clark?"

"No, Aunt Bethany. Those are the Christmas lights."

-Christmas Vacation

Advent is Here!

Wow, I sure had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you all did as well! Today I decorated our apartment with our Advent wreath and Christmas tree. I can't believe tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent- this year has gone by so incredibly fast! (I guess getting married and graduating college in the same year will do that to a person!)

Below is a poem that is a good read as we prepare our hearts and minds for this Advent and Christmas season. My priest read it in one of his homilies and it really struck a cord with me. Something our culture really needs to hear:

Mary's Dream
I had a dream, Joseph.
I don't understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our son.
The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks.
They had decorated the house and bought new clothes.
They'd gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts.
It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren't for our son.
They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stacked them under a tree.
Yes, a tree, Joseph, right inside their homes! They'd decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments.
There was a figure like an angel on the top of the tree.
Everyone was laughing and happy.
They gave their gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our son.

I don't think they even knew him.
They never mentioned his name.
I had the strangest feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration he would have been intruding.
How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party!
I'm glad it was only a dream. How terrible Joseph, if it had been real!
-Author Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was planning on writing a list of what I am thankful for, but I ran out of time! Maybe after all the Thanksgiving festivities I will write one. But until then, I'm taking a blogging break! I hope all of you have a very blessed and safe Thanksgiving. God bless you!

"But the Catholic Church is Boooooooring...."

I was honored to volunteer for this year's National Catholic Youth Conference held in Kansas City and was excited to hang out with my brother. We listened to some speakers, visited some expo booths, walked in a Eucharistic procession and basically witnessed 20,000+ teens on fire for the faith.

It was an amazing experience and my brother pretty much took the words right out of my mouth in his blog post of fourteen things that were amazing about NCYC. It was quite clear and obvious that the teens there were excited about being Catholic.

However, of course, there were kids there that had a bit of a lackluster attitude. During the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament there were kids there that didn't kneel, that were sleeping, or simply sitting there with a comatose "ZzzZzzzzzzZZZZ" look on their face. Hello people! That's JESUS UP THERE!!! Do they realize this? Probably not. Do they realize that while participating in the Mass that Heaven and Earth are connected and we are in the presence of all the angels and saints and God Himself? Probably not. Do they realize the amazing graces they receive in the Sacraments? Probably not. They see the Church as boring.

The nature of being a teen has a lot to do with this lack of knowledge of the Catholic Church. However I have seen this attitude in adults as well. There are adults that leave the Catholic Church for a Protestant church or stop participating because they feel the Church "doesn't do anything for them." It's boring. Just a bunch of pomp. The music makes you want to snooze. Catholic weddings and funerals are too long and emotion-less. Too much external stuff (kneeling, genuflecting, candles, incense.) Not enough spiritual content.

I will admit there was a time I felt this too. I went into a big church with all those saint statues looking down on me and I felt like such a horrible sinner. I felt like the paintings of Popes were looking down on me saying, "You better get on your knees and pray little girl!" I felt an emptiness in the Catholic Church. I wanted Mass to get over with because I was bored beyond belief. I knew there were resources to learn more about the Church, but basically was too lazy to take the time to read them or I was worried I wouldn't understand what the heck the authors were talking about.

Finally during my spiritual growth spurt I started to learn about what the Church was really about. Yes, I read "A Dummy's Guide to the Catholic Church." I read "Why do Catholics Do That?" by Kevin Orlin Johnson. Finally it took a book written by a former Protestant preacher turned Catholic named Scott Hahn to make me really want to learn more about the faith that I had been a part of since I was a newborn. His book "Rome Sweet Home" details his journey of being a proud Protestant, almost a tad little bit anti-Catholic, to how the Bible and other Church writings led him to the Catholic Church. Yes, it was a former Protestant that made me proud to be a Catholic!

This may be a horrible analogy, so bear with me. I think of the Catholic Church like the ocean. Imagine you are in a boat in the middle of the ocean. Sure the waves and the ripples of the surface look interesting, but they don't really do anything for you emotionally. But you have to dive into the ocean to see the real beauty. You have to really learn about the Church to see her true beauty. There are whole mountain ranges down blow the water's surface. There are volcanoes, canyons and ravines. There's amazing plant-life that you will never see on dry land. There are thousands of unique and beautiful animal species that find their home in the sea. There are even species that we don't even know about. The saints, the papacy, the Church teachings, the history- these are gems and treasures of the Church, but instead of looking at them you need to learn about them! Sure gazing down from the boat you can see a little bit, but you have to have faith and take the plunge (sorry I couldn't resist) to see all the awesomeness the Church has. You have to have faith that the Holy Spirit will guide you in your learning. Don't judge the Church by it's cover.

I pray those who have left the Catholic Church know exactly what it is they left. There are those who have done their research and have left, and I respect those who honestly feel that the Holy Spirit is calling them somewhere else. I will never judge those who leave the Church, but I will admit I always get a little sad. But everyone has their own reason, and that's between the Lord and them.

Unfortunately there are those Catholics out there that are a little less than charitable when it comes to dialoguing with our Protestant brothers and sisters and even fellow Catholics. I like to call them "Catholic Puritans" who have no sense of humor and who tell everyone different from they them are going to hell. These are the Catholics who think Christopher West is the devil and give the stink eye if they see someone not going to communion or to a parent who brings in young children. Yes, I am proud to be Catholic, I uphold the Truth, but I like to have fun and be joyous about it. Yes, I like Christian rock. Yes, I like Gregorian Chant. No, I don't think the priest should say "Our Creator" Instead of "Our Father". No, I don't believe children should be left at home or have a Sunday School class during Mass. I think it is about moderation.

The Church can seem boring. That is why I am thankful for programs such as NCYC that ignite the flame. Maybe someone was snoozing during Mass, but hopefully during this past weekend a seed was planted. I'm thankful the Holy Spirit gave me a nudge to learn more about my faith!

7 Quick Takes Friday Vol. 1

1.

This is my first volume of 7 Quick Takes Friday. I'm not sure of the exact format, but judging by others' Quick Takes, it's seven short random tidbits. Am I correct? Or will these next six be complete butchering of 7 Quick Takes? :-)

2.

I just got back from my shift as a "Night Angel" at NCYC. I have got to hand it to these youth group leaders, chaperons, and volunteers. A lot of hard work goes into this conference. They have put in countless hours and many sleepless nights to make this an enjoyable event for the youth. I felt like a weenie for being worn out for just working two and half hours! God bless you guys in your work to bring teens closer to Christ! I sure wish I would have went to events like this...maybe I wouldn't have had my "dark years."

3.

While patrolling the halls at the hotel I noticed that all hotels smell the same. Well except the real cheapy roach-motels. They have a completely different smell all together!

4.

I love being in the same room as my husband and brother-in-law. We always laugh so hard and have a great time. I miss the days when we all lived in Atchison and we'd watch "The Office", browse hilarious YouTube videos and grab a bite to eat at Subway. My husband and BIL have such a great relationship. I hope our future sons have a bond like that.

5.

I've mentioned before how I love reading the blogs of mothers, especially stay at home Christian moms. However, I've been blessed to make two new blogging friends- That Married Couple and Fumbling Toward Grace. Both of these women have been somewhat recently married (to two amazing guys it sounds like!) and have many of the same goals, dreams, beliefs and values as I do. They are such and inspiration!

6.

I used to take piano lessons when I was in junior high. I quit when I was a freshman because I was just too busy chasing boys, talking hours on the phone to my best friend even though we had seen each other all day at school, and...well just being a teen! My mom said I'd regret it someday and....*cringe* she was right. I've been having an itch to play again. Maybe in the future I can take adult piano lessons!

7.

I love my Burt's Bees chapstick. I am getting sleepy and writing seven quick takes were a lot harder than I thought it would be. So yes, in an attempt to write a 7th, I looked at the closest thing next to me and that chapstick was it. So it got me thinking- I always have my Burt's with me. There's an extra in my purse, one on my bedside table and I always have one in my pocket or if no pocket is available- right next to me on a table. Such yummy and soothing chapstick!


Well that's all for now. I could have elaborated a little more on some, but my eyelids are getting heavy and I've corrected about a gazillion typos.

Please pray for those attending NCYC!

Wondering Wednesdays Vol. 1

Last Sunday my older brother called me up to ask if I wanted to volunteer as a "night angel" for this weekend's National Catholic Youth Conference held in Kansas City, MO- my neck of the woods(ish). Basically some other adults and I will patrol the halls all night to make sure the teens have their lights out and don't go gallavanting around after hours. Because of this I'm kind of preparing my body for a disruption in my sleep schedule by staying up later than normal. Since I cut caffeine out of my diet I should have expected that drinking three Dr. Peppers tonight would have me WIRED at 3:00 a.m. So I suppose since I'll blog now instead of later when I wake up (which will probably be late in the afternoon!)

I'm sure some other clever blogger has thought of these kinds of posts. However, I'd like to start my own "Wondering Wednesday" posts because so often when I daydream/pray/meditate all these pondering thoughts pop in my head. So I'd like to share my ponderings with you. Some weeks they will be deep and theological, other times they will be just plain silly everyday wonderings. I've already rambled on enough, so here I go.

#1.

I wonder what the disciples thought when they saw Jesus ascending into heaven. I wonder what it looked like. The accounts in scripture and in art depict Christ being raised bodily into heaven. You know when someone lets a helium balloon go and it floats slowly higher and higher and higher in the sky and it becomes smaller and smaller until the tiny dot of a balloon disappears? Was that what His ascension looked like to the disciples? What were they feeling? Amazement, I'm sure. They had seen their Lord defy the laws of nature, and here He did it again. I'm sure they felt sorrow as well. Jesus had been ripped away from them so violently and I'm sure when He appeared to them afterwards in His resurrected body they were so happy to have him "back." He was their teacher and leader. And with the ascension he was gone bodily again, so did they again feel sadness and fear that Jesus wasn't there to guide them? What were those nine days like before Pentecost when they felt their Lord with them again in the form of the third person of the Trinity? They must have had tremendous faith and courage to overcome their fears and sadness.

#2

What did Jesus' laugh sound like? I know this sounds kind of silly. In the Bible we read of some of Christ's emotions (death of Lazarus, agony in the Garden) but the writing styles of the early Church weren't written like novels or biographies that go into great detail of what people are feeling emotionally. Even in most art Jesus is pictured in a very noble and serious manner. I bet Jesus had the most warm and gentle smile and a hearty laugh. I wonder if He ever joked around. I love the flashback scene in The Passion of the Christ where it shows Jesus joking around with His mother (respectfully of course!) It shows the human side of Jesus. He's not some strange spiritual entity that is foreign to us. He lived, breathed, ate, drank, suffered, slept, enjoyed wedding feasts, worked, taught- just like we do or will do in our lifetime. We can relate to Him. Yeah...I bet Jesus had a great laugh!

I was going to write three of these do-dads; but, alas, sleepiness has crept up on me. I know that maybe these aren't too enlightening or brilliant, and I'm sure some seasoned theologian could run circles around my "ponderings." But these are my wonderings for the week!

Tis the Season...?

Thomas Kinkade's "A Blessing of Christmas"

There are blog postings and facebook statuses expressing concerns and annoyances of Christmas being talked about so early. I will admit that I find it disturbing that the day after Halloween you can go to Wal-Mart and find skulls and vampire teeth on clearance right next to Christmas cards and nativity scenes. Yeah, now that's just plain weird. And I am a firm believer that you should not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

But.....

I will also admit that when I look past the Halloween goodies and see all the Christmas stuff I melt into a pile holiday happiness!

I'm not the one who complains when Christmas carols start their jingle jangle over the radio. Like a little kid I go running (in a mature adult way of course) to the holiday section and oogle over the ornaments and stockings. I might grab a box of candy canes while grocery shopping.

But it's not just Christmas that I get so excited about. I'm not the one to skip over Thanksgiving and Advent- I think it boils down to that I just LOVE this whole time of year. I am anxious to write a "What I am Thankful For" blog posting and a theological reflection of Advent and Christmas. I want to write a list of my favorite Christmas memories. But I don't want to jump the gun with all this holiday happiness too quickly.

I get excited seeing all the Thanksgiving fixings all bunched together in the grocery store. I get excited for the first snow of the year. I'm jealous of those of you in my hometown and at Benedictine! (Just to let all you know who just rolled your eyes/laughed/scoffed/thought I was crazy for the previous statement I only like the first snow the year, snow at Christmas time, and any snow I don't have to drive in!) Even though most of the time I hate how it gets so dark early, I love the feeling of being safe and snug inside snuggling with my hubby.

I get so happy to see the buzz of excitement for this time of year. Families coming together, delicious food, and lots of laughter. There are people who are less fortunate who don't get to experience all these joys. However, and this may be my Pollyanna view of the world coming out in me, but I'd like to think that people step up and show their generosity towards those in difficult situations.

Maybe all this joy is due to all those "breaks" schools give out- fall break, Thanksgiving break, Christmas break. Any chance to relax after hard work and spending time with family is always great!

Maybe all this joy is due to seeing the excitement in kids' faces when they get to see Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins at Thanksgiving and the optimistic joy in writing letters to Santa and making Christmas present lists (because deep down they think there's a possibility of getting everything on the list!)

Perhaps most of all, I think all my joy regarding this time of year is reflecting on all of God's beauty and all the goodness He has provided for me.

So bring on the jars of gravy, boxes of stuffing, Christmas trees and twinkly lights.

I love it all!