On the Way to Behold Quick Takes

March 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

— 1 —

As you read this, I’m probably on my way over to the Behold Conference.

Not to brag, mind you, but I am a LOT excited.

I’m going to be spending a LOT of time with Elizabeth Duffy and Mrs. Darwin. I also plan to harass pursue follow around like a puppy dog see Danielle Bean, Jennifer Fulwiler, Hallie Lord, Arwen Mosher, Kate Wicker, and many, many more of my favorite online friends.

Hoo boy!

— 2 —

In the latest Catholic Foodie, Jeff’s talking fishy Fridays, and I’m sharing a Mary in the Kitchen that reflects on just why Lenten failures are good for me, every single year.

On the newest iPadre, Fr. Jay Finelli is awesome, as usual, and I’m on with a Mary Moment that’s B16-inspired.

— 3 —

Got a new iPod, iPad, or iPhone? I share my 13 Essential Catholic Apps in this week’s Tech Talk at CatholicMom.com.

Got a few minutes to talk New Evangelization with me? Over at New Evangelizers, I’m talking about how we’re all in this together.

— 4 —

You’ve probably long suspected there’s something “not quite right” about someone who names the voices in her head. But did you know I have multiple personalities online too? I talk about my dilemma over at the Catholic Writers Guild blog this week. If you have ideas for how I can reconcile myself…well, I’m all ears/eyes.

— 5 —

“Would you review my new book, Getting #Married: Using Social Media to Celebrate the Sacred?”

I was too curious to say no when the request came into my inbox.

For one thing, I think very highly of Meredith Gould, who is an author, a blogger, and one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter.

For another, when you put both “social media” and “sacred” in the subtitle, it makes for irresistibility as far as I’m concerned.

Read my review over at CatholicMom.com.

— 6 —

I’ve been tempted to start posting links to our priest’s homilies here on my blog. He’s such a talented homilist–he can say more in seven minutes than I can say in a half-hour. Last weekend, his homily inspired a whole column idea for me, among other things. (I need to listen to it a third time to get all my notes down so I can bug him with my uber-nerdy theology questions.)

— 7 —

This is a classic case of saving the best for last, don’t you think?

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Quick Takes of the Quick & Random Variety

March 2, 2012 By 2 Comments

— 1 —

Less than a month until we can all have our hands on this:

Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless

Join me in a happy dance, will you?

It’s not available yet for pre-order, but just as soon as it is, I’ll be sure to let you know! :)

— 2 —

Have you seen the great work Greg and Jennifer Willits are doing over at New Evangelizers? I have meant to mention it, and I never have. (Bad me.)

As it turns out, I’m now writing there weekly, about the New Evangelization. I’m finding this to be a topic that, like so many other topics I’ve started writing about, turns out to be FAR BIGGER than I imagined in the beginning.

My first post, “In the Silence of the Internet,” starts with a plug for the Pope’s message for World Communications Day and then a few words about how the internet inspires silence in me.

The Pope’s Message for the 46th World Communications Day has struck a deep chord with me and it speaks to each of us who are involved in spreading our Catholic faith.

For one thing, there’s the title: “Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization.”

In my years of interacting on the interwebs, there is silence of a sort, at least when I’m not yelling at my screen or ranting about what some fool (whose name may or may not be Sarah Reinhard) has said or done.

Continue reading at New Evangelizers –>

— 3 —

In my Mary Moment on iPadre this week, I share how Mary Poppins inspired me to think about Mama Mary.

In case you want to hum along with me, here you go:

Click here to view embedded video.

— 4 —

At CatholicMom.com this week, I’m talking tech with an idea I have for an app that would take off like wildfire. Or not. Anyway, if you’re curious, you can read it and let me know what you think.

I also share a detailed review of the collection of Chesterton essays I mentioned on earlier this week.

— 5 —

I don’t really have a good entry at the Catholic Writers Guild blog this week, though I do open it up for questions (no takers so far). If you head over there, check out the other good stuff…I really liked Ebeth Weidner’s piece on tending the garden and learned quite a bit about developing theme from a writer’s standpoint from Leslie Lynch. (I may write nonfiction, but wow! I learn so much from my fiction writing friends!)

Those are just the things that went up THIS week. If you have an interest in writing, I highly recommend at least following that blog…and why not consider a membership to CWG?

Hoping to see you at the Catholic Writers Conference Online later this month, too! (Registration is closed now. And wow, it’s going to be a great and intimate group this year!)

— 6 —

I found this bit of awesomeness via Danielle Bean. I have shown it to everyone I can think of, but whether you have seen it yet or not, I MUST post it on my blog. MUST.

Click to view embedded video.

See why? :)

— 7 —

I’m pretty sure this is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my girls:

Yes, my four-year-old is now riding by herself unassisted! She takes lessons, too. A year sooner than her sister. By our calculations, that means the mancub (who is 16-months-old!) will be riding at age three.

I took this picture to show how tall my seven-year-old’s horse was next to the pony my four-year-old rides.

Have a good weekend!

Be sure to stop by Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes and lots of goodness!

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Saturday Quick Takes: More of Me, Lent Goodness, and a Picture

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

— 1 (Be Proud of Me) —

Yeah, I know. It’s not Friday. The temptation was strong to do two posts yesterday, but aren’t you proud of me? I resisted!

So here I am on Saturday with some Quickish Takes…

— 2 (Book Giveaway Winners) —

If you entered my book giveaway this month, I announced winners the other day and also sent emails (though I have a good hearty appreciation for spam filters, indeed I do).

Be sure you contact me if you won!

— 3 (Papa Rocks!) —

Have you read the pope’s message for Lent 2012 yet? How’d I not find it until now? Here’s a sampling:

The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.

This year I would like to propose a few thoughts in the light of a brief biblical passage drawn from the Letter to the Hebrews:“ Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works”. These words are part of a passage in which the sacred author exhorts us to trust in Jesus Christ as the High Priest who has won us forgiveness and opened up a pathway to God. Embracing Christ bears fruit in a life structured by the three theological virtues: it means approaching the Lord “sincere in heart and filled with faith” (v. 22), keeping firm “in the hope we profess” (v. 23) and ever mindful of living a life of “love and good works” (v. 24) together with our brothers and sisters.

Go read the whole thing.

— 4 (Hearts to Celeste) —

Here’s a great Lenten resource, courtesy of Celeste Behe: 40 for 12.

Throughout the 40 days of Lent, the 40 for 12 Menu Plan will offer a weekly shopping list and menu of meatless meals, along with easy recipes and fun commentary. Each of the recipes is designed to serve 12, in order to suit big happy families with many mouths to feed, small happy families with voracious teens, and prudent wives who know the value of a good leftover.

Here’s the bottom line of this 40 for 12 Menu Plan brilliance:

  • Living out the Lenten discipline of abstinence as a family
  • Free Mom from undue stress
  • Keep kids from being sullen
  • Recipes serve big families OR have plenty of leftovers
  • Plans can be modified easily
  • There aren’t expensive convenience foods
  • Shopping lists included!
  • Do I really need to go on? Aren’t you SOLD? :)

Something to help me spend less time in the kitchen? Well, Celeste, let me hug you!

— 5 (My Other Blatherings) —

Total excitement: my interview made the podcast version of The Catholics Next Door. So if, like me, you don’t listen to Sirius/XM (but you long to, if only to hear the awesomeness that is Greg and Jennifer Willits), then you can hear my recent interview.

More excitement: I’m now a contributor over at the Integrated Catholic Life. My first column, “My Reckless Experiment with Fridays” went live yesterday.

Lenten failures: I’m on iPadre this week with a Mary Moment about my Lenten failures.

I love pizza, need I say more? On Catholic Foodie, Mary in the Kitchen is pizza-oriented (after a fun-filled parade-induced show).

Did you know there’s a great new app for Total Consecration? It gets my rave review over in my Tech Talk column this week at CatholicMom.com.

Lent’s on my mind: I’m talking Lent and blogging at the Catholic Writers Guild this week.

— 6 (Share Your Story) —

Do you have a Lenten story about how you’ve grown? Is there a faith story you’d be willing to share with others?

Karina Fabian is collecting them at the Why God Matters website. Here’s the scoop:

In 1996, Karina Fabian, mother of toddlers, made a Lenten vow that launched her career as a writer.  Years later, it led her to share that joy of writing with her father, as they collaborated on an award-winning devotional, Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life.  This year, she hopes to share the joy of Lent through her book and the Why God Matters website.

This year, Fabian and Tribute Books are opening the Why God Matters website to faith stories by others, especially Lenten faith stories.  “I believe that Lent, and Lenten vows, can change lives,” Fabian said.  “I’d like to share that hope with others, and the best way is through sharing our stories.”

“God continues to bless me through that Lenten vow,” Fabian said.  “Not only will I cherish having worked with my father, but the book itself has touched so many lives.  People have written to us that it’s helped them understand their faith better , brought them closer to God, or touched them when they really needed it.  I hope this Lent, through the website, we can do this some more.”

— 7 (Picture, As Promised) —

When she got her hair cut earlier this week, my seven-year-old asked the beautician to do her hair up. This is my glimpse at how quickly time passes…

Conversion Diary has more Quick Takes…though most people do them on Fridays… :)

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Finding the Love of God in the Beauty of the Sky

February 16, 2012 By 4 Comments

My niece has a special appreciation for the sky. She gets it honestly, because her mother has the same appreciation.

Over the years, they have influenced me.

I always thought I had an appreciation of the sky—sunsets in particular—but until I started receiving the texts and pictures from them, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t see.

Sometimes, my niece will send me a little note from the bus. My phone will beep, and I’ll open it to see something to the effect of, “Look at the sky!” It’s usually not hard—I just have to walk across the kitchen to the east-facing window.

And yet, again and again, the effort I make to walk 20 feet and stand in the shadow of the sunrise never fails to remind me of many things.

First and foremost, I am reminded of God. Especially this time of year, when the air is still and oh-so-cold, there is something warming about the explosion of pinks and oranges in the morning. The days are getting longer, little by little, and they are doing it in gloriously, loudly.

I am also reminded of the special relationship I have with this niece. Years ago, when she lived far away and I visited her family, she insisted that I sleep in her bed. I was the guest, you see, and she would have it no other way, even at age eight. Recently, she was confirmed, and I served as a sponsor for her. We are now intertwined, a part of each other’s lives, in a way we weren’t before.

Those early morning glimpses of the sky also remind me that the day is new, fresh, ahead of me. They serve as a beautiful bookend…I know there will be a sunset that will probably take my breath away, if only I pay attention.

How often I forget to pay attention! How often I walk around with my eyes closed to the everyday beauty and the commonplace miracle of life all around me.

In this, the longest short month of the year, I am going to try to foster gratitude for these moments of beauty in the sky and all around me. Maybe it will take my mind off the humdrum monotony of February winter in Ohio!

This “Finding Faith in Everyday Life” column originally appeared in The Catholic Times. 

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Quick Takes: Order WRJ, Enter to Win, & Smile

February 3, 2012 By 2 Comments

— 1 —

Lent is coming and I have a book that’s hot off the presses.

And guess what? It’s only $1.99.

So go to your local Catholic bookstore (or one of the many other places you’ll find it, if you don’t have a store locally). Parishes receive bulk discounts, depending on the quantity they order, and can call 800-325-9521 to speak to the sales department at Liguori about that.

— 2 —

Mary Moments are back! Thanks to Fr. Jay Finelli’s support, I’ll be producing a weekly Mary Moment segment on the iPadre show. This week: 3 reasons I love Our Lady of Lourdes. Listen to the whole show for a fabulous summary of the story of Our Lady of Lourdes, too.

— 3 —

What’s your favorite game app? I share three of my kids’ favorites in this week’s Tech Talk.

— 4 —

Remember how I promised a full review of Strategies for a Tech-Savvy Classroom? It’s up over at CatholicMom.com.

— 5 —

It’s hard to believe that Daria Sockey has been blogging at Coffee & Canticles for a year already!

In honor of her one year anniversary, she has a pile of giveaways related to the Liturgy of the Hours. Go on over and enter.

While you’re there, be sure to wish her well!

— 6 —

In case you missed it the other day, I’m giving away a ton of books. You can enter as many times as you qualify for until February 21.

There are new titles by Christopher West, Mark Shea, Lisa Hendey, and Anthony DeStefano, among others.

So what are you waiting for? Enter!

— 7 —

Been a big week for the Tooth Fairy around here:

Visit Betty Beguiles, our lovely sub hostess, for more Quick Takes!

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Wordless Wednesday: Fashionista

January 25, 2012 By 3 Comments

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Mid-January Takes: Lent on My Mind, Cool Video, & Pick of the Week

January 20, 2012 By 4 Comments

— 1 —

So last week, as I was jumping up and down about the cover of my newest book, I neglected to mention one key thing:

It’s not available for pre-order yet.

Don’t you worry. I will let you know when it is!

— 2 —

I have a whole pile of Lenten books to review, and the first of them, Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit, by Paula Huston, blew me away. (I reviewed it earlier this week.)

So if you can buy only one Lenten book, buy that one.

If you have room for another book or you’re looking for something for your family to use during Lent, could I suggest Welcome Risen Jesus?

It’s available at your local Catholic retailer or in a number of other places.

— 3 —

I’ve been thinking already about my Lenten plans. For whatever reason, my New Year didn’t ring in with any resolutions. I still feel sort of flat about it.

But Lent, LENT! I am formulating a plan.

(A plan, it should be noted, is almost always destined to fail. I know this. And yet I continue to persist, because it helps me to have a starting point, at least. Or that’s what I tell my planning-obsessive self.)

— 4 —

The crazy idea came to me to go offline during all of Lent.

It’s made even more crazy by the fact that the work I do means I have to be online at least some almost every day.

AND I have a book I’ll be promoting.

AND…well. You see where this is going, right?

Was that the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit?

So being a bit more conscious of my online time is definitely part of the plan.

— 5 —

Do you have Lent reflections to share? I was thinking of doing a series of guest posts here on my blog, and if you’re interested, feel free to email me your ideas at blog -a-t- snoringscholar .d.o.t. com.

— 6 —

In the “too cool not to share” category: My husband came home from work the other day and shared this with me. It’s a video of a baby’s reaction to hearing his mother’s voice for the first time. We watched it about four times in a row, and our almost 14-month-old just loved it. And so did I. (I’m going to go watch it just one more time…)

Click here to view embedded video.

— 7 —

Here’s my pick of the week (an idea shamelessly stolen from Catholic Weekend, where, rumor has it, I’ll be appearing tomorrow morning!): Catholic Family Night.com. The idea is that you spend some time each week with your family studying the upcoming Mass readings.

From their website:

Want a fun and simple way to bring the Sunday mass readings alive? With just a few minutes’ preparation, your family can enjoy fun activities, discussion time and even a creative snack, but best of all, your family will remember the time spent together learning more about God.

After hearing the interview with Jeff Cavins on The Catholics Next Door podcast for January 3, I think this is something my family can actually handle. Maybe we’ll start it during Lent…

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