Sabbath Sense Saturday

Welcome to Sabbath Sense Saturday~

All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!

 

The above passage comes from the 1st Reading for this weekend, Isaiah, 55:1-3! I don't remember hearing this reading before but, I think it is a beautiful reading that is a great reminder of how Jesus is always here to take care of us, that we do not need to worry, for He will give us food to eat and water to drink when we are thirsty. 

 

Likewise this passage also reminds me of the other more popular bible passage from the Gospel of Matthew that speaks of how Jesus clothes the lillies of the valley and how we are more important than they. 

 

The Psalm for this weekend will say the same thing reminding us of how we need now worry about our basic needs, for the Lord with do that for us. For,"The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs"  Truly indeed, what a beautiful reminder. 

May we each have the courage and strength to put our TRUST in the Lord, relying on His love and compassion for us. 

Blessings,
Joy

Frugal Friday - Time to get your swag on!

Greetings and Welcome to Adventurous Beginnings

If you are new to my humble blog, welcome, and thank you for stopping by! Especially a big welcome to all the new readers from the Catholic Mothers Online Blog Roll, it is great to be part of the blog roll and I am really looking forward to meeting fellow bloggers this way.

Frugal Friday - Time to get your swag on!
Thanks to Money Saving Mom, I have found a website that pays me for what I already do on the internet. That's right there is a sight out there that pays you to surf the web, take surveys, watch TV, play games, as well as purchase online deals. Now, granted I am not talking thousands of dollars here but I am talking about a few bucks.

I am talking about Swagbucks, so continue reading to see how you can get your swag on!

I have a morning routine that takes me less than 5 minutes and in those 5 min. I earn approximately 15 swagbucks, which if I do that daily than I can earn at least enough swagbucks to purchase a $5 gift card for Amazon every month, I am stockpiling my points and will be purchasing the gift cards to be used for Christmas gifts.

Their are a number of other items and gift cards that you can purchase, I personally just think that the $5 gift card for Amazon is the best value, you also need to be careful to read the fine print on all gift cards. I had at one point thought about purchasing the $25 Velocity gift card, but than I read the fine print and realized that you could only use one gift card at a time, and that your reservation needed to be for at least 2 nights and $150 dollars. So that was NOT going to save me or my family any money in the long run.  

Now on to my morning routine!

NOSO 2pts: No Obligation Special Offers, you just simply go through a list of offers and if you are interested you can sign-up, but, you do not have to sign up for any offers and you will still earn 2 points for going through them.


Survey Visit 1 pt: Click on he the button that says Survey Visit, earn one point. Now if you like taking surveys, feel free to spend some time going through them, you can earn anywhere from 50 to 200 plus swagbucks. I have only taken 1 survey it took me about 10 minutes I watched 4 commercials answered a few questions and I received 100 swagbucks.

Daily Poll 1pt: Answer the Daily Poll and receive one point.


Searching 11 pts: The last thing that I do with swagbucks every morning is a spend a few minutes searching, sometimes I am searching for something that I need to look up otherwise I just type in random things. It usually only takes me a few times, than I am rewarded swagbucks, which vary in quantity from 7 to 50, usually I get somewhere 8 to 15.

A few other ways to earn swagbucks!
You can use Swagbucks every time you purchase a Groupon, or any other daily deal, through there partner site Trialpay, you will receive on average 450 swagbucks for each deal that you purchase.

Coupons: Print off and redeem coupons, earn 10 swagbucks for each coupon.

Swag TV: If I am working on the computer or folding clothes, I will watch a series of 2 min tv segments through swagbucks TV, for every 10 TV segments I watch I will receive 3 swagbucks.

Games: If you like to play computer games, you can play the games through swagbucks and earn a few buck.

These are just a few of the ways that you can earn a few bucks, if you do any work on the computer I encourage you to stop by Swagbucks Website to start earning today!

I am including a link on the left side bar, so if you would like to sign up using me as a referral, feel free to do so! Thank You!

Blessings,
Joy

Dreaming

"We grow great by dreams. 

All big men are dreamers. 

They see things in the soft haze of a spring day

or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. 

Some of us let these great dreams die, 

but others nourish and protect them; 

nurse them through bad days 

till they bring them to the sunshine and light 

which comes always to those who sincerely hope 

that their dreams will come true."

 Woodrow Wilson

I have a nice list of wishes going on now days! Last weekend Mr. T and I really started to DREAM about a few things and I need to say that it was a lot of fun. I am hoping that a few of these dreams might come true someday but it is also very enjoyable to think about and dream about the future.

One of my dreams has actually become a gift that I have on my Christmas list, I want a SLR camera. My dad has one and I had a lot of fun using it throughout the weekend. I think that it would be a great way to really get into picture taking and documenting memories throughout the years.

Two more of our dreams that we really had fun dreaming about this past weekend, is our desire to own water front property on the largest lake in the world, non other than Lake Superior and to own a small boat. We are being realistic with the first aforementioned, dream all we would like is a small parcel, an acre or so, just enough to park our pop-up on or to build a small hermitage. As we were dreaming about owning land on the lake I started to realize the great investment that this would be. Owning land on Lake Superior would be something that would be really nice to pass on to our children. Land will always be valuable and the cost of land will probably not go down to much at least, from the low that it is presently at. With that in mind a see how this could be a great investment and something that we could pass on to our children.

A few of the other things on our list of dreams include living in Italy for awhile, traveling to Hawaii, and Ireland, maybe just plain traveling in general.  Last but not least moving to the country where I have a whole grown-up wish list of having a garden, deck, clothes line, and chickens! The things you want when you get older!

I have never had so many things that I have been dreaming about before in my life. This is definitely new for me but I am enjoying it am realizing that it is fun to dream and important as well.

What are your dreams for the future! Enjoy them and foster them!

Blessings,
Joy

Marriage a Vocation to Behold

Greetings:

Welcome, during the last few weeks I posted a series on Marriage, it turned out to be a series of 7 posts which included five elements of marriage that I truly try to remember.  I had no idea where this was going to go when I initially started that first post a few weeks ago.

Non-the-less I thought it was important to review the five elements that I reflected on.
1. The vocation of every women is to give, sometimes to give until it hurts.
2. We can pray by ourselves, and we need to pray by ourselves.
3. We can take initiative in the marriage.
4. We should explore interests outside of our marriage and our family, becoming the well rounded individual that we are called to be.
5. We should remember the "tabor vision" of our beloved, the one that Christ asked us to marry.

I also wanted to take a moment to say how much fun I had writing these posts, and I truly hope that you enjoyed reading them just as much. It was a GREAT opportunity to journey back through my relationship with Mr. T. Thinking about courtship, engagement, and the first few months of our married life. I realize that some of you have been married for far more than two years. I simply hope and pray that God will continue to bless Mr. T and I along this crazy journey and that he will bless each of you along your journey as well.

As I was writing this series of blog posts I was remembered of how much I enjoy writing about relationships and how energized I become. I would love to hear your thoughts about the series and if you haven any other pointers that you try to remember when being the wife and mother that you are called to be.

I will also in the next few days be adding a separate page to my blog primarily consisting of these posts on marriage.

On another bookkeeping note, I have been trying to add a link to my blog that includes my email so you can email me if you would like to do so instead of posting a comment for all to see. If anybody knows how to do this without actually showing the email address itself please let me know.

Blessings,
Joy

The "Tabor Vision" of our Husband

This is the last post in a series of 5 on the 5 elements that I personally try to remember to keep in my personal life in hopes of keeping Mr. T's and I marriage healthy and myself healthy. I think that that goes both ways, if I want a healthy, successful marriage, than I need to make sure that I am being all that I can be.

Well, with out further ado, the last element, is keeping that "Tabor Vision" of Mr. T in the for front of my mind.

This idea of a "Tabor Vision" comes from the bible and the story of the Transfiguration, when the disciples were granted to moment to see Christ in all his Glory! However it is one of my favorite authors, Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand, that applies this vision to marriage and to the image that we have of our husbands, in her book, "By Love Refined, Letters to a Yong Bride". I received this book from my Maid of Honor at one of my Wedding Showers a few years ago, and I love it! I love it so much that I now pass it on to all brides when they get married, even if they are not Catholic. A brief story on that, Mr. T and I were recently at a family wedding on his side, it was not a Catholic wedding, but non-the-less I gave the bride-to-be, this book at her wedding shower. The bride-to-be's mom read it as well and truly enjoyed it. So much that when we saw her at the wedding she kept talking about the book and was so happy that her daughter had received it as a gift. Hmm, can we also say evangelization!

Now on to the idea of the "Tabor Vision". In her book Dr. Hildebrand states that "usually we encounter in others only a caricature of their being; we are only able to discern what they've made of themselves rather than what they're meant to be." She also reminds us of that what we already know, we are each made in the image and likeness of Christ, we each reflect him. The goal and the challenge is to see that image of Christ in each person.

The joy in marriage is that we are granted that unique opportunity to see that image of Christ in our beloved spouse, we are granted that rare moment to see that beauty, the beauty that can only be seen when we look past sin, dirt, and grime. When this occurs we are able to see our spouse "more clearly than any other human being", we are able to see them for what they are "meant to be in the deepest sense of the word, his 'secret name'." This unique and beautiful opportunity occurs when we are first falling in love with our beloved, usually during courtship, during engagement. When we decide that yes, we want to spend the rest of our lives with him.

Wow, when you really think about it this is a beautiful gift that we are given. It the gift that gives us the courage and strength to say "I Do". What I believe is that we are called to be thankful and to give praise for this gift EVERYDAY! To remember the moment the moments when we saw that "Tabor Vision" of our beloved spouse and to thank God for that. This I believe will renew that energy in us to become the wife that we are called to be and most importantly the daughter of Christ that we are called to be.  

Blessings,
Joy

Manic Monday

It's Monday and it is back to reality for the Mr. T household!

After being gone all last week it is a bit of a reality check here and it will also be the first 5 day work week that we have had in along time! I already feel like it should be a Tuesday not a Monday, so I am desperately praying that the week does not go by as slow as I think it will. With that being said though there is definitely enough to keep us ALL busy and so much stuff to catch up on. 

I am though looking forward to cooking this week and I am even hoping to do some baking if the weather continues to cooperate and it stays fairly cool. So with that in mind here is the menu for the week!
Monday - Veggie and Shrimp Stir-fry over rice
Tuesday - Pasta Shells
Baking earlier in the day; Brownies, and Lemon Bars for a Norwex party that I am hosting and mini muffin egg bakes!
Wednesday - Salad with Grilled Meet, Carmelized Onions, Green Beans, and Feta Cheese
Thursday - Turkey Burgers
Friday - Fish Tacos
Saturday - Brats on the Grill

I hope you each have a great Monday and a great week, I am also excited to say that I be able to get back into my routine for blog posting, so if all goes well there should be a new blog post everyday this week!

Sabbath Sense Saturday

I have been fortunate enough to spend the whole week up near Lake Superior with my parents, and Mr. T came and joined us on Thursday afternoon. It has been a wonderful few days with my whole family.

Yesterday we traveled to Bayfield WI and to Madeline Island. What a wonderful adventure, the highlight for all of us was probably the Ferry ride from the mainland to the island. What an amazing view of Lake Superior and of the Sunset coming back.

As I reflected on the Gospel reading for tomorrow the line, when he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."  This line I think fits in nicely with the week that I have had and with my latest reflections here on Adventurous Beginnings on marriage. It is in courtship and engagement that the man begins to see in the women that she is a pearl, a pearl of great price, and it is at the moment when he is "in love" and that he is truly willing to give his all. I remember this time with Mr. T, just like I hope you remember your time of courtship and engagement with your loved if you are married. He definitely jumped through hopes at times, and did things that he did not always like to do. Their are things now that he will NEVER do that he did all the time during courtship because he was in love and because he wanted to impress me. I am sure that I did the same things.

I think it is important to continue to give of ourselves of our time and energy for our loved ones. All of our loved ones, including parents, brothers, and sisters. When we do this we will continue to reap rewards beyond our telling.

May we each remember our ultimate "Pearl of Great Price" and our ultimate destination of Beatitude in Heaven.

A Tribute To My Mom

HAPPY  BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM~

My mom and I in our new dresses!

Today my mom will celebrate a milestone Birthday! So today I will be taking just a moment to tell you a bit about her while sharing a bit about our plans for the day and about the exciting weekend that we have planned, while reflecting on the last few days.

Little Might and I have been back at "home" with my parents since Monday night. My mom had the week off so we decided to come up here. I originally was excited but apprehensive at the same time, I have not been home for this long of a time, since I don't know when, likewise I don't think I have been away from Mr. T for this long either. I do miss him and am very excited that he will be coming up here later today. :-)

With all of that being said though I have had a great time up here. It has been a true joy to spend the last few days with my mom; my dad and my brother have been working all week.

My mom and I have spent a day shopping, which is always fun, this shopping trip was not the most frugal. I will admit though that I have two brand new dresses for less than $50  and one was originally $100 so I guess with that in mind it was pretty frugal. It definitely is fun to have something new. Maybe we as women need to do that every now and again. We will also be getting our nails done today. So I am excited to say that both my mom and I will be getting all dressed up in our new dresses with our fancy nails for supper tonight. :-)

It is fun being a women and it is definitely enjoyable to do this all with my mom.

My moms birthday wish was that she would have her whole family together, and she will for supper when her son-in-law comes into to town. Prior to that we will start the day off with mass followed by breakfast, a bit more girl time when we do our nails, followed by walking along Lake Superior. To make this week even more exciting we will all travel together on Friday out on adventure along the shores of Lake Superior as we visit a small town complete with a few surprises along the way. My mom has NO idea where we are going, it is her birthday present, from all her kids. 

What a great week it has been and I am truly blessed to have the mom that I do. A mom who has passed on her love for china, and all things elegant! As well as her love for chocolate and eating cake for breakfast.  She is also a mom though that inspires me to love my family and to give my all to Little Might just like she has given her all for her kids. She has been a great example of what a mom should be. I pray that I will be just as great of a mom to my children.

I hope you each have a great day one filled with blessed times with your loved ones.

Blessings,
Joy

Well Rounded...

I am not sure about the other moms and wives out there but this at times seems to be VERY difficult. I can tell you though at least from my experience in the last 2 years that it is so necessary to stay/become a well rounded women of God, wife and mother. It is from my experience that I put the need to be Well Rounded as the 4th point in developing a good marriage.

I know that I myself am so much happier when I focus on other aspects of life and not just solely on my vocation as wife and mother. This does not only entail focusing on my relationship with Christ, and that first and foremost I am a daughter of Christ; but, it also entails focusing on other interests.

It was partly due to this need that I started blogging, I realized that I needed something else to do, NO, not because I was bored or had a lack of things to do, but because I realized that I needed something challenging and something that would help me reflect and on life while helping me bring my faith more into my life. I truly miss that part from when I was a full-time youth minister and RCIA director. 

There will always be dishes to do, laundry to wash, and diapers to change, BUT, I cannot let myself go either spiritually, intellectually, or even with my looks. I believe that this is all part of being a well-rounded individual.

It is with this reflection that one of my personal goals is to always try new things and to search out different hobbies while constantly integrating the things that I miss doing more often ie. reading, writing and talking about Catholicism.

The women as an initiator, yes or no?

Welcome to Adventurous Beginnings, and can I just add it is so nice to have my computer back, charging with internet access. The little blessings in life and the technology that we take for granted.

I am also very excited for Little Might and I are up near Lake Superior for the week, enjoying both air conditioning and the natural air conditioner of Lake Superior!!! Mr. T will be joining us on Thursday as we celebrate my moms 65th Birthday! I am sure that I will have stories and pictures to share as the few days of Mother and Daughter adventures unfold into family adventures at the end of this week, when Mr. T, my brother, and my dad, have Thursday and Friday off as well.

On to the actual post for the day, which is the third post in the series of five on the different elements that I believe help a women in being a holy wife, this one deals with rather or not a women can be an initiator.

At the beginning of my marriage I originally thought that a women could never be an initiator that it was always the husbands job to do the initiating, rather it be for a date night, or just an outing for the family for a day. I have come to realize though that it is just not practical for the husband to ALWAYS do the initiating and that it puts on do pressure on him.

It was just a few months ago that I truly came to realize this. To realize that we as wife's can initiate a few things, no don't get me wrong, I am NOT totally taking the men off the hook. Their are still times when they should plan something nice for their wives or for the family. He still needs to continue to court his wife. :-)

We as wives though can help thing along. For I come to realize that Mr. T as least, sometimes has way to much other stuff on his plate. He has his hands full by providing for and caring for the family in other ways. Another point for my belief that women can be the initiator sometimes is that marriage is a joint effort. So we need to help things along sometimes.

When I first came to the conclusion that I could plan dates, I used the Dating Divas website. Since then I have moved away from using the site, I realized that this was not ultimately what was helpful for our marriage. I do though still just think of fun things for us to do now and then, and will still initiate a date night here and there I just won't be as elaborate as the dates on the website. Mr. T actually told me that I don't have to try that hard. If you are married to a guy though that likes things to be that much of a surprise or that elaborate go for it and have fun. Their ideas are far more creative that I could ever be. Enjoy!!!

I would love to hear though what your thoughts are as to rather or not the wife can initiate dates/date night or even initiate conversations. I have heard of couples that believe that it is always the husbands responsibility to initiate the conversation, especially the conversation at the dinner table. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Blessings,
Joy

Frugal Friday - Gas Saving Tips

Welcome to Frugal Friday!

First of all thank you everybody for your prayers for my Great Aunt! She was laid to rest yesterday in a beautiful funeral!
May eternal rest be granted onto her and let perpetual light shine upon her! Amen

A brief story about my Great Aunt - She just recently became more involved in my life again when Little Might was born. She had a great fondness for babies, she loved them.
To help celebrate Little Mights first year of life she would send cards to him for EVERY occasion, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the list goes on, in that card she would always include a one dollar bill! What a great women and a great lady she was, she will be missed greatly.

For the Frugal Friday post on Gas Saving Tips, I have three quick things that I have recently learned.

1. Not using Air Conditioning but keeping the windows open does NOT help to save on gas mileage, for you have the wind working against your car. This is just enough incentive for me to throw out that piece of info that I learned many many years ago!

2. I have just recently started paying attention to my Roundy's Rewards card from Rainbow, and it is working! I had saved up 31 cents off per gallon of gas, and that saved me  $6 when I filled up my tank a few weeks ago. When I looked at my Roundy's receipt the other day, I realized that I already had another 17 cents off per gallon of gas. I am probably going to wait with that one for a bit yet. But when I get it up to 20 cents that will save me $4. Wow, a savings of $10 in about a month, month and a half! Works for me! So if you have a Rainbow near you, or another grocery store that does money back for gas, I would strongly suggest looking into it.

3. The third tidbit on gas that I have recently learned is that Super America accepts competitor coupons and they have double coupons on Tuesday, at least in here in MN. So I will definitely be taking advantage of those days.

I hope these gas saving tips will help you with all of your summer travel. Have a great weekend, and just as a brief FYI, I will be logging off for the weekend. I forget the charger for my computer when I was up north for the funeral and will not have it back until Monday.

Blessings,
Joy

The need to pray, daily, and by ourselves!

Greetings Welcome to Adventurous Beginnings~

Today I am going to continue talking about the great adventure of marriage, one of the greatest adventures that I'm on in life, motherhood being the other.

Before I get started though I wanted to point out a few exciting happenings here on Adventurous Beginnings. The first is that I am officially a proud member of the Catholic Mothers Online blog role, you can see the picture indicating this on the right side here. So please go check out the Catholic Mothers Online blog, where guest bloggers and Angie write fascinating blog posts on motherhood and the Catholic faith, Enjoy!

The need to pray, daily, and by ourselves!

When I read the above line, I realize that it really is not rocket science, but, for me seems to be because it has taken me so long to grasp this, at least recently, than to actually implement, which I am humbled to say I am still working on.

As a single women I really enjoyed daily mass and adoration, and I still do, and in fact I miss the opportunity to go.Now when I go to even Sunday mass, I am always so distracted, and I just pray that God is still bestowing His grace on this mother.

About daily prayer though, once I got married it seemed to be harder to try to go to adoration and daily mass, especially once the baby, toddler now, came around. So that is one aspect or maybe excuse that I use for daily prayer.

Private daily prayer is also a very important aspect of every Christian and especially that of a married women. For some reason though when I first got married I felt as if all prayer at home needed to include Mr. T.  Yes, I do believe that couples need to pray together daily, but, the spouse also needs to be pray by his or herself.

I am currently trying to get back in the habit of doing Morning Prayer and Night Prayer as part of the Liturgy of the Hours. So I think little by little I am getting my routine of prayer back in place.  Which I am very excited about, because I really do enjoy that personal time with God.

I have also learned to realize that as a women, as a bride, I can and I need to pray for Mr. T especially during those times when it seems hard for him to pray. Because as spouses we are one body, including one body in Spirit so I can not only offer him up in prayer but pray for him.

So this evening may we all remember to pray for our spouses and all our loved ones.

Blessings,
Joy

Giving - at the Heart of every women's vocation

Last week I started a series of blogs on Marriage, and in the blog post, The Cross of Marriage - Part II, I listed a series of five things that help me as I grow in my vocation of being a wife.

I also stated that at this point in our life Mr. T and I are at a wonderful point in our marriage, one where we both seem to see the beauty of the vocation of marriage as well as the beauty of each other. A few months ago though we were not at this point, we were at one of those points where I thought he was insufferable, 24/7 and that was making me crabby and definitely NOT the women that I should be.

It was at that point that I attended a day long women's retreat, the theme was on Giving.

The truth is that giving is at the heart of every women's vocation I realized this on the retreat, that is why this is the number one element in my list of five. We are called to give until it hurts. However we cannot give what we don't have. I have found that that means spiritually, emotionally, and even intellectually.

The second truth is that God gives us everything that we need so we can give.

First and foremost, he gives us two amazing examples of what it means to give. The first one is himself, He gave us himself on the cross, if the cross is not an example of giving until it hurts, I don't know what is. The second example that He gives us is the gift of His Blessed Mother Mary. Mary gave us her Fiat, as an example of giving. Mary said yes, to being the mother of Jesus when she was only a teen. Giving her whole life to Jesus the son of God, giving of herself time and time again.

Jesus also gives us the Catholic Church all of the Sacraments including that of Baptism. The amazing sacrament where we are claimed by Christ, claimed as his own daughter. Christ will never take back that promise, he will never take back His grace. Grace is one of the things that we need so we can give. Another one of the amazing sacraments that Christ gave us is the Eucharist, where we receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, talk about giving us that strength so we can give. Including the strength to give not ourselves but to give Jesus.

The last bit that I want to leave you with is the prayer that we may each learn to "renounce the boundaries of our love".

Blessings,
Joy

Manic Monday

Welcome, It's Manic Monday again!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mr. T and I and Little Might too, had a very hot but enjoyable weekend in town. I feel like it was one of the first weekends in along time that we have been able to spend in town - it was GREAT!

This week is going to be a bit crazy in the Mr. T household, I will actually be gone for two days traveling to WI for a funeral, so I do ask for your prayers for a dear Great Aunt of mine.  "May eternal rest be granted onto her and perpetual light shine upon her, Amen"

Menu and Schedule for this Week!
Monday: Pasta with Grilled Peppers and Sausage
Tuesday: Bourbon Chicken - Mr. T's endeavor! I will share the outcome, which I will say I am really looking forward to it, it is a two day process.
Wednesday: Mr. T will be able to enjoy leftovers or what ever his desire is as a bachelor for the evening. I however will be making Stuffed Shells and a Taco Salad that I will be bringing to a friend that just had a baby. The Stuffed Shells she will be able to freeze, while the Taco Salad is for that evening.
Thursday:  Leftover Bourbon Chicken
Friday: Camping - Taco Salad
Saturday - Sunday: We will be camping for the weekend and attending a Wedding Saturday night.

This Monday I am going to leave you with a bit of Manic Monday Wisdom, wisdom from a of a 13 month old.

The other day, Little Might was sitting in the middle of the living room floor crying, when all of a sudden he started clapping which that lead to laughing. So the wisdom is even when life is so overwhelming and you feel like crying or maybe screaming just start clapping and laughing all will be better. Ok, at least it works for a baby, but maybe their is something to take from this. The sun will always shine tomorrow, and God is always right there, just a prayer away.

Blessings,
Joy

Sabbath Sense Saturday on Sunday!

Greetings and Welcome:

Sabbath Sense Saturday is coming out a day late, but, hopefully this brief reflection on today's Gospel reading will add to your Sunday and start our week off on the right foot, so to speak.

“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

I have done some reflection on this bible passage in the past, specifically through Lectio Divina, a way of studying and reflecting on Holy Scripture. 

The scripture passage though is a great reminder for us to think about what we sow; in our daily lives, and within our homes. 

Do we sow compassion, charity, and love? Is that the attitude that we have with our friends, our family, our spouse, and our children?

The other question that I think this Gospel reading encourages us to ask, is, are we intentional with how and where we are sowing our seeds of faith? Are we intentional with how we are sharing with our children making sure that they have a STRONG foundation one that will be there with them through out there life. 

I am not sure about you,  but, these questions are definitely making me think and they reminding me of the responsibility that I have as a parent to be the Little Mights primary educator.

Blessings,

Joy

Frugal Friday - Unpublished Rates

Greetings and welcome to Frugal Friday on Adventurous Beginnings!

I have never been daring enough to use Hotwire, book a hotel with out knowing the name of it, you must be kidding me, who would ever do such a foolish thing, well, ME!

Yep, I just used unpublished rates for the first time today. I booked it through Expedia, this is a new thing that they have started, and it looks as if they have partnered with Hotwire for this.

For some reason I felt more comfortable using Expedia, probably because I have used Expedia for airline travel and hotel stays many times in the past. I am excited to say that this Adventure turned out OK. We are not staying at a five star hotel, the Wyndham or Double tree, for only $35 a night. The hotel however has a complimentary breakfast in the morning and it has a pool. I am equally happy to say that it is not a Motel 6, when I was a child I used to love Motel 6 because it always had a pool, for some reason my parents were never as thrilled about them, and I don't think I have stayed at one since. I know, they leave the light on!

We paid less then $90 for both nights, including all taxes and fees. I am hoping that this leaves room in our budget for a stop in either, Chicago, Madison, or WI Dells on the way back, a girl can dream can't she!

Enjoy your weekend and next time you are looking for a hotel don't be afraid to check out Expedia Unpublished Rates.

Blessings,
Joy

The Cross of Marriage - Part II

Greetings and Welcome to what is turning out to be the third post on married life. Before I begin I want to state that these are simply my reflections on my 2 years of marriage, OK just about 2 years. Mr T and I are only 2 months shy of celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. With that being said though I am by no means a marriage expert.

Mr. T and I on our honeymoon in Vatican City!

Through my married life though I have realized that their are crosses that we take up and their are hard times. Married life is not or will not always be the fairytale that we envision as young girls or that's portrayed in the media. Sometimes those hard times last simply for a few hours or minutes but at other times they seem to go on for days, weeks, months, and even years.

I know personally that their are times when Mr. T and I are NOT seeing eye to eye on anything and we just seem to be going around in circles. During those times, as a good of friend of mine stated once "he is insufferable" for some reason that made me laugh, and I now here my self saying that about Mr. T, I think I say it and laugh at the same, which helps me release my frustration.

Before I continue I want to state that at the current moment Mr. T and I seem to be at a WONDERFUL point in our relationship as man and wife, the Lord is truly blessing us and I am seeing the amazing husband and father that Mr. T is. That probably is why I feel comfortable writing this.

Their are five things that I try to remember, these five elements I believe help me to be a better wife, mother, while helping me to take up the daily crosses of marriage. For the truth is that the daily crosses of marriage will never go away, for in marriage we are called to be intricately connected to another human being, and both of those humans, the man and the wife are sinful creatures.

On a more practical level their will always be times when Mr. T is more slow for my liking or he thinks to much about one thing. On the same note, their will always be times when I am trying to have things to much in order or to much in control for Mr. T's liking. Is this why God asked us to marry each other, YES, I believe so.

So the following are the five things that I believe will help any marriage:
1. The vocation of every women is to give, sometimes to give until it hurts.
2. We can pray by ourselves, and we need to pray by ourselves.
3. We can take initiative in the marriage.
4. We should explore interests outside of our marriage and our family, becoming the well rounded individual that we are called to be.
5. We should remember the "tabor vision" of our beloved, the one that Christ asked us to marry.

This is by no means an exhausted list, please feel free to add to the list. I would love to hear from you.

Blessings,
Joy

The Cross of Marriage

I am going to continue the theme of Marriage for another day and write about the cross that is part of marriage.

I remember the homily at Mr. T's and I wedding mass was NOT sugar coated, the homilist spoke very candidly on how the vocation of marriage would not always be easy, it would entail dying to oneself and taking up the cross of marriage.

The purpose of a Catholic marriage is to resemble the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Love is exemplified in the Trinity, when the Son gives of His life on the cross for His beloved. This same gift of self is to be demonstrated in marriage on a daily basis.

Mr. T and I choose a very unpopular bible passage to be read for our second reading, Ephesians 5:22-31...

Wives should be subordinate to their husbands

as to the Lord.

For the husband is head of his wife

just as Christ is head of the church, 

he himself the savior of the body.

As the church is subordinate to Christ, 

so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, 

even as Christ loved the church 

and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, 

cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,

that he might present to himself the church in splendor, 

without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

So (also) husbands should love their wives 

as their own bodies. 

He who loves his wife loves himself.

For no one hates his own flesh 

but rather nourishes and cherishes it, 

even as Christ does the church,

because we are members of his body.

"For this reason a man shall leave 

(his) father and (his) mother 

and be joined to his wife, 

and the two shall become one flesh."      

Usually, every time I have a discussion with someone about this bible passage, it is due to the words of "wives be submissive to your husbands" yes, I will agree if those words were to stand alone, by themselves, and if that is what the entirety of a Christian marriage would be, well than I might have different thoughts on the vocation of marriage.  But, luckily, for all women out there, and for all wives, that is NOT the entirety of the bible passage.   

The husband actually, in my mind, has a much greater responsibility, the Husband is not simply called to love his wife, but, to lay down his life for his bride, and not just lay it down in some oh, I will be kind and gentle, and let her have her way sometimes, but, to lay down his life as Christ laid down His life for the Church. 

Wow, I am not sure about you but those are some pretty tall orders, to lay down one’s life, that is what Christ did when He died on the cross for His bride, the Church, and that is exactly what is expected of the Husband in a marriage. It is when that is done, that the wife can trustingly be submissive to one’s husband. 

I realize that this is speaking of the theology of marriage and that it can be a different story when one is in the middle of marriage. 

So stay tuned, their just might be a part three of marriage, which focuses on the daily dying of oneself along with the daily joys found in marriage. 

Blessings,

Joy

I just saw the bride!

Before I officially started blogging I would write "would be" blog posts and here is one that I really wanted to share. For me it is a beautiful reminder of the joy that comes with getting married, I wrote this back in May, the wedding that we attended was the same weekend as the big royal wedding.

Even as I go back and read this I get excited about weddings. I am happy to say that we have two more weddings coming up this season.

One will take us all the way to Ohio in the beginning of August. I am excited for the road trip that will go along with it and because it will be one of those amazing Catholic Weddings. Those are always a joy to attend, the wedding back in May, was one of the as well. Those are the weddings where you know that they are willing to take up the cross of marriage along with the complete joy that comes with married life. Enjoy the following post!

I just saw the Bride!
No, that is not Kate Middelton that I am referring to. We have a wedding tomorrow afternoon, a good Catholic wedding and the first of the season. It will also be Little Might's first, my hope is that he will have so much fun, at least with the reception after-wards.

Before I digress, what is it about weddings that make us so joyful and so happy. After seeing the Bride-To-Be I was so happy and so excited and just could not stop smiling. For some reason weddings make us think of all the good in life and all the good in our marriages. We cannot help but look at the couple to be with wonder and awe about the adventure that they are about to start out on on.

The wedding also encourages us to rekindle that love and passion within our own and to think back and remember our own Wedding Day and how excited we were. Remembering our dress, the flowers, and most importantly, remembering our husband, the words that committed ourselves to become man and wife, to become one in the Holy Sacrament of Marriage.

We remember the promises that we made the Nuptial Covenant that we entered into. Realizing that vows all of a sudden have a totally different meaning, as they really do entail taking the good with the bad, the sickness with the health, till death do us part. We realize the marriage really is a cross that we must take up daily to come to find the joy that awaits at the end of each day, if you choose to say "I am sorry" and realize that tomorrow will be another day!

Praying that the joy will triumph in each marriage, rather it be a time where you feel the pain of the cross or the celebration of the resurrection. 

Here is to all the Beautiful Bride-To-Be's, the Brides, and to their lucky Grooms.

May God Bless each of us on our own journey of marital bliss.

Blessings,
Joy

Manic Monday - Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you are each enjoying a wonderful day with your family and friends, as we take a moment to pray in thanksgiving for our country, the soldiers who have given their life for our freedom, and for our elected officials.

One of my favorite patriotic songs is God Bless the USA and as I was writing this post I could not help but take a moment to listen to it on u-tube. The lyrics are great, and it is a good reminder for each of us to not take for granted the freedom that we have. Yes, I know that I myself am not always happy with our country and our elected officials, especially in MN right now, BUT that does not matter. We have an amazing history of people who have fought and worked hard for the freedom that we currently have, and that is what we need to celebrate today. While we celebrate what the good Lord has bestowed on our country.

In celebration of the 4th of July, I also have a perfect red, white, and blue, recipe that I am going to pass on. I had this chip dip Memorial Day Weekend, and I loved the taste and the red, white, and blue of it.
One can black beans
1 1/2  8oz packages of cream cheese
Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Sliced green onions
Take a pie plate and spread the cream cheese on the bottom,
then spread 1/3 of the bottle of Raspberry Chipotle Sauce over the cheese, 
next spread the black beans over that,
than last but not least sprinkle the green onions over the beans.
For an extra festive look, put mini American Flags on top. 
Enjoy with your favorite chips!

Menu for the Week
Tuesday - Crockpot boneless ribs
Wednesday - We will be at a Mass and Reception in honor of First Vows, for the Sisters of St. Peter Clavier.
Thursday - Tacos
Friday -  Turkey Burgers

Blessings,
Joy

Sabbath Sense Saturday

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Matthew 11:30

I really enjoy that first passage, in fact it is one of my favorites.  "come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest." It is one of those passages that when I get worried, or apprehensive I recite it in my mind. In today's busy, fast paced, stressful society I think is very important that we have these passages of truth that we can rely on.

This passage calls us to trust in God. To give Him all the things of our day of our life that worry us. When God asks us to trust Him, He really wants us to trust Him, not just say Lord I trust you, but, to actually live our lives with that trust. Trusting our good Lord to provide for the food on our table, the clothes on our back. To protect us while traveling, to protect us from storms. Than to take it a step further and protect our loved ones as well, our spouses, children, parents, and friends.  Wow, that is quite the list of everything that we put in God's hands. The remarkable truth is that He can handle it, and handle it better than we can. 

It is probably safe to say that I am a bit of a worrier as well as a controller, Mr. T would definitely say that I am. I know that I need to work on, for if I really trusted God and had faith in Him I would be more willing to simply go with the flow, realizing that EVERYTHING is in God's hands. For us humans this is extremely difficult. For some, even more so, as it is truly a cross that they are called to carry and than lay down at the foot of Jesus.

This weekends gospel reading is a good reminder to not just say that we trust in God but to truly live our lives believing that God knows best and that He will guide us. This means putting our whole life; our health, our checkbook, our present, past, and future, and our loved ones in God's hands. 

"Peace I leave with you..."

Blessings,

Joy

Frugal Friday - Consignment Shops

It's Friday!!!

Welcome to Frugal Friday on Adventurous Beginnings and welcome to FRIDAY! I hope you each have awesome plans for the big 4th of July weekend.

I am not sure how much of a money saver or frugal tip this is, it may just turn out to be a more of my day thus far.

I have been in the process of cleaning out my closets, and can I just add that it is not a fun thing. There are so many things that do not fit me any more,including some of my favorite dresses and outfits. I have to realize though that they simply do not fit me anymore and that they probably never will. I know though that I gained way more though than simply a few pounds over the last year, I have gained a child. So yes, it is all worth it. It probably is not necessary that I still fit into a size 0 anymore!

My adventure in getting rid of my clothes started by finding a consignment shop a few days ago, just by accident, there was a Clothes Mentor consignment shop next to Baby's R US and I was waiting for Mr. T I went in there to learn more about their consignment process. You bring in the clothes to sell and they will pay you 1/3 of the price that they will sell it for. Their main stipulations were that they wanted clean not worn out clothes that were of the current in style.

So today I decided that I would go through the pile that I had ready for Good Will and see if there was anything that I thought I would be able to sell. Little did I know that they usually only take one or two items. Yes, that is what happened, they took one of my dresses. I even had some other nice dresses and tops from the Loft that they did not want.

I realized that there was just something about that that did not sit well with me. These were items that I would love to keep in my closet and items that I would love to still wear. How dare them, that they don't want them. :-)

On to a tip though about frugality, I did make over $5 though off of one dress. So I can still say that the adventure to the consignment shop was a success. I do think I will try it again, and I do want to find some other consignment shops. Likewise, the prices at this one to purchase clothing was not great for basic clothing, but, for a special occasion dress I think they would be a good place to stop.

All in all my trip to the consignment shop was a success!