The Big Decision

I've been teaching in the CCD program for our parish the past 2 years and began this year co-teaching the confirmation students. Due to my emergency room visits and surgery I missed mass at my parish for two weeks. I e-mailed our priest and asked for him to pray for me. No response whatsoever. So continue on with class, then I took the kids to Disneyland one Sunday to celebrate Ruben and my 6th wedding anniversary. The next week I am back and Father is handing out 'Thank You' certificates to all of the teachers then having a parent say some kind words about each. Mind you there are only 7 of us. He doesn't recognize me at all. He doesn't say anything to me after mass. He comes to my classroom looks in, snarls, and leaves. Now I am well aware that priests are people too, but he has gone off the deep end with so many of our parishioners and so many have left. I hung on and said I can do this. This is the parish my grandparents, great-uncles & aunts put their blood sweat & tears into. All of my sacraments were performed there. My parish is more than just a Roman Catholic Church it has been my family. We are small. You know everyone. There are people that emigrated from Mexico alongside my grandmother back in the 1920's. Because of the location of our parish in the diocese we always are provided with priests who are at the end of their vocation or life for that matter. Well my priests silence toward me has allowed me to let go. 

I go to confession in the city where I worked that is a 30 minute drive from home. I had recently asked for counseling from their priest because of this and he asked me to find spiritual comfort by leaving my St. Francis of Assisi and join his Sacred Heart. With the heaviest heart I walked away from my parish for now. I walked away from those 15 & 16 year old's in the midst of their confirmation classes. I was able to ensure they were in capable hands, but I did abandon them. My soul had been starving. The first time I was at my new parish calling it my parish I ran into a young man and his wife who had left the year prior due to a move north. That very evening they were turning their registration in for Sacred Heart because they moved south. My cousins attend this parish and so do some other friends. I am hopeful of things to come, but sad to have taken a step back. I was also a Lector and for now have decided to stay off the ambo and focus on my family. Marcos needs work on his prayer life and I need to teach him. So this has been heavy on my heart, I have not shared this with any of you till now almost two months later.

A few Sundays ago I was able to attend a special memorial mass in honor of the deceased Knights of Columbus council that my grandfather chartered which has not moved to another parish. So many old friends, so many happy memories and unfortunately so many people aware of the downward spiral of my home parish. There is so much more, but I will not bother you with heavy details. 

I ask for your prayers and to pray for my parish. Thank you. 

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Happy 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who!

The Day of the Doctor is finally here!

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the British television series Doctor Who. Whovians all over the world are watching a simulcast of the 50th anniversary special, titled "The Day of the Doctor," and celebrating with  Jelly Babies, Jammie Dodgers, and Fish Custard.

I've just strung up the TARDIS lights my sister bought me. I've got the TARDIS teapot my dad gave me for Christmas (handmade by a lady in Seattle who only does a few a year), the TARDIS Exploding Van Gogh my cousin, Sally Sparrow, painted for my birthday, and all my other DW bits and bobs. And then there's the food!

 I made TARDIS sugar cookies! Not quite as blue as the TARDIS but they'll do!

A few of my favorite Doctor Who things!

I've got my TARDIS scrabble piece necklace and my DW buttons on my TARDIS blue clothes! I'm really excited to watch this episode and celebrate with Whovians all over the world. Who is your favorite Doctor? What are you wearing? Who is your favorite companion? Are you having a Doctor Who party?

We Stand With Thomas Peters

Back in July Catholic blogger & warrior Thomas Peters (aka AmericanPapist) injured himself in a diving accident. Tomorrow, Thursday, 14 November, many Catholics online will be standing with Thomas as he continues his miraculous recovery. He has been in our prayers since that day and we are proud to support him and his wife Natalie in every way we can.

Join us!

From the recovery website:

Help share their story and join us on November 14th for #IStandwithThomasPeters day!

On #IStandwithThomasPeters day, we also hope to raise funds to help Thomas and Natalie during this new transition and Thomas' continued recovery.

This is a crucial time. According to Thom's doctors, the major mobility/independence the patient will regain will happen within the first 6 months following the injury. The best way to achieve this is with as much therapy as the patient can handle (and can be afforded). Thomas has two more months in that window. The medical bills, the transition home, and Thomas' continued recovery are extremely expensive, and we would like to help.

Please visit Thomas' recovery website to find out more about how you can help Thomas and Natalie. You'll find banners and icons, like the one below, to use on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites tomorrow and tweets you can copy and paste to help raise awareness.

The best thing we can all do is continue to pray for Thomas' healing and that his experiences can be a testimony to many people of faith and God's love. God bless us all!

Thank you, Veterans!

Thank you, Veterans, for your service to our beloved country. You are always in our prayers. May God bless you!

Happy Halloween! Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Every year, I look forward to going to the pumpkin patch and finding a pumpkin so I can toast the seeds! This year, my family got 3 pumpkins, and two of them ended up being pie pumpkins, but I'll save the pie pumpkin recipe (Pumpkin Chickpea Lentil stew) for another post! Here's how I toast my seeds.

(I love this kid!)

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients
pumpkin seeds, leave some pulp
butter
salt

Directions

(Here's us, gutting the pumpkins.)

Preheat oven to 400-425. (I almost burned down the house...again.)
Sautee in a large frying pan the seeds along with a good amount of butter. I think I used about 2T. And salt. Lots and lots of salt.

(Here's the seeds and the gobs of butter.)

I would sautee them a good 5 minutes or so, until it's not uber buttery in the pan anymore. Then spread them out on a cookie-ish pan (I like to use the ones with the sides so they don't escape.)

(Seeds ready for the oven.)

Bake for 7ish minutes, flip, and bake 6ish minutes more. Like I said before, I nearly burned down my house. Maybe play with the temp and time. Maybe less time, because the high temp gets them nice and dry!

(Gorgeous toasted seeds, ready for consumption.)

(Here is a photo of our carved pumpkins.)

Five Favorites 10.30.13

1.) All Saints Day

All Saints Day is on Friday! This is one of my favorite feast days of the entire liturgical year. I don't know about all y'all, but I know I need all the help I can get when it comes to getting to heaven. It's so comforting to know that I have the "great cloud of witnesses" cheering me on. Oh, and one more thing: it's a holy day of obligation, so get yourself to Mass! [Now you can't say you didn't know ;-) ]

2.) Verily Magazine
Confession: when it comes to magazines, I am the pickiest commitment-phobe you ever did see. I get excited about one issue, think about subscribing, and then think, "Do I really want a year's worth of these lying around my apartment for ever and ever, amen?

This especially goes for magazines I've never seen. I'd heard a lot of good things about Verily, but still  couldn't bring myself to subscribe. Imagine my delight when I found out that Barnes & Noble now carries Verily. Yippee! I bought a copy and guess what? I will definitely be subscribing. The photos were beautiful, and more importantly, the articles were helpful and relevant to my life right now. Win! Get thee to their site and subscribe!

3.) Yoga Pants
File this under "Late to the Party." I just bought my first-ever pair of yoga pants last Saturday. I know, I know! I don't know what took me so long, but holy comfort, Batman. I especially like that I can wear them outside of my apartment without looking like I just rolled out of bed. Consider me converted!

4.) "What Keeps Women From Showing Up?" by Modern Mrs. Darcy. She muses on why it is often a challenge for women to "show up." Be sure and read the comments; they're fascinating.

5.) Coffitivity
I don't know what it is about coffee shops, but I am always super productive when I'm in one. But of course, I can't always get there whenever I get the urge to write. Enter Coffitivity. It's an audio of the magical white  noise of a coffee shop, complete with (non-distracting) chatter. I already feel more productive. :)  Go check it out!