husbands do the most interesting things

:) this weekend, while we were at the Catholic Family Conference, we were blessed to be able to stay at the Marriott hotel. Now, I love staying at hotels for two main reasons: 1) free soap and shampoo 2) exercise rooms.
Since I have been out of college & grad school, left the bay area, and now live in a very rural area... no gym time for me any more. I miss this, but I am still creative enough to do my exercise videos at home. I have my weights and bands and balls and mats, etc... and my dear husband has even set up a great area in the garage for me to set everything up.
But, I do like the luxury of having a fitness center to go to. So, Saturday evening Greg said: "Are you going to go workout?" and I said sure, do you want to come with me? He got excited and mentioned something about ice cream. (see post on ice cream and camping!!) So we headed to the fitness center (me in workout clothes and him in flip flops) we stopped by the sundries shop where my dear husband purchased an ice cream cone. When we got to the fitness center I got on an exercise bike and began my workout. my dear husband got on the bike next to me, unwrapped his ice cream and sat there, watching the news on the tv and eating his ice cream - on the exercise bike. (there were about 16 machines and a weight circuit set up in this room) Anytime someone came in and Greg thought they might want his seat, he started pedaling :) He cracks me up. We had so much fun :)

weekend festivities

Psalm 131 was the theme for this year's Catholic Family Conference.

This weekend was the 17th Annual National Catholic Family Conference down in Southern California. We had a GREAT time with a bunch of other Catholics in Anaheim. We spent about four hours a day in seminars/talks and then the rest of the time in fellowship with other couples and families. They had a bunch of exhibitors and booths set up to check out the latest Catholic merchandise. Here is a bit of the speakers we heard: Bishop Andrew Francis talked about his work and ministry as a Pakistani Priest. His talk was on blessings and graces in family life. Professor Barber gave a great lecture on finding the Catholic Church in Scripture and another one on Holy Families that changed the world. Leo Severino (a Catholic film producer) talked about the purpose of life and how to keep your kids Catholic. Fr. Loya talked on the Theology of the Body: the peace of the Interior Gaze. He also gave a great talk called: Life is Liturgy, Liturgy is Life. We also went to both of Fr. Chavez' talks: "Ten things men need to know about women" and "Ten things women need to know about men." Those were great and very entertaining - Greg and I were laughing and nodding our heads throughout his talks. The conference comes highly recommended from us. I think next year's conference in August 2-3.

We went to this church on Sunday:

They completed a new church just recently and it is beautiful!!! Click the link and scroll to the bottom for more pictures of the inside. It's not completely done yet, but quite nice. We think its the largest Byzantine Catholic Church on the West Coast. Pretty cool. Sitting behind us during the liturgy was a young couple with a little seven-week old baby boy. He had hiccups the entire time. It was cute.

its been a while...

so, over a week since my last post... i guess i have been working or homemaking or something!! :) We have definitely been having fun. Last week I got to accompany my dear husband on some work appointments and we were able to have lunch with my cousin and her husband and kids. It was great fun to spend time with my Goddaughter as well as get to sleep in a nice hotel!! Great pick Greg! On Saturday last week my Uncle and his band were playing at a restaurant, so we went and had a great time!! They are a really talented band!! This week the funniest thing that happened so far is that Greg came in after swimming before dinner (it was dark already) and said that a bat had tried to get him in the pool!! Apparently while he was in the pool a bat came and swooped down toward Greg's head - so close that Greg had to duck under the water to avoid being hit by the bat!!! Greg said this happened a few times!!! I was scared. Greg was excited like a little kid! I love my husband and I love that he kills spiders and scorpions everyday for me!! :)

key chain

i can't remember the last time i used my key chain ... seriously! and i LOVE this!! i don't drive my car because my dear husband drops me off at work and picks me up from work. we both prefer that he drives whenever we go anywhere together. i don't even have a key to our house. we live in the country and i don't need one. whenever i am away from the house my dear husband is usually with me, so he locks the door with his key. i don't have a key to my office at work, there is no need for that either. my key chain really only has a finger rosary on it and two other house keys: one to my parents' condo in a different state and one to my family friends' house which is a few hours away. my key chain sits at the bottom of my purse and i LOVE that i don't need it on a regular basis :)
-- i know this is random, but it's just something i've been thinking about!
have a great day

camping in kings canyon

It was my dear husband's birthday this weekend... so we went camping!! It was great fun. And yes... I did bring decorations for our camp site including streamers and balloons! :) at the Ranger campfire I even told the whole group it was his birthday and all the campers who were gathered for the campfire sang happy birthday to him!!! quite fun!


This is us at the top of the hill we climbed up on the Don Cecil trail to Sheep Creek.

Another couple views from the Don Cecil trail ... did you know that Kings Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon!!

We stopped for lunch at the bridge crossing Sheep Creek. It was a lovely spot and not too many other hikers or bugs :)

This was our view for lunch -- the creek is actually the domestic water source for Cedar Grove -- so no swimming

Sheep Creek

This is the view from right outside our tent door! -- Beautiful

This is another view right outside our tent of the Kings River below - which is the bottom of the canyon.

This trail was at "Road's End" - after about a mile and a half we followed the Bubbs creek trail which took us through about two miles of meadow/light forest where another group of hikers who passed us said they saw a bear on the trail. We also saw tons of bear scat (poop) ON the trail ... needless to say I think that was the fastest two miles I have ever hiked. By the time we were taking this picture at the bridge I was a little more relaxed because there was a lot of people playing in the creek and no sign of bear scat. The last mile and a half was a lot more enjoyable!!

Bubbs Creek view.

So... anyone who knows my dear husband knows two things about him: he really likes the color green and he really likes ice cream. Well... my parents took care of the green this birthday with sending Greg the beautiful shirt he is wearing in this picture. I took care of the ice cream. And yes, it is possible to have ice cream on your second night of camping, with 90+ degree weather!!

Here is my dear husband with the special (green) ball I bought for him last Christmas to make ice cream. (Basically like the old coffee-can ice cream maker with one area for the cream & flavors and another area for the ice and rock salt.) The idea is you have to keep the ball moving for about 15-20 minutes and then you have ice cream. We have done this before and it works quite well.
Here is my dear husband during the last 10 minutes of moving the ball. He decided to put it in our (green) bucket full of water and push it around with a stick. Notice that he can't be bothered to put down the chips or beer in his other hand!! :) I love him!

Here's the ice cream result!! It makes about a pint of really great ice cream. I even put a candle in Greg's and sang happy birthday to him :) (He got his cake at home last week.)

Hope you enjoyed our pictures ... we had a great weekend hiking and camping at Kings Canyon National Park!!!

political message from my dear husband

So Sarina and I have been very busy lately moving into our new house and enjoying each other as newlyweds...so it will come as no surprise to any of you that we haven't had time to watch any of the presidential debates (plus isn't the election like a year and a half away or so?)

However, we were aware that Ron Paul was running for President and participated in the debates. For years I have been a fan of Ron Paul. His message is so simple...return our federal government to its proper role as defined in the constitution...yet no one else on the national platform seems to consider such possibilities of a more limited federal government.

Anyway, we were happy to find excerpts from the debates on youtube.com. There are two debates we found...they have just the bites from Ron Paul. Each are about 6 minutes long. I know some of you might not agree with some or any of his ideas, but I would encourage all of you to think about what he is saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_BjK1QqDOo

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=8Hfa7vT02lA&eurl=http%3A//www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26client%3Dopera%26rls%3Den%26hs%3DSVZ%26q%3Drepublican%2Bdebates%2Bvideo%26btnG%3DSear&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/8Hfa7vT02lA/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskK81w1HsD444gTYI99e4kDU

Actually here is his site on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=VoteRonPaul08

Here is his website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Greg

Ron Paul at New Hampshire GOP Debate ~ June 5th 2007

While I may not agree with everything this blog says (unfortunately I do not have unlimited time to read the entire blog) ... it appears to be pretty solid and has some awesome pictures. Check out:
http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/

The following is a post from that blog:

Benedict, the Do Something Pope - posted by Michael E. Lawrence
A year into Benedict's papacy, liberals were rejoicing, conservatives were puzzled, and radtrads were up in arms. Little of note had happened, and, despite the obvious groundwork that Benedict was laying, such as in his now famous "Hermeneutic of Continuity" speech in December 2005 and his various weekly audience talks, many had prematurely put Benedict under the "do nothing" column.How times have changed!Let us look at some of the things this pope has done:

1. He has mandated an end to the liturgical abuses committed by the Neocatechumenical Way.
2. The Regensburg speech.
3. He has rescinded the indult for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to purify sacred vessels.
4. He has reinstated the 2/3 requirement for the election of a pope, which John Paul II had changed in the case of a deadlock.
5. The letter to Chinese Catholics.
6. There is the motu proprio, of course.
But there is one more thing:This document, which was released today concerning that pesky word "subsist."
"In number 8 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium ‘subsistence’ means this perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church, in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth.
It is possible, according to Catholic doctrine, to affirm correctly that the Church of Christ is present and operative in the churches and ecclesial Communities not yet fully in communion with the Catholic Church, on account of the elements of sanctification and truth that are present in them. Nevertheless, the word "subsists" can only be attributed to the Catholic Church alone precisely because it refers to the mark of unity that we profess in the symbols of the faith (I believe... in the "one" Church); and this "one" Church subsists in the Catholic Church."

SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

APOSTOLIC LETTER
SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
BENEDICT XVI
GIVEN MOTU PROPRIO

http://newcatholic.googlepages.com/summorum-latin-english-reg.pdf

"I am not a homemaker because I had too little ambition or education to make anything else of myself. No—I am a homemaker because God has given me the infinite honor of being a wife, and I delight in employing every ability that He has equipped me with in this glad career."

~ Mrs. Lanier Ivester

engagements are exciting!!

this is my dear husband and me with our friend Steve and his newly-engaged fiancée Madel

their courtship, engagement, and wedding planning sure have been interesting!!

current weather conditions at our home - just fyi

108°F
Clear
Wind: N at 8 mph
Humidity: 20%Today

very cool

Catechism 101 for today

I love our little Latin Mass community. We got this at church a couple weeks ago and my dear husband and I were reading it recently. I asked him if I should post it on our blog and he said yes. So…


How to be a good Catholic
1. Always attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, and during the week as often as possible.
2. Go to Confession every week if possible, but at least once a month.
3. Receive Holy Communion in the state of grace every time you attend Mass.
4. Be sure to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
5. Say your morning and evening prayers and your Rosary every day.
6. Stay away from any person, place, or thing which easily leads you into sin.
7. Stay married and faithful to your spouse if you are married.
8. Accept all the children God wants to send you.
9. Raise your children to be good Catholics.
10. Devote some time everyday to reading your Catholic Bible and/or sound Catholic books, to reinforce your Catholic values and the Catholic view of life.
11. Give generously to the Church and practice charity toward your neighbor.
12. Always stay in the state of grace, continually preparing for your death, remembering that death may come suddenly.


"For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36-37

Happy Fourth of July!

may God bless America!

victory: my dear husband loves my cooking

you know that you cooked a fabulous dinner when your husband is still talking about it the next morning!!! the vast majority of the time my dear husband loves my cooking, really! -this is something he is very happy about and i am very proud of!! on rare occasions, we have a very honest and open conversation any time he doesn't particularly like something... it goes sort of like this:
me: hey babe, did you like the [food] that i made?
dear husband: hmm, i'm still evaluating
me: well, let me know after you've had a few more bites.
(a little while later) me: so, what's your verdict?
dear husband: well, it's not my favorite.
me: can you tell me what you did or didn't like about it so i can learn to serve you better, seeing as though i will be cooking your food for the rest of your life?
dear husband: sure, [fill in his food comments here]

anyway... here is the recipe that he REALLY enjoyed last night. I have no idea where I got this recipe, so I am sorry to not give the original chef any props, but I would definitely recommend you try this!! (see my notes after the recipe)

German Style Pork Chops with Mushrooms
1 medium onion
1/2 pound mushrooms, halved
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 pork chops
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup dark beer
1/2 cup chicken broth

1. coarsely chop onion
2. in a ziploc bag, combine flour, 1/2 tsp thyme, salt, and pepper. shake to mix.
3. add pork chops to ziploc bag and shake lightly to coat. remove the chops and reserve the excess flour.
4. in a large skillet, warm oil over med-high heat and add chops. cook until well browned (about 7 minutes per side). remove chops and set aside to a plate (cover loosely with foil to keep warm).
5. in the same skillet, cook the onion, mushrooms, and garlic over med-high heat, stirring for about a minute. add 1 tbsp of reserved flour and cook until flour is no longer visible (about a minute).
6. stir in beer, chicken broth, and remaining 1 tsp of thyme and bring to a boil. reduce heat to low, add pork chops, cover, and simmer for eight minutes, turning chops halfway through.
7. uncover skillet and cook for another two minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly and the chops are cooked through.
8. serve with noodles, or potatoes, or rice

sarina's notes (these all worked very well!!): we are out of fresh onions so i used dried chopped onion. i also used canned mushrooms instead of fresh. i only cooked 2 pork chops but used the same amount of sauce. i used boneless skinless fresh pork chops from costco. (we got them on sale, with a coupon and i put them in freezer bags to store!!) also, i didn't use the beer - definitely no loss in flavor there. i served it with rice on the side and fresh zucchini. ENJOY!

Crystal, over at www.biblicalwomanhood.com - one of my favorite resource websites, is doing a giveaway:
Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library... check it out:
http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/2007/07/giveaway-ballantyne-christian-adventure.html

menu plan monday

monday
- breakfast: coffeecake, leftover strata
- lunch: chicken soup, fruit
- dinner: german style pork chops, rice, fresh corn on the cob, fresh green beans
tuesday
- breakfast: coffeecake (with more sugar topping)
- lunch: possibly chili, or something else which strikes my fancy, fruit
- dinner: chicken & broccoli macaroni & cheese (a new addiction), fresh zucchini
wednesday
not sure where we will be yet, but if we're home~ barbeque tri-tip (we didn't end up using it last week), chips, beans, fresh corn on the cob, some sort of fun fruit cobbler
thursday
leftovers day!
friday
- breakfast: coffeecake
- lunch: ?
- dinner: salmon, rice, fresh green beans, some other veggie we pick up at the fruit stand
saturday
- dinner: maybe getting together with friends... if not - cheesy fiesta chicken, beets, fruit
sunday
- dinner: leftovers or sloppy joes on biscuits, we'll see what happens, veggies, fruit

desserts this week: chocolate ice cream, oatmeal cookies, rice krispie treats