tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69444984589347706552024-03-18T23:56:23.681-04:00Bethesda Mom..in Fla.seeking a beautiful life in the every dayfrom Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-71470205445131971752018-07-01T08:49:00.001-04:002018-07-01T08:49:43.525-04:00On the flyHello, ☺️.<br />
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I had the idea to check in today because I haven’t for awhile. But I know what it is like to have a blog I follow and for it to disappear, and it’s like a voice I was looking for and had found was suddenly gone. I think that’s the beauty of social media; not that people come and go, but that you can find someone whose thoughts you find resonate with some of your own, and that you can’t always find in the people you meet. Actually, if you met me on the streets, you may not even think I’m the same person, like one of my friends who I knew in real life that read something I wrote one day and couldn’t believe it. It’s funny! I wasn’t offended. I don’t speak as clearly as I write somehow. There is something about the paper and the slower pace that allows my soul to speak directly. It’s the best of me that you are getting on the page.<br />
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I love to write. I really do. And love to see when something I’ve said motivates another. It’s like my own mission I feel I have been given. It comes as a surprise because I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what I actually thought about anything 20 years ago. It’s been a combination of philosophy courses, mentoring, and prayer that have lead me down this path of self-discovery. And in a way, a writer needs an audience. So you may look for my voice, but I look for your presence, to know that what I’m saying is important to you. We are mutually helping each other. And unlike people who don’t read me save a very few, you know me best, as I want to be known, so thank you.<br />
<br />from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-60293121549173333562018-03-26T08:42:00.000-04:002018-03-26T08:42:22.010-04:00Big Family<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Display"; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">Why do we do it? Have so many kids? What is it like? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">I can tell you it’s much like your family of 1 or 2, because kids are kids. They all need love, affection, to learn self-control ( there is a wide spectrum of allowance here!), and have antics. Much the same.. and yet entirely different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">The answer to the first question is simple, and even though it’s the most common, I’ll get to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">What is it like? It’s mad chaos. Constantly. Unless some of the kids are absent. Imagine a scenario where you have no inhibitions, so any idea that comes to mind is a possibility! You make it happen immediately because you are a child and so, impulsive, and a fort is begun or a game of chase is started or you put underwear on your head because you need that to be a ninja. And then your best friend comes along and adds their own infinite ideas to the equation and it’s a snowball of activity, growing in size and intensity. Times 5. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">But then you fight. And you’re mad. And some take your side and then again, some don’t. And that makes you madder. And you end up in time out. Which makes you mad. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">Until someone totters over with a ridiculous face and you can’t help but laugh, or sit with you in your fury until you both start playing quietly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">And there is someone who can’t resist your cuteness and reads you a book or teaches you to draw. And you adore them for doing so and soak in their attention. And someone who will sit with you when your blood sugar drops and you feel funny because they know instinctively that you might need help. Or someone to make make a movie with you, even if you have to bribe them, because you are their sister, after all. Or someone who will help you build your 1000s of piece LEGO set and do it all day if they have to, because that’s just how they are, and you know it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">I write from a kids perspective, because thats what keeps me sane when I see the house that is never tidy, the laundry that’s never done, and the bed that almost never sees me for a full nights peaceful rest. I have to see it from their eyes, because otherwise, I won’t be strong enough. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuidisplay"; font-size: 23pt;">So why do I do it? It started with Faith trusting a higher intelligence than my own. And it has ended and runs on love. </span></div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-5570036948841132742017-12-17T09:48:00.000-05:002017-12-17T09:48:42.067-05:00Advent musings<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Display'; font-size: 23px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">What is our life, the commitment we've made to our partner( hopefully spouse? But I can't pretend that is the norm now) and our children the moment we decided we were grown up enough to be intimate ( THAT is a question we need to ask of ourselves- and have our children think about, but more on that another day!)supposed to do- be- for us and our families? What is the goal? After all, a goal-driven society. Not that we want to turn our kids into projects as if we were programming robots ( or do we? It's so much more comfortable to interact with something we can control, setting aside the fact that they are someone's and not something's, but I digress.. again..)But personal relationships is not our fortay- we can see it in the loneliness, the suicide rates, the lack of connections that make people capable of random murders. Thats enough mention of the doom and gloom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Back to the point, Katie. What is our life supposed to accomplish? I believe it is meant to turn us into more fully developed and mature persons. Persons capable of judgeing clearly and rightly given a situation. persons with enough built in self-control to ACT according to what we know is right and good. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Is there not a little feeling of aversion between these 3 sentences? The first sounds glorious! The second, and third grow more tedious. Virtue, in short, had been misunderstood. Virtue means life is boring after all, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Wrong. Oh so wrong. And we may have to do some rewriting of our brains, and we can because we can work those often lazy muscles to "work FOR us," in helping us evaluate our thoughts and feelings so that we don't act on the latter but on the former. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Why? Why all this effort? Because being more fully developed and mature sounds fabulous, right? And having fabulous relationships and helping our kids to have fabulous relationships sounds, well, fabulous, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Come Lord Jesus. </span></div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-36157942515236816442017-11-24T22:36:00.002-05:002017-11-24T22:36:11.540-05:00process<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Display'; font-size: 23px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">It's a process, Kate...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Like so many of his wise sayings, I can hear the words and the tone of my father. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Life's a process. Writing is a process. Marriage is a process. Parenting is a process. Making a home is a process. Discovering your footing on a new career path is a process. Christmas shopping is even a process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Culturally, we live for the end product. The completed room. The child in a good school and respectable major. The house that is completely decorated. The relationship that is finally perfect. The list completed and checked twice. And we feel like we haven't accomplished much if we don't have that certificate of achievement to show for all our efforts. After all, there is a grade to be earned, a deadline to make, a holiday to celebrate. Maybe this obsession is because I grew up around the most type-A city in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">But is that really living? What about today and the messy living room from all the play, the bantering children who have the blessing to even have siblings to squabble with, the tired spouse who got a hug before collapsing, the children who miss you when you've been gone for 2 hours?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">At this point in my life, I am in the process of everything, including growing older myself. Nothing is done, nothing finished, except maybe the dishes. Today. But if I wait for that to define me, for that one moment of a final product, I'll be waiting a long time. Each action I've done today, every word I've uttered, defines who I am to myself and to others. And that's what counts. I'm in the process, and that's all that really matters. </span></div>
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from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-26031191308434005012017-09-15T10:16:00.001-04:002017-09-15T10:16:24.397-04:00EMbrace the moment<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Display'; font-size: 23px; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Yes, my community was affected by hurricane Irma. Luckily and by the grace of God, we made it up to family in the D.C. area in time. It's an unexpected blessing to spend time with family and friends. Our home had relatively minor damage, I don't have the stress of having 5 children in a place where water, gas and food are questionables, I am basically unscathed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">But this morning I realized the stress still gets to you. We are all so different, have our own challenges in life, and one of mine is not bracing for the storm. Let me see if I can explain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">The way I am wired, I don't take in my surroundings and live in the moment. Instead, I am hard-wired ( although I hate to use that term now that we have robots acting as people in our society's lonely lives) for responsibility. There are always endless amounts of things I will need to do, at any given moment in time, no matter what I have already done on any day for all of us, and in my given situation with 5 children, extended family and friends around, i feel myself bracing for the storm. For life. For the day. So that I can do it all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">But you know I can't, and I know I'm not meant to. Nor is that how I want to live my life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">So today, I am thankful I caught myself bracing for the storm, thankful for those who taught me to pray and take time to know myself and God better over the years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIDisplay'; font-size: 23pt;">Because I want to EMbrace the day, not brace FOR it. I am here for a reason, in this exact place today. And so are you. Let's be present to the moment, look a little longer into our children's eyes, and serve Our Lord as best we can. </span></div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-44057122638501587662017-06-29T10:59:00.001-04:002017-06-29T11:02:01.238-04:00Love you guys!seriously, do you know how much gratitude I feel knowing I write to inspire and help along others in life as I learn something new, turn a corner, or even find a secret garden? And to know that I do inspire you? I am so grateful. It's one of my dreams fulfilled, and I'm sorry for the break, but I will always be writing in some shape or form.<br />
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We have been in summer full-swing and I'm recovering from a surgery that has been difficult beyond my own understanding of pain. So please, if you pray, say some for me!<br />
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Some things I've learned this summer with a fully mobile and vocal ( even if my one year old only minimally speaks but prefers changing his tones with "uh" to get his meaning across which he fully does) family with 5 children , is how important little side trips of connecting with old friends has been, taking only a couple of kids at a time. I can relax, they realize more people are in their life than they realize, that life is different in different areas (i.e. Miami)and we can draw from that and choose differently. They see mommy in a new lights, experience different freedom, and we can have more one-on-one conversations along the way, talking and listening.<br />
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My new name for dinners that fall short of the American ideal of all eating together but emphasize the value of letting the perfect go ( remember, don't let the perfectbe the enemy of the good!), is "cabana nights." Some of my favorite times of my life at my friend's cabana. Why make not turn it from a failure of not timing dinner perfectly to a treasured moment in time?? Why not.<br />
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And don't forget those prayers!from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-75425143008228936242017-05-07T21:19:00.001-04:002017-05-07T21:19:24.040-04:00Made of clay<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; margin-left: 32px;">
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">No family is perfect. I grew up hearing how some families would break apart, brothers not speaking to brothers, families no longer celebrating holidays together, and cousins not growing up together. The older I get, the more I realize how we are each made of clay, and how easily we can be broken. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">We are none of us as tough as we think or may seem. It's easy to hurt someone else's feelings, or to feel offended. It just takes one mean sentence that can cut to the heart because it's family, and we know them well enough to know how.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">I often think of my children and how they will be as they grow older. I try to teach them each good reasoning and sound judgement, love, fairness, and forgiveness. But each must chose their path, how they will conceive of being sister or brother to the other as adults, each with their own passion in life and perhaps their own family to raise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">I've not just heard but witnessed love growing cold as I age. We are all challenged to keep each candle lit, and only we know how to do it. Because love, family, and friendships are life's greatest gifts. And we have to carry each vessel with care.</span></div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-9652298673827509772017-05-07T13:36:00.001-04:002017-05-21T12:22:40.103-04:00Every day is Mother's Day!<br />
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How can something so small, so beautiful, be mine? My two-year-old is so full of life; to the brim as they come. With three older siblings, she's figured out what she wants, and how to get (ahem, demand) it. I don't know if anyone else on earth is as happy as she, because she is perfectly content with life just as it is.<br />
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I think God gives us children to open our eyes and catch a glimpse of the intangible beauty of life. The secrets of pure beauty, beauty as He creates it, that can only be felt or seen if we stop. <br />
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Be still.<br />
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Be present.<br />
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To each passing moment.<br />
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We get to watch, to witness, as they absorb and process, discover and learn to express.<br />
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Each one of my kids has taught and continues to teach me something new. At this moment, I'm relishing in learning what unbridled joy looks like.<br />
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Happy Mother's Day.<br />
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from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-12936011225337958762017-04-13T12:20:00.000-04:002017-04-13T12:20:00.721-04:00It's the most wonderful time of year<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">I know most of you are thinking, "what? Christmas is so far away!" And that season evokes different feelings; feelings of warmth, love, peace, nostalgia, anticipation. I love Easter Sunday, too. After 40 days that have a tinge of clouds cast over them, Easter is all light, color, freshness and sweets.</span><span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">But Holy Week has its own power. Growing up around D.C., there is a strong tradition of attending Holy Week Masses and services. Even in Miami, people understood and appreciated it profoundly. It wasn't until I moved to the west coast of Florida that I realized not everyone had a deep love and appreciation for it. It's wasn't anything negative I sensed. It was more of an ambivalence, which got my thoughts turned toward why I love it so much. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">Holy Week has a sort of hush about it, as if God is inviting us to peek into the mystery of His Love. We step outside of time, we live again the betrayal of friends save his mother and 2 others. We witness the love of a brave woman named Veronica who pushes through the crowd to wipe his stinging face. We feel his absence from our churches when He is removed from all tabernacles on Holy Thursday until he rises to be with us on Easter. The church does a magnificent job in helping us to feel along with our Lord. Because only when we enter in can we understand what our shortcomings and laziness at looking at our lives actually means. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;">Holy Week reminds us that our work is not done, both on the outside in our world, but most importantly, on the inside. If we enter in, we can't fake it. We know what's important in life. And if by chance this year we have gotten off course, we will see it and make some changes. </span></div>
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from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-52570472272916926632017-03-30T10:33:00.001-04:002017-03-30T10:33:01.999-04:00Communicate, please!<br />
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Doesn't it sometimes take you by surprise when you discover you and your spouse aren't communicating well? It's like you fall in love, have some babies, and bam! You're not on the same page. It can be about anything under the sun, from discovering the routines aren't working for anyone to not knowing what is the best way to relax individually and collectively on weekends. ( if you are asking yourself, what? Relax? Is that something I should be doing? Than you really need to read this post . 😜)<br />
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I am going to divert for a moment and sing my praises for God's plan for families. The particular angle I am excited about today is the fact that He uses everyday experiences and struggles to reveal something deep and true about our nature. He's a gentle teacher, like Socrates, anticipating the moment that we, His students, discover something marvelous for ourselves! He doesn't just tell us answers, He leads us along a certain path to discover them for ourselves because, well, it's more of a sudden brilliancy of light for us that way. God has always touched my heart through my mind, because He knows me best, like He knows you best. So hang in there and stay in it with Him so He can help you discover whatever it is you're looking for at the moment.<br />
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So back to the original topic. We find ourselves at a junction when we are at odds with either ourselves, our lives, our spouse, or all three! Many layers can go into this disjointedness, from background to habits to selfishness. Most of it has never been brought to the light of acknowledgement and we carry on making assumptions and feeding the bitter storm inside until we can't even communicate effectively because what comes out are bullets meant to anihillate!<br />
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I think as women we have so many mixed messages of what we should be and it is mostly coming from a source that doesn't know who we are in the first place. Our gifts of understanding people, building relationships, and service doesn't equate with being walked on by husbands and children. Our strength and ability doesn't mean stomping on every man we see in our path and grinding them to dust.<br />
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I can't answer for anyone how to communicate effectively. I do know it involves mutual respect and openness to hear and be heard. It involves believing in yourself and your needs,wants, and dreams as well as listening to your spouse's and working together on making all of those realities, in time. It also involves patience and taking one day at a time, trusting that even when it seems like the sun just won't shine that it will and you will see something you hadn't seen before about life, yourself, your spouse and God Himself.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-33899695991482000042017-03-19T10:17:00.001-04:002017-03-19T10:17:38.345-04:00what's holding you back?Sometimes in life, we are in a holding pattern. We don't know what we want, we feel our limitations all too powerfully, and stay still. Sometimes our health forces us to stay still, quite literally. Sometimes things like finances and priorities take precedence and we need time to take care of these properly before we make a move. But make a move we must, because we can sense that there is just something else out there calling us.<div>
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Everything in our lives brings us to a certain place. Our experiences, talents, and even sufferings have a role in shaping who we become. Who says we stop learning when we finish school? Maybe then is when we are allowed the freedom to really learn who we are. We have the time and space to figure out and then Live our dreams! </div>
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Life is mean to be lived. We are made for dreams. We are made for a beautiful life. And it is up to us to define for ourselves what that means and then live it. </div>
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So wherever you find yourself on your journey today, whether you have a dream and are living it or are in a stage of vague hopes, know that you are worth all of God's love and he doesn't want anything to hold you back.</div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-35768299565928909362017-03-05T12:07:00.001-05:002017-03-05T12:07:48.755-05:00Flo Grown<br />
Everyone likes to knock Florida. 😉I never saw myself living here, either! But my husbands career needed building and we followed the path, leading us here 6 years ago. My eyes have since been opened to the advantages of being "Flo grown."<br />
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My kids love nature. I think all kids do! But when we moved to Florida, I was constantly in awe because of the contrast to my own childhood environment. There is a thickness to the grass here, exotic colors to flowers and birds, and the toughest plants you've ever seen. I never knew leaves could be so thick! Hundreds of birds I had only read about became a part of our daily environment. I have grown to love the intense heat offered by the sun that is so close you can feel his warmth seeping through your skin. He's like a friend. Now I, too, love nature.<br />
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I've seen one of my children tame an iguana for 5 minutes, another calm a wild bird flying around the house so as to catch him, pass him around, and let him go. The bird himself hesitated to leave. They've saved a wild baby rabbit and have grown up with the ocean and gulf as their backdrop. I can't wait until we can grow some fruit trees and let them literally pick the fruits of their own labor.<br />
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Our youngest 2 were born here, and prefer the outdoors to the in. If I could, I would be outside with them all day. It has been so beautiful to see them nurture and love their natural world in the way God must have intended.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-90440254143690088222017-02-11T18:51:00.001-05:002017-02-11T18:51:29.045-05:00Shout out!Hi<br />
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I just want to thank you for stopping in and being on this journey with me. I hope in time you'll introduce yourself to me and the other readers, because we share a common interest in seeking meaning and purpose and understanding. I love to write to encourage others because we all need that. And your visits encourage me to continue doing what I love. So thanks and may your journey be blessed.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-91738187070340430902017-02-09T09:35:00.000-05:002017-02-09T09:35:16.447-05:00SuccessRelating to a recent post, what is success to you? Is it something you can put in words, or is it a vague notion of professional accomplishments and material accumulation? That sounds shallow but this isn't a place for judgement, but honest exploration. Maybe it's your children holding good jobs and happy marriages? Maybe it's peace and harmony in the home?<br />
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Maybe we'll take some of each? 😆<br />
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Our idea of success, Whether vague or clear, is often something given to us, not original to ourselves. That isn't always a bad thing. Let's look at the origin of these notions.<br />
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Professional acumen can be the result of hard work, sound education, and good interpersonal skills. All good things.<br />
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The money that flows in from your career buys the things needed for both you and your family. Another good thing.<br />
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Peace and harmony in relationships means personal, tailored attention is given to each person we care to give it to. Hopefully those are the people we live with. A wonderful thing.<br />
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So, society's definition of success has good roots. The roots are in human virtue and self-giving. It all seems so clear and easy in writing! But life's not like that. There is so much we can't control, most of whom are people! And wrenches can be thrown in our best laid plans.<br />
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And maybe our plans start to control us. This is when we get caught at work until late in the evening, every evening, to get the money to buy more of what would be nice but we don't truly need. When the perfection of the house takes precedence over the people we've created it for, including ourselves. When we are so busy we forget to listen, share, and play. When we don't pray.<br />
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My friends, it's time to regroup and define success for ourselves. Because it just may be something that hasn't occurred to us yet.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-60415881986737717402017-02-07T12:20:00.004-05:002017-02-07T12:20:34.907-05:00Trust<br />
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We all know there is no relationship without trust. No marriage could begin or last without it. No friendship, either.<br />
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And yet, how much do we trust God?<br />
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I've heard it said that God trusts us with the children He gives us. He trusts us a lot! Or you could even say a child is a sign of His trust; that we can do it, that we will put our intelligence and will at the service of these little ones, helping them solve their problems and forming them well. It's a learning process, but He trusts us nonetheless.<br />
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My question today is how much do we trust God with our loved ones? Yes, we know we will do everything in our power to help one of our kids if they are going through a difficult time. We will support our spouse, parents, friends likewise. But what if it takes too long in our eyes? We don't see the needed internal or external change that would issue relief or happiness once again?<br />
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We need to not only trust God with our loved ones, we need to tell Him we do. There is a power in saying it, maybe because we really don't want to say it, because saying it means something. It means we can let go. Yes, we listen, we love, we do all we can. But God is ultimately in charge and allows them and us to go through things and it must be for something better.<br />
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When we trust Him, our relationship begins. Because we all know that without it, there is none. Truly trusting Him just might make all the difference in taking that next leap of Faith.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-16487084302430300962017-01-25T16:36:00.002-05:002017-01-25T16:36:17.614-05:00Making an impression<br />
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We grow up learning how to walk, talk, eat, write and speak in order not exclude ourselves from certain opportunities and to get a good job; in a word, to make a <i>good</i> <i>impression</i>. But to what end? What for?<br />
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There is a woman who has come into my life as my house cleaner. She was always good at her work and a huge help with the load of laundry that has my name on it. But not until recently did I grasp the impression she has quietly made upon me.<br />
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Sometimes I wish I could harken back to the time when everyone had less and expected less. Some of my favorite memories are from visiting my grandma in her magical little farmhouse in her quiet town in minnesota. Her life was simple yet filled to the brim with small joys and purpose. At 95, to everyone she meets her warmth, enthusiasm and zest <i>still</i> makes an impression.<br />
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This weekend I visited a Latin American art exhibit in St. Petersburg and saw a replica of someone's bare essentials kitchen of their childhood home. They were celebrating it. Were they taught the necessity of making a good impression? What for?Life was good then.<br />
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It made an impression.<br />
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You see, I have no idea where my house helper lives or what she has in terms of material possessions. My house-helper likes her work. She knows she helps me and she is happy knowing this. She has her hobbies, her work, her home.<br />
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She has made an impression.<br />
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Don't get me wrong. Culturally we value things that are good. There is value in doing your best, having good posture and manners and to be able to communicate effectively. You just have to figure out <i>what</i> <i>for</i>.<br />
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from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-15721736308965831512017-01-08T10:13:00.003-05:002017-01-08T10:13:32.266-05:00Why? St. Teresa of Avila said, " Dear Lord, if this is how you treat Your friends, it's no wonder You have so few," as she was bucked from her horse while on her way to one of her monasteries. <br />
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Do you ever feel that following God is too demanding? More than you thought it could be or should be? Shouldn't life following God be sweet?</div>
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It's hard to explain to a looker on the maxim "by the grace of God go I." If life is so hard, why not chose an easier route? It is yours for the choosing. But we each have our own path God has called us to walk, and we recognize the light on our path and know there really is no other option than to follow. It's like a magnet drawing us on. </div>
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But what makes it so hard? Why does following Jesus have to be so hard? Maybe it's because we care too much what happens to us. We want to be seen in a certain way, we want certain creature comforts to make us feel important, we want general admiration. We want to relax, take it easy, and really just have no worries but what pleases us. Too much responsibility really cramps our style! All of this leads to the conclusion that we still think we know what will make us happy and don't live the Faith of a true child that lives happily in His Father's house. If we do, we can thank the people who have shown us how, who have made it easy, and thank God for that mega grace. </div>
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Don't get me wrong. There are noble parts in our soul, or we wouldn't be following the path. And these noble parts keep us trudging, thank God! And there are great and unexpected joys as well, joys that we wouldn't have otherwise known even existed if we didn't follow the path God set for us. But the crosses are entwined along the road and are just as much a part of our reality. </div>
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Let's pause to reflect upon them, because that is our gripe this morning. "Dear Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few(!)" </div>
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Our crosses carry out an inner purification that slowly set us free, inch by inch on that journey. And set others at a quicker pace if we bear some of our load for them, or even bear their load for a bit. And then we can all start to smile more as we see into the heart and true, spiritual successes of our friends, knowing we are getting on in the journey, peering into the water jug inside of us that is being cleansed from murky water and so, capable of holding more and more of the Living Water. </div>
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We are friends with God. Let's not forget it for a moment. And God didn't just skate by in life. So "carry" on, and live more freely and fully in His house. </div>
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from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-69717460465217962652016-12-27T11:36:00.004-05:002016-12-27T11:36:58.980-05:00Heavenly Peace please!<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">This Christmas, take time with the Baby. Maybe we have a baby and we know what that means.. How a baby makes everything else halt. Time has to stand still, and the baby needs his mama. He needs </span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">24/7</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"> care. He invites us to rest and love and be present. We smell his aroma, our hearts fill with love when we feel his soft pure skin against ours. At least, that is what he invites us to. </span><br />
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So often, we are Martha. I think that's why the story is written for us. We are busy because there just IS so much for us to do! Even through the parable Jesus tells us the work will always be there. At Christmas we are reminded of his real wish-Just be with me. Hold me in your arms and let me rest awhile there. I loving you, you loving me. I as the baby, you as the mother, or father, or sister or brother. </div>
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Why would you come as a baby, Lord? Because babies come first. Everything else is secondary, and serve the baby's life and happiness. People always come</div>
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First, starting with the God-baby, and that time is not stolen from the real life you live. It IS the life. Advent is the beginning of the new year. It puts our resolution before our eyes and presents him in a manger. </div>
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What can we eliminate? What, besides our vanity and pride, can we give less importance to so we can make time to hold the Baby? And the babies and children and spouse and friends we are given? </div>
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St. John Paul 2 wrote we live in relatio, we live in relationship to one another and that the relationship we hold with each is vastly key to who we are. Too often, that human contact is lost. Are we being wife, mother, child, sister? Too often, work, whatever work it is, be it the work of a CEO or the work of the home, or both(!), takes first place in defining our lives, how we see ourselves and live with others. Christmas invites us to live in relatio once again. How can we be at peace in our souls if we can't take time to hold the Child, holding him as he sleeps in heavenly peace? </div>
from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-11343333201018286812016-04-26T08:14:00.001-04:002016-04-26T08:14:57.910-04:00the enemy of the good<br />
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<a class="link" href="http://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/g2629/why-fall-is-better-in-the-country/?slide=1" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><div class="gallery-arrow gallery-prev-arrow prev-arrow" data-tracking-id="gallery-gallery-prev-arrow prev-arrow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); bottom: 10%; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: table; font-size: 24px; height: 100px; position: absolute; width: 50px; z-index: 1;">
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23 REASONS FALL IS BETTER IN THE COUNTRY</div>
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VIEW GALLERY</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit;">11</span> <span class="view-gallery--total-subtext" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #3d4545; font-family: Didot-eTextW01-Italic, Times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1;">Photos</span></div>
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Your cooking space is about to feel twice as big.</div>
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<span class="content-source--label" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.6;">From: </span><a class="content-source--link" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/g2776/hidden-kitchen-storage-space/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6eb6da; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.6; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;">Good Housekeeping </a></div>
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<img alt="This idea is a two-for-one: Not only does it use up wasted space, but it also serves as a drying rack for pots and pans. Hang and let them drip dry after you wash them.
See more at Farm Fresh Therapy »
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ABOVE YOUR SINK</h3>
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This idea is a two-for-one: Not only does it use up wasted space, but it also serves as a drying rack for pots and pans. Hang and let them drip dry after you wash them.</div>
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<a href="http://www.farmfreshtherapy.com/blog/home-tour-kitchen" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1889c1; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" target="_blank"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">See more at Farm Fresh Therapy »</em></a></div>
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<img alt="Keep food magazines on hand (without letting 'em mill about or months like they probably do now) by installing a holder on the side cabinets or island. This area is too low to store items you use regularly, but is great items that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle.
See more at White Tulip Designs »
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<span class="gallery-position-data gallery-current" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: BrandonGrot, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3125rem; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; vertical-align: middle;">02</span> <span class="gallery-position-data gallery-position-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: BrandonGrot, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1; padding-bottom: 2px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle;">OF</span> <span class="gallery-position-data gallery-total" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: BrandonGrot, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3125rem; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; vertical-align: middle;">11</span></div>
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THE SIDES OF LOWER CABINETS</h3>
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Keep food magazines on hand (without letting 'em mill about or months like they probably do now) by installing a holder on the side cabinets or island. This area is too low to store items you use regularly, but is great items that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="http://www.whitetulipdesigns.com/wasted-spaces/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1889c1; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" target="_blank">See more at White Tulip Designs »</a></em><a href="http://www.whitetulipdesigns.com/wasted-spaces/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1889c1; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;" target="_blank"></a></div>
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<img alt="The key here is making sure you install the shelves high enough so items like cooking utensils or spices can still fit below them. If you hang a shelf in the sweet spot, you'll double the storage space under your upper cabinets.
See more at The House Diaries »
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<br />
<br />
(housebeautiful.com)<br />
<br />
The good of what, exactly? Well, to answer that, I have to go back in time a little to when I was in college and was required to take 4 classes in Philosophy, something I wasn't even remotely interested in. Picture a basset hound who is sleeping lazily on a porch on a hot day and whose ears and head remain lazily down even at the arrival of its master. But this requirement was a brilliant move by my college and one of the top few things I am profoundly grateful for in my life. Through philosophy, my soul was awakened and the curtains of my mind were thrown open, and light came flooding in, the dust particles slowly floating away. Crazy? Well, the truth is sometimes crazy.<br />
<br />
I in no way claim to be a professional philosopher, just a lover of the quest. So please excuse any rough edges as I try to explain "the good." When talking about "the good," the good of the ( and therefore ANY) human person is what is meant. What a lofty claim! How can anyone say there is a good? That is an argument for a different day. But, I like to picture it as man freed, walking briskly, happily, contentedly, knowing he is on the right path, knowing where he is going, and so, doing what he ought, and happy about it. No barriers exist, not even external obstacles, because those are not road blocks, but merely meant to be hoped over through virtue. These bumps in no way affect his happiness or his goal. Now, this also means that the right path doesn't lead to anything tangible or material. Because those things can be taken away, but rather, the person's flight toward virtue. I've done my best this morning.<br />
<br />
Lets bring this thing down back to reality, shall we?<br />
<br />
I get overwhelmed sometimes. ( With 5 kids... <i>REALLY</i>? :) I wish I could get my house organized in a timely fashion, meet every need for myself and those in my life. But it isn't possible. It's overall possible, but not when broken down into the minutiae that is our life. Yesterday morning, I was desperate to get the dishes out of the sink but I first needed to empty the dishwasher. I also have my toddler and 2 month old hanging out with me all day, so I can't always get to things as quickly as I would like. But that is where I realized I could actually celebrate emptying the dishwasher <i>in part</i>. I couldn't do the whole thing just then. But, I could work toward my goal and actually feel good about it. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." - St. Josemaria Escriva<br />
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So next time you want things to be different or think you or someone else could be better, you of course are right. We all can be better and we all can work toward the better. But, we can also celebrate the smallest step in moving toward it when "the better" is a long time coming.<br />
<br />
<br />from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com104tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-48286019467070685132016-03-26T10:34:00.000-04:002016-03-26T10:34:14.589-04:00Multiplied<br />
<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwi5_a25yN7LAhVLGB4KHT_7CRAQjRwIBw" href="http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/11/mops-and-brooms.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img class="irc_mi" height="427" src="http://www.howwemontessori.com/.a/6a0147e1d4f40f970b017c334b4fb8970b-800wi" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 12px;" width="640" /></a><br />
(howwemontessori.com)<br />
<br />
I think its safe to say most people are afraid of having a lot of kids.. Or even one! I think the fear is natural. The responsibility increases, the sleep decreases. The duties increase, the time in which to do them decreases.... or does it?<br />
<br />
Yesterday, as I sat in my messy house ( the kids are home for spring break and let's not forget I have a newborn!), I hear some commotion in the main room. In Florida, most of the houses are completely open and are one level so you can see/hear pretty much everything from everywhere. So, back to my story. I found my daughter hard at work, bucket of soppy water near by and mop in hand. Yep. She was slowly making her way throughout the entire living area ( remember, open floor plan, so a relatively large space) mopping the floor, sweeping up particles, and drying it!!! I asked her why she was doing this, and she said, "the floors were dirty." Keep in mind this is not one of her chores and I've never sat down and taught her how to do it. As she went along, I had a few tweaks to make, careful not to destroy the moment or her spirit. And just like that, my floors were gleaming.<br />
<br />
"Heaven, I'm in heaven.." - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1Fkc1EdY8">eva cassidy </a><br />
<br />
It struck me for the first time since we started our family 11 years ago; <i>My time is actually multiplied</i> with my children, not diminished. My kids, although completely their own persons, are extensions of me in some mystical way and I literally don't have to do everything MYSELF. I can hear the music...<br />
<br />
So, when we feel afraid of what we think God may be suggesting to us, remember "seek ( Me; your true self; the truth of your life) and ye <i>shall</i> find," even if it takes 11 years.<br />
<br />from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-24492109385434016292016-03-20T09:32:00.001-04:002016-03-20T09:32:07.090-04:00the stuff of love<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">They say "family i</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">s the school of love." I've often wondered what that means, exactly, and have thought I could explain it in a few words when necessary. Having just had our 5th, with all </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">of the beauty, blessings, demands, and struggles a large family brings with it, it makes me reflect anew on what I am seeing and understanding about our family and how, exactly, it is a school of love. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Each time our family grows, it e</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">volves, it changes, and I am given more glimpses into what love Is.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I no longer think I can put it into a trite statement, although the Gospel</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">puts it best, to no surprise- love is to give of ones life for a friend. But so much is packed into that word <i>life</i>, it</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">takes a <i>lifetime</i> to unpack.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I will share a moment of love I had the luck of witnessing this morning between my 1 and 6 year old. He ( 6 year old) was watching tv ( after 10 years we finally </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">got one again) and she ( 1 year old) was tinkering next to him. She pulled his pj shirt down over his belly. He didn't notice/care. She pulled it back up a</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">nd gave him raspberries. This, of course, caught his attention and they had a happy moment together with smiles and an exchange. It was but a few minutes when was over. It was simple. But it was perfection.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" /></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Love my one year old feeling so free to interact with another, even touching him, without giving it a thought, but knowing she could, because in some sense, he belongs to her, and with him, she in her entirety is safe. Love is my six year old not caring if his toddler sister stops by to engage him, even when he is preoccupied with something else. It is appreciating the gift that comes with a mutual affection. And all of this is the most natural thing in the world, that its not even given a thought.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Natural, too, is the fighting over the bag of chips that quickly followed. Because only with your sibling can you feel so free as to express your emotions, because underlying it all, again without consciousness of it, this person is with you on this journey, and it is taken as an expected truth ( and in time needs to be learned not to be taken for granted).</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">here is so much to the family b</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">eing a school of love. Today I got to peek through a window in the schoolhouse... And my love for order and conclusion would love to categorize it and say I know what it is I am providing each day and moment, along with my husband and children, who, after all, have their own part to contribute. But love is not exact, nor ever complete. Because love is infinite, and I have a lifetime to discover more of and bask in its radiance.</span></span>from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-60379495020486866522015-10-03T09:49:00.001-04:002015-10-03T09:49:13.867-04:00aging gracefullyIs it possible? I wonder when I am 60 if it will be easy to look 60. I am in my thirties and expecting my 5th. It shows.<br />
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<a href="" style="color: #222222; font-family: Lato, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="Varicose Veins on back of Woman's Legs" class="slide_image" height="335" id="slide_image3" name="slide_image3" src="http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/articles/health_tools/spider_varicose_veins_slideshow/photolibrary_rm_photo_of_varicose_veins_on_womans_legs.jpg" style="border: none; margin-top: 66px;" width="493" /></a><br />
<a href="" style="color: #222222; font-family: Lato, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: 0px; text-align: center;">(webmd.com)</a><br />
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<br />
I always thought I would be ok with aging. It doesn't make rational sense not to be, after all. But even with some of the negative consequences, the choices I've made have had many positive consequences that more firmly set me on the path I have chosen. My legs are still strong, but one is now tie-dyed purple. Some moms see me coming with my four kids and after polite conversation and ready to escape my chaotic existence. I can't keep up with fashion because I have to keep up with the bills. But none of this makes me sad.<br />
<br />
In fact, I am very very happy. Maybe happy is not the word. Maybe content is the word. I am growing more into who I am, with my feet more firmly placed on the ground. I am making real, true friendships with women I admire and who see something in me as well. My kids make me look at how I can be a better person each day. And they make me laugh watching them enjoy each other in what a doctor admiringly called "the truly creative process."<br />
<br />
So my house is a long way from where I'd like it to be, the messy chaos showing children at work/play; you'll often find us running/driving through the neighborhood looking for my dog that gleefully escapes through an slightly opened door; I'll never finish putting the laundry away. But I am living the life I have always dreamed. It looks different on the outside than I thought it would, but its what's on the inside that <i>really</i> matters.from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-80749721134184817182015-09-15T09:23:00.000-04:002015-09-15T09:23:21.910-04:00celebrating life as it is<a class="paddedPinLink" data-element-type="35" href="http://www.lovelylife.se/seventeendoors/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: #f8f8f8; color: #717171; display: block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3', 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro', メイリオ, Meiryo, 'MS Pゴシック', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></a><br />
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( via pinterest)<br />
<br />
There are so many beautiful images out there aren't there? Between blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram ( which I am too lazy to try to get into), we are bombarded by inspiration from other people's life. Or is it really?<br />
<br />
I read one of my daily blogs this am and she admitted she wished her life looked like the images she posted for the day. What's funny is that her life DOES look like those images, at least to those of us not living it.<br />
<br />
So that, my friends, is the "danger" of beautiful images. We are indeed inspired by beauty, so that is the good side. But the down side is that we can also turn on our present lives because it doesn't always look like a fabulous image snapped in 10 seconds. And that is where we are no longer inspired by beauty but are jealous of it.<br />
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Have a fabulous day!<br />
<br />from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-28502818447644848022015-08-19T10:01:00.001-04:002015-08-19T10:01:29.332-04:00on beauty<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRxqFQoTCLDnpuumtccCFQjMgAodwBQM4g" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCLDnpuumtccCFQjMgAodwBQM4g&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peaceloveanddecorating.com%2Fgolden-fox-fashionista-vest.html%3Ffeed%3DFroogle&ei=fIvUVbC5M4iYgwTAqbCQDg&bvm=bv.99804247,d.eXY&psig=AFQjCNHezR-w68HWD6guPiRGiExQEAp1Tg&ust=1440079091303206" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="417" src="http://www.peaceloveanddecorating.com/resize/images/brands/fabulous-furs/golden-fashionista-vest.jpg?lr=t&bw=1000&w=1000&bh=1000&h=1000" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="417" /></a><br />
(peaceloveanddecorating.com)<br />
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<img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82UvP_Crfre782XqDntOqZvVcmDF9SH3DjqbG4hDiZeugl-fFtNgygyyJqYuNvI14D9WxX0rB69g4Rc4x1-6MHdidpaMVGBgfgVD2g6yHtmBcx8eyQGjsVmPS7wIrmlZOIyd3NsVe6BvM/s1600/DSC_0757.JPG" style="color: #666666; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 582px; line-height: 0px; outline: rgb(0, 0, 0) solid 1px; position: relative; text-align: center; width: 389px;" /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(adiaryofovely.blogspot.com) - love her!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Beauty is an attitude. And not the kind of attitude that says, "I'm awesome, I'm beautiful, look at</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Me, don't you wish you were me?" The kind of attitude that culturally speaking, most American women are conditioned to think of as beauty. </span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In contrast, when I say beauty is an attitude, the attitude is one of loving yourself as you are. And stepping out with confidence that comes from this. Knowing you have great traits,<b> n</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>ot just seeing the flaws</b>, and getting ready, liking what you see, and forgetting about it. I see this kind of beauty daily and it is so much more striking and attractive than perfect stylists. These women are not the ones with "perfect" faces and bodies. But they are beautiful, nonetheless, because they accept themselves. The Spanish are particularly good at this. I wish I could put a finger on what it is about their culture that makes this so wide spread. This kind of attitude is intangible, but oh so real and palpable.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So, figure out what holds you back from having an attitude of knowing you are beautiful, strike it down, and get down with your bad self.</span>from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6944498458934770655.post-68585403709994069552015-05-28T17:48:00.004-04:002015-05-28T17:48:53.601-04:00summer musings<a class="irc_mil" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://lastchildinthewoodsedpsych.blogspot.com/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="375" src="http://www.fectio.org.uk/shows/heemskerk2007_12.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 117px;" width="500" /></a><br />
lastchildinthewoodsedpsych.blogspot.com<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">How much free time is too much free time? I know there is a push back against over-scheduling in the states. I try to be open-minded about ideas with parenting as long as they don't outright offend my beliefs and values. And this is one of those gray areas. Now that summer is upon me with the kids at home ( camp is $$$ for 3 camp-aged kids) for the most part, I have to reevaluate my game plan.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I've had summers past where besides fixed activities, I've let the kids have hours of free time. Living in an apartment and without the free use o</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">f space that would greatly complement this philosophy, these times always ended up in a chaotic environment and fighting. It was hard to shift gears, clean up, and go anywhere! That was frustrating, to say the least.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Limiting technological play ( doesn't that always make your kids cranky, anyway?!) already lends itself to more</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">creative endeavors. And while I can't say I will have a strict schedule because I can't function that way with a baby who is on the verge of walking, I will embrace some sort of discipline this summer. Here's why:</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I read somewhere way back that order is the first virtue. And that it safeguards against impurity. I don't have a fear of impurity at the moment for my kids. Although some of you may have. It's a very real struggle now days with easy access. All the more reason to think on these things! But I can see where having responsibilities in life and having to care for your things- your room, your clothes, your siblings, makes life simple and clear. There isn't a black hole of time that is all for ME, MINE OWN, and therefore, what will please me and give me the most pleasure? As in anything, <b>both virtue and vice grow according to how much it is fed</b>! And pleasures become boring and we find ourselves pursuing more and more until we put our toes in dangerous water. Maybe we don't even know it's dangerous water at that point. The whole slippery slope thing. ( see <i>Screwtape Letter</i>s by c s Lewis for more on this) It happens to adults all the time, why not to kids? And besides, childhood should</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">have some foreshadowing of adulthood so that its not completely separate, and shunned and rejected when it comes, ahem, current culture.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It sounds like a tirade, I know. But it's really not. It's spending time in silence, contemplating reality as the philosopher Joseph Pieper puts it, so as to be prudent, or right judging.</span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And part of prudence is realizing where I need help. And I do need help! Excuse me while I go and call my babysitter to see if she can help me in the morning! ;)</span></span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br />
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<a class="irc_mil" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-kids-cleaning-room-image23494290" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="450" src="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/kids-cleaning-room-using-vacuum-cleaner-23385465.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 80px;" width="298" /></a><br />
dreamstime.com<br />
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<a class="irc_mil" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mo-seetubtim/how-to-raise-your-kids-to_b_6160422.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="320" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2162078/images/o-KIDS-READING-facebook.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 47px;" width="640" /></a><br />
huffingtonpost.com<br />
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<br />from Katie-http://www.blogger.com/profile/13389599146621586179noreply@blogger.com0