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Monday, July 1, 2013

Exciting things going on in the world

First of all, I'm so proud of my sister Lillian ... she was named one of the top 30 conservatives under 30!!! If you haven't yet, please take a moment to check out her work and where her fiance works—those organizations offer some great resources. Also, if you click through to read her interview, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I thought her remarks were brilliant! (No bias, of course!)

Did you hear? Papa Francis is publishing his first encyclical this Friday!!! My immediate reaction when Frank sent me that article was something like, "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Are you as excited as I am? :)

Finally, in case you're interested, here are a few little photos from around the apartment. These are just the parts I've managed to get cleaned up... there's still a decent amount of unpacking and settling in to be done.


Almost everything in our kitchen was a wedding gift, and one of my favorite things about our home is how using anything reminds me of the dear person who gave it to us. There's something so sweet and special about it.

I think of Theresa when I use my floral teacups, of Helen and Mary when I pull out my tablecloth, of Serena when I use my latte bowls, and of Claire when we eat off our animal plates. The espresso maker brings to mind my Abuela, the Vitamix blender was a gift from my Grandma, and every time I use my Kitchenaid I think of Frank's parents who gave it to us for Christmas. And so, so many others. More than I can name. As I think of each beloved person, I try to say a little prayer for them too.

 ^^This is a dinner Frank made last week. He is spending the summer studying for the bar exam full-time, and sometimes he takes a study break to make dinner before I get home from work. I love that. :)

^^Can you see our icon wall back there? Frank loves icons more than any other religious art, and his collection is so beautiful that I couldn't say no when he wanted to prominently display it next to our front door. I think icon walls are getting to be quite the trend... I loved this picture of Martha's. The funny thing is, this isn't even Frank's whole collection. He has three or four more that are still in storage. I tease him about being a bit obsessed.

How was your weekend? We  enjoyed dinner with our good friends Anna and John last night and went to a Sox game on Saturday. Thank you to everyone who gave me advice about baseball! Frank bought me a score book, and keeping score has been a huge help. We're both really enjoying my process of learning this sport. However, before you get too impressed, you should know that I took a "cheat sheet" with me to the game... and the first thing written on it was, "Runs, not points." So I still have a ways to go!

16 comments:

  1. Your new home looks so pretty! My mum has an icon wall next to our front door, too. :)

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  2. Wow! Exciting happenings! The home is looking lovely! I love icons as well. I'd love to take a class on painting them someday :)

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  3. How sweet that you pray for each of your special friends and family members when you use their wedding gift to you. That's adorable. Also, you and Frank seem like such sweet newlyweds! It makes me smile to read how happy you are! :))

    Going to click over to your sisters interview now...

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  4. Replies
    1. Thanks, Haley! It's always great when sacramentals can double as home art. :)

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  5. Love your Cath Kidston tea cups!! I have the blue one and some side plates by her. They put a smile one my face every time I use them!

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  6. Love the icon wall, we have a wall of crucifix's in our apartment:)

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  7. First your kitchen is super cute! I'm a sucker for mugs and plates on walls! Also I love the icon wall. I need to do that somewhere in our house. I love them too and have a ton but most of them aren't up. I think I have a new weekend project ;-)

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    1. Thanks, Mary Helen! Oh man, that sounds great—I love the way it looks myself. Let me know if you do it, I'd love to see pictures!

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  8. I just found your blog and had to tell you that I love it! I actually got married May 24th and we also honeymooned in Rome! It is so fun to read about someone else going through the same things I am right now (including using a KitchenAid for the first time!). I read that you were going to get a newlywed blessing in Rome- were you able to do that? We went to the one on June 5th- it would be too funny if we were at the same one. :) Thank you for your beautiful blog!

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    1. Ah, that's great! We're wedding twins! Yes, we were able to get the papal blessing, and thank you for the reminder that I need to post about that. :) But we went on May 28, so sadly we just missed you. So glad to have you reading!

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  9. We're you and Frank at St. John Cantius this weekend? I looked and looked after Mass (we even took advantage of the Dunkin Donuts fundraiser too) and I wanted to say hello! My husband and I and our kiddos usually attend Mass at 11AM so I was hoping you would come back again. The story of how I found your blog and how much we have in common is too lengthy to write here, so I hope we bump into you guys soon! Until then, God bless you both in your new marriage and new home!

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    1. Michelle, oh my gosh, I'm so sad I didn't get to meet you! Funny/tragic story about Sunday: Frank and I made plans to meet my family at the earlier Mass, but when we got to church, we realized the Mass started at 9 am, not 9:30 as we had thought. So we went to a different church instead. This Sunday, we'll most likely be out of town visiting friends in South Bend, but I would LOVE to meet you. Hopefully we can either make plans to hang out, or see each other at Mass soon!

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  10. WHERE did Frank get the Holy Family icon?? My parents have it and I love it. My mom confessed to trying to find it for me but not be able to. Does Frank have any suggestions for where I could nab one? I love it so! (and of course my wall needs another icon ... :)

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    1. Hi Martha!

      I'm so glad you share my love of icons! I actually got the Holy Family icon in Rome at le catacombe di San Callisto while we were on our Honeymoon - however, you can get the exact one from this website: http://www.easterngiftshop.com/orthodox-icons-of-the-saints/orthodox-holy-family-icon--IcSHolyFam2.html

      That site has lots of great icons as well as the Holy Transfiguration Monastery store website: http://www.bostonmonks.com/index.php

      Hope that helps!

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