Little Happies -- Holidays, Henna, Hot Peppers (and a Little Bit of Fashion Too)

Hello, friends! And welcome back to Little Happies, the link-up in which we share all the little joys of life.

This week's Happies are brought to you by a modge podge of happy!

--one--

Pediatricians dress up as Mario characters and win the hearts of all their patients. 

(That's what the headlines would read if this one went viral.)

Above you see my husband and his team of residents dressed up for Halloween. Pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And he said rounds took foreverrrrr because all their patients and patients' families wanted group pics with all of them. How adorable!

But seriously, my husband's Wario mustache cracks me up most of all. 

--two--

Remember how I mentioned that Pumpkin Patch fundraiser a few weeks ago?

Well, PRAISE GOD, it's finally done! That means my hours will be shorter again, I won't have to work every stinkin' day of the week, AND I've got a successful fundraiser behind me. The teens raised lots of moolah for our youth group summer mission trip, so I'm super pumped about that. It makes it all worth it. But oof, that was a lonnnng month of work!

Here's what makes this one a Little Happy. We cleaned up the patch and moved out all the extra pumpkins this past weekend. I had a handful of teens show up to help and thank goodness for them! They made the work very easy on me. We also found ways to make the work fun, including moving the pumpkins into a giant pile by bowling them across the grass. And though there aren't goalies in bowling, we also had a teen goalie-ing and blocking the pumpkins / direction poorly bowled pumpkins into the pile. It made me smile. :)

--three--

Henna!

Once a year, Memphis has an India Fest that we just have to go to. All the food, the dancing, artwork, and shops... it's always a fun time. I also splurge a little every year and get a henna tattoo. The artist draws on your skin with a thick lavender-scented paste which dries within 30 minutes. After 6 hours, you remove the dried paste and what remains is a really beautifully designed tattoo that lasts about 2 weeks. I'm definitely not a permanent tattoo kinda gal, so this is perfect for me. Plus, they're always so pretty! I can't help but stare at my hand all the time until it fades. 

--four--

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Ok, so I know I'm mega-early on this one, but I decided to have a Thanksgiving feast at youth group last night and the teens loved it. Look at all the tasty food! I was in charge of the turkey, so obviously that meant calling up the nearest BBQ joint and ordering several pounds of sliced, smoked turkey. To be honest, I'm not usually a big fan of Thanksgiving turkey, but this smoked turkey was amazing. And easy. Win-win!

The reason for the early celebration was so that I could chat with the teens about making the whole month of November a month of giving thanks. We created little Thanksgiving bags so they could remember to write one thing they're thankful for each day, place it in the bag, and then hopefully include it in their prayers before bed. It's easy to remember to ask for things in prayer, not as easy to remember to thank, especially at that age. So, hopefully the bags will encourage them to offer prayers of thanksgiving more often. 

But if not, at least the food was good. :P

--five--

Stitch Fix part 8.

Eek! I can't believe I'm on my 8th fix! 

This time around, they sent me a maternity dress, cowl neck seater, maternity leggings, blue blouse, and heavy cardigan. 

The dress was cute, but already super tight around the chest and hips, so I figured it wasn't a good idea for a woman who's about to get BIGGER all around. Also, you might think that's a baby bump you see, but it's just the stripes on the dress and the ruching of the material that give the illusion of a bump. Still no bump here. 

The oversized cowl neck sweater was almost a keeper, but at the last second (seriously, minutes before sealing the bag of clothes to be sent back) I noticed the bottom of the sweater had an uneven hemline. Can you see it in the pic? Right in the middle of the sweater, the two panels don't match up. Perhaps it's part of the design, but it really bugged me as soon as I noticed it. Sayonara sweater!

The maternity leggings are AWESOME. Super high quality material and plenty of room for a big belly. Kept.

The blue blouse is hard to make out in the pic, but it had ruffles and a criss-cross tie up the front, plus cuffed sleeves, so it totally looked like a pirate shirt. Bummer, because it definitely had potential.

And finally, the heavy cardigan. It was way too big and bulky. Plus, John said it looked like the color puke. 

And that was that! I kept the leggings and am very happy with that decision. :) Also, overall I reeeeally liked this fix. The only thing stopping me from buying more was that things didn't quite fit right. Oh, and that one item had the asymmetric hemline. But I definitely think they have my style figured out now. Wahoo! Next one arrives in mid-December.

--six--

These musicians impress me so much. You've gotta watch all the way to the end though. Now that's dedication!


And that's all for this week, folks! Hope you have a happy one. Catch ya next time. :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Little Happies -- It's Good to be Catholic

Hey there, friends! And welcome back to Little Happies, the happiest little link-up on the planet. Proven* to be happier than an antelope with night-vision goggles. So sit back, relax, maybe write a Little Happies post of your own, link-up, and enjoy!

*But not actually proven.

So, I'm currently in Johnson City visiting in-laws with the husband. But that didn't stop me from prepping this a few days ago. I reflected a bit on some of the little joys of the faith and came up with this special list for ya. So, this week's Happies are brought to you by Catholicism. What's not to love?

--one--

This song.

Have you heard of PJ Anderson yet? He's relatively new to the scene, Catholic, living in Nashville, and totally rocking at writing beautiful, holy music. This one's a favorite of mine, especially for Adoration. The often repeated line, "It is you, it is you, it is you that my heart wants," is exactly what I need to say more often to Jesus.

--two--

It's only in the past few years that I've come to know and love Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. 

You've heard of him right? 

He was an American Archbishop known for his very relatable preaching and his work on radio and television. If you've never seen him in action, I'd recommend heading over to youtube right now and just watching a few of his old recordings. Prepare to be sucked in.

Recently, I was reading this article that popped up in my facebook newsfeed, "The Curse of Broadmindedness" and was finding myself nodding in agreement through the whole dang thing. What a perfect reflection on our need to stop all this "to be intolerant is to be un-loving" nonsense, on our need to be "tolerant of people but intolerant of ideas," on our need to escape the "curse of broadmindedness" in our world today. I was thrilled to see a Catholic author -- who I assumed was just some young, spry thing, maybe writing this for a grad school class or something -- really attack these modern-day issues. So I honestly had a pretty good laugh when I discovered, after having read/skimmed the whole thing, that the author was actually Ven. Fulton J. Sheen. BOOM. The Sheenanator strikes again. (And don't ask me how his picture and name at the top of the article didn't catch my attention before I read it. I somehow just missed the obvious on that one.) How did he write something way back in 1932 that is still so relevant today? I suppose it's because broadmindedness is not a new issue, but I was still shocked by how his reflections still resonate with us in the present day. He truly was a great man.

That was a big buildup for the actual Little Happy here. While I pretty much love everything the man ever said, my favorite Ven. Fulton J. Sheen quote is:

"Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn." 

:)

--three--

Then there was this kinda weird but definitely fun BuzzFeed quiz:

Who Should Be Your Patron Saint?

I got St. Juliana of Nicodemia, who was secretly Christian and when her parents tried to force her to marry a pagan man, she said no and they killed her. But before they did, she spat at Satan and poured molten lead on her torturers. Then her fiance got eaten by a lion. Ummm... WHAT?!? This is supposed to be my patron saint? What does that even mean? Ha!

Alright, now it's your turn! Take the quiz and tell me who you get! Hopefully their story will be a little cray like St. Juliana's and we can all laugh at who our patron saints should actually be, according to BuzzFeed anyway. 

--four--

The Catholic faith also gives us C. S. Lewis, who wrote the above quote and made me feel a bit better about some of my suffering. Thanks, C. S.!

--five--

And finally, you know what else is really neat about our faith? It's universal.

No, literally, the word "Catholic" means "universal"!


While I realize that's no Little thing, there are just a few Little Happy things that spring from it:

The fact that I can enter a Catholic Church anywhere in the world and still feel at home.

The fact that all I have to say is "I'm Catholic" and with that comes my whole beautiful belief system.

And the fact that I have Catholic sisters across the country who support me and understand me better than most simply because we share the faith.

Yes, my friends, it's good to be Catholic!

An InLinkz Link-up

My First Quick Takes!

-- one --

our little Nashville getaway

I love going to the symphony. So when I found out one of my all-time favorite musicians, piano pop expert Ben Folds, was writing and performing his own piano concerto at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, I just HAD to get tickets. And we just HAD to go. So a few weeks ago, we made a quick trip out of it and had an absolute blast. Nashville's a fun town on its own, but mix in some seriously talented classical musicians, and of course, a trip to Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, and it was just a killer getaway. My favorite part of Ben Folds's concerto was when the whole orchestra took out their cell phones and played their ringtones all at the same time. It actually sounded really pretty! Kudos to Ben for thinking outside the box on that one. And to the musicians for playing along.



-- two --

Airbnb.com

Still related to our Nashville getaway, I wanted to mentione the awesomeness that was our Bed & Breakfast for the weekend. Have you heard of airbnb.com yet? If not, you need to check it out, pronto. Especially if you love traveling, especially if you are bored of hotels, and especially if you're up for an adventure.

Airbnb is basically an online marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accomodations around the world. (Yep, stole that line directly from their website.) So, for example, the house we stayed in during our Nashville trip was owned by a nice couple with a cute kid; they rent out 3 bedrooms in their house to folks just like us and charge us a fair price for the night. The pic above is of John hanging out at the breakfast table in their beautiful home (the wife was an interior decorator). We had a fantastic time staying at their place. Getting to know new people and staying in a part of town that isn't really touristy made for a great adventure. We'd totally stay there again.

We also used airbnb.com one other time during a trip to New Orleans. There, a nice couple owned 4 apartments that they rented out exclusively on airbnb.com, so we got a whole apartment to ourselves for that weekend! Again, a great experience and we'd totally stay there again.

I know you're worried a little about safety and such. And that's ok. I get that. But I'm here to tell you that the whole site is super regulated and super safe. So check it out! And let me know if you end up going on any awesome airbnb.com adventures.

-- three --

a ridiculously awesome youth group fundraiser

We've got some great priests at our parish. How great, you ask? I'll tell you how great! They're SO great, they've all agreed to participate in a fun little youth group fundraiser I'm calling "Turn A Priest Into An Ice Cream Sundae." Sound ridiculously awesome yet?

Last weekend, I sat out after all the Masses with a group of teens and we asked the parishioners to make donations into the bucket of the priest they'd like to see turned into a sundae. And boy did they! We've raised so much already! And the priest who's currently in the lead, AKA the one who's going to become all sundae-i-fied, is in the lead by over $200! The main event will be tonight at our parish's fish fry. Can't wait to see which priest we'll be covering in fudge, nuts, bananas, gummies, caramel, oreos, whipped cream, cherries. Gosh, they're good sports!

-- four --

Candlelight Stations of the Cross

Speaking of the youth group, we're presenting a Candlelight Stations of the Cross in a few weeks that is going to be heartbreakingly beautiful. Normally we do a living stations, but I thought it would be nice (and a little less cheesy -- no kids wrapped in bed sheets this year) to represent the stations in an even more meaningful and spiritual way. The night will include gorgeous live music, wonderful spoken reflections for each station, and thoughtful prayer, while the whole church is only lit by candlelight. That striking poster of Jesus you see above will be the only visual for the evening. After each station, we'll sing a verse of "Were You There?" and then blow out one of twelve candles. After the 12th station, when Jesus dies, we'll blow out the last candle and the church will be in complete darkness. It's going to be so powerful.

I must give a shout out to youth minister Scott Anthony for inpiring me and writing the script for the whole evening.

-- five --

Empowered to Connect

We still need to attend a few adoption classes to be completely approved to adopt. When we mentioned this to our new agency, the director recommended checking out the Empowered to Connect website. Much to our surprise, we found they were hosting a conference in St. Louis next weekend! So we're headed to St. Louis (using airbnb.com again for our accomodations) and we're pumped about what we're about to learn! According to the website, "This two-day conference is designed to help adoptive and foster parents, ministry leaders and professionals better understand how to connect with 'children from hard places' in order to help them heal and become all that God desires for them to be." Sounds perfect to me!

And yes, I'll be sure to write a "My Life was Changed Because of This Conference" review once we return. Promise.

-- six --

Jesus Christ Superstar

I think I've mentioned this before, but my husband's parents bought us season tickets to Theatre Memphis for my birthday back in December! We snagged two tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar using those sweet season tickets they bought us and now I'm pumped because the show's this Saturday! I've always loved this musical -- not because it's incredibly accurate, because it's not. But it is very entertaining. The music is wonderful and the approach is interesting. Many folks say it's like the gospel according to Judas. And I agree, it's definitely the whole story through his eyes. Can't wait to see this live! And so soon!

-- seven --

a Little Happies heads-up

Am I allowed to mention my own link-up in someone else's link-up? What is proper link-up etiquette?!

Our Monday Little Happies link-up has now been up and running for four weeks. Weeeeee! I love reading all of your happies, especially on drab old Mondays. They just cheer me right up! So thank you for that. Thanks for supporting my little link-up idea. It's really been great fun so far!

The reason I mention it here and now in someone else's link-up is as a heads up! This Monday, my Little Happies are going to have a theme -- joyful pictures! I'm going through all my old iPhoto albums to find my top favorite pictures (that I've taken or been in) that bring me joy when I see them. And, of course, I'll be telling sweet stories to go along with each one. I figured I'd throw this out there in advance in case any of you were inspired to do the same with your Little Happies this coming Monday. You can certainly still do a regular Little Happies list if that's what you're feeling. But you're also very welcome to make it a Joyful Pictures Edition along with me. :)

Like what you read? Then head on over to Jen's Conversion Diary for even better Quick Takes from even cooler people!

Photo-A-Day Challenge {Part 1}

I'm currently about halfway through an August photo-a-day challenge on instagram. A friend from college, Mary, started hosting this photo-a-day challenge through her blog, Tall Mom tiny baby, a few months ago. I decided to jump on the bandwagon this month, and so far it's been fun.

Today I thought, "Why don't I share my loverly photos with my blogger friends?" I mean, it's an easy way to give you more glimpses into my pretty little life, right? So, here goes. For your viewing pleasure, I give you my first 14 days of August photos. Expect more as the month wraps up. And enjoy!

Day 1 - me

I'm on the far right, with my boy-ish bowl cut. (What was I

thinking?!) The rest of these cuties are my sibz. The littlest,

Jeff, would not stop crying during the photo shoot. Good 

memories. 

Day 2 - daily routine

Snuggling up under my fave blanket after a good day's work

and eating a tasty home cooked dinner. (Fish tacos, duh.)

Day 3 - black & white

My best friend in black and white. Note the new glasses.

Day 4 - something old

Hard boiled eggs, nothing new 'bout that. But

topping them with Sriracha and actually baking

them instead of boiling them... that's how I keep

things egg-citing.

Also Day 4 - something old

Our youth group seniors, who are actually college freshman

now! We celebrated their graduation at our youth group cook

out this evening. Gonna miss those goobers. 

Day 5 - happiness

Homemade black bean and sweet potato enchiladas. (recipe)

Day 6 - your sky

Love the sunset palette.

Day 7 - pretty

The groom and groomsmen holding the bride's and bmaids'

purses while they were off hammin' and glammin' it up for 

the camera. Thanks, boys!

Day 8 - reading

Love me some sight reading and singing. Spent the evening

singing with our church's contemporary choir during rehearsal 

for mass.

Day 9 - upside down

I found my favorite candy at Kroger! And then I went to town 

creating this gem of a self portrait featuring said candy. Btw, 

does it have an official name? Gummy slices?

Day 10 - makes me smile

Cruising 'round town in the new car, wearing my fave $15

sunglasses, drinking delicious tesote from Las Tortugas. 

Day 11 - full

Full tummies after froyo night with the youth group.

Day 12 - shadows

One of my favorite photos from our wedding: a late-night

shot of the back of my gown. My brother is a photography

genius.

Day 13 - music

Serenaded late at night by the hubs. Yes, please!

Day 14 - texture

Love me some juice - apple, orange, carrot, ginger. Look at

that yummy texture!

If you follow me on instagram, these pictures will look familiar. :) If you don't follow me on instagram, but would like to, find me @stephschweitz.

Friends, would you participate in a photo-a-day challenge if I hosted one? Thinking about starting one, but only if you'd play along. What do ya think? 

Blessed to Be...

It's about time I explained where the name of this little blog came from.

Back when I was in JVC, all of the volunteer communities in the midwest went on a winter retreat somewhere in Michigan. (Hrmmm... can't remember the exact location. Actually, it may not have even been Michigan. Faded memories.). There were actually several retreats during that year of volunteering and at each retreat, one or two of the communities would be responsible for a prayer activity. At our winter retreat, the Detroit community brought us a prayer that concluded with this song:



Blessed to Be a Witness by Ben Harper

The first thing I fell in love with was the sound of the tongue drum (the instrument that sounds like a deep marimba). The unique sound just surrounds you, almost vibrates through your whole body, and whisks you off to another, very peaceful world. It's just so soothing and lovely.

His voice also draws you in. It's so easy to listen to. It's like he's singing just for you.

And then, as with the singing and the unusual instrumental sounds, you let the words sink in to your soul, and it just completes the song and makes it the perfect musical escape. It puts me in a prayer-like state.

Though I'm not typically great at interpreting songs (especially when the meaning is not so very obvious), from this song I'm left hopeful, at least with my understanding of it. Bad things happen in this life, but we're all blessed to be a part of it. Blessed even just to be a witness.

I am blessed.
I am blessed.
I am blessed to be a witness.

A prayer that needs repeating in my life, for sure.

So when I was searching for my new blog's name, I thought about this song. And I thought, "Well, that would work just fine." But I didn't want to steal the whole title of the song. I thought maybe I'll change the last word and make it more specific to my life. Blessed to Be a Redhead? No, wait, not meaningful enough. Blessed to Be Me? Eh, kinda cheesy. Blessed to Be Alive? Blessed to Be Here? Blessed to Be John's Wife? True! But too specific. Blessed to be in Memphis? Blessed in Memphis? Blessed to Be Loved? Blessed to Be TTC?! Blessed to Be... ?!

"Wait a second, I'm all kinds of blessed! That's what's making this naming thing so hard."

Then, I thought back to my college days, about a sweet old woman who worked at the CVS on campus. I know, sounds random, but I promise it connects. Just give me a second to get there.

She went by Nonni and she was pretty famous at the University (of Rhode Island). She had (probably still has) a very popular facebook fan page, though I'm positive she didn't make it. It was surely made by an admiring student. Gosh they just loved her.

Her popularity wasn't because she was just the most precious thing you'd ever seen (although she was). And it wasn't because she was the best or hardest worker at the store (although she was probably that too). No, her fame came from one short line she always said as she handed you your receipt at the end of your checkout experience.

"Have an excellent."

Yup, that was it. "Have an excellent."

"Have an excellent what?" you probably ask. An excellent day? An excellent life? An excellent Christmas? An excellent hair appointment?

It sure did confuse me the first few times I heard it. But as more and more people talked about Nonni and her famous line, we all came to realize that she was leaving it open to interpretation for a reason. She wanted to wish you an excellent whatever-you're-experiencing-at-this-point-in-time. Or an excellent amount-of-time-til-I-see-you-again. Or an excellent holiday-that-you-specifically-celebrate. Or just an excellent, if that's how you're feeling.

I'm positive this was her reason for chopping off that last word. (...mainly because she did an interview for the campus newspaper and she explained her reasoning behind "Have an excellent" in the article.) And we all loved her for it.

Now, back to the blog name: Blessed to Be. It hopefully makes even more sense now, given Nonni's story. I like how you can really take it anywhere when you make it vague and slightly unfinished.

For example, today, I'm Blessed to Be Working.

And tomorrow, I'll be Blessed to Be Relaxing!

And the day after that, Blessed to Be Hanging Out with My Husband. And Blessed to Be at Mass.

But overall, I'm just Blessed to Be.

And though I may not always feel that way (especially with current babyless status in mind), when I log in to type-ity type a new blog post, I'll gently be reminded to think of the many ways in which I'm very blessed in my lovely life.

And I hope all of you will too!

Now go count your blessings. And have an excellent!


(Sorry if you have to leave my blog and go to youtube.com to hear the song. I couldn't find another video of the song with the same quality recording that would play easily on the blog. I hope you'll take the time to listen to it anyway. It's definitely worth it!)