This post contains affiliate links.

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in the 70s.  It's hard to believe, especially when friends and family in New England are getting tons of snow and bitter cold temps right now.   Stay warm and safe up there!

While my oldest daughter went to her soccer practice, I took my other children to the nearby park and snapped this picture of our cuties :)    (My son was running around nearby somewhere.)  


It was a fun park day, but the nice weather quickly changed to rainy and cold and in the 30s today!  But, I'm not complaining :)

Today, February 11, is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

BERNADETTE - THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES
It’s February 11, 1858. Three girls from Lourdes, France, gather firewood in front of a grotto. Suddenly one of them, Bernadette Soubirous, 14, drops to her knees, gazes ecstatically at something beautiful only she can see, and starts to pray. Soon the town buzzes: Has Bernadette, poor, sickly, and always behind in school, really seen a Lady from Heaven? The police chief is angry, the pastor busy, and the crowd amused, but Bernadette is calm and brave. Then a spring bubbles up from nowhere and withered arms and sightless eyes are cured. At last, the Lady tells Bernadette her name: “I am The Immaculate Conception.”
BERNADETTE, THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES, is the exciting true story of a visit by the Queen of Heaven that left all the world a source of health for body and soul.

Hope you are having a blessed week!

I'm sure from the title of my post you already know I will not be supporting Fifty Shades of Grey.    Are you with me?  No? Please keep reading.   Yes? Great! Please keep reading.

I hope and pray you won't want to give the novels and/or movie your heart, soul, mind, time, and money either.  Many bloggers have written about this novel and movie and two posts in particular that spoke to me were:

1) Matt Fradd shares Five Fat Lies in Fifty Shades of Grey and states that "this poorly written “love” story is more than just a harmless novel for bored housewives. It is filled with subtle and not-so-subtle lies."  I encourage you to read Matt's post where he discusses these 5 lies.  By the way, my teen daughter and I heard Matt speak at a pro-life youth rally recently .  Very cool and funny guy!

2)  Mary over at Catholic Sistas asks Why Settle for Shades of Grey?  I encourage you to read her post where she states, "Admittedly I haven’t read it [Fifty Shades of Grey] and certainly don’t plan to see the film, but I know enough about it to know that it’s an example of how Satan takes what is good, what speaks to the deepest longings of the human heart, and perverts it into its own opposite."

And a scripture verse that really stood out for me recently regarding this novel/movie was "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.  Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever." - 1 John 2: 15-17 -

I was thinking the other night of this truth: the only way to combat the things of this world is with the power of prayer.   

So I wanted to encourage myself and others to support 50 ways to pray instead of 50 Shades of Grey.  It is with faith and prayer that we will remain with God forever, while the world around us is passing away.


1.  Pray to know, love, and serve God 
2.  Go to Mass every Sunday and everyday and receive the Eucharist







If you would like to subscribe to my blog and never miss an update or post, fill in your email address below!

This post contains affiliate links. 

Christmas is now officially over with the celebration of the Presentation of our Lord or Candlemas this past weekend.



Today, February 3, is the feast days of both Saint Blaise and Saint Ansgar.  This morning our family went to morning Mass and had our throats blessed in honor of Saint Blaise.







This week has been busy with the launching of the new Saint site, SaintNook, where the Saints are always online!  I 'm so excited about being part of the team that is working hard to bring the Saints online in a new, fun way by combining their resources into one corner, or "nook", of the world wide web!   Below are the beautiful graphics of the two Saints we celebrate today.  If you are on Facebook you might have seen these men floating around on the SaintNook Facebook page or maybe someone shared these on their own pages after "Liking" the SaintNook Facebook page.  
 
It's hard to believe that Lent is just around the corner, exactly 2 weeks away!  I can't believe it either!

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18, this year.  I thought I would gather all my Lent and Holy Week posts here in case you missed a few or are new to my little corner in blog land.  Just click on the title of each post to read further.  Enjoy!

King Cake for Fat Tuesday (Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday):  This is the feast before the fast and this post also includes a yummy King Cake recipe.

This post contains affiliate links. 

It's another Friday, which means it's another opportunity to link up to 7 Quick Takes hosted by Kelly at This Ain't The Lyceum!

For this week's 7 Quick Takes, I thought I'd briefly tell you why I love learning about the Saints' lives. 

I was born and raised in a Catholic home and went to Catholic school in grades 1st through 6th grade, but I don't have many vivid memories of learning about the lives of the Saints. 

But, I'm also guilty of having a terrible memory. :/  

I knew about St. Mary, the Mother of God, of course, and I did a school report on St. Francis of Assisi in 6th grade (that I still have) and I picked my Confirmation Saint in high school, St. Anne, (only because that's my middle name), but I don't remember learning too much about the many other Saints that the Catholic Church has canonized.  I'm not criticizing the Catholic school I attended or how my parents raised my siblings and me,  it's just what I experienced growing up.

I love you Mom and Dad :)


Part of the our morning routine with my children is to have our Couch Catechism time and one of the books we read from daily is Saints for Young Readers for Every Day Volume I (January - June) and Volume II  (July -December).   They are the best books about Saints that we use literally everyday! 

So here are the 7 reasons why I love the Saints and learning about them alongside my family:

This post contains affiliate links.

Two days ago on January 22, 2015, the 42nd March for Life took place.  This peaceful demonstration has happened every year on this date since 1973, when abortion was legalized in the United States.  On this somber anniversary, men and women of all ages (the majority are young) and from all walks of life march to stand as a witness to the truth concerning the greatest human rights violation of our time, abortion.

Marchers travel many miles to "be a voice for the voiceless" as the sign below reads.  Those that aren't able to be physically present in Washington, DC each year, support the unborn, mothers, and fathers and the marchers with prayers and sacrifice on this anniversary date and everyday throughout the year.     


I first went to March for Life in 2011 with our then, family of 6, and then back again in 2012.  I was blessed to attend this year's march with my 14 and 10 year old daughters while my wonderful husband stayed home with our 3 other children.

It's difficult to put into a blog post all that is experienced, seen, and heard at the march, but I will try to attempt to capture our 2015 March for Life in another edition of 7 Quick Takes hosted by Kelly at This Ain't The Lyceum.


The sign above in the top left corner reads, "Peace begins in the womb."

This past weekend I attended the "Love My Life" Rally in Raleigh, NC with about 1,300 youth from all over our diocese with my oldest daughter and some members in our church youth group/Teens for Life group.   Each year this rally for life takes place near the January 22 date.


January 22, 1973.....the US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, legalized abortion in America.

Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, there have been approximately 50 million abortions performed in the US.

I wish there was no need for "Love My Life" youth rallies that give voice to the voiceless.  I wish I didn't need to take the trip to support the unborn, youth, and adults in marching for life.  It will be a blessed and beautiful day when the killing of innocent lives will no longer be accepted and legal and rallies and marches will no longer need to be planned and organized.  

But, sadly there is still a great need to stand for life in many ways. (Ex. with prayer and sacrifice, supporting a woman in a crisis pregnancy, or marching peacefully in the streets.)

It was uplifting and encouraging to see so many young people spend their Saturday to be encouraged and encourage others with their stand for life and the unborn.

During the rally, we were under a huge tent and we sang songs and heard a great and funny speaker, Matt Fradd.  He had the youth and adults laughing and engaged for about an hour and his life-changing story was interesting and well received.

We then had a Mass with our Bishop before lunch.

After we ate lunch outside, we hit the streets and marched. Despite the cool temps, the beautiful, warm sun shone brightly during the march. Here are a few pictures and short clip of the Love My Life march.



Each year there are youth rallies, like Love My Life, all over the country.  There is also the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. that will happen this Thursday, January 22, 2015.

This is another trip I wish I didn't have to take because I wish there was no need for a March for Life. I wish there was no need to stand up to defend the millions that have no voice and that have been terminated killed.  But, there is a need and until abortion ends, there will always be a March for Life.


I hear it will be a record number of people from all walks of life, no matter the gender, age, race, religion, who will be marching this year as it was 42 years ago that abortion became legal in the Roe v. Wade case on Jan. 22, 1973. Each year since the Roe v. Wade case, pro-lifers have been marching in Washington D.C. on/near the Jan. 22 date to peacefully and prayerfully protest the abortion industry and to solemnly remember the 55 million + lives that have been lost to abortion. 

"The March for Life began as a small demonstration and rapidly grew to be the largest pro-life event in the world. The peaceful demonstration that has followed on this somber anniversary every year since 1973 is a witness to the truth concerning the greatest human rights violation of our time, abortion." -March for Life 2015

I will be attending this year's March for Life with my older two daughters, ages 14 and 10, along with some other members from our church. Our church is renting a Greyhound bus and we will be departing at 4 AM, attend the March and then turn around and arrive back to the church parking lot late Thursday night around 11:00 PM.

I have been to the annual March for Life in 2011 and 2012.  It is an uplifting experience to see so many people, young and old, marching for babies, women, men, and families.

The years I'm not physically at the march, I have been there in spirit praying for friends and the rest of the 500,000 that attend the March for Life.


The media (if there is any mainstream media coverage at all) usually says a "few thousand" will be marching the streets in D.C., but we know the truth.

I look forward to posting about our March for Life 2015 experience when we get back from our trip, but here are my previous posts about it if you want to check them out complete with words, pictures, and video. Just click on the titles to go directly to that post.

Our First March for Life: In My Own Words and Photos (March for Life 2011)

Capturing March for Life 2012 in My Own Words/Photos/Videos (March for Life 2012) 

March on!  We shall overcome someday! God bless all those that stand up for those who never get a chance to have a life or voice!

  
On a less important topic, but an exciting one, my little blog here has been nominated in 2 categories for the Sheenazing Awards hosted by Bonnie at A Knotted Life!

So what are these cool awards with a cool name?   Bonnie explains:

"The Sheenazing Blogger Awards are named for Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. Sheen was amazing at using the newest forms of media to communicate the beauty of the Catholic Church and his love of Christ to the world. I'm positive that Sheen would be a blogger were he alive today and that he is in Heaven, totally approving of this award."

So why does Bonnie have an award named after the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen???  You must read the (alleged) miracle of her newborn son and find out!

My blog has been nominated in the "Best Lifestyle Blog" and "Miss Congeniality Blog" categories.

To see all the categories and nominations go HERE, which will lead you to the link where you can vote.  You can vote one time in each category for your favorite Catholic blogs.  There are so many great blogs listed!  Go find some new ones to follow and support your favorites with a quick click on the circles! :)

Have a blessed week!