Seven Quick Takes (#6)

It has been *such* a busy week!! I hope you all are having a fruitful Lent so far. I know mine kicked off with quite the bang...and the rest (you know, all 72 hours of it...) has just been a matter of holding by the seat of my pants! Here goes:




Lent is upon us, truly. Right now I have an urgent prayer request of my readers: VERY URGENT need for prayers for my father-in-law. The next 48 hours are super important for him and we are praying for his liver and heart functioning to miraculously improve. Please, please pray with us.

FCP Training - an update on training and fundraising. So far, I have officially raised $145 towards the $5,000 needed for FCP training. I know that it's a lot to ask anyone for a donation, and I'm humbled to be in a position to *have to* here, but I wanted to offer a heartfelt thank you to all of those who have made a contribution. I'm moved by your kindness and generosity. Many of the donations have been very small...and it just about brings tears to my eyes when I see people helping us get over this hurdle $2 and $5 at a time with their hard-earned money. Please continue to keep our fundraising efforts in your prayers. If you would like us to pray for a special intention when you donate, just send us a message on the contact form...because we're praying for all our helpers! We're still waiting to hear back on the scholarship, so keep your fingers crossed we are approved for that! We definitely need that support to bridge the gap of our fundraising efforts here on the blog.





What Infertile Women Eat - For those on restricted diets (especially GF ones), Fat Tuesday goes a little differently. It's not the pancake-fest that it might be for the rest of the Catholic world on that day. So what's a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, nightshade-free girl to do on a day that calls for splurging?! Well, I'll tell you it wasn't a sacrifice, first of all. It definitely felt like a party too. The day started out with crepes I made using this ingenious Paleo naan recipe. I made them thinner than she does and I added honey and cinnamon to mine. Once they were fully cooked, I stuffed them with coconut cream and no-sugar-added blackberry preserves and drizzled them with melted ghee. Like I said, totally not a compromise! Dinner was a rare treat. The local sushi bar had a cheap "all you can eat sushi" night on Fat Tuesday. I'm not kidding!! It wasn't a buffet either, they made your meal to order. This was round one of the embarrassing volume of sushi eaten. Top left is yellowtail with scallions, top right is salmon avocado roll, and bottom is GF-panko-tempura sweet potato roll.




Weight Loss - Recently I realized that I have been keeping a giant accomplishment to myself and that it might help others to read about a victory happening over here as a result of NaPro treatment. I began taking LDN in May 2014. Everything leading up to that was kind of hit-and-miss in my treatment, excepting my surgical endometriosis excision. Once I was on LDN though, weight started to rapidly fall off. Half a stone (7 lbs) that first week. And on and on it went. It eventually slowed, but the loss has not yet stopped. The graph to the left represents 69 lbs lost since I began LDN. It's a huge deal. And I didn't talk about it. How Irish of me.... :P





The Tiny Catholic Bubble - This week I was in a unique situation to help a friend in need. It involved some research into a subject that should have been easy to find information about...and yet for days, I found myself calling and emailing and trying to find people or resources that might help. And you know who ended up being the most helpful, despite all the people, places, organizations, and hotlines I contacted? My tiny little Catholic bubble. That is, it was my priest friends, my Catholic volunteer friends, my missionary friends, those with least access to information and computers who made time to help. I was reminded in a big way this week just how important our small networks are when it comes to our shared faith in times of need. It was a heartwarming experience to have an opportunity to see that more clearly this week. At the same time, I'm starting to understand more and more as each day passes  why St. Monica is on my side this year!!

Comedy of Ashes - Sharing two hilarious takes on Ash Wednesday here. I know, I know...no one thinks "comedy" when they think Ash Wednesday, but trust me - these will make you smile! The first is a funny commentary from Daniel Bearman about how it's not a holy day of obligation, yet constantly high on attendance. The second is from my friend Bill Donaghy, who captured the essence of what we all think about Ash Wednesday... and for the record, load toner was what I was given this year. Bwahaha. Unto dust I shall return...

Diocesan Love - One of the American diocese liked our Virtual Marriage Retreat so much that they republished our post on their diocesan blog Encourage and Teach! I can't hardly express how humbled and excited it made me that our little blog had something to offer their readers. It made my birthday really special to learn that news, as you can imagine, but it's even cooler seeing it posted now! Go take a look at their facebook post and the blog post. Hope you all will consider trying out the retreat.

This Ain't the Lyceum -  Don't forget to visit the host of 7QT!