Rome Day 4

Sorry that it has taken so much time to continue to post on the trip. Sometimes it takes being away from home and just having a nice relaxing holiday weekend to get things like this done!

First stop was St. Paul Outside the Wall Basilica... this was an AWESOME experience! First of all, since it is the year of St. Paul, going to the church in his name was such a great pilgrimage. I also had the opportunity to go to confession there and the priest told me a lot of things I needed to hear and also that I needed to live life as a Child of God! hah!

We also had the priveledge of walking in through the Pauline Doors which I think were a special addition for his year. We walked OUT the Jubilee Doors which are only usually opened every 25 years... yeah plenary indulgence!

Next stop was the colosseum... we never got to go inside last time, so we made sure to go in. Thanks to Rick Steves for providing the free audio guide and my friend Amy for showing me the link on the internet!


Next we took the metro over to the Vatican Museum primarily to see the Sistine Chapel... which disappointed the group because of how far you have to walk at a FAST pace to get to the chapel... then once there, you can't enjoy it because there are so many people in there.

Finally, we ate some gelato from Old Bridge... it was delicious and we were ready for the cool treat and an opportunity to sit! Our feet were killing us by this time!

You've got to love seeing friends for the first time in 3 years and meeting their husbands and babies :)

You've also gotta love weddings when the couple "gets it".

Rome - Day 3

That's how close we were to Pope Benedict for the angelus at his summer house in Castle Gandolfo (about 15 miles south of Rome)
A close up of the Papi
Jon Paul inside St. John Lateran
It was Alicia's birthday... we might have had a little too much wine - enough said!

The rest of Day 2!

Jon Paul on top of the cupola on St. Peter's for the first time :)
I'm tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure I will be back to Rome!
Playing a trick with the camera at a fountain in Piazza Navona :)

Rome Day 1 and part of Day 2

Our first "litro de vino della casa" (liter of house wine)... mmmmm Italian wine...
Jon Paul and I in front of the Pantheon - a location we did not see last time we were in Rome
Thanks to fellow COTL founder, Anne's suggestion, we found this gelato place that had at least 50 flavors - probably more... I tried 3 :) SOOO delicious!
Jon Paul and I standing in front of the most amazing church in the world (in my point of view - out of the churches I've seen :)
Mom and Dad's first impression as they walked in to St. Peter's Basilica. They were quite impressed though the picture doesn't capture it perfectly!

A little bit about our trip

I think I am going to just expose a little at a time about the trip... I'll post a few pictures at a time with a few stories - just to get the highlights across... I'll do it in chronological order, because... that's just the way I am... Sooooo.... Here are some pics of us when we first got to Sweden:
This is Jimmy and Anna and the location where they wanted to have the wedding if it was nice...
This is all of us except Jimmy - who was taking the picture - in Lund Sweden... you will notice my mom and dad, Gordon and Alicia,as well as Eva and Rune Netterlid and Anna Netterlid - our Swedish friends!~
Anna and Jimmy are aerialists... independantly contracted by many companies, especially cruise ships. We begged them to show us a little bit of what they can do, so out on their balcony, they hung up some straps and showed us a thing or two!
They live super super close to a body of water supplied by the Baltic Sea... it was extremely windy the first days we were there, but this is Jon Paul and I posing Titanic Style on a little pier type thing over the water...
Anna and Jimmy live in Malmo, Sweden, known for it's recently built (well, in the last 13 years, since I was in Sweden last anyway) apartment and business building called the "Turning Torso" building. This view is from Anna and Jimmy's condo. When we came back to Sweden at the end of our trip,it was the landmark that got us there without needing directions or a map!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we all made it back last night about 11:30pm safe and sound - but quite exhausted... so many pictures... so many stories...

All in all it was without a doubt a wonderful trip. Everything went so smoothly and the experiences are priceless... more stories and pictures to be posted soon!

Too funny

I just thought these were too funny not to share...

The time has come (please pray!)

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go......... cuz I'm leaving on a jetplane. don't know when I'll be back again... oh, babe, I hate to go (not really!)

it's true. The much awaited, many hours in time spent planning for, trip/adventure/vacation to Europe will commence in less than 24 hours. Of course, there are some jitters, though this will be the 4th trip for me across the big wide sea... but hopefully the excitement will overtake the jitters... and all will be good. I just want to be in Europe already.

I'm asking for all of your prayers for a safe, healthy, on time, fun having time in Malmo, Sweden, Rome and Florence, Italy, and Munich, Germany. Your prayers and intentions will be with us throughout the time - especially when visiting holy sites of pilgrimage.

Itinerary in brief:

Aug. 12 leave US
Aug. 13 Arrive Copenhagen, take train to Sweden
Aug. 14 Sweden
Aug. 15 (Assumption) Fly to Rome
Aug. 16 Rome
Aug. 17 Rome
Aug. 18 Rome
Aug. 19 Florence
Aug. 20 Fly to Munich
Aug. 21 Munich
Aug. 22 Fly back to Sweden
Aug. 23 Anna's wedding
Aug. 24 Sweden
Aug. 25 Fly back to US

Crazy, I know, but we'll see a lot while we're there!

I love you all... Please, stop what you're doing right now and pray for us (especially for health and safety)!!

Sr. Karol Joseph

What an amazing day! We got to view Sr. Karol Joseph taking her first profession of vows as a sister in the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist! What a blessing to be able to be a part of this special day! It was truely awesome. An additional, unexpected bonus was to be able to have a tour of the mother house where she spends all/most of her days and now I can really picture her life where she is! I just feel so fortunate to be able to be there - it was - selfishly, better for me that I was there than for her, I'm sure!

1st month's results are in!

Check out A Bear Challenge for the results of the 1st month of our weight loss challenge!

Michigan Movies - Finally!

Pouncy wants to swim

YAY! He finally did it! (Sorry, we don't have kids - this is the closest thing we have for now!)

More relaxation............

This was our day yesterday - just chilling out - we didn't leave for anything and it was great! Went fishing in the eve... I spent more hamock time... (the Moomers pic is from Friday night)...

Today we went to Mass, headed toward Traverse City - breakfast at Flap Jack Shack - then to see "The Dark Knight" then a nice scenic drive and another stop at Moomers (it was on the way :P) then home to get Pounce and our swim suits and we spent the evening at the beach at Lake Michigan, playing with Pounce in the water and watching the sun slowly set. It was so relaxing and enjoyable :)

Ice Cream at Moomers - voted the best ice cream by "good morning america" and I agree - it's pretty good :)
Jon Paul's first fish
Jon Paul's second fish
Beautiful sunset on Little Platte Lake
Campfire

Calm before the Storm.

So, this weekend, Jon Paul and I scheduled a weekend at my family's cottage on Little Platte Lake in Honor, Michigan . This place is known for it's fresh air and ability to convince you to take multiple naps a day - whether on the couch or hamock.

We call this the calm before the storm because both of us have a tremendous amount of stuff to do before our trip TWO WEEKS from when we get back... then we'll be gone for two weeks (a crazy vacation with little/no "rest" that is typically associated with vacation) then we anticipate spending the next two weeks catching up... so, this little weekend is the relaxing we need to get us through the next few weeks.

I've told many friends about this place, so I've added some pictures and video of our day so far so you could get an idea of what it's like up here:

The back of the cottage

Jon Paul napping :)

Pouncy sleeping on my legs while "reading a book" in the hamock


Taking a ride in the boat

Well, we're getting ready to go get some of the best ice cream in the united states, so, I'll add the video when I get back :)

A Piece of Cake.

This weeks is the St. Boniface Parish festival. The youth ministry is in charge of TWO booths: the cake wheel (aka, the magic wheel of destiny) and the cotton candy book (aka, mystery labratory)... sooo, my contribution (other than my entire weekend living at these two booths) was to make 9 cakes - well, 6 cakes and 3 brownies... I will post the pic when my computer decides it's ready to work :)...

Off to the festival!

WOW at Walmart!

Notice: There are 38 items presented from this purchase.

After $7 in coupons and tax, I only spent $17.05!
Starting at the top of the picture:
3 plastic folders for $.88 each (normally close to $2)
12 college ruled, 70 page spiral bound notebooks $.05 each
2 packs of Schick disposable razors $1.97 per pack, had a BOGO coupon, so both for $1.97
Rose Art colored pencils $.60
Crayola 10 pack markers $.88
Crayola 24 count crayon $.22 each
Planters Peanuts $2.67 combined with 3 x $.18 Kool-aid MINUS $3.00 coupon for buy 3 Kraft items get $3.00 off a planters peanut item (so, $.21 for all 4 items)
Gold bond powder $.99, had a coupon for $1.00 off, so paid $0 and got a penny back :)
2 travel bottles $.50 each
Wedding confetti (I put it in Wedding cards) on clearance for $1.50
Pretty candles (okay, spontaneous buy) $.50
Clearance Necklace I've had my eye on for a couple of weeks now rang in with the biggest purchase of the day at $3.00
Papermate pens $.50 each
Bic Pens $.88 each, with a coupon for $1 off 2, so $.38 each

Total Estimated savings of 72% if I had paid full price for the above items!

So, I was able to stock up on some supplies for school (Jon Paul uses the notebooks for his classes) and our travels and got a snack on the side :).

I have to admit, I did not come up with all these ideas. Many of the coupon help came from Money Saving Mom an AWESOME resource for anyone looking to save a buck. I have also added some other sites I use on the left that help with coupons and it cuts down on the time because they tell you where the coupons are. I'm addicted!

Coupon Savings..............

I forgot to share the coupon savings I managed on Saturday when I had been couped up long enough...

After researching what Kroger had on sale and scouring the newspapers for coupons, I went to Kroger and saved $17 in coupons and $42 in Kroger sales items (a total of almost $60!!!)(stocking up a bit on things too)! I ended up still spending about $150, but I got food that will last us a few weeks and non-perishables that will last us much longer (if you need cereal, I'm the one to ask!)!
The highlight of this trip was 2 $.88 14oz (the big one) boxes of Cheerios!

Yay for Kroger's double coupons!

Much better.

Thanks for all your prayers! I am feeling much better. After 3 visits to the chiropractor, things seem to be back in the right place - finally! Muscles are still a little tight at times, but, all-in-all, a vast improvement from this point last week. I just wanted to say thanks :).

Holy COW!

One month from today, we will be boarding the plane and heading for Europe! So much to do still! AHhhhhhhhhhh

New Look.

Same great product, Brand new look!

Okay, so as you can tell, I might be a tad bit bored. I was getting tired of all the purple... and I figured if *I* was getting tired of it, whew, you guys must have really been tired of purple! I'm not tired of the color purple... it will always be my favorite color (I think - though pink is coming back)... I agree it was a bit much. I find with this neutral background, the purple decor sticks out much more! :)

Ahh... enjoy it. Don't be surprised if it changes again. We'll see. I'm not 100% happy with this template choice... I wish I knew more HTML and I could change some more things... maybe that will be the next thing I learn as I sit/lay here in bed...

Home Alone. Again.

So far this year, Jon Paul has gone to a wedding in Texas without me in March (even on my bday), a conference in Geogia without me(in April), a retreat for teens without me (in June), a camping trip without me (also in June), and it sure feels like more... but that's all I can think of right now...

So, once again I am on my own this weekend, Jon Paul is escorting 150 teenagers to a Franciscan University Youth Conference. I was suppose to be there with him, but nooo... I'm home. Alone. In bed.

Why?

Once again, my back is aching like crazy. I decided enough was enough and went to the chiropractor to find out what's going on. After some x-rays it was determined that my left ilium is out of place (pelvis bone) - it has rotated back and down... then the muscles around it are so tight that it got stuck there and can't move back on it's own... soo doc did some electro-therapy and some adjustments and sent me home feeling worse than I did when I went in. We asked him about going away on the trip and he said it was not in my best interest to go... So, here I am... home... Disappointed that I am not with Jon Paul and the rest of the teens on their way to Steubenville. Jon Paul had to quickly find a replacement chaperone for me. Luckily, a parent of one of our teens was willing to spontaneously give up her entire weekend... So, I just trust that it is God's will that she is on the trip and not me.

The worst part is that I am more or less confined to bed for now. I go in tomorrow for another adjustment, and hopefully that will provide some relief.

The craziest part of all this is that the chiropractor that I pulled out of a hat because he takes my insurance, ended up being a parent of kids that go to my school! Yes, that's right. The school where I teach - 30miles away... He lives in Dayton and commutes to Piqua, and I live in Piqua and commute to Dayton. I had no idea who this guy was before... or even when I saw him. It wasn't until he looked at my charts and saw where I taught when we put two and two together. Crazy!

Praise God for computers, books, and tvs. Without them, I'd be bored to tears... Now I am reading up on some long awaited information. More to come on what I discover (today i am focusing on using coupons and getting the most out of them. It is quite fascinating and really giving me the desire to use coupons and save $$)...

Untitled.

I just didn't know what to title this post. Thank you, Lord, Praise-worthy, Answered prayers... endless titles that just don't do justice... but here's the news -

Jon Paul's biopsy came up NEGATIVE! NO CANCER! WAHOO! What wonderful news, especially when she was pretty certain one of them was! Thank you all for your prayers! I KNOW they made a difference!

A Backyard's Eye View...

4th of July is best seen from the point of view of our backyard:


Alicia and Mom playing HillyBilly Golf
Jon Paul and Gordon playing Corn Hole



Mom and Dad posing cutely :)



Chrissy stopped by for a short visit since she was partying just a few blocks away...



Joe, one of Jon Paul's friends from grade school, came to visit for the weekend



The best part of the 4th of July is that the town's firework display can be seen from our very own back yard - along with our neighbors'. Unfortunately, I didn't get many good pictures...

Happy Birthday/Biggest Loser

Happy Birthday, ANGELLE! By this time next year you'll be MARRIED!

Speaking of which, there is a little wager between many members of the Hebert and Farley households... Who can lose the biggest percentage of weight before Angelle's wedding, next June 13, 2009?

Participants:
Jen
Jon Paul
Mom Hebert
Mom Farley
Dad Hebert
Dad Farley
Gordon Farley
Alicia Ankrom (soon to be Farley)
Andre Hebert and
Angelle Hebert

Totalling up to $775 for the biggest loser.

Keep an eye on A Bear Challenge to see who's winning!

Prayers

As you may or may not know, Jon Paul was diognosed with melanoma (skin cancer) when he was 18. Doctors removed it all then, but he just went in today for a check up and the doc found 2 more spots. She removed them, but if the biopsy shows they are cancerous, he will have to go in for more tests to see if it has spread.

Please join me in prayer - that these spots are not cancerous first and foremost - but if they are that they don't spread to other parts of his body...

We are pretty optimistic since he has no symptoms of it spreading, but are anxious to hear the news for sure.

Thanks foryour prayers!

Oh, and to answer questions about my heart... it's still beating (praise God!) The doc put me on meds for it, but they seem to have given me some side effects (light headedness, sore throats, itchy skin ALL over - which I still have - etc)... and has decided to take me off of it. Luckily, since I've been off, they haven't returned too bad, so yeah. They [the palpitations] are not life threatening or anything, just uncomfortable at times and can cause unneeded worry if I let them. Hopefully my itchy skin will go away SOON, otherwise the skin itself will be gone due to the itching (I'm trying SO HARD no to scratch)!

Who knew?

Who knew that this girl I met when I was 12 would be so famous and cool? Not only that, but I'm going to her wedding! Well, 14 years ago, Anna and I did and "interchange" with an organization called CISV (Children's International Summer Village)... 10 kids from Miami County and 10 kids from the Malmo,Sweden area were linked up for two summers. The first summer (1994), Anna and the rest of her gang came to the US and stayed with their host families for a month. The following summer (1995) the 10 of us traveled to Sweden to stay with our host families (ie - I stayed with Anna and her fam). It was an amazing experience that I will cherish forever! Anna and I have kept in contact ever since - actually seeing each other about 4-5 times since 1995 (always in the US)...
For the first time, my parents will meet her parents - and not only that - but on HER turf! My brother will meet her brother. My brother's fiance will meet her brother's girlfriend. Our families will finally meet!
Anna and Jimmy are aerialists who just ended a contract with Royal Carribean as featured "dancers" (it's so much more than that)... Check out Jimmy and Anna's professional website for video and pictures of what these two incredibly talented people do.

I am proud of all my friends for various reasons. God has really put some incredibly amazing people in my life. These just happen to get the feature today. Check them out! I'm sure you will be amazed!

That, my friends, is why I am SO excited about going to Europe in (check the coundown) days!

Slow Start.

I'm a teacher. I have the summers off. I'm suppose to get a lot done. I have no excuse not to.

The last day of school was June 2. Granted, I went back in for two weeks afterward for summer school and to pack my room up getting ready to move to a new room... but still...

A whole week has gone by since the end of summer school. I did a load or two of laundry, hung up about half of the clothes that came out, and... well.. what else? WHAT HAVE I DONE? I have spent too much time on the computer is what. Where is my motivation? My summer is already short due to the vacation I am peeing myself about... I had better get my act together if I want to do anything with my summer. It's JULY next week for heaven's sake!

Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully I will get some vacuuming done, perhaps even take a mop to the kitchen floor... that's the normal stuff I should be doing anyway... *Sigh* What in the world will I do with myself when we have kids? It's times like this I truely understand that God knows what He's doing... What's wrong with me?

Joy

These roses bring such joy to me. More pics to be added...

All I can think of...

is our trip to Europe this summer...

We have finalized the basic itinerary, purchased the plane tickets (for a STEAL I might add!) and are ready to plan the nitty gritty. Here is the plan as it stands:
Tues, Aug. 12, depart Dayton, OH 6:00pm
Wednesday, Aug. 13, arrive Cophenhagen, Denmark, 2:45pm, travel across the Baltic to Sweden to visit with Anna and her family until Friday morning when we will depart to ROME.
Stay in Rome from Friday until Wednesday the 20th of Aug. (One day in there will be to Florence.)
Then go to Munich until Friday the 22nd. Fly back to Copenhagen (travel to Sweden), be ready for Anna's wedding on Saturday. Sunday, have brunch with the Netterlid's and Monday, Aug 25, depart from Copenhagen back to Dayton!

What's super fun is that my whole fam: Mom, Dad, Gordon and his fiance Alicia, and Jon Paul will be going too!!

Ever since I left Europe for the 3rd time in December of 2002, I have had a yearning to go back. I don't know if this will fulfill it forever, but it will help!

YAY!

Pray for good weather, on time flights, and the ability to see a lot of things efficiently without exhausting ourselves sick.

Done.

I breathe a deep sigh of relief (with a faint scent of lilac :P).

Today was the last day of religious education (teaching 3rd grade).


Today was the last day of youth group (high school).


I love ministering in these ways, but it drains me. I feel like I work a 6th day each week. I look forward to the day when my ministry is my family. My day is my family. I know that is going to be difficult and have it's fair share of trials... but I know that is what I am called to do and I am ready to take it on - it's just not time yet for some reason.

Lord, I am waiting as patiently as possible. Please help me through this time. Give me strength and direction on what to do in the meantime. Put the desire on my heart. Where do I go from here? What do I do? These are questions I have asked over and over again. Please help me be able to listen for the answers. ~Amen.

Lilacs in Bloom.........

Praise worthy...

I have always been proud of the university from which I graduated with a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education. Last weekend, my parents went out there to meet Fr. "Podrick" and a couple called "the rosary army" which were at the university for a media conference. this was the first time these representatives from SQPN pod network had been to the university and were quite impressed.
Starting at minute 6:40 - about 20:00 this is what they had to say about the school of which I am so proud:
Franciscan University First-Timers

Finally........

Finally... life has slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, my lack of posting equals a lack of traffic on this blog... but oh well... I'm going to post what's going on anyways...

After tutoring in dayton public schools from Nov - March, 4 hours a week, rehearsing for the musical "Jacob's Pillow", then rehearsing for the musical "Meet me in St. Louis", attending adoption information meetings, and a host of other one-time events and meetings and appointments, life has slowed down and my body has said "it's about time".
Maybe my heart is trying to say something to me, I don't know, but it's been beating funny and scaring me quite a bit. After two trips to the doctor, a trip to the ER, and a trip to the cardiologist, I am now "stuck" with a heart monitor for the next month. Every time I feel my heart beating irregularly, I push a little button and it saves the previous 10 seconds and the following 20 seconds. The docs don't think anything is life threatening since my blood work has come out okay - but I can't say as though my conscience is settled about the whole situation - especially since I will be spending the next month with a sticky chest. I am just hoping and praying that it's all related to stress and since I have been able to unclutter my schedule, my life will become a little more restful and peaceful.

Another answer to prayer...

While I was running out the door one day last week (the same day as the revelation mentioned in the previous post - Thursday) late for work with no time to pack a lunch, I said, "Lord, please provide a lunch for me today."

And it was so.

At lunch time while I was helping my kindergarteners get set up eating their lunch, my coworker said, "Hey, I brought you lunch today."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I made it last night and thought you'd enjoy it."
"You responded faithfully to God... I asked that He provide me with lunch today because I didn't have time to pack."

Chills went up and down our spines.

Mom

Hopefully I will be able to use this word to describe myself soon: mom...

Are we suppose to adopt a child?
God has generously answered a prayer that has been prayed for a long time... God answered, "yes".

I knew in the depths of my heart for a while now, that in fact the answer was yes, but I was waiting for Jon Paul to come to the same conclusion.

This week, I was begging God in the chapel of our parish church, to please, please, please tell Jon Paul, WHILE God was actually telling him in the main area of the church through a wise and holy servant, Fr. Caserta that in fact, we are suppose to adopt whether or not we have natural children of our own.

Yes...

God is so generous. God is soooo good.

And the search begins...................................

A New Hobby

I know it has been way too long since I've last posted, and I apologize... but I've been busy!

Recently my mom and I had a date with my grandpa (mom's dad) and he taught us the wonderful art of making wire rosaries. Jon Paul enjoyed watching me do it and has decided to join in as well! We are really excited about this new hobby because - quite honestly - it gives us an excuse to sit down and still be productive. I have made 6 and they are getting better and better.

These are mission rosaries, meaning, we get the supplies very cheap so that we can make the rosaries to be given away. So, if you need a rosary for any reason, I will be happy to send as many as you need your way - free of charge (and as fast as I/we can do them)... We have tons of colors of plastic beads: red, pink, yellow, white, cream, green, light blue, dark blue, purple and black - all pearlized which makes them extra beautiful.

If you are looking for a nicer rosary - something with crystal beads or a fancy crucifix/center metal... - for a gift or personal use (when you would typically buy one) I would be glad to do that for you for the cost of the materials/shipping/and a small fee... to be determined...

Sooo, when I'm not blogging - THAT's what I'm doing!