it’s very, very rare i get a saturday off. i typically have to request it off and it’s usually because i have something planned. well, lo and behold i had a saturday off without asking for it!!! no complaints from me!
the day started off with lunch with the sista, thuy. i cabbed it to gt fish & oyster to meet her for a breezy, sunny morning fare. we sat outside on this beautiful day, it was so lovely out. sunny, warm, and the perfect temperature!
she ordered a mimosa and i ordered a tasty lemonade. we perused the menu and quickly settled upon our choices. we were going to share some delicious country potatoes; thuy ordered the pancakes {apples and burton’s maplewood syrup} and i ordered the grilled cheese with tomato soup {sourdough bread and wisconsin cheddar cheese}!
[soooo good!]
after devouring our good eats, we traipsed our way downtown to go shopping. we spent the afternoon just lazily walking around and enjoying our time in each shop. we could literally shop for hours upon hours {no joke, we once spent 12 hours shopping one day…it was the holidays folks!}.
we walked up and down michigan ave., after spending 4 hours shopping dt, we were dunzo {temporarily}, well, done with our most favorite stores! we then headed on way home!
it was a fabulous saturday outing! what a great way to spend the afternoon.
say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake. genesis 12:13
today is a day to celebrate all the mom’s out there!
a job that is never ending. a mother’s love never fails. a mother’s love is always giving. a mother’s love is sometimes all you need.
i celebrate my mom today because of the unconditional love she has always given us. through good times and bad, she was and will always be there. i look back at my life and cannot even fathom how she was able to do what she did! even though i lived it! she worked full-time, raised five kids, and always, always had a full dinner on the table!!!!
i love my mom and i am grateful for all that she has done for me. i must say that one day isn’t enough to say i love you and thank you. celebrate everyday as if it were mother’s day!
love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
this past saturday, we participated in service day at st. clement!
it was an all day event that turned out amazing!
we started out by heading out to st. clement, by 10:30 am. team captains were required to get there early so we could greet all our volunteers. we walked inside and found our sign and assigned pew. we waited, patiently, for all our teammates to arrive. one by one, we greeted everyone. it was great to chat and get to know one another before we started our prayer service.
fr. ken started our short prayer service and reinforced our thoughts for the day. how important it is to pray, serve, and give, st. clement’s mission statement.
after that, we headed on our way over to bishop conway residency. we piled ourselves into two cars, jaimie {who so graciously volunteered} was our second driver. the traffic down fullerton was obnoxious {as to be expected!}.
what felt like forever later, we finally arrived at our destination. we walked in and jaimie, kelly, and jen were already waiting for us. we received a cute little wooden box {painted and decorated} as a gift from the residences, which was so nice!
we headed downstairs and i found aixa, the head cook, and introduced myself to her. we needed to eat lunch, so she showed us a room we could sit down in and eat. after, lunch we headed back into the kitchen to start working! aixa had us clean up. we cleared plates, glasses, food. some of us did the dishes, a few swept and mopped. the boys took out garbage. we set the tables for dinner. we prepped food for later. after all the clean up and prep, we then played games with any of the residences in the game room.
there was uno, dominos, and rummy going on! kelly and i joined a group playing rummy. we watched, we learned, we asked a lot of questions. our group was so funny. especially robert and linda. oh, did they love to bicker! linda felt robert made up his own rules and robert was always eagle eyeing everyone to make sure they weren’t cheating! bernadette seemed to be sleeping the whole time {although she wasn’t and was funny and kind}. charlie was a serious player with a knack of not enunciating any of his words and rosita, who i sat next to as well, was so stinkin’ sweet! she constantly smiled at me and always included me in everything.
after several rounds, robert asked if i wanted to play. i was still confused because it seemed like they made rules up as they went! but i was biddable, so i agreed and here i went with my first game of rummy! it was great, rosita helped me out a lot. time really flew by and before we knew it, we had to leave and head back to st. clement for the 5 pm mass. it was sad to go, we had so much fun!
we then went upstairs and had our time for reflection. i led the prayer and provoked our thoughts. how did we feel? how did we see the lord’s goodness in today’s events? i quivered a bit while reading, it got a little emotional for me! as we left, the officer in the front handed out little handmade thank you cards from the residences! it was so cute!
our trip back was quicker and we got there with plenty of parking left {smallest parking lot for a really big parish!}. we all sat together for mass and the group volunteered me to walk in the procession! ha, no one wanted to, so of course, they said, ‘you’re the team captain, you do it!”. so i went to the vestibule, grabbed our sign {each sign had the location of the place we volunteered at} and waited for the procession into the church to start. all the little kids, who participated in service day, went first {they planted their ‘fans’ into the pots around the alter} and i led the group of sign holders into the procession.
after the wonderful mass, that was led by fr. manny, we heading into the school for dinner {beer, wine, pop, pizza, pasta, bread, salad, + dessert}! it was so great to mingle, see everyone, and really revel in the day’s activities.
[cinco de mayo decor]
[sweeping and mopping! kelly..rich..tammy..jen]
[allison + jaimie doing the dishes]
[allison, eric, + jen playing dominos]
[bridget + jaimie playing uno with perl // she was sassy!]
[kelly watching the rummy game // linda is to the left and bernadette to her right]
[rummy]
[handmade thank you cards from the residences]
[dinner at the school]
[rich + i are dead center, three rows down from the top!]
it was such a wonderful day. it was so fulfilling, fun, happy, joyous, and a very humbling time. the biggest service day to date, 400+ participated this year!
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1thessalonians 5:18
as i walking home late tonight, i was passing a girl in the alley. the ground was very, very icy & slick. she slipped just a bit in front of me and then i heard her scream behind me. i turned around and saw that she had fallen on the ground. she groaned in pain. i ran over to help her but she rebuffed my assistance. i could tell that she was hurt and could not get up. she said she felt that she had twisted her knee.
hubby charming always meets me when i come home at night. i saw him at the end of the alley, right before the girl fell. he saw something was going on and was walking our way. i insisted on helping her. i said, “don’t worry, you need help! my husband will help us, too.” she kept saying no but i was steadfast on aiding her. hubby charming walked up to us as i was pulling her up onto her feet. the poor girl was so upset; we both held onto her as we walked down to the end of the alley to her apartment.
unfortunately, we were all slipping down the alley but better all of us than her alone and hurt! we got her safely to a clear sidewalk in the back of her home. i asked if she had roommates to help her, she said yes. we wanted to walk her to her door but she reassured us she was fine. she sobbed, “there are good people in this world. thank you, thank you so much!”. she was so deeply moved that strangers would help her the way we did [honestly, i felt like we didn’t do much of anything! although, city peeps tend to not be the nicest.] she gave us both big hugs and we walked our separate ways.
we never exchanged names. i’m not sure if we will ever see each other again, our paths might cross but will we even recognize each other? we were so bundled up, we could hardly see each other’s face in this cold, cold weather. the one thing i did walk away with is that i was so happy to have helped her. i was so happy that she was touched by strangers who were just doing the right thing.
i just can’t imagine a world where kindness or selfless acts don’t exist; to uphold and live the extensions of God’s teachings as best we can in our daily lives. challenge ourselves everyday to do something good, do something better. that something so small and simple as helping a girl, who fell, to her home was so incredibly appreciated by her; she was so overwhelmed that strangers would take the time to help someone they didn’t know {i do believe that is just the city dweller’s mentality: mind your own business & be cautious of everyone}.
the world can be a dark place to some and some might call me naive but i believe there is always good, and innately good people and actions. don’t get me wrong, i know evil and bad tendencies do exist. i choose to believe in hope & the good in folks.
beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. John 4:7
you are dust, and to dust you shall return genesis 3:19
happy lent! today marks our lenten journey and i am super excited for this {woo!}. a time to be more reflective on our relationship with God, repentance, and penitence. choosing what to fast from is an intimate decision. it is what is most important to you and what sacrifice(s) you are willing to bestow.
this time allows me to think about how i can be better. how i can change myself to have a more fulfilling life in terms of giving back, forgiving myself, others, and living my life as an extension of His teachings. definitely easier said than done. i try to do my best but i have my everyday mishaps.
st. clement church and it’s community is a place where i call home. father ken, who married us, is an amazing man. i adore him. he has inspired me to grow my faith, self reflect, and give back in so many ways. the sense of belonging is immense and there are so many outlets there to do something better for the surrounding communities.
i am thankful to have found this church, this parish, and the ignited self discovery path i have been on.
my wonderful friend, jodi, is having her first baby!!! baby boy s. will be here in mid-march. oh boy oh boy…a baby! so life changing! i am very excited for her & she is definitely meant to be a mommy. i was so excited to shop for her gifts, well, shopping in general is my favorite pastime no matter what the occasion is! baby stuff is just so stinkin’ cute! her shower theme was so adorbs! an animal theme through and through, from the animal cookie favors to the cute little elephant sign holder. so many thoughtful touches executed by her step mom, kelly! we can’t wait to meet the cute little bugger {yay!}; see you soon!!
mommy to be, jodi, me, + kt
write a wish for baby boy s.
kt + moi
cute little details
purty wrapped gift
the goods!
another mommy to be, kim!
what a sweet time it was! so excited for the baby boom going on around me! we are all so very blessed.
children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3
farewell mr. kagann. my beloved 2nd dad. i remember days of shopping with you, copious amounts of girl scout cookies in the cupboard {gotta love the tagalongs! i would devour a whole box in a sitting!}, yummy dinners you cooked, helping you with your campaigns, woodridge fairs, and just hanging out. growing up with carol, in your household, led to many adventures and many, many memories i hold so close to the heart. you were such a great part of my life and i will always be thankful for all that you did for me.
being there at the very last moment to be able to say goodbye was surreal, a blur, so clear, overwhelming, unexpected, intense, and complete closure. i love you and i will miss you so dearly.
r.i.p mr. kagann 2.7.13
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…” Matthew 5:4
a little lady named thu met a prince named rich. she didn’t like him at first. he was smitten from the start. a few dates later, the wonderful boy rich soon swept her off her feet. he made her delicious dinners many a date nights, they spent many days together, they laughed together, had fun together, snuggled together, and fell deeply in love. then one chilly evening, in a far away bookstore, prince rich got down on one knee and asked lady thu if she would do him the honor and forever be his princess bride. she said YES! he placed a beautiful, vintage diamond ring on her bitty finger and so the story goes…
this is about us, our love, our life, happy things, maybe sad things {because they happen}, the wonderful people in our lives that help make the world go round. life is truly beautiful and it should be celebrated + shared.
r: great cook, loves hugs, is a morning person, likes bikes + cars, very kind
t: meh to cooking, loves to shop, is a night owl, sugarholic, energetic
both enjoy: walks, chicago, we’re foodies, drinks wine {mostly red} + beer, pj’s, sunshine
i can do everything through Him who gives me strength. phil 4:13
