Laetare Sunday, Lent, & the Life Lately

Hello, everyone! This past Sunday was Laetarae Sunday, a time when we wear pink (I mean, rose) and rejoice. It's still Lent, but Holy Week is just around the corner. I, for one, cannot believe how this Lent has flown by. As I adjusted my pink scarf on Sunday and listened to the phrase, "Rejoice, O Jerusalem" be sung out, I was in disbelief. 

Seriously, I don't know where the time goes. 

So, in a spirit of rejoicing in God's blessings and taking a look at Lent so far, I thought I'd share some musings with y'all as I munch on my strawberry poptart :) 


Lent has been extremely peaceful so far, and for that I'm grateful. Sure, there have been rough spots, but those little crosses are a huge blessing because they help me draw closer to Christ. One of the main lessons that is sticking out at me this Lent is the value of silence. I've been intentionally creating more space for silence in my life, and it's been really fantastic. I've been mulling over the idea of continuing some of my "Lenten plan" practices once Easter comes, just because having extra silence has been so fruitful. While I'm still on social media and use my computer almost daily, there is a lot less noise in my life and I've been praying more, reading more, playing with my son more, and spending more time playing games with my husband. 

Another thing that I'm very grateful for is having my husband home! Recently, he had his first work trip ever, and he was gone for a full week. I have so much more admiration for single parents (and military families where a man or woman solo-parents for huge lengths of time). Though we missed my husband, Peter and I had a good time-but my oh my, it was exhausting. 

While crawling through the exhaustion that is solo-parenting,
I may have let my health standards slide and let my son develop a sweet
tooth, as evidenced by the chocolate donut smears in this picture.
Worse things could've happened, right? ;) 

Ever since my husband returned home, life has been in a full swing of excitement with house-hunting! We're planning to move out of our apartment and hopefully buy a house that's closer to church and my husband's job. So far this week, we've visited four houses and driven by another two and, well, we've been able to eliminate many houses from our list ;) It's been an adventure, especially because a house that looks fairly cute online can look entirely different when you show up in person and see the gross carpet, smell the gross smells, and observe the broken doors and windows. Not to mention some rather questionable neighborhoods. I'm also very thankful for our kind realtor who is patient with us first-timers and is full of wisdom and advice! 

I'm also thankful for good entertainment, since I've watched a few things lately which I quite enjoyed. I loved Beauty and the Beast, and I also really liked To Walk Invisible, which was about the Bronte sisters. I also saw a really fascinating documentary on coffee, called Caffeinated. Because of Caffeinated, I've started trying to observe the subtle flavors and differences between coffees, and I'm hoping to attend a public coffee cupping in a couple months so that I can learn more about this! 

Finally, I'm thankful for the opportunities that God puts in my path for evangelizing over the internet. I've been hopping around different places on the web, and if you're interested, here's where you can find me! 

"What's Cooler Than Getting Ashes on Your Forehead?" over at Ignitum Today.
"This Lent, Try Being Flexible," over at CatholicMom.com.
I also joined John Harper on Relevant Radio to discuss being flexible during Lent. You can find that recording here; I come in at around the 2-minute mark.