I see you, mama. With your uncombed hair, eyes tired from a night of broken sleep. Maybe you've got that first trimester fatigue that won't go away, or the beginnings of a cold that you know is coming on because you just can't get enough rest at night to stay healthy.

Your laundry pile keeps multiplying and it's never going to get folded and put away because the moment you *do* fold it, somebody's going to come along and dump it before it makes it to the dresser.

Your dishes stack up in the sink and you wash them but then the darned water backs up again and there's no money for the plumber and you can't get the dishes cleaned in a sink full of dirty water.

You've finally cleaned up from breakfast and it's time for lunch. Those kids just keep needing to eat!

And did the baby seriously poop again?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to make it to daily Mass? Or have a little quiet time for prayer? But you try waking up before the kids and they just wake up earlier. That treasured quiet time is now full of noise and demands because they need breakfast now. And that daily Mass always seems like such a good idea until you're dragging your screaming children out of the church one by one, walking the walk of shame to retrieve your purse and the one child who can stay quiet in the pew.

Other moms can do it all - why not you?

Well, aside from the fact that most other moms *aren't* doing it all... This might just not be a season in life where you can get all those things you so desperately crave - the clean house, well-behaved children, perfectly attentive Mass, uninterrupted prayer time.

And that's okay.

Take comfort from the Saints - they know how it is. Frances of Rome is a particular favorite of mine:

So make that laundry, those dishes, that vacuuming into a prayer - you may not be kneeling in your favorite adoration chapel, but you're serving Him in your way. And He's right there with you.

Feels Like Home

My sister and I both went to college in the Midwest. Multiple times a year, we'd load up the car and make the drive up through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana (stopping there for her), and Illinois. Winding mountain roads gave way to flat spaces as we neared our destinations, and it never quite felt right to be making our final stop in places with no hills, no valleys.

On the drive back home to Virginia, particularly in the spring and summer, I could feel my heart get lighter just based on the terrain - the fields giving way to trees as we reached the end of Ohio, the flat land turning to gentle hills, until we reached the soft, familiar Blue Ridge Mountains of our home state.

And it was right.



Andrew and I talked about staying in Chicago after I graduated, or moving back there after he finished law school. It's an awesome place - great schools in the suburbs, tons to do in the city, home of our alma mater. If you ignore the winters, it's perfect! But it wasn't home, and I don't think it ever would have felt permanent.

So we jumped around different areas in Virginia, but always found ourselves driving west on 66 when we wanted to get out of the cramped developments that make up Northern Virginia. And every time we got within sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I got that little butterfly feeling in my stomach, the lightness of heart because that is beauty. And that is home. And I can't believe that it actually is home for us now!

Old picture... But pretty close to our new place!

5 Easy Ways to Make Money Online

Here's the thing: I know I could do the adult thing and work my expenses (clothes and shoes) into our budget around here. But when it comes down to it, I feel guilty spending money on myself. Which is why I end up doing a lot of random stuff online to earn "fun" money that I don't feel like I have to spend on my kids (even though I end up spending it on them a lot of the time anyway...)!

Want to know my tricks? Of course you do!

--1--

Ebates

If you shop online, you can get cash back at almost every store you can think of through Ebates! All you do is click through their site before you make your purchase, and you get a certain percentage of your purchase mailed back to you as a handy dandy check!

(Ahem, you can even get cash back at ThredUP, where you're already saving money!)

--2--

Swagbucks

Similar to Ebates, you can shop through Swagbucks and get a certain amount of points, redeemable for gift cards (including Paypal gift cards, which is essentially cash). BUT there's also a lot more you can do to earn points, including taking surveys, searching for things online, playing games, and watching videos. I joined a year ago and have made maybe $50, and I do almost all of my non-Amazon shopping through Ebates so that's basically just surveys and the like!

--3--

Sell your clothes!

I don't sell via Ebay, but I know a lot of people do - it's just too much work for me. What I *do* like is selling via ThredUP, since they'll send a bag, do all the work for me, and I send them things I was just going to donate anyway! I've been taking store credit, but you can also cash out via PayPal if you don't want credit.

--4--

Who doesn't like surveys?

I'm a member of several survey sites that pay a small amount of money for surveys you fill out (like Springboard America and Inspired Opinions), which adds up over the long term. But every once in a while I'll get asked to participate in an online focus group or an online discussion, which yields much higher payouts! I was dubious about the first one I did, but then ended up getting a $75 check in the mail a few weeks later!

--5--

Sell your books, games, DVDs, CDs...

Especially if you're like me and happen to have a bunch of old college textbooks lying around... Those things can be worth a mint! You know you paid a ton for them and aren't ever going to use them again, so why not sell them now before a new edition comes out? You can go the DIY route through various websites, or you can go the easy way and do Amazon trade-in - they'll estimate how much your old books, video games, DVDs, and CDs are worth and if you think it's worth it, you send them in and they'll give you Amazon credit! Every time we do a purge around here, we send them tons of stuff and make a decent amount of money with it.

Linking up with Jenna for 5 Favorites!

For some of these programs, I earn money or credit if you sign up through my links, at no cost to you. Thank you for your help!

The Barn: After {Blessed Brunch}

Remember this picture? The barn before it got cleaned out? (More here if you want a reminder!)

Well, I promised you "after" shots, and here they are!

A dozen or so ladies gathered at our house on a beautiful fall morning - just the right amount of nippiness in the air to *really* feel like October. Beth (who will certainly have nicer pictures whenever she posts about this!) and her mother and sister-in-law transformed our barn into a lovely gathering space where we could all chat and drink mimosas, coffee, and tea. There's something so wonderful about being in the presence of women who are serious about their prayer and their faith! 

A few ladies had already left by the time we took this picture, but here are the rest of us! If you have the opportunity to go to a Blessed Brunch or host one yourself, you should! Many of us have young children at home and talked about how hard it is to take time away from our children even when we know we need it - I know I felt guilty and then Andrew returned hours later with happy children that he'd taken to a local park where they got corn husk dolls and had a fabulous time! I might need to leave him to have a little fatherly bonding more often ;) 

Argyle & Elbow Patches {WIWS}

This morning I slept *just* late enough not to be able to go to the 7 AM Mass at our parish, so the kids and I all went to the 8:30 with my mom. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, that's for sure! But boy, was it ever physically exhausting...

John Paul vs. Cecilia. Is he a teenager already or something?

I would crop these, but... Well, I don't care?

We got there *right* as the opening hymn was starting, and the pews were packed! We managed to ask some nice people to move over so we could fit in, and I felt kind of awful for them because the lady on the end had to keep getting up so we could move, and the lady on the other side had to deal with fighting toddlers who wanted to be picked up by me at the same time... But she was so sweet and even picked Mary Claire up the one time she would let her!

I solved that problem by wearing Elizabeth on my back so I could pick up Mary Claire. But then Peter got fussy, so I had to take him out and Elizabeth was still on my back and Mary Claire followed us... Follow that by two trips to the potty and a fair amount of whining about wanting to go outside, and you've got the rest of our Mass experience in a nutshell.

Peter's little cardigan, though? Makes any fussiness worth it. Argyle & elbow patches - nothing like baby boy clothes! And my lack of belt didn't matter so much when I was wearing the Ergo all through Mass, but it's a little more obvious in these pictures... Meh.

Hope you had a beautiful Sunday! Linking up with Fine Linen & Purple for What I Wore Sunday.