7 Quick Takes: Original Song!

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**1** I posted a new original song yesterday! This is nothing short of a miracle really, to have recorded a song in a quiet house (it was nap time). I am hoping I can do this on a very regular basis. In case you missed it, please take a minute to check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks!

**2** I actually wrote the song shortly before Dominic was born (or maybe after, I don't remember), but haven't got a chance to share it with people. I haven't "played out" in a concert setting for two years so this is kind of a big deal for me.


**3** Do you see the strategically placed daffodils behind me? Aren't they perty? There are SOO many outside in my flower beds that I am loving having fresh homegrown flowers inside. Even better, I've been putting them in my newly acquired blue glass Ball jars. I plan on doing this with the jars eventually.  They will go in my bathroom and hold toothbrushes, combs, etc. Thanks Pinterest!

**4** Tomorrow I am going to see Bring It On: The Musical in Chi-Town. Laugh if you want, but I am sure you are jealous deep down inside. Those movies, all 18 of them are so bad, they are hilarious. I don't have many guilty pleasures, but this is one of them. I love musicals so this is a perfect girls day out with my sister, mom, and two sils. Can't wait!


**5** I went to the Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally today in Rockford, IL. It was AWESOME! We had Mass with Bishop Doran, heard some great speakers, and protested the HHS mandate. There were over 500 people there. It was so beautiful. Mostly, it was just nice to feel rejuvenated in this fight. It was Dominic's first protest/rally and I can't think of a better cause.

My mom !

**6** I wrote a post the other day are Why I Veil. I've always been mostly a traditional chapel veil type of girl but then a friend pinned the below picture and I swooned over every single item Garlands of Grace sells.

It is so beautiful! I want to get one, maybe two (blue and pink) and I'd love to wear them as a more no fuss chapel veil. But really I think I might get into the habit of wearing them around the house on days when my hair doesn't have a prayer of being washed and I am spending the day cooking, cleaning, gardening, and mothering. I love the idea of it.


**7** I will leave you with my proud mama moment of the week. Dominic found a Batman video game, brought it up to me in the kitchen and said with big puppy dog eyes "mommy, play Batman game please?" He has never seen the game, and I've maybe once showed him a picture of Batman and told him who it was (we are HUGE Batman fans in this house). Needless to say, I was quite proud. It was hard to refuse, but since A. it is completely age inappropriate in every way and B. we have a no TV or Xbox during the day rule, I had to say no. 


Have a great weekend!

My Music: All Yours

Alright.

Here goes nothing.

This is All Yours by yours truly.

ALL YOURS ©

By Dacia Wells

I want to be all Yours and hold nothing back.

I know that I don’t have much to give, but I have Your love. Yeah.

How can I make a return to the God who gave me everything?

Power and riches will fade but Your love remains.

All that the world says I need I have no desire for.

Empty and worthless to me they are.

Consume my heart with Your Heavenly fire oh Lord I will dwell with You, forever.

I can feel Your presence stirring in my soul.

Nothing can ever compare to Heaven’s joy. Yeah.

This world try as it may to please me,

giving all that its got still falls so short.

For having tasted the love that awaits me,

Nothing yeah nothing can pull me away.

Consume my heart with Your Heavenly fire oh Lord I will dwell with You.

Consume my heart with Your Heavenly fire oh Lord I will dwell with You.

Consume my heart with Your Heavenly fire oh Lord I will dwell with You.

Forever.

A Return to Catholic Music

Music.

It is really why I started this blog.

Praying Twice.

It was supposed to be an outlet to share my own music

but got somewhat lost of mommyhood.

I'm not complaining, I love being a mom.

First, wife and mother is my vocation.



I do believe God gave me gifts and talents

and I don't wanna bury them in the ground.

Out of fear.

Out of laziness.

I've had some success with my music

but really abandoned it all.

I'm ready to get back to it,

if it be God's will.

Lets see where He takes me.

Maybe nowhere.

His will be done.

I will have some vids with new songs up soon.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

If you like what you hear,

spread the word.

Also I'm going to bring you some of my favorite Catholic music out there

in a series called

Some I've opened up for, and some, well I am just a huge fan.

I will share their music, why I love them, and even some interviews.

It is so important the we support current Catholic music

because it is awesome,

people using their talents for God's glory.

AND being totally Catholic!

Why I Veil

A scarf I sometimes use as a veil.

A few years ago, maybe 4, I felt a longing in my heart to veil during Mass.

I didn't know anything about the practice,

nor did I know anyone who veiled.

I didn't understand why I was feeling this at the time,

but I did know God was calling me to take up this practice.

It was the exact same way He called me to receive the Holy Eucharist on the tongue.

It was something I felt in my heart was the right thing to do,

even though (at the time) I didn't know the concrete reasons.

In both instances, I was afraid, a coward.

No one in my Parish veiled and I really didn't want to stand out or be thought of as a holy rolling weirdo (though I'm pretty sure I already was.)

Still, my pride held me back.

Year after year,

I felt the longing in my soul every time I was in a Sacred place to be veiled.

It just wouldn't quit.

When I worked at my local Catholic Store (before Dominic was born)

someone came in and asked if we carried chapel veils.

We didn't, but I knew we should.

First I decided to do some research on the practice and read stuff like this,

which spoke to my tradition loving self

but didn't really convince me that I "needed to" veil.

I looked online at some pretty veils to order for the store and decided,

why don't I ask my Grandma?

After work I went to her house and asked if she used to veil,

and is so, if she still had her veil.

I knew she would, us Meisinger women don't throw good things out.

She gave it to me let me borrow it to help pick veils for the store

and it did help.

I never gave it back.

Sorry Grandma!

Every Sunday before going to Mass, I would look at this beautiful vintage white lace Spanish veil and dream of taking it with me and wearing it.

My lame excuse was I just didn't want to be a distraction.

But God kept calling me. Asking me. Pleading with me.

I needed to veil.

Two years ago I took a job at a Parish a couple towns over as a Director of Youth Ministry.

At this beautiful Parish, which I know call home,

I attended my first Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

I wore my (Grandma's) veil for the first time.

There I didn't stand out as there were plenty of veiled women.

It felt right.

I felt, beautiful.

I felt like a woman.

A woman acknowledging God's creation.

When I next attended the Ordinary Form,
I knew it would be hypocritical not to veil,

so I did.

And have ever since.

I love it.

It does not make me more modest, or reverent than women who don't veil,

but it does make ME more modest and reverent than when I didn't.

At Mass, the Earthly veil is lifted and we are literally IN HEAVEN.

All the Saint and all the Angels are present,

and Jesus our Lord and Saviour is physically present.

Call me weak, but I need to veil myself to remember this.

I think some women look at veiling as demeaning.

I think nothing could be farther from the truth.
What is a veil if not something that honors the beauty underneath?

We veil what is Holy.

Traditionally the tabernacle is veiled because in it is the Holy of Holies.

Women, is holy because she carries life, 
a new soul, in her womb.
Which is why contraception is such a sin,

it is denying who God created us to be.

The Theology of the veil reveals much to us.

It reveals to me that

God made me.

He made me for Him.

He made me for my husband.

All of God's good creation echos and honors Him.

When I veil, it reminds me that my body is in fact,

a veil.

A veil honoring true beauty I am,

that of my soul.

Put Love There-In Action

So quite possibly the best thing I took home from the Behold Conference was this. I am so terrible at explaining things in detail, especially if I didn't take notes, but Sarah did it so perfectly. Put Love There. When Sister Elizabeth spoke of this, I felt the way I looked at my busy toddler change. I pray and try so hard to be gentle, loving, and kind to my little sweetie, but sometimes it is just so hard when I tell him not to do something for the 30th time in one day. While Sister was speaking, I wrote this:

Just be love. Instead of correcting and disciplining, just love and be gentle. Instead of seeing my child, look at Dominic as a beautiful soul, made by God who needs further nourishing; a beautiful flower which needs watering. Just love. Sweet, tender, love.

I've been really doing my best to put this into action these past couple days. I've always delighted in him, but now it is easier to delight in his whole self, not just the part that does what I want him to. It is more about changing MY behavior, than his. This post comes to mind. Dominic is only two, and is a wonderful, joyful little guy. A very wise mom and dear friend of mine always says, "sure I could get her to be quiet, sit still, and do everything I say, but it would be changing the very person she is."

Certainly there are some things that need to be reprimanded or require discipline, but when I truly think about it the list of such occurrences is much shorter than I think. So when I am frustrated, if he isn't in danger or isn't doing something sinful, perhaps it is best to take a step back and just delight in him and act out of love. Indeed, thank you Sister and Sarah.

Behold

Last Saturday I went to the Behold Conference and it was Ahhh-mazing. I feel so blessed that it is only a 2 hr drive from my home. I went with some wonderful friends and we are already making plans for next year to go and bring just about each and every woman we know with us. I also got to meet the beautiful Sarah whose blog was probably the first I ever started reading years ago. Anyway here are some of my highlights/thoughts.

The talks were great. They echoed JPII in talking about how God made the world and everything in it, made man, and then realized something was missing. So He made women, the crowning achievement of His creation. Wow. Awesome. We are all created in His image, man and woman. Though very different, we each reveal something about who God is. Woman shows God is gentle, nurturing, and beautiful. We should also embrace and love all the gifts God created each of us individually with, and ask what He would like us to do with those gifts.

Kate Wicker spoke about body image and how it is important to take care of the body God gave us. We all have something about us physically that we aren't quite happy with, but to hate our bodies or what we look like, is to deny God's creative genius. She was also hilarious!

Marie Miller played some amazing music for us. Check her out-we need to support Catholic musicians! 

At the Conference there was an awesome "meet the bloggers" aspect. Some popular Catholic women bloggers were sitting at tables in the back so meet us readers and to sign books and such. It was pretty cool. I got to meet Jen and thank her for her hilarious and faithful writing. She said my cowboy boots rocked, and she's right, they totally do. I also met Mrs. Betty Beguiles, Hallie. She looked so cute and vintage-y just like knew she would. I think next year I will bring a cardtable and have my own table in the section to meet the bloggers whom no one has heard of and whose blogs are read by their mom's, best friend, and Louise. Why yes, I will sign that book you are holding!

There were 600 women there. Simply amazing. You know you are at a Catholic Conference when half of the crowd is pregnant or has a newborn in tow (most of which are being breastfed or worn in a wrap/sling at any giving time.) Love it.

On the way out of the Conference, a beautiful Sister of Life handed me a pamphlet of discernment and sweetly invited me to the discerning retreat for their order. I said thank you so much but I am already discerned. I am telling myself that it was because i looked so young and holy that she handed me the pamphlet, but in reality it was probably because I looked like I need a lot of guidance and help. Trust me Sister, I do.

In all seriousness, it was such an amazing day. We were truly pampered with delicious Lent sacrifice-killing food and drink. Best of all, there was Mass, ongoing adoration, and confession. The speakers were great and the fellowship, even better. I even heard there was a mommy room for private nursing, pumping, changing etc. with the works in it, which I also heard wasn't big enough for our baby-making crowd.

What I took home from the Behold Conference was a clean and renewed soul. I felt the whole time that I would LOVE to do what Marie Miller did. What a blessing it would be to play and sing at women's retreats and conferences. I created this blog to really share my music and haven't done much of that. I hope going forward that I can do that so much more and maybe getting my music ministry going again.

Thanks to Bonnie for Behold! I will be there next year.

7 Quick Takes: Birthday, Behold, and Bowling



**1**
Today is my little Dominic's birthday!! He is two and I can hardly believe it. I truly enjoy his company and being his mom so very much. I love all the cute little things he does, one of my favorite is when he excitedly yells "We're here!!!" whenever we arrive someplace in the car. Another favorite is when we ask him "Do you know where daddy (or anything else) is?" "Yes" he says. "Oh good, where is he?" "Neh hiding." But probably my absolute favorite is when he eats something like dog food, or has a drinking of dirty two day old water in a cup in the sink and says "mmmm it's so so good." I reply "no it's icky dont do that!" to which he insists again "yumm so so tasty!" Oh boy what a character.

**2**
So we've been working on the whole "Dominic how old are you?" thing for a while now. He can say two, and hold up two fingers, but so matter how much we insist the answer to that questions is "two" he'd rather say he is five. Oh well, three more years we will be set!

**3**
 For Doc's birthday breakfast today I made cinnamon roll french toast. He and Geoff really enjoyed it. Geoff took the day off which I think is probably the best birthday present for Doc.

**4**
Dominic is obsessed with playing XBOX Kinect Bowling. He wants to play all. the. time. During the day (when the TV is not allowed to be on) I must hear "Xbox kinect bowling?" a million times. But it is a fun activity to do in the evening and I must say he is pretty good at it.

**5**
I've talked before a little about how I am a Director of Youth Ministry. During Lent our youth put on Fish Fry Dinners every Friday, so this is my really busy time at work. It has been so much fun and so very tasty.

**6**
I am going to the BEHOLD CONFERENCE TOMORROW!! I am so very excited. It is in my back yard (well a two hr drive) and I feel so blessed. I am going with some friends and my mom and think we are all in need of a nice day retreat. I hope to come home renewed and a stronger woman of God. Is anyone else going??

**7**

 Some cute pictures. Because I couldn't resist!

See Jen for more quick take fun!