A Movie Recommendation

I just watched The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio. I've seen it before and enjoyed it, which is why I rented it from the library. It's a great story about a strong woman who uses her writing talents to make ends meet for her big family. She is positive and persistent through the whole film and a great image of a "proper" woman. Plus her 1940's/1950's dresses are fun to see! It was made in 2004 so check the library and NetFlix! "She raised her kids on 25 words or less!"

The power of touch

One of my husband's best friends was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a brain bleed. He is 34 years old and there was little to no idea that he had such high blood pressure that could cause the bleeding. His wife rushed him the the emergency room when he woke up early yesterday morning. He and his wife have only been married for 2 and a half weeks, the actually got married on our first anniversary. We spent yesterday in the hospital surrounded by people who were there to support their friend and await his recovery. Currently he's in a drug induced coma and the doctor's tell us it will be a waiting game to see if he'll recover and if so, what the extent of the damage will be. Events like this of course make everyone stop and realize how precious life is. We don't know how long we're here on earth or when we'll have to say goodbye to someone we love. It always reminds people to say "I love you" to those certain people so that you're sure they know how you feel. I realized all of this yesterday but I had a really unique experience at one point in the day. My husband's friend's wife went back to see him in ICU and she asked if I wanted to go with her. Many people had been back to see him, but I had not. As part of the healing process the doctor's have placed him in a drug induced coma and put him on a ventilator so that his body doesn't have to do a lot of work and instead can rest and hopefully the bleeding will clot and then stop. They want his blood pressure to be 115-122 over 60 - just a normal pressure. His wife and I were watching the blood pressure machine to see how he was doing. It was fluctuating between 120-123. Then she went to touch him and it slowed down. It stayed between about 117-119. He needed to his wife. He needed to feel her calming touch. She was there with him, he could relax. I know the Lord is working on him and I know of course the power of the Lord is infinitely greater than ours, but I was also reminded yesterday that a simple touch of the hand can sooth the heart. His parent's are very faithful and hoping for a miracle. At the end of the day his mother told us all - for those of you that believe in God, you're expecting a miracle, and for those of you that don't your about to see one. What a wonderful woman of God, testifying to His greatness even in the midst of tragedy. We'll continue to pray for him and his family, most especially for his new wife. It really brings the vows "in sickness and in health" to life.

Our Anniversary Vacation!!!

So Phil and I are approaching our one year anniversary and we've planned a trip to Arizona! Well maybe not "planned" more like got a free 3 day stay for attending a time share talk on our honeymoon and cause I thought Sedona sounded nice and he didn't disagree, I booked the time share. We were a little worried about the heat, but the Lord is merciful and it says it will only be 85 in Sedona while it will be 100 or so here in Fabulous Fresno! I've learned something while discussing this trip, and that is that I am the kind of person who enjoys road trips and stopping along the side of the road to see the largest twine ball, while he enjoys staying put and spending time with our friends for a vacation. This was a big moment when I realized we had different interests, but I was really glad I realized that so we could both make sure to get our special vacations. (Don't tell Phil I love spending time with our friends too, so I get two great vacations.)

We're celebrating our one year anniversary and here the Lord gave me a chance to learn something about my husband. He gave us a chance to share our preferences and to understand it's ok to have different desires when it comes to vacationing. I'm interested to see what Phil will think of this trip...

As far as the planning, I got a AAA book and I've been asking people about good places to stop along the way. So far I've heard Laughlin and some dive restaurant where they filmed an old movie called Bagdad Cafe. I'm looking forward to a Catholic Chapel in Sedona I heard about and going to mass at St. John Vianney Church as the Year of the Priest ends - how fun to be in a church named after the patron of parish priests!

Here's to Sedona!! Please pray for our trip!

Here we go!

This is my official first post on my very own blog! I'm an author on http://defining-beauty.blogspot.com/ but I've never had my very own blog... now I'm responsible for the colors and backgrounds... and I'm so excited! I want to share a few of the posts I've written for that blog so they'll arrive after this post. I want this blog to be a place where women can come to find tips I've come across or learned in my journey as a "live on a budget housewife." I hope to enjoy this journey with you as we learn how to stretch a paycheck as far as it can go, how to love others, how to experience joy in the daily life and how (most importantly) to Love the Lord and His Catholic Church!