My soul

Practicing my religion, scrapbooking, blogging, reading and having fun are among the things I do to keep my soul soaring.

Recent Catholic Mass changes are stupid

January 29, 2012

When I told Mark at church this morning that I was going to write a post about the new wording for the English Catholic Mass, he asked if I was going to write about how I can’t remember the changes and am always saying the wrong thing. I said, “Yes, that and the fact that the changes are stupid.” He looked at me with huge eyes and said “I’M going along with it and YOU’RE calling it stupid?” Well I am. Full implementation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition began around the United States and most of the English-speaking Catholic world...

Review of “Smitten”: Four (very similar) stories in one

December 30, 2011

After a good start on my reading goal, I read only one book in the past two months. Or was it four? “Smitten” is a book by four Christian fiction authors (Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt and Denise Hunter) that makes sense as a whole but each story can stand on its own. Four friends plan to turn Smitten, Vt., a former male-dominated mill town, into a romantic getaway, and along the way each one falls in love with someone they’ve known for ages. I’m a sucker for the fall-in-love-with-a-friend (or in one case here, enemy) stories even if...

What I’ve been reading

October 17, 2011

I set a goal at the beginning of the year to read 26 books. That’s one every two weeks. With only 11 weeks left to go, I’m half way to my goal. I’ve read several books from my original want-to-read list and several that I’ve found along the way. Here’s what I’ve read so far and brief thoughts on them. Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy. I reviewed this when I read it. In a few words, though, I loved it. Irish America: Coming Into Clover by Maureen Dezell. I grabbed this at Half-Price Books on a...

Cake pops how-to workshop with Beki Cook

August 15, 2011

Cake pops (or cake balls) are all the rage right now. I would never have attempted to make something so fancy but my friend Darcie asked if I wanted to come to her house and learn to make them from a professional cake baker/decorator. I rarely pass up a chance for a home party so I said yes (and then later learned that the teacher is a coworker’s wife. Small world.) It turns out they are not that difficult to make if you know a few little tips. They are somewhat time consuming though. Here’s a step-by-step in photos...

Two truths and a lie – the reveal

February 28, 2011

On Friday, a participated in a blog hop where we each posted two true things about ourselves and one line. Mine were: 1. I know how to tap dance and twirl baton. 2. I am thinking of shutting down this blog. 3. I last drank coffee five days ago. Many of you thought No. 3 must be false because how could I have written a coherent post on such a lack of caffeine? Well, here’s the kicker. It may have been coherent but it was INHERENTLY WRONG! Because all three of my statements were true. HAHA. Blog hop fail!...

Two truths and a lie (blog hop)

February 24, 2011

I’m doing a fun little blog hop designed for readers to get to know a few random things about bloggers and bloggers to get to know each other better. So here are three quick “facts” about me. Guess in the comments which is false. I’ll reveal the answer on Monday. 1. I know how to tap dance and twirl baton. 2. I am thinking of shutting down this blog. 3. I last drank coffee five days ago.

Hot read for a cold day: Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy

January 21, 2011

If you’re lucky enough to be able to spend this sub-frigid day in bed and are looking for a good read, I recommend “Firefly Summer” by Maeve Binchy. And yes, it’s available for Kindle, so you don’t even need to venture to the library! I’ve ready about 10 of Binchy’s 15 novels and this is among my favorites (along with “Scarlet Feather,” “Light a Penny Candle” and “Circle of Friends”). Most of her novels, including this one, are set in Ireland in the mid-20th century and have a slew of well developed characters. “Firefly Summer” spans four years in...

Do I set impossible goals or just aim high?

January 18, 2011

After I posted my goals for the year, my best friend said “How did you come up with the book goal and why did you pick 26? I’ll let you respond before I beat you.” I explained that I borrowed the idea from someone else and that the 26 (his number, not mine) was one book every two weeks. I couldn’t figure out why she was going to beat me over this. She said it was because I always set ridiculous goals for myself that mean nothing to anyone but me and are impossible to meet and then I...

What jacket not to wear: the answers

January 14, 2011

I wrote Wednesday about my mini consultation with Sasha Westin of Fabuliss. After learning how to dress for my body type and coloring, I showed her several jackets I have picked up from thrift shops and clearance racks but haven’t figured out what to wear them with. Here they are. She told me to ditch all but two of them. Can you guess which ones and why? The middle two are the keepers, although the top middle one could use a bit more shoulder structure. The two on the left are too small, so they don’t create enough vertical...

What jacket not to wear

January 12, 2011

I recently had a mini consultation with Sasha Westin of Fabuliss, and she truly is fabulous. I think dressing well helps my overall mood, but I struggle with knowing what to buy and what to wear. I learned some things from Sasha that will help when I’m shopping at thrift stores. First I got some basic tips from her about how to dress for my body type (which is a rectangle) and my coloring. She told me to look for structured shoulders and waistlines because my shoulders are small and sloped down and my waistline is not well defined...

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