Strangest Triduum ever coming up, and just trying to hang in there...

A very blessed Holy Thursday to all of you. *hugging* I'm going to be honest and admit that this entire Holy Week has not felt like Holy Week to me at all. Being cut off from the liturgies is making me feel so disconnected, and well, depressed. I've been struggling. As have we all, I know. So I'm not expecting much tonight, as I know my kids won't exactly be all excited about watching all of these liturgies on TV (Sunday mass is hard enough), so I'm not sure what I'll be able to experience tonight. As the title of this post indicates, I'm just trying to hang in there. I did make two curbside pickups yesterday for Easter chocolate and handmade seasonal soaps and lip balms for the kids' baskets, which perked me up a bit.

I've also been working away on my Our Lady Star of the Sea shawl:

I'm now into the blue lace section as you can see, and will soon begin melting that color in with a blush pink! I also experimented with a new local farm share box this week, and I have to say, I'm quite pleased!

There are mushrooms in the paper bag, and potatoes underneath the bananas! They ran out of micro greens, so substituted in non-local bananas, but my family loves bananas, so this worked out well. We're very basic produce consumers, if that makes any sense, so this box is perfect for us. Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, eggs, bell peppers, seasonal fruit...these are things that we eat in abundance. Lesser known vegetables are a harder sell. ;-)

Henry was busy with his online school work this week (which he is much more independent with, being in 9th grade), but Anne still requires quite a bit of guidance and intervention from Mike and I. Given that it's Holy Week, I chose to have her work on the banner for her First Communion, although our date for that has been pushed off, and we have no idea yet when it will be rescheduled. *sob*

My cutie pie

Finished product!

Besides knitting and crocheting, I am decidedly *not* crafty, and so these pre-cut out kits are a life saver for us! I also meal planned for the week:

Takeout this week is pizza from a local Italian restaurant, and you can see that our Lenten Friday meal is potato soup in the crockpot.

This isn't the exact recipe that we use, but it's very close. Instead of mashing the potatoes after they cook (???) I recomment using an immersion blender if you have one! Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and eliminate the bacon for the full-on vegetarian/Lenten Friday version!

How is your Triduum starting out, friends? What are you planning to do over the course of the next 4 days to keep our traditions alive at home? I'd love to hear from you!

Lenten Theme of the Week: Patience, and more meatless lasagna talk...

Happy Thursday everyone, how are you all doing? 🤗 This is week 3 of us all being home (it's likely something similar for you), and all I know is that we still have a long way to go. I'm just rying to hang in there.

And that's why I chose patience as our theme of the week. I don't know about you, but I'm struggling  mentally and emotionally with not interacting face-to-face with anyone outside of my household into the foreseeable future. But we must be patient. No matter what, Holy Week is next week, and Easter will come. Good things are on the horizon, we must just be patient.

Every day, I've been taking an online dance or fitness class via Zoom, and this has been a huge source of respite for me. I have come to really look forward to these times, and have a little area set up in our office/guest room for me to move around nicely in there. I'm trying to look at the positives of the situation, and one of them is that I have the opportunity to study with dancers whom I wouldn't be able to normally, due to location. So that's a big yay!

I've also been crafting during our family relaxation time in the evenings. I finished this mosaic crochet tote, which is a gift for a beloved friend!

Free Mosaic Crochet Tote Bag pattern!

The technique was new for me, and challenging at first, but once I got it, I really enjoyed it. I love the finished result! I also pulled some yarn out from my stash (and isn't this was yarn hoarders have been waiting for for YEARS, our accumulated yarn stash is there for us during the lean times 😍):

Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Camel Silk Fingering in "Weekend Vibes"

...and I had a lot of soothing fun with my yarn swift and winder:

...and last night I started this new shawl:

Pattern is Polygonia, from the spring 2020 issue of Interweave Crochet

When it's finished, it will coordinate with the dress that I have picked out for Anne's First Communion ceremony, though I now have no idea when that will even be. *sob* I'm also still working on the Our Lady Star of the Sea inspired shawl:

Pattern is Find Your Fade

...and am about to move into the lace segment for the aqua yarn. This has all been bringing me a tremendous amount of needed distraction and solace.

With the kids, we've been trying to work with them on their schoolwork as best we can. Last Friday, we took Anne on a field trip to a local historic cemetery to walk around. That sounds strange, but this cemetery is actually a landmark around here, it's quite vast and there are tons of walking paths. While cemeteries aren't normally uplifting places, this trip brought us all some much needed time outside in the sun, and peaceful time within our own heads. We also visited with some cute ducks there:

I'm really feeling for the kids, who rarely get out of the house these days. I know that this is what we're supposed to be doing right now, but it definitely isn't altogether good for children to be cooped up so much inside. I've been encouraging to go out into our yard as much as the weather will allow. Anne has also been able to participate in her Tae Kwon Do classes online via Zoom, which has been excellent.

As we near the end of Lent, our menus are uninspired (just don't have the energy these days), but they do still exist, and that's what counts:

The requirement to abstain from meat on Fridays has not been lifted in our diocese, and this week we're planning to grab some takeout fish fry from a local restaurant. This particular restaurant, however, also has a vegetarian lasagna option that got my wheels turning, since we had a fun chat in the Facebook group and in the post comments last week about lasagna and different cheeses. They offer a sweet banana pepper lasagna, and YUM, that's what I'm getting. :-) I'll be so curious to try this, and I found this recipe online for Sweet Pepper Lasagna if you'd like to try your own!

How are you holding up this week, my friends? I'd love to hear from you in the comments. *heart*

Lenten Theme of the Week: Steadfastness, and cheese lasagna for meatless Friday...

Happy midish point of Lent everyone, and let's have a group hug for making it this far, yes?

🤗

I'm keeping up with my 2 devotionals, but I'm letting myself take it easy with regards to staying perfectly on a Lenten timetable. Right now, our lives ARE LENT, so I think that simply by remaining steadfast and hanging in there, we're doing just fine right now.

For our part, we've all been trying to stay busy at home, our creativity flowing via online means, and still liking each other by the end of each week. ;-) Mike and I have both been working with the kids on their schoolwork, and also trying to get our own teaching work done from home. It's been a tough balancing act, for sure.

On the upside, I've been finding lots of time for crafting! My in-progress shawl is coming along very nicely, and I'm aiming to finish it to wear on Easter:

Pattern is Find Your Fade

I also received a few new rosary purchases, and am quite in love! First up is our pal St. Patrick, I love the pop of green this time of year!

St. Patrick rosary over at Rosaries by Allison

And the next is a 7 Sorrows Rosary, which is a totally new devotion for me, and it's perfect for Lent! You could also pray this without the specialty rosary, and just keep careful count. :-) This custom rosary though has medals depicting each of the sorrows, very handy!

Created by Rosaries by Allison

The 7 Sorrows of Mary are:

1.) The Prophecy of Simeon
2.) The Flight into Egypt
3.) The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
4.) Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
5.) Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross
6.) Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in her Arms
7.) Jesus is Placed in the Tomb

In our evening time, we've been watching the Lord of the Rings movies as a family. This isn't our first time doing so, but it's been a few years, so we're really sinking into them anew. And Anne didn't remember the stories particularly well, so they're almost like new to her. It's been nice to have an installment to look forward to after a long day of work, and I've been making popcorn for the kids to go along with it. Lord of the Rings has also been inspiring my crafting life:

Journey hues kit from Expression Fiber Arts

Yarn purchases and project planning has been keeping me sane right now. ;-) Also keeping me sane is the vast amount of dance and fitness classes that are available online now! I've been doing at least 1 daily, and it's helping to keep my creative juices flowing, along with meeting some of the items on my dance goals list for 2020! I'm getting to study with dancers that I would ordinarily not have the opportunity with, so I'm taking advantage of everything that I can.

In terms of meal planning, we're still at it:

We've been getting takeout 1-2 times per week from a local restaurant, and that's been another way of cheering ourselves up in the early evenings, along with supporting local businesses that are really suffering financially right now. For our meatless Friday this week, we're making a 3 cheese lasagna similar to this one:

Mike isn't a huge fan of ricotta cheese (believe me, I too cannot image how this could be true :-0) and when he makes this, he subs in swiss cheese. Unconventional, and I was skeptical, but I will say that it is delicious. And it is a perfect dish for a Lenten Friday!

How are you doing, friends? Do you need anything? How are you staying busy at home? Let's cheer each other up in the comments. :)

Lenten Theme of the Week: Hope, and parmesean rice for meatless Friday

Hi everyone.

*big, huge, virtual hug*

I feel much better. We all needed that, yes? :-) This global health crisis is very hard on everyone right now, in a multitude of different ways, depending on your specific situation. In my family, none of us are sick (and believe me, I'm VERY grateful for that, especially since both Mike and I work on college campuses, where it's much easier to catch contagious illnesses given the volume of people in a relatively small environment), but we're all cooped up at home, which is where we need to be right now, but everyone is struggling in their own way with all of this. My Anne is downright sad. She misses school, her friends, the hobbies that she loves, and I'm struggling with the same things. I know that's all small potatoes compared to what others are dealing with, but it's still a loss to contend with, and for an unsettling unknown duration.

For my part, I'm navigating trying to work from home while also technically homeschooling the kids. It's not an easy balance, especially for someone who has never homeschooled before! We're making our way through it as best we can.

And so this week I thought that we should highlight holding on to hope. It's going to take some time, but we can all learn important things from this, and I pray that those who become ill are able to heal as quickly as possible. The loss of my routine is very hard on someone who relies on routine as a coping mechanism for her anxiety condition, so I'm finding new things to focus on and treasure. Of course, I'm grateful that my family is safe and sound at home. I also have this perfect new Lenten coffee mug:

Rosary coffee mugs available over at Willits Works, this one is the Carrying of the Cross!

...and Mike and I have been taking daily walks outside in the evenings. We've been wanting to get back to this habit for a while now, and this is the perfect opportunity! My dance and fitness classes have all moved online via Zoom, and I'm *so grateful* to still be able to connect with my friends in this way. *heart*

I've also been very excited about my knitting and crocheting:

In love with this patter, which is Find Your Fade, by Andrea Mowry

My colorway inspiration is Our Lady Star of the Sea, did you ever?!

My next color is aqua. *squeals*

I did menu-plan for the week, despite the depressing nature of our local grocery store:

...but we're decidedly interspersing with regular trips to local restaurants to get takeout and give them our support and business. Friday's meatless option is Lemon Shrimp with Parmesean Rice, and sub out the shrimp for roasted vegetables for a vegetarian option!

Just about any veggies that you have on hand would work well with this delicious rice side!

How are you all holding up, friends? I'm here to listen in the comments! We've been sharing rosary prayers and other Catholic coping mechanisms in the blog community Facebook group, if you'd like to join us over there. :)

Lenten Theme of the Week: Perseverence, and alfredo sauce options for meatless Friday

Wow, it's been quite a week, yes? I think everyone is feeling a heightened sense of mortality right now with our current COVID-19 situation, and that this Lent is even Lentier than usual. The university for which I work is suspending all in-person classes, and the quiet campus in the middle of March is going to seem awfully sad and lonely. It's for the best, though.

In the meantime, I've been keeping up with my Lenten devotional reading, if not the Morning Prayer with the Magnificat Lenten Companion app. I persevere and do what I can each day! I also started the St. Joseph novena this week.

I'm really loving 33 Days to Greater Glory. I'm into the third week already, and we're examing the time Jesus spent with His disciples in the Upper Room before His passion and crucifixtion. The first two weeks addressed some important people in Jesus' ministry, and the seven signs of his otherworldly power. 😍 Fascinating stuff!

I've also been busily crafting to distract myself a bit from worries, both in my own job and family, and in our world. I love handknit socks in the winter, and so I have knitted what I'm calling the Frosty Socks:

Pattern is Sailor's Delight

That wintry blue color is a favorite of mine in the colder months. I am planning many spring socks this year, plus airy and beautiful shawls knit and crocheted in sock yarn! I'm very excited, and the thought of this is definitely perking me up during this tough week.

I have to say, I'm loving these menu planning photos 😂 and here we have Lent Week 2!

Our meatless Friday option this week is Seafood Fettuccine Alfredo:

I'm not a huge fan of traditional marinara sauce on pasta (odd, but true) and so I love alternative sauces for pasta. Alfredo sauce is a rich choice, but we don't make it very often, and it's nice to intersperse with olive oil based sauces. As a seafood fan, I adore shrimp, but you can simply omit the shrimp in this recipe for a vegetarian version! We often do not have fettuccine noodles in our pantry, so I'll use either regular spaghetti or angel hair, whatever we have on hand.

How is your second full week of Lent progressing? We're right in the thick of things now!

Lenten Theme of the Week: Gratitude, and the 1st of our meatless Friday recipes!

Well, we're well into the first full week of Lent, and I'm feeling super energized. :-0 This is not unusual for me for the first week of Lent, and it is the topic of my upcoming Catholic Mom piece for March. ;-) My piece addresses 4 ideas for managing to persevere all the way through Lent without getting overwhelmed, and one of the ideas is to not take too many devotions on all at once; you'll see that this is very ironic given the sheer volume of devotionals and other prayers that I have shared/am about to share with you all as my Official Lenten Plan for 2020. 😂

This week, my thoughts immediately turned to Lenten gratitude, and the reason for that is COMMUNITY! I feel so grateful to be journeying along this Lent with all of you.

*virtual hugs and hearts*

In the mail last week, I had a little package from our dear community member Melanie. And look what she sent me!

Give up Worry for Lent

She knows I've been going through a struggle with anxiety lately, saw this book at a conference she was attending, and bought it for me as a gift. I mean, wasn't that so sweet and awesome of her?! Thank you so much, Melanie!

I've also been talking with my sister quite a bit about Lenten devotionals, and she recommended this one to me that she learned about from Twitter:

Remember Your Death and accompanying Memento Mori journal

In the spirit of community, I bought a copy. ;-) I've been keeping this one on my nightstand for use just before bed, and really liking it! I love sharing things like this with others in our group. *heart* I am feeling so very grateful this Lent to have such meangingful and long lasting relationships!

*group hug*

So as you can see, I've added to my Lenten arsenal. I'm just doing what I can, taking it all in, and enjoying everything! If I don't get to every devotional every single day during Lent, that's ok. I'm doing my best and learning a lot, and that's what is important!

We're also going to start weekly meal planning and recipe talk here on the blog during Lent, and so I snapped a picture of our family menu for Lent, Week 1:

Lots of leftovers on tap for this week, because I cooked a lot last week. We take the kids out to a restaurant once every other week as a little family tradition on the weeks Anne and I don't have Girl Scouts, and this week is one of those. For meatless options, this Friday we're having Ceasar Salmon Wraps:

If you're a vegetarian or do not enjoy fish, you could swap out the salmon for roasted or marinated vegetables! I think bell peppers, tomatoes and avocado would work particularly well.

Each Thursday, I'll feature a free meatless recipe that we'll also be trying! If it involves fish (and it often will, we like seafood), I will suggest vegetarian alternatives. :)

Check out Catholic Mom's Meatless Friday archives here!

What are you choosing for your Friday meal this week? How is gratitude playing a part in your Lent? I'd love to hear from you!