Where I go for News

Google Lego 50th Anniversary Inspiration
I'm definitely liking the computer for all things relating to articles and even the news . I like using google for everything nowadays. The blogging community does a fair share of keeping you updated on things like the weather, tips, and current affairs too. I never liked the newspaper but now I know for sure I have no need for it since I can even get a job online and there is more online in the way of shopping and classifieds that I even care for .

Pitstop penance

Yes, Drive by confession. When I think about it , according to the blessed Mother in numerous messages , there isn't much time anymore , [or at least there won't be ]to repent and as Fr. Maguire said . "we think we should 'get with the times' cause there is so much sin , you know." If the priest is serious about it , I think it is a really good idea, imo. I think it's something to keep on open mind about.

I don't have a car so it suits me fine to walk inside a catholic church and confess my sin to a priest . It's all good . Just be glad and pray for our priests ,that we still have them cause without them we would not be able to take Jesus' precious body and blood in the Eucharist .

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit , amen.

The Letter Y

*Yawn*

I'm sorry I should  have worked harder on my letter . wake me up when it's Thursday

An Embarrassing, Foot-in-Mouth Moment

Describe your most embarrassing foot-in-mouth moment.

I went to a french school in Algiers, Bois de Boulogne . I started grade 1 there. I didn't speak french but I picked it up quickly. My teacher, Madame Bauxnier (sp?), felt like she needed to ask my sister and I if we were twins. Of course she asked in french :
"Etes vous jumelle?"
I didn't know what that was , and I never bothered to ask . Why would people think we were twins anyway? I don't look anything like my sister , and we aren't twins .
I responded : "Non, nous sommes Canadiennes" .
In my mind it was an answer that I was proud of and made sure everyone knew it too . Everyone in class started laughing . I felt like a smart-ass .

UPDATE: If you don't know what the french translates to please see comments for the english translation . Thank you

click the logo to answer the prompt

Thumb Tacks In My Mouth

I just posted a new answer on Plinky. The question is : What childhood lesson has always stuck with you?

Three girls having tea party
Never use thumb tacks for playing food. I was about 4 years old and my sister and I were playing downstairs in the utility room having a tea party with our cute little tea set that came in a chest hutch . We didn't have real food , only thumb tacks and nails and such . I stuck a thumb tack in my mouth pretending to swallow it, but my sister who is a year and a half older than me, told my mother , who then immediately rushed me to the X-ray lab. I never felt a thing and I don't recall dying , only being carried upside down by my mother . I don't think they found anything because I never actually swallowed it.

However, the thing was I got really scared into believing I swallowed a tack , all because my sister said she saw blood lol. I thought I was tricking her but she tricked me instead.

To answer the prompt click the logo

Sunday Song

Mary on the Dashboard

source

I first heard this song about 10 years ago . You don't hear songs like this everyday . Probably because most people don't realize the significant role Mary has in our Salvation. It also made Patricia Conroy more beautiful in my books. Being that it was one of  the many feasts of Our Lady (the Annunciation) on Friday I wanted to share it . I hope you like it too

On sneezing

This is a plinky prompt and the question is

'Why do we still say "bless you" when someone sneezes?
Do you say it? For every sneeze?'

"gesundheit" is German for "health".

I don't know why we say "bless you" after someone sneezes. I still say it. I guess it's just something I heard my mother say to us as kids . I always thought sneezing was just an excuse to bless someone . Although you never have to wait for someone to sneeze to bless them .

Anyway, after doing some investigating, cause I had heard there was a good reason, and sure enough, according to snopes.com it involves the belief that a human's soul might escape through a sneeze and saying "God bless you" wards off Satan while the soul is vulnerable .

How silly ! I don't believe sneezing is a bad thing . I think it's a good body function and a healthy reaction. Our body serves us well. Again, I'm not exactly sure what happens when we sneeze but I assume it opens up the airways in our nostrils to get more oxygen or whatever into our brains lol irdk , but I do love to sneeze. It is like having an orgasm in my brain :p

When someone blesses me it's like the icing on the cake .

To answer the prompt please click on the image. To visit my plinky profile click here

Spring into shape

I just posted a new answer on Plinky. The question is :What's on your spring to-do list?

Lose weight now
Time looks forward to spring , but at its own pace . My boyfriend and I are waiting to start a colon cleanse in April . It's something on our to-do list . I ordered two bottles of this stuff.

I also want to dye my hair and perhaps get it trimmed . I don't like going to the hairdressers very often , because they don't seem to know how to cut it properly :/ no offense .

Other than that , probably sprout some more beans or something else like wheat grass . It would be nice to be able to grow my own wheatgrass but those sprouters can be expensive and I have no idea how to do it otherwise. I need a good blender and dehydrator first of all .

I plan on losing some more weight but it's taking too freakin long at the rate I'm going , sheesh

So in answer to your question "Has spring sprung where you live?" NO ! ITS STILL WINTER and I have plenty of time to get in shape , thank God!

To answer the prompt click the logo

X O's

We are on to the letter X this week for Alphabe Thursday. What comes to mind are hugs and kisses xoxoxoxoxo .

is also a mark of incorrectness or wrong answer . There are NOT a lot of words that begin with X in the english language, and I have always seen it as just a symbol that includes those X-rated movies of adult gender .
The letter X originated from a letter in the Greek alphabet known as 'Chi'. X is also the value of 10 in Roman Numbers.

The Greek symbol chi-rho is represented in the X for "chi" and the rho for "r" to combine the word, "Christ."
X is the 24th letter of the English alphabet. 2+4/2+4/2+4 = 666. XXX can be seen to represent the number of the beast.- [interesting source]

Why is Christmas abbreviated "Xmas"?
Because the Greek letter "X" is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Christos. "Xmas" therefore means "Christ's Mass." The abbreviation has been around since at least the sixteenth century and is not, as some people have claimed, an attempt to take the "Christ" out of "Christmas" and make it a secular holiday.

refined sugar

Nevertheless, there is a word beginning with X that you will not want to forget: Xylitol. It is a better alternative to refined sugar.

In an article in the New Dawn Magazine (pg 43),  according to researcher and bestselling author Sherrill Sellman :
 “Although xylitol tastes and looks exactly like sugar, that is where the similarities end. Xylitol is sugar’s mirror image. While sugar wreaks havoc on the body, xylitol heals and repairs. It also builds immunity, protects against chronic degenerative disease and has anti-aging benefits. Xylitol is considered a five-carbon sugar, which means it is an antimicrobial, preventing the growth of bacteria. While sugar is acid forming, xylitol is alkaline enhancing. All other forms of sugar, including sorbitol, another popular alternative sweetener, are six-carbon sugars which feed dangerous bacteria."

Thank you Jada Michaels!

More Winners!! | Closer to Lucy
I just won a 35$ gift card for the super sexy Jada Michaels @Closertolucy http://t.co/08RDIQv.

flawless satin chemise in black

 I said I wanted the flawless satin chemise in red but I think I prefer black but that costs 47$ so I might use it for something else . 

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist

Ferdinand Art :The Last Supper

watch Dr. Brant Pitres video "Jesus & the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist" @ www.theholyeucharist.com/

An Unlikely Delicacy

Dill-ightful

When I was in junior high my friend and I use to skip school. One day we went to her house and she told me she was hungry for a peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich. I had never heard such a thing and that someone could actually eat that . It was actually pretty tasty and I liked the crunchy pickle but I never ate it again .

Pray for Japan

In 1997, June 23, Jesus gave to Vassula the following prayer for Japan

1997, June 23

"Father,

in Your faithful love,

turn towards Japan,

in Your immense tenderness,

be quick in Your mercy;

listen to the poor and the wretched;

by Your saving power,

raise Japan to glorify You;

O most tender Father,

teach them from childhood

Your Laws so that they

may proclaim Your marvels and

hymn to you an unceasing Hymn;

let this nation become

a hymn to the Hymn,

an irresistible perfume of incense;

I pray to You,

O Lord and entreat You,

that by Your Word You may

come to this nation, amen

Here's the PDF version but scroll down almost until the end
to the June 23,1997 TLIG message to Vassula.

An Irish Unity Smoothie

Bitt of Raw made a green smoothie and the background caught my attention. It's really interesting and I never knew what the colors symbolized . I know . I should have known this but I could get into drinking these everyday not just for St. Patricks . Anyway 3 Cheers to green white and orange ! No wonder I like green :)

Here is what Yahoo answers said about it : Orange is symbolic of Irish Protestants while green is symbolic of Irish Catholics. On the Irish flag, there is an orange stripe, a green stripe and a white stripe. The orange is for the Protestants, the green is for the Catholics and the white is for the hope of peace between the two.

If you haven't signed the petition yet for Christian Unity to Celebrate the Feast of Easter all in one date , please do it now. 


Peace be with you always .

Water Wave & Whirlpools

The land of the rising sun

Here are some descriptive words for water that begin with the letter W: wet, wild, wavy, woosh, notice Tsunami is not one of them and it isn't what we mean when we want water except this is what happened on March 11th , 2011 after the earthquake in Japan:

Whirlpool

whirlpool seen near Oarai City, north eastern Japan

Wave

Hokusai’s The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa

UPDATE: Here are some more pictures of the devastating Tsunami

Well, we know Jen @ hamster central who lives in Tokyo , is safe , Angela Liddon from Ohsheglows is having a fundraiser of her own . To everyone who donates $5 to the Japan disaster relief you will be entered in her giveaway . People have been very supportive and it's truly astounding that she overceded her initial goal of $1,000 and has quintupled (is that a word?) it .Wow ! as I type this it is actually 6 (going on close to 7 times more @ $6704.00 ) than what she had expected! Angelas giveaway ends tonight but I hope you don't miss this opportunity to "catch the WAVE" if you will :p pardon me but it does sound pretty witty . However, the big wave off the coast of Sendai Japan, caused lots of damage this past week with the threat of a nuclear meltdown.

In Canada we are still walking in Wintery Weather conditions with the possible chance of snow again this weekend. Yes, even when we set our clocks ahead it never ends . Wah wah wah. So without further ado here is my tribute to winter

We♥Wednesday - Nut Butter

It's We♥Wednesday and today I am talking about Nut Butter . I♥Nut Butter!
The rawseed is having a giveaway! You can enter your chance to win a yummy , creamy, delicately raw, nut butter manufactured by Wilderness Poets.
Meredith Frantz aka padmapani, is an awesome raw chef who makes cool videos and yummy recipes along with her husband Dustin aka H.H little sky, who is a very fine artist and tattoo artist . All's you have to do is write a simple poem about these butters to enter. Giveaway closes March 24th so if you want to try them head on over there.

Here is my entry :

can be found on weheartit.com 

This is a nut butter

that I am dying to taste

one made with macadamia

Imagine creamy smoothe paste

Please accept my entry

Here's hoping I win

thank you for the opportunity

before I go out and buy it from them :)

- © by Jackie Briere

A Letter to My Great Great Grandchildren

Love with all your Heart
You are so precious,

I never would imagined having such great great grandchildren as you . My heart is with you even when I'm not because I know whom you came from and you belong in my heart. We all have a place in Our Fathers Heart which encompasses the whole creation and you came from the Father just as I did. You belong to heaven and someday we will be together and I am so proud of you . I will never forget you . Life is a great gift . I will never stop praying for you .

With Love from my heart

from your great great grandmother. XO♥

The Liquid Bread Fast

Jay Wilson is a beer maker whose inspiration for doing a lenten fast by drinking his home- made beer concoction, calling it The Illuminator came from learning about the history of German monks who fasted on 'liquid bread' for lent. He thought if THEY could do it so could he . He's got Faith I must say. It took months years of planning but so far so good; other than mild headaches. I imagine it is due to the toxins in his body from all the doughnuts he'd been eating . click on the image or here and get inspired .

V for VILLA

daily drop cap illustration by Jessica Hische

Vaguely do I remember our trip to Algiers, but I do remember the Villa we lived in . In 1969 we went overseas Via a big 747 . I remember our cousins being with us ,and we stayed in a hotel in Paris overnight . We couldn't sleep . Can you blame us? A new country , different bed , new jammies and jet lag. It was all too overwhelming not to mention the fact we had our cousins to visit with. I think my aunt and my mother were so tired of hearing us giggle and laugh that we were scolded more than once .

I was only 5 and I remember looking out the window of the plane exclaiming "I see God!" but all I saw were clouds and blue sky . It's still a mystery to me . Both my cousins must have thought I was crazy and my sister called me a liar . My mother didn't know what to believe . poor mom. That was about all I can remember about our trip to Algiers. I'm guessing it was sometime in the summer of 69'.

It's strange I can remember names of hotels and seemingly insignificant details about the trip; like The Jamilla Palace. It was the hotel we stayed at when we arrived in Algiers . I think the next day or soon after, my dad had to go to the Canadian Embassy to pick up our house keys , because it was up to him to find the place we were supposed to move into.
I don't know how he got a Vehicle either but it was a Renault 5. I imagine everything was part of the package .

Wherever it was THAT was going to be our home . To me it was an exciting adventure, but to my mother , it was a Vexing experience ! If she had not pointed out the vermin such as mice and cockroaches I would have never realized any of that. Of course I had never seen a mouse or a cockroach before . It was a beautiful Vacation Villa from my point of View! The house was made of whitewashed cement . It was a few steps away from the Mediterranean in a tourist center . All the other villas looked the same . Except ours was the biggest ;to fit a family of six . It was perfect!

The first night or so my sister had a wierd dream and she said there was a rock with 'what she thought was' a piece of string coming out of it and she was trying to remove it, as it was laying on her stomach . Can you imagine what that rock with a string was? a RAT! mwahaha. We don't think she was dreamin .

Anyway, we adopted Minou, our cat, who took care of the rodent problem and the cockroaches soon left because they were getting overun by humans , that , or my mom poisoned them all . We soon found out we had lots of company : with the frogs croaking and the crickets chirping .

Our Villa had a nice little kitchen garden , I guess you could call it that, and a terrace with stairs . It was built like a horseshoe; with one bedroom on one end and a hallway and a bathroom with a separate room for the toilet. Then, another big area where my mother decided to put 4 bunkbeds . Close to that was the front door entrance leading to the kitchen, and round the other end , we had a living room with windows that opened on to a big veranda. [here I am on the veranda with one of Minous litter ]↓

There was a cool firepit outside off the wall, where the bugs gathered at night :p, and a yard that wrapped around the entire villa from front to back . The thing was the grass was like camel grass . big chunky , ugly camel grass . It stained your clothes and we didn't like the yard , but the places to play was yet to be explored and we couldn't wait to go to the beach . I spent the majority of the time outside .

Thank you for visiting today and for reading. Pax Vobiscum

Lenten Sacrifice

Hello everybody , Victor @ Time For Reflections is starting Lent off by giving to the Salvation Army one dollar for each comment he receives on THIS POST. Do you want to help him out? Don't miss out Visit his blog and tell him I sent you.
All you have to do is leave a comment on his blog post about the Salvation Army , and pray for him . The more comments he receives the more the Salvation Army will get. Your comment will indirectly help contribute and it won't cost you a penny.
The offer will be open for 10 days so GO help out by leaving your comment now !

W♥W: Foxes have holes

It's we♥wednesday ! click on the above image if you'd like to participate . The aim of the game is to describe something you love using pictures from weheartit.com . I chose the fennec fox.

We almost had a chance of getting one when we lived in Algiers. My dad worked on the rigs in Hassi Messaoud, the Sahara Desert, and he said they were giving away desert foxes for free and because they looked so cute , he wanted to bring one home with him but my mom was against it and we never got one :( . She'd heard their pee smelled something fierce . I can imagine, but still; they would have been an awesome pet. They have the biggest ears and an acute sense of hearing. I don't know how smart they are , since they probably do pee everywhere *sigh Oh well, they are still incredible animals.

A Green Smoothie Recipe

"The Exitus Elixir"
from Jane @ Blend It And Mend It

The greens from one bunch of beets
4 cups grapes
1 TBS ground flax seed
2 c. ice or 2 c. water

Blend 45 seconds in a Vita-Mix® blender, you're done. Mmm, tastes like a rich, sweet, kiwi icee.  Too green? Add fruit. Too sweet? Add greens. No high-speed blender? Work with what you have. You may have to cut the recipe in half to get it to blend in a regular blender. That's okay, adjust the ingredients and do what you can to get started.

Makes 5 cups with a mere 99 alimentary-canal-cleaning-and-purifying calories per 1 cup serving.

On top of z colon

Yesterday a lady at the health food store told me I could use ground flax seed for fibre . It was a perfect solution because I had a whole bag of flax seed that I didn't know what to do with .

Incidentally, I needed a lot of fibre if I was going to use this Ancient Aztec secret to clean my colon.

Bentonite clay is used as a healing clay mask but I never knew you could take it internally . Apparently the clay is supposed to grab the toxins out of your colon.
So I bought a coffee grinder to grind up my flax seeds with and am taking 1 tablespoon of ground flax with a tablespoon of liquid bentonite clay with some water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach . Go me :)

The Crowning of Thorns

A meditation of the Sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. 

Jesus is Crowned with a Woven Crown of Thorns. John 19:1-12

The soldiers began mocking Him saying: 'where are your friends mustering while their king is with us' 'are all Jews as treacherous as these ones? behold their king!' and they crowned Him with a woven crown of thorns. Jesus listened to their insults with such hatred and mockery in their voices, augmenting His cup . They continued 'where are your Jews to hail you, You ARE king are you not? can you mimic one? laugh! do not cry, you are king are you not, behave like one then...' TLIG-(9.11.86)

Praying with Mary

hen we contemplate Jesus, and pray to God the best way to do so is through Mary . When we pray the Hail Mary , we should pray it slowly, and with the heart ; heartfelt in other words, meaning every word we say , so God can feel you, because HE IS ALIVE and the minute His name is uttered or intonated, His ear is stuck on your lips.

The bible teaches us lip service is vain repetition and not good . It isn't the persevering and persistant prayer that is vain but praying with the lips only and not with the heart. Jesus prayed three times the same thing but each time he said the same prayer it was more deeper and heartfelt, so ours must be.

The name of Jesus is powerful and the word is sharper than a two-edged sword , capable of driving evil spirits away so repeating His Name over and over isn't vain repetition unless we are saying it only with our lips . We must believe He exists and believe with the heart . It is the heart where all kinds of evil comes from and it is the heart where Jesus Our Lord wants to live . Yes we have to invite Him in to our hearts . I think of the prayers of the rosary sometimes as a cleansing of all the bad stuff inside us along with the help and aid of the Holy Spirit of course but you have to invoke the Holy Spirit in your prayers also.

W♥W- Eyelashes

We Heart Wednesday is about sharing what you love . You must use pictures from we♥it.com though.
I ♥ eyelashes. Although I don't have long and lush eyelashes I have always used mascara to make them look longer and fuller. I don't think I would buy fancy shmancy eyelashes like in some of these pics but I have contemplated using regular false eyelashes just 'cuz I can . I once used a pair of false eyelashes for halloween . I was dressed up as a black nymph .

Ultrasounds and the Unborn

For me, getting an Ultrasound was just a painless and safe way to get a 'free' picture of your unborn baby. Well , other than having a full bladder , which was pretty brutal :p
Here is an ultrasound of my unborn baby , Bailey .

Obstetric Ultrasound started in Glasgow at the University Department of Midwifery under Professor Ian Donald about 55 years ago. A rather crazy experiment at that time.
Suffice it to say it's come a long way since the first diasonograph in 1963

Ultrasound has quickly become the single most important diagnostic investigation in the field of Obstetrics and the healthcare for women.

You can find out more of the history of the ultrasound here. Here is also a comprehensive guide to Obstetric ultrasound

See what some people have done to their Ultrasound pictures!

Seasons Greetings

The Singing Fetus . A Karaoke Party Invitation

The waving fetus.

I like this one . Make Ultrasound Keepsakes by combining ultrasound images with selected backgrounds and messages :)

[images source]

Who can forget this adorable, loveable political pro-lifer , Umbert, the Unborn - a pre-natal comic strip character .

check it out

Before I even knew that 'catholic' meant being pro-life , I had an abortion . The name of the unborn child would have been Spencer and it was after having my second child. Circumstances surrounding my abortion had a lot to do with making my decision at that time and I obviously wasn't practicing my faith . I wasn't even aware of it being a no-no so to speak. If I had known what I know now ? I would have never had one.
I had left my abusive husband , and was staying at a shelter for women in Vancouver . I also came down with a severe flu and cold and sore throat , and my 11 month old was suffering from it as well . It was there that I found out I was pregnant for the 3rd time. The counsellors and social workers at the shelter told me the only way to get rid of the bad cold I  had,  was to have an abortion :/  Dumb eh? well needless to say it was so desireable. I just wanted to feel better. Looking back , it seemed like a totally diabolical scheme and it's possible the people who were suppose to be helpful were being used by satan .

Anyway, there is a book I would like to mention.  It's called Angel in the Waters. 

Protect the Unborn .  Don't let them be a target of abortion . Listen to Rebecca Kiesling tell her story. Listen to this video  "Mama, I want to live"

In case U are wondering, this has been a letter 'U' edition of Alphabe Thursday.