Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Across the Snowy Places

This has been one of the coldest, wickedest winters of recent memory.  Certainly the worst since I moved to Kittanning.  I find that most nights, we are perfectly content to snuggle in the bed with the dogs, and read or watch movies.  Who would want to go out in these frigid temperatures.  Why, at this very moment, I am writing this post to help avoid going out into the cold to start my car and let it warm up.  Schools have missed a million days, pictures of negative temps on dashboards or phone apps flood my Facebook feed, and pretty much everyone is grumpy.  Which may make what I am about to say a very unpopular statement:

I am kind of in love with winter.

Now, do not get me wrong.  I hate driving in snow.  It makes me a nervous wreck.  I worry about Hubby's daily commute to and from work.  I avoid driving in snow when possible. And I do not especially like the chapped skin, the piercing cold, the higher heating bills, the gross salt on my car, and pants, and shoes.

But those moments when we are cuddled together, under mountains of blankets, looking out at a vast white canvas of land, those moments when the sun paints gorgeous colors across the woods those moments when all it takes to warm me is a kiss and a cup of coffee, well, how could I not be in love with those moments?

So whether today is a snow day full of cocoa and blankets, or a day when you are out braving the negative temperature, let this playlist remind you of the breathtaking beauty that winter can hold.

 

The State of Being Resolute

We are once again on the cusp of a new year, a fresh start, the beginning of endless possibilities.  It is a tradition to make a list of resolutions, things we want to change in ourselves, our lives, our world at large.  Lose weight, stop smoking, read more, swear less, it is different with every one of us.  It is also tradition to abandon most of these resolutions before February.  I think this is because people are looking to change the wrong things, thinking it will lead them to immediate happiness.  The thing people need to be changing is their mindset; they need to realize that we each create our own happiness.  It has little to do with external appearance, and more with internal reflection.  So, in my attempt change my own mindset, I will now admit my list of New Year's Resolutions for 2014.

1.  Laugh every single day.  I try to do this already, and am fairly successful.  Hubby makes me laugh a lot, it is one of my most favorite of his many great qualities.  The dogs make me laugh too.  So between the three of them, I can usually find a reason to laugh, even for just a moment.  And when all else fails, laughs abound on the internet.

2.  Love the people I love in better, kinder, and more abundant ways.  We all have days where we say things we do not mean.  Tempers flare, frustrations arise, sadness falls.  These things are inevitable.  However, the moments that follow these things are the best opportunities to show love when it would be way easier not to.  This means I need to check my envy, swallow my pride, say I am sorry, admit I am wrong, and try to show a little more grace.

3.  Be unashamedly enthusiastic about the things I adore.  Dachshunds and John Roderick, Doctor Who and books of all kinds, creative reuse and gluten free cooking, good music and even better movies, live performances by musicians and comedians, and all things nerdtastic.  These are just some of the things I love.  It is ok if you do not love them, we all have our preferences.  But I do love these things, and will continue to fill my life (and probably my conversations) with them.  I respect the things you enjoy, even if they are different from mine.  I hope you can do the same, because I am never going to stop loving them.

4.  Work harder.  This one applies to all aspects of my life.  Work harder to love myself.  Work harder to make my home the way I want it.  Work harder to establish myself at my new job.  Work harder to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit.  Work harder to care less about other people's expectations and opinions of me.  Work harder to have high expectations and opinions of myself.  Work toward establishing some balance in my life.

5.  Write more, yet blog less.  This might seem antithetical but really it is not.  I have been sort of slacking on my blogs lately, and I think it is, in part, because I need to move on to a new form of writing.  So, in the year to come, I will be backing off from blogging (though not leaving altogether), and reducing the number of reviews I do.  Instead, I will be trying to work on my own personal writing.  I have too many people encouraging me at this point to not at least try.

6.  Stop fearing failure.  My whole life, my biggest fear has been failure.  This fear of failure has caused me to walk away from opportunities, to flee trying new things, and to avoid risks at all costs.  I cannot fail at something if I never attempt it you see.  But by adopting that strategy, I have missed out on some amazing opportunities.  So, I hereby give myself permission to fail.  In fact, I command myself to fail at something this year.  That way, even if I succeed at everything, I will fail at that commandment.  Because I must stop allowing a fear of failure to prevent me from living life to the fullest.  How can I fully appreciate my successes if I never have any failures?

So there you have it.  My New Year's Resolutions for 2014.  

It's going to be a happy new year.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Have Yourself a Quirky Little Christmas

Right about now is the time I start stressing out about the holidays.  Waiting for gifts to arrive, trying to get everything wrapped, planning a gluten free holiday menu, attending holiday social functions.  It is all catching up to me.  I cannot imagine how I would feel had I not done most of my shopping before Thanksgiving, or put my tree up in early November.  With the short gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I think we are all feeling the pressure.

And I hate that.

I hate that a holiday that should be about peace, joy, and family instead becomes overwrought with stress.  Sometimes you just have to force yourself to shake it off, and be a little silly.  And what better way to do that than music?

I think by now you are all taking me serious when I say I love Christmas music.  And most of the time I tend to prefer sacred holiday pieces.  But when the clock is winding down, and I still have a million things to do, I absolutely need some music that is going to make me laugh and remember to have fun during the holidays.  So, I threw together a short playlist of the quirkiest holiday songs I knew.  Sing along, dance along, and remember to enjoy the magic of this season.

 

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: K is for Kris Kringle

Well, kids, Turkey Day is finally over, it is December, and we can start talking about Christmas without anyone grumbling that it is too early!  I absolutely adore Christmas music.  I remember when I was a child, we had an upright piano, which my brother played.  I used to love getting the Christmas songbooks out and reading the music.  Once I could actually read the notes, I used to pluck the tunes out on the piano keys.  Now, mind you, this behavior was not limited to December.  I used to do it all. year. round.  My poor parents, it must have driven them bananas!

As an adult, I still enjoy Christmas music all year round.  I think it is because there is such a diversity in styles.  Sacred, secular, classical, country, indie rock (oh yeah, I totally have an indie rock Christmas cd).  And my absolute favorite Christmas album is by Barbara Streisand.  Who, as you know, is Jewish.  I think that irony is a little awesome.

I think I will probably have Christmas playlists all month, each one focusing on something specific.  This week I am focusing on Kris Kringle.  Santa Claus.  Saint Nicholas.  Father Christmas.  He goes by many names, but we all know who he is.  The jolly fat man in the red suit who brings you gifts.  I know some people do not like the Santa mythos, because it detracts from the real meaning of Christmas.  I personally think Santa can add to the magic of Christmas, and can be reconciled nicely with the religious significance of the holiday (I know several people who do this well with their kids).  Many people remember being traumatized when they learned the truth about Santa, but I do not.  In fact, I do not even remember when I stopped believing.  I think it is because a part of me still wants to believe in the magic of Santa Claus.

So, while Santa may no longer be the one putting gifts under my tree each year, his spirit still lives in my home, particularly through music.

Literary Christmas Tree

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I have been wanting to write about this for a while now!  After the tremendous success of our book page floor, I decided I wanted to undertake another bookish project.  Because I am a book reviewer, I get a lot of Advanced Reader Copies, or ARCs, of books.  These are, essentially, proof copies.  The usually do not having finished cover art, and they cannot be donated or sold.  Basically, they are intended to be trashed.  Because I get so many of these for reviewing purposes, they build up quickly, and I hate to just waste them.  So, I decided I was going to use them to make Christmas decorations.

In August, I started thinking of ways to make decorations.  I covered some styrofoam balls with scraps of book pages.  I cut some pages into lines and used them to fill clear glass and plastic bulbs.  I used book pages to decoupage paper mache and wooden forms.  I shredded book pages and used in floral and burlap arrangements.  I made Victorian style floral cones from book pages.  And I used an entire book's worth of pages to make a tree skirt.  I even made book page chain garland.

The results were more stunning than I ever hoped for.  I am completely in love with our literary Christmas Tree.

Because this was not your traditional Christmas tree, I decided to put it up early.  It has been up for about a week and a half.  The entire thing took about 3 books, again, one of those was entirely used on the tree skirt.  To make the skirt, I cut out 2200 circles of various sizes from the pages.  I hot glued them in overlapping rows on a cotton batting tree skirt.  It took about 7 hours to make the tree skirt.

Often I would work on these decorations while Hubby and I watched television, so I was able to put in a lot of hours without noticing it.  Over the course of 3.5 months, I made probably close to 100 ornaments, the chain, and the tree skirt.  I used burlap to make small bows for the tree, and the large bow for the tree topper.

Such an unusual tree needs something unusual underneath.  Vintage books, a vintage typewriter, a file drawer and card catalog drawer were just the thing.

I am incredibly proud of this tree.  I think it turned out so lovely, I am not sure I will ever want to take it down.  You can see the full set of pictures of the tree here.

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia!

Tell us about your favorite meal, either to eat or to prepare. Does it just taste great, or does it have other associations?

It feels a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but in all reality, it is not that far away.  With Thanksgiving being so late this year, Christmas is going to really sneak up on us.  Which makes me very happy, because Christmas Eve dinner is my absolute favorite meal of the entire year.

My family is primarily Polish, and ever since my dad was a small child, it has been family tradition to celebrate the traditional Polish Christmas Eve meal, wigilia.  The meal is a meatless menu, consisting of fish, shrimp, baked macaroni and cheese, sauerkraut with mushrooms and peas, potato salad, pickled herring, stewed prunes, and buckwheat.  Before dinner, we do a tradition where we all break pieces off of Holy Bread, called oplatek, wishing each other good things in the new year, followed by a toast with homemade wine.

While the food at this meal is wonderful, it is the ritual that I so dearly love.  The red and green plaid tablecloth.  The gold silverware.  The crisp December air as another family member comes in the door, arms laden with packages, to cry out "Merry Christmas".  Sometimes, during the day, we will watch a holiday movie, or even play a game.  Other times, we just spend time catching up with each other.  We eat dinner, do a little bit of clean up, and then it is time for more fun.  We sing Christmas carols, then it is time for presents.

This is a tradition that my grandparents started years ago, and all three of their children continued it with their children, and grandchildren.  This is what Christmas is for us.  There is something special about the feeling of that day, something that has nothing to do with commercialism, or religious difference, dietary constraints, or weather forecasts.  That feeling is tradition.  That feeling is family.

We have been fortunate for the last few years that we have been all able to get together on this special day.  It gets a little more complicated each year, with work schedules and such.  But this really is a very special gift that our grandparents gave us all, and I love so much that we have, and will continue to carry it on.

Geesh, not I am even more excited for Christmas.  Perhaps tomorrow I will put up one of our trees, and start practicing how to say Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia.  (That is Merry Christmas in Polish.).


Życzenia zdrowia, szczęscia i radości w Nowym Roku!

35 Day Project: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow SNOW!

Every year, December 1 rolls around, and I start to long for snow.  There is just something appealing about a white Christmas.  The idea of a blanket of snow on the ground, and bright shining stars in the Christmas Eve sky is kind of my idea of holiday perfection.  Then, once Christmas is over, the snow can leave until next year.  This year, however, I was pretty content with the amount of snow we got.  Since I had a large project keeping me home for most of January and February, I did not mind the snow, so long as Hubby was safe on the roads.

But now it is March, and officially spring.  It is most certainly time for the snow to be gone.  Yet, here we are, with another fairly heavy snowfall.  And this snow is particularly sloppy.  It is wet, and heavy.  And it is still coming down.  While this snow is a major annoyance, it is also a GREAT opportunity for kindness.

Hubby cleared the snow as best he could when he left for work at 7 am.  But it has continued to fall at a pretty good clip since then, so that meant our walk and steps were once again covered.  Most of the block was pretty clear, but I noticed my next door neighbor's sidewalk was pretty covered as well.  Mid day is around the time the mail gets delivered, and I always worry about the postman slipping on a snowy, icy sidewalk.  So, just now, I bundled myself up, and went out to clear not only our walk, but also my next door neighbor's.  I also used the rest of our ice melt to put down on the sidewalk in front of both houses.   This way, the postman can safely walk on our block.  Hopefully the snow stops soon, and is gone for the year. At the very least, the ice melt will continue to melt the snow that does fall, and keep the sidewalks clear until the temperature drops.

In The Big City: The Oven Pizza Co. in Wexford

Having not lived in the immediate Pittsburgh area (read Allegheny County) for more than three years now {has it been that long?}, I am slightly out of touch with where the new, cool places to drink, dine, and socialize are.  Thank goodness I am a part of the Pittsburgh TweetUp group.

You might be wondering, what is a TweetUp?  Well,  it is an event where people who are active on Twitter can get together to meet, socialize, network, and generally have a nerdy and fantastic time.  Often times, these events also involve charitable work or organizations.  We have attended quite a few TweetUps over the past 2 years, and recently, we have been interacting with this group a lot more.  There are a lot of great people in the group, and through them I have gotten to know a lot more about Pittsburgh businesses and organizations.

Last night, we attended a TweetUp event at a business in Wexford called The Oven Pizza Co.  This is a restaurant serving brick oven pizzas as well as so many other delicious foods, and an assortment of drinks.  We had never been to this place, so I was excited that the TweetUp was giving us a reason to go.  First off, the ownership, management, and staff at The Oven were so accommodating and welcoming to our group.  They had prepared a list of specials for us, including some half price menu selections and drinks.  They had a designated area for us, and helped distribute the food to our table.  They even came out after we had eaten and gave us samples of gelato, which was beyond delicious.  Furthermore, the staff came out and interacted with us, being social.  It is people and events like this that really put the "social" in social media.

I just cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff, service, and food at The Oven.  Last night, I tried the gluten free Winter Walnut Fig Pizza.  Holy moly, this pizza was so delicious.  I paired it with a Sweet Potato Bisque, also amazing.  We had a wide array of food at our table, and the consensus among all of us was that the food was incredible.  The atmosphere is warm and inviting, suitable for a family pizza night or hanging out with a group of friends.  Already, hubby is suggesting the place to his coworkers.  All the highest praise.

Now, I know what some of you locals are thinking "Wexford, that is not really in the big city" to which I would say,  technically, you are correct.  But the "In the Big City" series on my blog refers to Pittsburgh specifically, and, to me, Pittsburgh is bigger than city lines.  Pittsburgh is a state of mind, a specific type of person, an incredible combination of great food and great friends.  So, regardless of the fact that The Oven Pizza Co. is located in Wexford, they are Pittsburgh through and through.  Also, it's my blog and I can do what I want :).  But in all seriousness, check out The Oven, both online (their website, Twitter, and Facebook) and in person.  You will not be disappointed.

Also, check out the Pittsburgh TweetUp page too, and hopefully I will see you at a TweetUp soon!

Naturally Sweet Holidays

Last week, I attended a workshop led by the amazing Emily Levenson regarding detoxing from sugar.  Because December is a month full of Christmas cookies, fudge, pie, candy canes, and a general array of sweets, the workshop talked about safe ways to detox from sugar, as well as how to find, and eliminate, hidden sources of sugar in your diet, and how to deal with sugar cravings.

Emily said something I found to be really profound.  She said that when we crave sugar, it often means we are craving sweetness in our lives, and by increasing the sweet moments in life, we can reduce our cravings.  It got me to thinking about how our holidays played out this year.

We did nearly all of our shopping online this year, and almost all purchases were made by December 10th.  All gifts had arrived and were wrapped by December 15th.  I had to do exactly one day of shopping in stores, and had all the food shopping done well in advance.  Hubby was on vacation from December 21st to January 2.  All of these things came together to form the most relaxing, sweet holiday season we have had together.  We got to spend all of Hubby's vacation relaxing, snuggling, doing fun holiday activities, visiting family and friends, and savoring a lot of quality time together.  And as a result, we hardly ate any sweets at all.  Our Christmas cookies got stale.  Our stocking stuffer candy is still in it's wrappers.  Our Christmas dinner did not even include dessert.

I am convinced that Emily is really on to something.  When we have sweetness in our lives, our need for sweetness is satiated.  So, the next time you find yourself craving a cookie, candy, or cupcake, before you reach for that sweet, try adding a little sweetness to your life instead.  Kiss your partner.  Snuggle your pet.  Call a good friend.  Do something kind for a stranger.  And maybe, just maybe, you will feed your need for sweetness, naturally.

All You Need Is Love

I am dreadfully late with my Valentine's day post (I blame all of the people who encouraged me to watch Downton Abbey, which I finally finished).  But my lateness does not matter, since the whole idea behind Valentine's Day is one I live out daily- love.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand people who are fundamentally against Valentine's Day.  To me, this is a day to show love.  Sure, greeting card and flower companies try to guilt you into believing it is about spending big bucks, but at the very heart of the matter, it is a day to celebrate love in all forms.  It is not just a day for romance; I say it again, this day is about love.  Loving your spouse or partner, your parents or children, your friends, God, and all the wonderful people who share this earth.

Hubby and I make a point to not spend a lot on Valentine's Day each year.  Every year I do something special.  Our first year I decorated our house including hearts stating all the various things I loved about him.

The second year I lined Hershey kisses from the door up the stairs to our room, where I sat with a home made valentine telling him I "kissed" the very ground on which he walks.  This year, I made him a box of candy valentines, with the card using the name of the candy to say something sweet or silly.  Each year, my surprise has cost less than 20 dollars.

 And I always make a special Valentine's Day dinner.

For the last two years, I have also used Valentine's Day to show love, compassion, and respect to people in my community by performing random acts of kindness.

To me, this is what Valentine's Day is about.  Why would I not cherish a day, any day, every day, every chance, to tell the people in my life how much I love them?

No stranger to snow

Guest post written by Cindy Butler

I'm kind of used to snow, but no matter how many times I've gotten ready for the snow or shoveled a sidewalk, I don't think that I'll ever really get used to it. But it's something that I have to do. I wish that I could just go on autopilot or something when I do that and just shovel snow like a robot but that just doesn't work as well.

I was kind of putting off shoveling snow a little bit and when I was doing that I went online with my HughesNet Internet to try and find some good techniques for shoveling snow.

Well, I didn't really find much of anything because shoveling snow is pretty basic. You just pick a spot, start from there and work your way through the snow covered area until you're done. Too bad that you can't buy that de-icer spray that you spray on your windshield into a power washer or something and just clear your sidewalk that way. Although, I think that would work out pretty well.

Snow No More

Alright I will probably bring on the wrath of my entire town when I admit this: Late last week and over the weekend, I was a little sad to see the snow leave.  It made for such beautiful pictures, and seeing the dead grass was a little depressing.  I knew it would be a while before things would burst into bloom for Spring, so it saddened me to not at least have pretty snow to look at; I have since changed my mind about all that however.

Because last night we got hit with a snowstorm from Hades.

 The weather forecasters called for a max of 3 inches.  We got at least 9.  Probably closer to 12 when it was all said an done.  And it started snowing at 3 pm.  Road crews did little, if anything, to prepare for bad roads during rush hour.  The result?  Hubby's 1.25 hour drive home ended up taking him 5 hours.  Completely ridiculous.  Needless to say, he did not make it in today.  The roads were still a mess this morning, oh, who am I kidding, half of the roads in our county are still  pretty much untouched by anything other than the sun.  I am just happy Hubby made it home safe and sound.

I decided to venture out today, to see if the snow resulted in any good photo ops, and boy did it ever!

And while I appreciate the opportunity to get one more awesome set of snow photos in for the year, which you can view here, I am totally ready for Spring.  Even if it means dead grass for a few weeks.

So, Mother Nature, no more snow, mmmkay?

Snow blows!

Each day is Valentine's day

Hubby and I are not ones to get majorly sucked into the commercial black hole of Valentine's Day.  I prefer to not go out for dinner, as restaurants are often crowded, overpriced, and kind of obnoxious during this holiday week/weekend.  So, since becoming "old marrieds", we have preferred to stay in, have a nice dinner, and do sweet things for each other

This year it was a little unusual for a few reasons.  First off, Hubby had made a Superbowl bet with me, which he lost, and the terms of the bet were that he had to cook me dinner.  He does not cook.  Ever.  So, since this was going to be a momentous occasion, we decided it would count as our Valentine's dinner, even though it was Saturday.  He made me steak and baked potatoes, very delicious, and even got a cake for dessert.  And he was so excited about his gift to me, he insisted we exchange presents after dinner.  Unfortunately, this meant his was not wrapped, but he did not mind.  I bought him a board game based on the show Dexter.  Not typically a romantic gift, but given that Hubby collects board games, and loves that show so much we named our dog Dexter, he LOVED it!.  He got me Snapeas, a snack I love but are ridiculously hard to find, and an external hard drive to store my pictures.  I was in heaven.  

So, looked like our Valentine's Day was pretty much perfect.  And then, late that night, as I was carrying Dexter downstairs, I somehow fell on the steps and bruised my tailbone.  This is a pain unlike anything I have ever felt.  It hurts to sit, to lay, to do anything but stand straight and not move.  And this had the potential to ruin a big surprise I had planned for actual Valentine's Day.  I was heartbroken.  But Hubby took exceptionally good care of me for the rest of the weekend, and doggone it, I was determined to carry out my surprise.

So, yesterday, I woke up, and got to work.  I baked some bread (thank you Pampered Chef!) and started dinner in the crock pot.  I was making Parmesan Chicken with Green Beans.  So delish.  I also made parsley potatoes.  Again, amazing.  But that was nothing compared to what else I did.

Using 2 large bags of Hershey kisses, I made a heart on the floor of our entryway,

 then a trail of kisses leading from the door upstairs to our room.  

There, I was waiting for Hubby, all dressed up in a skirt and blouse, with a hand made Valentine.

The whole idea was that I "kiss" the ground he walks on.  He LOVED it!  I was really proud of the Valentine, and although I did not get to make dinner as elaborate as I hoped because I was in pain, it still ended up being a wonderful night.  After dinner, we played a couple of trivia games, snuggled with the dogs, and just talked about how much we love each other, and why.  

To me, this is what Valentine's day is all about, a day full of love, laughter, kindness, and joy.  And this is how each day of my life is, all because I am married to my best friend.  I love you Hubby, and each day with you is like Valentine's Day.

Explorations: Harmony

On Saturday, Hubby and I decided to venture out of the house despite some awful weather, and traveled up to a tiny town in Butler County called Harmony.  It was a settlement created by the Harmony Society, a group of German anabaptists, back in the early 1800's.  The land was eventually sold, buildings and all, to a Mennonite group, who resettled it as a Mennonite community.  Traces of both groups' cultures still remain.

We started out by touring the Harmony Museum.
There was so much history and culture encapsulated within the place, I could not stop looking around.  And our tour guide was so nice.  Part of the tour included other buildings, and she took a snow shovel and shoveled paths for us to access them, when she easily could have skipped that part of the tour.  It was so awesome to see the bits of the past.

We also looked around at some of the other sites in town, including the Mennonite church and cemetery, Grace Church, The Harmony Inn (where we had lunch, yum!) and the Harmony Society cemetery.  The Harmony Society cemetery includes a revolving stone gate symbolizing traversing between this world and the next, and none of the graves are marked.

The town is clearly very proud of their heritage, and I would love to go back for some of their special events, including the Christmas market.  The time in Harmony was definitely well spent, and very peaceful.

You can view the rest of my photos from the visit here.

Do you remember.... snow days?

I grew up in Ohio, and the climate was the same as Western Pennsylvania.  Snow could start as early as October, and still be flying as late as April.  It has been known to snow on my birthday in years past, which is in late April.  So, all this coldness and snow, it is really nothing new to me.  What is new is my attitude toward it.

As a kid, I loved the snow.  We lived on a giant (at least to my child's eyes) hill, and our yard was all downhill, so snow meant snow days from school, and that meant sled riding.  I remember a few tense bus rides home when snow storms hit during the day, once, the bus driver had all the remaining kids on the bus sit only in the seats above the tires, in the hopes that it would help prevent sliding around a particularly sharp bend.

When we were kids, the only way to find out there were snow days was to watch tv or listen to the radio, to the long list of schools being announced as being delayed or canceled.  If you missed your school, you had to wait for the next time they went through the list.  You held your breath, and it always felt like your school was the very last to cancel.  Now, kids have it easy.  They can check the news websites, or facebook or twitter, and many districts often call the homes of all students on automated systems.  Kids today have it cushy I tell ya!

I loved getting to sleep in on snow days, and then get up and watch soap operas, eat soup, go play in the snow, and then come in and make hot chocolate.  Now, I do not enjoy the snow nearly as much.  

When I worked every day, it never really bothered me when it snowed, because at least I still had somewhere I would normally have to be, and if it was really bad, I could call off.  But most of the time, I braved the roads and went to work.  Now that I am a homemaker, snow days are not really a treat.  They keep me from going out to run errands and do things I need to do to keep the household running.  Grown ups just do not really get snow days.  I am constantly begging Hubby to take a snow day, in part because I fret about his long drive.  But mostly, I just want someone with whom I can sleep in, watch soap operas, eat soup, go play in the snow, and then come in and make hot chocolate.

Explorations: Pauline Fathers Monastery

Yesterday, I decided it was time to shake the cabin fever, and go out in search of some things to photograph.  I spent nearly an hour driving all over the back roads of Armstrong County before happening upon this.

Now, for people born and raised in this area, this is probably no big deal, but to me, this was an amazing find.  While I grew up in an area with a lot of Catholic churches, and attended a Catholic graduate school with a monastery on the grounds, this was something altogether different.  This was something I just stumbled upon.  To make two finds like this in one week?  God is definitely leading me.

I drove into the grounds, a bit full of trepidation, not sure if I was supposed to be there or not, but the gates were open, the parking lot plowed, so, I figured, why not take a look around.  I was struck by the simple beauty of the grounds, the snow covered trees.

I parked my car and got out to look around.  The actual monastery itself was quite simple, it actually looked like a dormitory.  There were several statues around the main parts of the grounds, one of the Blessed Mother, two of St. Paul, and one of Christ on the Cross.  The only sound that could be heard was the sound of my feet crunching on the snow as I walked around taking pictures.  It was utterly peaceful and serene.

Then I spied this building down over the hill a bit.  I was really curious, so I trudged through the snow, at one point even losing my footing, to get a closer look.  It appeared to be a chapel.

I crept closer thinking this was a chapel open for use, and I could enter it to pray.  Unfortunately, it was being used for storage, and I do not think I was supposed to be there, so I did not linger, but I did get a picture or two of some of the amazing items still in there.  

Daily mass is held at the monastery, and I would love to attend sometime.  I plan on going back in the future, during the other seasons of the year, to get additional pictures.  This place is beyond lovely.

To see all the pictures I took that day, not only of the monastery but all over the county, view the photo set here.

Explorations: St. Patrick's Log Church

I awoke today with an adventurous spirit, determined to make a great discovery.  So, I got in my car, camera in hand, and just started to drive.  And I found something beautiful.

Several times along the way, I contemplated turning back, because the roads were snowy, and I feared I would get stuck out on some country road.  But something urged me forward, perhaps the Holy Spirit.  Because where I ended up was here:

This is Saint Patrick's Church, a log church build out in Sugarcreek Township in Armstrong County.  It was built by  Irish immigrants in 1806.  Parishoners claim this was the first church build west of the Allegheny Mountains.  It sits next to St. Patrick's Cemetary, where undoubtedly some of those immigrants are buried.  Unfortunately, the church was not open.  In the spring and fall, I believe it is open so that you can go inside, and the parish does still occasionally celebrate mass in the log church.  I would love to attend one of those masses sometime.  

St. Patrick keeps watch over all.  It was so silent and still when I was out there.  So much beauty.

In the lower part of the cemetery, there are old graves, this one belonging to Patrick Maloney, d. 1828

At the upper part of the cemetary, there are newer graves, which I did not want to disturb or photograph out of respect, but I did capture a few images of some statues, one which appeared to be a general monument, and one that sat atop a headstone.

I wish my camera could have captured the quiet, still, beauty I found in this place this morning.  

The Irish have a phrase for a place where the veil between heaven and earth is more permeable, and the two places can almost touch: a thin place.  I have no doubt that this small piece of western Pennsylvania is indeed a thin place.  I felt God's presence and peace here, and I have a feeling I will visit it many times in the future.

Please feel free to view the rest of the photos I took in my Flickr photostream located here.