First Christmas in Heaven 🎄

Young Emily during Christmas in front of a Christmas tree.

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
- Luke 2:10-12

This was Emily’s favorite time of year that she approached with an almost childlike excitement and anticipation. She never took celebrating another Christmas for granted and loved getting gifts but even more buying and seeing others (especially her Godchildren and nieces) enjoy opening their gifts and of course loved seeing the church decorated and celebrating Jesus’s birth.

As much fun as she experienced here we know that will pale in comparison with her first Christmas in Heaven. We can’t even begin to imagine how awesome that will be, but this poem from Angel Baby Network is a beautiful depiction.

My First Christmas in Heaven poem by Author Unknown

As we approach the last day of this year, we continue to miss her. But we are comforted by the strong force of her spirit spreading her love and the joy that we know she is experiencing in Heaven.

Emily’s Christmas wreath at her grave 2024

Celebrations and Sweet Memories

Baptism of Jude Family Photo

Jude’s Baptism

Emily’s nephew, Jude, was baptized on September 14,2024 and it was a joyous event as shown in the picture (above).  The family was so excited for this day and Jude’s big sister, Maddie, was so engaged (and busy) that it was hard to keep both her shoes on her feet!  While Emily’s earthly presence was deeply missed, we know that she had a much better perch from her heaven and are certain she enjoyed it.

A Dream Come True

It’s also been a year since Emily’s trip to Scotland. It was the last trip she got to take before going home to the Lord, but it was such precious time for her as she well documented in her blogs last year (starting September 15, 2023). It was a blessing that she was able to experience this much anticipated trip, which included all the things she loved (churches, art, royal castles and food) as she wrote about in blog entries like this, which included a visit to the National Shrine of St. Andrew.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Scotland then you might want to take a look back into Emily’s documentation of her adventures there last year to get some ideas. We also want to leave you with some restaurant recommendations Emily made that we hope you might visit and think of her while you’re enjoying your meal and scenery:

Howie’s Victoria Street

Ensign Ewart Pub on the Royal Mile

The Grand Cafe, Scotsman Hotel (afternoon tea and lunch)

Mowgli Edinburgh

Eteaket Tea Room

Cafe at the Palace (of Holyroodhouse)

Mimi’s Bakehouse (don’t take reservations but we popped in several times for drinks and snacks)

Ivy on the Square

Badger and Co.

The Scran and Scallie

Royal Deck Tearoom, Britannia (they don’t take reservations so if you want to eat there, head there first when you get on the yacht!)

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To wrap this post up, whether you’re in a season of celebration, adventure, uncertainty or earthly suffering we want to leave you with encouragement. As has seemingly been a theme this year following Emily’s passing, we hope that you take each day a moment at a time and thank the Lord for all His blessings. We never know the time we have left or what season of life we’re moving into, but we should depend on Him for our every given moment.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
- Isaiah 41:10

Special Edition: Reflection from Aunt Mary 📝

The following is from a wonderful Daily Gospel Reflection (run by the University of Notre Dame) that Emily’s Aunt Mary wrote on July 24th. She loved Emily dearly and was greatly inspired by her journey (and continues to love her still even in parting for the rest of this earthly life). Be blessed by her reflection on faithfulness.

In addition, there is an archive for other Daily Gospel Reflections from former ND Alumni as well as daily reflections in audio form.

Reflection

Mary Heilmann Becker ’87
ND Parent

My niece Emily DeArdo died at age 41 on New Year’s Eve 2023—a day she had long contemplated and prepared for.

“I’ve never doubted my faith,” Emily wrote. “But did I have courage? Did I trust Jesus? … That’s the slow-growing bloom of faith. Faith is the seed. But courage and trust? That’s the result of a lot of dark nights and lots of tears.”

Jesus asks us to have that bloom of faith in today’s gospel reading, and it was the essence of Emily. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 11 and given a projected life expectancy of 30 years, Emily could have had her faith snatched away by the birds of bitterness before it took root. Or, having survived this devastating diagnosis, Emily’s faith could have been scorched or choked by the medical trials she endured over the years—the near-fatal bout of tuberculosis, the double lung transplant, and the loss of her hearing.

But Emily proved to be rich soil that produced a fruitful, faithful life. She lived exuberantly, with courage and trust in God. She competed on “Jeopardy!” as the show’s first cochlear implant recipient, blazing a path for others to follow. She wrote the book Living Memento Mori: My Journey Through the Stations of the Cross, published by Ave Maria Press in 2019, explaining how her faith guided her through many challenges and offering inspiration to readers struggling with their own crosses.

“We wait for the second coming of Christ—we wait for our own resurrection,” Emily wrote. “And as we do this, we show the world that even when God appears silent, we will still love him. We will still follow him. We will still be faithful as we wait.”

Whoever has ears ought to hear.

Matthew 13:1-9
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

What You do with Your Years (Anniversary Edition)?

Battling Your Circumstances with Joy and Gratitude

Emily always said she was grateful for every additional day of her life that her double lung transplant back on July 11,2005 gave her. She wrote about it constantly, in fact, she wrote a whole book about it that was published in 2020.

Today would have been her 19th lung transplant anniversary, but since she has passed on from this life (and is completely healed praise the Lord!), we wanted to inspire you as a reader to think of how powerful her story really was and continues to be. She was not supposed to live to see 24 years old, but with her lung transplant, she far outlived her prognosis. And boy, did she live and love life! This blog entry from 2015 tells of all the moments Emily was so grateful to experience and witness with her extended lease on life. It’s important to also note that Emily’s donor Suzanne was very dear to her because she knew for one to live it meant one had to die and she never forgot to thank her and her family.

An image of Emily on the day she was being released to come home from the hospital post surgery.

If you’ve never seen this 5-minute video from Nationwide Children’s Hospital that covers and overview of her journey from diagnosis to receiving her double lungs transplant surgery, please take a moment to watch and hear about how pivotal this moment that brought hope was in her life.

Emily’s outlook on her diagnosis did not relegate her to living her life in a lesser way. In fact, it propelled her into pursuing things she was more passionate for (like writing her books and blogs) and enabled her to grow deeper in her relationship with Christ. She even wrote this article a little over a year ago talking about the blessings and hardships of transplant patients that is a transparent look through her perspective and the facts.

Text image that reads: We spend out. We don’t hoard our time or resources. We invest them in people, in loving others, and in community.

So the real question is, knowing we all have breath in our lungs today and the precious gift of life, how does God want you to live your years? Not many of us will go through a transplant like Emily did in our lifetime, but if you’ve accepted the gift of Salvation, then you’ve gotten a spiritual transplant.
Consider Romans 6:8-11 below:

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

So what should we do with this renewed life on earth that extends into eternity? Maybe love our families and friends well and making the most of our time with them? Give generously of our time, talents, and treasures to others? Live each day like it’s our last on this earth and tell someone about His amazing gift of salvation? Or maybe all of the above? Everyone’s journey through life looks different, but the focus should always be on Christ and furthering His Kingdom through gratitude and love - something Emily did well.

Memorialize the Present

Memorial Day is the day we take time to honor those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country (for our USA friends that is) and gave their lives so that we could and can remain a free country. We probably all know someone who has served and we might even know someone who has died in the line of duty. All of these people had dreams beyond the battlefields, but they put them aside for the good of the country they loved. 

We hope you’ll remember this today and have an attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude. No country is perfect, but we have been blessed with so much.

Emily had her own Memorial Day traditions that she shared in this post.

She always cherished the little moments and valued people in her life. Even rereading Jane Austin books every summer and getting to dip her toes in the pool (her nieces share her affinity below) were what she considered worth a mention. 

Emily’s nieces sharing her love of the pool!

How many of us can truly say we are living? Some of us wake up and choose to take on the world loudly, some quietly one moment at a time, and some of us are physically awake, but bare minimum for the definition of “living”. 

We hope as you read Emily’s former post you gain a renewed drive to be present in the ordinary moments in life. Life is short; we all know it, but we tend to push it out of our minds in exchange of desire for the big moments. But truly, tomorrow is never guaranteed so please start memorializing the time you have with your family and friends, enjoy each other’s company in the moment, and don’t stop making good memories. 

So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
- Psalm 90:12

Welcome to the Family Jude!

Baby Jude wrapped in Aunt Emily and Aunt Sue’s baby blanket.

Emily’s nephew Jude entered the world last week!

When his mom Melanie called and said his birth weight was 7-13 (7 pounds 13 ounces), we realized  that this was the exact time that Em was taken up to Heaven (7:13pm) and was no coincidence.  Clearly Emily was at work at his birth!

The banner photo above is of Jude in the blanket that Emily had started for him (which was graciously finished by her Aunt Sue in St Louis) marked with a yellow heart.  It’s easy to tell that his older sister, Maddie (picture below), is already much taken with him. The family is doing well and adjusting to being a family of 4 now. It’s well known how much Em loved her nieces and godchildren (and babies in general),  and we are sure that she is enjoying watching over her first nephew.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ ” - Matthew 18:1-3

Eighteen

This is a photo of me and my godson, Ryan. (He’s also my cousin.)

I was fifteen when he was born. When I received my transplant, he was seven years old.

I loved him insanely. I kept his photos in my locker, and my friend Amilia remembers that we used to call him “baby.” (I still love him insanely, don’t get me wrong. The insanity of love does’t wane.)

He’s 25 now. He works in Pittsburgh and has a degree in economics. He’s learning Japanese.

When I was on the list, when I thought I might not get to see him grow up, one of the things I wrote during that time was a letter to him—things I wanted him to know.

Fortunately he never received that letter, because I did get to see him grow up. I saw him lose teeth, make his first communion, heard his voice break and his body shoot up in height, and I went to his high school graduation party and I know him as an adult.

Patty is three years old. When I had my transplant, her mother (my cousin) wasn’t even married. Neither were my siblings.

My nieces—sweet Madeleine and Hailey—weren’t even possibilities at that point.

Melanie and Madeleine (aka, Maddie, Baby Bear, Sweetheart, Baby Maddie….)

Bryan and Hailey (aka, Hails, Hailey Bug, Baby Bear, Munchkin, Baby Girl…)

Cheering on her favorite baseball player with Mommy!

There are so many gifts. So many things I didn’t even think of when I was twenty-three.

So many things I would have missed.

For some reason, I didn’t miss them. I got to experience them.

“I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”

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Please consider becoming an organ donor, so that more families like mine can be blessed.

Also, my annual signed book sale is on! Get a signed copy of my book, a specially designed bookmark and prayer card, and free shipping, for $15! Email me with your address.

This Moment of June

I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh celebrating my grandma’s ninety-third birthday. I hadn’t seen her since 2021, and I’m missed her; one of my cousins got married last summer but there was COVID so I wasn’t able to attend the wedding. (Boo hiss) It was so nice to see her again and give her a big hug!

I also loved seeing my aunts and uncles and catching up with my cousins. My godson is learning Japanese!

On Sunday we went to Mass with my Aunt Chris (who is also my godmother) and Uncle Tom, and one of their grandchildren, who is adorable. We had brunch at Eat ‘n Park afterwards. It’s never a bad day when you an have Eat ‘n Park, in my estimation.

I came home to find the first perfect cherry tomato was ready on the vines, and it was delicious. I can’t wait for the rest of them to ripen. There are about 30 tomatoes in various stages of growth out there right now.

How’s your June been?

Easter birthday!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

This year my birthday fell on Easter (for the first time!) and that was pretty exciting. I was born on Good Friday but my birthday has been all sorts of days—Holy Thursdays, Palm Sundays, days in the Octave, and once even the Annunciation! (Transferred because it fell during Holy Week.) And sometimes it’s just in “plain old” Easter or Lent.

This year mom and dad and I went to dinner at the Barn, where I had the ost delicious halibut with handmade lemon ricotta ravioli…

Followed by dessert at my brother and SIL’s house, where I got to snuggle Hailey (an excellent birthday gift!)

AND I got to talk to Melanie and Maddie!

Giggles everywhere.

So it was a very good birthday.

Happy First Birthday, Miss Madeleine!

I can’t believe we’ve gone from this…

To this…

Her smash cake is a Hedwig cake!

What an incredible year it’s been!

Dad and I went out to Denver to celebrate Maddie’s first birthday (Mom has a broken leg, so she didn't make the trip—thank goodness for FaceTime!). She had a Harry Potter themed party—my sister went all out and did a fabulous job creating a magical day for Madeleine!

The party table with the house scarves I made for Maddie’s sorting!

Maddie was sorted into Slytherin—though some people were calling for a re-do, saying that she was a Ravenclaw because she sat on that scarf—and greatly enjoyed eating her chocolate Hedwig cake.

And she very much enjoyed her presents (Aunt Sarah got her the Harry Potter PJs!)

Tunnel also from Aunt Sarah, Uncle Bryan, and Hailey!

Yes, there was Baby Lit.

Happy birthday, Miss Madeleine! We’re so glad you were born!

Blogmas '22 Day 11: Welcome, Miss Hailey

Hailey Rose DeArdo

December 15, 2022 at 3:24 A M

6 lbs, 2 oz, 20” long

Hailey was the best Christmas gift this year! She obviously could not wait to get out and spend Christmas with us, so instead of being a New Year’s baby, she’s a Christmas baby.

She is so sweet, and really, is there anything sweeter than a newborn at Christmas? I don’t think so, especially when I get to spend Christmas Eve with a snuggled up baby on my chest.

Because she was a little early and there’s so much respiratory crap going around this year, the pediatrician asked us to wear masks if we’re holding her, hence my face gear. :) But it’s me!

Music: This is one of my FAVORITES—”The Seven Rejoices of Mary”, sung by Loreena McKennit.

Blogmas '22 Day 7: Christmas Knits

There were three things knit for gifts this year and now I can talk about them since they don’t have to be surprises anymore!

One of them I think I’d already shared—Hailey’s baby blanket.

Wrapped up in it :)

This is an adaptation of the Sully blanket pattern I’ve used for all the baby blankets I make, but every time I keep adapting is! This time I added a border of garter stitch all the way around—I start with four rows of garter stitch and then end with four rows of garter stitch, in addition to the four garter stitches at the end of each row. I don’t like to block blankets so I think that this makes the blanket “lie” a little bit better.

I used Rowan’s cashsoft merino in three colors: snowflake, vintage pink, and rosy.

Project Number 2: A winter scarf!

This was actually planned as a Christmas gift—I made my dad a scarf in easy mistake rib, using a nice navy blue yarn—and he got it before Christmas due to the insanely cold temperatures we had here! I’m glad I’d thought to make it!

(I don’t have any pictures, sorry, bad blogger me!)

Project Number 3: A Cowl for my Sister-in-law

This was sort of a random project. I had some of Quince and Co’s limited edition yarn based on a Taylor Swift song—Lavender Haze. I bought a few skeins thinking it would make some good cowls.

Once Hailey was born, I felt like I needed to make another Christmas gift for Sarah (my SIL) since one of her gifts was Hailey’s baby blanket—but since Hailey was here, it was hers now! Knowing that she loves sparkle, I thought I’d pair Lavender Haze with a sparkly Knit Collage yarn to make a really quick cowl that will keep her warm on walks with Hailey this winter!

The colors here aren’t really representative—it’s much more pink in person, not orange!

The pattern is Knit Collage’s Yarnicorn Cowl knit with Quince and Co Puffin and Knit Collage’s Star Spun in Lunar Landing. You need one skein of each and it seriously takes about two hours to knit up! Knit Collage’s yarns create really fun, unique knits. I’m going to make another one of these for my sister, except using the Knit Collage Kona Sky color way with the Lavender Haze.

Did you knit/crochet/craft any Christmas gifts? Tell me about them!

Blogmas '22 Day 3: Family Christmas!

Our family Christmas celebrations have varied wildly over the years. When we were little (we meaning my brother and I—this was before my sister was born), we spent Christmas in Pittsburgh with my parents’ families. Christmas Eve we usually spent with my dad’s family, and Christmas Day with my mom’s family. (Back then my mom still had siblings living at home—she’s the third of eight kids. Dad is the youngest of three.)

The big special thing, though, was that Santa came early to our house. We did Christmas at home before we left for Pittsburgh. And yes, I really did love telling my classmates that. :)

Once my sister was born, the celebrations became different. One year my Grandma D came down ,but most years we were at home. Mom sang in the choir and played the flute for Midnight Mass, so we went to an earlier Mass, then came home, then mom left for midnight Mass. Once I was old enough to help dad (er, “Santa”) set out toys, that was my job, and Bryan had to keep Melanie from trying to get downstairs! After college, I sang in the church choir at Midnight Mass.

When I was in junior high, we started a family reunion on my mom’s side a few days after Christmas, which took place in various hotels. For the past 10 years or so it’s been here in town, but we haven’t rescheduled it since the pandemic—but there have also been weddings and graduations, so we’ve been able to see each other outside of the holidays, which is nice. There are so many of us that we don’t fit in anyone’s house anymore!

So Christmas at home now looks like this: we go to 4:00 Mass, have dinner after, and then exchange gifts with my brother and sister-in-law at their house. This year, the best gift was baby Hailey—their daughter! She was due to arrive in early January ut she decided she just had to spend Christmas with us, so I spent most of Christmas Eve this year with a newborn sleeping on my chest.

That’s a pretty good way to spend Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day is very relaxed—I spend the day with my parents. We open gifts and have food and generally hang out all day, usually with some football or A Christmas Story thrown in. This year was Madeleine’s first Christmas, so we FaceTimed with them a few times. It was so cute to see Maddie celebrate her first Christmas!

How does your family celebrate Christmas? Tell me about it!

My parents love Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, and “Winter Was Warm” is one of my mom’s favorite songs from it, so….here you go!

Maddie: Eleven months!

In less than a month, Madeleine will be a YEAR OLD! In the words of Mr. Mom, “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”

She’s had a big month! She’s had her first Thanksgiving….

She clearly loved it all.

She wondered at her parents bringing a tree into the house…including a little one for her!

And she has her own Advent/Christmas corner—she loves playing with the Advent calendar characters in each day’s slot!

She and Duke the Dog weren’t too sure about this light up, dancing Santa that Daddy gave them…

She met Santa….

And saw Christmas lights…

So basically it’s been a huge month for Maddie.

She’s been crawling like crazy, pulling herself up, and growing by leaps and bounds. I cannot wait to see her next month for her first birthday party! And most likely, by then, she’ll have a cousin! (My brother and SIL are having their first baby basically anytime now. :)) In one year, my niece quotient has doubled, and I am pretty darn happy about that.

Mommy and Maddie at the doctor’s :) Maddie is, as usual, cheesing. :)

Monthly photo gallery:

Mid August Daybook

Flowers at the local French cafe

Outside my window::

Sunny and breezy—great late summer weather.

Listening to::

The Rings of Power soundtrack. I’m very excited for the show to start on September 2!

Wearing::

crops and a gray t-shirt—a uniform of sorts for me.

Grateful for::

Conversations with Di, Patty, and Johnny.

Good Echo results!

new knitting projects

Pondering::

Functional fitness. As I wrote in the last daybook , this is important in just keeping up the house and doing regular things, but it’s also important in giving my body the tools it needs to “get through” things. If I’m stronger at the outset then I have less to lose if/when I get sick.

Like right now, I have a sinus infection. Wheeeeeee again. I’ve had a lot of them sine 2020, and that’s unusual for me. I had a long-overdue sinus surgery last December, but that didn’t seem to solve the problem the way it normally does.

So right now I’m on Cipro, which is a great, super powerful antibiotic which will clear up the sinuses—but will also mess with my tendons. So that is a bummer when it comes to the whole “functional fitness” thing, because I really do not want to rupture a tendon.

This means that my workouts have to change—I can’t be doing things like treadmill workouts. So I’m doing gentler things, but things that my body still needs, like yoga/stretches for my body, especially my legs (because my legs get really tight), and things I can do that don’t put a lot of stress on my knees or Achilles’ tendon, because these are the areas that tend to get grumpy with me. I’ve gotten some permanent injury to my right knee because I didn’t listen to my body when I’ve been on Cipro, so I don’t want to repeat that.

It’s a fine line, but it’s one that I have to figure out how to manage, and I think I have a good plan for the next two weeks that I’m on this medication.

Reading::

The Silmarillion,* The Book of Lost Tales (Part 1),* (yes, lots of Tolkien right now!) The Crossing* (my parents are really into this book series and so I’ve started reading them too), and Memories Before and After The Sound of Music.*

In case you’re wondering how I read multiple books at one time—I was an English Lit major in college (and Political Science), so I’m very good at reading multiple books at one time! I’m reading Silmarillion almost like I’d read it for a class; I take it slowly because there are a lot of names and places and things to remember. I try to read 1-2 chapters a day. The other books I’m not reading like that. But I’m very good at juggling books and plot lines.

Creating::

A '“stupid easy” shawl with some of the gorgeous yarn I bought on the yarn crawl!

The pattern is Casapinka’s “Woven”, which I had bought and forgot about in the wilds of my desk, but as part of the house reorganizing/decorating project, I was going through papers and found it, and then decided it would be perfect for this yarn. Ravelry notes here. I still have two shawls to block as well.

(Yes shawls are my favorite thing to knit. They’re so diverse and you can have o much fun with yarn and technique! BUT color work is also really fun. And I’m liking cowls. So cowls/shawls are my favorites right now.)

To live the liturgy::

Today is the feast of St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church and Abbot. Did you know he wrote “O Sacred Head Surrounded” (or “now Wounded” in some translations)? I didn’t! I love that hymn. He’s also featured in Dante’s Paradiso. (The last part of the Divine Comedy. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it!)

Around the house::

Still going on the big project but things are coming together! Yay!

From the kitchen::

I will make another load of Sourdough sometime this month to incorporate Diane’s suggestions to my last attempt! I’m actually really excited. I need to feed Sammy the Starter today.

Plans for the week::

All day doctor extravaganza on Monday for yearly testing. WHEEE. Since I’m on Cipro I won’t have to do the six minute walk, which I sort of hate anyway, so that’s a plus!

End of July Daybook

It has been so long since I’ve done one of these, but I saw that Elizabeth Foss has re-started them over at her blog and that gave me the impetus to go ahead and write this one! Because I like them and it’s been way too long since we’ve had one!

Outside my window::

It’s a sunny day, the grass and trees are green and thriving (see above photo!). It’s only going to be 81 today so that mens I can sit on my porch and read without frying to a crisp. This is excellent.

I am listening to::

In the car, it’s the Six * soundtrack. It’s so fun. I’ve also been working on learning Scottish Gaelic, so sometimes I tune into the BBC Scotland (Alba) channel and get a mix of Scottish music and talk radio—sometimes in English, sometimes in Gaelic. I’m really good at picking out the word “and”! (which is agus).

I am wearing::

You know, when the world shut down in 2020, it was so easy to get into the “I am not going to get dressed” thing, right? I’ve never been a person to leave the house in my pajamas, and I’m still not. But yes, my favorite leggings and a great t-shirt are sort of my summer uniform, along with a fun lipstick. (One of my New Year’s Resolutions? Wear more lipstick. It sounds really funny and sort of silly, but I love doing it now!) Generally my hair is up. When I’m dressed like this I feel like I can get a lot of things done, which is always a good idea!

Grateful for::

Talking to Maddie and my sister this morning—Maddie is blowing raspberries and it’s so cute.

Good weather

The local farmers’ market, which I remembered to visit yesterday!

A new baby to knit for

a local yarn crawl to attend!

Pondering::

Two big projects—but not writing projects. One of them is a wholesale overhaul of my apartment. The other is about gaining back muscle strength and endurance post COVID lockdowns.

The apartment is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, and this has two parts: the really deep clean + organizing, and then the decorating part. The two are sort of dovetailing because as I deep clean/sort/donate/organize things I notice things that need replaced or things I need to get to ensure things are running smoothly around here. The other part is replacing broken things with things that I, in some cases like better, like the lamp below:

This lamp is perfect!

The goal is to have the cleaning and organizing done by Labor Day. I think I can do it! The decorating will take a bit longer as I look for things that are good fits, like the lamp above. There was a lamp there that didn’t really fit the space or my style, but I kept it because I hadn’t found anything else I really liked. As soon as I saw this lamp (from Target) I knew it would be perfect, and it is. So then I was able to get rid of the old, broken lamp!

Another part of housekeeping is having the energy/stamina to do it, because I don’t always. If I get sick, the entire system collapses, so I need a better system, for starters, but that also feeds into the second project—getting my stamina back. Lockdowns did a huge number on my overall fitness, and so I’ve decided that I’m really going to re-focus on that. I’m doing Take Up and Read’s Well and Good summer program, and that’s been really helpful in addressing certain issues I’d been having. I’m not trying to lose weight—at this point, I want to be strong and be able to function on a daily basis, for myself, but also for Patty, Madeleine, and my new niece!

So I’ve been working out three times a week—the goal is to build that up to 5 days. The workouts vary but I can already seem changes in my stamina and strength, which is all for the good. And if I have more strength, I can do more around the house as well! It all works together.

Reading::

The King’s Pearl*, about Henry VIII and his daughter Mary; Mansfield Park*'; Taste: My Life Through Food*, and Theology of Home III: At The Sea. *

Creating::

a shawl—I’m in a yarn club so every quarter members get a special kit with an exclusive pattern, yarn for the pattern, and a knitting notion. I’ve been knitting through kits I have, and this is the one I’m on now—hopefully I’ll have it off the needles by August’s Yarn Along! I’ll have full notes there too.

To Live the Liturgy::

Today’s the feast of St. Martha!

Around the House::

See above! :) But right now the laundry is going as I write this.

From the Kitchen::

When I visited Diane, she taught me how to make sourdough bread and gave me some of her starter. I am most likely going to bake my first loaf with it within the next week. Fingers crossed!

Patty observes the process!

Plans for the week::

As we head into August my schedule is lovely and clear. August has two medical days—an Echo as part of my yearly transplant testing, as well as the whole day testing/doctor visit extravaganza. But other than that, the month is so clear and I love it.

Seventeen

Me and my first niece, the Maddie Bear!

There’s something about this transplant anniversary that just hits differently. Maybe it’s because it’s seventeen, which is getting up there in transplant years, and it feels more remarkable. I think it’s because some big things have happened in this transplant year.

My sister became pregnant, had Madeleine, and I got to meet the sweet little girl, who is my first niece! Then my brother and his wife announced they too are pregnant, with a girl, so I’ll have two nieces by the end of January 2023. Wow!

Something about nieces just hits differently. Maybe it’s because of the genetic connection. Maybe it’s seeing my siblings become parents. Maybe it’s both? It’s undefinable, I think. It’s just a special thing, to be an aunt. It’s different than being a godparent, which I also love!

How can you resist Patty? You can’t.

And I turned 40, which, to be honest, wasn’t something I was sure I’d see. But I did.

When I was twenty-three, my sister hadn’t met her husband. My brother had met his wife, but they weren’t dating. Diane, Patty’s mom, wasn’t married yet (although she was dating her husband) so her kids weren’t even thoughts. (Well maybe they were thoughts. haha.) My godson was seven years old.

So many things hadn’t happened yet.

Thanks to Suzanne (my organ donor) I was able to see all these things, and more.

Recipe: Diane's improvised pasta sauce--toddler approved!

While I was in Houston Diane made some amazing food, including her sourdough (which she taught me!) and this improvised pasta sauce. We all liked it so much that I told her we had to write it down because it was that good.

You can see that Patty enjoyed the fruit of her mother’s labors!

Diane’s Improvised Pasta Sauce

Makes enough for one pound of pasta (we used penne)

1 jar of marinara sauce

2 fresh tomatoes, quartered

jarred mined garlic or fresh minced garlic, 2 tbsp.

Extra virgin olive oil, about 2 tbsp.

salt to taste

Pinot grigio, 1- 1 1/2 cups

heavy cream 2/3 c.

basil, fresh or dried (Diane has a basil plant so we used fresh)—as much as you want.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a pot, then add quartered tomatoes. Bring to a simmer. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add wine, cook until about reduced by half. Add marinara sauce and basil leaves, bring to a simmer and let simmer for 1-2 minutes. Take off the heat, add cream, taste and adjust seasoning if necessarily. Use immersion blender to blend (Or a regular blender).

You can either use fresh or let cool and put in the fridge for later use.

Meeting Miss Maddie

My parents and I just got back from Colorado, where we finally got to meet Miss Maddie!

Let me tell you, it was a lot of love.

She smiles. A lot.

She ponders which key to hit!

I know I have a really large bias here, being her aunt and all, but I have to say that Maddie is just precious. She’s so alert! You can almost see the wheels turning in her head when she’s trying to figure something out (like rolling over—so close!). When she met us for the first time, you could tell she thought we were familiar, but here we were in person, not in a little screen!

Maddie checking us out for the first time.

I am so glad we were able to go visit, and also glad that things like FAceTime are available. I honestly don’t know how people did it back in the day. Think about the beginning of Little House on the Prairie. Caroline and Charles’ parents never saw Grace. They never saw their children and grand-children again after they left. Of course they had letters, but that’s not the same. At least I can see and talk to Maddie and she can talk to me! (And my sister and brother-in-law, of course!) It makes distance somewhat more bearable.

Madeleine was baptized on Saturday at their parish:

And she was a very good girl through it, even if she did have a bottle right before Mass started and um, spit some of that back up before we got to the font. :) But it was OK she was a champ during the actual baptism itself. She didn’t seem to like the baptismal garment very much, although it was very pretty! She kept tugging at it.

Maddie also has a very cute habit of only wearing one sock/one shoe and getting rid of the others. It’s very Cinderella. (As you can see in the photo at the top of the post.) Apparently she only needs one sock or one shoe, the other foot can go bare, it’s fine.

She also likes to feed herself!

I got this, Aunt Em.

But feeding her and reading to her is awfully fun.

And she is, indeed, my little sunshine.

I will definitely miss being greeted like this

And I’ll miss seeing my sister and brother in law every day.
And cuddling Maddie.

And playing on the floor.

I’m not sure when the next time we’ll see them will be. I hope it’s soon.

Until then, I’ll just keep looking at the pictures my sister sends, and sending her cute clothes and books. :)

Maddie is Three Months Old!

Yay, Maddie! :)

She is the sweetest baby I have ever seen, and she’s so happy! She loves her little morning chats with Melanie. :)

(Here she is at two months and here’s one month)

Here’s the low down on Miss Maddie at three months old

LIKES:

—pacifier (Longhorn buddy, also Elephant buddy, also plain pacifiers!)

—Food, but WARM FOOD, thank you very much.

—reading! She and mommy have reading time now.

—people. People. More people. Did I mention people?

—Her swing and her play gym.

—music

—Duke the dog!

—going to church

—going places in general

—her carrier (Patty also REALLY likes her carrier)

—smiling is her favorite!

—talking. Apparently she has a lot to say!

DISLIKES:

—napping alone in her crib

—the cold milk dislike continues

—being cold

—being bored!

—having a messy/wet diaper

—not being able to see people (see people person, above)

—gas! poor baby!

I can’t believe how much she’s grown in the past month. I mean look at this:

She just keeps getting cuter, as evidenced below:

Her dad went to UT, hence the Longhorn gear. :)