Winterr's words

I have not yet done my Christmas shopping, and I don't know what to buy, I'm bad that way, but on the other hand, I love shopping and love to buy, I also love to buy for people even if I don't know exactly WHAT to buy, ya with me or did I lose you?


Did you know that placing lit candles in windows at Christmas time originated from Ireland? There is an interesting story behind that actually, you see back in the old days there was a time where Catholic religion was surpressed (in Ireland) and priests were forced into hiding, so some Irish families would place a lit candle in their windows and leave their doors unlocked, as a sign that if a priest would see it, he would be welcome to come in and celebrate Christmas mass with them.

By the way I found that Christmas window lights info from a book I own called "Christmas prayers and Customs".

I have been laughing a lot lately thanks to a TV show I like called "That 70's show" it's funny, I need laughter it's good for me!

Ms.Sprite has had me amazed with her link to "Wizards of Winter" I loved it, I think everyone should see it. I wont link to it but you can find it on her newest post entry.

A little birdie told me that Sainto's aka: Owen, is back at the blog world, which is a good thing! I have been addicted to his conversion story once or twice, and his art works.

The Butterfly

When I feel sad and sometimes cry
I think I'd like to be, a butterfly
To rise up to the highest tower
Or jump inside the prettiest flower

I could hide and pretend to be
Anything I really want to be
A rabbit, a fox or lovely bird
But then I remember what I heard

God made me just the way I am
To Him I'm like a little lamb
He's my Shepherd and always there
To give me all His love and care.

Inspirationalverses.com


So I hope that wasnt a little too mushy for you, i'm all for mush.
I got a compliment from a little girl today who lives in my street, she told me i'm pretty, Awwww kiddies, doesnt that make you want to have them? Maybe not. Well i'm going jogging....be good!

I have added some new blogs to my reading list, my latest victims are:
(in no particular order)

Arklahomboy
Cubicle Reverend
Consistent Inconsistencies
Speculative Catholic
Idle Ramblings of the Lutherpunk

Some found me, others I hunted down........

How true!

This morning my cat decided to destroy some furniture, grrrr! I don't know why she chose my newest and most expensive item. I still love her though...

"Condemned drugs smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van has accepted his fate and is ready to die," his lawyer says.

"He's composed and has accepted the fact that it's quite likely he'll be put to death," lawyer Julian McMahon told Today.
read more


Nguyen was arrested in Singapore carrying almost 400 grams of heroin in late 2002.

The death penalty is something I don't agree with, under no circumstances. Everyone has their own view on this with good argument of course, but I feel that it's a penalty that the family members of the criminal/s are the ones that really get to suffer the most and for a longer period.

I have been following the case of convicted drug smuggler "Nguyen Tuong Van" for the last few weeks, and have felt so much remorse for his mother and twin brother.
I have read about how his Mother and twin brother said their last goodbyes to him recently, you could only imagine how difficult that would be for a parent.
I do realize the extent of damage that heroin causes in society, and I do not think it should be taken lightly in any case, however, I find the punishment of death very wrong.

Singapore's laws are that all drug smugglers recieve the dealth penalty by hanging

Studies that were published in the British Medical Journal has found that swimming with dolphins has led to falling levels of depressive symptoms in people.
I read that these findings support the theory of "Biophilia" which shows how human health and well-being depend on relationships with the natural environment.
I thought that was pretty interesting and blog worthy.

Ok, the truth is, i'm bored and i'm throwing myself into scientific explanations of various things, anythings really. I need a life

I hear from St.Peters helpers that football great (manchester united) George Best died at age 59.

I also hear from The Cubicle Reverend that Pat Morita
aka: Mr.Myagi has also died.
Goodbye to both!

This morning I received some thanksgiving greetings, thanks to all, it was a nice way to start my morning, even though we do not celebrate it here in Australia, I have celebrated it overseas before, and I think it's a great time to think about the positives and things that we should be thankful for in our lives, like our health, family etc.
So this is my "happy thanksgiving" greeting back to all of you.

I have been tagged again! Yes again, this time by the future doctor Antonia!! I have had some fun with these lately.

So I should get confessing....

I confess that I love buying shoes, I could be called a shoeaholic!

I confess that when I am the Church reader, I sit as close to the front as possible so I don't have to walk by all the people.

I confess that I let my cat control me and she is the boss and owner, not me

I confess that I am fussy with my hair

I confess that I think Jonathan is the most gorgeous man on earth

I confess that I vacuum around my windows

I confess that I cannot park in tight car parks (like Antonia)

I confess that I have been very overcome by road rage

I confess that I love French perfume and body lotions, I wear them every day

I confess that I have a serious lip balm addiction

I confess that I am going to travel to the USA very soon

I confess to being afraid of my fiance's family cat "Two" when she growls (but I love her)

I confess that I love wearing flannel pajamas in winter

I confess that I take too long in the shower

I confess that I like to be given communion by the priest, rather than the lay person.

I confess that I love the smell of incense at mass, even if it makes me feel like choking sometimes.

I confess that I read lots and lots of blogs, it's my hobby.

I confess that at 12yo I stole my dads cigarette and smoked it and felt unwell

I confess that I also stole my dads whiskey when I was 10 and had a shot before breakfast, to which I also felt very unwell and never did it again.

That's enough! Those are a lot of confessions, you must feel like you know me pretty well :D
I am going to tag only one person for this Stef I will be checking on you to see if you will confess!
I am only tagging one person because I tagged a lot of you already with previous meme's, I want to be kind :)

I'm all for fantasy, so I couldnt resist


Elvish


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

and the hat tip goes to...........Jennifer

It seems to be tag day for me. I have been tagged this time by Dymphna's Well and how could I refuse such an important poll?
Here it is....

1. Write three things for which we are grateful to God for in this past liturgical year.

- My fiance Jonathan, all my family members, God's grace

2. Write three ways in which we hope to improve our relationship with God in this coming liturgical year.

- To show more acts of kindness and help to those less fortunate than me, to attend confession more often than I have this year, to spend more time in prayer, not only for myself but for those who are more in need

3. Pass this on to three other bloggers...

I shall choose 3 bloggers that I did not choose in my last meme.....
My trusty future brother in law
David from Aid to memory, Marie Linda from Peace be the Journey and the very holy Holy Fool

I have been tagged again, the one and only...Holy Fool

The meme is:

MY TOP TEN GREATEST INFLUENCES, OUTSIDE OF GOD AND MY FAMILY MEMBERS!

So here you have it:

1. Mother Teresa of Calucutta: Her life has had a huge impact on my faith, one of the many things that touched me about her is this: A starving woman was picked up off the street, her body covered in sores, while Mother Teresa was washing her and putting her to bed, she murmured "why are you doing this?" Mother Teresa answered gently "for the love of God"
The way she gave herself, amazes me always.

2. Frederic Ozanam: His intelligence and prophetic intuition that he had from such an early age is pretty amazing, I wish I had been more like him whilst growing up.

3. John Paul II: His passion for the youth and the way her reached out to all other faiths, showed me the importance of unity and acceptance. He was the longest reigning Pope in history! He was such an inspiration to all the world, despite being sick, he preached to the world! I believe that he was the most accepted religious figure ever.

4. Ruth: For privacy reasons I wont give you her whole name, she is not a family member, but a personal friend, I think I am allowed friends! She is a great wife and mother, always there to help her friends. Great conversation always! The things she does within the community astounds me, and at the same time she is a young mother of 5 children. Her maturity at her young age is also something worth the mention.

5. Father Pat, my parish priest: He is a walking talking encyclopedia! There is little this man does not know. His knowledge of history has influenced me to understand it more.

6. St. Margaret of Cortona: Wow this woman went through it all, she found it hard to keep faithful to God, she hated her sins and actions so much and was scorned by the public, still she went on to be one of the most inspirational women I know.

7. St.Catherine Of Siena: My patron saint, she influenced the big guys in her time, and they surely listened! Catherine saw visions from such an early age. After 3 years of celestial visitations she went through the mystical experience of spiritual espousals. She went on to be a very powerful influence in the world.

8. Our Lady Mary, mother of Jesus: This woman accepted the immaculate conception, in times where being pregnant out of wedlock was unacceptable. She not only would have had to go explain to the parents, but to Joseph her fiance! She was only young and accepted such a powerful request from God.

9. St.Francis of Assisi: He gave up his nice lifestyle to help the poor and be like the poor. He had a beautiful heart, he loved animals which is my favorite thing!

10. Pope Benedict XVI: The strong stand he takes on morals and all that the Catholic Church stands for. One of the most controversial Popes that I know! Everyone was scared, people were calling him a Nazi, a rotweiler and all sorts.
I am still being influenced by him every day.
Wow I'm done!!

It's a shame because I wanted to use family and my fiance, I have to give Jonathan a mention because he is a huge influence, he changed my whole life, but this is another meme, someone better make one where I can use him too!
Hmmmm lets see, who can I tag??? I must first tag,
Jonathan from Ancient Future Catholic Musings then Jack Bennett from Idlemendacity ummmmm lets see Jennifer from Totus Tuus, Heather from Thoughts of a Sprite and last but not least Patrick from E-fish in sea
I don't expect everyone to do this but i'm going to check on you! (hey at least you get the hits)

Yesterday Vicotria's (Australia) premier, Steve Bracks gave his top order to every school and kindergarten in victoria: not to ban Christmas from schools.
This comes after last year some schools banned singing Christmas carols and nativity scenes, in fear of offending non-Christian children.
Mr.Bracks said that the Government would send a message to every primary and secondary school, to remind them not to ban Christmas celebrations.
He also said "those who don't wish to participate don't have to, and those who wish to celebrate in their own way can do so. But even those from other faiths, of course, accept Christian celebrations and the Government is keen to ensure, there are no ban on any of these sorts of activities".



Go Mr.Bracks! (even if I get mad at you most of the time)
The message of Christianity is very important today, the message of peace, compassion and kindness can do so much. Without forcing it's values on anyone.

Help me remember what is really important,
that I am Your child,
You are my Father
You love me for who I am and how I live, not for what
I look like, or what I own.
Let me praise You who sees into my heart,
who is always with me and who eases my suffering.
Amen

Thanks to Societas Verbi Divini

Previously I posted about my very first item on ebay, now I have 4 items!! I wonder if they will sell, if not, I at least get my thrill having my items listed :D

Sorry for not updating much lately, I have been tired and not very inspired :(

Don't you just hate the Teletubbies? I'm not sure if they are internationally known but they bug me, so I like this gif image very much......

Jasmine sent me this...

Thanks Jazzy!! :D

Since Jasmine silently and faithfully reads my blog, I made a monster for her:

Australia's only nuclear reactor has emerged as a potential target of these suspected terrorists, who are standing trial.
It has been alleged that they were told by their Melbourne leader to cause "Maximum damage".
That's a pretty nasty thought, really. The quote that I read on the Herald Sun newspaper was pretty disturbing, as all these terrorist related issues are.
The accused spiritual leader was quoted as saying this:



I am sure glad these guys were captured.

On another subject, i'm selling my first item on ebay! I'm pretty excited about that since this is my first time. Who knows, my item probably wont sell, but I get a lil' thrill knowing that it's on ebay!!

No matter who you are, i'm sure that you have been in a religious conversation at some point. There have been countless times, where I have been approached myself and asked "why do you believe?" and then the big discussion, which I like of course.
It's not always an easy task to put into words all this "reason" behind my faith, but I love the discussion and I love listening to peoples honesty.
I was really impressed by
Marie-Linda's explanation, of a faith being All about the relationship
There are so many reasons behind my faith, and yes it is a strong faith simply because my relationship with God is strengthened each day.
Just like any relationship.

On another topic, I love this:
Create your own South Park Character
hat tip goes to Samantha Burns

Unfortunately for me, I can't display my character on my blog because I don't have the right program.

I have discovered a very special site called Prayer Bears which is a group of people who offer to join together and pray for children of all ages who are sick or have some other need, and you offer some kind of support such as sending card's etc.
You can "adopt a cub" which is where you choose a child who is in need of prayer and encouragement, you can then send cards, notes and all that stuff that would make someone's day.
Visiting the "cubs" was emotional for me, this would definetly be one of the sweetest things that I have seen on the net so far.

Around the blog world, Tony from Catholic Pillow Fight has an interesting article on
Sr.Chittister
Sometimes I wonder why women just don't simply be women.




Check them out:
Mandarin Design

Your life is like a mirror, if u face it smiling, it smiles right back :)
~Nidokidos

The news makes my tiger (aka: cat) wild!



If I ever go to Rome I would love to stay HERE

I have a photo page!! I am enjoying my new camera (toy) and don't want to swamp this blog with photos so I went and made myself a photo blog: Carmel's Pics

It's Dylan Hartung's birthday! Birthday wishes can be given in his guestbook on the website...HERE

Sunset on the vineyard

Taken by me with my new camera!

My love Jonathan spoilt me for my birthday (no, it's not my birthday) with a new digital camera! (whoo hoo)
It arrived in the mail yesterday and now I can take lots of photos!
I hope to show off and post some at a later date :)
He also got me another gift which is to do with Bro.Andre Bessette

Yes he loves me :)

Rites of Exorcism thanks to St.Peter's Helpers

I have been very impressed with the new Counter Terrorism Laws, which has led to the capture of several extremists. These extremists have been under surveillance for one year and police have hundreds of hours of taped phone calls to use as evidence against these guys.
Arrests were made yesterday and today, in which homes were raided and explosive equipment was found and they seized chemicals and weapons.
I feel terrible for the Muslim community because they are feeling targeted, but reality is that they are not being targeted at all, this is to protect them also, in recent terrorist attacks, Muslims too have been killed.
Our Prime Minister made a public announcement on television, stating that Muslims are welcome in the Australian community and we want them to be a part of us.
The police say that these men intended to carry out a jihad or holy war to "kill innocent men and women in Australia" .
I know that 7 men so far have been arrested(17 alltogether in custody) for conspiring to manufacture explosives for a preparation to carry out a terrorist act.
I think that the police actions have saved a future attack on Australia and both Muslims, Australians and other cultures need to recognize that it could have killed our own.
I certainly feel greatful and safer, knowing that these men are going to be dealt with in court.
I am also very ashamed at those who reacted with violence against police.
For a more detailed story visit:
ninemsn.com

After writing this post I decided to add this: News Video of the Prime Minister reassuring Muslims that this is not an attack targeting them.

Hat tip goes to.....Jonathan
Actually he gets another one for this also:

Gene Robinson attacks Catholic stand

ahhhh anyway....
Ashlee Simpsons McDonalds fit I hope the staff were not fans!
I think I really like this Carmel monster :)

For everyone who has asked me for prayer:

God always answers, even if it's not what YOU want :)


Ummm, well I thought really hard about whether I should link over to something that made me laugh so much I almost fell off my chair , be warned it could offend some people Humor for dads from the blog Upper Canada Catholic.
Hat tip goes to Julie
Yeah i'm sick, very sick ....I hope i'm still liked ;)

I decided to stay up late last night and watch a movie, so "panic room" was showing, I think that I squeezed the living soul out of my pillow for the whole time *shiver !!

To all the cat lovers such as me, I found the cutest site,
Patrick Meows Out Loud it belongs to This dude

I got a pretty funny email from a friend, I may post it later if I have more time.

I also found this interesting:

Massive black hole I love most things science can teach us.
Apart from being a cat lover, I love dogs too so check this one out:
The Puggle


My blog discovery: Antonia's World
Check it out!


That's about all I have time for, I hope you all enjoy my links and have a good weekend. :)

Yeah I wrote 2 posts about him already but want to do more....

You know what is really sad? That someone has a beautiful son (Dylan Hartung) who is diagnosed with a life threatening disease, cancer.
Now what is more sad is that because Dylan has a small chance of survival, the government will not fund any surgery to remove his tumors.
So what his family did, is raise funds to take him to the USA and get him some treatment, but have run out and he still needs treatment. Now my heart goes out to them, because all those who have children would know the pain of being able to do nothing for your child and watch him waste away because you had no money.
But they are fighting on and getting ideas to raise some more money so they can possibly remove these tumors.
So now Dylan has a new store!!Plea for Dylan it's not online yet so just check back.
Do you live in New York? (NYC) If you do how about you go visit, I can ask you to visit because it was in an email sent to me, so i'm not inviting people myself, Dylan would love it.
Visit his website:
Dylan

Totally off the above subject:
LINK: Advertising slogan generator
I finally got a few good hours of sleep last night, so I feel a lot better today :D

Is this for real? Speed Climbing you have to click on the download button to watch it. I don't know if someone can actually do that!! And if it's real, it can truly be called "living on the edge" WOW

Today is the feast day of
St.Martin De Porres
he was a great man, one thing that stands out about him to me is that he opened an animal shelter for sick cats and dogs and nursed them back to health.

Something to think about:

"I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains"
~Anne Frank

And this I love:

"To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground"
~Steven Covey

So I have had little sleep these days, gosh I think i'm getting insomnia , but this cat says it all: