Shopping is done. Advent books in the basket are wrapped. Most presents are wrapped. (Don't hate me, I love wrapping!) Packages are almost ready to mail. Things are going to be quiet around here this season. I'm feeling a little melancholy about the loss of the beautiful blog world I knew.
Jennifer says it so much better than I can. The blog world has changed. It feels like people don't want to strive for beauty anymore, they just want to be affirmed in their okayness... or they want to make a buck. I can't be one of those "Hey, hey, hey... my life is so cray-zay!" kind of mommy bloggers. That drains me. If you want beauty and peace and order in your life, it takes work. Hard work. Nobody drops it in your lap.
So while I won't be blogging as much of what's going on here as I've done in the past, we will still be celebrating feast days and getting ourselves ready to celebrate the day that "He appear'd and the soul felt it's worth"!
But... do stop by tomorrow for the kick off of a fundraising giveaway! Trust me... you don't want to miss it!
Hoping you have a blessed and quiet Advent, Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteI hear you about blogging. On the flip side I really do enjoy the conversations I have had with people I would not otherwise meet and "small" blogs like yours help support me in the faith. (By the way, I have no idea how big/small your blog is as far as followers but it all comes across as small - in a good way!).
ReplyDeleteThe candles are gorgeous. Can I ask where you found them?
They are left overs from last year. I ordered them from Mount Angel Abbey but Jessica tells me they aren't making them anymore.
DeleteThat's too bad. They are beautiful. I am finding that tapers are not lasting long enough to make it through Advent as we light the wreath more and longer as the kids get older.
DeleteI miss the candles from Mount Angel Abbey! I have a small set that I can't bring myself to burn this year, knowing that the monk that made them won't be making more...
DeleteBUT, the candles you have pictured in this post aren't the ones from Mount Angel Abbey, they are from the "Monastery Candle Shop!" ;)
(I'm sorry, I really have been such a stinker lately, haven't I?! Just blame it on being sleep deprived with your new little baby last year! I'm surprised I can even remember where we got last year's candles!)
Here's the link to their website: Monastery Candle Shop and directly to the Advent Candles
I had those (Monastery Candle Shop) candles last year, but mine arrived darker than yours.
Jessica, you are so right! The candles even say Monastery Candle Shop on them. I guess I'm still very sleep deprived... I thought that was the Mount Angel Shop! LOL!
DeleteNicole, listen to Jessica, not me.:P
I am glad you liked our candles! All our advent candles are hand made so colors do sometimes end up coming out a little darker, but i am always working on that, I make up to 200+ advent candles in 6 weeks this year that is 800 candles. Have a wonderful Advent and Christmas
DeleteGod's Blessing
- Br. David OSB
You are so right! Creating beauty in our homes does take hard work, lots of it!
ReplyDeleteI, too, miss the blog world I knew when I first started. But when I think of it, my life has changed so much too! My family size has grown from 4 children to 7, but I'm still trying just as hard to create beautiful and lasting memories with my family, and blog about it along the way. (I love that I find my children sifting through my archives all the time now - it's like a giant scrapbook for them!)
What I miss most is having the extra time to read and visit with the other blogging Catholic moms. I am still able to pop in now and then, but nowhere near as much as I use to...
Despite the changes, I am so grateful for the blessings that have also developed over the years. So much inspiration, encouragement, prayers and FRIENDSHIPS - including yours! So, in some ways, I would rather not go back to the way blogging use to be... Does that make sense?
And you better keep blogging just as much! I need to see frequent pictures of that Goddaughter of mine, until I can get back to TX for another visit! :)
You are right again sweet friend. I guess I just wish it felt like our little blog world of people interested in the good and the beautiful was growing, not shrinking.
DeleteAnd I have no plans to stop blogging. I'm just hoping that a little break will refresh me.
Too funny. Thanks Jessica. It's like an early Christmas present... that I can use next year. ;)
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. Thank you for striving for greatness rather than mediocracy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely Advent wreath. I like the pretty simplicity of it. We're still using the candles I bought from the Mount Angel Abbey. This will be our third Advent using them, lol! They really last a long time! It was money well spent and they still have a nice smell to them. :) Wishing you and your family a very blessed Advent, Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteI've never commented on your blog before, but after reading the post above, perhaps I should have. I LOVE your blog. I love how you strive for beauty and fullness, yet simplicity, meaningfulnes--with no small effort--but not at the sacrifice of the people for whom the effort is made. I have passed along the name of your blog to countless people, and I have gleaned countless beautiful and meaningful ideas for sharing and living and breathing and loving and growing in our Catholic faith from you. I need to even confess that I have copied entire mantel displays of yours, down to running out to the same stores to buy the same materials, because I was so struck by the beauty, by the effective communication of the season, of your mantel display. Celebrating the liturgical year in the home is a passion of mine, and I have even given show-and-tell type talks on it locally to some Catholic moms in my area. Your blog has always been one of my favorite places to go for inspiration. I hope you enjoy your break, and I hope you come back refreshed. But I hope you also don't shy away from simply being real and sharing the lovely life you are striving to live with your lovely family. Thank you for years of beautiful posts. Blessed Advent season to you all!
ReplyDeleteI am very behind on blogging (writing and reading), so I come late to the discussion. I agree blogging has changed tremendously. So many old bloggers are exclusively on FB, and yes, many of the rest are for-pay. Do you remember the carnival of loveliness was it? There are so many fabulous women I got to know (like you), through blogging, but there is so little of that interaction anymore. Wonder what is next...
ReplyDelete