Living the Faith Intentionally with Feast Days in April

 We are officially 1/3 of the way through 2022.  Oh my goodness does time fly! During April, I was more intentional about celebrating feast days.  

 ~ Emma's Baptism birthday and her Confirmation Saint's feast day were very close to each other, so I went with one, bigger gift instead of two, small ones. I also enjoy supporting small, Catholic businesses.  This was a perfect opportunity to gift Emma with a beautiful candle from  Kergyma Candles. 10% of the proceeds goes to Students For Life.  Kergyma means to proclaim or preach the Good News. 

 The shipping box comes with a Psalm written on it as does each candle label, and the candles smell divine! 

~ Our Easter was just wonderful!  All the young adults had the same shift off, so I had a table full, including our nephew who recently moved to the area.  

~ The feast of St. George is a great one to celebrate with boys, but Miss Clementine and I still had fun.  We found this idea from an old friend (who no longer blogs).

St. George crispy treats!

We made these easy, crispy treats that represented the shield of the fearless defender of the faith, St. George.

~ Divine Mercy Sunday is one of my favorite feast days.  The cake I made was NOT the prettiest, but the family still loved it!

I love this feast day.  

Remember, never forget how much Jesus loves you!

Patty

No-Sew Bunk Room Camper Curtains

 When we took the camper out last, I had the chance to hang up the new curtains in the bunk room.  That room has three windows, two of which are very small, one next to each of the bunkbeds.  I never liked the black curtains that came with the rig, and the kids could never keep the windows completely covered since the curtains had a tendency to retract or spring back.

Here is what I came up with...

I ordered faux silk light filtering valances on Amazon.  They were the exact length I needed, 18". Next, I purchased 1 square yard of room darkening material and some alligator clips.  It was super easy to measure and cut because the valance was the correct size both length and width.  Once David hung the rods, I attached the two pieces of material together with the alligator clips and hung the curtains up.

There is no light penetrating through the new curtains.

My daughter really likes the white compared to the black, and enjoyed having a really dark room to sleep in.

There is still one window in the bunk room that I need to address.  I think I am going to hang a special room darkening shade.  It'll have to wait though since we are kind of tired from working on the updates and would rather rest and relax on our next trip.

Until the next time,

Patty

Texas Bluebonnets in the Springtime - First RV Trip in 2022

 Our 2022 camping season has begun.  We took our first, real trip of the year.  It was a short, 2-day adventure up to northern Texas.  We've been here a few times before.  Eisenhower State Park didn't disappoint and neither did the bluebonnets.  Wow! They were gorgeous!

We played table top ping pong, drove up to one of the marinas on the lake, and enjoyed eating outdoors.

Lake Texoma is a 89,000 acre lake that borders Texas and Oklahoma.  

We arrived back home late this morning.  It was a nice, little trip, and we look forward to going to the ocean next month.

Until the next time,

Patty

When Your RV Fridge Dies

When we first started RVing years ago, I'd get so frustrated every time something broke.  RV's are not made out of the best material and something always breaks, or it seems. These rigs are put through a lot of stress on the roadways. My husband always reminded me that to own an RV, you need to be prepared for something always breaking.  He is a patient man and a handyman.  No that's not right.  My husband is a MacGyver, a Jack-of-all-trades.  There is not much he cannot fix, and for that, I'm so grateful!  

Back in March, we took the camper out locally to do some yearly maintenance on and to hang the new curtains.  That is when our (less than a year old) RV fridge died.  We had a few weeks left on our warranty, but knowing the horror stories behind the "repair" shops that notorious for keeping campers for months on end, we chose to pay less (believe it or not) and use our camper sooner than later. 

Here is what our RV fridge looked like before.  

RV fridges are built differently, weigh at least twice the amount as a residential, and are very finicky,  They take ammonia to cool (they do not operate like a residential).

This is a picture of it when David and another very strong friend were taking it out.

Due to the weight of this fridge, the floorpan of the kitchen, and the size of the entrance door, it was determined that the RV was built around this unit.  There was no taking it out without it being taken apart. Oh my gosh, y'all! It was so stressful! 

David did take the French doors off so we could repurpose them.

We found our replacement, residential fridge on Amazon, a Galanz.  By the grace of God, we were able to find one within the measurements of the floorpan and entrance door.

There are a couple of things to mention here.  Looks are deceiving.  The new fridge is only 1 cubic foot smaller than the original fridge.  The original was wider by 9" but more shallow.  The new fridge is 24" deep, compared to 18" in the old one!  Second, David decided that he could build a pantry in that empty space.  He used to 9" base cabinets, cut the toe kick off of one, stacked them, and bam.  We now have more space than ever!

The pantry cabinets needed their face frames painted.  We matched up the paint color by using one of the doors.  After that, David repurposed the original doors to make new, matching pantry doors.  (I told you he was talented!)

He trimmed it out, and the only thing left to do is place the cabinet handles.  (I wanted to try it out first to make sure I had the doors swinging open the way we felt most comfortable with before drilling the holes.)

Someone asked me what was the procedure for unhooking and removing it.  It told them it was a two-bottle-of-wine story.  No joke.

We just arrived home from testing it out on a short, two-day RV trip.  Praise the Lord for working refrigerators! Looking forward to sharing bluebonnet photos soon.

Until the next time,

Patty

Our New Firefighter

We couldn't be prouder for our daughter Emma who recently was hired as a firefighter for a nearby town. She had a dream, a BIG goal, and she wanted to reach it before she turned 21. Emma is a fighter, a goal-setter, who worked incredibly hard to meet this difficult goal.  

Last Sunday, my husband and I took her out for a celebratory brunch in Dallas.  We toasted her over mimosas and Bloody Mary's.  The weather was glorious!

Last evening, I was her date to the fire department's spring awards banquet.  It was surreal to be there and to see how well-loved and respected she is.  What an honor to be the parents of this amazing lady!

 She makes the second firefighter in our family now.  Our son-in-law is a fireman / paramedic for Dallas.  And our third daughter has just been accepted into EMT school (following the path of her big sister).

Well done, Emma!  We are so proud of you!

Mom and Dad

March Feast Days

 One is better than none. Right? That's all we had a chance to celebrate in March.  Of course it was St. Patrick's feast day.

We have been busy celebrating our adult children.  I don't know how my parents did it with nine children! More fantastic news coming up!

Patty