This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 163 (Long Overdue! Thanksgiving, Advent, You Name It)

Daniel and I ready to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Y’all. Since the last time I posted a TWM (which was WEEKS ago! Sorry!) I have been to the movies three times. Yes, you read that right. In six weeks I’ve seen THREE movies. This is positively unheard of in my life since we became parents. I don’t really understand why the stars aligned this way but it was fun. Anybody interested in a review of Fantastic Beasts, The Arrival, or Moana? If there’s interest, I’ll oblige.

This season has just FLOWN by for us. I think that last week was the first week that really felt Adventy. I tried really hard to slow things down. The weather got chilly and so Daniel took the car to work one or two days and we were gloriously homebound to read books on the couch and take our time with the day. I think I need more days this time of year when I don’t have to go ANYWHERE.

So where did the last TWM leave off? Thanksgiving? We stayed in town for the holiday and had a big feast of a meal at the farm (where we lived for a year and where Daniel works) with fellow farmies. But first, we had to milk the goats:

And when I say “we” I mean Daniel milked goats and I Instagrammed it. We all have our gifts.

Then we had warm goats milk fresher than fresh to drink with all the pumpkin pie. Sorry if that grosses you out, city slickers. It’s delish. And the meal was just SPECIAL. If you can’t be with extended family, how great it is to share a table with wonderful folks in a place you love. There were Catholics and Protestans. Life long Texans, folks from all over the country, and folks from across the world (Daniel spent 90% of Thanksgiving dinner talking about bees with a Liberian beekeeper). A random homeless guy also joined us. Nobody thought it was weird. It was a beautiful table of people who are alike and different and loving each other.

We also got to visit Austin the weekend before Thanksgiving to see our dear friends Heidi, Noah, and Joe and visit with blogging friends who have become real life friends:

Christina Grace Dehan (The Evangelista) is just as lovely in person as she is inside my computer (and look out for our interview with her on the Fountains of Carrots podcast on Tuesday!)

And how could I not include this Daniel Bearman photobomb?! I die. When you get these four ladies together, you also get 16 kids together. But they all disappeared and played and the ladies got to CHAT. It’s Catholic magic. (That’s Jen, me, Cate, and Rachael. They give Austin a magnetic pull! I can’t stay away!)

This week holds all the LAST THINGS before we leave for Florida for Christmas. Imma try to keep it chill and diffuse all the oils and keep everybody healthy. The only thing worse than traveling for multiple days in the car with small children is traveling for multiple days in the car with small children who are sick.

Recent Podcasts:

Fountains of Carrots–Advent Lowdown: Our Guide to Living the Beauty of the Season

Christy and I got into the nitty gritty of Advent and how we bring quiet into our hearts, minds, and homes during this season of reflection. This was a fun one and from the response it got, I think it was something a lot of folks needed to hear (maybe especially moms of small kiddos).

The Simple Show–Home and A Christmas Carol

It was an absolute delight to chat about one of my favorite novelists (Marilynne Robinson) and one of my favorite Christmas books with my friend Tsh Oxenreider for this most recent books episode of her podcast. We also chat our favorite Christmas movies (and why Love Actually would be SO much better if we could edit out a few of the story lines).

The Catholic Hipster Podcast with Tommy Tighe and Sarah Vabulis

We talked compost toilets, Thanksgiving, tacos (and then Sarah published a little extra podcast from our pre-recording chat about Gilmore Girls).

Catholic Blogging Conference, Anybody?

The Catholic Women Blogger Network Midwest Conference will be hosted in one of my favorite places: Saint Paul, Minnesota on March 25th, 2017! (And I’ve been asked to speak! Yippee!)

My lovely friends Laura Fanucci of Mothering Spirit and Nell O’Leary Alt of Whole Parenting Family are also speaking, so this is going to be a good one.

Registration is now open and your fee will cover all three meals on Saturday, snacks and beverages, and of course, all of the talks and workshops. There are 40 registration spots available.

The cost of registration will be $45 through the end of the year. January 1 the cost will go up to $55.
To register click here and sign up on the google spread sheet. You will then receive a Paypal request via email for the registration fee. Your spot is secured when we have received payment. If you have any other questions, shoot me an email and I’ll direct it to the conference organizers!

Links I Loved:

Mercy in the Crying Room: Mama Knows, Honeychild (You will laugh til you can’t breathe, and then you will cry and it will all be glorious. Seriously, just read it.)

The Irrationality of Faith Shaming: Timothy P. O’Malley

J.K. Rowling Found Out Her Book Helped Save This Baby’s Life: Upworthy

My Engagement Isn’t a Fairytale: The Evanglista

And don’t forget about the 2016 Carrots Christmas Gift Guide! Thank you so much to each and every one of you who has been using my Amazon affiliate link when ordering Christmas gifts. I really can’t tell you how much it means to my family. It is a huge blessing to us and I’m ever so grateful! Thank you times a million!

Wishing each of you a wonderful Gaudete Sunday (hoping to get the lights up on our tree!)

Lots of love,

Haley

P.S. You can follow me…

…by subscribing to my newsletter that goes out monthly, following with Bloglovin’, Feedly, or subscribing to posts via email on the right sidebar. You can also follow me on  Facebook, Twitter (@haleycarrots), Pinterest (haleyofcarrots), and Instagram (haleycarrots).

This post contains affiliate links.