What I have been loving lately

1.Scott Hahn

I owe Scott Hahn an apology. I unfairly labeled him as an elite, snobby, academic theologian, who talked above everyone’s head, when really….he is a highly approachable, warm academic who absolutely does not talk above your head except for throwing an occasional obscure word in there every page or so that has you questioning your faith formation credentials. That is a big difference. I saw one ad years ago and made a judgement call about him to my detriment. He is an absolute delight! If you do not know about Scott Hahn, look him up. He was a former Presbyterian preacher/theology professor who despised the Catholic Church. As he began to dive more into theology courses and the early Church fathers, he started to side with the Catholic Church more and more (to his horror!). He eventually converted to the Church and to this day, he is a prolific writer and speaker who defends the Catholic faith and encourages others to really look at what the Church teaches, not just what other people say we teach. Anyways, I stumbled onto one of his talks on the podcast, Pints with Aquinas, where he talked all about his conversion and I fell in love with his authenticity and devotion to our Faith. That lead me down a rabbit hole of reading his backlog of books (there are a ton!) but luckily Amazon has a great used bookstore, so I have been grabbing them as I find them. My favorite book that I have read of his so far has been his book, Hail Holy Queen. I have fallen even more in love with the Blessed Mother after I have learned more scripture that supports the Church’s stance on why she is a such a strong heavenly intercessor.

2. Easy meals

I know I am not alone with the struggle to put relatively healthy dinners on the table in a timely manner during the weekday rush. Some of the meals that my family all seem to like that I can whip together quickly are sheet pan oven meals, quesadillas, burritos, and stir-fries. The feeling of feeding my family something quickly and then getting to relax a bit before bed is priceless in my book.

3. E-books

I used to be a diehard “real book only” kinda reader, but I have slowly shifted to an “ebook all the way!” kinda gal. I mean I will still totally sniff a new hardcover and swoon, but the ease of just tapping on my e-reader to download a book from the library when I am needing a book at 10pm lying wide awake in my bed……is really hard to compete with really. The only thing I do not like about e-books is that the font of some editions can be a bit distracting, but I can overlook that if the book is really awesome. So far, I have read 59 books this year and I totally credit it to the ability to download books whenever I want to on my e-reader from the library or Kindle Unlimited.

4. Long walks

I get the question of “Why on earth do you walk outside during the summer in Alabama?”, all the time. I get it. Yes, it is hot and humid in Alabama in the summer. Yes, I get rained on and chased by geese at my favorite park. Yes, I saw cloud to ground lightning recently during a popup thunderstorm when I was halfway into my circuit. But I also get to see a pair of osprey and several kingfishers fishing in a pond almost every time I go on a walk. I got to see the cutest little goslings grow from little fluffballs to awkward teenagers to new adults all in a span of a few months. I get to take deep breaths and see God’s beautiful glory all around me as I take a little time out of my week for me each time I decided to walk at the park. So, while I do hate the heat and the humidity, I do love my walks and that gives me the strength to keep going.

5. My reusable coffee filter!!!

I guess I may be late to the party. I have seen these cheap $4 reusable coffee filters for coffee pots at the supermarket for years, but I just assumed they could not work because why would people keep buying paper filters (poor naive Elizabeth). I have bought the paper variety for the past 20 years. Now I do not know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with my paper filters. They are fine for the most part, but once you reach the last 40 or so filters, they seem to lose their shape and they tend to fall over while brewing. This of course is a calamity in my book because that means all the grounds go down in the pot. I hate this!! It ruins my morning. One day, something nudged me in the grocery store to grab one of these treasures. I brought it home, brewed my coffee and have loved it ever since. No more sad mornings with grainy coffee ever again. And all for the low, low price of $3.88. **In full disclosure: The reusable filter seems to be a tad bit small so if I am brewing a pot larger than four cups, I put in a paper filter first, then put in the reusable filter, and then the grounds. This ensures that the paper filter will not fold over and that the grounds will not jump over the sides of the reusable filter. It may seem a little paranoid, but I am okay with that diagnosis if I have my perfect cup of coffee!