And thank you Lord, they all agree to wear it!!!

After hours of Internet shopping and visiting bridal store after bridal store, we have finally chosen the perfect bridesmaid dress for my friends and sisters to wear, designed by Watters.

Now the next thing I have to do is find the accessories I need to make each girl stand out in a unique way. I'm planning on doing this by finding them a special broach to wear on the bodice of the dress, and a simple diamond letter of their first name initial to add to their bouquet, like so: 

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Have you ever gotten the feeling that God was trying to tell you something?

I received an e-mail yesterday called "Love One Another" from Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. A weekly electronic "homily," he chose this week to share his thoughts on what people should be concentrating on during the "Season of Mercy." His number one recommendation? Confession. Instantly my heart dropped.

Let me confess something to all of you: I haven't been to confession in almost five years.

When it comes down to it, there really isn't a huge reason why I've been avoiding it. I kept telling myself that I couldn't this week because of school, work, family responsibilities, baby-sitting, etc ... you know, all those things that I just CAN'T drop.

Recently, I've been thinking about the sacrament of reconciliation a lot, and I think I've finally come up with a good analogy for it, based on my own experiences. Funny enough, it has to do with caring for your teeth.

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Matt and I finally took the FOCCUS “test” yesterday, and boy, all I can is, it’s a doozy.

The long questionnaire was filled with all those burning questions that many of us may have been too afraid to ask our significant other. From financial responsibilities to raising your children in the Catholic faith, it touched all aspects of life. Below are some that stood out to me:  

“You are happy with the domestic roles that you and your fiancé have chosen” (agree). “Marriage is the only way you will be truly happy in your life” (disagree). “I have had homosexual tendencies towards members of the same sex, and I’m afraid it will ruin my future marriage” (disagree…wow, what a question).   

After taking the time to review the questions that we had to agree/disagree with, I have come to the conclusion that talking about these things is WAY SO IMPORTANT before you get married. Soon we will be meeting with the FOCCUS couple to learn the results.

One thing I do want to discuss with the couple that we will be meeting with is how they got about making their new house or apartment their "home." Now that Matt is in the new place, and I've got some of my things in too, I expected that I would feel comfortable being there. However, I'm just not. It's cold, I can't get the Bravo channel, and sometimes I just want to lay in bed and read (my bed!). Most of the time I just can't wait to get back to my parent's house (yes, I'm 27 and still living with my parents. You got a problem with that?) and just relax there.

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No shortage of brats and blueberries during Sunday's Super Bowl meal, but it was an ample helping of Brees that made for a great celebration. I'll leave it to the so-called analysts to second guess the coaches and to provide a litany of what various players should have done. It's just fun when the team for which one is cheering wins.

Speaking of the MVP QB -- and pardon my Boilermaker bias, but pro sports definitely needs the classiness and humility of Drew Brees. His "aw shucks" approach appears genuine, and his name isn't in any police report. Is this the making of a true sports hero? We can only hope.

Lack of $tewardship: Stewardship obviously isn't a corporate concept. Why else would so many companies have invested $2.5 million for each of their Super Bowl commercials, and then provide uninspiring material? Like most of the ads that aired during the game, the mother and son Tebow ad left me with a "What's the big deal?" reaction. Worst example of lack of stewardship was the $2.5 million of our tax money that paid for the U.S. census spot.

So, are you ready for baseball season? OK, Lent first, then baseball season.

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During the decades I was involved in the radio and TV aspect of Catholic communications, I wondered aloud why the church didn’t invest in a Super Bowl spot or two and use that time for evangelization. This was pre-2002 -- prior to the revelation of the sex abuse scandal -- when the market might have been more receptive to that message. 

My contemporaries in that field didn't see it that way, nor did the Catholic decision makers, i.e., members of the U.S. bishops' communications committee. They did, however, believe there was value in having their own TV network -- the Catholic Television Network of America.  It died $10 million and 13 painful years after it was launched, and without having made a positive impact on the Catholic community. An idea with merit, but poorly executed.

Since the Super Bowl is still a good place to evangelize, I’m glad Focus on the Family is investing $2.5 million for a spot that is expected to have a pro-life, pro-family message. The spot will feature Pam Tebow, who reportedly will relate how she ignored doctors’ advice and refused to abort the baby she was carrying in 1987. The healthy boy to whom she gave birth is Tim, a Heisman Trophy winner and leader on two-time national football champion University of Florida.

The purchase of time and featuring the Tebows has provided fodder for sports writers and the sports talkradio crowd. Most of their reaction has been negative, e.g., “I don’t want to be preached to by some athlete” and “Keep your religion off the playing field.” 

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It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Is everyone excited? Have you gotten started on sending chocolates and flowers and jewelry to your “special someone”? Have you perfected your poem and written out your card? Made reservations at a special restaurant?

No? Well, neither have I. Go figure.

It’s not as though Matt and I are “over” V-Day, but actually we kind of just ran out of ideas when it came to surprising each other. Honestly, he’s not going to buy me jewelry anymore because all I ever do is lose it, and me buying him flowers? Yeah, I’ve experienced enough ridicule from when I did that the last time.

Not only that, but saving up money for the wedding does put a damper on what you as a couple can do. It’s hard to justify going out for a $100 meal at “The Melting pot” or “Twisted Fork” when you are staring at the estimated cost of a wedding bar bill for $1,800 (boy, what a shock when you’re used to Riverwest bar prices!).

Anyway, I guess the point of this blog is that, just because you both are on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate special holidays during the year. Below you can find a plethora of ideas on dating with a budget.

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Another example of sports as religion comes courtesy of Peter Finney Jr, editor and general manager of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He recently reported that less than two years after becoming archbishop of New Orleans, Archbishop Philip Hannan wrote and delivered the invocation for the Saints' first game -- Sept. 7, 1967 -- at Tulane Stadium. Here is the archbishop's "Prayer for the Saints":

"God, we ask your blessing upon all who participate in this event, and all who have supported our Saints. Our heavenly Father, who has instructed us that the 'saints by faith conquered kingdoms ... and overcame lions,' grant our Saints an increase of faith and strength so that they will not only overcome the Lions, but also the Bears, the Rams, the Giants and even those awesome people in Green Bay.

"May they continue to tame the Redskins and fetter the Falcons as well as the Eagles. Give to our owners and coaches the continued ability to be as wise as serpents and simple as doves, so that no good talent will dodge our draft. Grant to our fans perseverance in their devotion and unlimited lung power, tempered with a sense of charity to all, including the referees.

"May our beloved 'Bedlam Bowl' be a source of good fellowship, and may the 'Saints Come Marching In' be a victory march for all, now and in eternity."

And maybe next season, like the archbishop did more than 42 years ago, we'll once again be praying about "those awesome people in Green Bay."

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It occurred to me after I posted my last blog that I didn’t fulfill my promise of keeping everyone up to date on my exercise/eating right promise to myself and all you readers.

Yeah, there was a reason for that. Nothing’s been happening yet.

It isn’t like I haven’t been doing the work. I cut down on my alcohol drinking and eating of fast food, I take walks outside as many times as I’m able (usually about once a day), and drink plenty of water and drink no soda. What’s the hold up?

Who knows the real truth behind weight loss and exercise. All I know is that I just finished a garden salad with Italian dressing (was it low fat? I forgot to look…) and I’m on my third bottle of water (I just buy one bottle and then refill it). How do I feel? Pretty empty, to tell you the truth. I miss that extremely full, slightly sick feeling I get after eating a Big Mac. Or a supreme beef burrito. Or a pile of hot wings from Buffalo Wild Wings.

Oh no. Cravings!

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There is nothing more that I hate than moving.

Wait, let me elaborate on that. There is nothing more that I hate than moving someone other than myself to a new place.

Is it really almost the first of February? The time when my fiancé will finally be able to live in the brand new, spacious duplex in Bay View, mere minutes from the lake and downtown Bay View attractions, situated in a quaint, quiet neighborhood? Yay! That’s really quite exciting! 

Wait, I have to help you move there?!

You know the prayer, “God, grant me the serenity”? Yup, this is one of those prayers that I’ve been mumbling under my breath since Sunday. I figured if I’m going to suffer, it might as well be for a good cause. All those souls in purgatory need all the prayers they can get.

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Most priests will tell you that they already have enough to do. But in his World Communications Day message, Pope Benedict XVI suggests that they communicate via the "digital marketplace." For the May 16 observance, the pope writes, "Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, Web sites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis."    

Sports as religion: No Brett Favre hating here, but I don't even get enthused about the color purple during Advent and Lent. I sure as heck wasn't going to cheer when an NFC North rival was wearing it. So yesterday I was cheering for all the Saints. Wait, I feel a hymn coming on.

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