Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Polka Fest 2013

Polka Fest 2013 was this past weekend. It was a different Polka Fest for me as I watched everyone partake in drinking pivo while I sipped my water or Dr. Pepper. We did have a great time and are still recuperating from the lack of sleep and all day festivities.

Friday I got a much needed pedicure and had my toes painted with the Czech flag on them. My poor nail technician was speaking all sorts of languages when she saw my tiny toes and what I wanted. She did a great job and probably quit her job later that evening.
On Saturday, we went to a friend's house for a horseshoe tournament. A group of us have been making Polka Fest t shirts for the past couple of years and we had these made this year. Lil' Gilburt is starting to show more in my clothing.
That night we went to see my dad's band play. They had a great crowd and put on a good show. Mollie B from The Mollie B Polka Party on RFD TV was the grand marshall of Polka Fest and made an appearance by playing with several bands along with her husband. She is such a talented musician as she plays multiple instruments and just jumps on in with a band to play along.
I thought it was cute that my little brother went to go sit with my dad and watch him play from a closer view.
More JMO playing
I had this shirt made online and it came in just in time for the weekend. I was hoping that we would know what we are having before the festival, but the shirt still turned out cute. It fit so comfortably that I think I will wear it all summer long!
I took one last Polka Fest 2013 pic of Chris and I. Next year's picture will look a bit different with a lil' chubby Gilburt in our arms. I can't wait to have our kids experience Polka Fest and see one side of their heritage. Don't worry, Chris is making sure that they know full well of their English heritage, too.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Special Treat


A few weeks ago, my school sent out an email looking for pregnant women who would like to receive a free sonogram. I replied that I would love to! They explained that a group called Youth Making a Difference (Y.M.A.D.) would be hosting an after school presentation on life beginning at conception and wanted to showcase women at different stages of pregnancy. 

Before the program began they wanted to check the women to make sure that the baby was active and everything looked good. The sonographer asked how far I was and I said 18 weeks. She then asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby. I truly did want to know, but Chris was not there with me and I really wanted to have that moment with him. I declined and tried my best not to look to close at the monitor to try and detect what the sex is.

After the initial check, the program began and they asked the moms to come up one at a time and have their sonogram projected on a big screen. It was really cool to see the different sizes of babies and how they acted in the womb. There was a mom at 13 weeks, 16 weeks, me at 18 weeks, and one more at 38 weeks. When it came to my turn, the sonographer quickly said look at what this little person is doing. My child was kneeling down and head bunting themselves against the womb. She noted that she sees many babies do this, but ours definitely has personality already. I figured it wouldn't be too long before we saw this baby's personality.

You can see the baby's position in the pictures below.

The group had a program made for the event and the babies were listed as special guests. I thought that was really cute and sweet.
The group also gave us gift bags for participating and sharing a personal part of our lives with them. This bag was jammed full with diapers, wipes, a homemade baby blanket, baby medicine kit, bath soap and lotion, and a head brace for the car seat. That was very thoughtful and kind. They were so grateful that we shared this moment of our lives with them. I didn't see it as a big deal until the kids came up and hugged us and thanked us. 
I'm really glad that I participated in this event and showed young people that life begins at conception. Even though I have not met this lil' person yet, I know that they are alive inside me and will one day call me mom. 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Grace Before Meals

We had a parish mission this week at church. Fr. John had been talking about it for a few weeks and proclaimed that this mission would open our eyes and renew our faith as we enter Pentecost. When we heard more about the priest coming to talk to us I learned that he is a chef and that drew me in to go even more. Anything with food sign me up!!

His name is Father Leo Patlinghug and he has a wide background. He currently has a cooking show on EWTN called Grace Before Meals. He was also on Throwdown with Bobby Flay and BEAT him!! 

For the first three nights he gave insightful and realistic talks on the saints, our Holy Mother, and the Eucharist. He found a way to speak to us and make us realize that we should be proud of our faith and embrace what the Church wants for us. He was hilarious and easily kept everyone's attention.

 I went with my mom and dad and several family members joined us each night. With each night I noticed that the church got a little fuller with people wanting to grow closer to God. The last night he did a cooking demonstration in the KJT hall and it was packed! He has such a wonderful way of preaching the word of God in an everyday life and funny manner. Fr. John did a great job on making this mission a reality and wanting his flock to be inspired to renew their faith in growing closer to God.

Here are a few pics from the last night

The crowd watching the cooking demonstration

Our dinner: Bacon and butternut squash with brandy sauce. It was absolutely, melt-in-your-mouth, delicious. To make the huge amount of food Aunt Tina got to help out and learn from him to make it for the big event. 
I bought one of his cookbooks, Spicing Up Married Life and had it signed by him.
I had to take a picture with him. He was such a sweet man and you can see how he has such a deep love for what he does. God is truly using him in as an instrument.
I want to start DVR-ing his cooking show and using his cookbook. My goal is to use one recipe form his cookbook a week.The cookbook also came with conversation starters for you and your spouse weaved into the pages to help you grow closer at dinner time. His big theme for the last night was to bring dinner back to the table. We see how quickly that has changed with the "fast food mentality" in our world, but we need to bring it back so we can keep our families rooted in faith. I want to start family meals at the table and begin with grace as we enter parenthood. Once we realize that we cannot do this alone, we can allow God to enter our lives and become a member of the family.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was Wedding Weekend!! We had two weddings to attend in one day. It was quite a whirlwind of fun. First was my classmate Kim's wedding. Her and her husband were married at St. John's with a beautiful Mass. The new colors in the church really brought out the reds and oranges in her wedding. The reception was held at the KJT and was just as beautiful. I only took a few pics and should have taken more to show off her decorations. Here are a few of my classmates and I with the exquisite bride. I loved her dress and it accentuated her body perfectly.
I got one pics of us. We haven't taken many pictures lately and we were a bit dressed up. I got Chris to wear a tie so I took the chance in taking many pictures throughout the evening.
We left Kim's wedding early so we could head to my cousin Nicholas' wedding later that evening. 
On our way to the next wedding
Nicholas and his wife were married at St. Thomas Aquinas in Dallas. This service was very nice and was led by one of our local deacons. 
It was nice to be with my dad's side of the family. We don't see them as much as we see my mom's side of the family. They had their reception at a country club with a delicious dinner and even better cake. I had the chocolate cake and could have devoured the entire thing.
My grandma was dressed up and I had to take a picture with her and show her off. Our iPhones just do not do justice in dark lighting.
Chris used his camera to take a panoramic shot.
One more picture before the busy day ended.
We had a great time seeing everyone and celebrating special days. Wish I would have taken more pictures of family and the events, but you tend to forget to do that when you're enjoying the celebration!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Kolache Making Class



A few weeks ago, I signed my sister and I up for a kolache making class. Although we enjoy these sweet pastries that are based in our heritage, it hasn't become a family tradition like making strudel or cheese rolls. My mother always said that they were too hard to make and she didn't want to fuss with them.

We were determined to figure out how to make them. There were about 20 of us that signed up for the class and we knew a few people which made it a bit easier for us to come out of our shells. We started out by making the dough. The dough making was very similar to making the dough for cheese rolls. There were only so many people who could make the dough, so the rest of us sat and watched.This was not the highlight of kolache making.

Our teaching chef, Betty. 

After waiting for the dough to rise we were ready for the fun part. We got to"pinch" the dough and make them into balls.


Once those rose, we were ready for the really fun part. We got to make little holes for the filling to go in and then fill them. We got to choose between apricot and cream cheese (my faves). Here is Bri sprinkling the streusel topping.



 They looked like mini pizzas.



Just about to go into the oven. Look at all that butter.
 
 Our finished product. Believe me, they tasted even better than they looked.

Now this was the best part of the entire process
I had a great time baking with my sister. I'm not sure if we will make these by ourselves, but maybe we can teach our family and make them together one day.