Joy!!

I love December. I love Advent. I love Christmas. I love joy!

And last night seemed to be the kick off of all the parties to come this season. I was bummed I wasn't able to get up to Bellingham for the Xavier Feast, but I had a ton of fun at my sister's 3rd Annual Fondue Party! And the snow - LOVE IT! I wasn't really sure if I was ready for the snow to come, but once it was here in all it's beauty how could I not appreciate it!? (ok, maybe I would be less appreciative in the roads were icy, ect...but you know what I mean!!)

Here is my favorite picture from last night w/ Aliscia, Stacey, and Karen:



Merry Christmas to you all and God bless!!

Hi! Sorry!

As it would turn out, I'm a horrible blogger. I don't even know if there is a point to me posting as I'm sure anyone who may have checked this before has given up on me. So sorry. The good news is I know that none of your lives revolved around my blog, so you most likely do not hate me for my absence. :)

Now I feel as though I'm required to update you on everything that's been going on in my life, but um, I think that's just too much. So how about some bullet points and a few pictures!?

-Life is good. Praise the Lord!
-I'm a little sick at the moment though. :(
-A prayer request: Baby Carrie (a friend's niece) just born on the 12th has Neonatal Hemochromatosis, a rare liver disease. Please pray for her and her family!
-Thanksgiving was wonderful! I spent time with my family - best dinner we've had yet! - and with my second family, the D'Angelo's. Good times all around and I am very thankful for all of my family and friends.
-I saw the movie Bella - so good. You should all go see it!!

How's that for bullet points? Lame? I know. I'm tired and should be in bed. But pictures are more fun anyways!

Let's go back to Halloween and share a few of my favorites:

First, the nephews... LP as Blade

Jaden as a lion..ROAR! (First Halloween!!)

and trick or treating w/ a few of the kiddos I nanny for - Veronica, Eleanor, and Madeline

Next, meet my boyfriend. I just did! His name is Andrew:

And here's a couple from the Marine Corps Ball!

And to prove he smiles and because it's my favorite, one more...

A final update on Gloria

September 21, 10:00 AM

Editor's Note:

Gloria Strauss, subject of The Seattle Times' "A prayer for Gloria" series, died this morning from complications of neuroblastoma. Reporter Jerry Brewer and photographer Steve Ringman are with her family and will be sharing more about Gloria online today and in Saturday's newspaper. Gloria's family posted the following statement this morning: "After a 4 year battle with cancer, Gloria received her miracle this morning, passing into our Heavenly Father's hands. Gloria's courageous battle has inspired us to deeper faith and has taught to love, suffer, and most of all pray. Let her short life of 11 years be an example to each of us as we walk through the days of our lives. "Gloria, you are a shining star, yes, a miracle for each of us."

I'm praying for Gloria's soul, but I already feel like I should be asking her to pray for me. Please keep the Strauss's, their close friends, and all who have been affected by Gloria in your prayers.

Where did August go!?

I feel like every other day I find myself saying, "What happened to this month!?" Time is really just flying by me! I'm trying to work on not being quite so busy ALL the time. I think maybe I've said "no" twice this past month! ...really, that's progress.

So here are a few updates from last month....

First, another Gloria article was in the Seattle Times last week. She really is an amazing girl who is putting up quite the fight by the grace of God. I also found another great video clip that talks about each member of the family: Nine Lives: Inside the Strauss House.

Next, my two friends Angie and Seth were married! The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun, too. Angie and Seth are not only great friends and wonderful people, but are such great compliments to each other. It was exciting to witness them taking their next step together in life. Congratulations to the love birds!

And for my final update, I spent a fun weekend away for Camp 4:12. It's a junior high leadership retreat through the archdiocese and it was a ton of fun. The location couldn't have been more beautiful and was definitely my favorite part of the weekend along with spending time with great friends! I was actually asked to attend as a representative of Holy Family, but I had the additional bonus of getting to hang out with the St. Vincent's group! Both Maryelyn and Brita were there (Congrats to Brita who is the new assistant youth pastor!) and we had a ton of fun rooming together in our oh so lovely cabin. And by oh so lovely I mean...seriously!? Here are some fun pictures from the weekend:

w/ Brita on the Kiwis!

the St. Vincent boys

So beautiful!

w/ Maryelyn and Brita

And to wrap up this post and start off the new month, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PERRY! My oldest nephew is now 7 years old! Love you, LP!

"We're not denying that heaven could be possible"

Part 7 of Gloria's story has been printed in the Seattle Times this morning. Please continue to pray and may the Lord bless all of you today!

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Also, I would like to throw out one more intention that is near and dear to my heart right now. My grandma's skin cancer (on her face) has returned and she will go back in for surgery on Sept. 5th. Please pray for her comfort and healing. She is one amazing women! Her strength just floors me. She was the oldest of many children, raised 11 of her own, and then ran a daycare for years. My grandpa passed away about 35 years ago, while their youngest was just 12 years old. My grandma is now 86 and has fought a lot - knee surgeries and other leg problems, glaucoma (only sees out of one eye now), open heart surgery, and she has also seen three of her boys pass away. She is definitely part of the reason I have my faith and love our Lady so much!










I love you, Grandma!!

Carrie's Baby Shower!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to celebrate Carrie and Tom's new little one...what a fun time! I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown - it seems Baby Herring will be here before I know it! ...joined shortly after by Baby Mauss! Congrats to all!

I wanted to share a few pictures of the lovely ladies! (and I know, I know, I'll put them on facebook.)

The WWU Ladies! :)

Pregnant Ladies!!

Carrie & Me

Silly Girls :)

And they even look beautiful when they clean!

Stories, Updates, & a Video Slideshow

Jerry has put up quite a few entries on his online journal about Gloria. There are updates and quite a few emails that people have sent in, as well as an amazing audio slide show from one of their late night prayer sessions. (A link to this can be found on the journal page.) While I encourage you to check out the journal for yourself, there is one email I would like to share that I think really sums up what Gloria is all about.

I am Julie Carrick, a Catholic Recording Artist who lives in Scottsdale, AZ. I had the privilege of meeting Gloria a few years ago and as I learned of her condition, I brought a first-class relic of St. Philomena to the St. Philomena church and was humbled beyond words as I thought that I would help lead this church community to pray for one of their own in, somehow, a deeper way.

During the concert at the church, Gloria, without hesitation, held the reliquary that holds the small piece of St. Philomena's bone, and one by one people came forward to pray with and for Gloria.

As the concert was ending, I went to Gloria and asked her if she felt anything after the opportunity to pray with so many people for her healing and with the most precious smile she simply said, "It was really nice to pray for all their needs. I didn't get tired at all. Thank you for letting me pray for them with St. Philomena."

I was overwhelmed to realize that this beautiful child had been praying not for her own healing as I had suggested, but instead had prayed with each person who had come forward, for that 45-minute period of time, for their needs.

I know they were praying for her healing, but she was not at all thinking of her need, but of theirs. This child is truly filled with God's grace.

We will begin a novena here in Scottsdale, AZ, and I am sending a note to every person in our ministry database, to flood heaven with her intention and especially through the intercession of St. Philomena and Nicky Mailliard (a cancer patient from Scottsdale who died in 2005). For Gloria, and for her entire family, we ask our Lord Jesus to shower His richest blessing and fullness of healing.

In His Service,

Julie Carrick

Note: If you can't access the journal through the link or previous links, it is because they have moved the stories a few times. Usually you can find everything on the Seattle Times homepage now or by going there and clicking on local stories.