Merry Christmas Letter :) Love, McHughs

Wow! What a year!

It's a year I'd rather not repeat in many ways, but also had many blessings. We've had a few health scares within our extended family, a very sick start to the year for our family, and oh yeah.. that pesky old IRS audit.

God has provided though, and all has been beautiful overall. Here are the TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS of 2014 thus far...

10. We bought our first house. It's so nice to have a place to call our own and fix up the way we like. We've done a lot of work, but there's still a lot left to do! That's my 2015 resolution... finish!

9. The ministry has picked up and is going great! I just recently signed on with One Voice Media as an artist with them and they have been so good and faithful in taking the booking portion over for me. I was up to my ears in all the contracts and emails and paperwork. They have been such a blessing to us! We will be launching my new website just around the corner of 2015... so stay tuned.

8. We ran a mostly successful GoFundMe campaign http://www.gofundme.com/9mm60s   and recorded our first independent CD with Mike Ofca at Innovation Studios! It's just been mastered and now we are working on the CD art and saving up to be able to mass produce the CDs.

7. We started our first year of homeschooling. It's had its ups and downs. I love, love, love teaching the kids and watching them learn and hear them repeat what they've learned and spend time with them. But I have also found... I need a break! I'm going into this next semester with that in mind. More structure and more break for me. Let's just say at my last Confession the priest suggested I need to get away and go to Vegas... haha. :) But we plug away! We'll see how it goes!

6. David's job is going really well. I am so proud at what he has been doing at the parish. It's a really dynamic place and he's had great support from the community here, great team, great staff, great parents, and great teens. This has been a good place for us. I had so many fears, moving to a new place, working at a new parish, pastor changes the first few months, but it's really been good!

5. I got a Lighthouse CD.... that's pretty cool. http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/getting-others-to-heaven

4. David and his youth group won a video competition and the video was shown to the Pope. That was pretty AMAZING! : ) Just waiting on our invitation to the Vatican...

3. We connected with the website that David and I met on... www.avemariasingles.com and will be partnering in some ministry opportunities with them! Including a past retreat and an upcoming cruise!! My parents will be coming in to watch our kids, so while I will miss them SO MUCH David and I will enjoy the time together to focus on our marriage and help others with their vocation discernment!

2. We won the lottery!! Just kidding. But...

1. We are expecting BABY #4 at the end of July 2015!! So in a way,  we did win the lottery. A lottery of children. ;)  We are happy and excited. (Praying for a girl... can I do that?) :P


MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope your year has been good and we would love to hear from you!

God bless!! Many prayers for you and yours this blessed week!

I Don't Have to Be Good at That

Sorry for the delay in posting. It's been a busy advent!

Many of you already know that we are expecting our fourth child. The first trimester is really hard for me - I will basically explode in weight gain, feel nauseous 24/7, and have the energy of whatever the opposite of the energizer bunny is. So, just to keep up with regular every day stuff has been a challenge.

I haven't even worked out at all. I had an issue with my foot, then morning sickness hit, and I just can't over-exert myself or I am not a happy camper for the rest of the day. This has led to sort of a depression. I realize it is temporary and I'm thankful for the reason I feel this way - life! But gee whiz, I'm really, really bummed out.

I keep seeing photos on Facebook or articles or blogs on these fantastic Christmas projects, cookies, decorations, etc and I've been feeling like a failure. My gingerbread house with the kids looked like a gingerbread junk yard/shack. Lucia said it was a Christmas spiderweb. I haven't even yet found all our Christmas decorations, much less put them up. I haven't even finished Christmas shopping!

Then I remembered something...

I don't HAVE to be good at any of that stuff.

Let me say it again for my own sake...

I don't HAVE to be good at any of that stuff.

There are so many things I am not good at, that I have to do, but baking an assortment of homemade treats, carefully handcrafting personally made items for gifts, or having the Martha Stewart approved decorative home are not things that I HAVE to be good at. I'd like to be good at some of that stuff for sure, and maybe one year I will really have the energy to go all out....

But this year... this is what I HAVE to be good at...

I have to remember that Christmas "doesn't come from a store, perhaps Christmas....means a little bit more" -- That's from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which I've been playing for my kids who also got a little too caught up in the gimmies and "commercial racket" of Christmas (Charlie Brown's Christmas) !

I am thrilled to give my kids presents on Christmas day. Even my husband - I can't wait till he sees what I got for him, because I put so much work into saving up for his gift. I'm excited about that Christmas morning. I'm not saying we shouldn't be excited for those moments or prepare for those moments doing whatever is left that needs to be done.

I just need to throw off the comparison shackles and quit thinking I fail at Christmas because others are so pro at Christmas fun!

I need to remember that Christmas isn't just about giving, it's about being generous. It's about being compassionate. It's about being humble. It's about receiving. Being open to receive... open to letting the joy and love of Christ's coming enter into my home. We sing songs about peace on earth and all that jazz, and yet I find this time of year absolutely chaotic! I need to be good at stepping back from all the things I wish I could do or would do but can't or just don't have time to do, and take a breath... and smile. And be a person that understands peace is in the stillness.

I need to follow the star in my own life, instead of chasing the traditions or activities that I feel I am "supposed" to partake in.

That night long ago... no carols... no parties... no jingle bells... just that quiet night where there shone a bright star in the sky. And all were filled with wonder and awe, rejoicing... Unto us a Child is born, A Savior, Christ the King.

Come, let us adore Him.

PS. Christmas cards will be late.

;)