<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575</id><updated>2012-02-16T18:05:05.530-08:00</updated><category term='exercise'/><category term='Life Teen'/><category term='technology'/><category term='God Tube'/><category term='Messenger'/><category term='family'/><category term='religion'/><category term='Espiritu Santo Catholic School'/><category term='music'/><category term='Faith'/><category term='Film'/><category term='Catholic'/><category term='health'/><category term='Christian'/><category term='Mandylion of Edessa'/><title type='text'>Life As A Blonde</title><subtitle type='html'>Cathy Ross is a singer, mother, Catholic, wife, and most of all a Blonde.  This blog is just to document my crazy journey through life.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>20</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-2371960422151474302</id><published>2008-07-31T13:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:14:57.364-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Purgatory Usa</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInpELnVdI/AAAAAAAAAGA/rsxD3Fd9h-Q/s1600-h/n502813633_773116_761.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229285703781144018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInpELnVdI/AAAAAAAAAGA/rsxD3Fd9h-Q/s320/n502813633_773116_761.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Bab's and Family&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInh1vQdaI/AAAAAAAAAF4/il59K3TT_aQ/s1600-h/aww.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229285579645023650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInh1vQdaI/AAAAAAAAAF4/il59K3TT_aQ/s320/aww.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Nikki and Babs with Svenge&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Sorry, that I haven't continued my blog in a while. Things have been very crazy since returning from Italy. We have been continuing to work on the Messenger Album, as well as, begin filming a Christian Sit Com with Sonlight Pictures. My daughter, Tiffany is playing a girl named Babs. It is really funny. Here are some still pictures from some of the episodes.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229285806961928258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInvEj1KEI/AAAAAAAAAGI/g9gc1Dx5nrs/s320/n502813633_802031_4858.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Babs and Nikki share some love&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;ALL PICTURES ARE COURTSEY OF SONLIGHT PICTURES&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;THANKS PETE&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;PLEASE CHECK OUT SONLIGHT PICTURES WEB SITE AT  &lt;a href="http://www.sonlightpictures.com/"&gt;www.sonlightpictures.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-2371960422151474302?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/2371960422151474302/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=2371960422151474302' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2371960422151474302'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2371960422151474302'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/07/purgatory-usa.html' title='Purgatory Usa'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SJInpELnVdI/AAAAAAAAAGA/rsxD3Fd9h-Q/s72-c/n502813633_773116_761.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-4594294056330337392</id><published>2008-07-10T07:38:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:14:57.722-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Scavi Vatican Tour</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SHYnM52nKKI/AAAAAAAAAFw/NGby0xzfqOM/s1600-h/100_6304.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221403920624461986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SHYnM52nKKI/AAAAAAAAAFw/NGby0xzfqOM/s320/100_6304.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; St. Peter's Square&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Scavi Tour is a tour that is difficult to get tickets for because of the limited number of tickets. I purchased our 6 months ahead of our trip, and it is well worth the trouble. This was one of my favorite things that we did in Rome. This tour takes you deep under St. Peter's where the catacombs have been excavated. The Vatican Hill was where St. Peter crucified up side down. The actual spot is now just marked with a simple plaque on the ground. Papal vehicles drive right over it everyday. Fr. Lynn, who was our tour guide, it from Atlanta and graduated from St. Pius in Atlanta. He was very young, but very smart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He explained how St. Peter was so revered by early Christians that they stole his remains away from the Romans and placed him in a Poor man's Grave. He was then moved over time. The Basilica changed levels and was evolved over time. The catacombs surrounding his burial site were full of early Christians that wanted to be closed to St. Peter. Do you blame them? He does hold the keys to Heaven after all. These graves were recycled from early Romans's whose remains were moved after Constantine took over the area. It was amazing to see the graves that had at one time been above ground with a road running down the middle. The were constructed with house from facades.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We finally made it to St. Peter's bones. According to the Vatican, there were no feet or skull found with his remains. It is believed that his skull is in a statue in the high altar in St. Giovonni Laterno, the original Papal Residence before St. Peter's Basilica was completed. As for his feet, when the early Christians removed him from the cross they had to move very quickly as to not be caught by Roman Soldiers, so they cut them off to remove him quickly. Kind of gruesome, but still amazing. A mouse's skeleton was also found with him, not many people know that factoid. Two priests began excavating during WWII and did it in complete secrecy by Papal order. The Pope didn't want Hitler's want for religious artifacts to come to the Vatican. Amazing historical facts and lessons.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-4594294056330337392?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/4594294056330337392/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=4594294056330337392' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/4594294056330337392'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/4594294056330337392'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/07/scavi-vatican-tour.html' title='Scavi Vatican Tour'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SHYnM52nKKI/AAAAAAAAAFw/NGby0xzfqOM/s72-c/100_6304.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-8568533949198112511</id><published>2008-07-01T14:54:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:14:59.748-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Day 3 Trevi Fountain and St. Peter's</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrEU9etBeI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Rl-fwnjEgsw/s1600-h/100_6193.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218198982641911266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrEU9etBeI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Rl-fwnjEgsw/s320/100_6193.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The Ross' and the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Trevi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGqojvIu66I/AAAAAAAAAEs/dbnTkTLrg2o/s1600-h/100_6190.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218168450164124578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGqojvIu66I/AAAAAAAAAEs/dbnTkTLrg2o/s320/100_6190.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;The &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Trevi&lt;/span&gt; Fountain&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;We rose early around 6:30 am. We had breakfast and started a major day of walking. First, we strolled upon the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Trevi&lt;/span&gt; Fountain. There was no one there. I guess to early for normal tourists and Italians. There is a belief that if you throw a coin in the fountain over your shoulder, that you will return to Rome. We all tossed coins in, but Greg, Hum?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;We began to head to the Vatican. Did you know that the word Vatican has no religious meaning what so ever. It is believed by Vatican Scholars that it is from the name of a family that first owned the land that St. Peter's now resides on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;We were completely confused at first, but God showed us the way. For example, Mrs. &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Citro&lt;/span&gt;, my son Spanish Teacher, called our room to tell us where to buy our religious items. 152 &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Borga&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Pio&lt;/span&gt;. It is where all the clergy go to buy. What a find. Then, when we got to St. Peter's, the line was really long. We went around to the left hand exit and showed the Security Guard our &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Scavi&lt;/span&gt; Tour passes. The guards let us in the exit. No line. God Wink. We went to check our back pack and get an audio tour of St. Peter's. We saw the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;Pieta&lt;/span&gt;, my favorite, there is something so powerful about that piece of art. It almost looks wet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218199519998368674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrE0PSd26I/AAAAAAAAAFU/8uGCBJk7z2g/s320/pieta4.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;The &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;Pieta&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;We travel through the right side of the Basilica to the St. Sebastian's Chapel. It is said to be the holiest place in the St. Peter's. If that is possible. We prayed in Eucharistic Adoration for a while. It was incredibly powerful to pray in front of Christ in the Vatican. God Wink!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218195320454640994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrA_yxN9WI/AAAAAAAAAFA/h0Kw-QtgAS4/s320/StSebastian-ah-a.jpg" border="0" /&gt;We made it half way through the Vatican, when Greg wanted to take a break. So, the kids and I went to the Vatican Bookstore. I noticed a &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;Dvd&lt;/span&gt; of a movie about Pope John Paul II. I told the kids how much I liked the Hallmark movie called Karol, Man who would be Pope, better. Standing in front of us was a Dominican Priest, and he agreed with me. He offered to give us some tips on Rome. God Wink, his name was Fr. John Paul Walker. Coincidence? He was very generous and explain some pretty cool things. For example, the actual steps Christ climbed to be judged by &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;Pontius&lt;/span&gt; Pilate are here in Rome. You must kneel in pray as you ascend them. He also, told us that in a church called Santa &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"&gt;Giavonni&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"&gt;Il&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"&gt;Laternano&lt;/span&gt;, it is believed to house the actual skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul in the high Altar. He finished by explaining the history of Saint Cecilia, Patron Saint of Musicians. She has a pretty unique story as well. I will fill you in on that later. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218200010066925762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrFQw76mMI/AAAAAAAAAFc/C_e_1oDidXw/s320/100_6213.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Greg and I in St. Peter's Square&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218200421489448594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrFotmsFpI/AAAAAAAAAFk/gzs3_-GLOMM/s320/100_6206.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;I will continue Day 3 the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"&gt;Scavi&lt;/span&gt; Tour tomorrow. Put on your Indiana Jones Hats. You'll need them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-8568533949198112511?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/8568533949198112511/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=8568533949198112511' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8568533949198112511'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8568533949198112511'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/07/day-3-trevi-fountain-and-st-peters.html' title='Day 3 Trevi Fountain and St. Peter&apos;s'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGrEU9etBeI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Rl-fwnjEgsw/s72-c/100_6193.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-522188060731541046</id><published>2008-06-27T06:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:00.893-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Day Two Rome, Italy</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTySXvU3iI/AAAAAAAAAEE/5gqwFs3-wso/s1600-h/100_6159.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216560665825959458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTySXvU3iI/AAAAAAAAAEE/5gqwFs3-wso/s320/100_6159.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Tiffany and Matt on the Double Decker Bus&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTxVJW_-DI/AAAAAAAAAD8/Hk3KYhIuff0/s1600-h/terminitrainstation.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216559613993809970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTxVJW_-DI/AAAAAAAAAD8/Hk3KYhIuff0/s320/terminitrainstation.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Termini Station, Rome&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Okay, so I'm very excited, so I'm going to post 2 days right now. Day 2, Friday, We woke up at 9:30am. We decided to start out slow. We walked toward the Termini Station. We purchased tickets for the 110 Red Double Decker Tour Bus to get an all over tour of the city. We got lost heading to Termini and got directions from 007 US Version. He asked us where we were from, and we said Tampa. We asked him where he was from in the US. He &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;cryptically&lt;/span&gt; said that he was a soldier. He was in a $3000 Italian Suit, hence, 007 Us version.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216561031579313794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTynqRuJoI/AAAAAAAAAEM/hLJY7qSDiW4/s320/100_6165.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;Then, we rode the bus all the way around the 11 stops, and back around to the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Colosseum&lt;/span&gt; stop. It was so amazing to be standing there. Almost as overwhelming as the Grand Canyon, but different. Some famous wrestler guy was in front of us, but I have no idea who he was. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216562207055699730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTzsFRIXxI/AAAAAAAAAEc/dKOUWwnHWkc/s320/100_6181.JPG" border="0" /&gt;Matt and Tiff&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216562491396726466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTz8ohUHsI/AAAAAAAAAEk/5rHYLbeqa84/s320/100_6185.JPG" border="0" /&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Greg and I &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;Back to the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Colosseum&lt;/span&gt;, we finished taking pictures and began to walk to the Palatine. When we got to the gate, the exhaustion hit and we decided to head back to the hotel for a picnic of beer, wine, cheese, sandwiches, and pop. Lights out. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;Tomorrow, the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Trevi&lt;/span&gt; Fountain, and the Vatican &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Scavi&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-522188060731541046?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/522188060731541046/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=522188060731541046' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/522188060731541046'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/522188060731541046'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/06/day-two-rome-italy.html' title='Day Two Rome, Italy'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTySXvU3iI/AAAAAAAAAEE/5gqwFs3-wso/s72-c/100_6159.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-2828812855203428179</id><published>2008-06-27T06:17:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:01.093-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Rome, Italy</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTtqsK4t6I/AAAAAAAAAD0/YfseGmW4k1Q/s1600-h/spanish-steps-rome.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216555586068985762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 508px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="238" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTtqsK4t6I/AAAAAAAAAD0/YfseGmW4k1Q/s320/spanish-steps-rome.jpg" width="508" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;The Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Wow,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We made it home safely from Rome. I can't begin to describe how much I have grown in my faith. A man studying at the North American University in Rome, (where we picked up our tickets to see the Pope) said, "You must have faith first,then gain the knowledge and grow." He was so right. I have always had a faith connection with Christ as long as I can remember. I was always trying to find my own way religiously. Now I feel like I truly have gained so much knowledge that I want to share a bit with my family and friends. Please don't take this as preachy or holy roller. I hope that when you read my blog for the next few weeks, you are able to find your own knowledge and way whatever that might be. I believe that those who have knowledge first struggle with faith because they think they know all there is to know. Anyway, God has really touched my family and We are so very blessed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am going to leave excerpts from my journal that I kept in Italy along with photos of the trip. I hope to leave a new one each day to document the whole trip. My prayer is that you enjoy the ride and gain something of your very own from it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here it goes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Day One, God Wink Journal. God Wink defined by Cathy Ross is a moment all your own that you feel that God is Winking at you. It could be funny or heart touching either way it is a moment that you and God connect on a very deep personal level. A wink in which He lets you know He is there and loves you!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We arrived in Rome at around 11:30am Rome Time. We took a cab "Thank God" from the airport to our hotel. We unpacked and watched President George Bush drive past our window. Of course, we waved as he and the secret service drove by. We unpacked and headed to the Spanish Steps. We had our first margarita pizza and raspberry &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;gelato&lt;/span&gt; in route. What a great way to start our trip!!! We came back and passed out.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-2828812855203428179?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/2828812855203428179/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=2828812855203428179' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2828812855203428179'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2828812855203428179'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/06/rome-italy.html' title='Rome, Italy'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SGTtqsK4t6I/AAAAAAAAAD0/YfseGmW4k1Q/s72-c/spanish-steps-rome.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-8588636466828222813</id><published>2008-05-29T05:21:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:02.392-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Session#3</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6pbBEkEXI/AAAAAAAAADU/z6aDC8TFQTE/s1600-h/messenger04.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205784500896010610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6pbBEkEXI/AAAAAAAAADU/z6aDC8TFQTE/s320/messenger04.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;The Band Hard at Work!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6i3BEkEUI/AAAAAAAAAC8/CbGpetF_QmM/s1600-h/messenger01.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205777285350953282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6i3BEkEUI/AAAAAAAAAC8/CbGpetF_QmM/s320/messenger01.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jim Grasso and Chilton Bono recording bass and guitar tracks!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Wow, Session 3 is on the shelf. Everyone worked so hard last night to finish our first song, "Blessed Be the Name". We will be started the 2nd song on Sunday. The energy in the room was magical. We goofed around some and chatted some and worked a lot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205778140049445202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6joxEkEVI/AAAAAAAAADE/td-lrMICPQg/s320/messenger02.jpg" border="0" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;I am recording vocal tracks or just being confused not sure which!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205785286875025810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6qIxEkEZI/AAAAAAAAADk/PN2lZkl9CDs/s320/messenger05.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dave Dohanish, Dea Bauer, and I &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205784750004113794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6pphEkEYI/AAAAAAAAADc/2Qs_dsOQvh8/s320/messenger06.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Matt and Stephanie Grasso&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205785772206330274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6qlBEkEaI/AAAAAAAAADs/RfIapole8BU/s320/messenger07.jpg" border="0" /&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;Pete Bauer " Our Amazing Cinematographer "&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-8588636466828222813?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/8588636466828222813/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=8588636466828222813' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8588636466828222813'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8588636466828222813'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/session.html' title='Session#3'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SD6pbBEkEXI/AAAAAAAAADU/z6aDC8TFQTE/s72-c/messenger04.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-7857079101575826898</id><published>2008-05-20T05:38:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:03.293-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Faith'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Espiritu Santo Catholic School'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>Matt's Graduation</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLHU8LQ2fI/AAAAAAAAAC0/_u12-Go0c8M/s1600-h/100_5394.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202439682131024370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLHU8LQ2fI/AAAAAAAAAC0/_u12-Go0c8M/s320/100_5394.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Matt and Carly George with the Principal's Award &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Pictured Left to Right: Tom George, Theresa George, Principal Peggy Penn, Me, Greg&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Carly George, and Matt&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;We are so proud!!!! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLHJMLQ2eI/AAAAAAAAACs/WnDvTaebuME/s1600-h/100_5391.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202439480267561442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLHJMLQ2eI/AAAAAAAAACs/WnDvTaebuME/s320/100_5391.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Our Family and Father Mike Morris&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLG7sLQ2dI/AAAAAAAAACk/gnd1uhTPRrg/s1600-h/100_5390_00.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202439248339327442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLG7sLQ2dI/AAAAAAAAACk/gnd1uhTPRrg/s320/100_5390_00.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLGm8LQ2cI/AAAAAAAAACc/jjLIHtzM_1A/s1600-h/100_5371.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202438891857041858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLGm8LQ2cI/AAAAAAAAACc/jjLIHtzM_1A/s320/100_5371.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt and Tiffany before Graduation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;It is completely normal to be proud of your children, but sometimes they surprise you in the most incredible ways. My son Matt is a normal, average, 13 almost 14 year old boy. He loves video games, baseball, hanging out with friends, and most of technology. He is very much like my father and brother that way. He gets good grades, but has to work really hard to do that. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;Last night at his Graduation from Espirtu Santo Catholic School, he received the highest honor that can be given. It is not for academics but for honor, integrity, and good character. We were all surprised when Mrs. Penn ( the Principal) gave a very moving speech about true good character. She talk about people that had changed her life because of their character. Then, she announced that 2 students had achieved this high honor, Matt's best friend Carly and Matt. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;He was beaming from ear to ear and so was I. I thank God everyday that I am the mother of 2 amazing kids. Matt, you ROCK!!!!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;I can't finish this blog with out bragging about My Tiffany.  She lettered and received a pin for academics at CCC.  She also worked very hard at motivating her Theater Director, Mr. Wendt into doing the 1st ever musical at CCC.  He plans on doing Nun Sense next spring, and he asked me to be the vocal director.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-7857079101575826898?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/7857079101575826898/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=7857079101575826898' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/7857079101575826898'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/7857079101575826898'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/matts-graduation.html' title='Matt&apos;s Graduation'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SDLHU8LQ2fI/AAAAAAAAAC0/_u12-Go0c8M/s72-c/100_5394.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-5177365094489981271</id><published>2008-05-19T10:57:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-05-19T12:22:30.566-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Messenger'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Catholic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Life Teen'/><title type='text'>Session 1</title><content type='html'>Day One was pretty incredible. First, we just set all the equipment up and checked everything out. Oh yes, Bobby, Matt , and Chilton jammed for an hour, while Terry and Jim downloaded the music programs that we needed. We finished by doing some rough recording of Blessed Be the Name. Wow, the instruments sound so good. The vocals were mine and Terry made me sound so great with his amazing mic. I probably should give you some back ground on this wonderful group of people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terry Read, he is the former keys player to the Canadian Group "The Guess Who". He is amazing on keys. He writes, produces, and arranges our music. He is the brains behind the CD. He is the most creative person that I have ever met. I love him dearly. He and I are the original members of Messenger, and we have been through a lot with developing this ministry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jim Grasso, he is the shy gentle giant. He builds and plays guitar. He is such a calming force when all the cautious is going on. He loves to play 80s rock and would give Santana a run for his money.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt Fedorovich, he is our lead guitarist. He is growing so much. It is wonderful to see his talent develop and mature. He is in college, has a job, and still finds time to write music. He wrote a wonderful song that will be on the album called, "It's A Long Way".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bobby Dickson, he is our drummer. This dynamo carries more God given talent than I can tell you. He plays drums, guitar, keys, and did I mention sings. I love harmonising with him. He also writes music. He has a thing for Leprechauns.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chilton Bono, he is our bass player. He brought his family over from the Philippines. He plays guitar as well and has a really funny sense of humor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ron Guiffre, he is a vocalist, drummer, percussionist. and all around comic. He loves to break into song at a moments notice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dave Donhanish, he is a vocalist, drummer, percussionist, and connected to the mob (possibly). He is always wanting to whack someone or something.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Alexa Read, she is a vocalist, violinist, and is leaving us this year. She is going away to college in the fall. We will miss her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dea Bauer, she is vocalist, percussionist, and a joy. She helps me keep everyone in line and focused on the task at hand.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tiffany Ross, she is my daughter, a vocalist, and Matt Maher #1 fan. She will be a Senior in the fall. I am dreading that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt Grasso, he is a vocalist, and a college student. He has been with off and on for almost 3 years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peter Bauer, he is our documentarian, publicist, and great friend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Greg Ross, he is my husband, sound tech, and head roady. He lugs more equipment than anyone, because he loves me so much.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That just leaves me. I am a vocalist, director, and Mama Partridge. We meet again on Wed. to continue the adventure. I will give you an update then.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-5177365094489981271?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/5177365094489981271/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=5177365094489981271' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5177365094489981271'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5177365094489981271'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/session-1.html' title='Session 1'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-6395172965237283326</id><published>2008-05-16T07:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:03.500-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><title type='text'>Messenger Begins Recording CD</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SC2aW8LQ2bI/AAAAAAAAACU/fqZ9dQV2rFA/s1600-h/Untitled1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200982863583959474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SC2aW8LQ2bI/AAAAAAAAACU/fqZ9dQV2rFA/s400/Untitled1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Wow, We are finally getting started. We have an incredible location for recording. Our drummer, Bobby Dickson aka Captain America, has an wonderfully talented Grandmother named Sue. Sue lives right on the water. She is letting us use her home to record the bed tracks and work vocals. I have no idea how we are going to get any work done. The band already wants to have a pool party. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;A lot of people have asked what made us finally take on this mission. We decide that God had developed this band in such an amazing way that it would be a sin to not document it. Plus, the parishoners of our Church have been begging us to do this for a long while. I can't tell you how many small&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;miracles I have personal witnessed since I formed this band. From having open auditions and praying that God gives the talent that we need. He did. He sent exactly what I needed literally. One time I needed 1 male vocal, and 1 adult guitarist. At the auditions, only 2 people showed up( The incredible Dave &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Dohanish&lt;/span&gt; and Master Guitar man Jim &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Grasso)&lt;/span&gt;. I have to laugh because the band jokes that I have some kind of Bat Phone to God.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;No, I just really have a great prayer life. I love my conversations with God. I do need to do a better job listening, but as anyone who knows me, I am Chatty Cathy. God gives us what we need, but sometimes free will, pride, and the world distract us from what He is showing us.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I pray that this CD is a chance for everyone involved to grow deeper in their faith, develop the musical talent in a more profound way, and build our friends that will sustain us for our life time. I know that is what God has planned. I can't wait to see all of the small Miracles He has &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;in store&lt;/span&gt; for us over the next few months. Please keep us in your prayers!!!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-6395172965237283326?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/6395172965237283326/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=6395172965237283326' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6395172965237283326'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6395172965237283326'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/messenger-begins-recording-cd.html' title='Messenger Begins Recording CD'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SC2aW8LQ2bI/AAAAAAAAACU/fqZ9dQV2rFA/s72-c/Untitled1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-3774148549797405442</id><published>2008-05-12T06:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-05-12T06:23:04.477-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='technology'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>My Big Brother</title><content type='html'>My brother is an amazing guy. He knows everything about technology and computer trends. He took over our family software company when my father retired. Needless to say, he rocks. I am adding his blog link to my site. Just in case you want to check out tech information. He gives great reviews.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He also has some pretty cool friends ( Jimmy &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Buffett&lt;/span&gt; and the Coral Reefer Band). He is the personal manager for Peter Mayer, so you can find some pretty interesting blogs about music as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blueridgeparadise.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://blueridgeparadise.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-3774148549797405442?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://blueridgeparadise.blogspot.com' title='My Big Brother'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/3774148549797405442/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=3774148549797405442' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/3774148549797405442'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/3774148549797405442'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-big-brother.html' title='My Big Brother'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-448718618718384710</id><published>2008-05-05T05:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:04.794-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Hair Care and Women's Vitamins</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8Ax8dwnOI/AAAAAAAAAB8/mpymSI9lNnw/s1600-h/51XQ8SKYJWL__SL500_AA280_.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196873353053379810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8Ax8dwnOI/AAAAAAAAAB8/mpymSI9lNnw/s320/51XQ8SKYJWL__SL500_AA280_.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8FrcdwnQI/AAAAAAAAACM/1D7PwNxXHTg/s1600-h/81287.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196878738942369026" style="CURSOR: hand" height="216" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8FrcdwnQI/AAAAAAAAACM/1D7PwNxXHTg/s320/81287.jpg" width="250" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8AicdwnNI/AAAAAAAAAB0/f0wb74ednlc/s1600-h/317pWB3tUlL__SL500_AA280_.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196873086765407442" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8AicdwnNI/AAAAAAAAAB0/f0wb74ednlc/s320/317pWB3tUlL__SL500_AA280_.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;I have neglected my blog for a few days. Things have been pretty busy. Last night I was out with my husband and a couple of friends. Pete asked me about useless bits of knowledge. You know the stuff nobody can believe is true or really wants to know. Well, need less to say, I have tons.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Hence, today's subject: Hair and Vitamins!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;To a Blond, her hair is probably one of the most important things in their lives, not really, but everyone wants to look great no matter what hair color or texture. The new trend in hair care these days is Sulfate Free Shampoo. It doesn't strip the hair of its natural oils, therefore no dry, frizzy look when the hair is blow dried. It is great for all hair types. The one down side is it doesn't suds up like traditional shampoos, so your left thinking., this is strange. It really works. Here are a couple of products that I recommend. I have tried these products, and they are great.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;At 40, you really start to take stock of your health and realize that you probably have another 40 years in this body... so you better take care of it. Well, I did. I have really learned a lot about vitamins and how they work for your body. With our American type diet, you really need vitamins to off set the damage of processed foods, environment, and general life style.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I work out pretty much every day and exercising though great for you  it does deplete your body of vitamins and minerals. Here is what I have discovered. Everyone: men, women, and kids, especially teens, need a good multivitamin. Every article that I have seen agrees and most widely known Doctors, like Dr. Oz. agree. I use a Women's Natural Multi that is gentle on your stomach. No one likes that nausea feeling after taking a major horse pill vitamin. You can get it at Publix or online. I also take additional vitamins like, Vitamin C for your immune system, Vitamin E, for hair and skin, Calcium, for bone strength, and Fish Oil, for general stress reduction, brain strength, hormone stabilizer,  cardio vascular health,  etc.  Fish oil is really great for any one who has a stressful life.  I also, started taking a pro biotic. This is great for your digestive track.  It is basically the enzymes you find in yogurt, but on a higher level.  I have not been sick in a very long time.  I really feel that it is due to the exercise and vitamin regiment that I am on.  Please research your specific needs and tailor your regiment for yourself.  It is so much better that having to take Medications for diseases that you can prevent.  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I am not in any way a medical expert, but this knowledge that I have collected from years of reading medical articles and research has brought me to conclude that in order to stave off disease and illness you have to make your body strong from the inside out.  I hope this info at least gets you researching things that are affecting your health. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8E1sdwnPI/AAAAAAAAACE/RJnVdLtJp5I/s1600-h/81287.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-448718618718384710?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/448718618718384710/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=448718618718384710' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/448718618718384710'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/448718618718384710'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/05/hair-care-and-womens-vitamins.html' title='Hair Care and Women&apos;s Vitamins'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SB8Ax8dwnOI/AAAAAAAAAB8/mpymSI9lNnw/s72-c/51XQ8SKYJWL__SL500_AA280_.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-2748629299647163075</id><published>2008-04-23T06:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-23T06:53:38.643-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='God Tube'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Film'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Catholic'/><title type='text'>Sonlight Pictures</title><content type='html'>My dear friend, Pete Bauer, has started a new faith journey.  He has created Sonlight Pictures.  His plan is to create quality, religious films and sitcoms of sorts.  His wife, Dea is one of my partners in crime.  She is a vocalist in Messenger and also a former Stubbenville Retreat room mate.  She had security called on us for having a loud party.  Shame on you Dea.  Ha Ha!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pete is currently in production with a series of shorts featuring his daughter DC, and my daughter Tiffany.  We are doing the script reads tonight, and filming will begin this summer.  The series will be seen on God Tube.  I have been told that it is really good and funny.  I can't wait to see how it all turns out.  Please pray for him and his new company.  We need more Pete Bauer's in the world. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sonlightpicturesblog.wordpress.com/"&gt;http://sonlightpicturesblog.wordpress.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-2748629299647163075?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/2748629299647163075/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=2748629299647163075' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2748629299647163075'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2748629299647163075'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/sonlight-pictures.html' title='Sonlight Pictures'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-6746938667740237654</id><published>2008-04-23T06:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:06.011-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='health'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='exercise'/><title type='text'>Exercising and the 40 year old Body!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA86EsdwnMI/AAAAAAAAABk/LUiJhmk3mF8/s1600-h/100_4447.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192432747711339714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA86EsdwnMI/AAAAAAAAABk/LUiJhmk3mF8/s320/100_4447.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA85p8dwnLI/AAAAAAAAABc/zi04LfYgRt0/s1600-h/100_4446.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192432288149839026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA85p8dwnLI/AAAAAAAAABc/zi04LfYgRt0/s320/100_4446.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Well today I am going to try and tackle the ever frustrating conversation of exercise and diet after 40. Especially women struggle with this. I have always been extremely active and have worked out all of my life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;In my teen years, I modeled and participated in many pageants, including the Miss America Program. I was Miss Stone Mountain in the Miss Georgia Pageant in 1989. No laughing. So I have always tried to be very careful with my weight and health.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;After I turned 40, I was running about 4-5 miles a day with no change and the weight was continuing to climb on. I am so frustrated!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;My husband learned from a personal trainer that I was probably doing to much cardio and not enough strength training. I know infomercials are a waste usually, but I started a new exercise program called P90x. It is week 3, and I have to say I am starting to notice a pretty big difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The program consists of lots of old fashioned toning exercises like wall squats, and the ab ripper is insane. I have lost about 1 1/2" in my waist. This is amazing considering that is my weak area. The cardio on the program is kenpo karate, plyometrics, and hatha yoga. My flexibility has increased tremendously. I will keep you posted on my progress. I haven't gotten the courage to step on the scale yet, so I am not sure of my weight loss. My clothes are definitely a lot looser. Check it out!!! The link is below.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM"&gt;http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-6746938667740237654?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM' title='Exercising and the 40 year old Body!!!'/><link rel='enclosure' type='' href='http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOMhttp://' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/6746938667740237654/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=6746938667740237654' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6746938667740237654'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6746938667740237654'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/exercising-and-40-year-old-body.html' title='Exercising and the 40 year old Body!!!'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA86EsdwnMI/AAAAAAAAABk/LUiJhmk3mF8/s72-c/100_4447.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-6758865870413099945</id><published>2008-04-22T15:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-22T15:28:37.402-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>I couldn't resist putting a Blonde Joke on my Blog.  It's okay if I do it.  I'm a Blonde.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6600cc;"&gt; A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day.  The Russian said, "We were the first in space!"  The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"  The Blonde said, "So what?  We're going to be the first on the sun!"  The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads. "You can't land on the sun, you idiot!  You'll burn up!" said the Russian.  To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you know.  We're going at night!"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-6758865870413099945?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/6758865870413099945/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=6758865870413099945' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6758865870413099945'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/6758865870413099945'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-couldnt-resist-putting-blonde-joke-on.html' title=''/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-8676103077232320673</id><published>2008-04-22T07:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:06.471-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mandylion of Edessa'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA33RMdwnJI/AAAAAAAAAA4/9juvpWyaUdM/s1600-h/Edessa.bmp"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192077820203932818" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA33RMdwnJI/AAAAAAAAAA4/9juvpWyaUdM/s400/Edessa.bmp" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192077974822755490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 273px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 348px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="154" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA33aMdwnKI/AAAAAAAAABA/8qd8PNQVez0/s320/mandylion.jpg" width="78" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-8676103077232320673?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/8676103077232320673/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=8676103077232320673' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8676103077232320673'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/8676103077232320673'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/blog-post.html' title=''/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA33RMdwnJI/AAAAAAAAAA4/9juvpWyaUdM/s72-c/Edessa.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-5740853904948066687</id><published>2008-04-22T07:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-04-22T15:34:24.687-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>Saturday, I finally talked my husband in to skipping a boat ride in the gulf for a visit to the vatican exhibit in St.Pete. One of the most amazing things that I saw was an image of Christ called the Mandylion of Edessa. Here is some history on it. It really was amazing to see. It felt like you were actually looking into Christ's Eyes. I just thought it was cool. Hope you do too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;'Miraculous' image adds to mystery of how Jesus looked&lt;br /&gt;Dan R. GoddardSan Antonio Express-NewsDec. 24, 2005 12:00 AM&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We all recognize Jesus of Nazareth.Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Hindu, believer or not, if you grew up in the United States within the past 60 years, chances are your image of Jesus looks a lot like the long-haired, kind-eyed man gazing up to heaven in Head of Christ, a 1940 portrait by Chicago graphic artist Warner Sallman. With more than 500 million copies in circulation, Head of Christ is the most common religious image in the world. So deeply is this conception of the face of Jesus embedded in the national consciousness that few think to question its authenticity.&lt;br /&gt;advertisement&lt;br /&gt;OAS_AD('BoxAd')&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://gcirm.azcentral.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1224jesuslook1224.html/1823261631@Top1,Top2,Left3,Bottom2,x70,x01,x02,x03,x04,x05,x06,x07,x08,Right3,Bottom1,BoxAd!BoxAd?" target="_top"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But do we really know what Jesus looked like? The Bible offers scant description, even by the disciples, and for more than 300 years after Jesus' crucifixion, church authorities forbade images of him to be created, fearing that pagans would regard a depiction of Christ as an idol.Instead, symbols were used: a ship, the ark of salvation; or a cross and fish, because the letters of the Greek word for fish, ichthys, are the first letters of the Greek words meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."But believers, especially the common people, desired a visible image, and they pushed church authorities to come up with a portrait.Tracing the art history of the face of Christ isn't made easier by the many books and Web sites devoted to the subject. Muddled by superstition and science, the history can be traced through the legend of the Veil of Veronica, the mysteries of the Shroud of Turin and The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, whose rendering of Christ is the most imitated in the world.Add great paintings by Rembrandt and Michelangelo, countless works of religious art in churches around the world, and contemporary images of Christ in popular culture, from Jesus Christ Superstar to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, and you have a bewildering number of faces of Jesus - yet most look remarkably similar.Generally, we expect Jesus to have long hair parted in the middle, a full beard, a narrow, aristocratic nose, a penetrating gaze and intelligent, expressive features. Sensitive-looking and handsome, Jesus is tall, thin and fairly masculine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mandylion of EdessaThe face of Christ that most of us recognize probably appeared in A.D. 525, when the Mandylion of Edessa was discovered hidden in a wall of what is believed to be the first Christian city. (Edessa is now Urfa, a town in Turkey near the Syrian border.)Now on view through Jan. 8 as part of the exhibit "Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes" at San Antonio's Convention Center, the Mandylion is considered one of the five oldest images of Christ, if not the oldest. From the sixth to the early 13th century, it was considered the most famous miraculous image of Christ "not made by human hands."To modern eyes, jaded by television, movies, photography and 1,500 years of art history, the Mandylion is not too impressive. Darkened by the centuries, it is difficult to see, although you can recognize the face of Christ - thin nose, long hair, beard and dramatic eyebrows - staring back with a direct and powerful gaze.Overshadowed by many later works of art, the Mandylion remains one of the most prized relics owned by the Vatican, perhaps the inspiration for all of the images of Christ that came after. Imagine the electrifying effect it must have had in the sixth century, when, after centuries of having no official portrait of Jesus, a painting purported to be created during Christ's lifetime appeared.According to legend, Abgar, king of Edessa during the time of Christ, suffered from arthritis and leprosy. Hearing of Christ's reputation as a healer, he sent his servant and court painter, Ananias, with a letter asking Jesus to come to Edessa.When Ananias arrived in Judea, he tried to draw Jesus. Jesus called him over and gave him a letter declining Abgar's invitation but promising that the king would be cured.Then Jesus washed his face in water and wiped off the moisture with a towel, which miraculously retained his image - "Mandylion" translates as "holy towel." Ananias returned to Edessa with the image, and Abgar was healed.In the original version of the legend, Ananias painted the image. Art historians and scientific authorities who have examined the Mandylion for the Vatican concluded that it most likely is a tempera-on-linen painting of Syrian origin dating from the third century, which would make it contemporaneous with the earliest known version of the legend, written about A.D. 400.But there's much more to the Mandylion legend, and the image isn't described as "not made by human hands" until after its discovery in the sixth century.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-5740853904948066687?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/5740853904948066687/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=5740853904948066687' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5740853904948066687'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5740853904948066687'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/saturday-i-finally-talked-my-husband-in.html' title=''/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-5483407692684287100</id><published>2008-04-22T07:18:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:06.745-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Greg and I in the Keys</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA30AcdwnII/AAAAAAAAAAw/wXH3Y4bo1sg/s1600-h/100_2937.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192074233906240642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA30AcdwnII/AAAAAAAAAAw/wXH3Y4bo1sg/s320/100_2937.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-5483407692684287100?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/5483407692684287100/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=5483407692684287100' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5483407692684287100'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/5483407692684287100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/greg-and-i-in-keys.html' title='Greg and I in the Keys'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SA30AcdwnII/AAAAAAAAAAw/wXH3Y4bo1sg/s72-c/100_2937.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-2127272199604693829</id><published>2008-04-21T08:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:06.838-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Messenger</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAyxUJxVVHI/AAAAAAAAAAo/SKEqUMJGBe8/s1600-h/100_8100.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191719430229677170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAyxUJxVVHI/AAAAAAAAAAo/SKEqUMJGBe8/s400/100_8100.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Last Night was such an amazing night for my band Messenger. We had the largest group ever. My guess is about 900 people at our mass. The Holy Spirit was filling the entire church. I am not real sure about why God chose me to direct this &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;incredibly&lt;/span&gt; talented band, but I thank him whole &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;heartily&lt;/span&gt; for allowing me the opportunity to sing His Praises every week. We are about to break for the summer and start our journey in recording. I have to admit I am a little nervous because I hope what we are able to achieve every week in mass translates over into our recording. Our sole reason for being is to bring teens and people in general closer to God through music. It is our passion and I hope you can see that in our performances. I tried to upload a video of our Concert in Jan. from &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;You tube&lt;/span&gt; but could not, so here is the link. I hope you check it out. I also hope that you come to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Espirtu&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Santo&lt;/span&gt; and join our mass. The Holy Spirit is working amazing well in our Church. Oh also here is a picture of our Incredible Drummer Bobby Dixon. He thinks he is a Super Hero. You know what, I do too.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=XmvDbleL8qA"&gt;http://youtube.com/watch?v=XmvDbleL8qA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-2127272199604693829?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/2127272199604693829/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=2127272199604693829' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2127272199604693829'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/2127272199604693829'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/messenger.html' title='Messenger'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAyxUJxVVHI/AAAAAAAAAAo/SKEqUMJGBe8/s72-c/100_8100.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-4926746617919903969</id><published>2008-04-16T10:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T18:15:06.915-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Pope Benedict's Visit</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAY4qUzsfrI/AAAAAAAAAAg/4jTV5_clRf4/s1600-h/Pope+Benedict.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189897920382271154" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAY4qUzsfrI/AAAAAAAAAAg/4jTV5_clRf4/s320/Pope+Benedict.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Yeah, it is day 2 of my adventure in writing my blog. I should also mention that I am a graduate of journalism school and really wanted to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;pursue&lt;/span&gt; that before starting my family. God had other plans for me. I can't tell you how moved I am by watching history unfold on my TV. My major disappointment is that our current media puts themselves as part of the story instead of telling the facts as they are.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I was in school that was a big no no. You were given a F if you added your opinion to the any subject unless it was considered an editorial. I feel like every news broadcast is the writer's opinion and that you have to search deeply to find the truth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My favorite coverage is when they just show an event as it unfolds. For example, Pope Benedict's first visit to the US as Pope. It is his Birthday today. He is 81. Wow, what an incredible man. His speech was very interesting. When ever I listen to the Pope speak or read any of his writings, I always try to find messages from God. He is God's mouth piece on Earth. My husband was quite funny, telling my daughter to watch George Bush's face to see if the Holy Father told him a message from God. He said watch to see if his face goes ashen. He didn't of course. I love that our President talks about God in all of his speeches.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Back to His Holiness, his speech talked about freedom. He said that with true freedom comes responsibility. I can not believe how very true this is. In order to be free, you must not just think of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;yourself&lt;/span&gt;, but consider how your actions will affect others for the good and bad. It is our responsibility to protect our Freedom. Just acting on the whims of "if it feels good do it" is not Freedom. It is actually creating a prison for yourself in many ways. It also gives evil an open door to your heart and soul. I'm sorry, that is something that I am not the least bit interested in. In my younger years, I thought differently, but I saw how that way of thinking can destroy people from the inside out. The only true freedom is through God and his Son.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope that you spend today trying to find your true Freedom or Bliss!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;God Bless&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-4926746617919903969?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/4926746617919903969/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=4926746617919903969' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/4926746617919903969'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/4926746617919903969'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/pope-benedicts-visit.html' title='Pope Benedict&apos;s Visit'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAY4qUzsfrI/AAAAAAAAAAg/4jTV5_clRf4/s72-c/Pope+Benedict.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392814126056558575.post-1883183452794567624</id><published>2008-04-15T12:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-07-01T16:34:50.294-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Life as a Blonde</title><content type='html'>Today is the first time I have ever posted a blog. It takes we blondes a while to catch on. A friend of mine, Pete Bauer, and my brother ( the human computer) Mike Davis have been blogging for while. I just wanted to post my take on life, love, family, hair and makeup, music, and most of all my Catholic Faith.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some background on me, I am 42 , a wife, and a mother of two incredible kids. My daughter is 16, and my son is 13. We have quite a unique family. I am a music director of a Catholic Christian Rock Band, known as Messenger. We have a supportive, amazing fan base here in Safety Harbor, FL.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have a pretty great life with amazing friends. My band mates are quite funny, and to their dismay, I plan on writing about our journey to create our first cd.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also hope to connect with old friends and catch up on their lives. Well, I think that is all for now. See you tomorrow!!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2392814126056558575-1883183452794567624?l=cathyross.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/feeds/1883183452794567624/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2392814126056558575&amp;postID=1883183452794567624' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/1883183452794567624'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2392814126056558575/posts/default/1883183452794567624'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cathyross.blogspot.com/2008/04/life-as-blonde.html' title='Life as a Blonde'/><author><name>Cathy Davis Ross</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10751209807606455939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZKovF5PwgGQ/SAUHhEzsfqI/AAAAAAAAAAY/jT5WDVRTmQo/S220/002_2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>
