Matthew Kelly!!

For a number of years now, I have been listening to the CDs and reading the books of Matthew Kelly. A brilliant Catholic author and speaker, he has changed literally millions of lives, including mine, and he is doing incredible things to positively affect the Church and the world. He has been, for me, a hero of sorts and I have dreamt about meeting him the way others dream of meeting movie stars. Today, after years of hoping, I finally got my wish.

Matthew was holding an all-day workshop in San Diego, so we made the trek down there to see him. We arrived an hour early and got a front row seat.

During one of the breaks, I approached Matthew, gave him a hug,

thanked him for doing the good that he does, and asked if we could

have our picture taken with him. It was seriously one of the

most memorable moments of my life.

Touring with Matthew was Elliott Morris, who has

opened for musicians such as the Counting Crows and

John Mayer.

St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, where we attended

the workshop, was one of the most beautiful parishes we've

ever seen. Both the inside and outside were gorgeous, and

it was the perfect place to hear such a dynamic speaker.

A very inspiring day!

After the talk we drove to La Jolla (la-hoya) and visited

Casa Beach to see the seals. There were so many of them, but

our eye caught one in particular. Can you pick out the

cutest seal of them all?

Here he (or she) is! Looks like he's waving to his

buddy who is inching his way over.

For dinner we had Chicago style deep dish pizza at The Spot.

I highly recommend it if you are in the area!

On Sunday we had brunch with my good friend Joanna,

who lives in the area, and her beautiful family. We don't

get to see them nearly enough and it was so good to

spend some time together.