Planning a luxury vacation (while living in poverty)

[Koala]

:roll: Abby's at it again. Most recently she and her husband were gifted a stay in a luxury resort and a $150 gift card. Not bad for someone living in poverty. Of course, if they were living in real poverty she couldn't have afforded the gas to get there or the car to put it in.

In true Abigail fashion she didn't plan ahead for added expenses, and she took several posts to blog about their adventure. But lest you worry, her theme remained consistent: They are living in poverty, she is a Carmelite, and they are POOR ya'll!

http://abigails-alcove.blogspot.com/2013/06/second-honeymoon.html

Today is my 12th anniversary! After the awful hat trick last year of a move, a husband's long commute and a baby with colic, Jesus out did himself this year. My husband got a free 2 night vacation to Bedford Springs, PA from his work.

God outdid himself...not the person who gifted them this vacation.

This resort is 205 years old. Such an historic gem. It was originally a series of health springs for Native American warriors. Oh my goodness, did I feel like a spiritual warrior who needed healing too!

A warrior she says :roll:

Here's where it gets good:

http://abigails-alcove.blogspot.com/2013/06/living-carmelite-life-while-traveling.html

Catch that title? "Living the life of a Carmelite while traveling". Now excuse my ignorance, but do people who have taken a vow of poverty typically travel to luxury resorts?

This is so funny, I had to share. So we had a $150 gift card for food included in our free hotel stay. That's almost 2 weeks of groceries for my family of 7. So when I booked this trip during a "lean month" financially, I thought we'd be okay. Right before our trip, I looked at the dinning menu. $50 per dinner entree! Because this is a nice resort, right? I totally freaked out about food. I didn't have any extra money to cover our food costs during this trip. I worried about it for 2 weeks. But God had my back.

My husband and I decided we'd use the gift card to have one nice meal in the hotel dining room without worrying about the cost. Then we ate oatmeal and granola bars for the rest of the weekend. It was so fun. My big romantic idea was having an indoor picnic for $9 with canned salmon, cream cheese, discounted rye bread, a small bag of pistachios. Poverty means creativity. Life as a Carmelite is fun!

Want to know what people living in true poverty would have done? Not taken the trip....perhaps even sold it at a reduced rate to someone who could afford it. Taken the $150 gift card and stocked up on food for your half dozen kids. You know - because you run out of groceries A LOT.

But they are poor ya'll. Really, really, poor.

[AllisonWndrland]

My first thought upon seeing the post title was "This had better not be Abigail."

And then it was. Her entire life makes me want to headdesk. Poverty, my ass. When Abigail actually has to live in poverty, then I will read her blog. Not that she will have access to the internet or transportation to a place with the internet so she can write her blog posts. Real poverty doesn't equal access to all of the crap she uses on a daily basis. :angry-banghead:

[lizzielouwho]

$150.00 for 2 weeks of groceries for a family of 7? What are these people eating? I have a family of 7 and I can easily spend 250.00 a week on food. And we don't eat out.

[GeoBQn]

My first thought upon seeing the post title was "This had better not be Abigail."

And then it was.

If the thread title contains the word "poverty," there is a 99% chance that it's about Abigail.

[kitkat]

Since all of her kids are pretty small, $150 bucks would go a long way towards keeping them fed for a week or two, especially if most of the protein is coming from beans or lentils. Abigail lives in West Virginia, and the cost of living is pretty low there.

[AllisonWndrland]

If the thread title contains the word "poverty," there is a 99% chance that it's about Abigail.

:lol: I had some hope, dammit. Obviously this is a sign that I need to stop hoping she will change.

[laura oz]

:lol: I had some hope, dammit. Obviously this is a sign that I need to stop hoping she will change.

I knew this was going to be about Abigail! I had to quit reading her a while back. She makes me so frustrated, and one can only say WTF so many times without the old head exploding. And there is something just so off about her thought process, it makes me think she may have some kind of undiagnosed mental illness.

[2xx1xy1JD]

It may have been a voucher that was only good at the hotel's restaurants, so she may not have been able to use it to buy regular groceries for the kids.

I've been in situations like that (got funding for a nice med conference while hubby was still doing his training) - but no, I didn't brag that I was taking a nice vacation while still living in poverty, and we realized that the extra expenses were part of our vacation budget. I wouldn't have done it if my kids didn't have enough to eat.

[mrs]

Can someone explain how she is a lay carmelite? From what I have read, she is not following the rule of chasity.

THE LAY CARMELITES is an association of lay people who, in response to a call from God, freely and willingly, promise to live the Gospel in the spirit of the Carmelite Order and under its guidance. The Lay Carmelite is connected to the Carmelite Order by means of the promise which he or she makes. It is possible, following a very ancient custom, to make private vows of chastity and obedience according to one's state in life in order to be consecrated more closely to God.

Source: laycarmelites.com

[formergothardite]

Poverty is so much fun when it isn't actually poverty!!!!! She needs to experience some real poverty and then blog about how fun it is.

[Rescinded and Mended]

This makes me sick on a visceral level, regarding the gift card. Abigail's always moaning about how poor she is, someone kicks in for $150 worth of free groceries, and she blows the whole amount on a romantic getaway, leaving Grandma stuck with taking care of (and feeding) her kids. If I was poor and had that many littles at home, you can bet I'd be hoarding every dime to feed them, not blowing it on a weekend getaway with the headship.

And of course, Jesus gets all the credit, not the people who gifted her with the card and trip. :roll:

[Boogalou]

Can someone explain how she is a lay carmelite? From what I have read, she is not following the rule of chasity.

Source: laycarmelites.com

For married Catholics "sexual intercourse within marriage is considered chaste when it retains the twofold significance of union and procreation" according to Wikipedia. Having said that I am pretty sure taking a nice vacation like that would not be appropriate for someone who has taken a vow of poverty.

[SpeshulTaterTot]

But of course she had to take the trip, she's a spiritual warrior and needed healing! And the vow of poverty and this resort totally go together because she probably left the kitchen cupboards at home empty again. And, you know, she didn't enjoy the trip. Just like sex, which isn't for enjoyment, but only for procreation. It's how we Catholics roll.

[Stephanie66]

I've been close to poverty. Note, I say I was not "in poverty." We had enough to eat, a roof over our heads, and I could thrift shop for clothes like no one's business. I worked full time and sometimes picked up a second job because it was that tight.

It was never, I repeat NEVER, fun. My company used to give us mall gift cards every year as a bonus and I would sell mine. It was $50, not $150. If she were TRULY in poverty, they would have sold that weekend getaway so quickly...since the gift certificate alone was worth $150, I would think she could have gotten that much for it. And her pantry would have been full. Seriously.

ETA: Or they could have purchased a full size fridge. Is her husband forcing her to do this? She also mentioned not working and high student loan debt--are they paying that off, so this is just for now?

[Dysfundamental]

What Boogalou said: "chastity" means "no sex outside of marriage," not celibacy, in Roman Catholic doctrine.

Abigail is the worst.

[Mela99]

Where does Abigail live? Bedford Springs is 20 mins from my hometown. I'll scream if we're from the same area

[Green Glass]

This woman is both infuriating and amusing. How can she POSSIBLY claim to live in poverty? It's offensive - I don't think she even knows what real poverty is. Yet I can't help but laugh at her because it is totally ridiculous.

[ILoveJellybeans]

This woman has never known poverty. She isnt poor, she is just incredibly irresponsible with her money, and that is her own fault.

[Stephanie66]

According to Wikipedia, the order of Carmelites are supposed to abstain from meat except in cases of severe illness. I don't believe she does that, either.

Where does all of their money go? I assume her husband works?

[Mudball]

Poverty is fun! She should move to Malawi, I hear it's shits and giggles 24/7.

[NurseNell]

According to Wikipedia, the order of Carmelites are supposed to abstain from meat except in cases of severe illness. I don't believe she does that, either.

Where does all of their money go? I assume her husband works?

I don't believe lay Carmelites have to abstain from meat. The rules for professed are different than for lay members.

[YPestis]

The vacation itself doesn't sound too expensive, but I'd have to agree with others that the fundie blogger is misusing the word "poverty" when she decides to talk about her vacation. "Poverty" is different from "poor" or "low-incomed". While being poor can suck and can mean not having stuff you want, it's rather different than living in "poverty". Poverty means your basic needs are not met. That's food, shelter, clothing and medical care. It doesn't include vacations. If you can afford to drive off on a vacation instead of trying to offer up the prizes and coupons for extra money, it's not a good example of living in poverty.

[littleblueheathen]

There's a few places here in New Orleans that I'd be glad to drop her off in, let her stay a few days. She would have a whole new understanding of Poverty.

[Sobeknofret]

Poor people don't take vacations, Abigail. They just don't. It's not even on their radar.

[lilwriter85]

I don't think that the vacation was expensive and it seemed that since it was a resort place, they didn't have spend money on extras. They probably just hung out at the resort. I'm a bit confused on the gift card thing, was the gift card set up for food at the resort?