Prayer Before Study

My friend Noel here at YDS sent this prayer to me (apparently Prof. Volf used it at the beginning of Systematics--a class I'm not taking--one day). Anywho, it really is a beautiful prayer, and I think I shall incorporate it into my being, especially now.

Ineffable Creator...

Who, from the treasures of Your wisdom, has established three hierarchies of angels, has arrayed them in marvelous order above the fiery heavens,
and has marshaled the regions of the universe with such artful skill,

You are proclaimed the true font of light and wisdom, and the primal origin raised high beyond all things.

Pour forth a ray of Your brightness into the darkened places of my mind; disperse from my soul the twofold darkness into which I was born: sin and ignorance.

You make eloquent the tongues of infants. Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of Your blessing.

Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech.

May You guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion.

You Who are true God and true Man, Who live and reign, world without end.

Amen

Grrr...

I am quite miffed with the KY DMV. WHY on earth does my registration form need a notary????? No other state requires it...this is getting ridiculous.

Weird?

Classes have started, and started well. I had two good classes on Wednesday (OT and History), and the profs were pretty amazing. One of them plays evangelical praise music at the end of every class to remind us that there are many ways of interpreting the Hebrew scriptures. The other was talking about symbols and he ripped up a dollar in front of us. That would normally be ok, if it hadn't been for the fact that I went and paid $260 for his books that afternoon. Sheesh. And then today I had my other two classes and one colloquia (the ISM doesn't meet until next Wednesday). Those were also good. So it looks as though the semester will be pretty intense but full of really interesting stuff, and I should be able to work with my interest in religion and literature in a couple of my course papers. Also, and I may be singing another tune later, almost all of my papers are due before December 1, which at this point in the semester I think will be nice. I have one due on October 4, but because of the Maryland trip the weekend before I'm going to try and get it done a little early. And I don't have any paper longer than 10 pages!!!!!! I don't think I've had that happen since college. Pretty amazing.

So this is weird...my patristics professor lives in the apartment across the hall. The normal prof. is on sabbatical this year, so he's a visiting professor from Notre Dame. And he and his wife live across the hall. I guess this means I'll have to stay on my toes especially in that class, so as not to have to deal with increased awkwardness when I pass him in the hallway...

Clifford is sold as well (finally). Now I can bring Beethoven (my blue 1993 Subaru Legacy AWD wagon) down from Worcester, hopefully on Saturday. The guy who bought it was a total hippie, which was pretty funny. I hope he gets some good use out of the truck, though (he's a painter).

Other than that, it's basically just homework time here. I had to dive right in as I have 130 pages of reading due tomorrow--which I would like to point out I've already finished. But there's other reading to be done so I'm going to try and stay on top of it. I won't get to see Rick this weekend (SAD!!!) because he's in New York state on a business trip; thus I'm hoping to be extra productive this weekend so I can start thinking about the paper that's due in three weeks. Woohoo!

First Day of School

Today is the first day of class here at Yale. The Daily Office for today includes the passage from Mark in which the people elect to free Barabbas instead of Jesus. The student who preached this morning called her sermon "Barabbas and the first day of school." Ha. Not sure what this particular passage means for the coming school year, though. I thought about that as I went in to chapel this morning--how the readings from Mark this week have all been leading up to Jesus's crucifixion (granted, one could claim that his whole life led up to that moment, but in this case I mean that it's the passion scenes that are being read). An interesting juxtaposition, to say the least. I have a meeting with my advisor this afternoon, at which point I will know for sure what I'm taking. But, if he gives the go ahead on the schedule I drew up, I'll be taking Old Testament Interpretation 1, Christian Social Ethics, Christian Theology to 451 (Patristics, basically), and History of Christianity 800-1300. It looks like it will be an alright schedule. Now I just need my loan money to hurry up and be deposited in my bank account so that I can buy books. I think I have about 150 pages of reading due on Friday, so I need the books soon. I'm glad to have homework, though. I've gotten bored just sitting around, and it makes me miss Rick even more. But hopefully with the homework I'll be able to distract myself and knuckle down for school. Anywho, here's to the first day of classes.

Labor Day Weekend

Howdy Folks
It's Labor Day weekend, and I'm in Worcester for the weekend before school starts up. We start on Wednesday, although there's registration and such on Tuesday. I'm not really sure what all that entails, but I don't think it's too complicated. I have to be in chapel that day at 8 AM, so I'm going back to New Haven on Monday night. I was hoping to stay up here and go back on Tuesday, as I won't get to see Rick next weekend since he'll be on a work trip, but oh well. I can't miss the first full chapel of the year, so what are you gonna do? I'm hoping like hell to sell the truck this weekend. The Subaru has just been sitting in Rick's garage because I still haven't been able to get the truck sold. I even dropped the price to 1800! It's not a bad vehicle, and it works, so you can't beat that. I thought I had a buyer this past week, but the guy never got back to me. So now I've got a couple of people who might be interested today, but one of them is also looking at a car with less miles on it that is 1000 but is a '91. That makes me think he'll be less likely to buy my truck, which has more miles and is more expensive. We'll see though. I would just like to get it sold so I can start driving Beethoven (the name for the new Subaru). I don't think I wrote anything about him...He's a blue 1993 AWD Subaru Legacy wagon with 180,000 miles. Automatic transmission, power windows and locks, etc. Hopefully it will be a good car in the snow. Rick swears by them, and he's the car guy so I'm willing to take his advice.

I can't believe school starts this week. Where did the summer go? The leaves up here are already starting to change, which seems a bit early to me. But it has been a little cooler I guess, albeit dry. The grass everywhere is brown and brittle, much like it was in Kentucky when I was home. But fall is definitely on its way. And with that comes school. I'm ready for classes to start, as I hate the waiting around stuff. I think I'm going to be taking Old Testament Interpretation 1, Christian Theology to 451 (Patristics), History of Christianity to 1300, and Christian Social Ethics. They all look to be interesting classes, although the history course has 19 books and a course pack, which frankly I think is ridiculous. And those books aren't at th Div school, they're downtown at the bookstore, so I'll have to make a special trip down there to pick them up once I get my loan money. Oh well, 'Tis the life of a student.

That's about all I've got for now. Just waiting for classes to start and enjoying my long weekend with Rick. Hope everyone has a good Labor Day!

Peace

Orientation

It's BTFO time here at YDS, or Before the Fall Orientation (thank about that theologically, eh?). I'd been told that it was the most awesome orientation ever, but it's really been like every other orientation I've ever been to. It's basically lots and lots of panels discussing things. So I've just basically stopped attending those sessions, and just go to the free meals :). Other than that...I'm hoping to sell the truck soon. I have a Subaru Legacy just waiting for me to drive it. His name is Beethoven. More to come later, but I'm going to watch some Family Guy now. Just wanted to say I'm here in New Haven now waiting for classes to start. Woop woop.

Tool-less Furniture

So. I've been moving in slowly to my apartment in New Haven, and in case you didn't know setting yourself up in a new place is friggin' expensive. Boo. Anywho, I've been on the hunt for a desk. My desk from Cambridge worked ok, but I really needed to upgrade to something bigger as I have a tendency to spread out when I study. Then I thought I'd found a table to use, but it was already spoken for. Thus I have been on the hunt for a good wooden table/desk for 50 dollars or less. The other day I found one for 49.99 at office depot, so I thought hey why not. I bought the desk, and yesterday I moved it into my apartment.

My new friend Julie and I discovered the joy (pysch) of tool free furniture. I have to tell you, as someone who loves putting things together (I spent hours with Legos, Capsella, and K'Nex as a kid) I found this to be the most ridiculous process EVER. You basically just push stuff together and hope it doesn't break. I put together the tv cart today (which required one No. 2 Phillips Screwdriver) and it was much easier and less physically painful than the desk. Seriously, folks. WTF? Julie and I decided that the furniture folks must think if you can only afford a 50 dollar desk, you must not be able to afford tools. It's apparently just one step above not being able to afford food. So anywho we got it together and it was still in one piece when I went to move some stuff in today. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't collapse under the immense weight of my homework.

Other than that escapade, I've just been moving things in (and having to buy immense amounts of stuff). I got a new bed, which is SUPER EXCITING! And I got an amazing deal...it's a 1000 dollar mattress and I got it for 300. Hell yeah. The apartment is nice. I haven't spent the night yet (I'm moving officially on Saturday) but it's coming along. The best features are the ginormous windows and the one wall that is floor to ceiling shelving. All of my books in one place! Well, all of my school books, at least. The rest I'm putting on my bookshelves. That's about all that's going on for now. I hope the beginning of everyone's school years are going well!

Sorry for the Delay

Hello everyone! I realize that it's been a month and a half since I last wrote anything. Sorry about that! This summer has been very busy, so I haven't really gotten a chance to write anything. Today is really the beginning of my summer break, as my CPE program ended last Friday. For those who don't know what that is, CPE stands for Clinical Pastoral Education. You work in a hospital and go visit patients and meet with your peers (I was in a group of 6), where you basically discuss your ministry and figure out how you bring yourself, assumptions, prejudices, histories, etc., to what you're doing. It was a really really good experience. I had heard horror stories about it, but I had a really great supervisor and my group was great too. (There was only one person who drove me nuts, but for the sake of confidentiality, etc., I won't say anymore here). But CPE was a 40 hour a week job, for which I didn't get paid, so I haven't had time to sit down and write. I've also been working on my reading list for Yale. Luckily I'm on the last book, although admittedly it is a little boring. I'm trying to keep my motivation for reading it up. Almost done!
I'm heading to KY tomorrow to visit with the fam for a week. That will be really good, and definitely a nice way to end up the summer. When I get back I'll be moving into my apartment in New Haven and then just hanging out between Worcester and there until August 28th, which marks the start of orientation. I've been trying to figure out which classes I'm going to take. One of the classes I had planned on was cancelled, so now I'm not really sure. And another class that could be interesting (and is an elective, albeit one that is in the religion and literature field) conflicts with another class that I have to take at some point. So who knows. I'll let you know what I've got it figured out, which probably won't be until the first week of classes.
Anywho, I've got to get moving. Time to do laundry, run some errands, and get packing for tomorrow!

JCPS and the Supreme Court

So I just read that the Supreme Court struck down Louisville's school desegregation policy. As one of the more segregated cities in the US (if not one of the most), I daresay this will lead to a resegregation of our school system. Now all of the rick white kids can stay safely within their own neighborhoods and never have to talk to anyone who is different from them in any way. Sheesh. I went to elementary school downtown and had an EXCELLENT education. I was always around kids who were different. So a kid was denied his first choice school. Big deal. Whatever happened to the greatest good for the greatest number? I'm sure this kid found another school where he's doing quite well. I didn't get to go to my first choice of college, but I didn't sue. And I had am amazing experience. I have three words for him and his mom: get over it. You don't always get what you want in life, and if you can't learn to live with some situations you'll be awfully unhappy. Grrr. Needless to say I'm a bit annoyed.

Heat and Harry Potter

Howdy everyone. I realized that it's been a while since my last post! Everything here in MA is good, although hot. The heat wouldn't be so bad if people had pools...but oh well. At least it's not 67 degrees. This summer has been going well. Rick and I went to the beach a couple of weeks ago. I tried to post a pic but my camera is being weird, so oh well. Maybe I'll try again. If there's a picture below, it's from the beach. I'm hoping maybe to go back this weekend with a friend while Rick works on his car. CPE is going well. This week marks the halfway point, which is kind of hard to believe but then again not too hard to believe. My truck is acting up again, and no one has offered to buy it and I have no money. So I don't know what I'm going to do there. I had a long talk with my supervisor today about the whole situation. i thought I had a part time job working as a dog-walker but they haven't really contacted me back. I did get an email from them today, though, that said they were trying to work everything out. But if my truck is starting to act up...and I have to go to Boston Monday night for a CPR recert course, so I'll need the truck then as well. It's just kind of a mess. And no one form ISM has gotten back to me about loans. So I'll have to keep calling them. Anyway, that's about all. Rick introduced me to an AWESOME show called Black Adder. It's a Britcom that is basically an historical comedy. My dad apparently has never seen it, which I find odd, but I told him he would love it. It's hysterical! So if you've never seen it, watch it. Rick just got the first season on DVD. We'll probably start watching it tonight. Ummm....Evan Almighty is out now, we're just waiting for it to show up at the drive in, which hopefully will be soon. We were going to go last week to see Pirates 3 but we had gone out to dinner the night before so we opted to stay in, due to money (aka it's cheaper). I heard Pirates 3 isn't all that great, but I would still like to see it. I loved the first 2.
Harry Potter is fast approaching. My thoughts on who will die? Voldemort. Granted, I wouldn't put it past JKR to kill Harry off, but if these books are about the triumph of good over evil, then Voldemort has to be defeated. And Harry has to do it. But I think some of our favorites will die, and in my opinion it's going to be Neville. I think the trio will stick together (and the three of them will find the horcruxes, etc.) but Neville has something in store for him, I think. But who knows. Apparently Kreacher is going to play an important role, so they had to keep him in the 5th movie on Jo's recommendation. As for Snape...I've gone back and forth on this position. When I first read HBP, I thought maybe he was ok, but there was something else going on. However, on a second read I feel he is on Voldemort's side. That may be too simplistic a reading for HP, but he killed Dumbledore. He was willing to save his own skin to kill the man who would have helped Harry most. How can that make him a friend of the Order? Anywho, those are my musings. I hope you're all doing well!
Peace

Graduation, CPE, etc.

Howdy everyone.
Sorry it's been a while, but a lot has been going on! A week ago I graduated from Harvard with an MTS. It's still weird to think that I have a Harvard degree, which, by the way, I can't read yet because it's all in Latin. I'm going to have to get it framed, though, because it's pretty impressive! Graduation was crazy...my mom, sister, brother, and nephew came up for the trip, so that was fun. They got to meet Rick. It was hilarious watching Rick and Blaine get to know one another! As Rick says "he's the most awesome kid in the world." I told him that I'd been saying that all along, but now he can agree with me. Here's a picture of Blaine and I at graduation (I still can't get over how big he's gotten!!!!) Well, I was going to post one but blogger is being slow. Maybe later. Anywho, I had a hood and everything. It was crazy. And someone did a speech in Latin (something about "John Harvard Jedi Knight). Very weird. Very Harvard.

Then it was back to the ol' hospital for CPE. I was on call last weekend (the only weekend I had to be) and it went well. No calls at night, thank the Lord, as I was exhausted from graduation. And my visits during the day went pretty well. I'm glad I have a weekend now though. I told the group yesterday that the hardest part about on call (as I was the first in the group to do it) was not the weekend but the week after. When you've been at the hospital for eight or nine days straight working you're ready for a break. So now I actually have a weekend, although I still have a book report to write. Luckily the verbatim is done. I think we're going to go to the beach today, which is really exciting! I haven't been since I was 11, and we're going to this really cheesy beach in New Hampshire where they apparently have a boardwalk with skeeball and the whole nine yards! And I think there's some big sand sculpture competition that starts tomorrow as well, so we can see some of that.

Other than that, not much is going on. Rick and I are still running, and I've gotten to the point where I actually would like to run and it's not such a pain. And it feels good when we're done with the run. We just bumped our time up to 32 minutes, and we may bump it up again soon. Today we did our hilly route and we went faster than we have been going, so it seemed like a much harder run than it did before, but we're trying to work on speed a little right now. We'll see. I must say, aside from missing my family tons I definitely miss the pool! Although, it was only 50 degrees the past couple of days, but next week it's supposed to be quite warm. A pool would be nice, but there's swimming down at the lake so we may go down there soon as well. I have a feeling that the ocean is going to be freezing! I'll take pictures, though, and maybe I can post some on here, if it's not being slow. What else? Working on the reading list from Yale. I'll start the first book this week. Should be good. Other than that, just hanging out with Rick and enjoying the summer. Hope you are too, wherever you are!!!

Summer Has Started

Howdy everyone
Well, it seems that summer has officially started. Sort of. Graduation is next week on Wednesday and Thursday. My family is coming up for the occasion, which is really exciting. No one but my brother has been able to come and visit for any extended period of time. So it should be great! And they'll be meeting Rick for the first time (except for Nathan) so that will be good as well. We're hopefully going to go on a Duck Tour (as long as I can get tickets) as well as have a cookout here at Rick's house. On another school note....I GOT A B+ IN GREEK! I swear I've never worked so hard for a grade in my life, and I am PERFECTLY happy with a B+. I honestly thought it was going to be worse. So yay for me! Needless to say I was stoked when I found out. And all of my other grades are in, my term bill paid (all 75 cents of it) and now I just have to get Rick to pick up my regalia some time this week or next week. My time at Harvard is quickly coming to a close.
I started CPE today, and it looks like a good group of people. Two are novices in the Order of Assumption, or something to that effect. (monks-in-training, basically). One is a RC nun in the Order of Notre Dame de something. She's a native Bostonian. Another is on track to be ordained in the Unitarian church, and another will be a military chaplain. And then there's me. I'm definitely the youngest, by far, which should be interesting. The program looks like it's going to be a lot of work--writing, lectures, patient visits, etc. But it shouldn't be too bad. I just ordered the books I'm going to do for my book reports--I'm such a geek, I'm excited we're getting to read and reflect on some literature. So I'm doing Merton's No Man is an Island, a book called Clinical Ethics, and C.S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain. I don't really like Lewis that much (while I like the Narnia books for enjoyment their theology is soooooooo wack) but I couldn't find anything else on that list that looked good. So I chose this one...it will let me argue with his take on theodicy :) I'm riding my bike to work this summer. The commute isn't too bad, only 10-15 minutes, and there's a bike rack in the parking garage. The ride home is actually a bit tougher because half of it is uphill, but it should be no problem by the end of the summer! I got my on call weekend (next weekend, to be exact) which I preferred. It means I can get it out of the way early and then I'm free on the weekend for the rest of the summer. Sweet. Other than that...we're supposed to choose which floors we want to work. I think I'm going to request pediatrics and orthopedics. I've worked with kids alot, and I think I could use that experience well in CPE (although the peds unit is small, hopefully I'll get it) and I am going to request orthopedics mostly because A. I couldn't think of what else to choose and B. I think there would be a good chance of encountering alot of young people on that floor. And since I want to minister to young people, mainly, that may be good. We'll see I guess. Who knows if I'll get it or not.
Other than that, not much else is going on. I've come up with a summer reading list:
The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky)
Jane Eyre (one of the Brontes...Charlotte I think...but I'm not looking at it so I'm not sure)
HP and the Deathly Hallows (of course)
and the Thursday Next series.
I'm working on the Brothers book right now...I've started it so many times, I'm determined to get through it this summer, so I'm not going to read anything else until I've finished it (except for the assigned books).
Anywho, that's all for now. Hope you all are doing well and staying cool!
Peace, y'all.

Quick Update

So.
I'm done with school for the year. Weird to think that, assuming I've passed all of my classes, I've finished a Masters degree. Strange. Anyway, I'm in Louisville for a few days visiting the fam, then it's back up to Boston for camping and CPE. Woowoo! Yay for summer!

Three Words.

Papers. Are. DONE.

: )

Why?

Why oh why didn't Jesus and the authors of the New Testament speak Elizabethan English????

On a totally unrelated note...I finished my exegesis for NT. It's done. Yay! And I have two more good paper topics for two papers left to write. And a take home NT final, which I hope to start on soon, and a Greek final (not to mention a quiz or two). Things are wrapping up. I would say slowly, but not really. It just feels like it. But everything will get done. And luckily my papers don't require much outside reading...just close readings of the texts. Hopefully the books I ordered (Indian comic books...cool eh?) will come in on Monday or Tuesday. I kind of need them for the paper.

Spring is finally here, which is good. Bad for my allergies. And the sun has been wonderful, although I'm still used to Kentucky Mays, where it's 80 degrees in May and not only 65. Oh well. I'm not complaining, because it could be much colder. Rick and I went for a 21 mile bike ride yesterday evening (took about 2 hours). At one point I got us up to 22 mph. Hopefully that will get even higher. And we had two really good runs on Monday and Tuesday. I'm hoping that means I'm starting to see some results (aka not feeling miserable while running).

We're going to the circus on Sunday. Yay! And we found another drive-in near his house in Worcester. So that makes 3 total, I think. Which is beyond exciting.

And I get to go home in 15 days. :)

Getting There.

It's been a few days since my last post. Let's see, what's happened? I was in Jersey this weekend with Rick for a car show. It was fun, and the weather was absolutely fantastic! He and his 91 Vanagon won the Vanagon category, which was great. And there were some really awesome VW buses there, especially some pre-1968 split windows that were fantastic. So the weekend was really good. I got some sun, which was nice. Now it's back to work...School is almost done, with only a few weeks left to go. This is both good and bad. Good because I need a break from school. Even though I'll be doing CPE this summer, at least I won't be trying to write a bajllion papers in very little time. It's bad b ecause my papers are due in a few weeks. Ahh! I'm trying not to look at the big picture...just the details. But I have all of my paper topics (almost) finalized and will hopefully be able to start writing the shortest of the three this weekend, and maybe even finish it. I'm only taking that class pass-fail, so it's not imperative that it be a stellar paper. That's about all. Rick and I got my new beater bike up and running last weekend (during the Nor'easter). I rode it today and it's great! He said it must have been a really great bike 20 years ago, and it's still good stuff. He gave me the fenders off of his bike so now I won't get soaked when I have to ride to class in the rain. Woohoo! At least, my butt won't get soaked. The rest of me likely will. The weather has gotten so much better! I took the plastic off of my windows, and now the room feels much less stuffy. It's a little cooler today and cloudier than it has been, but it's better than the 40 degrees and rainy of the last few weeks. The trees are finally starting to blossom (as are my allergies) so that's great. Rick and I are going to forgo our run tonight and bike part of the minuteman instead. It's a 20 mile paved bike path that starts in Cambridge. I doubt we'll do the whole thing (atlhough we may very well...should only take an hour and a half or so...maybe 2), but it's fun and nice. And it's not the hilliest thing inthe world. I did it last year with Dan and Tim, and this year I t hink I'm in a bit better shape so we'll see how it goes. Anyway, I should get back to translating Xenophon. How much more fun could things get? Ha. Oh and randomthought: my nephew is huge and looks almost nothing like the kid I saw 5 months ago. Hard to believe he'll be 1 in less than a month...seems like he was just born!

School=Blah.

Sorry it's been so long since I updated this last. Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Rick and I went to Newport over spring break for a few days. It was really really nice. The weather was pretty good (sunny, which is more than can be said for now) and we had a good time relaxing and getting away. We took the bikes with us and just rode into town from our hotel. And on Palm Sunday we went to the tiniest Episcopal Church we'd ever been to. The people were super nice (almost clingy), which I partially attribute to their community and partially to the fact that Rick and I are a young couple and small churches especially get really excited about that. Anyway. School is definitely dragging me down right now. I have so much to do, which is the main reason I haven't updated this in a while. I have four papers due in four weeks. Luckily one is almost done (only another 3 page section to go and then revisions) and I've started researching another. I'm hoping to have two done by next week and then I'll have 3 weeks to do the other two. And Greek on top of all of that. Classes have just started to feel like they're getting in the way of doing the research I need to do, and I'm frustrated because all of this school work is keeping me from spending time with my friends, most of whom will be graduating with me in June. So that's a bummer. It's just very very very stressful right now, and I can feel it wearing on my system. and the weather is horrendous. Nor'easter and now just rainy and cold. It's oppressive. It's almost the end of April and spring still hasn't arrived! The bright side is that in a month I'll get to go home to visit the fam and school will be done for the semester. Blaine turns 1 in May, which is so unbelievable. It will be good to be home for a while...I'm hoping to be there for a week. I haven't seen anyone but my brother since December. They're all coming up for graduation which should be great. I'm excited about showing them Boston, etc. Other than that...I think I'm going to go to bed now. i spent about 3 or 4 hours today translating the rest of the first chapter in Xenophon's Symposium for tomorrow, and started some reading but I keep reading the same paragraph over and over again. So that means it's bedtime. Oh and stay tuned for great news about my brother...I don't know if it's officially public yet, so I can't announce it, but once it is I'll let you know! Hope things are calmer your way, wherever you may be.

Wasting Time

So it's spring break now, and what am I doing? Homework. Well, I should be doing homework, rather. I just though I would tell you all that there's nothing much to report. Awesome. I'm trying to sell my truck, but I've gotten no responses. I'm a little afraid it's not going to sell, in which case I'll just keep it. I was just hoping to switch to something a little smaller and with AWD (in other words, a subaru.) Alas. I made 10 dollars worth of copies today at the library, and will probably do the same tomorrow for this NT project I'm working on. And yeah. That's about it. The weather is nice and not cold or snowy. Rick and I leave for Newport on Friday morning, which is really exciting. And Easter is almost here. Woohoo! Oh apparently Blaine started walking this week. I can't believe it! I'm sure he's HUGE by now.

Spring Break...Almost...Here

I'm tired of Greek. Literally and figuratively. I feel like it's slowly defeating me. Ugh. On a brighter note, spring break starts tomorrow at 10 am (after the weekly Greek quiz, of course). I'm in for a fun filled week of...researching in the library. Woohoo! Although Rick and I are going to Newport, RI next weekend. I hope it doesn't rain...it will be nice to get away for a while, and he says Newport is awesome. I'll post pics when we get back. The sun is out and the snow is melting, so hopefully that means spring is officially here. Umm...what else? That's really about it. Hopefully I'll get alot done over spring break. I need to, so I can get home for Blaine's birthday and not have a ton of stuff hanging over my head. If I could get this project for NT out of the way and get the resources together for that paper, that would be a major step in the right direction. I have about 70 pages of writing due at the end of the semester, not to mention a Greek final, so I'll have to start stepping it up. I guess that will mean staying up later and getting up earlier...joy. Anywho I should go back to studying Greek. It's taking the place of my run today (so I have to make it up tomorrow). Thanks, Greek language. Thanks.
Peace y'all.

YALE.

Yay for Yale. Just thought I would let my readers know (and I am sure that all of you were waiting with bated breath) that I did indeed get into the MDiv program at Yale. Woohoo! As a friend told me, now it won't matter who wins the Harvard-Yale game. Too true, too true.

On a different note, it's March 16th and snowing like crazy. WTF New England? IT'S MARCH!!!!!!! And on top of all of that it is supposed to rain the entire day tomorrow, which as you may know is Boston's official holiday (St. Patrick's day). Good luck to all of you going to Southie to watch the parade in the rain. Drink another beer and maybe being soaking wet in thirty degree weather won't bother you as much as it normally would.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

Howdy everyone. I hear from Yale tomorrow, so needless to say my ability to concentrate is significantly less than usual, which makes memorizing Greek vocabulary particularly hard. Sheesh. Just had to get that out there. Other than that...Nathan's been in this week. We went out to dinner last night at Union Oyster House, and then Rick bought us dessert at Quincy Market. It was a really nice evening. Today I think Nathan and I are going to the zoo (mostly because it's warm and sunny and I don't want to waste the nice day) and then tonight the three of us are going to the Celtics game. Should be interesting, to say the least. That's about all here, really. St. Patrick's day is Saturday, but as of now it's supposed to be really really gross. Rick and I were planning on being in Boston, but if it's going to be that gross I don't know if we'll stay here. Who knows. Walking around the city in a rain/snow mix isn't the most fun ever, even if you are drinking copious amounts of Irish beer. We'll see. Anyway, I hope the weather is as nice where you are as it is here! Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow...

ADRIANNE!!!!

Adrianne!!!! I couldn't access your blog because I guess it's closed to the public...is there anyway you could invite me to your blog? I'm trying to think of a way to do this without posting emails on blogger...I have tried to getback in touch with you and it never works. So yay! I'm glad you wrote! Anywho I have to go to class. I'm so glad you found me!!!!!!!!!

Up and Runnin'

Howdy folks. Well, it's a week later and I'm finally back to almost normal. I'm still coughing more than usual, especially after walking to class in the cold weather, but I'm feeling like a human being again. Thank God that illness is over...it was horrible! Now I'm just trying to dig myself out of the pile of work that built up around me. Most worrisome at the moment is Greek. I feel so behind...and we have a midterm on Friday. I think the chances of doing well on that exam are very slim. I was given the option to hold it off, but that really wouldn't make things any better, as I have so much other school work to do that I wouldn't really have any extra time to study for the Greek test. I'm just trying to get by in that class at this point. I'll be glad when it's over...I think next year I'll take Hebrew. We'll see.

Speaking of schools I should hear from Yale a week from tomorrow. I'm a little stressed about that...fears that I won't get in, that I was over-confident, etc. Hopefully they will be unfounded fears. We'll see. I'll let you know something once I know something...but pray hard for good news.

On a completely unrelated note, my top dresser drawer broke last night (the underwear drawer, of course). The bottom, which is just a thin piece of wood, had come completely un-nailed form the actual drawer, so basically the bottom out. I tried to renail the whole thing, but I couldn't get the drawer out of the larger frame (I don't even remember how we put the thing together last year) so now the wood is duct-taped to the rest of the drawer. Classy, I know. But I'll just get a new one whenever I move into my place next year.

Ummm...yeah. I should probably start doing some reading, and working on Greek (which makes my stomach hurt just to think about). Peace, y'all.

Strike That

Turns out it is pneumonia after all...I got a call from the doctor yesterday evening giving me the update...he said the radiologist had looked at the chest x rays and found it. Woohoo.

Laid Up

Well, it figures. Saturday it is supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees here in Boston. But what happens to Hilary? She gets sick. Figures. Tuesday morning I woke up with a cough, but figured it was an allergy thing. Went to my seminar and started feeling a lot worse...body aches, fatigue, etc. When I got home my temp. was about 100, so I skipped out on my second class and went to bed. Well, later that night the temp. had climbed to 101 and the cough was worse and I felt like someone had run over me with a truck. So yesterday morning I went to the doctor, thinking I had the flu. I had a fever of 103.1 (I hadn't had a fever that high in a looooooong time) and he thought it might be pneumonia so he had a chest x ray done. He didn't see anything and decided it was the flu. Went home, still had a fever. And Rick hasn't been feeling well so I was afraid I'd given something to him. (By the way Rick has been a superhero to me while I've been sick...coming over to make me dinner and bring me tissues, popsicles, etc. He's the BEST EVER.) This morning I still had a fever of about 101, so that was three days running, which isn't good, and the cough is still around (gotten worse). But I've taken ibuprofen all day and the body aches have gone away, which is nice. Don't know if the fever has officially broken yet, or if it's just down b/c of the medicine. Then tonight I get a call from the doctor, who said the radiologist had looked at my x ray and thought he saw a small bit of pneumonia. So it's not the flu. It's pneumonia. Figures. So I went and got the antibiotic for it. Hopefully the major symptoms will clear up but I have a feeling I'll be coughing for a good while. He told me to take it easy and rest, which means NOT DOING HOMEWORK, for the rest of the week. On the one hand that would seem easy. But today, when I was starting to feel a little better, I just got so bored lying around. I would try to get some reading done (which was a generally unsuccessful thing...couldn't focus) and i understand the need for rest but it's so hard, especially because I know that there's so much work I need to be getting done! Aaahhhh! Oh well. The more I rest the quicker I'll be able to do work.

On a happier note, my brother is coming to visit the week after next. Woohoo!!!

Back from Jersey

Hey Hey everyone
Well, I'm back from Jersey! It was a really really good trip, but really busy. Thus I'm exhausted. I'll write more about the weekend later...but for those of you who knew I was going down to meet Rick's parents and friends, I just wanted to let you know that everything was great. Ok now time for bed...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

24 Years, etc.

Hello Everyone!
I hope things are going well for all of my faithful readers (all two of you..maybe just one. Mom, you may be the only one who reads this thing) and that you're staying warm. It's friggin' cold up here, and from what I can tell friggin' cold at home too. Oh well, it was going to come eventually. Hopefully it won't be this cold in March, though. Hopefully.

Anyway, lots has been going on. For those who don't know, I turned 24 this week. Yay! Feels pretty much like 23, really. But then again 22 was the only time I really felt any different. I guess next year will be a different feeling, mostly because I won't be able to mooch off of my parents' car insurance anymore. Oh well. I had a great birthday. My family all called to sing happy birthday, and I'm sure Blaine would have had he been awake and able to sing. Then I had class, which wasn't that exciting really, but whatever. And then that night Rick took me out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. He had them sing me happy birthday and everything. If his camera phone had been on him we would have taken a picture of the delicious dessert, but I'm sure many of you know what the cheesecake there looks like. Heaven. I got some great stuff this year too. Rick gave me my gift a few weeks ago, due to some weird circumstances regarding the return policy, but anyway he got me a brand new bike! It's awesome. My current bike is literally falling apart as we speak (my right brake is broken again, for those of you who know the saga of my bike). So the new bike is AWESOME!!! Rick is so great. : ) And then from the fam I got money to get myself a new pair of midweight hikers,m so I got the low Keen Targhees. Their waterproof and super-supportive, which is nice. I had a little left over, so I may use it to buy a new daypack. I plan to do lots of hiking this summer, as Worcester is in the Blackstone Valley Corridor and there's some great hiking. There's also a package coming from home with some stuff in it, but I haven't gotten it yet so who knows what' sin there (aside from my contacts).

Let's see...classes started last week. I'm taking Greek, Intro to New Testament, Hindu Epics, and Religious Lit. and the Pastoral Imagination. They all look like they should be pretty good. It's especially nice the way my schedule works out because i basically have class on Monday and Tuesday, and then for the rest of the week I just have Greek. Hopefully that will help me get a head start on some research. I actually already checked out four books from the library for one class's research paper, which is a record for me. Woohoo! On a totally different note, I hurt my foot last week. I was running and strained a tendon or ligament or something. It hurts like hell, and I went to the doctor Tuesday but they said nothing was broken, which is a good thing. It's just hard because you're supposed to stay off of it, but I have to do so much walking that it doesn't really happen...so hopefully it won't take too long to heal. I feel like all the progress I've made running and getting in shape is totally gone now because of the injury. And Rick had hurt his ankle and the minute it gets better I get hurt! Crazy. But soon I should be back up and running and back on track.

Valentine's day is next week. I'm SUPER excited about what I got Rick. Although I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog, I'm not going to chance it and I'll wait until afterward to tell you what I got him. It's a gift in several parts, and two of them still aren't here! I called the company last week and they said I should have it in time. I'm doubtful. Better get here. I think we're going to go out to dinner for V-Day, but go somewhere that isn't exactly Valentine's Day "material" so that hopefully we'll beat the crowds. Maybe Uno's. Maybe somewhere like that. We'll see. What matters is spending time together.

Then, next weekend...I'm meeting the parents! Rick's parents, that is. I'm excited about the trip to New Jersey. We're going to meet up with some of his college friends and (hopefully) some of his friends from his VW club. I'm excited about meeting his family and friends...he's met many of my friends up here, at least, so it will be good to meet his good buddies. And his family. He'll meet mine at graduation. I'll give you the lowdown on how the trip went next week. It should go well, and I think I'll get along with his friends, from what I can tell, but I'm still a little nervous. I want to make a good impression and everything. So yeah. Busy week, needless to say.

Well, that's about all. I have an interview for my CPE position tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well! But for now I'm off to study some Greek and do some reading. Woohoo! Hope y'all are doing well.

Peace.

Hello Again

Sorry it's been about a month since I last posted. In my defense...it's still finals time here at Harvard. Tomorrow is the last day, and of course I have a final. And it's Greek of all things. Ugh. I'm NOT looking forward to it. One would think after that I would be done, however I have applications to finish, etc., but hopefully I can have those done by Wednesday at the latest and then take a week just to relax.

Other than finals things are going well. Rick and I are doing great, which is awesome. We went to the Sam Adams Brewery for a tour...the picture is above. Ummm what else? It seems that winter has finally arrived. So that's...ok I guess. Ha. Rick and I are doing a new running program which has been really great. He hurt his ankle, though, so we've been on hiatus for a week or so. It still looked a little rough this morning. I hope it's ok...I made him elevate it this weekend and put ice on it, and it seemed to help, but this morning he said it didn't feel perfect and he was limping some when he walked. We can't figure out what he did though, as he never turned his ankle or anything while running. Hopefully it's not a stress fracture or anything.

I can't believe I'm about to start my last semester at Harvard. It feels like I just got here...this two year degree seems so short! Hopefully I'll hear from the CPE folks soon, so I can interview and hopefully get the position. The woman who runs it seems nice and Rick and I passed the hospital on the way to CT last weekend. It looks like a nice place. So we'll see. Anyway nothing else going on here. I should get back to studying Greek. Woohoo! Hope you all are staying warm and having a great January.

Incarnation

'Tis Christmas eve, traditionally one of my most favorite days of the year. The traditions we have associated with Christmas all start on this evening and last until tomorrow...so I'm hyped. Christmas rocks. But, surprise surprise, I actually have something a little more thoughtful to write about today.

I've been thinking alot lately about incarnation. For those of you who don't know what it means, it means "enfleshment." The doctrine of the Incarnation is that which states that God became enfleshed when he became a human in the form of Jesus. Anglicans are traditionally very incarnational people....to be incarnational means that we believe God to be present in the world in a very real and tangible way. But that all started at Christmas...

Annie Dillard wrote a passage about Easter and how Easter is so profound and radical that we should all be going to church on Easter Sunday not dressed in our finery but wearing crash helmets. While I wholeheartedly agree, I feel the same could be said (and may even be more appropriate) for Christmas. Easter could not have happened in the first place without it. But even more importantly, the fact that God became fully human is so profound that it should make us want to run around like crazy people! In other traditions of the world, God does participate in human life. Particularly if one were to look at the Hindu tradition, one will find very real interactions between God and God's people. Just look at all of the stories surrounding Krishna, or even just look at the Mahabarata and you'll get the idea. But what makes Christianity different is that God didn't just come down to the earth, God became human. Just like us. Look at the Christmas story if you're unsure. I have a rather long passage that I would like to post, written by Evelyn Underhill called "The Light of the World."

"...the heavens open and what is disclosed? A Baby, God manifest in the flesh. The stable, the manger, the straw; poverty, cold, darkness--these form the setting of the divine gift. In this child God gives his supreme message to the soul- Spirit to spirit-but in a human way. Outside in the fields the heavens open and the shepherds look up astonished to find the music and radiance of reality all around them. BUt inside, our closest contact with that same reality is being offered to us in the very simplest, homeliest way-emerging right into our ordinary life. A baby-just that. We are not told that the blessed, virgin Mary saw the angels or heard the Gloria in the air. Her initiation had been quite different, like the quiet voice speaking in our deepest prayer- 'The Lord is with thee!' 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.' Humble self-abandonment is quite enough to give us God...

It is easy for the devout to join up with the shepherds and fall into place at the crib and look out into the surrounding night and say, 'Look at those extraordinary intellectuals wandering about after a star with no religious sense at all! Look at that clumsy camel, what an unspiritual animal it is! We know the ox and the ass are the right animals to have! Look what queer gifts and off types of self-consecration they are bringing; not the sort of people who come to church!' But remember that the child who began by receiving these very unexpected pilgrims had a woman of the streets for his faithful friend and two thieves for his comrades at the end: and looking at these two extremes let us try to learn a little of the height and breadth and depth of his love--and then apply it to our own lives.

Beholding his glory is only half our job. In our souls too the mysteries must be brought forth; we are not really Christians till that has been done. 'The Eternal Birth,' says Eckhart, 'must take place in you.' And another mystic adds that human nature is like a stable inhabited by the ox of passion and the ass of prejudice; animals which take up a lot of room and which I suppose most of us are feeing on the quiet. And it is there between them, pushing them out, that Christ must be born and int heir very manger he must be laid- and they will be he first to fall on their knees before them. Sometimes Christians seem far nearer to those animals than to Christ in his simply poverty, self-abandoned God."

Just some food for thought. Merry Christmas everyone.

Rick (and Hilary)

Rick and I at the Winter Waltz. I love this picture :)

Excitement

Howdy everyone. Sorry it's been a while since my last post...tons of things have been happening in my life, and I've been slacking when it comes to blogging. Hopefully over the holidays I will be able to get things back in to shape in that respect. So mea culpa, and I hope you will forgive me.

So. Big things have been coming my way. I have two big pieces of news.
1. I have a new love. YAY!!! His name is Rick, and he's the most amazing man I've ever been with before in my life. I mean...I could just list the ways that he's so awesome. He cooks for me, he fixed my bike for me, he walks in traffic before me (if we can't see if anything is coming), he took me to the Nutcracker for Christmas...he's amazing. Simply amazing. I can't gush enough about how great he is. Hopefully he'll be down in KY sometime this spring so I can introduce him to you all. I think you'll really like him. He's 28, works in publishing, and owns a house. I know, right? A house! Needless to say, he's responsible, which is nice. And a gentleman, which is incredibly hard to come by, especially up here. For those wanting to know, we met online (at Yahoo). I had actually given up on the whole thing and had seen Rick's profile, thought he was cute, but figured that he would be like the rest of the guys on there and not respond to my emails. But apparently Rick was notified when I viewed his profile and he sent me an "icebreak." So I wrote him back...we emailed for a week or so and then im'ed, and then went on a date! And it was amazing...and it's been fantastic since then! I'll post a picture here in a minute once I finish this blog. But like I said, he's an amazing man. Truly amazing. Not to mention that he has a college degree (which has been a rarity in my love life) and he's nice (another rarity). Just when I had consigned myself to a love life of Bridget Jones-like proportions, here comes Rick. :) He makes me smile.

2. I got in to Duke!!!! This was my number one choice for seminary. It was an amazing fit when I went there, and all I could think when I left was how good of a fit it was. And I got in! Pray that they call me this next week about money, because I could really use the financial help...but woohoo!! Now that I'm in, I'm goign to start applying for scholarships. I decided not to apply anywhere else. I think I could really grow at Duke more so than at any of the other schools I looked at, so I'll find a way to make it work.

Other than that...I would say the semester is almost over, but that would be a lie since it doesn't end until January. But break is almost here, which will be nice. I have a Greek quiz in the morning and a tomorrow night. So I'll be writing the paper all day tomorrow. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, eh? But after I study Greek tonight I'm going to try to get an outline put together that will make my life a little easier tomorrow. And I have to pack, as I'm leaving for Louisville on Tuesday. So if I don't talk to some of you before then, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Music

I was looking at a friend's notes on Facebook today, and one of them is this thing you do with some music on your playlist. I think what's on someone's mp3 can tell you a lot about a person, in the sense of figuring out how ecletic they are, what they like, etc. So what you do is put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 40 songs that come up. Then you answer some questions. Here's how it turned out for me...these are the first forty that came up out of 2165 that are on my ipod. It goes song title, artist, album

1. Kathy's Song, Simon and Garfunkel Live
2. Move, Jonathan Elias, American River
3. Get it Like you Like It (Acoustic), Ben Harper, Both Sides of the Gun
4. Perhaps Love, John Denver, The Best of John Denver
5. Smile, Weezer, Green
6. Save it For A Rainy Day, The Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music
7. Personent Hodie, Choir of King's College Cambridge, Essential Carols: The Very Best of King's College Cambridge
8. What You Are, Dave Matthews Band, Everyday
9. Angel of Harmlem, U2, The Best of 1980-1990
10. Trouble, Coldplay, Parachutes
11. Mozart Requiem K 626 .3 Sequenz-Dies Irae (can't remember the group)
12. Galileo, Indigo Girls, 1200 Curfews
13. Carriage, Counting Crows, Hard Candy
14. She Thinks I Still Care, James Taylor, Live
15. Eraser, Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral
16. Guitar Man, Bread, Singers and Songwriters 1972-3
17. Millworker, James Taylor, Live
18. How Sweet it Is (To Be Loved by You) Live (there seems to be a string of these..)
19. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 ix Spring Carol; Choir of King's College Cambridge, Britten: Choral Music
20. God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, Manheim Steamroller, Christmas
21. Spies, Coldplay, Parachutes
22. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral
23. Faraway Land, Alison Kraus and Union Station, AKUS Live
24. Glory and Worship, Choir of King's College Cambridge, Handel Coronation Anthems
25. Stuck in A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind
26. Hand in My Pocket, Alanis Morsette, Jagged Little Pill
27. Lie In Our Graves, Dave Matthews Band, Live at Red Rocks
28. Nights in White Satin, The Moody Blues, Singers and Songwriters, 1972-3
29. Pslam 23, The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Howard Goodall Choral Works
30. Track 11 (forgot title and it's not in there), Bonnie Raitt and Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt and Friends
31. Wunderkind, Alanis Morisette, The Chronicles of Narnia
32. Taking Over Me, Evanescence, Fallen
33. Constellations, Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams
34. Too High, Dave Matthews and Friends, Some Devil
35. Lover Lay Down, Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming
36. Enough to be On Your Way, James Taylor, Greatest Hits 2
37. Welcome to the Cruel World, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Live from Mars
38. Where Could I Go, Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama, There Will Be a Light
39. Joking, Indigo Girls, 1200 Curfews
40. The Black Gate Opens, Howard Shore and Sir James Galway, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
41. Copland Concerto for Clarinet (I had to include this because it's thebest clarinet piece EVER)

Ok now on to the questions.

01. Which song do you prefer, #1 or #40? Depends on my mood, but probably 1.
02. Have you ever listened to #12 continuously on repeat? Maybe in high school, but I don't remember ever doing so.
03. What album is #26 from? Jagged Little Pill
04. What do you think about the artist who did #15? Well, NIN is good workout music or for when your pissed off. Although I don't really ascribe to any of Reznor's outlook on life, he's very talented musically (I think), not to mention hot.
05. Is #19 one of your favorite songs? No, but it is on one of my favorite albums
06. Who does #38 (Eclipse - Be Happy (Brisk & Vagabond Remix)) remind you of?
I'm not sure.
07. Does #20 have better lyrics or music? Seeing as this one's not pop music, I dont' think they can really be separated...but I'm not sure what the translation from the Latin is here, so I'll jsut say music to play it safe.
08. Do any of your friends like #3? Heck yeah. A good many, probably.
09. Is #33 from a movie soundtrack? Not that I know of.
10. Is #18 overplayed on the radio? I don't listen to the radio, but I'm sure some stations play it.
11. What does #21 remind you of? Freshman year of college.
12. Which song do you prefer, or #22 ? 5 definitely. Although 22 is good, as is Johnny Cash's remake.
13. What album is #17 from? look at the list.
14. When did you first hear #39? Well, I was probably at Bear Creek, so probably in eight of ninth grade, so almost 10 years ago (sheesh now I feel old)
15. When did you first hear #7? Last year.
16. What genre is #8 ? Rock.
17. Do any of your friends like #14? Maybe my mom. Don't know if my friends even know this album exists.
18. What color does #4 remind you of? Purple or blue I guess.
19. Have you ever blasted #11 on your stereo? Well, I don't have a stereo. But if I did...no. I've never blasted this anywhere. It would be cool to blast on a car stereo though when driving slowly down the street.
20. What genre is #37? Acoustic Rock
21. Can you play #13 on any instrument? Never tried.
22. What is your favorite lyric from #30? No clue.
23. What is your favorite lyric from #23? if you have been running too, stop now in your tracks, turn again to the one in you, put your burden on his back.
24. Would you recommend #24 to your friends? Sure, but I dont think they would listen to it.
25. Is #2 a good song to dance to? Nope. I'd like to see someone try though.
26. Have you ever heard #16 on the radio? On the oldies station.
27. Is #32 more of a "nighttime" or "daytime" song? Either I guess.
28. Does #36 have any special meaning to you? Not really.
29. Do any of your friends like #31 ? Probably not. I don't even like it that much.
30. Is #25 a fast or slow song? Slow.
31. Is #35 a happy or sad song? Happy, but in a melancholy kinda way.
32. What is one of your favorite lyrics from #9? It's U2, therefore it's all good.
33. Is #34 (better to listen to alone or with friends? With friends, preferably with beer involved.
34. When did you first hear #27? Oh man...1998 I think.
35. Name 3 other songs by the artist who did #29? The Marlborogh Canticles, Ecce Homo, and he did a mass that's pretty nice.
36. Do you know all the words to #6? Yep.
37. Does #28 (have better lyrics or music? About the same I think, but if I had to choose I'd say music (I'll almost always choose music over lyrics)
38. What album is #10 from? Parachutes.

Well, that's all folks. Just thought I would waste some of my time and yours with this fun little diversion...

Happy (Belated) Turkey Day!!!

Howdy Howdy
I realize that it has been a while since I updated...there's no particular reason for this most heinous delay, just me being lazy. So I thought I would take this moment to write a little update for those of you semi-loyal fans who actually read my blog. Life has been pretty good this fall. I'm home right now for thanksgiving, which has been good. We're actually celebrating today since my sister couldn't yesterday. The weather is beautiful, the fam is all here, so I can't ask for much more than that! School is going well...still chugging along in Greek. I need to work on my Greek homework sometime this weekend, as well as the ton of reading I have to do. But I'm not really behind in any of my classes, and for this far into the semester that's a real feat. So yay there. Umm...still waiting to hear back from Duke. Only a few more weeks and then I should know something, I think, and hopefully the news will be good. I need to get my CPE applications done sometime soon as well so that I can get that underway for this summer. And then, if the news from Duke is bad or doesn't tell me anything about money I'll be working to get my other applications for next year done. They don't look too bad, really ,and Yale Emory and Chicago are all due on February 1st, so that's convenient, at least. What else? Just started dating someone, so that has been lots of fun. :) Other than that, it's pretty much same ol same ol. AND...is going well. School is going well. Yep.

Hope you all have had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

November

It's November now. And what does that mean? Well, in MA anyway (and in KY too) it means that it's raining. Raining and usually a little chilly and you walk around all day sneezing and going from a chilly outside to an overly warm inside with wet jeans on. Ew. November. It also means that election day has come and gone by this point. ROCK ON JOHN YARMUTH. way to beat Anne Northup. And Rumsfeld resigned, and Santorum is out...so maybe times they are a changin', as Bob Dylan used to say. If they change for the better, we'll have to see. It also means that Harvard/Yale is coming up next weekend. Dan and I got our tickets in this week, and the game is next weekend. Should be exciting...it looks like Harvard is in good shape to take the conference, so go crimsons! It also means that UL football is still going on, and we're rockin' this season hard. Let's hope the cardiac cards don't make an appearance and screw things up for us...And Thanksgiving is almost here, which means I get to be home and see the fam. Seems like I've been gone longer than 2 months...I guess it will almost have been 3 by the time I get home. But in any case, that's a good thing.

On a completely unrelated note, I got a 95.5 on my Greek midterm, for those of you who care. Needless to say, I'm more than excited about that grade. I'll take a 95 in Greek any day.

One down...

I just submitted my Duke application. Why do I never feel relieved after doing so? Always more nervous...maybe because now it's totally out of my hands and there's nothing I can do cept pray. So guys, pray that I get into to and get money. Because that's where I want to go. Big time.

Sigh of a Bit of Relief

I just wanted to share the news with you all that I did not bomb said Greek quiz. I got it back today and got an 86 on it, which is a good solid B. So as of now I think I've got a nice solid B in the class, which is fine by me. It's not what I would like but hey, it's still "above average," and I have the rest of the semester to try and pull it up. Whew. Talk about a relief. I expected to have done much much worse, but thankfully I didn't. I did however spend four hours memorizing verb forms yesterday...I'm hoping that I've gotten back into the swing of language study, as it's been two years since I did any. So that's heartening.

I'm trying to figure out why I always insist on taking a nap even when I know it will make me feel icky when I wake up. Maybe it's because it's cloudy and cold and windy outside, and my room was so warm and cozy. I like to tell myself that it's Monday and I have class until 9 PM, so the nap will help with that, but I think that's just me rationalizing things.

Spent the weekend reading several Anglican Communion related documents. I'd actually never read the Windsor Report before, and I thought it was definitely a document worth reading. I think if more people had actually read the report we might have had some good conversations in the past couple of years. While there are some things that I didn't necessarily agree with (why were ECUSA and the Canadian church only asked to apologize? What about those on the other side who had been just as divisive?) on the whole it was a good insight into what the worldwide Communion is struggling with. But here's the thing I really don't get: If right now we're trying to figure out what "communion" means, and we're having dialouge, etc., then why ask the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada to step down from their ACC positions? It would to me that this would be the last thing we want if we truly want to be in communion. It just seems to be contrary to the stated intentions of the report. But there could be something I'm missing...I think I'll bring the point up in class and see what kind of answer I get.

Speaking of which, I have to run to the lirbary to make some copies for class tonight. Hope those of you in KY are staying warm (I saw on the weather channel website that there's a slight chance of a few flurries tonight...my dad said he was going to start his rain dance). In the mean time...

Peace y'all.

Back Again

Well hello.
Sorry it's been a while...nine days to be exact. I know you've all been checking this page frequently to see when the next update would be. I apologize for not posting more pics from Vermont...however, it takes a bajillion years for them to upload, and then by the time it gets done the damn thing has timed out. Oh well. But if you are on Facebook, I've uploaded an album of the pics there. It's called (gasp) Vermont.

Had somewhat of a crappy morning. I think I totally bombed a Greek quiz, mostly because I'm exhausted from travelling and because I was out of town for two days this week, so I didn't have the time to devote to studying that I would have liked. But I was gone for good reason.

I spent some time travelling to the good ol' south east this week. Why was I there, you may wonder? Well, I was visiting Duke Divinity School. I'm applying to their MDiv program, and it's my first choice. So I wanted to go down and get the lay of the land so to speak. And I LOVED IT. It was truly amazing...the faculty is beyond awesome, there's a real sense of institutional vocation, and the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies seems right up my alley. So pray that I get in and (more importantly) can get some good funding. I'm going into debt at HDS...can't afford to go in to anymore. But I should know, assuming my transcripts get there by Nov. 1st and my recommenders get everything done by then as well, by mid December about whether or not I got in and hopefully whether or not I got a merit scholarship. Needless to say I'll be praying hard about it. But it definitely seems like an environment where I could really grow spiritually and intellectually. It would be a "win win win" situation (for those of you who haven't seen The Office...it's a reference from that.)

Now, I should point out that I'm not the biggest fan of flying, although I'm getting better about it. I mostly dislike sitting there waiting around for take off, after we've been told to put up tray table sand turn off eletronic devices. So I amuse myself by looking through the shopping catalogue (www.skymall.com) to see what kind of great stuff they have. And there's always a million things I'd love to buy for folks, mostly because they're so ridiculous you wouldn't want to pass them up. For example, they had a three layered pool table. Pretty interesting. But by far the most amazing gift (and one which I couldn't find online; I was going to post a picture of it for you) was an IPod dock/radio/clock/toilet paper roll holder. The picture even demonstrated how good the device is for holding said TP and advertised itself as making the "royal throne" even better. Amazing. The fact that a. someone makes such a thing and b. that someone would buy such a thing is pretty remarable. I would like to meet said person and ask them how they feel about their new toilet paper roll. Too cool.

Anywho that's about all for now. I'm going to do some more homework (as it's getting to be that time of the semester). It's been raining all day and thus I've been sleepy all day, but I think I've had my first productive Friday of the semester. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be similarly fruitful. So you guys have a great weekend.

Peace y'all.

more pics

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

Howdy Howdy.
I realize it's been a little while since my last post, but I've been busy (to say the least). I spent this weekend in Vermont checking out the fall foliage. For those who haven't been to Vermont, it looks exactly like you would expect it to look. The people all look like they eat granola all of the time, and it's very...farmy, in a New England sense. I really liked it, although I'm not sure I could live there. It was 30 degrees on Saturday night, and it was just October 7th! Hard frost in early October=not for Hilary. I'll post some pictures from the trip, though, so you all can see what it was like. Great times.

I've been working a lot on my "container" for the AND...group. I'm doing a four week session on "why we do what we do," which is basically how being Episcopalian informs our actions. Last week was about Scripture, and then next two weeks are about...you guessed it. Tradition and Reason. and the fourth week will be about Action. I thought it went pretty well last week. The group seemed to be engaged, and when Paige FIsher (a priest at Trinity) asked a question, the group really responded and started dialoguing with one another, which was in my opinion the best part of the night. It doesn't really matter what I say, as people are most likely to forget it anyway, but if I can facilitate thinking and interaction, then I feel that I've done my job. I've been thinking a lot about what to say this week, but I'm a little less sure about the next two segments than I was about Scripture. I'll have it done by tomorrow evening, though, so ask me again then and maybe I can tell you something. But here's a teaser: it involves a clip from Animal House : ) That one's for you, dad.

I heard back from the national church office today about the investiture. I didn't get tickets, which is too bad. I was really excited about going. They said only 25% of the requests were honored, but I overnighted mine on the fifteenth and it got there in time, so I don't know why I didn't get them. Oh well. There's not really much I can do about it at this point. Watch it online, I guess, but that's also the day of teh UL-WV game, so I may be trying to find a place to watch that. Although in all likelihood I'll be studying somewhere.

Speaking of which, classes are going well. We had a long weekend, which was great. I'm hoping I did better on this Greek quiz than I did on last week's, which I am referring to as my personal comedy of errors. Other than that, just doing a lot of reading. Will be meeting with my group for my EDS class sometime in the next week, I think, to go over stuff for our case study assignment. I'm probably going to the library here soon to work on a paper for Prof. Koester's class, do some Greek, and read some for the EDS class (because at some point I have to read the next three Narnia books for next week). I'm also working a lot on my application for seminary. I go to visit Duke next week, which I'm really excited about. I hope the visit goes well, and that it turns out to be a good fit. That application is due November 1st, so I've been working to try and get that all ready. Got to get the transcripts sent out soon.

Anywho, that's all for now. I'm going to post the VT pics later, so you can see what it looked like. Gorgeous.

Peace y'all.

Well hello my adoring readers. I realized it has been a few days since I have written, and I could tell that you all were all trying to keep a stiff upper lip about the whole thing, so I'm writing this afternoon. It seems as though fall has officially fallen upon New England, which is good and bad. Good because it's beautiful and not humid as hell all of the time. Bad because it means that allergies will start rearing their ugly head once more. Oh well, you take the good and the bad.

Not much really going on up here. Went to a Sox game on Wednesday and saw the worst pro baseball I've ever seen. We lost to Tampa Bay 11-0. Come on folks. TAMPA BAY. They're not even a real team!! But no matter; it was fun and the energy at Fenway is great. Going again tonight, actually. And then on the way back from the game Wed. I happened to see Mike at Great Scott, so I went in to hang out with him. The highlight of my week, actually.

This weekend is the ministry fair at Trinity, so I'll be sitting at a table with my JC t shirt on and getting folks hyp[ed about AND... too bad I can't make the night time service, because they're having beer afterwards. Sheesh. Umm...what else? Starting on applications, which will be all kinds of fun. I'm applying to Duke, Yale, and Emory. Luckily the basic info is all the same. The only downside is that Emory's is not an online application, so I have to either find a computer with Adobe Acrobat on it or handwrite the application (which I would prefer not to do).

I just found out last night how to hold a video conference on a macbook. So I'm going to call my mom and pass on the info. Now we can talk face to face and (even better) i can see Blaine! Won't be as good as seeing him in person (because nothing would be equal to that) but I'll take what I can get.

Anywho, I'm going to make an attempt at reading this book on the history of Missions in ECUSA. Have a good weekend.

Peace Y'all

Musings

Ember Day was Wesdnesday, which meant that I had to write a letter to my Bishop. It was weird, though, because a. he told me he had to get it in hard copy form (which to him means I have to mail it...what???? i don't DO mail. I could just email it as an attachment and he could print it out, which would save me .39 and the trip to the post office. ) and b. that I had to figure out what the hell to say in this letter. Seriously, school just started Monday, so there wasn't much to say. So we'll see if I get a letter back telling me that I have to write another one because this last one sucked. Ha.

Classes look like they're going to be awesome. I'm taking classical Greek, Children's Lit. and Religious Education (which is going to be super super AWESOME), Jesus of Nazareth and the Gospels, and the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion. All very reading/study intensive courses, but they're going to be great.

Anywho, I have tons of homework to do and am not quite sure how I will get it done by Monday. So I'm going to start on it.

Peace y'all.

Stupid Bike Rules

This morning I rode my bike to the T. Now, I should begin this by saying that there are signs as you enter Harvard Yard saying "Please Walk Your Bike." A Stupid Rule, if you ask me. If it's exceptionally crowded, I will walk my bike. However, at 8:30 this morning there were 2--count them, one, two--people in the yard. Two. That's it. So I decided to ride on through. And then the security guard right as I am leaving the Yard says to me "you're supposed to walk your bike through the yard ma'am." Not in a nice way, mind you, but in a "you're obviously too dumb to read the sign" way. Now, who was I endangering by riding my bike? Seriously. Who? The TWO PEOPLE in the yard? I highly doubt it, especially considering that I never came within 100 feet of either of them. I know the guy was just doing his job, but couldn't he be walking around busting undergrads for partying too loud or something? Seriously folks. Part of the reason for this over-reaction is the fact that I am so painfully nonconfrontational that I take it really personally when someone tries to yell at me for riding my bike in the yard. Most of the time people don't say anything...they only point it out if they're a. old men (this is the first and foremost prerequisite for being a meddlesome jerk who likes to yell at people who aren't causing them any problems as they ride their bikes in the yard) b. incredibly bored or curmudgeonly c. it's early in the morning or late at night. Once these three conditions are met, you're likely to get called out for riding your bike through the yard.

Stupid Harvard signs.

Sheesh.

Mission and Respect

If you talk to a lot of liberal Christians about mission, you'll notice that they either a. try to change the subject, b. stumble over some words about building hospitals, or c. get really uncomfortable and turn an interesting shade of purplish-red. I must confess that I have gone through such a similar stage myself. The basic problem that many progressives I think have with mission is how do we a. profess the Gospel in very concrete ways that do actually mention Jesus while at the same time b. respecting other's religious traditions and not condemning them to some kind of eternal judgement. I've wrestled with this much, trying to figure out how to strike a balance between the two. Most Episcopalians I know will say, when asked about evangelism and mission, "well, I just try to live a good life and if someone asks me about it, then I'll tell them." Now, there's not necessarily anything wrong with this method. We should all be trying to live our lives as best as we can, and if we're making a decent showing of it people are bound to notice and ask questions. This method, however, doesn't do tons to spread the Gospel. At least it hasn't ever in my experience. But where's Jesus in this whole conversation?

Well, I read something the other day that made sense of the whole situation for me. It's from the book Anglicanism: A Global Communion edited by Andrew Wingate, Kevin Ward, Carrie Pemberton, and Wilson Sitshebo; Church Publishing Incorporated, New York NY, 1998. This particular quote is from Wingate's essay "Salvation and other faiths--and Anglican perspective." He writes:

"We deny the fullness of [God's] love if we deny the truth and goodness which Christ, as Logos, and God by the Spirit, can also inspire in those of other faiths and none. But we believe that God has chosen to provide the fullest revelation of his love for humanity in the cross and resurrection. Hence we naturally pray that God will bring all people, including those of other faiths, to explicit faith in Christ and membership of his church. This is not because we believe they cannot be saved without this--but because this is the truest and fullest expression of his love, and we long for them to share it--as St. John puts in, 'I come that you may have life, and have it abundantly'" (12). (emphasis my own)

Now this is what I think most of us are missing when we think about mission. That quote just made sense out of the whole issue for me...why we pray for people to come to love Jesus Christ, why we pray for the mission of the church, why we spread the Gospel. Not because people can't be saved in other religious traditions. No, not at all. To say so would I think a. deny God's power and b. deny God's grace. But we share the Gospel so that others can be a part of God's "truest and fullest expression of [God's] love."

Righteous.

Attempting to Be More Insightful

So I was reading through my previous few blogs, and I've realized that compared to the majority of blogs I read, mine is incredibly un-insightful. Unless of course you find that insightful in and of itself. So I'm thinking maybe I'll try to be more insightful (yeah...right...). Or maybe this will be along the lines of Peter Griffin's "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?" Ha. We'll see.

I had a really great meeting with Mike yesterday. We started off by talking about the state of the Episcopal Church in today's world, which is pretty much how we start every conversation. We had an interesting talk about the Prayer Book and Rite One. He likes Rite One, and I'm not a big fan. I think my issues with it come from being a cradle Episcopalian, because he says most young converts he knows really like it. I just remember growing up and being interminably bored during Rite One. And I've really tried to get over that; I swear I have. But there's something inside of me that just clenches when I have to say "vouchsafe" in a service. I agree with Mike, though, that the movement of the Rite One service is beautiful. It's musical in a way, much more so than Rite Two I would think. And as he said, the prayer of humble access is something that we should perhaps incorporate more into our daily lives. And I totally agree on all of that. I think my hang up with Rite One has to do with the language. We're supposed to have services in the language of our times, and paternalistic toudated language is not my language, nor has it ever been. So why can't we rework Rite One, keeping the qualities of the service while changing the language? I think a lot more young people (especially cradles like myself, who admittedly are not very great in number) would respond to the service better if the language were more familiar. Just a thought.

I went to church with my roomate last night. We went to Hope Church in JP. I had told her beforehand that UCC/DOC is no where near liturgical enough for me, but I agreed to go with her anyway. And my opinion still stands (there was no reading from the Gospel at all during the service, and they had communion as well...maybe I'm just uber Episcopalian but you gotta have the Gospels...), but the community and the energy at the church was really really great. I was very thankful to have had that experience with her. Really great group of people, and the preaching was pretty good too. I'm glad Sarah has found a church community that she can feel a part of...I wish everyone could.

OK well, I have to run and meet Sarah and some others for lunch. I'll write more in the next couple of days about mission (I came to a realization yesterday that made sense out of many conundrums I'd been stuck in with regards to mission). But in the meantime, y'all keeo your noses clean.

I'm Just Hangin' Around

Hello all. Not really much to report, in the long run. I've just been taking some time for some much needed rest (although I'm more than ready for school to start now). It's beautiful up here, and cool. Feels like fall!!! Which I guess would make sense because it is fall. AND...last week was GREAT. We had 19 people show up, which was amazing! And then I met another Div student this week who is hopefully going to come on Thursday this week, so that's great. It was a really great group of people, and I think there's definitely some positive energy there. What else? I'm in the process of introducing my roomate Sarah to the joys of Indiana Jones. Last night we watched Raiders and tonight we're on to Temple of Doom. And then on to the best of them all...Last Crusade. Sweet.

Back in Beantown

Hello hello hello. As the title of this posting shows, I am indeed back in Boston now. I got in yesterday after a veeeeeerry long drive from West Virginia. I think Pennsylvania wins the award for most boring state through which to drive. Ugh. Anyway, I moved in yesterday and got all unpacked and everything, so my room is actually livable! For those of you who saw my room last year, you will be pleased to note that I do in fact have floor space this year, as my room is bigger. There are three windows, so I have really really great light in here, which is awesome. That's the whole reason I wanted the room, really.

Now that I'm back, I can start to digest the summer a little bit, I think. Overall, I want to give a big shout out to Charles Hawkins and the St. Mark's crew. I had such a great experience there this summer...that church welcomed me into their family without even knowing me too well, and they even put up with me preaching a coupl eof times and filling the church with the music of U2. I wasn't really sure what to expect when the internship started. I've been so involved in the Episcopal Church form the git go...but I did learn something about ministry. And that something is this: ministry is about empowerment. It's about empowering people to do the work God has given them to do. And the best thing about this definition of ministry is that it can be done ANYWHERE, which means that the church is EVERYWHERE. So that's pretty sweet.

I miss the fam tons already, most especially getting to see Blaine and look at his beautiful smile. I can still feel the little guy falling asleep in my arms...he'll probably be too big to do that in December. Oh well, kids grow up. And in a few years, he and I are going camping. And it's going to rock.

I met with Mike Dangelo today to talk about AND... I'm focusing on recruitment, which is going to be interesting. Neither of us really have any preconceived notions about our strategy (read: we have no idea what the hell we're going to do) but we'll do it anyway : ) At least now we have matching t-shirts. He asked me if I wanted to present the next container (programing sequence) and I said sure. I figure I'll ask the group what they want to hear about, but I think it would be cool to do a container on the other four of the world's major religions. Just so people know something about them...not to mention that's something I know about and can speak comfortably about. But then again it would be fun to learn something new as well. Or maybe do a container on Jesus? No clue. We'll see what the group wants.

What else? Ran a bunch of errands today. Joined the Cambridge YMCA, did laundry, found my keys (they were in Sarah's room...go figure), met with Mike. Oh and I got a really random phone call from an old priest who'd been at my church from when I was about 2 til I was 10. Said he had some books he wanted to give me. This was weird A. because he called my cell phone. No clue how he got the number. And B. because I haven't talked to him in 10 years. I don't think I'm going to call him back...it's too weird. Not to mention that I barely have room for the books I have.

That's all I can think of for now. The humidity is making my hair get huge and mushroom-like. Fun times.

Have a good night.

Peace ya'll.

Subconscious (Un)reality

So my hopes of getting a good night's sleep last night were quickly dashed to the ground. Had a crazy dream that left me pretty restless, to say the least. In said dream the U2charist started and only about 40 people showed up. And then the powerpoint wasn't working and the whole thing was a mess. I told Charles about it, but he said if 40 people show up it will be a success. Be that as it may, I hope there will be more than 40 people there. Then Peachie (our beagle) started barking at 6 am. This was weird for a couple of reasons. 1. As she's gotten older, she tends to sleep longer and doesn't whine so much during the night. and 2. She's never been really big on barking, but yesterday she was barking all of the time. I'm a firm believer in that whole "animals have a sixth sense" thing, so maybe we're going to have an earthquake or something. Who knows. I thought about just getting up at 6, as I had trouble falling back asleep, but eventually sleep came and it was all good. Until my phone rang at 7:20 am. Julie Roth wanted me to watch Alan Todd, which I would have loved to do, if it weren't for the fact that I'm going crazy today getting stuff ready for the service tomorrow. So I felt really really bad that I had to say no. Then I couldn't fall asleep for real, and just laid in bed for a while.

I had another crazy dream the night before. In this one I had to meet with the Commission on Ministry again, and they said I could be a postulant as long as I was willing to go back to being a 10 year old and live for a year as such. But the thing was, I would have the intellect and life experience of a 23 year old. It was the most horrible dream ever. I kept trying to convince people that I knew this stuff already and wasn't really ten, but they didn't believe me. Probably plays in to my fears that alot of priests in the diocese have known me since I was about 10 or 11, and that they'll always see me that way (something which I don't believe is true at all, and have never had reason to believe).

Geez.

Another Blaine shot

I decided to also upload another picture of Blaine. This was actually taken about a month ago, so he's even bigger now. And just as cute (but with more hair.) And apparently he's laughing now (but I've yet to experience his laugh. Can't wait, though). Enjoy!

U2charist on my Mind

Howdy folks. I've been at church all day getting stuff set up for the U2charist. I have to admit, it looks pretty damn good. All that's really left to do is get the screen/sheets set up for the powerpoint and the slideshow, and everything will be good to go. The sound system in the church is amazing...wish I had one like that in my car/house/anywhere really. The whole place is definitely going to be rockin' out come Saturday night! I'm trying to figure out a couple of lighting issues (i.e. making sure people who are sitting where you can't see the ppt can actually read their bulletins). But so far I've got no idea how to make it work. The rope lighting doesn't do much other than blind you in one third of your eye, while the other two thirds tries in vain to see in the dark. I did get all of the window coverings painted and put up. Damn things were a pain in the ass, to say the least, but I think they're a nice addition. They have that kind of "I just threw together this sign for a rock concert" look to them, and as the service is kind of simulating a concert, I think it's all good. I'm exhausted though. Hopefully I'll get some good sleep tonight...haven't been sleeping the best lately. And then tomorrow night we have a tech rehearsal (tip of the hat to you, mom), and then Saturday is the big day!!! So come on out if you can. And if you can't, I'll let you know what you missed : )

Peace ya'll

P.S. Props to the guys at Doo Wop Shop on Hurstbourne Lane. Here's more to the saga of yesterday: sometime yesterday afternoon I called Doo Wop Shop to see if they had another T Bar, as they only had one that morning. The guy said yeah, they had it, so I left church and raced over to Bardstown Road to get it. Well, I get in there and it turns out they don't have a T-Bar. Which was kind of annoying but I was cool with it. But the guys in the store were really upset about the mix up, so they called Hurstbourne to see if they had one. Well, they did, so I battled rush hour traffic on Taylorsville Rd. to get out there and get the bar. I get there and the guys were like "yeah, we were the ones who told you we had the t bar. You actually called this store." Doh. So I apologized for being a spaz. Well, they weren't sure if I had to fill out a contract again or not, so the guy called the Bardstown Rd. store and said that they should just add it to my contract there because they were stupid and told me they had a bar when they didn't and made me drive all the way out to Hurstbourne. Ha. Take that, you somewhat stuck up about your monopoly on lights in the Highlands Doo Wop Shop workers on Bardstown Rd. And thank you oh so much, Bob at Hurstbourne Lane. You made my day.

The Results Are In...

That's right folks. The results are in, and I'm now officially a postulant!!! For those of you who don't know , that means I'm on track for ordination in the Episcopal Church. Which means awesomeness, mostly because I get to do ministry that's so important in our world, with awesome people, at an awesome time! So I'm uber excited, needless to say. Anywho...I'm going to get back to work. On a slightly random note: WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS ISN'T OPEN AT 9 AM?????? Not restaurants, mind you. I'll accept that. But this morning I decided to be on top of things and stop by the Doo Wop shop on my way to work, which meant that I had to negotiate the hellacious Bardstown Road traffic (I have Bardstown Road unless I'm walking down it, and even then I don't like it much). I should have known something was amiss when there weren't a bajillion cars parked along the side of the road, thereby cutting off the flow of traffic. But I remaind hopeful nonetheless, especially since the neon lights in the store's windows were on (which to me means that you are open). So then I pull up to the garage and the door's closed, but I remain hopeful thinking "well, I'm just the first one here, so they haven't opened the doors yet." But no. They don't open until 10. LAME. Now I have to go back there today and get the lights, and when I go I'll have to be turning left onto Bardstown as well as left into Doo Wop Shop. And left turns+Bardstown Rd.= bad news bears. Oh well. It'll be aight.

NOW I'll get back to work. Got U2charist stuff to work on. Thus far I've heard of people coming from Lexington, Campbellsville, Glasgow, and Bowling Green. So that rocks!!!! Again, if you're in the area on Saturday night, come to the U2charist!!!!

Hilary is, in fact, Alive.

Why hello there everyone. I guess it's been about two months since last I wrote. So sorry about that. Summer has gotten in the way of things, but hopefully once school starts back up I will be able to write some more.

I'm writing right now from my very own storage closet/office at St. Mark's. It's my last week here, which is very sad. I've grown accustomed to the flourescent lighting and the lack of air circulation. But those things aside, it's been nice. I feel like I have my own little niche here at St. Mark's. So I guess I will get everyone up to speed on what's been going on...

Internship: It's almost over, which is incredibly hard to believe! I actually have a meeting tonight in front of the commission on ministry, and they'll decide today (hopefully) if they want to make me a postulant (again, hopefully they will). I have high hopes that things will go well, and I'm pretty sure I'll get the green light, but you never know what can happen. So I'm nervous, and have spent a good portion of the day wondering what the hell I will do with my life if the commission says no. I do feel strongly, however, that God has called me to ministry, and I believe the commission sees that call as well. But pray for me and the COM tonight nonetheless, that God may be present in our mutual discernment.

In other internship news, things are going along swimmingly for the U2charist. I'm wicked excited about it, and it sounds like we may have a crowd! I know there are people coming from Campbellsville, Bowling Green, and Lexington, so that's huge! If you're in the Louisville area, it's this Saturday the 26th at 5:30 pm. It's a really powerful service and a huge testimony to how we as Christians can live out our faith. The rehearsal is this Friday night, and I keep thinking that perhaps there is more I should be doing, but things are pretty much in place so now it's kind of a waiting game! Sunday is also my last Sunday at St. Mark's, which is going to be sad. I've grown to love this community alot, and it's going to be hard leaving them. Kind of like it was hard leaving Christ Church. But there's exciting stuff to come...

School: Speaking of exciting, I'll be leaving one internship to be going to another. I'll be helping out at Trinity this next year in Boston with our young adult group. I'll be going around to campuses and telling young people about what we're doing. It should be a lot of fun, but also really hard. More to come on this once I know more. School starts the 18th, so I'm going to b e sitting around in Boston for a while trying to find something to do. Although I'll have AND stuff. And I'm going to be taking Greek this year so I could go ahead and buy the book so I can start memorizing the alphabet, etc. School should be exciting though.

Other Stuff: Mainly my nephew. He's amazing, and adorable, and beautiful. He's gotten so b ig, and his real hair is growing in! Erin has to brush it after she gives him a bath, which is cute. I'm going to miss him something fierce, and he'll be so huge when I get home for Christmas break. I try not to think about that, but it will still be hard.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to post for now. I'm going to go home and maybe work on the pool a bit before I get ready for the commission meeting tonight. I'll try to remember to post the results tomorrow.

Peace y'all.