Best of Both (NJ/PA) Worlds

Perspective

2012-01-27T20:41:00.003-05:00

I spent Monday-Thursday of this week at a retreat center in PA for a continuing education event that's required for our first three years for all first-call pastors and rostered leaders in the ELCA. Though it's not a totally accurate name, many of us involved affectionately refer to the event as "baby pastor school". It includes worship, large group lectures and small group discussions, and time for informal conversation with other pastors/leaders. As these events are organized by region, and a majority of my seminary graduating class are in the same region I am, it also becomes a sort of seminary reunion. While I really appreciate opportunities for learning, the two things I appreciated most about baby pastor school were the times of worship and reconnecting with seminary friends. Of course, it's always fun to spend time with friends, but discussing our challenges and experiences in ministry was a good way to adjust my perspective. Sometimes I need to be reminded that I am not alone in ministry... that others have challenges as well, and that there are people I can go to for support. And I'm not alone especially because God is with me, and has called me and given me gifts for ministry. Yes, even pastors need to be reminded of God's presence!

Check!

2012-01-20T22:03:00.004-05:00

I can check off my first item on my 12 in 2012 list! I have successfully completed item #10: I purchased a new laptop computer! I did a bit of online research and made a couple visits to Best Buy and today I was able to leave the store with an HP laptop all set up and ready to go. It's nice and light and on the smaller side (size-wise) without sacrificing storage and capabilities. I'll learn more about it as I use it, but I've enjoyed playing around with it this evening and it seems to have what I need without being too fancy or too cheap. YAY!! It even has a built-in webcam. I thought about taking a picture with it, but what I really want to show you a picture of is the computer, and I can't take a picture of the computer with the camera on the computer. And I don't feel like messing with my digital camera and cords and downloading. So you'll just have to deal, unless I decide to upload a picture later. I'm glad to FINALLY have a new computer, and I hope it works out and lasts long enough to make it worth it! I have made some progress on a few other items, but the only one to really note at this point is that I finished my first book of the year: The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. It was a recommendation based on another book I liked, and I ended up really liking it as well. I've been surprised to discover that I like historical fiction more than I thought I did.

2011 Year in Review

2012-01-18T19:58:00.003-05:00

I like the idea of an annual look back and documentation of the previous year. I did this on my blog last year for the first time, and thought I should continue it this year. Looking back over 2011, the highlights can be summed up with friends, travel, more "pastor firsts" and running.
Winter (Jan/Feb/Mar):
Baby Pastor School, made new friends, had visits from friends, hosted a Super Bowl party, spoke at a convocation at LTSP, and attended a quilting retreat at Lutherlyn
Spring (April/May/June): 1st place in my age group in a local 5k, visited family & friends and attended friends' wedding in MD, celebrated Dana's ordination, parents visited, first Holy Week as a pastor, SJAWE concert, attended LTSP graduation, first Confirmation as a pastor, took youth to Six Flags, bought a brand NEW CAR and FIRST TIME ON THE WEST COAST- vacation to Seattle and Holden with Mandy!
Summer (July/August/Sept): attended friends' wedding in PA, visits from parents and family, VBS, Confirmation Camp, presided over my first wedding, first Blessing of the Fleet as a pastor and "drove" the Coast Guard boat, ran the River to Sea Relay, went to a Phillies game, Hurricane evacuation, 1st ordination anniversary, ran the Akron Marathon, and celebrated my 30th BIRTHDAY with two parties!
Fall (Oct/Nov/Dec): visited family in MD, Ethics of Eating Hunger Leader training retreat, presided over my second wedding, visited friends in Philly, distributed food to the hungry in Camden, attended LBI Christmas parade, SJAWE concert, went home for the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas)!
All in all, not a bad year. :)

12 for '12

2012-01-02T19:42:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year!
Thanks to a little inspiration from some friends (especially http://thirtybefore.wordpress.com/), and my desire to make goals (not resolutions) for the year, I have created the following list (in no particular order)...

12 (mostly) new things for 2012:
1. Take swimming lessons.
2. Try a tri(athlon)
3. Go someplace in NJ I've never been.
4. Go somewhere outside of NJ I've never been.
5. Read (at least) 12 new books.
6. Try (at least) 12 new recipes.
7. Finish my "mystery quilt".
8. Finish painting and updating my bathrooms.
9. Play the piano regularly enough to re-learn Fur Elise.
10. Buy a new laptop computer.
11. Go on a date.
12. Find a spiritual practice that works for me.

Explanations:
1. I am an embarassingly poor swimmer. In order to do #2, I need to do #1 first.
2. Now that I've run a few half and full marathons, I think a triathlon would be a new fun challenge. I'm not starting with anything crazy, probably just a sprint distance.
3. Even though I've lived here a total of 2 1/2 years, and it's not a huge state, there's still a lot of New Jersey I haven't seen, and there are definitely places in my "1,000 places to see in the USA before you die" book that I haven't seen.
4. This could be just about anywhere, but might be my vacation destination. More to come later.
5. I've made it through a decent number of books lately and I'd like to keep it up. I picked 12 for the number theme I have going, and because it's means 1 book a month, which seems reasonable. AND I need to use my new Kindle!
6. See the explanation for #5.
7. I started my third quilt last spring at the Mystery Quilt Retreat at Lutherlyn. I didn't get much farther than where I was at the end of the retreat. Probably because I don't do much quilting or sewing when the weather is nice. But now it's winter again, so I'm busting out the sewing machine!
8. There have already been several improvements made to my bathrooms, including painting them this past summer. I need to do some touch-ups in both, and paint the medicine cabinet and sink cabinet in my master bathroom. This also seems like a good winter project.
9. I never wanted to be one of those people with a piano that just sits in their house as a piece of unused furniture, and I'm in danger of becoming just that. Just "play the piano regularly" didn't seem specific enough, so Mandy suggested I have the goal of playing a certain piece. When I took piano lessons in high school one of the first real pieces I learned, and soon memorized, was Beethoven's Fur Elise. I have slacked off in my piano playing so much that not only do I no longer have it memorized but I don't think I can even play it anymore (at least not well).
10. I've needed a new computer since seminary, but haven't really had the finances for it. I was able to borrow a refurbished laptop, but it isn't going to last much longer.
11. I have a pathetically non-existent love life. It's not like I'm swimming in eligible men, but I could probably make more of an effort. This is the goal I feel the most skeptical about. Any help?
12. Prayer is a regular part of my every day life. And I've practiced devotional reading off and on over the years, but I've never been very consistent with it. I think prayer is important, but I think I need to do something more on a regular basis to work on my spiritual health.

Cupcake Surprise

2011-12-18T21:50:00.003-05:00

That, my friends, is a chocolate-filled sweet potato cupcake, and it's delicious! I would've never thought to put sweet potato in cupcakes, but it is surprisingly delightful. I got the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, and made a succesful batch this weekend. The chocolate inside is a nice addition, but I think they'd still be good without. And I think they're actually better with vanilla icing instead of chocolate. (As a choc-o-holic I can't believe I just said that, but it's true.) I've been wanting to try these out for a while, but I was laid up with a sinus infection for a while and I also didn't really have an occasion to make them for, until this weekend. My friend Mindy invited me for dinner with her and her family, and it seemed like a good excuse to make some cupcakes. Spending some time with them was a nice addition to a great weekend, when I had time to catch up on errands and things around the house that had piled up while I was sick, and also spend some time relaxing with some movies and a book or two. It was just what I needed after a super busy week last week that I struggled through while I still wasn't feeling 100%. And now I feel ready for this last week before Christmas!

So Long, November

2011-11-30T21:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't felt much like blogging lately (as noted by my lack of posts this month), but I didn't feel like I could let the whole month go by without a post. I'm not going into any details, but things at "work" have been pretty stressful and I've been putting in a lot more hours than usual, which is another reason I haven't been posting. I'm hoping that will change soon. In the meantime, I did have a really good Thanksgiving with my family in PA and Ohio. And I finally gave in and bought myself a Kindle (especially when I remembered I still had some money on a Target gift card). I'm pretty excited to play with it.

Holloween

2011-10-31T22:11:00.003-04:00

If you've seen the tv show Gilmore Girls (no longer on tv) you know that the fictional town it's based in is called Stars Hollow. It's a VERY small town, where everyone knows everyone, there are events and traditions that happen every year, and they have regular town meetings to make decisions about these activities. There have been quite a few times since moving to the small town where I live when I have felt like I live in Stars Hollow. One of those times was the other night when I went to a bonfire co-sponsored by the town and the county parks department. It reminded me of the annual Firelight festival on the show. Probably one of the main differences though is that we have a very limited number of businesses that are open all year, since we have such a large summer population. I don't recall much mention of Halloween on the show, but I imagine it would be a fun community event in Stars Hollow. Here, we sign up to be a house for trick-or-treaters. I debated it for a while because in my adult life I don't get too excited about Halloween and trick-or-treating. I'm not necessarily against it, and I know it's fun to dress up, I just think maybe we could be doing something different than spending money to get kids all jacked up and fat on candy. So anyway, despite my feelings to the contrary, I decided it would be a good way to participate in the community, so I signed-up and bought some mini bags of pretzels to give out. They came in a pack of 35. And I had less than 10 kids come to my house. Three of them were kids from the church, and one of them was surprised that I live here (at the church) so it may have been worth it just for that and the opportunities for other community families to see the fun, youngish, female pastor. Worth it? I guess we'll see.

Dinner Guests

2011-10-19T10:47:00.003-04:00

Last night I had one of my local clergy colleagues and his wife over for dinner. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, and I'm kind of embarassed it didn't happen sooner, but I'm glad it finally did. It was great to get to know each other better and share stories. And it really helped to know that I am not alone in the challenges I face, because I've been facing some big ones lately. I enjoyed cooking for some people (instead of just myself) for a change. I didn't make anything too fancy or complicated, but it turned out well. I did salad and turkey chili, which I've made before. But I also tried some new things. I made homemade biscuits, and a pear cranberry crisp. The biscuits tasted great but I cut them a little small I think. The pear crisp was reallllly good, definitely one to make again. It's amazing the difference sharing a simple meal can make.

Cranberry Craziness

2011-10-15T21:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was getting my hair trimmed and my stylist told me about a Cranberry Festival that was going on this weekend in a town not tooo far away. She warned me to get there early if I decided to go. I didn't have much else going on this weekend and got my sermon done early so I decided to head out there this morning. I didn't get up and going too early this morning so it was at least an hour after the festival opened, and wow were there a lot of people there already! Despite fighting the crazy crowds (seriously I could not believe how many people were in this teeny town!) I had a good time browsing through tents of crafts and handmade items, and got a few things for myself and a few Christmas gifts. I enjoyed some funnel cake, cranberry ice cream (never had it before) and pumpkin fudge (all very healthy choices - haha). I also tasted some wine from a local south Jersey winery and bought a few bottles to bring home. I stopped at a few stores on the way home to get a few more crafty things (got some ideas at the festival), some baby gifts, and a storage bench that I've been wanting to get for the foot of my bed for a long time. I think it was a successful outing!

Baby Steps

2011-10-08T21:55:00.004-04:00

So even though I have some ambitious cooking goals for this month, I decided to start off easy and just try some basic things that I've just never made on my own before. The wheat bread I posted about earlier this week that I tried in my breadmaker and then finished in the oven turned out ok, but a little on the dense/doughy side. I'm guessing because even though it had risen pretty well in the machine it got condensed again a little when I transferred it to the oven. So it's edible, but not great. I've been eating some of it, but I think some will probably end up feeding the birds. ;) The next thing I tried was meatloaf. I'm not sure that I've NEVER made meatloaf before, but if I have it's been a loooong time. Because I don't eat beef, I made it with ground turkey, and instead of making one big loaf, I made two smaller loaves so I could freeze one. I think it turned out pretty tasty. Another recipe I tried was for baked apples and butternut squash. I LOVE butternut squash (and just discovered it maybe two years ago), but I decided to adapt this recipe a little and make it with sweet potatoes instead. It reminded me of the side dish my aunt always contributed to Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious, and gave me plenty of leftovers. It also gave me some more confidence that I can adapt recipes when needed. I'm definitely not someone who can just make up a recipe or throw stuff together and have it turn out great, but at least I know I don't always have to stick with the recipe exactly as written. I will probably try this last recipe again in the future with the squash instead of the potatoes, but for now I have other plans for my butternut squash!

Try, Try Again

2011-10-03T22:05:00.003-04:00

Today I tried using my breadmaker for the first time to actually bake a loaf of wheat bread. I've used it before, but just to make dough. Unfortunately, something happened and the machine either burned out or blew a fuse or something (still trying to figure that out) and I couldn't finish the baking cycle. It appeared that it had mixed everything together and the dough had risen, and it just needed to be baked. So I tried taking it out of the machine and putting it in the oven to bake. I'm not sure yet whether it worked, I think I have to wait for it to cool to test it. I also started a new knitting pattern today. I have some friends who I need to make some baby gifts for, and I decided to try some new items/patterns instead of making the same stuff I always do. In the (unlikely) chance that they read this, I'll have to wait until they get the gifts to post about them more specifically. These two things I've tried today are very small in the grand scheme of life, but it got me thinking about willingness to try. I think that maybe a big reason so many people are afraid to change or try new things is because of the possibility of failure. Nobody likes to fail, myself included, but if we live our lives out of fear we miss out on endless potential experiences. I think most of us could probably work more at trying new things, large and small.

Thinking About Food

2011-10-02T22:05:00.003-04:00

So I just spent an awesome few days talking and learning about ethics and theology related to food production and distribution and hunger, visiting farms, and hanging out at a lovely camp in the woods with some old and new friends. I already had an idea for what to try through my blog this month and after my retreat I'm even more excited about it. I'm going to spend the month doing a lot more cooking and trying out new recipes, especially for produce in season. I know it's not realistic to try a new recipe every day or even every other day, but I'm going to try as many as I can this month. I already have several books and recipes sitting on my shelf and my mom just happened to recently get me a subscription to "Healthy Cooking" magazine, so I shouldn't have a hard time finding ones to try.

Getting Away

2011-09-29T12:22:00.003-04:00

I'm still frustrated, and also now really tired, of the behavior of some people. I know I need to try to resolve some issues, and it's causing me some stress and I'm not looking forward to it. But in the meantime, I'm going away this weekend for a continuing education retreat. I'm really looking forward to it because some of my seminary friends will be there and we're going to spend time visiting different farms and other sites and discussing/learning about food production and how it relates to hunger/poverty. It's something that I already have an interest in and this will help me learn even more. And it will be a nice distraction for a few days. I wanted to post before I went since I won't be able to for a few days, and therefore this will be my last post for September. I clearly didn't post every day in September, but I did better than 50%, or about every other day, so I think that's pretty good considering I was lucky to post once a week before this month. I still plan to write more about my marathon experience, and I'll be sure to write about what I experience this weekend. For now, I'm off to the great outdoors!

Everything I Need To Know...

2011-09-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

Sometimes people just make me crazy. I have a career/calling which requires that I interact with people a lot. Most of the time I don't mind. I do need my alone time every now and then, but generally I like being around people, learning their stories, building relationships, etc. Often I can just shake my head or let things go when I don't agree with people. But there are times when I just don't understand people. I believe in treating people well, in being polite, in using manners. Clearly I'm not perfect and I don't always treat people the way I should, but I try. And I know it's the right thing to do. I do not understand people who don't seem to care about another person's feelings. First, all human beings are connected. Second, if a person believes that we're all created and loved by God, then that gives us a responsibility to care about other people. So I REALLY don't understand "church people" who are rude or just downright mean to other people. Why can't we all just be respectful adults? There's that book or saying or something, "Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten." I think some adults, if they're going to act like children, should just go back to Kindergarten and re-learn their manners! I apologize for my rant, but I need to vent my frustrations.

#2 Is In The Books

2011-09-26T22:02:00.003-04:00

I've been a little MIA from the blog lately (not too good for the posting every day - oops!), but it's because I was away at my parents' and aunt's houses, and focused on preparing for, and then recovering from, the Akron Marathon. I'll write more about it in another post later, but for now I just wanted to post that it went really well. My official time was 4:06:14, which was 14 minutes faster than I ran Philly last November, and 4 minutes faster than my goal time! YAY!

mmm Panera

2011-09-19T22:46:00.003-04:00

I should've written this post a lot earlier in the day, because I had a longish meeting this evening and now it's late and I'm tired and don't feel like writing much. But I wanted to at least post something because I didn't yesterday. And I didn't yesterday because it was a long day. A pretty good day, but a long one. I started with the two Sunday morning worship services, then led a memorial service, then drove to Trenton for the Synod Ordination Service. (Four worship services total!) Ordination services are great to be part of because they remind me again why I do what I do, and its always exciting to be there to support other new pastors. I also got to have dinner with my friend Ray, and had a nice time catching up with him, and enjoying Panera, one of my favorite places. I really wish there was a Panera close by where I live. Anyone who has ever been to Panera with me only gets one guess what I had to eat!

Chocolate

2011-09-17T21:59:00.003-04:00

Today did not start out as I planned. I had planned to get up early as I've done just about every Saturday for the last few weeks and months and go for my "long" run. But as I was waking up I heard the wind blowing around a lot and decided to wait to go later in the day. So instead I started my day by watching some tv in bed, and then having some coffee and breakfast and doing some reading. Then, as I planned to do after my run, I worked on my sermons for tomorrow (the regular morning worship and a memorial service). I got my run in right before lunch, since I only did 8 miles today (not really very long compared to my other long runs, but I'm tapering back now for the marathon). Finished up my sermons and some stuff around the house in the afternoon, and then ran some errands at Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond (I heart Target!). I was seriously craving chocolate today, so I picked up a brownie mix. After I had dinner, I made the brownies, and then later had one with ice cream for dessert. Along with some wine. :) What a great to unwind at the end of the day.

Clean House

2011-09-16T22:18:00.003-04:00

I had another fairly uneventful day off today, but I do feel like I accomplished quite a bit around the house. I finally tackled a few little projects that I've been meaning to do for a long time. I also gave the house a good cleaning, including finally sweeping out my garage, which I haven't done since I moved here. I know that none of these things are really that exciting, but I do feel very satisified when I accomplish tasks like these. I also got a nice run in: I wasn't sore from yesterday's Body Pump class, the weather was perfect, and I was pleased to find out afterward that my pace was faster than I thought even though I didn't feel like I was pushing it. My marathon is a week from tomorrow, so I'm really hoping these good running feelings stick around for a while. I also did some reading today (working on "The Help", pretty good so far), watched a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy, and came up with an idea for something I might try next month. I know I've missed a few days of posting this month, but I feel like I've done better that I thought I would. And half the month is over already!

Girl Power

2011-09-15T22:00:00.004-04:00

I am part of a group of women clergy (mostly Lutheran) in NJ who get together usually about once a month, except during the summer time. So today was the first time we had met since May and it was so good to get together and see the other ladies again. It reminded me that I am so thankful for this group. As we listened to one woman who is going through a difficult time right now, I was reminded of how much this group helped me when I was struggling earlier in the year. We are in different places on our life and ministry journeys: where we live, our ages, our health, our living and family situations, our ministry experience, all of these things bring variety to the group, but yet we still can listen and support and laugh and comfort and pray. We share the fact that we are all women in ministry, which is not always an easy thing to be. Some days I don't want to be (in ministry). But this group helps remind me why I am.

Busy Days and Book Club

2011-09-14T21:11:00.004-04:00

This week has been full with ministry, running and working out, and errands. I don't have much to write about today, I've been going all day and I'd rather spend the rest of the night relaxing and reading. I wanted to post something though since I've missed a couple days lately. I didn't post yesterday because I was having problems with my wireless internet connection... problems that I've been having most of the 14 months I've lived here. Verizon FINALLY sent a technician out today and he actually ordered us a new modem (which I'm pretty sure we deserved a year ago)! I hope this solves the problem.
On an exciting note, I've been talking with some women about starting a book club in the area and today we set a date for our first meeting next month, and picked "The Help" as our first book. Since it's so popular right now because of the movie we thought it'd be a good one to start with. Hopefully everyone can find a copy!

New (Pink) Kicks

2011-09-12T22:11:00.004-04:00

One of my other purchases of the past few days was two new pairs of running shoes. The general recommendation for running shoes is that they should be retired after 500 miles. The website I use to keep track of my runs allows me to enter the shoes I use for each run and therefore keeps track of their mileage. I'm around 450 on both pairs of shoes I currently use, and less than two weeks away from my marathon now, so it was time. I want to use one of the new pairs for the race, but I need to break them in a little first. I've run in Saucony brand shoes for several years now and have been pretty happy with them, so I bought one pair of Saucony ProGrid Guides and decided to try something new for the other pair. With the assistance of the salesperson at the running store, I went with Asics Gel-Kayanos for the other pair. The unfortunate fact of both of these pairs is that they're pink. And there were no other color options. I am not a big fan of pink. The 2 pairs of Sauconys I'm running in now are blue, which is my favorite color. I even tried on another pair that were also pink. Apparently pink is the color for this year's shoe models. At least they're only really accented by the pink and are primarily white and gray/silver. I took a little jog around the store in both of my new pairs of shoes, but I'm looking forward to trying them out for real.

Books, Books, Books! (and my 100th post)

2011-09-10T22:08:00.005-04:00

I have made several exciting purchases in the last few days, the most (in quantity) being books! First, I received a package of six books from Alban Institute publishing company. This organization exists primarily (in my understanding) for support and continuing education for clergy. When I realized I was nowhere near spending the amount I am allotted each year by the congregation for books, I went to their online store. I kept finding more and more books I thought would be helpful, so at some point I had to stop myself. I chose ones on a variety of congregational and clergy issues, and I think they'll all be useful. Yesterday the local library was having a book sale so I stopped by and picked up four more books (but for only $3.25!). And today, I met my friend Elizabeth for dinner and then stopped at Borders for their going-out-of-business-sale. I had a hard time limiting myself again. I think at one point I was holding nine or ten books, but I narrowed it down to four (all, ironically, from the "religion" section). These were all 70% off, so while I spent about $22 on these four books, I saved about a total of $48 off their original prices! Besides the fact that I'm a pastor, I think it probably says something about me that all but one of these fourteen books are faith related. The other one is a book on quilting. I think I need to make some room on my bookshelves! :)

Third Time's a Charm

2011-09-08T21:26:00.003-04:00

Today I tried a Body Pump class for the third time (second time at my gym), and I decided I like it. I wasn't sure before, probably because strength-training has never been my favorite thing to do. But I need to do it, and I get bored doing the same machines at the gym all the time. Body Pump provides a nice challenge and opportunity to change things up with my strength routine. And I do like the whole "community" aspect of a class, a group of people struggling and growing together, encouraged by the leader. Even though I was tired pretty much all day today (no idea why) I actually felt better after the class, and still had energy to get in a run.

Coffee Break

2011-09-07T22:34:00.005-04:00

Today was a pretty normal day. I did a lot of work in the office, and had meetings for both a wedding and a funeral (memorial service). Is that ironic, or just part of "the job"? It was a fairly full day, but I appreciate those sometimes because it usually means the day goes fast. In the middle of the day, I stopped by my local coffee shop, which is conveniently about a block from my house. It was nice to get some of their tasty house roast and sit on a bench outside the shop for a few minutes and just take a break. Sometimes it's the simple things that make the day better.

GG Makes it All Better

2011-09-06T22:27:00.004-04:00

Today was a little hard because I had to do the funeral for the church member who passed away last week. I was feeling lots of different things, which is not unusual. But after a long morning and afternoon of preparing, presiding, and lunching, I needed to do some relaxing. It rained practically all day today, so it was a good day to come home and snuggle up on the couch and watch some Gilmore Girls. It definitely made me feel better, although I didn't get a whole lot done the rest of the day, I felt ok with that since I already had a pretty full day, especially emotionally. This was the second day in a row I didn't feel like running. That happens every now and then. And while I was able to get myself out the door yesterday, it just didn't happen today. It's not something I want to get in the habit of doing, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it because missing one day every now and then isn't really going to impact my training. And now to bed, so I can get my butt moving tomorrow!

And So Begins the Evacuation

2011-09-05T23:06:00.002-04:00

About a week and a half ago, with the threat of Hurricane Irene looming, a mandatory evacuation order just about emptied the island (there were a few brave -or crazy - people who stayed). Today was the unofficial end-of-summer evacuation. While there will still be some who come down to their summer homes on the weekends through September and maybe even October, and the snow birds who don't fly south until winter, Labor Day marks the time for many when they close up their island homes and head back to work and school in north Jersey, New York, or Philly. Many businesses will remain open, with more limited hours, through the fall, but some (like the market up the street) are strictly Memorial Day to Labor Day. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this in another post, but for now my bed is calling me, and I wanted to be sure to post something today since I did miss yesterday. (But hey, 4 out of 5 days isn't bad!)

Twenty. Miles.

2011-09-03T20:37:00.003-04:00

Today I ran 20 miles. Isn't that enough? Really? Did I have to do anything else today?
Ok, I did a few other things, but nothing really extraordinary besides the running 20 miles. This was my last really long run before my marathon in three weeks. It was encouraging that I felt pretty good for most of it after having a pretty crappy long run last weekend. I'm grateful that I've been able to do several of my long runs with my friend Mindy. It definitely makes the time and miles seem to go faster when you have a friend to talk with. I'm a little concerned that I won't have a friend to run with at the marathon, but I think I'm just going to try staying with a pace group, so that should help. It will also help that I will have some family there cheering me on!

TGIF?

2011-09-02T21:12:00.003-04:00

This was one of those Fridays (my regular "day off") that I spent mostly doing pretty boring stuff around the house like cleaning, because it was one of those crazy weeks where I let all of that stuff go until today. I interspersed some fun things into my day to help me get through my to-do list: I watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls (from seasons 3 and 4), read a little, spent about an hour and a half on the beach, and baked some cranberry-orange bread and (homemade) granola.
I finished my latest book before going to bed last night: "Does the Noise in my Head Bother You?"- Steven Tyler's memoir. It was... interesting. Aerosmith is one of my all-time favorite bands, in the top 3. I learned a lot about the band and it's members, and learned that Steven Tyler is probably a musical genius. I also learned that's he's probably more than a little crazy, and learned way more about the drugs they did than I ever needed to know. If you like biographies and/or rock bands you would probably like this book, but be warned that it would probably have the equivalent of an "R" rating for a movie: there's a lot of harsh language and I found some of his comments offensive.
Now I'm close to finishing another book (fiction) that I had actually started before, but had to put aside when I got Steven Tyler's book from the library. I plan to read a bit more tonight and go to bed early, so I can get up early for a long run in the morning.

30 Days

2011-09-01T21:58:00.003-04:00

It's the beginning of a new month, I always have intentions of blogging more often than I do, and I know a fellow LTSP alum who uses her blog to attempt things for 30 days. These are the reasons I have decided to attempt to blog every day for the 30 days of September. I'm honestly not sure how likely I am to accomplish this goal, but it can't hurt to try, right?
Today was a pretty rough day. One of my parishioners passed away today. He was 91 years old and lived a good long life and I have hope in the resurrection and his health was basically failing for the few weeks, so on the one hand, it's probably a blessing. On the other hand, he was a wonderful man who was loved by the community and the congregation and I had formed a good relationship with him over the past year. He will definitely be missed.
I was also looking forward to a visit from my cousin's family this weekend, and she told me today that they're not going to be able to come now, so that bummed me out even more. They're going to try to come another weekend instead, so I hope we can work that out.
On a positive note, I tried a new class at the gym today! One of my friends in Bville talked me into going to her "Body Pump" class at the YMCA the last time I was home, and it kicked my butt, but I appreciated the challenge. I try to weight-lift/strength train twice a week, and sometimes I get bored doing the same routine all the time, so I decided to try the class at my gym. I'm sore, but in a good way, if that makes sense. And I still had enough energy to go for a run afterward. And then I rewarded myself with a milkshake. ;)

How I Spent My August

2011-08-31T23:17:00.008-04:00

+ Attended a week of Confirmation Camp (along with one of the youth from my congregation). + Celebrated my 30th birthday with two parties: one in western PA, one in NJ. + Presided over my first wedding. + Attended a Phillies game. + Saw a few sunsets while enjoying free concerts at the park aboard my friends' boat. + Read some books. + Spent some time on the beach. + Ran over 100 miles. + Survived my first earthquake AND hurricane.

Full Swing Summer

2011-07-12T20:51:00.005-04:00

The fact that we are about halfway through summer already seems ridiculous to me. Why is it that the summer (my favorite season) seems to fly by while winter (my least favorite season) drags on and on? It's now less than a month until my big birthday. I think I'm starting to dread it less because I'm making lots of fun plans and I've been practicing saying that I'll be 30, to get used to the idea. (I know, it's not old, but it's a big deal for me.)

Some of the things going on at church this summer have been the annual picnic, a trip to Six Flags with the youth group, the start of our summer surf movie series, and (going on this week) Vacation Bible School. This is the first time this congregation has ever held VBS so it's been a learning experience, but it seems to be going pretty well so far. The general atmosphere of the congregation seems to be more positive than it was over the winter, which is good. Realistically, it's probably at least in part due to the season (who doesn't like warm weather when they live at the shore?), and the fact that there are more people around in the congregation, and people are generally more distracted with summer visitors and activities. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

My parents came for a visit last week, it was nice to have them here. And my mom helped me paint my bathrooms, so it was pretty exciting to get that accomplished. One more step completed in the transformation of the bathrooms. I got new towel rods that I plan to put up this week. That will be it for the guest bath, but in the master bathroom I still want to paint the vanity and medicine cabinet, and change the decor theme with new curtains and towels, and some new wall hangings. I hope to finish this all by the end of the summer. I also plan to continue doing lots of reading on the beach.

Ode to my feet

2011-06-30T09:29:00.002-04:00

As the weather warms up in the summer, I free my feet from their usual cute flats and boots and the occasional heels and my go-to footware 90% of the time becomes flip flops. (Don't worry, on days I walk a lot I wear cushioned Tevas or my Chacos). As a kid I used to run around barefoot in the summer all the time (and miraclously only stepped on a bee once), so my feet like to be free, and I like them to be exposed to the air. Even if that means getting funky white-striped tan lines. I also like being able to see my tattoo on my right foot. What I don't like though is how generally not nice-looking my feet are. In part due to my barefootedness and probably mostly due to all my running, I have lots of callouses and the occasional blister. In fact my big toe on my left foot has a permanent callous from the new blister that forms just about every time I go out for a run. As nasty as they are though, I am proud of my feet. All my blisters and callouses and scars are like battlewounds from all the miles my feet have endured. I am grateful to my feet for carrying me through those miles and pray that they will stay strong through the many miles to come.

Serving

2011-06-09T21:10:00.004-04:00

I was out at a local restaurant for dinner last night. Just like there are people who live on the island seasonally, there are also people who work here seasonally. My server last night was one of these and she admitted to me right from the beginning that she was new. This gave me a whole lot more sympathy for her than I may have had as she was not the greatest at her job. As I interacted with her and watched her serve other tables as well I was brought back to about 8 years ago when I was working as a server at Bob Evans. And then I got to thinking how being a restaurant server was good preparation for being a pastor. Both require a lot of remaining calm and polite and listening to complaints and apologizing for things that are often not your fault. Both require regular interaction with people. Both require confidence. Both are primarily based on serving. I know it's not really possible but I think it'd be good if everyone could experience working in the food service industry at some point in their life. It certainly has made me much more understanding and appreciative of those who serve me in restaurants. And who knew that all these years later I would realize that it taught me how to be a better pastor?
(PS - tip your waiters and waitresses well!)

Holden Village

2011-05-23T21:53:00.004-04:00

Retreat: (1) an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable, (2) a place of privacy or safety, (3) a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study or instruction under a director

All three of these definitions of the word retreat are appropriate explanations of what I did while on vacation at Holden Village in Washington. In previous posts I've alluded to both personal and professional issues/anxieties I had been experiencing before vacation, which, now that I've returned, have not been completely resolved. I have to admit that some of the appeal of vacation was the opportunity to retreat: withdraw from difficulties. The beauty of the time spent at Holden Village, a place where I had no access to the phone or the internet, meant that it was also a retreat: a place of privacy and safety. It might have been the first time since I started my call when I felt that, for an extended period of time, I was genuinely relaxed and allowed the freedom of not even thinking about the congregation. (There were of course times I thought about it a little when people asked what I did and I talked about being a pastor, but I didn't have to WORRY or plan.) It was also a time of retreat: prayer, meditation, study, and instruction. I did a lot of reading, some for fun and some related to faith and leadership. I learned how to weave on a loom. I did a lot of prayer/meditation/worship. And I was involved in discussions about living learning communities. I enjoyed my experience at Holden so much, that I didn't want to return to NJ. But I obviously did return, and now I'm trying to adjust to post-vacation work and life, while still reflecting and appreciating the blessing that Holden Village has been (and hopefully will be) in my life.

Got Mountains?

2011-05-19T20:54:00.007-04:00

Awed. Refreshed. Excited. Renewed. Blessed.

These are just some of the things I felt on my two-week vacation to Seattle and Holden Village. My appreciations of both city and "the outdoors" were satisfied by these two very different, but both very awesome places.

Seattle adventures included Pike Place Market, the art museum, the library, the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project, the Fremont Troll, Theo Chocolate Factory, Jimi Hendrix's grave, REI superstore, Luther's Table, a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, Sunday morning worship at Our Savior Lutheran Church and Sunday evening compline at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.

Holden adventures included getting there (car, boat, and bus!), relaxing, eating, meeting people, reading, relaxing, worship, hiking, weaving, viewing the Royal Wedding, napping, conversation, ice cream, and more relaxing.

This is my brief review for now, but there will be more to come. In the meantime, check out http://thirtybefore.wordpress.com to read Mandy's review and see more pictures.

April showers

2011-04-30T20:38:00.004-04:00

I have come to the end of another busy week, but it was one that has left me feeling much less frazzled and much more positive than I have after some other weeks this month. I can't believe we're almost in May already, but I'm pretty thankful for it, to be truthful. A good portion of the end of March through April was pretty crappy, and I'm ready to move on. I have a new car that's working great so far (and getting great gas mileage, woohoo!), I had a nice visit from my parents and I will see them again soon, we're in the season of Easter and focusing on resurrection, I accomplished quite a bit this week, and I'm only 3 days away from the start of my vacation, and one week from Holden Village! I am now in the last few days of working to make sure everything that needs to be done before I leave gets done, both for work, and for my trip. I was able to make a lot of reservations/plans for the trip this week and I'm feeling much better about it (I was getting pretty nervous last week). Now I think I will spend the rest of my evening catching up on some TV shows and perusing my Seattle guidebook.

New Life

2011-04-25T19:37:00.003-04:00

Well I made it through my first Holy Week as a pastor. It was tiring and a little stressful at times, but there were also moments, usually during worship, where I was still able to focus on the meaning of the days. My parents were here for a long weekend and though I was working for a lot of it, I was grateful for some family time to distract me.
In my sermon(s) on Sunday, I asked the people where they are seeing resurrection and new life in their lives and in the world and others around them. Often, the words that God gives me are ones I need to hear probably just as much as the people I preach to. So I am trying to look for new life as well. Even though I've had uncomfortable moments and frustrations with some people lately, I've also noticed there are people who have been making extra efforts at being positive and supportive. These are people showing me new life. Today I was able to take a day off to recover from all the extra work of last week, and it was a great day. I treated myself to breakfast out, did a little shopping, stopped for a quick visit with a friend and did plenty of relaxing. I saw new life today. I am hoping this day refreshed me enough to work hard the rest of this week, to get ready for vacation next week!
Where do you see new life?

Letting it out

2011-04-13T20:26:00.004-04:00

My life has been a rollercoaster these last few weeks, and it has felt like one LONG, continuous, tiring ride that has had a lot more scary and upsetting moments than fun moments. I don't mean to be a downer, I just want to be honest. And I hope that putting some of my feelings out here will be cathartic and helpful. Personally, my car saga has just been exhausting and ridiculous (it's almost funny how many loaner cars I've gone through), but I'm in the home stretch. I put a deposit down on a new car, one that was coming in but not on the lot yet, so now I'm just waiting for it to get here so that I can actually hopefully feel some excitement. Between the car payments I will now have and the amount of taxes I owe that I was not expecting, I have had to adjust my financial plan. But crap happens, and I will just make some changes and deal. I recognize that I could be in a far worse financial position. I am so grateful that I have a steady income. I have also had a lot of emotionally draining struggles within my congregation, some that have been building for a while and I think it all just came to a head within the last week or so. It's been really hard. But I think I'm at least learning from all of it. And I have some goals and things to focus on moving ahead. And Easter will be here soon! :) And then vacation soon after that! ;) I've also seen and felt God's presence during some of these really difficult times... in positive comments and support, in friends, in meals shared with others, in Scripture and prayer, and through running. :) And any of your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

The Lazy Song

2011-03-30T20:36:00.006-04:00

Today I don't feel like doing anything. I just want to lay in my bed. Don't feel like pickin' up the phone, so leave a message at the tone. Cause today I don't feel like doing anything, nothing at all. (Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song)
Bruno Mars is one of my favorite newer musicians. I've liked almost every single he's come out with, and his latest single is fun and probably a little tongue-in-cheek. And today, it has been my theme song. I think everyone has days every now and then when they just want to be lazy, myself included. But today especially I really felt like doing nothing. In spite of my lack of motivation, I did get some work done today, but it wasn't easy. I just felt SO. TIRED. I think all the driving of the last couple days caught up to me. And I'm pretty sure I was also recovering (emotionally) from the car accident I had yesterday. Yeah. Thankfully, I am fine physically. And I didn't cause any damage to the car I hit (because it was a van). But I did do a decent amount of damage to the front of my car (hood, bumper, headlight). It was so stupid, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just couldn't get stopped fast enough. It really was just an accident. I took my car in today and will hear back in the next day or so about the prognosis. I guess because it's old there's a possibility it might have to be totaled, but I'm really hoping that's not the case. I think she still has some life left in her! In the meantime, I'm driving a rental. I have a Jeep Patriot for now (because the options were pretty limited), which I have to admit is a pretty sweet vehicle, but I will probably end up trading it for something smaller with better gas mileage. So now I'm gonna try to relax, get to bed early, and hopefully feel better tomorrow.

A Weekend Away

2011-03-29T21:31:00.011-04:00

In January I started thinking ahead over the year to try to plan out my vacation time. I had some vacation time already planned for May and I wanted to spread out my Sundays off through the year if possible. I decided with the busy seasons of Lent and Easter I wanted to take a weekend off before May, around this late winter/early spring time. Lutherlyn, the camp I attended as a kid and worked at as a counselor, has several off-season retreats, and at least a few of them are related to crafty things and often attended by my friend Mandy and her mom. I found out that they were having a "Mystery Quilting Retreat" the last weekend of March, and confirmed that Mandy would be attending, and decided to sign up and use it for a Sunday off. I decided to make it a long weekend, and I headed home to my parents' on Thursday, and then made my way to Lutherlyn Friday evening. Unfortunately Mandy had caught the flu and spent all day Friday in bed. She was feeling better by Saturday though, so luckily it was only a 24-hour thing (as of this posting, I am still feeling ok, and hoping I avoided catching it!) and we were still able to spend some time together, even though she wasn't feeling 100%. Her mom and I each worked on the mystery quilt project, and Mandy worked a little each on a t-shirt quilt, some placemats, and a stuffed rocket (see below). The way the mystery quilt worked was that we received a list of how much fabric to get and how to make the first cuts, all before we got to the retreat. Then we received clues every so often, and you work one clue at a time and when you finish it you move on to the next clue, so that you don't know what the completed quilt will look like. And everyone can work at their own pace. Even though I waited until I was at the retreat to cut any of my fabric, I was still able to catch up to about where most of the women were. The first few clues involved a lot (a LOT) of tedious cutting, sewing, cutting, and squaring, all to make the small squares that will be put together to make the blocks. You can see a lot of these squares in the picture below. Out of 9 clues total, I only made it to clue #5, but because of all the prep work, I think most of us ended the weekend around the same place. I was able to complete one block, and put enough rows together to complete 7 more blocks when I put those rows together. Then I can move on to clue #6! My completed block is the last picture below. I wasn't expecting to complete a quilt in one weekend, so I still feel pretty satisfied with what I was able to do, and I look forward to continuing to work on my quilt. The weekend was a nice break from the normal, and a great time at a place I love with a good friend. It was also nice to see my parents for a few days, but the time definitely went too fast, so I am looking forward to them coming out to visit me for Easter.

Signs of Spring

2011-03-21T14:47:00.003-04:00

Rant and Rave

2011-03-17T19:21:00.006-04:00

Rant:
As I've mentioned previously on my blog, I am part of the South Jersey Area Wind Ensemble. Because this is the first time I've been playing my saxophone regularly since college it's in need of a "tune-up". I took it to the closest music store at a time when I knew I would be missing the next rehearsal, so I thought it would leave plenty of time to be repaired. When I turned it into the store they told me that they don't do repairs in-house, they send them out, but that it typically only took a week, or maybe two at the most. I was also told I would receive a call from the repairman with an estimate. This was February 15th. A week or two goes by and I haven't heard anything, so I call the store and ask about it and they say that it still hasn't been returned and assure me again that I will receive a call when it's ready. Another week or two goes by and I call again and get the same answer again. Finally, a few days ago, I reach the point where it has been a MONTH and I have heard NOTHING. So when I call the store again I ask for the number of the repair place. I'm given the number for another music store that this person said does their repairs. I call them, and the person I spoke with has no record of my instrument! She assures me she will look into it and get back to me. I call again the next day, they still don't know where it is, and I'm told they're pursuing some different possibilities and they'll let me know. I say, I'm a little confused as to how a saxophone can just be lost. She thanks me for my patience. Grrrr. When I speak with the woman again the next day, she explains that they do repairs for rental instruments, and that there is a different person/place who does repairs on owned instruments, and this whole time she had been assuming I had a rental instrument (even though I definitely said MY saxophone). So at this point, I call the music store that I originally took it to in the first place, and after asking a lot of questions, he finds the record of my sax being brought in, and gives me the correct name and phone number of the repairman. I call him and leave a message. After no response, I call him again (today - over a month after the store first took my sax) and he answers and says that he hasn't had it, the store has had it this whole time and he was on his way to pick it up. WHAT?!?! He called back later in the day with an estimate and said it will be back at the store next week. Clearly, either there are totally incompetent people working at this music store, OR I was lied to several times (or both). Absolutely RIDICULOUS.

Rave:
I have great friends. I am lucky to have them. I am thankful for the ones who stay in touch regularly and especially for those who have visited me. This is because maybe 95% of my friends live more than an hour (and most several hours) away from me. It's been hard out on here on the island, especially this winter. It has helped me to discover that maybe I'm not quite as much of an introvert as I thought I was or used to be. I need social interaction! And I've learned that making new friends as an adult is not always the easiest thing to do. Especially when most of my life revolves around my congregation, and I need to have some friends outside of that group of people. Well I think I have finally begun to find that. I have made some new friends recently that are (amazingly, for this location) around my age, and have given me reasons to get out of my house and laugh and have fun. Yay!

And now, in honor of Saint Patrick and my Scotch-Irish heritage, I'm going to enjoy a beer. Sla'inte!

Whoops!

2011-02-28T14:24:00.004-05:00

I realized that today is the last day of February and I haven't posted at all this month! I have thought about posting several times, but I guess I never got motivated enough to write. As for how I filled my time this month, it was pretty much life as usual. Pastoring, trying to spend time with friends when possible, cleaning/organizing, taking care of my dog, going to the gym, reading and knitting. I hosted a Super Bowl party for some friends at the beginning of the month. Even though the Steelers didn't win, it was a good game, and I was glad to be able to play hostess. I also hosted some close friends from seminary for a visit just this past weekend. It was really nice to have visitors in the winter! As for crafty things, I haven't had the sewing machine out in a while, but I'm looking forward to a quilting retreat at the end of March. And in the meantime, I've been able to complete several knitting projects that had been laying around unfinished for a while (one since last spring, yikes). And as for reading, after I finished the Harry Potter series (and subsequently watched all the movies) in the fall, I decided I wanted to read through the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis. I am sure I have read at least one of the books in the past (when I was much yonger), but I know I haven't read through the whole series, so that's my current reading goal. Health and fitness-wise, I've been pretty consistent about getting to the gym this month (or outside on the few warmer days) and running 3-4 days a week and strength training 1-2 days a week. Now I need to start focusing on increasing my mileage, since I haven't really done any long runs all winter. And finally an update on my home organizing/de-cluttering plan: I've made it through the kitchen, dining room, living room, bathrooms, and 2 bedrooms. I only have 2 spaces left to tackle, but they may be the 2 most difficult: the garage (primarily storage) and the 3rd bedroom/office (also has a closet full of storage). Wish me luck! ;)

Looking through a new lens

2011-01-30T20:56:00.003-05:00

It was time for an upgrade. I decided to use some money I received for Christmas and buy a new camera. As much as I would have loved to really upgrade to one of the SLR professional cameras, I had no idea how expensive they are until I started researching them. So I decided to stick with the model I already had (Sony Cybershot) and just upgrade to a newer model, with more megapixels (I went from 6 to 14). I haven't played around with it a whole lot yet, but I was excited to discover that there's a setting that automatically puts the camera on whatever setting it should be for the picture I'm taking. For instance, when I was taking pictures of the lighthouse, it switched to landscape setting. I just took my new heading picture today. I decided my blog needed a new look, and a new picture. And as long as we're stuck with snow and winter I might as well look for the beauty in it.

Looking for some help

2011-01-13T19:52:00.003-05:00

So there's something I've been struggling with lately and I can't figure out what to do. So I thought I'd write about it here to send it out to the blogosphere and hope for some responses. My problem basically boils down to the fact that I've been tired a lot lately and have a really hard time getting myself out of bed in the morning. I'm a relatively healthy person, and I may even be in better shape physically than the average person (I did just run a marathon!). So why am I so tired? And most nights I'm getting around 8 hours of sleep (there are some nights when I have trouble sleeping, but they don't occur that often, and it's usually just the first few hours I'm in bed, and not all night). So I always have great plans when I go to bed to get up early and workout or get other stuff done and I set my alarm and it goes off in the morning and I hit the snooze button. I've never really been a consistent "snoozer" so how did I get myself into this habit, and more importantly, HOW DO I GET OUT? The last several years I haven't been that fond of winter, so could this possibly be something that is caused by winter? To be totally honest, I'm not opposed to counseling, but I also don't want to jump into that if it's not necessary. Any ideas on a simple way to get myself out of bed in the morning and not hit the snooze several times (I do know that's not quality sleep I'm getting while "snoozing")? I did sign up for a spinning class at my gym one morning and got up when I needed to for that. But that won't work for every morning. Can anyone help?

Looking Ahead

2011-01-07T14:04:00.003-05:00

I'm not really big on new year's resolutions. I understand why people are attracted to the idea of having resolutions at the beginning of a new year and viewing it as a time to start over or try new things. But I also know that many of these resolutions aren't successful. So I "resolved" a while ago to make goals and try new things any time during the year that I feel I should. I've posted on here about some of the past goals I've made, and I did recently make another one. I'm going to spend time during the next several weeks simplifying and organizing my "stuff". I value living more simply and keeping my life organized. I've never really had a lot of clutter, but there are always things I could do without. So inspired by the desire to simplify, a book I picked up at a book sale last summer called "Cut the Clutter and Stow the Stuff" and a book my aunt showed me over Christmas called "Throw Out 50 Things", I am going through each room of my house and getting rid of what I can and reorganizing where necessary. So that I'm not overwhelmed or rushed, I plan to do one room a week. I started this week with the living room and have been pretty successful so far, getting rid of some books and magazines, a board game, a few old video tapes and doing a little re-organizing of the bookshelves. I purposely started with an easy room, and hope to be able to keep it up when I get to rooms like my 3rd bedroom/office where I had shelves put in the closet to hide a bunch of clutter. ;)

A Look Back

2011-01-03T09:54:00.003-05:00

2010 was a pretty big year for me, with some major life successes and transitions. In an effort to help me remember what happened, and to not let the "small" things get overshadowed by the big events, I took a look back over the year and recorded a month-by-month review. I won't bore you with that detailed review, because I'm pretty sure there are some things on it that will only be meaningful to me, but I thought I'd post my "summary" by season.

2010 Year in Review:

Winter (including some events at the end of 2009)
Celebrated the wedding of two seminary friends, survived "Snowmaggedon" parts 1 and 2 in Philly, began my final semester of seminary, learned I was assigned to NJ for my first call
Spring
Spent some time at the United Nations for a class, saw my college touring choir perform, attended two Phillies games, went sailing with friends, ran in the 10-mile Broad Street Run with 30,000 people (and 2 friends), attended the wedding of two more seminary friends, graduated from seminary with my Master of Divinity degree
Summer
Attended my 11-year high school reunion (yeah, weird, I know), moved and began my first call as pastor of a Lutheran congregation in NJ, attended my friend's baby shower and my cousin's daughter's 3rd birthday party on the same day, celebrated the birth of my cousin's second daughter, celebrated my 29th birthday, went tubing and parasailing, attended two Lakewood Blue Claws games (Phillies farm team), enjoyed visits from my parents and from friends
Fall
Began rehearsing with the South Jersey Area Wind Ensemble (the first instrumental ensemble I've been in since college), Ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, officially Installed as pastor of the congregation I serve, enjoyed more visits from my parents and other family, spent time at home with my mom as she recovered from hip surgery, and completed my first marathon in Philly

I gave in...

2010-12-29T11:09:00.002-05:00

and joined a gym. Although I keep hearing from people that the wind we've had on the island for basically the whole month of December is NOT typical, I have a hard time believing that. And I also doubt that it will be going away anytime soon. And though I have plenty of warm running clothes, I don't have anything to protect my face from Jack Frost's icy blasts. A few people in my congregation belong to a gym just over on the mainland (that's what we "islanders" call it) and they only have good things to say about it, and they also told me that they were running a special and waiving the join fee until the end of the year. So I went to check the place out, with my mind about 75% made up already that I was going to join. However, I was hoping that I would be able to join on a month-to-month basis so that I could use the place for the winter and then get back to running outside, where I prefer. Well of course the cost for paying only month-to-month was more per month than joining for the year, AND you had to pay the join fee (they were only waiving the join fee for those joining for a year). So, since it was more economical, they sucked me in for a year. Though I imagine once the weather warms up that I won't be using it to run much, I probably will still go a few times a week to do strength training or for some group exercise classes like spinning or yoga. One nice thing about this gym is you don't have to pay extra for those classes. And I know that I should be doing strength training to tone my muscles for running, but I haven't been able to do it consistently, so maybe I finally will.

Post-Marathon Post

2010-12-10T17:47:00.004-05:00

I know you've all been waiting in great suspense (haha), so I will confirm that yes, I completed my first marathon! I didn't want to post about it right away because I wanted to allow some time to feel the pain (and hopefully feel the pain diminishing!) and process my feelings about the whole thing. Here's a basic run-down of the event and the days that followed...

Marathon Day

5:15am - wake up, eat some oatmeal, drink some fluids, rub on some "body glide" to avoid chafing (tmi? sorry), layer up

6:15am - leave my friend Sara's apartment, where I stayed because she super conveniently lives right by the art museum, where the race starts and ends... meet up with friends, wait in line for the port-o-potty, take off extra layers, check my bag, jump up and down with nervous excitement

Approx. 7:10am - my wave of the race starts! high-five the mayor of philly as I cross the starting line

Miles 0-9 - feel pretty awesome, loving the tons of cheering people all along the route, smiling and laughing at funny signs with my friend steven/running buddy

Miles 10-13 - still feeling ok, get past the biggest hill of the route without too much trouble, missing the cheering as there are less people along this section of the route

Miles 13 -17 - pass the art museum at the half-way point, where there are lots of people again, starting to have some pain in my knee, but it goes away after a while, starting to slow down, wondering why I signed up for this

Miles 17-19 - have to stop and walk for the first time because of a side cramp, fighting to keep up with Steven who is clearly still feeling good while I am feeling worse and worse

Miles 19-21 - hit the wall (or what I imagine was "hitting the wall" as marathoners talk about), want to die, holy crap how will I make it 6 more miles? mad at myself for feeling so crappy when I had run two 20-mile long runs before and felt like I could have gone more, mad at myself for not trying a 22-mile long run, almost start crying...

Miles 22-24 - fight to keep going, tell myself it is ok to have to do some walking, alternate running and walking, but still doing more running than walking, thankful that Steven has stuck with me, even with all my walking

Miles 24-26 - ok, only about 2 miles left, definitely do-able, more people cheering again toward the end, Steven is encouraging me, I can do this!

Miles 26-26.2 - holy crap, two tenths of a mile have never felt this long, where is the freaking finish line?! I can see it, finishing strong, hands in the air as we cross the finish together after 4 hours 20 minutes and 22 seconds, and immediately hug each other.

I am so grateful to Steven for sticking by me the whole time, I honestly don't know if I could have done it without him. It was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. But I am glad I did it. And I'm proud.

After we finished we hung around a little while with our friends/family and had some post-race snacks and then I had to get going. Walking back to Sara's apartment took me a ridiculously long time. I showered and packed up and got on my way to drive back to western PA to be with my mom again. It wasn't an easy drive (duh) but it wasn't as bad as I expected, and I got myself some fatty food as a reward and made it to my parents' house and put my feet up and relaxed and ate some more. The next day was awful. Seriously. I felt worse Monday than right after the marathon on Sunday. And I was beyond exhausted. After visiting my mom for a bit, I spent most of the day resting, and so I started to feel a little better Tuesday, and made progress through the week. I treated myself to a massage on Wednesday because I had some nasty pain in my neck and shoulders.

Now that I'm a couple weeks out I'm able to look at it more objectively. The week after the marathon I thought that I never wanted to subject myself to that again. At this point, I'm not ready to sign up for another one right away or anything, but I also know that I probably will do at least one more marathon. AND half marathons seem a lot more manageable now than before I did a full! While the crazy winter wind here on the island has kept me from running as much as I would like, I have been doing some, and I'm happy to say that I still enjoy it. ;)

Tough Week

2010-11-19T10:35:00.002-05:00

This week started off bad and got a lot worse before it got better. I caught a cold toward the end of last week, so I was feeling pretty crappy on Sunday and hoping and praying that I would start to feel better soon since my marathon was only a week away. Then Sunday afternoon I got a call that my mom had broken her hip. Thanks be to God that the orthopedic surgeon was in the hospital where they took her (he works in a few) and was able to take her in pretty much right away to surgery. He inserted a rod into her bone, and she spent a few days on a recovery floor. I came home Monday to help take care of my dad (my mom is basically his caretaker) and be with my mom. Mid-week I took my dad to stay with my aunt for a while, and my mom was moved to the rehab floor. She is progressing very well and they say she will likely be able to come home next week. I plan to stay home until the end of next week to help her with the transition home. I am so thankful that she is doing well, but I know she has a long recovery ahead. And I'm thankful to my aunt who will probably have to care for my dad for the next couple weeks at least. I am hoping my mom will be doing well enough for him to be able to come home sometime in mid-December maybe. We will have to celebrate Thanksgiving separately - my mom and I here, my dad in Ohio - but hopefully we will be able to be back together at home for Christmas.
I am still planning to head to Philly just for this weekend to run my marathon. I have put so much time and effort into training that my mom and I would both be disappointed if I didn't run it. Now that it's so close, I'm nervous! Prayers are appreciated for my mom, and dad, and for my running and traveling this weekend.

Renovations

2010-11-09T19:06:00.005-05:00

So the parsonage I live in is pretty great. One of the things I love is that there are hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms and carpet in all the bedrooms. And they refinished the hardwood and put in the carpet only about 2 years ago. They were waiting to do the floors in the kitchen and bathrooms though until someone moved in full time. So those floors were pretty ugly vinyl. When I got a new refrigerator I saw that the kitchen floor was in bad shape (as was the master bath), so the church council and I decided to get the floors done ASAP. So I picked out some tile, and also picked out a new toilet, vanity top and faucet for the master bath (which also needed to be replaced). And last week the floors guys came and everything was done in less than 3 days! We also have a guy on council who is a carpenter, who ripped out the ugly laminate wall coverings in the bathrooms and put up wainscoting. The wainscoting still needs to be painted, and I think I might paint the vanity and put new handles on it to update it a bit, but the changes have already made a huge improvement.

These are the "before" pictures of the floors in the bathrooms and kitchen.

And these are the "after" pictures! The first is the tile in both bathrooms and the second is the kitchen.

Escape to Smithville

2010-10-29T19:28:00.006-04:00

I began my day off today watching one of my favorite movies (She's the Man) and working on a crochet scarf, and then going for an easy 4-mile run. Then in the afternoon I headed to an adorable little town about 40 minutes away. I realized that unless I'm being really productive at home (sewing/cleaning/etc.) or unless it's a really crappy day and I don't want to go outside, I need to make an effort to actually GO places on my day off. It's very easy to "take work home" especially when my house is literally attached to the church, and I've found that it helps me not think about pastor stuff when I get off the island and go somewhere. So today I decided to go to a place I've been meaning to go for a while. "Historic Smithville" is a little town with a collection of about 50 little shops (and a few restaurants) selling items ranging from candy to clothing to jewelry to crafts. I enjoyed browsing and taking in the scenery (see the above pictures), and also made some purchases I was pretty happy with. I got the earrings at a shop called Herban Legend which calls itself a "socially conscious" store (totally my kind of place). The wall hanging (appropriate for summer here at the shore) and Christmas decoration came from a craft store that I could see my mother or aunt spending lots of time in. I also couldn't resist getting a square of fudge, chocolate peanut butter, of course. :) The weather was much cooler than it has been lately, but the sun was peeking out every now and then and it was the perfect day for light layers and a little exploring.

Companions on the journey

2010-10-28T21:41:00.003-04:00

Living the life of a pastor can be lonely. This is pretty ironic considering that being a pastor means you are around people a lot of the time. And there are certainly many joys you share with people, but there are also challenging times and it takes a lot out of a person. I'm finding that I appreciate any opportunity to be around other pastors who understand what I'm experiencing. I am especially grateful for a group of women pastors I'm meeting with once a month to talk and eat and pray. It is good to know, when I'm feeling like this lone boat, that I have companions on this ministry journey. I thank God for my friends and colleagues.

Blustery Beginning

2010-10-07T21:41:00.005-04:00

October got off to a wet, chilly start here at the shore. Four of the first five days of the month were the very definition of blustery. It made me think of Winnie the Pooh. :) I know we needed the rain, but there was so much of it, and it was so chilly that it made me want to stay inside. I spent last Friday, my day off, curled up with Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (and I cried at the end). I'm not in a hurry to read the next one, because I know it's the last. Thankfully, there was a break in the rain on Saturday (that was the one day out of the first five) so I was able to get my long run in, and I did 18 miles! Then I came home and put my feet up and ate a big breakfast. :) Today was finally another warm, sunny day and Sadie and I took a lovely walk as the sun was beginning to set. Most of the rest of the day, and this week, was spent doing my typical pastor duties, although there really isn't too much about being a pastor that's typical! Life on the island has been a lot quieter lately, and honestly, is a little lonely at times. And I'm not exactly sure what, if anything, I can do about that. I also got some crappy news about a friend today, another reminder that life is definitely not easy. And all I can do is pray and trust that God is here. The winds blowing things around and mixing them up seem to be a bit of a metaphor for life, but they are also a reminder of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

So long, September

2010-09-30T20:28:00.004-04:00

Since it's the end of the month, I thought I should post about my goals for September. I was 2 for 3. I did pretty well with getting on a more regular sleep schedule. I didn't get to bed and wake up at the same time every day, but I made progress and did really well with getting 7-8 hours of sleep just about every night. I also did well with my long runs. There was only one week this whole month that I didn't get good mileage in, and that was intentional, because I was trying to rest what I think is a pulled hamstring. Boo. BUT I ran my longest run EVER this month, of 16 miles! And I also hit my first 100-mile-month! Assuming everything continues to go well, I'm hoping to do 18 miles this weekend, and then I should still be able to get up to at least 20 miles (if not more) before I need to start tapering for the marathon in November. I didn't do so well with the yoga/strength training though, so that's going to stay on my list for October.

(The picture is my second completed quilt, made for my new baby cousin Bettie!)

The Day

2010-09-29T20:43:00.004-04:00

A day that I will remember forever. When I became Ordained for ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

When I have challenging days, when I wonder why I'm doing this, when I feel alone, I will remember this day. And the support, love, and encouragement that surrounded me. God has called me and God has blessed me. Thanks be to God!

Seriously?

2010-09-04T14:09:00.005-04:00

It's September already? Seriously?! I don't know where the last two months of my life have gone, I can't believe I've been here in NJ that long already. It seemed like when I first got here that I would be waiting FOREVER for my ordination day to come, but now it's only a few weeks away! And I think things are about to get even busier for me, so the day will probably be here before I know it. This weekend will be the last big hurrah for all the summer folk here at the shore, so I expect things around town and the island to get a lot quieter. We also go back to one Sunday morning worship service after this Sunday (we have two in summer because we get more people... life is a little different here at the shore, haha). But even though I'll have one less worship service each week, we're starting Confirmation classes and I'm beginning an adult Bible study so I'll have a few more things to add to the regular schedule. We're also having our first monthly Saturday evening worship service today. I have no idea how many people will show up, and it honestly doesn't really matter to me. I'm looking forward to using the Holden Evening Prayer service, and hope that I don't mess up the guitar accompaniment too much.

The effects of Hurricane Earl were felt here a bit, but not too bad. I don't know if we even had any rain at all, but we did have a good bit of wind yesterday. The rest of the weekend promises to be gorgeous though, so I might get on the beach at some point (it doesn't get too crowded near my house). I spent most of yesterday (taking refuge from the wind) crafting up a storm, while watching Gilmore Girls. Two of my close friends (one from high school, one from seminary) and my cousin Erin all had babies in the past month. Sooo that means I'm working on some homemade baby gifts. I've been knitting some things for my friends' babies, and I'm working on a quilt for Erin's baby, Bettie. Since baby things are small, the knitting isn't taking too long. The quilting will take a bit more time, but I'm hoping to finish it by the time I see them at my ordination.

Crafting and making gifts helps my mental and emotional health. I'm also working on a few goals for this month related to my physical health. I've been continuing to train for my first marathon (although I deferred Akron to next year - long story - so I'm now aiming for Philly in November), and have been getting pretty regular 5x a week runs in, so that's good. What I need to work on, is getting the long runs in each week, and increasing the distance. I did well with 12 miles last week, but got up to do 14 this morning, and barely squeezed out 9. A combo of no energy and some sore joints were working against me. But I'm going to try getting out again tonight for another 4 or 5 miles, if I'm not too sore. So one of my goals for the month is getting in the long run miles that I should for my marathon training. Another is to do yoga or another form of strength training 2x a week. I only do it very sporadically right now, and I really think this will help my training. And my third goal for the month is to establish a more regular sleep pattern. I did really well the first few weeks or so after I moved here, getting to bed at a decent time (probably because I was exhausted) and getting up early to run. But lately I haven't been going to bed at a regular time, and I usually hit the snooze button at least once in the morning. I've been really dragging in the mornings, and it's not because I'm not getting enough sleep (I do get 7-8 hours most nights), so I think I just need a better pattern. I'm hoping my posting these goals on here will help me achieve them!

Have a great long Labor Day weekend!

A Weekend of Firsts

2010-08-31T17:13:00.008-04:00

This past weekend Mandy and her boyfriend Ty came to visit! Of course we did the obvious things here at the shore that I plan to do with probably everyone who comes to visit: went to the beach, visited the lighthouse (and climbed the 217 stairs to the top), and ate really good fresh-caught seafood. But it was far from a typical weekend, as we also enjoyed a few new things. The first was tasting the homebrewed beer (summer ale) the three of us started earlier in the summer. It was light and refreshing with a slight taste of hops and citrus. First beer I ever helped to brew. The next was a visit to the fishing docks over on the bay, where the mayor of the town showed us around the offices and inner workings of the fishing docks, and then showed us on and around one of his commercial fishing boats. First time on a commerical fishing boat. And the final "first" was parasailing! I've been watching from the beach as people were parasailing over the water and, even though I do have a normal amount of fear regarding heights, I decided I wanted to try it. Mandy agreed to try it with me, and Ty rode along on the boat and watched as we soared to heights of over 300 feet (higher than the lighthouse)! It was scary, but awesome. Unfortunately, it wasn't too cheap, so it's not something I'll be able to do all the time, but it was worth it, and I would definitely do it again. First time parasailing. But hopefully not the last. :)

Celebrating my day of birth

2010-08-18T18:57:00.003-04:00

So I had a birthday about a week and a half ago. In the midst of my new "job" it kind of came and went pretty quickly. I usually like to make a big deal out of my birthday, but I guess I shouldn't expect much when I now live away from most of my family and friends. The friends that I do have here helped make it nice for me though, so it's not like it was bad or anything. The day started off like any other Sunday now with leading worship and then some time in the early afternoon to relax. Then I headed off the island to meet up with my friend Mindy, who had arranged for me to take a ride in her brother's (2007) red Mustang Shelby GT 500. If you don't know Mustangs, that doesn't mean anything to you, but trust me, it's a sweet car. It's basically the top of the line when it comes to Mustangs. And since the Mustang is my dream car, this was pretty exciting for me. After that, I headed up to my friends' Annemarie and Tim's house to have dinner and then relax outside and make S'mores over the fire. It was a pretty good 29th birthday. I think I see more 29th birthdays in my future. ;)

Rethinking...

2010-08-03T22:02:00.002-04:00

the title of my last post. What does "settling in" really mean, anyway? Everyone has been asking me about it lately, from members of the congregation, to my friends, and family... "are you settling in?" I know they mean well, and I really do appreciate their concern, and I respond positively. But. I've been thinking. What does that even mean? I've made about as much progress on my house as I'm going to make for now. Boxes are unpacked, pictures are hung on the walls, blinds and some curtains hung on the windows. All that's really left to do is make a few more curtains (I bought ones for the bedrooms, but I'm going to make valences for the kitchen, and a big panel for the sliding glass doors in my living room), and eventually finish decorating my office (with Steelers paraphenalia). And I'm not really concerned with getting either of those done very soon. So, does the fact that my house is as set up as its going to be for now mean that I am "settled"? Does the fact that my dog seems to have adjusted well and she and I have basically established a routine for taking her outside mean that I am settled? Does the fact that I have been here for a month already, and have changed my driver's license over to NJ mean that I am settled? I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think I will be "settled" until I feel like this is home. And honestly, I don't really feel like this is home yet. I guess it will just take time.

Settling in

2010-07-16T21:13:00.008-04:00

Things have been a whirlwind lately! The move was a big fiasco... not because anything bad happened to my stuff, but because they were probably the slowest, most inefficient moving company ever. Thankfully that's over with and I shouldn't have to worry about moving again for a while. The people at the church have been nice and helpful and giving me time to get settled, although I basically had to start working right away. I had some wonderful friends who came and helped with unpacking and assembling some shelves, so I was able to get a good amount of my stuff unpacked and organized in the first few days here. I've never had this much space, so figuring out where I want everything to go is taking a while. My bedroom, guest room, bathrooms, kitchen and dining room are all basically put together, but I still have quite a few boxes in my living room and office. I also haven't really hung anything on the walls yet, since it's difficult to do without some assistance, so I think I'll probably wait to do that when my parents come to visit in about a week. I know my mom is excited to come and it will be nice to have them experience my new home.

Even though I've been pretty busy with settling in to the new house and new job, I've tried to fit in things just for myself to keep from losing my mind. I've been getting back into a good running routine, continuing the training for my first marathon. I've been trying out different restaurants in the area, and let me tell you, the seafood at these places is GOOD, and most of it is caught locally. I've only gone to the beach twice so far, but I plan to do a lot more of that. I'm trying to do a better job of planning out my meals for the week, instead of waiting to decide what I feel like each day. And along with that I'm trying some new recipes. Today I made a Southwestern Corn Chowder, which was pretty good. AND I finally finished my first quilt! It's definitely got its imperfections, but I'm still really happy about the way it turned out.

Moving Day

2010-07-01T08:10:00.003-04:00

So it's official: I have been called as pastor of a Lutheran church in New Jersey... at the shore! I'm pretty excited and a little scared to start this new time in my life. It's what I've been working toward for the last four years, so it's great that it's finally here. I just hope I do a good job! I will only be one block from the ocean, so that's pretty sweet, and it's also not too far from where I did internship so there are people in the area that I know. Mostly I am just thankful to God that this has all worked out. My call process moved very quickly, but I think it's working out for the better that way. And because it all moved so fast and I need to start right away, I'm moving today! I have a moving company, which is great, so I don't have to do any of the heavy work myself. But since my stuff is all over the place we will be making multiple stops and I'll have to give some direction. So I'm just praying that it goes smoothly and we don't make it to NJ too late tonight!

Butterflies

2010-06-23T16:08:00.003-04:00

I am in a very weird place in my life right now. I moved out of my house in Philly almost two weeks ago, and I do not yet have a permanent place of residence. My original plan was to move back in with my parents for at least the summer and until I got called to a congregation. Well, now that I am in a call process with a congregation in NJ, I decided not to actually move my stuff just yet, so I am "staying" with my parents, and my stuff is all over the place. I have some things in my parents' house, I have my piano and a dining set that will likely become mine in a storage unit here in western PA, I have the rest of my furniture in a house on campus in Philly, and I have the rest of my "stuff" in boxes in the basement of the house I just moved out of. And even though I haven't officially been called to the congregation yet, I'm far enough along in the process that I will be starting very soon if they vote to call me, and so I have to make moving plans, even though I don't know for sure that I am moving to NJ! I was sitting in my parents' house today watching HGTV and working on some stuff and I couldn't figure out why my stomach felt so crazy, like I was nervous. And then I realized that the buterflies were probably due to all of the above. I'm a planner and the fact that things in my life are all up in the air right now is hard for me. I know that God is with me and things will all work out, but this waiting and not being able to do much about it is difficult.

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

2010-06-03T17:35:00.006-04:00

Well, I had been doing a decent job of posting more regularly, and then the end of the semester arrived, along with finishing assignments, filling out paperwork, graduating, visits from family and friends, making moving plans, celebrating, saying goodbyes, and enjoying my new-found "freedom". That's pretty much what my life's been about for the last few weeks. I graduated from seminary on May 21st, with my fellow classmates and friends, with my mom, dad, aunt, and best friend there to support me. I enjoyed a nice, but brief, visit with my aunt and parents, and then Mandy stuck around for most of the next week, since her last visit occurred during "Snowmaggedon" and we couldn't actually go anywhere. We spent some time at some shops in Chestnut Hill, up the street from the seminary, and we visited some of the typical touristy sites in center city Philly. We also attended the wedding of one my close friends from seminary, watched season 4 of Gilmore Girls, and each worked on a quilt. Mandy has several quilts under her belt, but I had yet to try one, so I was excited when she agreed to help me with my first. I found a design online that I really liked and she had the fun job of figuring out the pattern. We picked out some cute fabrics, and were able to complete the top of each of our quilts. I really like it, and I'll be sure to post a picture of it later. I'm waiting until I can get together with her again to finish it. Since she went back to western PA, I've been trying to find a balance between doing things I have to do: like starting to pack, and working on sermons for some guest preaching I'm doing, and things I want to do: like finally reading the Harry Potter series and working on some other sewing projects. I'm not sure I've found the right balance yet, but I'm working on it!

(*If you don't want to wait until I post a picture, you can see the quilt I'm working on at Mandy's blog, here.)

Stick a fork in me...

2010-05-16T16:08:00.003-04:00

cause I'm done! As of this past Thursday, I have completed all of my papers/assignments for my final semester of seminary!! I still technically have two make-up classes to attend (one Monday and one Tuesday), due to snowmageddon. But I have nothing left to prepare for, write, or study! I was ready to celebrate after I turned in my last paper on Thursday, but then it was actually a very weird feeling once Friday rolled around and I had nothing to do. By Friday night, I was actually pretty bored! I know, rough life. I actually have about a million things I can do with my time now that I have some, I just don't know where to begin. For the past four years I've been in school (or internship) mode and I've pretty much always had something I needed to work on. So now that I don't have studying or writing or reading that I HAVE to do, I can actually do things and read things that I WANT to do and read. It'll just take some time for my brain to adjust again. Oh, transitions. I keep thinking it'll be nice when I'm settled someplace for a while and don't have to worry about major life changes... or will it? I guess that's what keeps us on our toes and keeps life so interesting, is all the changes and transitions.

Call me crazy!

2010-04-29T16:42:00.004-04:00

I love to run. I think it's in my blood. My dad enjoyed running when he was younger, and I remember him competing in quite a few 5 and 10Ks when I was a kid. I entered my first race in sixth grade and caught the running bug. I was on the cross country team for a few years in high school, and was never in the front of the pack, but I did ok, and I enjoyed it. I didn't run on the team in college (even though the coach tried to talk me into it), but I still kept up with running on my own and occasionally with friends. And I've continued that in the years since college. Running helps me stay healthy, challenges me, gives me an outlet for my frustrations. And this introvert appreciates that it can be a group or an individual activity. I love running with friends, especially those who push me a little harder than I would. But sometimes I just like to go out by myself, so its just me and the road/trail and my music or thoughts or sometimes even prayers. Lately I've been feeling motivated to challenge myself a bit more. Since starting seminary, I've run the half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Philly twice. This weekend I'll run the Broad Street 10-mile run with 30,000 people. And... I have officially registered for my first full marathon. That's 26.2 miles. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I decided I have the time to train, I've run more this month than I ever have, and I want to do this before I turn 30. And I might be crazy, because not only did I register for one, but I registered for TWO marathons. I've got friends running both, and they're spaced a good amount of time apart so that I'll have time to recover from the first but still maintain my training. So I'll be running my first marathon in Akron, Ohio in September, and my second in Philly in November. I'm excited. I'm scared. I may be crazy.

Eating More Simply

2010-04-13T20:34:00.005-04:00

Several of my bloggy friends have been writing lately about eating more "real" food, as in food that is either bought and eaten as is (fruit, vegetables) and food that isn't processed and pre-packaged. I think it would be very difficult to get rid of all processed foods from my life, and that's not what they're doing either, but it isn't hard to make a few changes here and there. Some of it is just realizing I actually can make some of things I buy in the store, like granola. So that's what I made! I recently purchased the More-with-Less and Simply in Season cookbooks from the Mennonite community.

More-with-Less basically does what the title says, and gives a lot of "real" food recipes. That's where I got my granola recipe. There are a few different granola recipes in the book so I looked at them and adapted them to my tastes. It was VERY easy to make, and as someone who doesn't really love baking/cooking, I like easy! I'll likely experiment with different ingredients in the future, but for this batch, I did the following:

Preheat oven to 325
Mix together in large bowl:
4 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. sunflower seeds
Bring to a boil:
1 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
1 T cinnamon
Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets. Bake about 30 minutes, stirring often. (*I stirred every 10 minutes, and ended up only baking for about 25 minutes.) Watch closely toward the end, not allowing the granola to become too dark. Allow to cool, then break into chunks.

This made a batch probably about the equivalent in size of two of the boxes I would buy in the store, and I still have leftovers of all the ingredients for future batches. I have raisins, and bought some dried cranberries, but didn't include them in the mix because I figure those are things I can add in as I eat it. It's tasty, easy, better for me, and (I'm pretty sure) more economical.

I look forward to trying out making my own yogurt next! I'm also hoping to try some of the spring recipes in the Simply in Season book. The idea for this book is also probably obvious by the title, it's focusing recipes around produce that's in season. Some of the produce in season in spring that I especially enjoy are strawberries, lettuce/spinach/greens, peas, and mushrooms. Do you have any favorite recipes that highlight spring produce?

P is for Productive

2010-04-12T17:33:00.005-04:00

For the first time in a while, I had a whole weekend free! Add to that, the weather was gorgeous here in Philly so that helped put me in a good mood. And my roommate was away for part of the weekend so I even had the house to myself for a bit (I love my roommie, but every now and then it's nice to be alone.) All this added up to my being very productive, especially around the house. The things I accomplished included: dusting, organizing/filing some papers, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, laundry, cleaning off the porch and the furniture out there, planting some lettuce in a "window box" for on the porch, making some birthday cards, running 10 miles (3 on Friday, 7 on Saturday), walking to church, playing some basketball, reading for classes, and making granola. The weekend was capped off Sunday evening with chicken and potatoes cooked on the grill on our back deck. I'm thankful for times that I can get things done and feel like I accomplished something, and still do things for myself that I enjoy, and spend some time outside.

Family Fun

2010-04-08T17:37:00.005-04:00

First, before I get to anything else, (and I'm sorry I made you wait so long) the winner of my giveaway was Nen over at Living the Small Town Life. She has been doing a lot of cute sewing projects lately as well, you should check it out. Congrats, Nen! And thank you to everyone who commented, and welcome to any new readers!

I had a week off from classes for Easter, so I went home to western PA. I spent most of the time with my parents, but also went to Cleveland for a few days to visit my aunts and cousins. I got to see my cousin's band play Thursday night and then got to see Tim Barry on Friday night. I also got to spend a lot of time with my adorable 2 1/2 year old cousin.

She's holding one of her stuffed fish in the picture. Her dad is big into fishing and she carries her two fish around all over the place and will tell you that they are a "salmon" and "brook trout". She talks constantly and is probably the smartest kid ever.

Family time isn't without its moments of frustration, but I am always grateful for the time I have with them. And I am so thankful to have them in my life and to know that I am loved and supported.

I am back at seminary now for the home stretch! 5 more weeks of classes and 43 days until graduation... but who's counting? ;)

Giveaway!

2010-03-29T11:20:00.003-04:00

In celebration of my 50th post, and in a somewhat shameless effort to get more people to read my blog (hee hee), I'm having a giveaway! The winner will receive (at least) a slightly smaller version of the zippered "humbug bag" you can see a picture of in my previous post. I think these bags are good for keeping small things inside of other bags. For instance, I'm using one inside my sewing tote to keep all my little spools of thread. And I'll use another one inside my large purse to keep some of the things that are floating around the bottom. It could be good to keep a few makeup items in, or your cell phone and ipod, or whatever! I personally love the tree fabric I chose for the bags. And the inside has a contrasting fabric. So, as I said, the giveaway will include at least this bag, and probably a few other little surprises! To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is comment on this post. If you would like an extra chance to win, put a link to this post on your blog, and then make an additional comment to tell me about it. (Separate comments are best, because I will probably use a random number generator to choose the winner.) You will have until *noon on Thursday* to enter. Thanks for reading and good luck!! :)

Highlights

2010-03-16T14:31:00.004-04:00

Here's what has been happening in my life in these last few busy weeks:

Philly has had a taste of spring! All the snow is gone, and we've had a mixture of some rain and some sunny days. This has helped me get back to a running routine, to start training for the Broad Street Run in May, which is 10 miles.
I was invited back to my internship congregation to preach, and enjoyed visiting with the wonderful people there.
I learned that TWO of my seminary friends are pregnant! This is in addition to my cousin, and my high school friend. All four are due around the end of summer/beginning of fall. Congrats, ladies! You're all in my prayers!
I'm on break this week, aka "Reading Week". My intention was to be super productive, but I'm also sick, so that will come after I recover a bit more.
I have been assigned to the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA! This synod was one of my top choices, so I'm excited. I think it helps that I'm somewhat familiar with the synod and the people since I did internship there. New Jersey is all I know at this point. I will be in conversation with the Synod staff more about a potential congregation in the coming days.
I've continued to knit and sew. I've completed two more projects in my sewing class (a bag and a pillow that you can see below), and just have to put the finishing touches on another. Tomorrow is my last class, so I'm excited to see what we'll make. (Also hoping I'm feeling at least a little better by then!) Also, keep an eye out for my next post. I have extra material to make smaller versions of the zippered bag and I'm thinking that since my next post will be my 50th I should do a giveaway.

Of Mice and Muslims

2010-03-02T19:57:00.005-05:00

I spent this past weekend at Mar-Lu-Ridge, a Lutheran camp and retreat center in Maryland. Along with my friend Steven, I helped lead a retreat for confirmation aged youth on world religions. I am incredibly grateful for opportunities like this that I somehow get to be a part of. I love any chance to work with youth, and the fact that it was at a camp made it extra awesome. Teaching a group of middle-schoolers about the world's religions in one weekend was a rather daunting task, but I think we were pretty successful at giving them an overview of at least some of the major religions, especially focusing on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. One of the things we emphasized the most over the weekend was the importance of respecting others and their beliefs. I'll be honest, it was difficult to plan this curriculum so that it would be interesting and engaging, but we did our best, and even though the youth weren't as responsive in large group sessions as we would have liked, the feedback we got was good. And it was great to hear them including people of other faiths in the prayers they wrote to share at our closing worship. I think everyone that participated, from the middle school youth attending, to the high school youth who helped lead small groups, to the adult chaperones, and those of us leading, all learned something. And it gave me a chance to apply some of what I've learned from my Muslim-Christian relations class that I'm taking this semester. I could have done without the mice who wanted to hang out in my cabin, but overall, it was a great weekend!

Needling around: Part 2

2010-02-22T22:11:00.004-05:00

In addition to my new sewing projects, I am still continuing to knit and crochet. Since I haven't posted about these projects lately I thought I'd share some. I recently finished a hat for myself. I love the bulky yarn I picked for it, and it will make the hat nice and warm. However, it was a little difficult to work with, especially since it was my first project on circular and double-pointed needles. I have some yarn with colors in it that will complement the hat's color, that I plan to make a scarf and mittens from. I'm also still working on a prayer shawl I started a long time ago. It's been a long process because I keep getting bored with it and set it aside for a while, since it needs to be so large. I'm hoping to finish it within the next month though, so I'll update you with a picture once it's finished. The other picture below is of some cotton yarn I found when I was at Michael's buying some sewing supplies. I have lots of this same kind of yarn for making dishcloths, but I thought this color pattern was so pretty I had to buy it. I'm using it currently to try a crocheted dishcloth (I've always knitted them until now).

Needling around

2010-02-20T15:50:00.004-05:00

If you've been following my blog for a while, you might remember that last year I purchased a (used) sewing machine. I was very excited and had ambitions to create many things. One of these ideas I had was to make myself a khaki skirt. Someone gave me a pattern, and I bought all the materials and items needed to make the skirt. Then I looked at the pattern and didn't have a clue how to use it. Not only that, but I didn't know how to use my sewing machine either. It didn't come with a manual, but the website for the machine has instructional videos. I suppose I could've watched these videos, but I was very nervous about messing it up. So my sewing machine has been sitting very lonely and unused for several months... until now! I signed up for a beginning sewing class at a fabric store not too far from me. It wasn't cheap, but I figured it was a good investment. I had my first class last week, and now I can use my sewing machine! AND I already made my first project! We made a reversible table runner. We could choose whatever fabric pattern we wanted, so I chose some that I thought would be good for "everyday use" rather than only for holidays. I know it's not perfect, and needs to be ironed a bit more, but I'm pretty happy with it. :)

Winter blues

2010-02-13T16:31:00.004-05:00

I am definitely someone who is affected by the weather and sunshine, or lack thereof. I don't think it's quite to the point of a disorder (what's it called, seasonal affective disorder?), but how can my mood not be impacted by the mounds of snow and cold air and very little sun? Yes, I enjoyed the snow a bit, but now I'm annoyed, because I literally am limited to places I can walk to. My car isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not only has my street not been plowed, but even the more traveled streets in the area are sheets of ice. So I'm antsy. Cause I'm stuck.

Honestly, it should be to my benefit that I'm stuck, because I have some assignments left from my January class that are due later this month. But, I'm lacking motivation. Instead I'm reading for other classes, doing my taxes, knitting (working on a hat for myself, and trying to finish a prayer shawl), and, of course, blogging.

I'm also antsy because Assignment Day looms and draws ever closer. Assignment Day is the day when all those ELCA seminarians who have been approved for ordination and are entering the call process will be assigned to a Region of the country (and then a Synod). And Assignment Day is coming up on Tuesday. I really do trust the process, and I know that God will use me wherever I end up. However, this does not completely alleviate all anxiety, for me, or my classmates. It will all work out, it will. But that doesn't mean it will be easy.

Oh, the snow!

2010-02-11T14:08:00.006-05:00

Unless you live in a cave (in which case, I imagine internet access would be rather difficult), you should be aware that the Mid-Atlantic area of the country got slammed with snow in the last few days, not once, but twice. Philadelphia broke a record for the most snowfall in one winter EVER. The previous record was 65 inches. We beat that. Yeah. We have OVER THREE FEET of snow on the ground right now. (Which means that the mounds of snow where people shoveled or plowed are basically taller than me!) It's ridiculous. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it before. I recall a pretty big snowstorm back when I was in Jr. High maybe, but I think this week wins the crazy ridiculous snow award. The seminary has been closed for the second day in a row (which pretty much never happens), so I've had a lot of time to think about snow. (It's kind of hard to avoid when there's this much of it.) And in light of that, here are my likes and dislikes regarding snow...

Dislikes:
- Shoveling
- Having to put boots and snow gear on every few hours just to let the dog out
- Cancelled class = having to make up class later
- Shoveling
- Snow is apparently like crack for my dog
- Did I mention shoveling?

Likes:
- For me and my friends, snow is a good enough reason to have a party
- Spontaneous snowball fights
- Romping in the snow = calorie burn
- The dog is pretty fun to play with in the snow, even if she is crazy
- Neighbors who love to shovel
- Cancelled class = more time to get stuff done (and play in the snow)

If you can't get rid of it, you might as well enjoy it, right?

Time

2010-01-25T09:40:00.003-05:00

Time is a funny thing, isn't it? It's been on my mind a lot lately, in my daily pondering and in the class I'm taking on the lectionary and the church year. Time in the church is a strange thing because we live in this "already, not yet" kind of place, where we know Jesus has already lived, died, and raised from the dead so that we may have life. But we also live in a world of conflict and we hope for the day when God will bring about a new peaceful creation. We also celebrate these events in Jesus' life and the life of the church each year, events that have already happened, and are still happening as we live our lives and be the church. We read God's story in the Bible, but we are also part of the story. God's not done yet! The way time in the church or the church year goes also reminds us not to fall into the trap of constantly waiting for the next thing in life. I am thankful for that. I know I need to be reminded all the time to appreciate the time we're given now and take each day as a blessing, because I'm often looking forward to things coming up in the future. And then, before I know it, I blink and the days, months, years are gone.
What are you thankful for today?

Stamp of Approval

2009-12-05T13:40:00.004-05:00

I have officially been approved for ordained ministry
in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Praise God!

Comfort

2009-10-12T20:26:00.006-04:00

I must admit that the arrival of fall brings a tiny bit of disappointment for me, because oh, how I do love summer! So I briefly mourn the drop in temperatures and end of beach-going weather, and try to move on to the things I appreciate about fall... changing leaves, football season, sweaters and hoodies, hot apple cider, pumpkins, and cuddling up in a warm quilt. These are all things I've enjoyed recently and plan to continue to notice and take comfort in for the next few weeks. I have a break from classes next week and, in addition to seeing my family and friends back home, I am looking forward to the drive through the hills of central and western PA and what I'm sure will be an array of color. When my life gets stressful (as it has a tendency to do amidst seminary classes and candidacy), I try to take a moment to find comfort in these little things that bring me joy. Today, it came in a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup from Panera. This past weekend it came in a trip to an orchard with my roommate where we picked apples and a pumpkin and got some other delicious homemade goodies. As I write this in the middle of working on a sermon to preach in the seminary chapel later this week, I am also reminded of the comfort that I find in God's love for all of us and all of creation.

Life in transition

2009-09-21T09:48:00.006-04:00

I have been a total slacker with my blog lately. I think its because I'm still reflecting on where I am in my life right now. My internship has ended. I left with mixed emotions... ready to get back to the city I have come to love and the people I am sharing my seminary journey with, but sad to leave the congregation I had become so invested in. The transition from full-time ministry back to full-time classes (and reading, and writing, and reading, and lectures, and reading...) has been difficult. I admit that I am somewhat of a dork and love school and learning, but my heart is yearning to be engaged in congregational ministry once again. (Now this brings up another discussion, because I do realize that "ministry" is done in many different situations and not just inside a church building. I really do try to live my life conscious of this fact. But it has helped me realize that my call is to ministry in a parish, at least for a little while anyway. And more specifically, I still have a strong passion and calling to youth ministry.) I think thats about all I can say right now. My life encompasses this tension between joy and yearning. But, in light of the sermon I heard yesterday, I focus on being grateful for now and giving thanks to God in all things.

Busy but refreshed

2009-08-09T20:57:00.005-04:00

I've had a busy last few weeks. The most interesting things to tell about are an ecological retreat and confirmation camp. I was blessed to be part of a young adult fellowship through the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program which was an all-expenses paid retreat on an island in the Chesapeake Bay. There were about 20 of us from all over the country and from several different denominations. It was great to meet people and hear about their experiences and learn from each other. We had some interesting discussions about God and the environment and climate change and poverty. We also spent plenty of time playing outside in the marsh and the bay. We learned a lot from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. And we visited and learned about the community on Tangier Island. We worshipped together and experienced a beautiful sunrise and sunset. It was an awesome three days. Last week I got to go to the NJ Synod confirmation camp at Crossroads Outdoor Ministries. My supervising Pastor and I went along with four youth from our church. I love going to church camps and camping so I was excited to be part of the week, along with youth and other church leaders from around the state. I had a ton of fun and felt blessed to spend time with and learn from other leaders in ministry. And also to play outside and be goofy. :) Today I preached my last internship sermon, and began my last week of internship. Stay tuned!

How does your garden grow?

2009-07-02T13:31:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd give an update on my foray into gardening this year. I did have one small setback; I wasn't quite sure when to pick the spinach and it looked to me like it still had growing to do, but it turns out that it was ready to go and since I didn't pick it, it went to seed. And at that point, it was too warm to plant more. I still have half the packet of seeds left though, so I think they can be planted when it starts to cool down again. Despite the spinach screw-up, the lettuce and green beans have been going very well. I picked my SECOND batch of lettuce today, and my first batch of green beans. Because of all the rain we had in June, the tomatoes are a little slow going, but they should come eventually. I took what I thought I would use from the beans and lettuce and then shared the rest with people at the church. Here are some pictures of my crops.

Mother-Daughter Time

2009-07-01T10:31:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in quite a while, but there's not too much to update you on. I did get to go home for a week of vacation at the end of May, which was wonderful. I was able to relax and spend time with my family and friends. I actually enjoyed spending a few days in my hometown (though it's not a place I would want to move back to), and I got to spend some time at camp (Lutherlyn) with Mandy, and had my first kayaking experience (on a lake, nothing too intense). After that it was back to the grind at my internship. June was spent doing most of the regular stuff I've been doing, in addition to some activities at the church wrapping up for the summer. And now we're in the middle of Vacation Bible School, which is both a lot of work and fun. Luckily for me, my part is more fun than work. :) Now that July is here, I only have a month and a half left of my internship, so I'm working on doing all the writing that comes with the end of the year (evaluation, project report, candidacy approval essay).

I did have a nice little break this past weekend, because my mom came to visit. My dad hasn't been doing great health-wise lately, so he didn't feel up to coming. So we had some nice mother-daughter time, just the two of us. She got here Friday afternoon, and left Tuesday morning. I did have to do some work while she was here (Sunday and Monday, naturally), but I was holding down the fort last week while my supervisor was on vacation, so he let me go a little light on the work while she was here. We mostly relaxed, went out to eat a couple times, and went to the beach. June was a rather rainy month here at the shore, so over the weekend was actually the first time the weather was consistently nice and I could actually go to the beach. It was pretty nice almost the whole time she was here (and now today the rain is back). I'm glad we got some good beach time in, and I'm sure my mom was too. And I'm glad she made the long drive out here so we could spend some time together.

Gettin' Dirty

2009-05-16T11:15:00.007-04:00

I apologize that I haven't posted in a while. I honestly haven't had much to write about that I thought would be interesting to read.

This is a picture of the raised garden beds that are now part of my internship church's property. It's very exciting. :) Church members can use the beds for growing vegetables, and whatever is leftover or not wanted will be given out with other items from our food pantry.

I have never gardened before. We had ample yard space where I grew up, but apparently my parents weren't into it. I was always kind of fascinated by gardening, and thought people who did it were cool, but never really had a desire to try it myself... until this year. I think my Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart Living magazines pushed me over the edge with their articles on gardening in your back yard. So I decided to try it, and with the raised beds there for use, I finally got my hands dirty last weekend and planted some green beans, lettuce, and spinach. I was going to plant some tomatoes also, but someone else already planted several, so I didn't think it was necessary to plant more. And now I just wait and see if anything actually grows!

(Sadie enjoying the sun while I was planting.)

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T18:43:00.001-04:00

Philly Phun

2009-04-20T16:32:00.004-04:00

I had a refreshing weekend visiting friends in Philly. After a heavy Holy Week, I decided I needed a mini-break, since I'm not going home for a long vacation until the end of May. So I took a few days and headed "home" to the beautiful area of Philly that the seminary is located in. I stayed at a friend's house, slept in and relaxed, wandered around the shops in the area (including Ten Thousand Villages and a local yarn store), ran on my favorite trail, got some fabulous deals at the seminary bookstore, played bocce ball (for the first time ever, and discovered I'm pretty good), and went to a Phillies game. The weather was gorgeous and was the icing on the cake of a lot of fun with friends.

He is risen!

2009-04-14T17:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter (and spring) to all! Christ is risen! Alleluia!

This was my first time really experiencing Holy Week as someone in pastoral ministry. When I worked as a youth director I didn't really have any extra responsibilities during Holy Week so I was still able to reflect and worship as I had every other year. This year was a little different. But I was determined to still be able to observe Holy Week and worship as I usually would as much as possible. It was a little difficult, because I did have to preach on Maundy Thursday and had many other responsibilities for worship leadership. I knew I would likely be putting in more than 40 hours, so I made sure to take time for myself, and worked a little less during time slots I normally would, because of all the extra time at church toward the end of the week. I think I was pretty successful at performing my leadership tasks and still being able to reflect on the meaning of the days and worship. I hope, whether you had tasks to do or not, that you were able to do the same!

Domestic Diva

2009-03-23T20:45:00.005-04:00

This is totally who I've been lately. I've recently baked a banana bread and brownies, and also made a veggie lasagna when I had friends over for dinner the other day. It was my first lasagna, and turned out well. I'm proud of myself. :) My knitting has been going well too, I've made two more hats for little ones and my first set of mittens. I've also made some more dishcloths, including a round one, which I think looks pretty cool (thanks Katy)! I finally made something for myself too. I crocheted a hat from a video I found online, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Some suggestions

2009-03-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

I apologize, I haven't been posting as often as I would like lately. Things have gotten quite busy with the internship (not necessarily a bad thing), and I've been knitting up a storm, as well as starting some spring cleaning. That basically sums up my life over the past few weeks. I would like to share some things with you that have I experienced recently and/or just want to tell people about.

Slumdog Millionaire -- everyone should see this movie. I actually saw it about a week or two before the Oscars, and was thrilled to see it win so many awards. It was definitely deserving. I can't totally relate to you the way the movie touched me, as someone who has been to India. It's intense, don't let the commercials fool you. Yes, there is a beautiful love story that flows through the movie, but it's a lot more than that.

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin -- I'm actually a little behind on this one as the book was published in 2006, and it has been on the NY Times Bestseller list since then. It's nonfiction and tells the story of Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber, and his mission to build schools (and access to water and medicine) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's fascinating, gives an important perspective on war-torn parts of the world, and renewed my hope that people can make a difference in the world.

Getting tips for living "green" -- most people who know me, know that caring for creation is something I'm passionate about, and something I believe God has given us responsibility for. Though I *may* know more than the average person about being "green", I definitely still have a lot to learn. I have been signed up for several email newsletters for a while now that I'll share with you all in case you'd like to get some tips too.
Green America and Sierra Club are organizations you can join, but you don't have to join to sign up for their e-newsletters, which come about once a week and include tips, info on green companies, action alerts, interviews, editorials, etc. Ideal Bite sends you a daily email with tips for green living.
(These are just a few sites/organizations I know about. Feel free to ask if you want some more... my list of "green" links is the longest of all the sites that I have bookmarked!)

Nor'easter

2009-03-02T11:34:00.008-05:00

Ok, now I totally regret any teasing or smug thoughts I may have sent in the direction of my family and friends in more snow-laden areas of the country. Because I know there is currently NO snow on the ground in my hometown in western PA, but there is somewhere around TEN inches of snow on the ground here at the Jersey shore. RIDICULOUS! It seems like the whole state of New Jersey is pretty much shut down today. Schools and such are closed, and there is nobody in at the church, so theoretically that means I should be able to play and enjoy the snow day. However, I have a lot of work that needs to be done, and much of it is stuff that can be done at home. I'm not going to let it ruin my chance for fun though. I've had a fairly productive morning, so if I keep it up for a while longer, I think I will venture outside to play in the snow with Sadie this afternoon. As you can see from the picture, she's already been romping around in it a little. It took some coaxing to get her out the door, considering the snow is literally piled up to the door, but after she took her first few tentative steps she realized it wasn't going to hurt her and she seemed to enjoy it. Or at least I enjoyed watching her!

My first hat

2009-02-19T18:26:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I finished knitting my first hat! I did a very basic pattern, and one that didn't require my using any special double pointed or circular needles... someday I'll graduate to those! ;) Even though it was fairly simple, I'm pretty proud of myself. I can finally make more than just scarves and dishcloths! I made the hat for my little cousin, to match the scarf I just made her, and both are pink. And I actually just learned some basic crochet stitches the other day, so I found a video online that shows you how to crochet flowers, and after some trial and error, I made a cute little pink flower and attached it to the hat. I think it adds a nice little touch.

Who am I?

2009-02-16T20:55:00.004-05:00

This is a picture of my newly purchased sewing machine! I've been thinking about getting one for a little while, and I went searching on craigslist the other day, and found a great deal! I haven't tried using it yet, because I don't really have any patterns to use or even any fabric to practice on, but I have all kinds of ideas for future projects buzzing around in my brain. I have to admit that I am a little intimidated because I don't think I've used a sewing machine since home ec class in 8th grade, which was a LONG time ago! But I'm definitely excited to try. And my title for this post was chosen because all these crafty things I've been jumping into lately have made me question who I am anymore. I've been scrapbooking for about 5 years now, but until recently that was really the only crafty or creative thing I did (besides music). And now I'm knitting, and have been baking a little, and soon plan to learn crocheting (I've been told its easier than knitting), and will hopefully be sewing! It's crazy... but it makes me happy.

Word to MY mother... and father

2009-02-12T15:16:00.004-05:00

The title of this post is in recognition of the fact that I am a child of the 80's (and can still remember almost all the words to "Ice Ice Baby") and I wanted to give a shout out (respect) to my parents. (According to urbandictionary.com "word to your mother" as a phrase can mean both "I agree with you" or "I give respect to your mother/motherland".) Anyway, my parents pretty much rock. In the past few weeks I have received three packages from them containing various Steelers-related items (a new Terrible Towel, a copy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from the day after the Super Bowl and a Super Bowl Champions t-shirt). I also received two Valentines Day cards from them (one from both, one just from my mom... it's a mother-daughter thing, we always try to make each other cry, haha). Generally I avoid recognition of Valentines Day (or as I like to call it: Single Awareness Day), but it's ALWAYS nice to be reminded that my parents love me. Now don't get me wrong, I don't just appreciate when they send me stuff. I just wanted to acknowledge my appreciation because I know they're not rollin' in the dough. I know that I would not be who I am and where I am today without the love and support of my parents. My relationship with them isn't without its flaws and arguments, but I am blessed to have them in my life. My mom is probably the most selfless person I know and my dad has taught me the value of hard work. (I know you'll read this mom, so thank you - and dad too - for always being there for me and for everything you've done for me. I love you!) Ok, now on to other stuff, before I start to cry!

On an unrelated note: my friend Katy is having a giveaway on her blog of some dishcloths she knitted. All you have to do is comment on the post to have a chance to win. She loves reading comments. :) And while we're at it, I would love it if people would comment on my posts too! It doesn't have to necessarily be related to what I wrote, it would just be nice to see who is stopping by. Thank you to those of you who already do leave comments, and especially to all the wonderful welcomes from the RevGalBlogPals ladies!

I heart youth ministry

2009-02-11T13:33:00.004-05:00

Each week I am more convinced that my call involves ministry to youth in some way. I definitely still feel called to ordained ministry, and have had some meaningful experiences lately with older adults. But many of these everyday parish ministry experiences don't quite fill me the way working with youth does. I also realize that ministry is a lot about serving and giving of oneself, but if you're not also filling/energizing yourself with something you love, eventually there will be nothing left to give.
Youth are full of energy and I can't help but let it affect me when I'm around them. I can be my goofy self around youth and they might think I'm a little weird, but its ok, because they will still accept me and not be concerned about whether a pastor-in-training should be acting silly. Plus I think sometimes if they see an adult acting silly it gives them permission to do so as well and to let their guard down. Adolescence is hard (I definitely remember my own and I would NOT want to go through that again!) and I believe that youth need to hear that God loves them and we love them just the way they are. I also think its important to advocate for them. I've found myself in a few conversations among adults lately that were making disparaging comments about youth and I lovingly suggested that maybe they didn't have all their facts straight. Even when I get frustrated with them (like last night at Confirmation class when they were especially ornery), its hard to stay that way, because I absolutely love the youth of my internship congregation. And I LOVE youth ministry.

From snow to sun, and back again!

2009-02-03T09:37:00.009-05:00

Following the cold, gray days of last week, we finally had some great weather on Sunday and Monday. Here at the shore it was sunny and in the 50's! I took advantage of the unusual warmth and spent some time outside taking Sadie for a walk and playing catch with her, and breaking out my shorts to go for a run. I think the weather had both of us a little amped up. I'm looking forward to consistently warmer days so I can get back to a regular running schedule (I don't typically run when its in the 30's or less... not a fan of the cold). In the meantime, I've been doing a workout video three days a week. Its by the trainer Jillian from the tv show The Biggest Loser. She's scary on that show and I figured it would motivate me to have her yelling at me. It's going ok so far. I lost a few pounds pretty quickly at the beginning but haven't lost any more since then (I've been using it for about a month now), but I'm hoping that's at least partly because it doesn't just do cardio but also strength training so I'm building muscle. It has three levels of workouts and I'm on level 2. It's hard enough that I'm afraid to see what level 3 will be like, but curiosity may get the better of me one of these days soon.
I knew that warm weather wouldn't last, and today I woke up to snow flurries. There's just a light dusting on the ground right now, but its supposed to snow most of the day so they're predicting up to 4 inches. We'll see what happens. Luckily, I don't have anything scheduled that requires me to drive anywhere today (living next to the church is convenient at times like this). Now those in ministry will know that doesn't meant something can't come up, but at this point I should be able to spend most of the day planning, etc. and working on my mid-year evaluation. We're also doing a baptism today (yay!) for an adult who works on weekends and therefore can't attend Sunday worship.
Other than work today, I'll probably continue working on my two current knitting projects. I'm almost done with a dishcloth, and I'm also working on a scarf for my little cousin. I recently finished the scarf for my mom, so I plan to send that to her this week. (Do you notice a pattern here? At this point in my knitting, I only know how to make scarves and dishcloths!) I also did end up making those cookies last week. It was a mix that came with everything layered in one jar and all I had to add was butter and an egg. They're pretty crazy cookies, cause they have just about everything in them (mini M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and chopped walnuts), but they're delicious! I also did some scrapbooking with my outside-of-the-church group last night. I'm working on some Christmas layouts, I'll post pictures of them when I've done more later.
Here are pictures of the scarf for my mom, and the crazy cookies!

And oh yeah...

GO STEELERS!!!
Six-time Super Bowl Champs! :)

Snow business

2009-01-28T11:43:00.007-05:00

Well, whaddya know, it actually does snow at the Jersey shore! This picture was actually taken about a week or two ago, during some flurries. We got about a whopping two whole inches! Now, please excuse my snarkyness, because I have to admit, that until the point when we got those few inches, I was a little sad that I was living in a winter with absolutely NO snow whatsoever. I have become less and less a fan of snow each year that I get older, so I was surprised to realize that I was actually missing it a little. So, I was both happy to see a little snow and thankful that we have not had near the amounts of snow that other parts of the country do, including my home of western PA.

Now this picture is representative of what I'm currently looking at outside my window. Gross. After a warm spell last week all the snow had melted. For the past few days though, we've been back to freezing cold. (Again, thankful that its not as cold as other places!) This has been compounded by my heater not working as properly as it should. And then last night we apparently got another inch or two of snow, which then switched to freezing rain, and has now made the transition to rain, so we have a lovely covering of icy snowy slush. I repeat: gross. All this cold, grey weather for the past few days has made me want to stay inside and snuggle up in blankets and watch tv and sleep. Of course, I do have to work, so its not possible to do this all day (which is probably a good thing), but my evenings have been rather unproductive and consistent with these feelings. I'm determined to not let it get the better of me all week though! So today, as I'm working, I'm also getting other things accomplished like laundry, AND if I can get the few ingredients I need, I might actually bake some cookies! Stay tuned...

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

2009-01-18T23:22:00.004-05:00

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl!!

Ministry Musings

2009-01-15T21:33:00.005-05:00

Life has been rather busy in 2009 so far. I'm leading a small group study in the congregation this month on caring for creation, called "Awakening to God's Call to Earthkeeping". As far as I can remember, this is the first Bible study or class I have ever led with adults. All my previous leading/teaching experience has been with children and youth. It's going pretty well so far. We've had a lot of good discussion and I've been excited to learn how many people in the congregation do believe that caring for creation is important and part of our responsibility as people of faith. I also included this idea in my sermon this past Sunday, because the first reading was from the beginning of Genesis. I got good responses on this too (at least from those who did sermon response forms). I hope this open-mindedness carries through the rest of my time here and my efforts to help the congregation assimilate creation care into its every day life.
I also had another "first" last week. I presided at my first funeral alone. I've helped my supervising Pastor with four other funerals since I've started my internship, but I had to do this one all by myself. And it was for a family that I had not previously met, though they were "members" of the church. They requested a simple ceremony. I did what I could. It was humbling.
I had a random moment of "epiphany" last month. I had a sudden moment when I realized I was finally feeling comfortable in my internship congregation. It was a good moment. I was worried that it took too long, but other people "in ministry" that I talked to about it said that it was normal, so that made me feel better. Now don't get me wrong, there are still times when I struggle and feel uncomfortable, and I probably always will, I think that comes with the "call". But I'm feeling more like myself.

New Year, New York and (K)nitting

2009-01-01T22:28:00.011-05:00

Happy New Year! May God bless you in 2009!

I've been enjoying some time off from my internship. After helping with three Christmas Eve services, I drove from NJ to western PA early Christmas morning. I've spent a week at home at my parents, mostly relaxing, hanging out with family and friends, reading, knitting, and eating more goodies than I should (but, hey, it's the holidays).

This is a picture of one of the dishcloths I knitted my mom for Christmas (thanks, Katy, for the pattern). I decided to make her two of these, since I knew I wouldn't be getting a scarf done for her by Christmas. I am currently working on her scarf though, and hoping to finish up within the next week or two (I don't get all that much time during the day to knit) and then I'll mail it to her. I also bought yarn to make a Steelers-colored scarf for my dad.

This is the first knitting project I ever finished. It's a scarf that I made for my friend Mandy. I worked on it frantically in order to finish it before she came to visit me in Jersey the weekend before Christmas.

Mandy had to make quite the trek out from western PA so I was really grateful for her visit. We had a great time, even though most of the time we just hung around. On Saturday though, we did head up to New York City! Even though it was really cold that day we enjoyed walking around and seeing the sites like the Empire State Building, Macy's, Saks, Radio City Music Hall, St Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square. We also got reduced-price tickets to see the musical Spring Awakening!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I know my vacation has gone by way too fast. I will soon be heading back to Jersey and back to the busy intern life. Amongst the busy-ness of ministry, I will try to update my blog as often as I can.

Crafty Creations

2008-12-12T20:27:00.011-05:00

I found some ladies in my area to scrapbook with, which has been really great because it's something to do with non-church people (and by that I just mean people who aren't members of my internship congregation), and it's got me scrapping again. I'm several years behind in my scrapbooking, because I haven't had time to do it regularly since I started seminary. So hopefully I can make some progress this year. The following pictures are two of the layouts I made recently.
I have also continued my knitting. I'm making a lot of progress now. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures yet of what I'm making because I'm giving them as Christmas gifts to people who might read this blog. ;) I'll take pictures of my finished products and post them after they're been received as gifts.