Happy Earth Day!

Philly Phun

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!

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

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

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

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

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.