Fist-pump for Jersey

While I might always consider myself a PA girl (and more specifically a 'burgh girl) at heart, I do call Jersey my home now, and I want to explore what it has to offer. So I made goal #3: go someplace I've never been IN New Jersey. This year I've spent some time in three towns/cities I hadn't previously visited. I'll start up north and head south.

Hoboken

In August, to celebrate our birthdays, my friend Dana and I got tickets to a Mumford & Sons concert. They're my favorite band and it was an AMAZING show. The concert was in a park in Hoboken, which was a great venue and meant we could get pretty close because we were there early. We spent some time earlier in the day checking out Hoboken, although rain kept us inside more than I would've liked.

 

Wildwood

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but also in August, I drove down the shore to the Installation service of a fellow LTSP grad and new colleague. After the service and reception, I enjoyed the beautiful evening and a stroll on the boardwalk. 

 

Cape May

 

And finally, in August (are you seeing a pattern here?) the South Jersey Area Wind Ensemble had a concert in the brand-spanking-new Cape May Convention Hall. I went down a few hours early to walk around town and get something to eat. It was a very cute town and I had a delicious meal at an organic and fair-trade cafe'. And the concert went very well.

TGIF?

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.

How I Spent My August

+ 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.

Seriously?

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

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. :)

Settling in

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

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!

Mother-Daughter Time

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.

Welcome to the Jersey Shore!

I have internet access in my house. FINALLY. This means that I can share some pictures of my new place with those of you who haven't seen it yet. The house is right next to the church I'm serving for my internship. It previously housed offices for an NJ social services organization, and was completely gutted and renovated, and also received an addition. Now half of the building is my residence (kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, basement) and the other half is church/public space (two large meeting rooms, restrooms, kitchenette, food pantry, and storage), with a sunroom/breezeway/small meeting space connecting the two halves. The house was completely furnished and decorated with all new items, as well as a fully stocked kitchen and other household items such as towels, sheets, and cleaning supplies.

The people have been very welcoming and helpful. The community the church is in is small, but nice. It has a population of only about 8,000. But Toms River is right next door, which is a pretty large area, and Ocean County is the fastest growing county in NJ. AND I can be at the ocean in just 15 minutes! In my opinion, that's the best part. ;) I've already made it to the beach a few times. Sadie and I have been settling in nicely, and enjoy walking through the neighborhood on a nice path not too far from the house.

Enjoy the pictures... in my next post I'll share about my birthday surprise. :)