We're camping

This past weekend was our District Youth Retreat at the beach. We had a great time camping, and had the perfect weather for it (quite sunny and warm, perhaps a little chillier at night than we would like). Simon thoroughly enjoyed all the attention he received, and it was helpful to me to have many willing entertainers for him :)

I had my first experience with meal planning and execution for over 30 people!! Jesse and I planned the food together, I made a shopping list on Coles Online, and we took said shopping list to Aldi. This accomplished a couple of things; we knew what amounts we wanted of everything, and we also knew how much we were saving by shopping at Aldi (for the record, $330 worth of groceries at Coles cost us $200 at Aldi!). We underestimated the amount of milk necessary (well, I think I technically underestimated the ability of teenage boys to drown their cereal in milk) and overestimated the amount of greens/salad necessary (yeah, should have thought that through). Also overestimated was the ratio of chips/cookies to sandwiches people wanted to eat; we had to ration the seconds. In the end, we had to buy more sausages and milk, and a few more drinks on the Saturday, but I don't think anyone went hungry.

Growing up, we always went to our District Family Camp at Chambers Camp near Corning, NY. We had a campsite right next to our good friends, and whether it was trailer-camping or tent-camping, had a great time. We have photos of my birthday at family camp, all 6 of us kids "napping" on a blanket in the shade, and siblings receiving "baths" in plastic buckets of some variety. Whenever someone would complain, or realize something had been left at home, our moms would sing a little song that went something like this, "We're camping, we're camping, we're ca-amping."

In the midst of all the various food situations this last weekend, I only wished I'd remembered that little song. The teens probably would have thought I was crazy (they'd be right), but having a little song to sing when things aren't going just right can provide a fresh dose of perspective, or at least lighten the situation a bit.

is it really April?

Well, March wasn't exactly "in like a lion and out like a lamb" at our house. Weather notwithstanding, it was more like "a lion in a decathalon of some sort" with church events, baby classes, hospital checkups, and work. (Ok, that was lame, but I tried. Moving on.)

We had the opportunity to go to a Newcastle Knights (rugby league) game with tickets from work, which included dinner in the corporate suite and some pretty good seats. That was cool; I've missed going to Amerks and Red Wings games like I used to with Deloitte. Jesse had a decent understanding of the game, and we sorted the rest out together. It wasn't quite as amusing as the time Laura and I went to a Knighthawks (lacrosse) game in Rochester, and affectionately dubbed the sport "baskesocckey" as we attempted to decipher the rules, but it was still a good time. I did get a bit stiff with my ever-heavier body in the plastic chair, but was able to put my feet up for the second half of the game, which we watched from the box.

I'm not sure if it was in March or late February, but we've encountered a previously unanticipated benefit of pastoring a country-ish church: a family in our church "came into some beef" and we have been enjoying some of the most tender steaks I've ever had since then. (Well, steak, and a roast, and some ground beef too :) Our little freezer, at one point, was full of meat. We've been alternating with chicken and experimenting some with marinades to keep things exciting, and Jesse is becoming an expert at grilling the steaks. He also made chicken parmigiana this week when I missed the train coming home from work and we had guests coming over for dinner. That turned out very good; recent experiments of mine (including satay chicken and a peach-chicken dish I didn't fully think through ahead of time) have been less successful. Edible, but less successful.

The last week of February, we attended the National Pastors' Conference in Tweed Heads (on the border of NSW and QLD). It was my first time into Queensland (unless you count the Brisbane airport), as our hotel was technically in NSW but across the street from Queensland. We had a great room with a beautiful view of the water, and I got to catch up with a high school friend who is pastoring a church in Perth with her husband. Who would have thought that Fillmore grads would find each other on the other side of the world? Anyway, that was a good trip. We took our time coming home and spent a couple of days in Port Macquarie, where we had the pleasure of wallabies playing in the backyard of our rented cabin/house.

The conference fun didn't end there, though. The first weekend in March was our District Women's Retreat, in a retreat center on Lake Macquarie. It was fun to get to know some other women from around the state, and hang out with a friend and her two-week-old baby.

I only have 3 weeks left of work (actually, it's only 12 work days, with one holiday and two Fridays off) before it's time to come home and wait for baby! We got a lot done yesterday in preparation for his/her arrival, and there's still more to do. I've been reading up on childhood vaccinations and have been trying to formulate a plan for those. I don't mean to make anyone nervous; we are planning on our child receiving all the recommended vaccines, perhaps slightly delayed from the planned schedule. What I'm struggling with at the moment is why my newborn baby needs a Hepatitis B shot. I haven't found anything that compels me to believe this is critical for a newborn, other than that it was the easiest way to make sure everyone is immunized against it. If anyone has an idea on this, I'm all ears.

And so all of this brings us to nearly the middle of April, with just over 5 weeks to go (give or take) until the baby's room is occupied. Crazy!

July: poof

Where has July gone? It was a busy month at work and church, that's for sure. It began with a celebration of my 26th birthday, which started with "presents in bed" (a few dvd's, books, and nice warm slippers from Jesse), ended with a friend's exhibit opening, Mexican food, and watching one of said dvd's, with "afternoon tea" at work in the middle. They were going to make me a sugar-free cake, but the woman who would've made it was sick, so they bought a spinach quiche and stuck candles in it. I think, along with the list I maintain of "places I've spent my birthday" I may make note of this unique "cake-replacement". :)

Friends came up to help celebrate the Saturday after my birthday, which turned out to be day 2 of the worst flu I remember having. I still participated in the "birthday game" (pinata) Jesse had so proudly put together. We have some great photos of our friends' poor daughter, distraught after her daddy knocked the pinata down from its hanging place on our clothesline. And also some great photos of Jesse decapitating the pinata. Its head currently rests on our mantle in triumph. (Said friends gave me a great tv series, called "Lost in Austen", for my birthday, about a woman who gets caught up in Pride and Prejudice. I loved it.)

The rest of the month saw year-end stuff at work for me, a work bee at church, the church annual meeting, a celebration of life at the passing of a young member of our congregation, and the start of a new/revived prayer ministry.

In reading news, I read My Seventh Monsoon by Naomi Reed, about time she and her family spent in Nepal, and loved it. I may post some quotes on my profile; she has an acute sense of the seasons of our lives, and had a lot to say about transition that meant a lot to me. I'm currently reading Jesse's copy of The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of writings by Douglas Adams. Of course, he's quite clever and funny, but it's also given me an interesting perspective on his atheism and how he, for lack of a better term, "wore" that.

All of this brings us to August. At the outset, it doesn't appear to be quite as packed as July, but we will see.

one man's trash is another man's clutter

So, visit with family = good. Took them around, they took lots of photos, they helped out a lot with projects we'd been meaning to get to around the house (or, more accurately, projects we'd been hoping they'd help with... yeah). It's good to have family around. As an added bonus, we are now experienced tour guides, and have a better idea of where to send/take visitors. (Your package will include, but is not limited to, a day in Sydney walking around the Circular Quay, a visit to a quaint country petting zoo with Aussie animals, a minimum of one Australian barbeque with a REAL Aussie family, and the opportunity to make us feel like we have friends.)

Today, we had a garage sale for the youth to raise money for camp in a few weeks. We actually did reasonably well - we earned more money than I had expected we would. The kids and adults from the church worked well together in putting it on, which was cool. As I looked through the hall at the massive amounts of stuff, I couldn't believe the sheer volume. But people came by and found treasures; toys, vases, books, clothes. And our teens who helped should have their camp trips mostly paid for.

After napping off the exhaustion of this morning, Jesse and I are awaiting our Saturday night Pizza Hut pizza. I think we will be on a first-name basis with the delivery girl very soon. I get deep dish pepperoni, he gets thin crust cheese, and we watch movies and/or Aussie Rules on tv. (Aussie Rules = Aussie Rules football, known as footy in Victoria, but not here, where footy refers to Rugby League.)

rain, lawnmowers, and other stuff

This afternoon, Jesse and I decided to take a walk around Maitland. Festivities from the Steamfest (think steam engine festival; at one point this weekend, I commented, "it sounds like there's a steam engine coming down our street." I was not incorrect.) were finishing up, people getting ready to go home. We walked over to the park and just sort of wandered, until we decided to head back toward High Street and potentially the video shop. It started to sprinkle, and then rain. There was the most beautiful rainbow across the sky, over the train tracks and the highway. We were soaked by the time we got home (I nixed walking all the way to the video store), but it was great to see the rainbow, and even great to get a little wet. We changed, made a list, and went grocery shopping, and right after we returned, there was another downpour. While I enjoyed the first experience, I was grateful to be home and dry.

Yesterday, we decided to buy a lawnmower. We had thought a weedwhacker (whipper snipper for you Aussies) might do the trick, since our lawn is so small, but it didn't really cut it. We headed to Bunnings and purchased the recommended electric lawnmower. We arrived home, I helped Jesse to get it out of the box, and then curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book. He took it outside, worked on getting it all plugged in, and then realized that the prong on the mower plug was bent. He tried to bend it back, and it seemed to crack. Great. Back to Bunnings we went, mower, folded-up box, and receipt in tow. They took a look at it, and told us we could go grab another one. No luck. They bent the prong back itself (apparently, it hadn't broken when Jesse bent it... even though we saw a crack there, it had to do with something else), tested the mower, and deemed it workable. So, back to the house we went (leaving the box with them). He headed outdoors once again to tackle the lawn. I heard clicking noises, but no mower. I found the owner's manual just as Jesse came in looking for it. He went back outside. I sat inside praying it would start. I have never been so happy to hear the whirring of a lawnmower! Not only did he cut the lawn, but took a saw to a few large weeds/shrubs/trees growing in front of and behind the house. Yay!

Jesse had a great visit at Coffs Harbour last week, and returned bearing many carob goods for me! I've been munching on some carob-covered popcorn while I wait for dinner (I'm a terrible pre-dinner snacker) and enjoying it immensely. He is now in the kitchen, making a new batch of salsa. His favorite foods to prepare are salsa and breakfast potatoes, with the related "McSkillet Burritos" (apologies to Macca's) coming in a close 3rd, I think. He's learned his lesson with chopping the hot peppers, though, and has commandeered a pair of my dishwashing gloves to prevent eye-burning on removal of his contacts.

I've continued doing some family history research on Jesse's side, and have enjoyed finding various relatives and learning more about the stories of those in his ancestry. Families and names have always fascinated me, and since Dad and I had done some research on our lineage, I've found it interesting to dig into Jesse's a bit. One thing's for sure: it would be a lot easier if he weren't a 3rd generation only child on one side, since then there would potentially be other people out there looking for the same answers as me. But it's been an enjoyable hobby.

Speaking of hobbies, we had our second craft day at church, and it was pretty well attended. I enjoyed scrapbooking some of the Christmas photos and birth announcements I've received from friends and family. Our scrapbookers have ranged in age from 6-60's, so it's been fun to have an intergenerational feel to it. We may learn flower arranging in June, which could be cool.

That's all I've got for now. There are some enchiladas that need to be eaten!

Happy Easter!

I am quite excited to celebrate Easter this year. We've been thinking a lot about what it means to fast, what the purpose is of the Lenten fast in particular, and how the practice of fasting shapes who we are. (For those who don't know, Jesse and I gave up meat for Lent this year.) The first week, for me, was by far the hardest. I just wanted meat. I felt drained of energy and extra-irritable. Jesse was preaching through Numbers, and we found ourselves crying out for meat along with the Israelites, complaining of the taste of the vegetarian food we were preparing, and ultimately, humbled to find ourselves in their proverbial shoes. I think I like to look at the Old Testament Jews as "the ones who didn't get it," who seemed never to make the connection between ritual and meaning, between requirements and relationships, between God's provision and their needs. And yet - there I was, too. Humbling.

Another thought on this year's Lenten fast: my devotional life. With my energy largely gone (I have much more respect for vegetarians now; it was hard work to ensure I got enough protein without relying solely on eggs!), my devotional life took a back burner to everything else. I needed more sleep, and so devotions went from 15 minutes to 10 to 5 to "I should..." without anything actually happening. It makes me think of a funny list on KLP's door at Houghton, which took Hymn titles and adapated them to be the way we tend to think of things: "Sweet [5 minutes] of Prayer". Ironic, that a Lenten discipline seemed to take me further away from where I wanted to be: identifying with Christ. Showing myself faithful while going without, just as he did.

So what's the answer: have I done an appropriate fast? If it drove me away from a devotional life for this time, is it in any way redemptive? Perhaps. I think I came face to face with my own weaknesses and humanity through Lent. While giving up meat seems to pale in comparison to the sufferings of Christ, I have a new appreciation for His faithfulness after fasting in the desert. As we celebrate Easter today, I'm setting up some new boundaries in my life to protect the devotional/prayer time. Having come face-to-face with some of the worst of myself, I have a renewed appreciation for Christ's faithfulness, and a desire to follow in His steps.

He is risen!

a Friday night

If I told you I spent Friday evening in the company of some friends and some strangers, in a blacklit room smelling of BO, where would you think I spent it?

You guessed it - laser tag with the youth group. Lucky for me (and for the chance that I will ever play again), we played two rounds. The first round, I was completely hopeless. I kept forgetting to put my left hand on my gun, and was therefore frustrated when the gun wouldn't shoot. By the last few minutes, I'd finally realized this (even though we'd been told beforehand) and was starting to get the hang of it. The second round, I tagged along with Jesse, covering each other, and even shot one of the bases (although apparently not enough times to get the points... rookie mistake :) We then defended a small stretch of the upstairs with the other youth leaders. That round - where I felt more competent and remembered to hold my gun correctly - was a lot more fun.

As for everything else - it goes! We are very excited for Easter in just over a week. It will be nice to have a long weekend and a chance to celebrate. Mom's Easter package arrived this week, including a 'Reeseter Bunny' for Jesse and sugar-free peeps for me. I was ecstatic; peeps were my favorite, and I haven't been able to eat them for the past 4 Easters. (For the uninitiated, wikipedia on peeps.)

Now we're enjoying watching AFL on our new-to-us tv, which is sitting in our new-to-us tv cabinet, courtesy of friends who were remodeling. We should be going to bed... but it's fun to pretend we're not old and boring.

a time to socialize

Since my last, semi-defeated job hunt post, I've found a couple more opportunities, which I've applied for.  We'll see what comes of those.  In weather news, it was hot today, but not crazy hot, and I was able to get two loads of laundry done.  Scintillating stuff, I know.

Friday afternoon, Jesse took me out to lunch and to see Bride Wars.  He's well aware that a movie is, in some ways, a "quick trip home," even if I never lived in NYC.  For a chick flick, it had some good character development, and wasn't completely predictable.  It provided the entertainment I desired, and it was nice to have a surprise date.  In the evening, we had the first youth group of the year, which went quite well.  Saturday, after a day of tidying up the house and relaxing, we went bowling with the young adults, plus some of their friends.  I didn't do too badly; but anyone who's ever seen me bowl knows that I didn't break any records either :)

Sunday night, we headed to Sydney and had a great time hanging out, talking, watching cricket and tennis with our gracious hosts.  Monday morning, we had a Super Bowl party with friends of a friend, which was cool - the Aussie commentators were quite interesting, as was watching our poor host (a Cardinals fan) suffer through the game.  We had pizza and snacks, but not nearly to the magnitude of Super Bowl parties past.  It's hard to eat that much when the game starts just after 10am!  After the game, we drove back home, then to a family's house for dinner and a lot of laughter. 

It's been nice to spend so many days in the company of other people.  On the way to dinner last night, I saw my first wild kangaroos; I'd seen several at the Melbourne Zoo, but never any in the wild.  That was an exciting milestone.

This evening, I'm taking a break at home.  Jesse's playing soccer, and I'm looking forward to a quiet evening of tv, laundry, and possibly some scrapbooking.  I realize that I'm typically home, and you'd think I would jump at the chance to get out of the house.  While that may be true, it's in the cool of the evening that I can actually feel motivated to  get things done - fun or otherwise - so it's nice to have the option now and then. 

Heat, Celebrations, and Antics

This weekend was quite full.  Friday, Jesse and I left in the morning for Sydney, where we met up with friends to attend a one-day cricket match.  Once we arrived at "the cricket" (as it is referred to here), we were in the sun pretty much from 2pm until it went down, gloriously, around 8pm.  I have never been so hot in my life!  But Jesse had a great time, and I enjoyed watching it, during those brief moments when the sun went behind a cloud, or during the cool of the evening once the sun had set.  There was what appeared to be 2 families sitting in the row in front of us, with about 5 boys and 1 girl in total, ranging in age from about 4 to about 9, all dressed in Aussie jerseys and hats, waving flags and shouting things like "shot!" and "that was well fielded!" There is something incredibly charming about little children with an Aussie accent, particularly when it involves a phrase like "well fielded."  We had a lovely 20-30 minute walk in the cool evening back to Sydney Central to catch a bus back to our friends' house.  Great day.

Saturday, we got up quite early (for us) to head back to Maitland.  An elderly woman in the congregation had passed away this week, and Jesse was presiding over the funeral.  We arrived at our house in time to meet with her cousin, go over some last-minute service adjustments, scrub the temporary tattoos ("Go Aussie Go" and "Australia") off of our faces, and head to church.  The funeral was a great tribute to her life, and many folks hung around for the morning tea afterward to discuss remembrances and enjoy each other's company.  

It's interesting to contemplate grief, and how we honor the memory of our loved ones.  I may have blogged about this story in the past, but it comes to mind again.  I remember when we were putting together the services for my great-aunt Lois a couple of years ago, which included a handbell choir piece to honor her love of the handbells.  I was standing next to my sister as we practiced before the service, and it must have been particularly warm, or I was particularly nervous, or something.  At any rate, I rang one bell with unusual gusto, and it slipped from my hand.  I panicked, reached out, and caught the bell just in time to ring it again (and, honestly, to prevent damage to the bell and its surroundings).  My sister and I dissolved into laughter.  My grandmother commented that it was just such a moment that Aunt Lois would have enjoyed.  In that crazy moment, we honored her memory.

Saturday was one of the hottest days yet.  A couple from the church who have a pool took pity on us and invited us over for a swim.  It was glorious.  We had lovely conversation, watched a bit of the Melbourne Cup, had tea (dinner) together, and then Jesse and I headed home.

Sunday, Jesse began his sermon series on Leviticus, for which he'd given the congregation a reading assignment last week.  It seemed to go well, and it was nice to have the rest of the day to relax.  While job-hunting online, I found a couple of positions that seemed like they may be a good fit, and applied for them.  I'm optimistic; we'll see what happens, however.

Today, Australia Day, we had a church outing to a nearby lake for a day of cricket, boating, cricket, barbecue, and of course, more cricket.  We had a great turnout amongst the church families, and played a few rounds (innings) of cricket with a group of guys enjoying the lake as well.  Jesse and I have the sunburns to prove that we were thwarted by the overcast sky for much of the day (I didn't put sunscreen on until about 3:15), but we felt like we had celebrated Australia Day properly.  

A week away

We arrived safely around 9pm last night after a week in the Blue Mountains at this conference.  (Interesting side note; Jesse explained that the "Blue Mountains" are called such as a result of the blue hue given off by the eucalyptus trees certain times of year.)  The point of the conference is to train youth leaders.  It was exciting to be able to attend; there were 4 of us from church, and the church rallied to support us financially and in prayer to make it happen.  That alone was encouraging.

We each gained some practical tips throughout the conference.  Workshops on packaging a youth talk and serving in a small youth group were particularly useful, and working through an Old Testament Bible Study in a small group for a few hours each day was enlightening and challenging in some ways.  We were exposed to some more reformed concepts of theology, which we're still chewing on and have proved catalysts for us to discuss and refine our own thoughts on the various issues.

Jesse and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening speaker, who preached soundly the first night (text: Gen. 1) that Christians need not be afraid of science, and in fact, those with scientific interests should explore them to the fullest.  His strong position that the Genesis account is meant to be poetry, with emphasis that God created, and that God set up a rhythm in doing so, was a refreshing perspective in light of what I've heard from 'Creationist' speakers in the past.

We enjoyed getting to know some new friends, and catching up with a couple Jesse had met on Iona.  We visited Echo Point, which overlooks the Three Sisters rock formation and the beauty of the Jamison Valley.  A few at the conference had encouraged participants to head out that way early in the morning.  While we never made it, the other 2 from our church hiked out to watch the sunrise over the valley one morning (from another lookout), and reported it had been breathtaking.

The conference finished midday yesterday (Friday), so the four of us did the tourist thing.  We went to Scenic World, where we rode the world's steepest train (450 meters of track, 250 meter drop, or something) down into the valley, walked around, visited a few exhibits on the coal mining that had occurred around the early 1900's (sidenote 2 - I've now explored, or at least viewed from the outside, caves/mines on 3 continents: Mammoth in KY, that one we went to in Wales [does anyone remember its name?] and now this one in Katoomba), examined the flora of the area, saw the biggest termite mound I've seen yet, around my own height, then returned to the top via cablecar.  We also took another cablecar-type contraption with a glass bottom (the glass bottom was only in the middle, though, not all over like the London Eye) across the valley to another cliff point and back; it was cool to have a view of the Katoomba Falls (think Bridal Veil Falls, but with 2 streams of water, and 2 main platforms) from above.  We grabbed dinner at a local cafe (Jesse had a kangaroo burger) before hitting the road for Maitland.

I have yet to see a wild kangaroo.  I saw a few more kookaburras and a white cockatoo (heartily pecking at and killing a tree), but no new Aussie animals for me.

Now, it's off to breakfast, as we purposely left very little food in the house for the week.

Let the Sporadic Posting Continue!

The weather this week has ranged from unbearably hot to reasonably cool (it rained yesterday; so nice!).  We had a family over for dinner on Wednesday evening; we let their kids play on the Wii after dinner, and they returned home and promptly pooled their money to buy one of their own :)  It was nice to get to know all of them, and have some company for the evening.

Wednesday was a big day in our house; not only did we have the "dinner party," but our brand new washing machine was delivered!  We didn't hook it up until yesterday, and haven't used it yet (but plan to today), and I am quite excited to say goodbye to the days of twin-tubbing.  It's a combo washer/dryer, which means when it rains for days on end, we can still have clean clothes.  Exciting times!

Thursday was reasonably uneventful, despite a frozen pork fiasco that resulted in the disinfecting of the kitchen, but also in a tasty dinner.  Our volleyball team won a decisive victory in the evening, which was awesome.  We played well and had a lot of fun.  I'm pretty well used to the new rules now, and Jesse's game is steadily improving.  His cricket team did fairly well, too, so it was a winning night at the indoor sports center for J&J.

Yesterday, I hung around the house and got some much-needed cleaning done while Jesse ran a few errands.  A girl from church came over to hang out, and we ate leftovers (pot roast, canneloni, and sweet and sour pork) for dinner and watched Music & Lyrics, which she hadn't seen, and is a movie I greatly enjoy (one of a handful of movies I actually own, aside from Jesse's collection).  We followed that up with an episode of Numb3rs and then Law & Order before calling it a night.

Today has been a lazy day so far.  I've been playing Scramble and the Typing Speed application on facebook, and Jesse's playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii.  At some point, we'll start getting ready for the youth leadership conference, for which we leave very early Monday morning.  It's in the Blue Mountains, where I have not yet been, so I'm quite excited to visit there.  I'm also looking forward to getting some instruction on working with the youth, and hopeful it will reinvigorate Jesse, the two leaders, and me to better teach them.  Needless to say, I will be incommunicado beginning Monday, but let's face it; I haven't been that consistent with posts anyway, so perhaps no one will notice ;)

The New Normal

Various antics of the weekend included Jesse and I both taking Friday off (we went out to eat, and found a cute little diner right around the corner from our house for breakfast!), finishing season 1 of Burn Notice, purchasing more household supplies, wandering Newcastle and wading in the ocean, good Bible Study discussion at youth group, and playing the Wii.

Sunday morning, the service was structured as a hymn-sing, with announcements, sharing and prayer, and devotional times included. During the sharing time, one of the men in the church shared a devotional he'd read recently. The really intriguing thing was that Jesse's topic for his mini-sermon was on the same topic as that shared by this man, unbeknownst to him. It was confirmation that these were words needed in the congregation, and they seemed to be well received by everyone present.

After church, they always serve 'morning tea', with little snacks and hot drinks available for fellowship. I met a few more people and reconnected with some I'd met before. The people love having the chance to get together, and it's great to see in this small way the fostering of faith community. After tea, we sat with a few other church leaders (we'd brought lunches) and discussed various church activities, including the reception they're hosting for us in a couple of weeks, certain conferences available for youth leaders, and other pressing matters. It was a good time to get to know these people better, for me, and to see how these things are put together in the church.

Since there was no evening service, we were able to relax. After a trip to the grocery store on Jesse's part to get me the egg I needed, I made cinnamon rolls from scratch. We munched on them while watching Boston Legal.

It's funny, this complete change in normalcy. I waffle between the need to indulge my inner introvert and really figure out where I'm going, and just taking things as they come. Don't get me wrong; I'm enjoying this life. I've just reached the end of the detailed plans, and as I consider things like headhunters, visas, and job applications, I'm realizing I need to go back to God and seek further instruction on what my role is here.

Jesse's gone to work out; I'm going to crack open one of the books I purchased for the trip and never got to: Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris. I know a lot of my friends read it in college, and I thought I'd check it out.