Yes Folks, Year One is Done.

Hallelujah!

Before I get into my end of the year discussion, if you haven't seen this gem of a video that my roommates and I made, you should really watch it. All the vocals and acting done by the residents of the 504, editing by yours truly. It's pretty impressive. :-) 

I can't seem to get YouTube to imbed this video, so you'll have to click on the link: The 504 Presents: Hallelujah!  Enjoy!

B's Get Degrees.

Well, somehow, I have completed my first year of seminary. There were times when I felt so overwhelmed that I thought I actually wouldn't be able to successfully finish off this year, but rest assured that I did in fact complete all final papers, projects, and exams. I'm waiting on one more grade, and all things considered I've done pretty well! My motto for this semester was "B's get degrees," and I'm totally ok with that. I somehow pulled an A- in Hebrew, and I am so incredibly proud of that. Oy vey. Hebrew was so hard for me this semester. It was making me rethink taking Hebrew Prose Narrative next fall, but so far I haven't switched out. We'll see :-) 

I am so happy to be done for the summer. However, I must say that my study group was amazing! Brent and Michelle were such wonderful people to study with. We sure spent a lot of time together last week: 4-11pm (or later) on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Oh finals. We switched off bringing dinner to the group meetings, and it was so nice. But the exams themselves were brutal. My hand has survived the 9 hours of writing, but I haven't wanted to knit very much lately... hmm.  

Relaxing

Some relaxing things I have done: Wednesday after my last exam, I came home at 12:30, changed into pajamas and slept until 4:30. haha! Went to dinner with some ladies from church, and then had a girls night with the girls! :-) We watched Magic Mike and drank wine. Yes, I think that was the perfect way for divinity school students to end the year. Yup.

Thursday WE BOUGHT A COUCH! :-)

Finally our living room is homey :-)

Friday morning a bunch of friends all got together to have a pot-luck breakfast! I made biscuits! It was a nice time to see people, just hang out. Say goodbye to Brent and Natalie (who left for a mission trip right after the breakfast) :-( . I hate saying goodbye even when it's just for the summer. 

Kat, T.J. and I took a trip to the Duke Gardens on Friday. It was a beautiful day, and the flowers were gorgeous. 

Love the color!

So pretty!

Snap snap! Snapdragon!

Such a lovely combination of flowers!

Reminded me so much of Hobart! Orange and purple! (And some green for William Smith!)

Look at the movement on that hair. (That's Kat)

More pretty colors and textures

It was great to hang out with Kat and TJ (and Rachel!) this weekend and not have the burden of thinking "I should be studying..." Ah. And sleep. Sleep is such a wonderful thing. Trivial Pursuit, Catchphrase, Dutch Blitz, Weeds, Sherlock. And baking. mmm. It's been a great time of relaxing. 

Episcopal Corner

I love my job! My new job is an intern with the Anglican/Episcopal House at Duke Div. Granted, I haven't done much as an intern, but I love it already. Tonight we had a "team building" night. We went to a bar and had drinks and appetizers. The directors of the house and the two interns. It was pretty epic. :-)

News from the Diocese of Rochester- I'm officially a Postulant! YAY! It was quite a stressful weekend travel wise, so I'm happy everything worked out. I loved being able to spend time in Geneva with Lesley and my St. Peter's family as well. ah. I love them oh so much. 

Mission Trip

I am also getting ready to go on my mission trip to Guatemala and El Salvador. I'm at the point when I'm constantly thinking, "What the heck am I doing?!? Why did I think this was a good idea?!" No worries, I had this same feeling before I went to Senegal, but much worse. I cried and cried in the airport, wondering why my parents were letting me go away for so long to a country that was so different from the one I knew. And going to Senegal turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. I know this feeling of apprehension is normal, but it keeps creeping up. 

I am nervous about the language barrier. My Spanish is so minimal I shouldn't even use the phrase "my Spanish!" It will come, I know it will, but I am very nervous about that. That is pretty much my main worry, everything else I'm really looking forward to. I think language school will be great, joining a church will be fun, learning about these new cultures I assume will be just as formative as my time in Senegal. I can't wait to meet my host family and talk with them, learn about their lives. I'm really looking forward to so much! 

I also want to say a general thank you to everyone who has supported me financially for this trip. I have been completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity. You should all be receiving thank you notes this week! (I was productive this weekending writing all of those!) Muchas gracias! <3 <3 

Travel Blog

On a similar note, this blog will be turning primarily into a travel blog once I leave for Guatemala. I do not know how much internet access I will have, but I am bringing my computer, so I can at least write out my posts/stories and upload pictures, then put them online when I have the chance. Please share this with others who you think would enjoy reading about my time in Central America!

I leave May 19th! Prayers much appreciated as I prepare to leave!!

Jukeboxing

Whenever this song comes on the radio I think of Dean Pak's opening sermon to us at the beginning of this year. She played the song for us, and ever sense then I have listened to it in a new way. I love it. :-) 

"Know you're not alone. I'm gonna make this place your home." 


Peace, Love, and Smiles y'all. 
Christa