Finally home in Texas....but I still have 2 papers + surgery...

Greetings all from Texas!
I had to leave Dubuque, this past Monday the 7th instead of Wednesday the 9th due to a pretty bad blizzard that went through the midwest. I am SOOOO glad I left when I did. Although the drive was still pretty bad....sleet, rain, snow, ice, sneet, slain, 14 hrs later I was home! I did have to stop for the night in Kansas City. I don't think I really realized how bad the weather was until I was driving in it! Dubuque now has about 12" of snow and expecting more this weekend!
I had to extend 2 of my fall classes, since I had to leave early to get back here to TX for my surgery this coming Monday...which I am NOT looking forward to; but then whoever does??!
I managed to finish most everything else in my other classes. I also registered for next semester which looks like a bear of a schedule...but then again, so did this semester. My one elective next semester will be Loss and Grief....doesn't that sound like a happy class! Well....my thought was that it may be good to take before I do my CPE next summer. Speaking of which...I still have no idea where I will be going! I did interview in Charlotte while I was home for Thanksgiving. I also have an interview scheduled at Children's Medical here in Dallas next month. The one place I had hoped to go still hasn't contacted me for a phone interview, so I hope that changes within the next few months. I did have a recent interview at a church in Dodgeville, WI for a part time Christian Education/Youth Director position. I felt the interview went very well. They called me on my drive back down here and said they"d let me know soon. So we'll see about all that.
It is really nice being home....but almost a little weird. I feel different about being here. Julie said that I seem calmer....whatever that means. I've been pondering a lot about where my mind was just 6 months ago and everything that has transpired over the last few months. I have missed so much by not being here, but have also gained a whole lot by being away. Kinda a catch 22 situation! I have been enjoying playing and spending time with my Goddaughter, Chloe, who is now walking; she wasn't when I left. She is so much fun to play with. At first, she didn't recognize who I was....but now she walks around the house saying....Roro, all the time! My church has been through quite a bit of transitional changes too...still going through it. I imagine I will continue to hear all about it over the next few weeks. I went to church Wednesday night for Advent services and was soo excited to see people. I have missed my church family very much!
I am staying at my best friend's house with her husband and my Goddaughter here in Richardson. Julie has offered to take care of me during/after my knee surgery this week; which I continue to keep questioning. It's just hard for me to be so dependent on someone else. Not to mention that the last friend I had help me after a surgery, no longer speaks to me...so it makes me a little nervous. (Although they are 2 completely different people!) As I sat watching cartoons this morning with Chloe, I watched Julie and Darrell, rearrange their living room and move stuff around...all to make it easier for me to get around after my surgery on crutches and a walker! I was just overwhelmed by how loving the 2 of them can be and more importantly, how blessed I am to have them in my life.
SO my left knee will be replaced in just 2 days at Dallas Regional in Mesquite, TX. I went yesterday for a whole bunch of pre-op stuff. I had to get blood drawn, a pregnancy test done and a chest xray...not really in that order! (I tried to tell her a pregnancy test was NOT necessary! LOL....but apparently it is hospital policy to check just the same!) Then had to sit with a nurse, who took my bllod pressure, temperature, and explained what would happen the morning of the surgery, where to go, etc. I am still quite concerned about whether or not this is the best thing to do, but at this point, I am concerned (and so is my Dr) that if I wait, I may cause some further damage to my knee and I would like to be able to stand and get around during my CPE. Please keep me in prayer Monday morning!
So, I probably should sign off, and get back to working on finishing at least one of the last 2 papers I need to complete and ordering my textbooks for next semester.
During this Advent season, I pray that all reading will have expectant hearts that will be filled with all the love of Christ this Christmas and always. Many blessings to all! PEACE!

Thanksgiving at last....

So...as this semester is winding down, I am taking a little breather here during Thanksgiving Break! I am writing from my brother's kitchen in Gastonia, North Carolina....even as my sister-in-law, Jen, is preparing a gigantic meal for 26 people tomorrow. Of course, not all family, but it is Thanksgiving. In that spirit, I am reminded of how much I have to be Thankful for this year. Although transitioning continues to be a challenge for me, I am so Thankful for my home congregation, in their continued support and prayer and for my friends and family.

I was actually very stressed about being here at home for Thanksgiving, but it has actually been nice so far. I am reminded of how much I miss my family; of course, we haven't ventured to my mother's house yet. We are going over there for a family get together tonight- minus my brother since his wife's family is arriving today. My sister Myra and I went and ate Sushi today after my CPE interview this morning. It was a first for me. Myra's fiance Tony is also here. It's becoming more clear to me why they are getting married. He is a genuinely nice guy with a great personality. My sister's partner arrived today too. I haven't met her yet but everything I have heard about her I like. Tamara's kids aren't here this year but I am also enjoying spending time with my niece and nephew too. So...lots of family stuff; so far so good.

School has been continually more stressful as I get closer to the end of the semester, but I am trying to keep things in perspective and just one thing at a time....that is all I can do after all! So...I am now going to go...so I can work on a paper for a little bit. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Be sure to count your blessings! May the peace of God be with you all.

A little more Anti-Racism, Justification and just a few more papers later....

So for me, this semester is going by so fast. As I've been counting the days to Christmas Break, today marks 30 days till the day that I will be home in Texas! I am going to North Carolina, my native home, for Thanksgiving Break, courtesy of my baby sister Myra. I am looking forward to spending time with family, but since I am leaving so soon after break, I'll probably be spending most of my break, working on final papers....BUT I won't be missing the game or a few beers for sure!

So this semester over all has been pretty stressful yet a serious spiritual shift for me. And I honestly think, that's what the professors are wanting! My class had a class forum tonight; as there has seemed to be some tension going on. I have to say I do feel better about my class. It is tough being single, so far from home, but even more than that is feeling so alone in my concerns within myself. That's something I've been working on ALL semester, but something I've got to get batter at as I prepare for my CPE.

Speaking of CPE....I had my interview a few weeks ago. I teared up talking to the supervisor about things, as I tend to get emotional when talking about my own spirituality these days. All in all the interview went well; I'm assuming that since the supervisor asked me to apply to his location! I currently have 4 applications out. One at John Hopkins in Baltimore, which is my first choice. I have a college friend, Beth, who lives there who has offered to house me and her church has offered to help with the expenses. So we'll see,.....cause it's hard to get in there! I've applied to Carolina's Medical in Charlotte. It'd be cool to be near my family. I'm hoping to interview there over Thanksgiving. Then last but not least, I've applied to 2 hospitals in Dallas area; Children's Medical and Baylor Medical. Both are wanting to interview me in January; convenient since I"ll be there. I hope to have my official report back within the next few weeks from the dude that interviewed me. Some of my colleagues already for theirs back!

Along with paper deadlines, these past few weeks have had a little added stress with preparing for my baby sister's wedding. It all ended up working out in the end, but I hope to be able to communicate better my feelings to my family. That's the disadvantage of being away from family for so long, that we all tend to pretend we all know each other well...when in reality, I feel sometimes, like I hardly know them. I am to blame and am at fault in a large part of that. I hope to do better by my family, so that one day our relationships will be better.

So in my title sentence I mentioned Anti-Racism and justification. In my justification and justice class, we've spent a great deal talking about cultural diversity and how important anti-racism is. Then last Friday, we had a whole day workshop on that topic. Long day, but overall it was good stuff.

I am appreciating my colleagues more and more. I really enjoy our small group Spiritual practice class. (Shout out to Andrew, Gravy, Alyssa, Megan and Abagail and our professor Susan....WHO ALL ROCK!!!) It allows a more intimate session to really dig deeper into things. Spiritual practice for me, has been the most stirring class I've had this semester. I get frustrated that they lecture on all this really deep stuff that STIRS all this great spiritual stuff and right after class, I go into my Justification and justice and can't concentrate because my head is swimming from all the SP stuff! I expressed that concern with a professor today. I hope that will change for next year.

I have to just brag on one of my best friends Julie here. She has been my "rock" since I've been here. She listens to my complaints about my classes, my frustrations, my anger, my sadness, my loneliness, my revelations and just continues each day to surprise me with just the right thing to say to pick me up or make me smile. She reminds me each day that I am loved and missed. Not having a spouse, family, my home congregation or significant other to share all this, has been really hard for me. But I just have to say that I have the coolest Best Friend ever and I am eternally grateful.

So I have 30 more days, and 6 papers and then surgery next month. That I am NOT looking forward to that, but I have to get it done to continue to be functional next summer for CPE.
So to all reading....May God continue to bless and keep you. Peace!

Just a few pics to share....This is us studying (yeah right....) at a local winery one Sunday afternoon! (Andrew, Shannon and Emily)

2 weeks ago, I led chapel and wore my cleric collar for the first time. Scary huh? (Yeah, I thought so too!)

The first pic is of my buddy, Mara. She and I usually sit next to each other in classes. Cool friend!

Blogging....coming up....Peace!

Octoberfest and leaves at their peak....and SO am I!

Greetings all my fellow readers!
Happy Reformation Sunday for all the Lutherans reading! Today was "suppose" to be a day to commemorate the birth of what is now the Lutheran church. In years past, at St. Luke's my home church, as well as others I have attended, this SHOULD be a boisterous day of celebration. With Fanfare, trumpets blazing, Almighty Fortress being sung at the top of your lungs and flags and banners being waved as high as the steeples......yeah, I was sorely disappointed today! NOT the fanfare was expecting. Just an ordinary service. The only difference was that there were those "faithful" Lutheran's who were sure to wear their "RED" today in commemoration....and to match the colors of the church today. Didn't happen today, but I did treat myself to a nice brunch today in Galena with some fellow seminary students who did NOT share my enthusiam for this day, so once again, I felt deflated.
This past Thursday was my birthday. I REALLY was trying to allow people to forget, but there were a few classmates who insisted in remembering it and buying me a small cake with the numbers "29" on top! That definately made me smile! For the last several years, I have always celebrated my birthday with my friend Roxanne, who didn't even remember to call me on my birthday! But Julie on the other hand probably called me about 5-6 times, so she saved the day! I took it as a sign! A sign that birthdays do not need to be a day about remembering your birth but to mark where you have been and looking forward to what is ahead. Perhaps I have been spending too much time in deep thought about my own spirituality these past few months, as most of my classmates have, but I am just amazed of all that God continues for me to have in my life, I am so blessed with many things that many people go without and I am marveled everyday of God's creation, in watching the foliage change here. It is truly stunning. It also makes me mindful of my purpose and calling everyday; and I am so Thankful.
Classes are continuing to go well. It is starting to get very stressful....although I am trying to concentrate on one week at a time; my challenge is, because I a leaving early for Christmas because of my surgery, I am trying to stay one week ahead, but that is becoming a difficult challenge too. I spent 2 whole days REALLY studying hard for my first Jesus and Gospels exam and didn't do well. But I did really well on my first History paper. So I guess I just have to slow down and take my time to get through all this. My work study is continuing to go well. I work at 3 different elementary schools. Each has their own challenging students that I have to learn to work with, but it isn't easy! I was fired this week from my State Farm job; on my birthday! I was only working there 6-7 hrs a week, so NOT a huge loss. I can make up those hours with work study and quite honestly, it was becoming challenging to study those 2 nights after I got off work, because I'd be too exhausted! So perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. I told the employment agency that I'd rather just work on Friday and Saturdays only, so I can keep Sundays as my day off to relax and spend each evening during the week studying. We'll see how it all goes, I guess.
So as I mentioned in my last blog, my knee replacement surgery is scheduled for December 14th...just my left knee to be replaced. I keep going back and forth about whether or not I will have it done. I've just been thinking how "taxing" this is going to have to be on my best friend and her family, since Julie will be the primary one taking care of me. She ALREADY has her hands full with her daughter, husband and life, that to add "taking care of Rosy" after surgery, may be to much to ask. She of course, has told me over and over again, that "they will manage and be ok", but I just don't know if I want to put someone through all this. So there lies my debate....should I or should I not! I KNOW it needs to get done, I'm just wondering if this Christmas is a good time or not. We'll see I guess.
Octoberfest was celebrated here on Campus this Friday. I was feeling sooo sick that I REALLY missed out on all the fun. There was polka dancing, lots of BEER and bratwurst and an all night party. I left around 8:30 because under all the medication I was on to kill my cold, I felt like I couldn;t drink that much beer. But I heard there were others, who were in my class and shall remain nameless, who DID take advantage of all the beer! It was even on of my new Favorites,....."Blue Moon"! Some students even decorated Marty too! Some students carved a HUGE pumpkin and placed it on Marty's head in the main quad. It was a nice touch for all the festivities.
Today in Dubuque, is a BEAUTIFUL Fall perfect day. I just want to take a blanket and lay under one of the big trees outside and watch the leaves fall ALL DAY, but I do have 3 papers to write, so I better get moving.....Peace to all reading and God bless and keep you all.

And the there was....SNOW!!!!

Hello everyone! SOOOO sorry for my delay in posting blogs. Have been swamped this week. We just had our Fall break last weekend...but I spent ALLL weekend studying, so I've been taking a little time to relax yesterday and today, although, I do have MUCH to do!

Last Saturday...we had SNOW! Yes, SNOW in October! It only snowed for a couple of hours and didn't stick; believe it not, it wasn't COLD enough! Although I have been FREEZING here! Just went to Goodwill yesterday to see if I could find some warmer clothes!

Still continuing to work part time at State Farm although I am concerned that I may not be there that much longer. I am suppose to call people and talk them into getting an auto quote for insurance. I am SUPPOSE to get 3-5 people per night on a 3 hr shift twice a week. Last week I had a grand total of "0"...that's right ZERO and the new girl they hired just 2 weeks ago, got all five in less calls and in ONE night! Needless to say, I STINK at telemarketing! Although I have to admit that it has helped me improve my phone presence; at least people don't say I'm being a "b" when I talk to them! I'm just having some serious issues overcoming objections and quite frankly, I don;t want the pressure of the job, so I may not be there that much longer.

This past Thursday in my Spiritual Practices class, we had the opportunity to take some time to work through a paper labyrith, My classmate, "Gravy" (Eric Grayvold) had shared that he had never walked a real labyrith before, so today I took him to the one at the Sinsanawa retreat center. Then we headed over to Galena for lunch...since he hadn't been there either! I told him he needed to get out more! Tonight a couple of people are getting together for Birthday celebrations....mine of course is this week. Not looking forward to it, but it will be here whether I want to be or not.

Classes are continuing to go well. Lots of papers and reading to do, but I am still loving it. Trying to stay ahead with everything so I've been studying A LOT. I have scheduled my knee surgery for December 14th. So I am leaving for home, Dallas, December 9th. I sure hope I am making the right decision about getting it done. My baby sister had me all freaked out about it, but I think I need to go ahead and get it done so I can complete my CPE next summer. I hope to be in Baltimore, MD. My good friend from college, Beth, lives there and I'd be staying with her while I completed it. Her church is even going to help with some expenses, which will be nice. I am also applying to do CPE in Charlotte, NC and Dallas of course. I AM still very home sick, but it's getting easier. I am just trying to stay focussed on my purpose and what I am here to accomplish and one day become.

It is beautiful here. The foilage peak is nearing here. It's been a LONG time since I've been able to enjoy the leave changing colors, so its been nice seeing nature just change before your eyes! I LOVE it! Make me feel closer to God to just spend time in nature....not that I don't already; considering where I am! Well...speaking of where I am...we have Chapel tonight and I have to help with guitar playing, so I've gotta go!

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face. May the rain fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand. Peace to all.

73 more days.....

Yup...that's exactly how many days I have until my Christmas Break! I'm already counting!!! So these last few weeks haven't been that bad a I guess. I had hoped to complete this first paper due this Tuesday, but I'm not quite done with all the readings...UGH! I'm not entirely convinced I EVER will be! Classes are going really well. I had a VERY AWESOME surprise this week! My Pastor came up to see me for a few hours on Tuesday evening. He took me out for a steak dinner and beer which I loved! Then to breakfast on Wednesday morning. He even sat in on one of my classes. While it was sooo nice seeing someone from home, it made me home sick allll over again! I was just starting to feel like I was starting to adjust to being away from my small circle of friends and church family....then I felt sad all over again! But it was worth it. It was really nice spending time with Pete. Seems like we never did much of that before I left Dallas, which I regret.

So I went and had my knees evaluated here in Dubuque and the Dr. said he did not recommend me waiting to at LEAST have my left knee done as soon as possible. So now I am considering whether I should have the left knee replaced over Christmas Break/ J-Term. I'm going back and forth about the decision, as I want to make sure I have enough recuperation time to get back to school at the end of January. My sister, Myra, is convinced that if I have it done, I won't be coming back to school! I dunno...I guess all I can do is pray about it at this point.

My CPE paperwork is due soon. I have decided to apply to a couple of different places. My primary choice is going to be in Baltimore, MD. I'll be staying with a college friend of mine while I go do my CPE at John Hopkins; but their program is very tough to get in, so we'll see. I have 4 different essays to write for the application, so hopefully it'll go well.

Weather has DEFINITELY started getting cold here. I've been wearing long sleeve shirts and sweaters all week! The highs have been in the 50's and the night lows in the 30-40's ALREADY! Boy oh boy....am I in BIG trouble for the winter if I think this is cold, huh?

I have started helping at St. Peter's with some Youth/Kids programming. I'm going to be assisting with a program on Sunday evenings once a month and one on Thursday evenings once a month. St. Peter's had a HUGE service today to commemorate the kick off of their 100th year. It was a neat service. I really enjoyed it! I stuck around afterwards to interview the church's youth minister and his wife as one of my interviews for my Spiritual practices class. They are a really neat couple. I do hope to also start helping feed some of the homeless people in Dubuque at a Soup kitchen through a church downtown.

A few more weeks till my 39th birthday....NOT looking forward to that! One more year closer to 40....yikes! Gonna be a depressing day for sure!

So we have our reading days coming up at the end of this week. I REALLY wanted to go camping, but I think I'll be staying here at the dorms taking my defensive driving class that I need to get done before the end of this month. (for a ticket I got just before I left Dallas!) Haven't been taking too many excursion trips. Trying to save money and not use my car as much....but I may go somewhere over this long weekend coming up. Its gonna be boring around the dorm. Most everyone is going home for a visit. I just couldn't afford a ticket to do that. So here I will be!

Sorry this wasn't more exciting...just been busy with classes, studying and COUNTING the days to Christmas! Many blessings to all reading. Peace Out!

Whew....breathe in, breathe out...yup. Still here!

Well...that opening statement is about what it FEELS like about now. A whirlwind of papers to write, entire books to read within a few days, meetings, convocations, Student council gatherings, chapel, work study, swimming, oh and lest we forget, DON'T FORGET TO PRAY!!!! Yup, that's about what it has felt like over the last 2 weeks!!!! But in a good way...

The first week, last week was a week of contemplative, theological analysis of what I think religion is, what my personal feelings are on Christianity as a whole, learning more about Dubuque and its vast religious community and figuring out what that means to me! TRANSLATION: Lots of readings, lectures and small group discussions plus 2 papers to write so the faculty could make sure I was capable of writing a Graduate level paper! But I did learn and had an enjoyable experience.

Week 2 - This was last week. Running from class to class (not literally of course!), going from meeting to meeting to "kick off" the new year. Going over the syllabus in every class - only to come to the conclusion that I NEED TO GET BETTER about READING my syllabus' regularly! This is where all the lectures come from and homework!
My favorite class so far, definitely, History. I love learning more about, WHERE Christianity started, why it started, HOW it started. I probably ask more questions than I should but I love it. But all and all, I am starting to find that the classes are starting to run together...(except for Greek of course) so this makes it challenging to keep them all separate in my head.
I have to make decisions soon about my CPE. This is Clinical Pastoral Education. This is basically when you become a Chaplain for a few months, while learning to council and minister to people in need. This is usually done at a hospital, and you work M-F with one to two days on call and also usually lead services on site; although depending where you are, you may not do that part. We have one master website where we can CHOOSE where we'd like to go,. but obviously there are a few variables to consider. ONE - All of them have a tuition. So finding one that is reasonably priced is one concern PLUS how to pay for it! TWO - Finding one that is near where I have family or friends, so that I will have housing and meals for the summer is important; not to mention just other bare necessities. and finally THREE -Being near where I have emotional support. CPE tends to be very emotionally exhausting, so I hope to be near some family and/or friends. I actually have a few more weeks to finalize this, but they expect us to do this next summer and of course, MY biggest concern is whether or not I will have to have knee replacement surgery. I am going to see another specialist here next week to see what he says and recommends; as long as I'm not doing any permanent damage to my bones, I'll probably wait to have surgery. So I am looking at doing CPE in a few different places: North Carolina, Arizona, Florida and of course, Texas....Texas is probably where I'll be, but we'll see.
I have made the decision to "plug" into a local church, St. Peter's, but NOT do anything musical. I've gone there a few times now and I really like everything about it and I'll be starting to teach Sunday school soon. Another student is going to co-teach with me. The decision about NOT doing anything musical has been difficult, but I'm trying to stay focussed on my purpose and not get all wrapped up in music stuff; if you're a church musician, I KNOW you know what I mean by that!
I have been doing my work study since last week. I work through St. Mark's Community Center and have been mentoring to a few kids in the morning at one school and work at 3 others within the area every afternoon. I help them with reading, math, spelling, etc. Mainly, just homework stuff. My favorite is at Fulton Elementary where I read to kids every M-F mornings. It just really uplifts me and these kids really appreciate it...or at least it seem like they do! I go with another student, Alan. So we carpool together and take turns driving. It's been fun! I also work part time at State Farm still just 2 nights a week.
My weekends have continued to be busy too! Last Friday and Saturday, I was at a "Passing The Faith" conference at St. Peter's. It's about learning to minister to kids and youth and integrating that in the life of the church AND at home. I actually learned some tips on HOW I can be a better Godparent for my Goddaughter Chloe....but since she's still a toddler, kinda hard to implement....but important just the same. This weekend, they are harvesting the grapes in our vineyard, so I'll be helping with that Saturday AM.
I have been elected as one of the Co-President's of my class. So I am also now involved in Student council. Today we had a "Day of Reflection"...where we focused on some things that we can improve about our seminary and listened to concerns and prayed for each other. Last year this seminary experienced a reduction of staff by 20% and several cutbacks that affected a lot of people, so there has been a lot of restructuring going on that made a lot of people upset. That seemed to be the primary focus of today, but what I said in our closing session tonight was that, "while we all can lament and share the sorrows of last years loss, we need to have this Day of Reflection every year, but call it a Dare to Dream, where we focus on where we are going, what our calling is and remember our purpose for being here; to be servants of Christ. If we stay focused on that, we will be a better seminary that creates better church leaders for ALL our futures"....or something like that. It came it rather eloquently and one professor, who is a hard nut to crack sometimes, even commented on what I said to me after....so I guess, God is continuing to work on me!
The other BIG NEWS....is my J Term. Every January, I have to complete some rural ministry...except for the first year, we are allowed to go to our Home Congregations and "Observe and assist" our Home pastor. So I got the blessings from my church council this past Monday, so I'll be home from December 15-the end of January....which will be nice. I'm looking forward to this, since I've not really had the opportunity to observe what my Pastor does on a daily basis...oughta be interesting for sure!
I put on my first "cleric shirt" this week. I now have 3. I figured I'd need them by January and found them on sale, so I bought them. I cried for 15 minutes staring at myself in the mirror...definately still feeling unworthy or my call; But from what I hear, that NEVER changes, just gets a little easier with time. So anyways, a very moving experience, but a memory I will cherish forever.
So, sorry for the novel, but felt like I needed to get all caught up. Hope I was successful! Many blessings to all reader! May God continue to bless and keep you all....till next time. A new saying I like......Our commission, is to go a fishin'!!!!! Peace!

More pics and video...

Hello!
It's been a fun few days of more sightseeing. Yesterday went up to Peaks Point in N. East Iowa...about an hour and a half drive. The view was stunning. drove along the Mississippi River. Attached are some pics and also went back to Park Farm winery for their annual Grape Stomping. Enjoy the pics and video! Many blessings!

Pics of Galena, Park Farm Winery, Downtown Dubuque & Karaoke Ngt

GREEK IS OVER.....THANK GODNESS!!!

Well....I've gotta be honest, I REALLY am happy that Greek is over! This was the most stressful, emotionally draining class I have ever taken! I am praying that this was the worse of my seminary days, but something tells me.....I'm in for a lot more. Besides....I still have to take Hebrew!!!

The Greek final was a take home exam. We were allowed to use all our helps...the Greek Lexicon, our textbook and lots of charts with verb tenses...one was even laminated. It STILL look me about 7 hrs to complete!! It was difficult, but I did take a few breaks just to remain sane! I left the main building after turning it in and yelled in the main quad! I dunno to who....I suppose just to Marty...the statue of Martin Luther that's in the main quad....who didn't answer...Thank goodness! We had a little get together last night to celebrate....I was the only one who wore a toga! Complete with a gold halo I made with ribbon!
Don't know what I made on the final yet...but I know I passed.

My prologue starts next week. I'll have 7 classes this Fall. My registration is on Tuesday. I actually already have homework for Prologue...but it's just a long article to read...not bad. My Greek professor will actually be my Christian History professor this Fall. I'm actually looking forward to her class; although she did require 6 different books for her class, so perhaps I'll be swallowing my words mid-term!

So I have posted a lot of new photos here. One is of a few students from my Greek class. The older gentleman is Don. He is from about an hr from here. He's a former FBI agent...so he has some cool stories!
The first set of pics are from the city of Galena, IL. About 25 minutes from campus. REALLY neat little town with a lot of history. The old little cabin is the birth place of one of our former president's,....Ulysses Grant. The red brick house with Green shutters is the home he actually lived in. The little trolley car is how I took a tour of the city. The White stone church with the red door is the church Grant used to attend when he lived here. The long stairway is the 2nd longest set of stairs in the United states and the cobble stone stairway is the longest and oldest road in the United states. Then the following pictures were from last weekend and this week. All the beautiful flowers were taken at Dubuque's Arboretum and a few shots I took downtown yesterday at the Riverwalk and then the cable car pics are from the Felenon Elevator; the story is the first Mayor of Dubuque in the 1800's wanted to be able to go home for lunch/dinner at noon everyday, but the problem is he worked downtown as a banker and lived over the high ridge. But it would take him over an hour by horse and buggy so he'd only have time to eat and have to head back...not giving him enough time to do his favorite thing after lunch/dinner...NAP! So he came up with the idea of building something that could take him over the mountain. THUS...many prototypes and years later people started paying to go over the mountain using his lift and the Felenon Elevator Company was born and is still used today; Mainly just for tourist now!

So I have a few more days of break before classes start. Plan on doing a few more cool things. It's been hard having this break not being able to go home to Dallas. Chatting online with my webcam to my best friend, Julie HELPS. More students have been arriving on campus. My neighbor moved back in today. His name is Rob, married, nice guy. I also met a few people from my Synod back home....but I'm terribly home sick! So...till next time, enjoy the pics. Peace and many blessings to all reading!

Aorist passive particple, with the future subjuntive in the active voice= MUCH confusion in Greek!

Greeting all you happy readers!
So I am FINALLY in the home stretch of my Greek class. Al things considered, I've done pretty well..especially since it's been MANY years snce I've been in school. We take our Final next week. It's a take home exam, where we have to translate about 10 verses out of the Greek New Testament. So I guess if I start memorizing the entire New Testament, I should be fine! It's actually not been that bad. Most of it is making sense to me....I know, I can't believe it either! Every Sunday in church, when I read the Gospel text, I find myself trying to translate it to Greek! So I guess SOMETHING is sticking up there!
Had some fun this past weekend. Friday night, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Cowboys Preseason Game....I was just excited that I actualy found somewhere that was actually showing the game. But as soon as the game started, the bar cleared out! Most everyone there was watching the Cubs game! I sent a text message to my buddy Jeff Voight at FSG, since Buffalo Wild Wings is one of his national accounts, and told him he should strongly consider NOT shipping any lamps to that store....since the manager refused to raise the volume for me to watch the game! Cowboys won....but it IS still preseason!
Weather here has been gorgeous.....I'll have to continue this later....looking at the time, gotta get back to class. Peace and blessings to all!

NOW this is getting hard....

Greetings everyone reading!
Sorry for my delay. Been a tough week of Greek. We are now into dissecting Participles....I.E...creating sentences direct from the New testament...part of which the words aren't even there! This process is quite difficult for me since, I am a VERY visual learner! If it's NOT ON THAT PAGE...I'M NOT GOING TO TRANSLATE IT!!!! But it's all a process and I've only got 3 more test (other than tommorrow's) BEFORE I'm all done! THANK GOD!!! I have started discussing to several of my classmates, that we ought to have a celebration...a party at the end of everything. I was thinking TOGA, TOGA...seems to go with the Greek theme, but all I got were "deer in the headlights" look when I mentioned it!!! So I may just drag a few people who hang around on the weekends and have a smaller get together in a few weeks. We'll see!
So. Last Friday, I invited everyone in my class to come join me for a cookout to celebrate being half way through Greek. Only 3 of us were there; my classmates, Shannon, Lee & I. Lee had bratwurst, while Shannon and I grilled steaks and had some baked potatoes and even grilled some asparagus. It was quite the feast! It was the closest I felt like I had to a REAL home cooked meal since I'd been here...so I enjoyed EVERY BITE! We then hung down there and played my favorite card game, Phase 10, until a few other students came around and then we just started chatting about Greek and school stuff. So we all sat around just chatting about our homes and drinking a few beers. It was fun.
Saturday, slept in and really didn't do much of anything. Went to swim at the Y and just relaxed most of the day. I did start working on my Greek vocabulary for the this week. Then I got a text message from Darrell & Julie back home that my precious God Daughter started walking, but of course, they couldn't get their web cam to work, so I haven't seen it LIVE, but Julie did send me a video of her walking that I have watched over and over again. Just makes me want to drive home now to play with her!
Sunday, I went to the last of the 5 ELCA churches in this area. I went to St. Peter's Lutheran. The church is beautiful, has some very friendly people and the important thing...they have coffee after the service (If you're Lutheran - you UNDERSTAND how important that is!!!) The Pastor's sermon was very good and I really enjoyed it. It to me was the closest to "feeling" like home, so I'll probably be going back. NOT to mention, they have a few corn farmers who are members there who sells the corn after the service...once he found out I was a student at Wartburg, he allowed me to take 2 huge bags home. So I cooked me some corn for dinner on Sunday. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! I can still taste it. I think I still have some more downstairs in the kitchen (in the dorm basement). It really doesn't need much butter or salt. It's just so naturally good!
Thanks to my home church, I was able to buy my books for this Fall. Quite a different experience from the last time I was in school!!! My campus closed down its bookstore, so you have to order ALL your textbooks online. I found a few websites where pricing was better than the suggested Amazon site, so I decided to do that. But then the bank thought someone had stolen my credit card since I had all these charges hitting at once....so that was a quite a mess to clear all up...but I should be getting all my books before my Fall semester classes start.
My Fall semester looks pretty cool. I'm actually looking forward to everything EXCEPT the Greek...yes, I'll have 2 hours of translating in the Greek New Testament this Fall....YEAH! (that was sarcasm in case you missed that!) The rest of my classes seem quite interesting. Spiritual Practices & Foundations of the church just to name a few. And the best thing about this Fall...NO CLASSES ON FRIDAYS!!!!! That is AWESOME! That means a long weekend, every weekend! So I am pretty excited about that!
My part time job at State Farm is going ok. It's not all that exciting, but the schedule is quite flexible, I can wear what I want and it is literally 7 minutes from campus. I can actually see the Campus Tower from the office at State Farm PLUS I am getting a discount on some insurance for working there, so I may switch insurance companies.
My eyes are doing ok. My vision is definitely NOT better, but the haziness, fogginess is gone. My vision just seems to come and go; where I just have occasional blurred vision. I actually go tomorrow for a follow up appointment. I'm just glad they were able to figure out what it was before it got worse.
So I think that's about all I have to report for now. I am venturing off campus this weekend to explore a few new places that my former associate Pastor Jill told me about. I've started making a list of a few places nearby to go check out. So I'll let ya'll know how all that goes. I will post my pics from the Retreat Center and hopefully some new ones this weekend. Peace, many blessings and LOVE to all reading.

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HALF WAY there......

Greetings from pleasant 75-80 degree temps here in Dubuque today! I hear it is 100+ down in Dallas...NOT missing that, but man I do miss being home; especially on the weekends!

As of tomorrow, I'll be half way through my Greek classes. They say what we have learned in the last 3 weeks is equivalent to ONE SEMESTER of Greek....so NO WONDER WHY MY HAIR SEEMS TO BE GREYING FASTER....and I am n0w officially going INSANE! I can't help it....now when I read something, my brain starts analyzing whether I know the words in Greek and starts parsing it! (Parsing is what we do to figure out the tense and case of nouns and verbs...to figure out how to read it!) Each Summer Greek class have T-shirts made usually with something Greek on it to remember going through all this. As a class, we decided, to write in Greek, "If you can read this, you feel my pain in Summer Greek!" One of the guys in my class came up with the idea and is designing the shirt, which I will proudly wear once I get through all this.....which I am feeling more confident that I will. They say Hebrew is much worse, which is not till Spring semester. Not looking forward to that either!

I started my part time job yesterday at State Farm. All I'm doing is making phone calls asking people if they'd like a free auto insurance rate quote. Some people hang up on me, some say they already have State Farm, some actually want a quote. It's easy money and literally 2 minutes from my campus, so I can't complain. While the pay isn't great...its better than nothing.
It's actually nice to get off campus and do something OTHER than studying Greek which is all...or at least it feels that way. I'll kind of be glad when Fall semester starts so I'll have some other stuff to do.

Summer Greek ends on September 2nd, then I'm off until September 8th. On the 8th Prolog starts and then classes start on September 11th. I will be taking 7 classes this Fall, with no classes on Friday and I also won't be working on Fridays....which is SWEET! Nice long weekends to recuperate from the weekend and just relax. Makes me wish I lived a tad bit closer so I could go home on the weekends; Many students do that. Unfortunately, don't have that luxury! I will be going back to Texas for sure in December to attend a Candidacy retreat; it's required by my Candidacy committee, but I'm just glad I get to be home for Christmas and New Years with my friends and church family. I wouldn't want to stay up here for 2+ weeks during the holidays. I do hope to go home to see my family in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. But we'll see.

Speaking of family, my baby sister, Myra is getting married on April 17th, so I have another wedding to be in. Not looking forward to the expense, but I'm glad I'm in her wedding. Argelia, my former SLAVE DRIVER is also getting married around that same time, but she and her fiance haven't made any real concrete plans yet.

Well...gotta run back to class. Many blessings to all! PEACE!

Continuing.......from earlier today....

Got my second test back and I did improve from last week. My instructor told me I was the ONLY STUDENT to improve from last week, so that's awesome....but felt bad for everyone else....but I also did study pretty hard. I was just determined to do better!

Saturday...while should not have been driving, since my vision is pretty bad right now, I decided to venture off campus to visit an Abbey in Wisconsin right over the border. You have to know that am 10 minutes from Illinios and about the same to Wisconsin. My Greek Instructor, Dr, Leeper, had told us about it, It is a Dominican Catholic Order that houses about 150-200 nuns, It is also a retreat center and I've heard some students, to get away for the weekend, have been known to go stay there. This abbey is pretty self sufficient in that they sell alot of the items they make there. They are MOST famous, in this area, for their bread....which I smelled as soon as I walked in, I just followed my nose down to their little bookstore and was just mezmorized by the smell of their fresh bread. I bought some dinner rolls, which I shared with my classmates this morning for breakfast and some fresh cinamon bread. It's aroma has been all in my room since this weekend. I am trying to control myself in only allowing myself to have 2 slices for breakfast a day...but its hard....as the bread is SOOOO GGOOODD! Even the dinner rolls...you don't need any butter on them. They have a natural sweetness, but not too sweet to make them quite enjoyable to snack on.
I also toured the center. Their Rosary Chapel was quite beautiful. got VERY lucky, in as arrived, some of the sisters were gathering for some rehearsal in there and I got to hear them rehearse as I walked in. The acoustics were amazing. The stain glass windows were beautiful. I did take some pictures which I will post later this week. The ceilings had a very unique design which added its acoustical design. And of course, I had to check out the lighting, which was done quite well. Along the outskirts to the chapel lied several smaller prayer rooms, I sat in one that had these beautiful, quartz like stones in the wall that went to the outside, allowing the light from outside to shine through them. I sat there and meditated just stunned by its beauty. I then walked around the outside. They have a cemetary for the nuns who have passed. The Abbey itself originally dates back to the 1800's, so some of the tombstones were back from the late 1800's. I stopped as I got to the 1920's....it was cool, but it started to rain. So I ran back to my car for a bit, then when the ran subsided, I drove down to their Labyrith. I spent some time walking that and videod that...I'll try to post that later too; I did that one on my phone and sent it to a few friends. My sister Tamara thought it was cool. Then I left there and drove into Illinois. There was a "WingFest" going on in East Dubuque, Illiniois, but I'm NOT a huge wings fan PLUS the crowds were a bit much for me, so I headed back to campus....but drove around downtown a bit.
Sunday, I attended another ELCA church...St. Matthews. This church currently does not have a Pastor, so actually, one of the Ordained professors from my school, Gwen Sayler, preached. I hadn't met her until then, but I will be taking one class by her this Fall. I thought her sermon was quite insightful and enjoyed the church. I took my dormmate, Lisa with me. She's a young MA student who lives on the first floor of the dorm. She and I have hung out a few times, she's pretty cool....but a lot younger than me, so a bit harder to relate since she just got out of school last year, having already studies some theology.

I rearranged my room this weekend....got lots more space in my room now and also finally finished hanging things on my walls. It feels a bit more like home....but I still miss TEXAS!

I got a part time job last week. I start this Wednesday working at a State Farm agency right down the street from my campus. Just making some phone calls. I got the job through an employment agency. I was rather impressed with how quickly they placed me. I suppose it could have been worse. But a little paycheck is better than none at this point.

Have to buy my books for this Fall soon, as have to order all of them online. Feels weird doing that, but actually, a lot of emails are constantly being sent out by last year's students trying to sell their books. I hope to snag a few and save a few bucks.

OK...so I've gotta go work on my vocabulary for this week. Not too bad, but I do have 2 test this week. Please keep me in prayer...for my eyes. I go back for a follow up next week. So we'll see. Many blessings to all readers....Peace!

Future Past Indicative, Middle passive voice...etc...

Yeah...if you can't understand that above then you feel my pain! Here I am the beginning of WEEK 3....the good news is by the end of this week, I'll officially be half way through...AND THAT is something to celebrate!

Had a tough week last week. Things are continuing to get harder, but the good news is I am starting to recognize things right away in sentences that is making translations a little easier. We will actually be reading, by the end of this week, out of the Greek New Testament. Hard to believe...even as I type this!

Getting to know my classmates better and my "dormmates". The few of us living in the dorm hung out Friday night, drinking wine and playing board games....needless to say, I had a HUGE headache Saturday morning, but it was fun! AND the inevitable has happened, one student has decided he couldn't deal with the whole transition to going learning Greek or being back in school, or living in a dorm and has already dropped out. He wasn't a student here at Wartburg, but of course, most everyone knows about it.

In case some of you haven't heard. I actually have been struggling a little extra due to my eye issue I had a few years ago. It decided to just come back...my doctor doesn't know why; except to say that perhaps the eye issue was never fully healed and due to stress came back. Either way, it has caused a few issues with my studies so I went to see a Cornea specialist and NOW I had medication that should get my vision back to normal...eventually. Still not correct now.

Well....lots more to share...but I have to head back to class. Will write more later. Blessings to all!

Peace out!

So I spoke too soon.....

So, I just thought that Greek was OK....now we're getting serious and I've taken by first 2 test! I did well on my vocab test, but didn't do as well as I had hoped on my actual translation test. I was rather frustrated by it all. So I took this Saturday and tried NOT to think about ANY Greek. I got off campus, went to a local park that overlooks the Mississippi and just tried to relax. One Professor here says, "If you go to bed at night knowing more Greek than when you woke up, then you're not doing that bad!" I've decided to POST that somewhere in my room to remind me of that.

We definitely got into a "new gear" today and things seems to have gotten a lot more complicated to me. I will definitely need the extra tutoring tonight, so that's where I'll be!

Went to another ELCA Church yesterday. Still feels like I'm "cheating" on my home church! St. John's Lutheran in downtown Dubuque is 150 yrs old. The pews don't even have any cushions and it apparently has a lot of ties to the Seminary. At one point in time, several students and faculty were going there, but due to some issues within the church, many left...at least that's what my Greek instructor told me. I still REALLY haven't found one that just feels right to me, but comparing it to my home church, I don't guess it will ever feel like home.

I've been very home sick over the last week. I just miss being able to do things OTHER than studying! It's just difficult staying in the study mentality again. I'm just having to find ways to stay focused. If I stay out of my room to study, I do better, but I did study in my room last night and did OK, so maybe its just a mental thing.
Several students last night went to a nearby Abby to a Compline service (an evening short service). I decided to stay home to study Greek, but hope to go this week. Apparently, it is a tradition amongst some students....but we do have Chapel everyday, so I just don't want to burn out before my Fall semester begins.

So tomorrow I will be leading our Chapel service with my guitar in hand and also assisting on Thursday service, also playing guitar. It is a nice reprieve from Greek, just trying to say NO at this point is difficult, when I just want something else to go other than studying all the time!

Went on a brief interview at a local employment agency this afternoon. Not much there yet. I hope ton report that I will start a part time job soon...as it makes me VERY nervous not having any income coming in until this Fall.

My church posted some pictures of my last Sunday at the church. I checked them out today. The one with me and the Quilt, is the beautiful quilt the Women of St. Luke's made for me that most of my congregation signed. I love it and wrap myself at least once a day in it to remind me of how much I am loved by my home church...which I miss so much!

Well....gotta go swim before tutoring tonight. May God continue to bless and keep you all. Peace!

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta.....

So, here I am still cramming for my 1st Test here in seminary...and I can't believe it even as I write it.....GREEK ISN'T THAT BAD!!!! Sure, the first few days were rough, but it's actually more like putting together an interesting puzzle. Granted I am still in WEEK 1, I may not be still saying that in WEEK 5 or 6!!

It's truly not that bad. My schedule is pretty cool too. I have class from 8-9:30 Monday-Friday with a half hour break, then resume class at 10am and go till 11:30. Right about then my eyes start to glaze over and I'm wondering what I'm going to eat for lunch!

Then we have afternoon tutorial sessions from 2-4pm Monday -Thursday. Then again from 7-9pm. We also have Chapel everyday at 4:10pm for about 30 minutes.....at this point most everyone goes to PRAY that we can pass Greek!

My personal schedule after that is when I go work out and eat dinner after, before heading out to the second tutorial session.

We have 2 test a week. A vocabulary test, which you can take anytime before 3pm Thursday and its done on an honor system. Each person in my class has a partner that you take the test with; well not together! Your partner is there to proctor you and you proctor him/her. We have all been given our test this week in a sealed envelope and we take it with your partner, whenever you both decide. So some people took them today. My partner, Jeremy and I will be taking it tomorrow at 2pm.
The second test, every Friday (and this is ALL we do on Friday...pretty cool!) is strictly just translation...which I am happy to report I am finally starting to understand. Once you understand the rules for the Greek verbs, nouns, etc...then it gets a little easier. Many are still struggling, but I was able to translate 3 whole sentences without my notes in class today. So to me,....that's MAJOR progress!

All and all, Greek is actually kinda of fun and interesting; because many times what you are trying to translate can be translated many different ways, so it is interesting to see what others come up with in class.

My work study this Fall will be at St.Mark's. It is a private Lutheran school and I'll be doing some tutoring after school. I'm looking forward to that.

In the meantime, I am trying to continue to work out 4-5 days a week and eat well. The eating healthy is a little more challenging in a dorm with limited refrigerator/freezer space, but I hope to come up with some solutions soon. I do hope to also be working part time soon. I have applied at the local YMCA where I also work out to sit at their front desk as people come in...which would be awesome for my knees. My knees have not been doing well overall. I have been advised by my doctor to try switching to doing more swimming instead of all the cardio on the elliptical I've been doing, so I will start doing that this weekend probably.

So I've been going through A LOT of coffee, getting used to sleeping on my twin bed, but overall, I am surviving. The weather has been awesome so far, but I hear this July has been unseasonably cool, so maybe I just got lucky....not what I hear is going on in Texas with the drought conditions down there; Guess I need to pray for more rain, huh?

That's it for now from Iowa and Summer Greek. Hope everyone is doing well. I do log in a lot on Yahoo Messenger. If you have a Yahoo messenger ID, look me up. (My user name: msoperalady) We can chat online for free live, as long as you have a microphone and speakers, you can hear me and I do have a great webcam, so you can even see me. I've been able to see Chloe, my God Daughter just about everyday. Her mother, Julie, says, that Chloe thinks I live in the computer...at least that's what we think, when she points to the computer and says, "Roro". It's quite cute! Till next time...Many blessings to all.

On the left: Here is the main quad outside my dorm room. The statue is of Martin Luther...just in case you don't know!


Below is a video tour of my room. You'll need sound to hear me. Enjoy!

Hello from Iowa!!!

Hello everyone! If you click on the photos on the front page that should take you to Photo bucket to view some pics my brother took on our drive here to Iowa. What a LONG drive that was, but we made it here.
We arrived Saturday around 6pm. I immediately had to find where our keys would be. We ran into the wife of another student walking her dog who informed us where to look. THANK God there are elevators in this dorm, since my room is on the 3rd floor! So my brother and I came up with one load, and he took some pics. I'm gonna load a video soon of what my room looks like now...since its all unpacked now!
So my brother unloaded the Uhaul while I stayed on the 3rd floor transporting what he loaded from the first floor to my room. It actually didn't take us that long. We then decided we needed some dinner, We went to eat at this Mexican place that I remembered from my January trip. It was pretty good. We came back and we were both so tired from being in the car so long. I walked my brother over to the guest quarters, and I went back up to my room to start unpacking. I was up till around 1am, but I paused around 10pm and made my way downstairs to see if I could finds some info on where I could go to church on Sunday....I knew my brother wouldn't want to go, but I felt like I needed to! I ran into a student I met in January who told me the name of one...Holy Trinity. There are 5 in the area, so I plan on attending all of them.
Sunday morning, went to church. As I entered, it was filled with lots of pleasant smiling people, but I felt such a tremendous sense of loss, missing my own church family and friends. I cried as their Praise Team started to sing. Then I REALLY started crying when the text the pastor spoke on was of my favorite Psalm, Psalm 23. I felt a great sense of comfort, knowing that I was meant to be here in Iowa, even in my sadness.
Sunday afternoon, my brother and I ran around town, picking up things I needed, storage containers, shelving for my bathroom and misc stuff. We then ventured to drive around town a little. We drove up these huge hills and I took him to my favorite spot, near this Abbey, that has a stunning view of the Mississippi River from atop this ridge. It was gorgeous to see. We walked this paddle boat go by and walked lots of boats jet across the river. After that, we headed back to my dorm room so my brother could assemble stuff for me. I continued to unpack and organize. I was up till around 11pm and decided to get some sleep since I had to drop off my brother at the airport at 6AM Monday morning!
My brother left yesterday and I spent most of the day getting things all set up in the library and getting my student email all set up. I also had to get my student mailbox assignment, pay Summer tuition, and pick up a few more things I needed for my room. I found out that there is NO community refrigerator, so I'm having to make do with my small one. I'll just have to go grocery shopping more than I'd like to, since I'm on my own for dinner. I met a few students who will also be in summer Greek next week. They looked as excited as I am about it! LOL .
My brother made it back safely to NC. I was really glad he drove with me, even though I know he really didn't want to be here, it was nice getting to really know my brother a little better! Anyways, the pics he took are posted on the main page. Enjoy!
Couldn't get online with my laptop till today, so sorry for the delay on the update. Went today to get my Iowa driver's license and car registration, but found out, it isn't necessary since I am a student...so I am still a Texan residence! YEAH! So 149 more days till I come home...I'm counting....although it's hard NOT to be a little excited about being here now. I really am looking forward to starting my classes...yes, even the GREEK!
So the last box got unpacked today...Thank Goodness! Now its off to bed. Not much to do tomorrow...just joined the YMCA today, so I'll go work out for sure! Other than going over to the Chapel to meditate...not much else in my plans. Well....I thought I'd miss working just a little, but I truly don't! I don't like how quickly, my money seems to be disappearing, but I think I'll be OK. At least I hope so! Till next time....God's peace and blessings to all reading!

Good bye Dallas, hello Iowa

Hello everyone! Well it has been a very long week of packing, sorting, cleaning and NOW driving!

As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Nevada, Missouri...just south of Kansas City. It has been a very emotional week. First, last weekend, I moved most of what I own into storage, just keeping in my apartment what I am taking to school. That in itself was a chore. Because of my knees, I tried not to lift too much, but that is always inevitable. Thanks to a small contingent of loyal friends, I managed to get everything into storage on Friday night. Saturday, the 11th, I spent all day with Julie shopping for Chloe's birthday party....chips, dips, veggie trays, etc....More walking and carrying stuff.

Sunday, the 12th, was a VERY emotional day for me. It was my last Sunday at my church, St. Luke's. I cried all morning. My church presented me with a beautiful quilt that was made from some of the women of the church then it was signed by most of the members of my church. They also presented me with a check to help with my Summer tuition expenses. After church, we had our monthly luncheon and I stayed for a while longer, hugging lots of people, then I left to go to my God Daughter's 1st birthday party. That too was difficult for me. It was VERY hot outside in their back yard, I tried staying focused by making virgin daiquiri's and virgin pina colada's. Then it came time for her to eat her cake and she passed out asleep! But she ate it later and I got LOTS of cute pictures of her demolishing her cake. Too funny! I was sooo glad I got a chance to see all that.

The rest of this week was kinda of a blur. Lots of last minute things to do, car maintenance, taking stuff to storage and trying to spend time with friends I would soon be leaving. Julie and I spent all of Thursday loading my trailer, cleaning out my apartment and getting things ready for me to leave on Friday AM. Thursday night, Rox, Julie and I spent our last evening together in Dallas having dinner. I gave them both a mushy card and we cried recalling our friendships together and me leaving. I stayed the night at Darrell & Julie's, said my goodbyes this morning and drove away. I cried saying bye to Chloe, Darrell and Julie and realizing, I was REALLY leaving. I cried all the way to the airport. I got there a little early. My brother arrived on time, and we hopped into the car and took off. We made a quick stop at a Walmart for an extra cigarette lighter adaptor for the GPS he bought with him and his laptop, then we were off.

As I mentioned above, we are now stopped for the night in Missouri. We drove about 9 hours. Had a little issue with my trailer hitch, but Thank goodness my brother was with me to be able to fix it. That slowed us down about 45 minutes. The car seems to be holding up ok...which was my concern. It's been nice talking to my brother too. We've hardly ever had an opportunity to just sit and talk.

So...now it is off to bed. More driving tomorrow and will be arriving on campus and moving in. I'm so tired of boxes! On the upside, what a dramatic change in temperature already. Don't miss all the heat in Dallas! I actually got out of the car this evening and felt a chill!

More blogging soon.....God bless to all!

Last Day at FSG.....

Well....my last day at FSG has come and gone. My replacement has been trained. Pictures of my co-workers were taken. My personal things all packed up. Lots of congrats said...and when I got home.....STILL lots of boxes to pack! I'm still packing now at midnight, but had to take a break.



As I'm sitting here organizing my stacks of things that are going in storage and things that should go to Iowa with me, I swear the Iowa stack is getting too large! It's hard having to downsize, when I'm just so used to having everything I need right at my fingertips! My church family has continued to be supportive. One family bought me my new favorite toy, an IPOD touch....it is sooo cool! I love it!



Last Friday, one of my best friends, Roxanne, threw me an awesome party at her house. I had so much fun hanging out with everyone. We sang Karoake, ate and I got to hit a pinata...something I hadn't done since I was 5 I think! I also received a few things I needed for school. At the party I presented a gift to 5 girls who have helped me th most during this process in some way. Christie, Jill, Roxanne, Argelia & Julie. I gave them all a cross that is like one of mine that has no beginning or end...like our friendship. Then I passed on a few trinkets to the girls that I didn;t think would be appropiate for me to keep while I am in school. It was one of those "had to be there" moments!

My sister, Myra, sent me my laptop I'll be using in school this week and Sam, from FSG (used to work for as of today), gave me a nice 5 in 1 printer/copier/fax/scanner for school.....that's only 4 things, huh? Well.....it says 5 in one on the box!


I can't believe how quickly July 17th is approaching! But the bright side, I'll get to spend some time with my brother, who is driving with me to Iowa. Unfortunately, I don't get a chance to see him or speak to him near as much as I do my sisters. Although I do hope to go home for Thanksgiving this year. I missed it last year! Then I do have to come back to Dallas for Christmas for a candidacy retreat.


I finally spoke to my the new head of the candidacy committee. They were requesting all my contact information, so they can keep up with me in school. My direct contact is Mary Ellen, but I haven't spoken to her yet.


This Sunday is my last Sunday at my church and Chloe's 1st birthday party...so it's just gonna be an emotional day! I'll probably NOT even bother with any makeup! Chloe's actual birthday is Wednesday, the 15th...can't believe she is already a year old. But I remember everything about that day and I am so blessed to have been there when she came in this world. Her parent's have been so loving and kind in allowing me to be a part of their lives. Darrell & Julie have made me a part of their family, which makes my relationship with Chloe and THEM so meaningful to me....and harder for me to think of not being around them all as often as I'd like; which brings lots of tears! AND don't get me started with the longest friend that I've had here, Roxanne. She and I have been through sooo much together. Both Julie and Roxanne have been my "rock of strength" through all this!


So I haven't been sleeping much. Lots of things running through my mind. Lots of decisions to make and just the whole move in general. I've just been here for so long that it's hard to leave. But I am looking forward to being a student again....even more meaningful that I will be becomi g closer to Christ in the process. Well...I've gotta get some rest. Till next time. Moving day tomorrow and Saturday. YEAH....not all that excited about that either in a 100 degree temperatures! God's belssings to those reading! PEACE!

OMG....is it JULY ALREADY???!!!

Hello everyone!
So here it is July already! I can't believe how these last few months have just flown by! I told one of my best friends, that it feels like a GIANT time clock just keeps ticking in my head until July 17th gets here! (That is the day my brother and I are driving up to IA) !

As each day gets closer, I am reminded of how many people I will miss, how instead of having to go work every morning, I'll be going to class, how hard it has been not having my puppy, Lucy around. It has been difficult to say the least. But I am trying to stay focussed on my purpose...one day, I will look back and say, "Man, that was a cakewalk!"...I hope!

Packing has been a slow process. I am continuing to pack, organize, clean out and sort! I'm also having to make sure all the stuff staying in storage is CLEARLY marked....mainly, because, I may not remember all I have at the end of 4 years in school! I've actually done pretty good about getting rid of junk. I've gotten to the point, that if I haven't used it or worn it in the last year, it needs to go in the trash or good will!

I am very concerned about my knees holding up till next Summer. For those that don't know, I was suppose to have both knees replaced this summer, but with Summer Greek starting at the end of July, I opted to wait. Not only that, I am hoping to be able to lose more weight before there, thereby, making my knees last a little longer than the standard 10-15 yrs. I got cortizone shots in both of them and that seems to be working so far.....but I just know how miserable I usually am when winter comes around HERE, so I'm not looking forward to how they will do in the REAL cold of Iowa!

Leaving FSG (my current company) has been a process to. I have started training my replacement, which I have decided is hard to do. We all get in the habit of doing your job a certain way, that I constantly have to keep reminding myself that HE may NOT want to do it MY way. But I do hope he is successful in at least learning the basics; which puts added pressure on me to train him properly. This is after all what I wanted to do for the company when I started...all the training! Kinda of ironic now! Anyways, tomorrow, my office is taking me out to Happy Hour after work. That'll be fun!

As I am one week closer to my last Sunday, at least for a long while, in my church, I am reminded, how awesome the people of my congregation are. Leaving my church family, my lifeline for my faith, is going to be extremely difficult. Not to mention all the fun I have there too! But I am confident that my church will remain faithful and supportive during my absence.

On another note, my sister, Tamara, just announced her engagement to her life partner yesterday. SO congrate Tamara & Teresa! I wish you both all the happiness in the world!

OK....so I think that's it for now. Till next time, many blessings:

Happy Moments, PRAISE God
Difficult moments....SEEK God
Quiet moments.....WORSHIP God
Painful moments....TRUST God
Every moment....THANK GOD.......AMEN!