If These Streets Could Whisper

Monday, October 31, 2005

Who I am

There are all kinds of ways we describe ourselves to others, and like most of you, I wear many different titles, roles, and hats throughout a given day. I am a student, a pastor, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an avid lover of books, coffee, wine, cooking, laughing and listening. That's the short version.

I grew up outside of Sacramento, CA in a great suburb called Granite Bay. After graduating from high school in 1999 I headed north to the beautiful Pacific Northwest to attend Seattle Pacific University. I majored in Educational Ministries and fell in love with the northwest at the same time. It was here that I realized how much I adore rainy days, coffee shops, hooded sweatshirts, and seeing mountains surrounding me. I grew a ton during my years in Seattle, made some phenomenal friends, and landed myself at a church that changed my life. Bethany Presbyterian Church taught me that as a woman, I could lead and serve in a church when others were telling me I couldn't. It was through working as a children's ministry intern here post-college that I discovered I loved being in pastoral ministry. Two years after graduating from SPU I headed south again, this time to Pasadena, where I began pursuing my Masters of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary.

While at Fuller I was stretched and pushed in ways I never imagined possible, and while I am certainly not in love with Southern California I have made some wonderful friends that have made this segment of my journey unforgettable. I met the man who would become my husband while waiting to cross a street in Old Town Pasadena and 10 months later he proposed to me on that same street corner. We were married in March of 2009 and hope to serve together someday in the areas of youth and family minstries--most likely in the Presbyterian Church, but we are open to wherever God is going to call us. It's my dream someday to return to the northwest, so we're praying about heading that direction, but really, we desire to serve God wherever he plants us over the next few years.

Midterms are SO not fun in grad school!

So it's officially midterms week--and I don't know if it is because I was a theology major in college or what, but I do not remember anything quite as intense or stressful in undergrad. Ok, so part of it is my own fault, I picked this past weekend to fly up to Reno for 3 days, which was 100% worth it, but definately not so conducive to academics! :) So when I got home yesterday I spent 7 straight hours writing a paper which was supposed to analyze my family and it ended up being about 24 pages--by far the longest paper I have ever written in one day. I had to look at my mom's relationship with her parents, my dad's relationship with his parents and my relationship with my parents--and I was really sick of analyzing my family by the time I was done! And this is only "chapter 1" of what will eventually be a huge paper analyzing my entire extended family...I have a long ways to go.

But as I said, I got to go to Reno this weekend to see people that I love!! I flew up there on Thursday and spent the afternoon/evening with my Aunt Ginny (and I got to see Uncle Mike too but he was in and out for the evening). It was wonderful to spend 1 on 1 time with Virginia, as it doesn't seem like we get much of that--there are usually a lot of other people around. So we got to chat and go out to dinner and enjoy looking at Brian and Julia's wedding photos. Then I got to spend the rest of the weekend with Jenn out in Fernley (THE coolest town in the world!) which was awesome. On Saturday we got to go down to Apple Hill to meet Silja which was an absolutely glorious day. The weather was a spectacular October afternoon, crisp, clear, blue sky, and it was so relaxing to be in the mountains with 2 people that I love and miss a lot. I haven't laughed quite as hard as I did on Saturday in a long time!

So only 2 more midterms to go now that this paper is turned in--Greek on Wednesday and Gospels on Thursday--wish me luck!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Life Needs a Soundtrack

I've always been a bit of a musical-geek--learning every word to dozens of shows throughout my childhood and youth years. Here's my list of shows I've seen, and I hope to continue adding to this throughout the next many years! (Bolded and Italicized ones are my absolute favorites that I would HIGHLY recommend--either the film or live versions!)

1. 1776
2. 42nd Street
3. Ain’t Misbehavin
4. Annie
5. Anything Goes
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Bye, Bye, Birdie
8. Camelot
9. Carousel
10. Cats
11. A Chorus Line
12. The Color Purple
13. Evita
14. Fiddler on the Roof
15. Footloose
16. Funny Girl
17. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
18. Grease
19. Hello Dolly
20. Into the Woods
21. The King and I (yes, I am my mother's daughter, this is one of her favorites which she instilled in me!)
22. Kiss Me, Kate
23. Jesus Christ Superstar
24. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
25. Les Miserables
26. The Lion King
27. Martin Guerre
28. Miss Saigon
29. The Music Man
30. My Fair Lady
31. Nunsense
32. Oliver
33. Peter Pan
34. Phantom of the Opera
35. The Prince and the Pauper
36. Rent
37. The Secret Garden
38. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
39. Show Boat
40. Singin in the Rain
41. The Sound of Music
42. South Pacific
43. Starlight Express
44. Unsinkable Molly Brown
45. West Side Story
46. White Christmas
47. Wicked
48. You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

Friday, October 21, 2005

Yay for procrastination!

So I kind of always thought I would never be one to be into the personal webpage thing, but apparently I have changed my mind. Part of my reason for creating this is because I am trying to procrastinate, and this seems like a very fun, new way to do so :) But I also realized the other day just how much I miss taking time to write, to share quotes I've found that I love with others, and to process thoughts and things I am learning through journaling. So, this seemed like a great way to update people on what's going on in my life and in my head--and if no one decides to visit it ever, oh well! :)

We're 4 weeks into the school year, and seeing as how midterms are these next 2 weeks, this seemed like a great time to create a blog--I could be studying my Greek flashcards, but really, who wants to do that on a beautiful Friday afternoon? Honestly, I am actually loving Greek, which totally has surprised me, but it just doesn't sound so fun right now. I'm also taking a Gospels class & a class on Family & Pastoral Counseling, which is AMAZING and VERY challenging.

So I'm going to head out to happy hour with some friends now, but check back for new updates and photos--hopefully I'll take a bit of time each week to post something new, so feel free to check back!