Top 10 things I'll miss about Immanuel Church...

10.  The food brought in for fellowship time after the service.  Cookie brownies...yum.

9.  Sarah saying "blessings on your head"

8.  Hearing "Sweet Caroline" spontaneously sung by the choir before the service.

7.  Phil always spotting my grammatical mistakes - but rarely letting me know...

6.  Phil Dodge and Bud Lohnes talking to me after the service.

5.  Hugs from Edna Goodwin.

4.  Passing of the peace and praying in the center aisle.

3.  Sarah and I butchering the noonday prayer in the Book of Common week after week.

2.  The random acts of kindness and gifts from Wendy the organist - including the Red Sox game

1.  The Hospitality - people inviting me into their homes and sharing with me what they have - food, stories, laughter and one awesome pie plate.  

The hardest thing about finishing seminary will be to leave the church I have called home for the past two years.  I will miss everyone there.

Books...

Last June I blogged about the books I was reading for fun and had a sudden desire to do so again.  That is probably because I've been reading books all day that are for a paper and hence not fun.

I will begin where I left off...

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

This was a great book.  I found myself spending the afternoon reading this rather than doing my semlink this summer.  I identified very much with Fanny Price - the heroine.  She is, by far, the most moral of Jane Austen's characters.  I also enjoyed that the aunt had a pug - gotta love people with pugs.  What I am most dissapointed about is how the movie version changes the storyline so much.  It makes Fanny into a independent feminist writer (not a bad thing in and of itself) but that is not who Fanny is (in the book).

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

You will notice very quickly that I read a lot of Jane Austen this year.  I loved this book as well.  Eleanor and Marianne are such wonderful characters.  As I read this book, I pictured the cast from the 1995 movie (Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, etc.)  It is quite a long book, however.  Brace yourself for quite a ride.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

This book concluded my Jane Austen run while at Seminary.  I have now read all six.  I have to say that it took me awhile to get into this book, but by a happy accident my mother bought me the movie version for Christmas because it looked like something I might ask for.  I immediately fell in love with the movie and the book became one of my all-time favorites soon after.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This book was one of my Christmas presents.  I wanted to read it while living in MA.  I had already visited Orchard House and seen the movie about 20 times so I was pretty familiar with the story.  The book was wonderful and not a week after I finished I returned to Orchard House for the second time.  Having been in their home and seen where Louisa actually wrote the book makes this family so real to me.  Even at this moment I am listening to the soundtrack to the movie because it helps to motivate me.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I found this book in the basement of the church where I work.  I asked if I could borrow it to read it and I just finished it last night, actually.  It is one of those books I've been meaning to read for ages and had just never gotten around to it.  It makes me want to read the entire LOTR trilogy now.  In highschool I managed to read the Fellowship of the Ring, but not the others.  Perhaps I will tackle that series soon.

My next goal is to work on the works of CS Lewis.  I got a compilation for Christmas, but left it at home since I knew I wouldn't get to it this semester.  It will be a good way for me to keep up with some sort of theological reading since I will soon be done with seminary!

My Roommate on AFV!

I apologize for not posting for awhile - even though I've had things to write about.  

Quick Recap of my life:

- Easter Sunday was great!  Sang "Then Came the Morning" in the choir at church.  That afternoon I went to Jana's where about 15 of us gathered and had breakfast food in the afternoon.  I brought the bacon.  And no, that is not a metaphor for money.

- This past week I had the last lectures in all my classes and took the final in my Semlink class.  Friday was my last lecture of seminary - and I wasn't really that sad.  Honestly, it just hasn't hit me that I won't have class for awhile.

- Saturday morning I co-hosted my first bridal shower for my friend Ruth Robinson.  My duties were to bring the flowers and the beverages.  Since flowers are really expensive, I decided to make them.  My origami skills came in handy as I made three vases full of lilies.  It was a big hit at the shower and one girl was so happy because she is allergic to flowers - so she was able to appreciate them as well.

- Saturday night I spent at one of my professor's homes.  Apparently he invites all of his students (from every class) over each semester for a night of food and fun.  I hadn't actually planned on going, but I was talked into it at the last minute.  Only about 10 students showed up - which was slightly awkward for me, but it was fun to hear stories about when he and his family lived in Portugal.  We left before the games really started - but I had heard talk of Scene-It.  Probably a good thing I left - it's not really fair to play that game against me :)

- Sunday morning - I attended an emergent church with 3 guys - one I sort of know from a class I took last semester and the others I only recognized.  They were nice and it was a good morning.  I had to attend an emergent church for class - I didn't just decide to go church shopping my last few weeks here.  I ended up eating lunch at the pastor's house - I'm always down for a home-cooked meal!

- Sunday night - I watched America's Funniest Home Videos with a bunch of girls because my roommate Jen was on - AND SHE WON!!!  Actually, I had known for awhile because she is currently in California.  Today they shot the $100,000 episode.  I don't know how that one went, but I do know that she is splitting $10,000 with her two friends from Wisconsin.  

Way to go Jen!!!  We all couldn't be more happy for you!  God certainly has a sense of humor in the way he decides to provide!  :)

Boston Museum of Fine Art

This past Saturday my roommate Jen and I went to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston to celebrate our birthdays.  She missed my birthday because she was on an all-expense paid trip to LA to be on America's Funniest Home videos.  If you are interested in watching, the episode airs April 19th.  I will miss her birthday this summer because I will be in South Dakota and she will be on an extended mission trip to Uraguay (not sure how to spell that...)  So... we made our new birthday April 4th.

It's a very nice museum, even though it is undergoing some construction right now.  Jen and I are both big fans of the impressionists.  As many of you know, I love Van Gogh and there were 4 originals there!

Some of the other highlights:

 

- Monet's Water Lilies

- The instrument room.  Mom - remind me to show you the picture of the trombone with a dragon head for a bell.

- The Egyptian wing 

- Painting of St. Catherine of Siena (someone I've been reading about for my Women in Church History class)

On our way back to school, we stopped at the Prudential Center so I could get my niece a birthday present.  I'm not going to say what it is, other than that it is very New England.  She turns 11 in 2 days!  Gosh!

Most of my time is filled with researching and writing papers.  It's officially crunch time for me.  I am taking breaks, though.  Tomorrow my church is doing a Passover Seder meal.  On Sunday I am spending the afternoon with a bunch of friends to celebrate Easter.  Maybe not as exciting as being in New York - but I'm thankful for having somewhere to go and people to be with.

I wish you all a reflective Holy Week and a marvelous Easter! 

CHRIST HAS RISEN - HE HAS RISEN INDEED!