Final Post

Now that I have graduated from seminary - it is time for me to close this chapter of my life as well as this blog.  Do not fret, for I have a new blog!  

http://auburnaudacity.blogspot.com/

This blog will chronicle my life until I make another major shift.  Who knows when that will be.  I invite all of you who have enjoyed this adventure with me to come with me as I venture out into the world beyond academia.  

It will be a mix of my thoughts, my experiences and hopefully some strokes of genius :)

Thank you all for caring enough to read!

Katie

Life after Seminary

I apologize to all of those who read this blog regularly and have noticed that it's been nearly a month since I have written. My life has been crazy and emotional. I graduated from Gordon Conwell. I said goodbye to my dear friends at school and the church I love to move home. My mother and I drove my car full of all my belongings back to South Dakota. It took two and a half days and we made a pit-stop at Niagara Falls, which was lovely.



Since being home I have spent time with my family (a birthday lunch for my brother, a shopping trip with my nearly 2-year-old niece, a couple visits to my grandma's house), friends (a trip to the camp to see Bridgett and her remodeled house as well as a couple of other girls I love, a trip to Nealy's apartment, and a stop at the USF theology department.



Otherwise, I've been keeping busy unpacking, playing Wii, and applying for jobs. I had an interview yesterday for a job I would really like, but I'm trying to not get my hopes up. I'll find out about it at the end of May - which really isn't that far away.



While I was ready to be done with seminary - I am finding the transition home to have its own challenges. Certainly the benefits outweigh whatever hardships I face here. I miss MA, though. I miss my friends. I miss my church. I miss the scenery and the independence. But I suppose that is normal. I am just grateful to have things to miss.

Finally, this blog was set up to chronicle my time at seminary. I am debating what I will do next. Rest assured that when I decide - I will announce it here. If there is something you would like me to do - opinions of mine you would like to hear (or debate) please let me know.

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!

Bridgett Came to Visit!

My friend Bridgett came to visit me.  We are friends from Lake Poinsett Camp and have known each other for a very long time.  She was my first visitor last year, so this time around we skipped the Freedom Trail and Cape Ann.  Instead we had a great time doing many new things.  I was able to cross a lot of my "to see" list.

FRIDAY

During the day was the Inauguration of President Hollinger (President of Gordon Conwell.)  It was a very cool ceremony and I am glad I went.  He is the 6th president of Gordon Conwell.

Bridgett arrived that night.  We had some Quiznos and watched Emperor's New Groove which is a movie we both love and now both own.  "No touchy!"

SATURDAY

We headed down to Cape Cod, Hyannis specifically.  We took in the JFK Museum dedicated to the time the Kennedy's spent in Hyannis.

Here is Bridgett in front of the Museum.

They had a little video presentation and a whole wall dedicated to the Kennedy Family Tree.

Here we are at the Kennedy Memorial at the beach in Hyannis.  

This is the Saugus Bridge.  Once we crossed this, we were in the Cape.

That night, Bridgett and I went to a Karaoke Potluck at my church.  Since I don't have an oven, we brought chips and salsa.  I was very happy to see some "American Chop Suey" aka "goulash."  Bridgett and I sang one song - to everyone's suprise (including us!)  We sang "Lean On Me."  Good times.

SUNDAY

Bridgett sang in the church choir with me on Sunday.  Both the karaoke and the choir were things that I had hoped she would do, but did not require her to do.  We are all grateful she sang - we really needed her that day!

After church we headed into Boston for a play - Billy Joel's Movin' Out.  It was like a ballet set to Billy Joel music.  It was very cool and very impressive.  We arrived a little early and since the theater was adjacent to the Common, we walked around a snapped a few pictures.  I did get to see the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues, but did not get a picture with them.

In the Boston Public Gardens, all dressed up for the show.

We ate supper at the Bull and Finch Pub, inspiration for the show Cheers.  I had Macaroni and Cheese.  It was excellent.

MONDAY

Monday was our relaxed day.  I don't actually have any pictures...oops!  We went candlepin bowling.  I did better than when I tried it a year ago, but am sadly still terrible at it.  I hope to go one more time when my parents are here.  I can't wait to see how my dad does!  Unless of course he is skilled at that as well... :)

TUESDAY

We went to Concord, MA.  As some of the more astute readers of this blog will note, I went here in August with my friend Dana.  Bridgett wanted to see Orchard House and who am I to deny her?  It was wonderful to see it again after reading the book.  We had watched the movie the night before in order to prepare ourselves a little better.

We then ate lunch and headed over to Sleepy Hollow cemetary.  At this point in the trip, we both realized we hadn't taken many pictures and tried to make up for it.  I will post a few of the highlights.

We did some "senior photo" moments.  This is the best of Bridgett.

Notice the braid?  Bridgett did that - as well as take this great picture.

We are enjoying the cemetary a little too much at this point.

Believe it or not, this was taken by me with a self timer.  
I am looking at Emerson's grave.
I am the master of looking instantly pensive.

After the cemetary, we headed to North Bridge.  This was the sight of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.  There is a Minuteman statue there carved by the same guy who carved the Lincoln Memorial.  That guy was tutored by the sister to Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women and lived in Orchard House.  Oh the connections!

The Minute Man statue in the sunlight.

My artistic rendering of the Old North Bridge.

That night we ate at Not Your Average Joe's (or as Bridgett called it - Coconut Joe's) with my roommates.  It was a nice end to the day, as well as the trip.

This morning, we had breakfast at Depot Diner (where I discovered the joy of cornbread pancakes) and dropped Bridgett off at the airport.  I have done very little homework since then, but have not been too idle.  However, I must get lots done in the next few days.  Pray for me!