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Monday, August 26, 2013

Ashland

6 years ago today, I moved into the dorms at Ashland for the first time. I can remember how absolutely terrified I was as I prepared to meet my new roommate and say goodbye to my family. I also remember how quickly I realized that Lauren was pretty great, and I was going to be just fine.

Freshman year Religious Life Retreat

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I loved my years at AU. It was an incredible time of personal and spiritual growth for me. I [almost always] really enjoyed the courses I took, especially the classes in the Religion department. I found amazing friends and a wonderful faith community.

2010 Call Retreat at Mowana

The campus went through times of joy and sadness, and so did I. As is normal for a college student, life was often crazy and busy. Late nights of reading and paper-writing in between doing rounds in Clayton as an RA. Early mornings for class or giving tours for the Admissions' office on the weekends. 

Clayton Hall staff Fall 2010

For three and a half years I spent Thursday nights at the Well, had countless movie nights in the dorms, and braved the long Convo lines for brunch on the weekends. There was morning coffee or late night snacks in the Eagles' nest, homework in Lower Chapel, and playing piano in the practice rooms. I found friends and mentors, watched relationships begin, survived road trips and retreats, and learned how to nap.

Oh... and I met this guy. And then Tom came to Ashland as well. And he met a girl.













I guess you can say that AU was good to us :)


Friday, August 23, 2013

Someone find me a cellist

Yesterday I asked my supervisor if I could start playing a classical Pandora station at my desk. I'm in a front office, mostly by myself, and the quiet was starting to get to me. She graciously obliged, and so I've been enjoying the likes of Mozart and Bach and Debussy. Pandora is quickly adapting to my love of all the stringed instruments, and every time a piece performed by a cello comes on I reaffirm my desire to find a good cellist to keep around at all times. Seriously. What a beautiful instrument.

Nothing really important to say about this, except that after just 8 or so hours of listening to classical music, I find myself missing the piano. And my dad. Can't really listen to classical music and not think about Dad. I'm grateful for parents who encouraged me to be musical, who found me good teachers and wouldn't let me quit on a whim. And for my Dad and his genuine love and appreciation of music, from the Beatles to Chopin. That kind of passion is a wonderful gift to share with your kids.

That's all I've got today. Love for the cello and for Dad. 

Happy Friday :)

Friday, August 16, 2013

Saying Goodbye

Despite the cool, rainy day here in Columbia, it is in fact the middle of August. Drew is attending orientation events today at Southern, and his classes start on Monday. I knew the summer would go by quickly as it always does, but I still can't believe we're nearing the end of it.

We are finally settling into this place. Drew (the wonderful nerd that he is) is incredibly excited about getting back into the classroom. I've been working my new job for a week now and am enjoying it. We're making great friends within this community of students. A year after accepting (somewhat begrudgingly) that we would have to move to Columbia, I am happy that we are here and excited for what the year will bring.

But change, even good change, must allow for some mourning for what has been lost. So, for just for a few moments, I'm going to let myself be sad. Because Drew's day full of orientation meetings has reminded me again that, for the first time in four years, we are not anticipating the arrival of our students and another year at Duke.

As if the experience of Duke Divinity wasn't enough, Drew's jobs in RLHS and Religious Life made the 2+ years we spent together in Durham quite an adventure. Better still, those jobs allowed us to work alongside fantastic staff people, and serving/ministering to a wide variety of students. I [almost always] enjoyed living in Bell Tower with the freshman, watching as they found their way in their new setting and figuring out what would shape their time at Duke. Working closer with the undergrads who were our RAs was better still. But our time serving the Duke Lutherans is what sticks out most. They are what made Duke so special. They are why I didn't want to leave. They are what I'm letting myself be sad about today.

It's not that things were always great, that every event was successful and everyone always got along. None of that. It was a group of imperfect people, from all over the country and the world, with different interests, opinions and career paths. But we laughed together. We worshiped, ate, cried, traveled, argued, sang and served together. It was an incredible blessing to get to know these undergrad and graduate students, to learn about their lives, to watch them persevere through academic and personal trials, to count them as friends.

So, to each of you, I want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing your lives and your time at Duke with me. For the Sunday night worship and dinners, conversations in the lounge, retreats, mission trips, holiday meals, facebook banter and movie nights. And, probably most importantly, thank you for the role you have played in our lives and our ministry in the church. Whether you know it or not, our time with you has been crucial in our continued discernment about Drew's call to ministry, and I am so grateful for your support and affirmation of him.

As your last days of summer wind down and you finish up the variety of crazy exciting things you've been doing over the past couple months, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers as you head back to Duke. It was an absolute privilege to be with you these past two years, and I am sad to say goodbye. But I look forward to stalking following your year on social media, to seeing how you continue to grow and work together as a group with new leadership and direction, fueled by love for God and one another. Because, as some guy a couple months ago reminded us, "Love is the only thing that makes new beginnings out of endings."

Monday, August 12, 2013

Sometimes you forget to blog for a month...

Welp... it's August now.

How'd that happen?

July was full of travel and family and exciting things, which was awesome. But now I am happy to say that I am staying put in Columbia for awhile. And that Drew will be here for good tomorrow. AND that I've found a full-time job here as a receptionist at a law firm. Boom! I'm so glad to be done with the application/interview process. Definitely not my favorite thing. It is weird/intimidating to be the new girl at the office, but everyone is really nice, and I think that I'll be able to enjoy myself.

August means the start of classes, and we will for sure be missing our Dukies, but I'm excited for the official start to our Lutheran year and all of the craziness that involves. We've met some great people here and I'm excited about the community we will form while we are here. And as fast as this summer has gone by, I know that the spring and all the changes that come with that will be here in a flash.

But as for the lost month, I still can't believe it's over. Our nephew was baptized, Brother Bear got MARRIED! I got to spend a night at Camp Findley, and see a lot of family. It was an exhausting and amazing couple of weeks. Of course the camera got left in Drew's car, which is why I haven't posted any pictures yet (sorry Mom!) but in the meantime, I do have this one :)

My baby cousin is cuter than yours :P


Happy Monday!