I don't plan on dyin' anytime soon.

The results of the echocardiogram are in: Slight tricuspid and mitral valve insufficiency. Not enough to cause a whole lot of problems. Otherwise, the heart looks really good. The doc is thinking the chest weirdness was maybe something muscular or anxiety related (though I don't consider myself to be an anxious person. Maybe I am, and instead of manifesting outwardly, it goes inward. Who knows?) I'm supposed to monitor it and if I don't feel better, come back in for some more testing. No more action is needed at this point, and my activities are not restricted. I can get back to working out!

Hallelujah!

This is good news. I've been a little nervous about it, but not too much since the Echo tech didn't run screaming from the room, and because they didn't call me right away. I'm glad it doesn't seem to be anything serious. If you were praying or thinking of me, thank you.

I hope you all are having a fantastic Easter. He is risen, indeed! ALLELUIA!

Realization

I was just reading some older posts and realized I missed some more stuff...

First off: The awesome family related news I alluded to in February...YS got ENGAGED on Valentine's Day! She and her man decided to get married on April 30th at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas! All my siblings except for OB went. It was SO awesome, and I'm very glad that they took the leap. YS's husband is a very awesome guy, and I am excited that he's officially my brother in law. He treats her well, and they seem genuinely happy together.

The other big thing: I broke my wrist in March. Some friends and I went roller skating in SeminaryTown, and within 15 minutes, I had fallen. A roller rink employee was right there when I went down and she said, "Are you ok?" I was afraid of getting into trouble, (odd, I know) and so I just said, "Yeah, I'm fine!" Then I got up and started skating around again, thinking that I had just bumped it a bit. But then, the roller rink announcer said that there were no shoes or coats or sweatshirts allowed in the skate-putting-on-area, and so my friends and I all went to move our stuff to the cubby holes. I sat down and my wrist was still really hurting, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I mentioned that I was really in pain and one of my friends asked if I could move it. I could, though it was sore. So, as I got more and more light-headed, they told me to lie down. I asked, "Do they have free water here?" (I have a penchant for asking stupid water-related questions), and then one of my friends came back with a bottle. Another employee came over with a bag of ice, and looked at my wrist a little. Then, my friends said, "It's time to take Molita to the hospital!" So, we got up and were walking out when the guy who took our money came up and said, "You hardly got to skate, so here is your money back." So, we took our money, loaded into the car, and made the drive across town...

AND BOY, WHAT A DRIVE! Every bump hurt like you would not believe. It didn't really, REALLY start hurting until we got into the car, but man...Yikes. I was saying words that are not befitting for a seminary student to say. Oh, and I was laughing hysterically because I am not very good at crying. So, there I was, laughing and swearing profusely, amusing all my friends on the trip.

When we got to the Emergency Room, I was still laughing, and when I went to the window, I told them my name and that I fell down and hurt my arm. I took a seat by all my friends and we waited. When we got to the hospital, I stopped swearing, but I was still laughing and saying fake swear words (Fudgesicles, shoot, frick, and the like) because there were little ears around. Finally they called my name and my friend Sarah walked with me back there. I was having a hard time breathing well because it hurt so bad and the lady told me I needed to breathe better or my face would get numb. So, they got me a wheelchair to sit in because every time I moved, my wrist would hurt more. Sarah pushed me back to the waiting room after the receptionist took some of my info. Then, some dude came and Sarah took me back to talk insurance. At that point, I was mentally cursing whomever chose to put square tiles down in the hallways because each groove caused me serious pain.

When I was done giving insurance information to that guy, Sarah pushed me back out to the waiting room to wait with Meganne and Matt. Some other guy was waiting for his wife, too, and I think he was thoroughly amused by me. All the laughing, I think, was odd for people to see. While we were waiting, one of the seminary employees came out of the ER with stitches in her face. She'd been at a hockey game and had gotten smashed in the head with a puck! So, we are ER buddies now.

Finally, they called me to come back. And so, Matt, Meganne, Sarah, and I went back to a room. Matt and Sarah were classmates of mine, and Meganne is a music therapist, so I said they were my "Spiritual Care Team." We waited and waited and waited, and Sarah took photos of me on her phone and uploaded them to FaceBook. Before long, people were commenting and the like. Another couple of friends saw the pictures and Sarah's status update and asked if we needed anything. So, about half an hour later, they showed up, Matt went and got them out of the waiting room, and they brought bottles of water, some cookies, and a never-been-chewed doggie toy to replace the decimated water bottle I'd been squeezing for the pain. It.was.EPIC!

By that time, I'd had X-rays, and the nurse practitioner (I guess broken bones don't require a doctor) had talked to me. Medical people who were around would occasionally glance in to see what all the laughter was for, and I think that my laughing made them under appreciate the immense pain I was in (really, you wouldn't think a broken wrist would hurt that bad, but it DOES. It REALLY does)! Finally, about ten minutes before it was time to go, they came in and gave me a splint, and asked if I wanted something for the pain. I said, "YES!" The nurse asked if I wanted a pill or a shot. Meganne chimed in and said, "She wants a shot! It'll work faster and she's in A LOT of pain." It was funny, but Meganne does know about these things since she was a music therapist for Hospice (We even started to write a song about my pain and the experience of it all...She says it helps). So, the nurse came in and I got a lovely pain killing shot, and then was discharged with instructions to go to the bone doctor later that week for a cast. Matt and Meganne and Sarah and I went directly to the WalGreens and got my Vicodin, and when we got back to Seminary, Sarah put me to bed.

Having a broken wrist is not pleasant, but the experience was helped by friends who helped me when I couldn't do things for myself. I am very blessed to have such considerate people in my life. I had people to take me to the bone doctor since I wasn't allowed to drive my own drugged-up self (Thanks, Jealaine and Sarah!). I had people to do my dishes so I didn't have to stack them up for a month. I had a neighbor who would open things I couldn't, and another friend who bought me some bath supplies that would help me be able to bathe more easily.

But, I think one of the other highlights of having an awesome orange cast, was the fact that I got so many awesome people to sign it! The day I got it on, my new bishop was at the seminary to meet me and the other WND assignee and his family. So, in addition to many friends who signed it, Bishop Mark Narum also signed my cast. And then, the president of the seminary and his wife ALSO signed it (He's an ex bishop and his wife is just freaking amazing anyway). AND THEN!!!! Because the president was new, he had to be inaugurated in early April. And WHO does the inauguration of a new seminary president? THE CHURCHWIDE BISHOP!!! So, when that day rolled around, I walked up to Bishop Hanson and I lifted up my arm and I said, "Will you sign my cast?" He said, "Sure!" And I handed him my Sharpie and he signed it right in the palm, where I had conveniently left him a space. It was so funny and awesome for me. I mean, how many people can say that Bishop Mark Hanson has signed their cast? I almost wish I'd saved the thing when they took it off...Almost.

So, that is what has been happening in my life. I hope things have been good for you all, and that none of you have broken any bones lately. And if you have, my sincere sympathies are with you.

It was the Salmon Mousse!

Alright, so obviously I'm feeling a bit better. It always helps to write down my thoughts and what not. I get them out, and then I can think about them more and feel better, which I do.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you all a story about what happened on Wednesday/Thursday for me.

A good friend, whom I shall call "Earsy" for the purpose of this story txted me on Wednesday night. She has been to the doctor, emergency department, and acute care about six times in the past two weeks for ear pain/infections. So, she texted me and asked if I would go with her to the Emergency Department. I said yes, because ear infections suck, and I wouldn't want to have to keep going alone if I was having recurring problems like that. Being alone in that sort of situation is not fun. So, I drove her to the hospital around 10:30 on Wednesday night. I waited in the waiting room while they took her information and took her back to an examining room. I was reading for Hebrew Content, so I was not too bored. Anyway, after a few minutes, one of the ladies from the front desk came out and asked if I was with "Earsy." I said yes, and she said, "She would like you to go back there with her." So, the woman took me back and I sat on the chair by her. She was laying on one of those rolling beds and had an IV hooked up and what not. Earsy said that they were going to take her down for a CT scan to make sure she didn't have something more serious wrong with her. So, we were just waiting patiently because they had a heart attack come in and an ear infection takes the back seat in relation to a heart attack. Anyway, so Earsy and I were just talking and what not, and a nurse came in and gave her a shot of painkiller because she was in some serious pain, and she could not see out of one of her eyes. Needless to say, Earsy got a little dopey. While we were waiting, we had a word of prayer, and then talked some more.

Eventually, a young lady came and wheeled Earsy down to CT to get her scan done. I waited with her stuff because they said I should not go. So, whatev. Anyway, they brought her back up about ten minutes later, and we talked some more. Around 1:30 a.m. the doctor came in and said that it wasn't as serious as they thought it could have been, and so she could go home. The doctor gave her some instructions, and then the nurse came in with the paper of instructions and papers to sign and what not, and we were set to be able to go.

Earsy was still a bit woozy from the pain medicine they had given her, so she clamped onto my arm, and I walked with her out to the car. I leaned her against a pillar and drove to come get her. When we got back to Seminary, she clamped onto my arm again, and we walked to the elevator and came up to our floor (3). So, I helped her into her room, and she laid down without even changing her clothes (not that I blame her). I told her I would come get her in the morning so she could come to my section of Hebrew because she didn't think she'd be able to make it to her earlier section. On my way out, I turned off her main room light, turned on her bathroom light, and walked down the hall to my room and immediately got ready for bed. I set my alarm for class in the morning and went to sleep. By that time, it was 2:30.

Six hours later, I was woken up by the eardrum-piercing shriek of the fire alarm and the blinding flash they make. I don't even remember getting out of bed, I got up so fast. I put on my glasses and my zip up black sweatshirt, my slip on brown shoes, put my phone in my pocket, and walked out my door. I remembered Earsy and that oftentimes she cannot hear the fire alarm (she has hearing aids and what not), and that she had asked me before to make sure she was up when the alarm goes off. So, I was going to just walk into her room and get her for the sake of time, but it was locked. She must've gotten up in the night and locked the door. So, I started pounding on her door, and she answered by opening the door a little bit. I said, "I don't know what is going on right now, but we need to go outside." She said, "Okay, give me a second. I need to put some shoes on." So, I turned around and saw one of my neighbors coming out of his room while putting on his shirt, and a neighbor down the hall come out of her room in her pajamas. All the while, I was just standing there at Earsy's door, waiting for her. So, Earsy came out of her room and we all went down the stairs the first floor to get out. On our way, I noticed the room by the door to get outside was propped open and there was smoke coming out of it, as well as a burnt smell. So, our residence hall manager was making sure we were coming outside. Earsy, as well as most of my neighbors and I were standing outside the residence hall at 8:30 in our pajamas. I was thinking, "What time is it? I'm going to be late for church!" I was so out of it. I thought it was Sunday! And about five minutes later I realized that it was Thursday and that I had classes still! So then, I noticed that I was still in my pajamas. And not just ANY pajamas, but my yellow Spongebob Squarepants pants. Everyone else pretty much had plaid pajama pants or they were dressed (good thing Earsy went to bed dressed when I brought her back). So I said, "I win the dorkiest pajama contest!"

So, by this time, the first responder cops showed up and I could hear the firetrucks coming from down the street. The RH manager told us we should go to the Refectory (cafeteria) to stay warm and to get out of the way of the firemen who would need to go in, check to make sure there was no fire, turn off the alarm, and get the scoop on what really happened (one of the international students microwaved a breadstick or roll for way too long and it started smoking). Anyway, so we went to the refectory and I was just hoping and praying that Dr. Printimating wouldn't come through and see us all (namely, ME!) in our pajamas. And what happened two minutes later? Dr. Printimidating came through. Haha. Not that it REALLY matters, but I'm not a fan of random people seeing me in my pajamas. Especially not people who I respect and who intimidate me. Oh well.

The funniest thing about this whole experience to me was that when the fire alarm started going off, I had the presence of mind to remember Earsy. Usually I forget about her because she's a big girl and can take care of herself, but that day, I pounded on her door, which turned out to be a good thing. She had woken up, but could not figure out what the sound was. She thought it was her alarm or that her ears were REALLY messed up. Granted, the building wasn't really on fire either, but whatever. Also, the funny part is that we were standing on either side of her door, practically having a conversation through the shrill shriek of the alarm, while all of our neighbors started filing out. And the funniest part yet, for me, anyway, was when I said, "I don't know what is going on right now, but we need to go outside."

I was really out of it. Haha. But anyway, we were able to go back to our rooms within fifteen minutes or so, and I went back to bed for an hour. Then, to the classes for the day. Fun times.

And the title of this post? I just watched "The Meaning of Life" for the first time ever, and I laughed SO hard I was screaming. I thought Earsy and I were both so out of it that we could say that the culprit was the Salmon Mousse. I vote yes.

Have a fantastic Saturday.

Most of you already know...

But J asked me to marry him and I said yes. He asked on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 (obviously). He asked me to go with him to his new home to help move him and his stuff in. His call is about 11 hours away from Seminary. Four of his congregation members came down in a suburban to help him move that weekend. They got here late on Friday night and went to sleep. Early the next morning, we went down to J's apt and loaded up his Uhaul. Two people drove the truck, two people went in the suburban, and J and I went in his car. Before we departed, he asked me to go get a CD he had made me. Good music.

We stopped a couple of times for gas and food, and made it to his new home in pretty good time. There were several congregation members there to help unload the truck, and J got to tell them where to put all the boxes and furniture. Someone else brought pizza, beer, water, and pop, and so we had some good time for fellowship and getting to know you. One of the congregation members showed us how to get to the hotel at which I would be staying. Then, J brought me back to his house, after we went and saw the church. It seems like a really neat place, and I mentioned how much I like it. When we got back to his house, I helped him set up his bed so he could sleep comfortably during his first night in his new place (even though he was coming back to Seminary for about two more weeks).

After we got the bedroom situation figured out, he took me back to the hotel because we were both pretty beat. As I was getting ready for bed, he sent me a really sweet text message, and I replied, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, he came to get me for our long trip home. We drove around the town in which one of his congregations and the parsonage are. It's a town of about a thousand people. They have a prominent landmark right off the Interstate, and so we stopped and looked at it and read about it for a little bit. Then, he took me to the town where his other church is. He showed me the outside of his other church because we couldn't go in. They were still worshipping. Both places seem really cool, and I enjoyed the congregation members I met. Good folks.

After he showed me around that town, which has about 200 people, give or take a few, we headed out. We drove for a little while, but then stopped at another prominent landmark in a town on the Interstate. We had our picture taken with said landmark, viewed the museum and tourist sites there, and then got back into his car. Before he started the car, he said, "Did you ever listen on your computer to the most recent CD I made you?" I told him that I had only ever listened to it on my DVD player. He said, "So you don't know the names of all the songs?" I told him that I didn't. Then he said, "I finished the insert for you. You might want to pay special attention to the first letter of each song." So, I read the first letters that spelled out, "Trish will you marry me?" I turned to him and said, "Are you asking?" And he said, "Yes. Will you marry me?" Of course I said yes, and I am thrilled. We got the engagement ring later that week because he wanted us to pick it out together.

We tried to keep it quiet, but told several of our friends the next week. I asked the usual Seminarians Gone Wild crew to go out to lunch for a "pre-Wednesday get together event." All but one was able to go. We went out to lunch at a Chinese Buffet. As I came back from my second trip, I was standing up near the end of the table and I said, "Hey guys. Hey guys... I lied. The reason I wanted you all to come to lunch is because we're engaged." It was so neat to see their reactions. We got hugs and squeals and all that good stuff. We asked them to keep it on the downlow because were were planning on going to Illinois to tell my family the coming weekend.

So, Friday, we got to Sis and BiL's house. I wanted to tell both of my sisters at the same time, so I had kinda put a bug in YS's ear that she needed to visit us at Sis's house that weekend. I'm thankful that Sis, YS, Howard, Sunscreen, BiL, J, and I had dinner together on Saturday night. YSB had to be someplace else, so that was a slight bummer. Anyway, though, before dinner, I was making cocktails, because I gotta make myself useful somehow, and YS came up to me and said, "Hey T, I had a crazy dream about you the other night!" (Remember that the week prior, I had had that dream where she was incredibly angry and she really was?) I said, "What did you dream about?" She replied, "I had this dream that when you and J came home, you guys were married!" I kinda smiled and said, "No... We're not married." Then, about an hour later, after we had finished eating dinner, we were enjoying a nice glass of peach champagne when I asked BiL when he was going to Canada. He told me when and then he said, "Too bad we're turning right at (town where J and I got engaged), or else I'd come see you, J!" I said something like, "So, you're turning there? That's where he asked me to marry him." And they were all like, "WOW!" And BiL said, "I KNEW IT!" And YS said, "My dream was almost right!" And they gave us congrats. YS said, "I told YSB that if T gets a ring before I do, I'm going to be pissed!" I asked her if she was okay with it, and she said, "Yes, I'm very happy for you!" And she was. I can tell when she's upset, and she wasn't upset. Maybe this will be the impetus for YSB to ask YS. They've been together a good long while, and he's a good man. I just think he's been burned before.

So, the family knew, and that freed J and me up to tell whomever we wanted.

The next morning, we went to my home church and I introduced Pastor to J. Pastor told J congrats on graduating and being ordained, and J said, "Among other things." And I held up my ring hand and said, "We're engaged!" It took Pastor a second to realize that I was holding up a ringed finger and he was excited about it. We told him that we had wanted to wait until we told my family, but now we could broadcast it to the world. So he said, "I can help you with that, if you'd like! I can make an announcement if that's alright with you!" We told him that it would be.

So, Pastor did the regular announcements that morning, and as the last one he said, "Some of you maybe have met Trish's friend, J when he was here in August?" (He looked at me to see if that was right and I said, "July"). "When he was here in July when Trish led worship when I was gone. J is a recent graduate and is ordained and will be starting a call (in his call towns). But when we were talking this morning, Trish held up her hand like this and showed me that they're engaged!" I heard the whole congregation go, "Awww!" And then they all started clapping. I turned bright red, of course, but I felt very loved by them. It's good to have "congregational approval," despite the fact that I'm in love and would marry him even if they didn't approve.

I'm just glad they didn't freak out and think I was going to quit seminary. That is not AT ALL my plan. J realizes this and supports me in my continuing education. We are planning on getting married this coming May, though. I'm excited, to say the least. I just wanted to share this news with you, my blogging community, despite the fact that most of you knew already. :)

Anyway, this has been an extremely long post, so I'ma head off now. Have a delightful day.

I'm a slacker!

I'm dreadfully sorry for not having posted anything lately. I've been a little busy. Prologue week ended today, and so there is a picnic later today that I will be attending with J. I'm glad that Prologue Week is over. I ended up making myself look stupid more days than not. Haha.

We had opening worship on Monday night. A friend asked me to be a standard bearer, meaning, I had to stand in a designated area with my classes colored (black) banner. I, along with the water bearer, led our class into the refectory to be seated for worship. But, before we went in, I was just standing there as a beacon. I was looking through some of the photos of the event later in the week and saw one of me looking intently at my banner. It's not too terrible, but I have a look of concentration on my face and the people are probably like, "WHAT is she LOOKING AT!?" Lol. I was looking to make sure none of the black ribbons that made up the banner had come off again and started flying away. But, most people don't know that.

Let's see, I don't think I did anything on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, I was really tired, and so I put my hands on my forehead to rest my head. I wasn't *Really* sleeping because I could still hear every word the prof was saying. Then, he said something interesting, so I took my hands down and wrote it down. However, about 10 seconds later, I decided I needed to shift in my seat. The unfortunate part is that my chair did not have the screws in the bottom of the seat to keep it down. So, I started to fall forward until my friend sitting next to me put his arm out and anchored the back of my chair down. Most of the people in the class started laughing and the prof said something to me regarding falling asleep. I told him I wasn't falling asleep, but that my chair was broken, but I don't think he believed me. And the rest of the profs (Prologue week is team taught) thought I was sleeping. Thankfully, my small group leader asked me what happened later. But, the whole thing just made me feel stupid because everyone thought I was sleeping, and then the professor and I had a short conversation right then and there and I turned bright red and he said he was blushing too. It was just weird.

Thursday, we were all sitting in class, listening to the lecture, when the professors asked us to ask questions. Because I hardly spoke in class last year, I thought I should work on that this year. So, I tried to ask some question, but it met with silence and bewildered faces. So, I said, "That isn't clear to you at all, is it?" and they said, "no." So, I rephrased, and they kind of answered, but not quite the question I was asking. I don't want to be "that girl" who just talks and asks stupid questions. Ugh. Oh well.

Today, I didn't really do anything to make myself look stupid. Which is a good thing. One of the profs, I think made another classmate feel stupid because he (the prof) was not paying attention to what was going on when my classmate had to leave. He brought attention to her as she left, and I felt bad for her because I wouldn't appreciate his comments in the middle of class like that either. He wasn't being mean, but he was drawing attention to her. And then, when he realized WHY she left, he brought MORE attention to her. Gimme a break.

Oh well. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. I think things will be fine; we just need to get back into the swing of things.

Oh yeah! And I need to tell you another story about something ELSE that happened today!

J and I were at HyVee returning a RedBox movie (A new thing for me, but really cool). Anyway, someone else was using it when we got there, so we were going thru the movies for sale bin. This older woman in a motorize shopping cart was also looking through the movies when she said to J and me, "This is what the world is coming to!" while pointing to the movie, "The Omen." At which point, she launched into this diatribe about how we all need to repent from our sins because satan is here and we're about at the end of the world and would experience God's wrath if we all didn't repent. And she talked to us for like, 10 minutes! I tried to tell her that J is a pastor and she just blew right on by, continuing to talk about the mark of the beast and the coming judgment and what not. She then said she was going to give me some information about what is happening, but I said, "We have to be going." But then this woman dragged me into MORE conversation. Then, when she finally took another breath, I interjected about how I am glad that we are the recipients of God's wonderful grace. She took that as an opportunity to talk more about how, despite God's grace and goodness, we still need to DO things. I'm all for living a faithful life, but she was not listening at all to us.

It reminded me of pastoral care last year when we were told that before we want to be heard, we have to listen. I guess this chic missed the memo on that one. Oh well. The whole experience reminded me of a good friend of mine here who has weird experiences ALL the time! I am excited to tell her about this lady, who we finally got away from because the RedBox finally became free. Yikes.

Anyway, so that is that. Have a great weekend all. See you, and I'll try to post more frequently.

Counting Down the Days

To what, you may ask? I am counting down the days until I go back to Seminary. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my family, but like I've said before, I need adult interaction every single day. Sis and BiL and I do chat, but they're usually tired by the time they get home from their work, and then they want to play with their kids, (obviously! Who wouldn't want to play with them. They're adorable!) watch a little t.v. and go to bed by about 9:30. Me, on the other hand; well... I'm re-energized when they get home. Tonight, I walked my bike uptown to put air in the tires so I could go on a bike ride. Unfortunately, after I aired up the tires, I realized I couldn't pedal because the chain had rusted a bit and fallen off. I managed to get it back on so that it wouldn't click, click, click as I pedaled, and it goes along just fine. I just can't change gears. Oh well. It's not in the toughest gear and it's not in the wimpiest gear, so I'm okay with that. Sis didn't want to take the kids for a walk today, so I had to get out, and bike riding is what I did.

BiL and I also replaced the gauge/instrument cluster in my car, Neno. The speedometer has been messing up for a few months now. I would be driving along and the speedometer needle would start dancing all over the place. It didn't do it too terribly often; just enough to annoy me. It didn't even really give me much trouble on my trip last weekend. But, one of the last times it started not working, the tripometer/odometer didn't work either. Thankfully, I gave the underside of the wheel a good whack and it all corrected itself. But, I wanted to get it fixed, all the same, so Sis, BiL, and I ordered the part off of EBay, and we put it in tonight. I had no idea the top part of the dash just snaps off. It's really cool. It was only a 20 minute job, but if I'd taken it to a car repair shop, it probably would have cost me a couple hundred dollars. We got the gauge cluster (used) for less than 50 bucks, and I didn't have to pay for labor. Good work! Yeehaw. I can go back to the seminary with a fully functioning car (knock on wood).

As I prepare to go back, I also am thinking about things I have yet to do. I am leading worship/preaching on Sunday. I finished my sermon yesterday, I think, but I'm going to go over it to make sure it isn't ridiculously boring. I hate being boring when I preach. This sermon is a tad bit more academic than I'm used to preaching, but I don't think it'll be over the congregations heads at all. I'm kind of excited to preach it. Hopefully they hear a word of grace in the message.

I also plan on calling my good friend who was the cook at Restaurant while I was there. She's still there, despite the fact that she is 78 years old. She was disappointed back in the Spring when she couldn't come see my presentation from Israel/Palestine. So, I told her that if I ever got a laptop, I would bring it by and show her. So, now that I have a laptop, I can. I wanted to show her a couple of weeks ago, but I got sick, and then she had family come in from California, and then she went with them. I think she's back now, but that is why I need to call. I don't just want to pop in on her, although I'm confident she wouldn't mind. I love that woman, and she loves me. It's a good feeling.

I also need to go to the Supermax and visit Ma one more time before I head back to school. The home where she stays just sent Sis, who is the Power of Attorney, her Care Plan Guide. I read through it, and found most of the information pretty obvious to anyone who has seen her lately. However, there were some disheartening things in there regarding her mental status and another physical thing that we were told could be a potentiality back in December. It's still "only" a potentiality, but the fact it looms over her and us is just a bit saddening. I guess you never know when the end will come, and so I don't want to have regrets. I have had experiences where I have "lucked out" and gotten to see someone I loved right before they died unexpectedly, but I have also had experiences where I have not seen a person and so have lived with regrets. Since I don't know when the end will be for Ma, I want to make sure to visit her reasonably frequently so that I don't have those regrets.

And lastly, Sis and BiL are having a "send-off" dinner for me on Tuesday night. YS and YSB are coming, as well as BiL's sister and her boyfriend. My little ol' heart was warmed the other day when BiL's sister told me that she refers to me as her sister in law, because we're just like family, anyway. It's nice knowing they don't just consider me to be a person they have to put up with to see Sis, BiL, Howard, and Sunscreen. They like me, they really like me! Anyway, for dinner, BiL is going to make my absolute favorite meal ever, which is roast done medium rare, homemade mashed taters, and dark brown gravy. He's going to put the roast on the rotisserie in the grill, which is AWESOME. He offered to make me one of his famous prime ribs, but I would much rather have the roast. And, better yet, he's sending me along with the leftovers. Weehaw!

Anyway, so that's what I'm doing these next few days. I'm going back to Seminary on Wednesday. That is the day the new babysitter starts. The ex-babysitter is back from vacation in Florida, and they came to visit the boys. She said she misses them, which is a natural thing. But, she made her decision about not watching them anymore. Hopefully, Howard and Sunscreen grow to love the new babysitter like they did the old one. I want them to be happy. I love my boys so darn much.

Oh, and a quick aside. Tonight, I got Howard to say, "How YOU doin'?" It's so cute. It comes out more like, "How doin'?" but it's so cute. Sunscreen still isn't walking. He's about 14 1/2 months old, and Howard didn't start walking til he was 15months old. They're both smart; just slow to get going. Anyway, that is enough blubbering for me. Have a wonderful evening, and stay safe. 4 more days til I go back and see J, my room, and all that being back at school entails! I miss everyone! Peace out.

Absent

Hello Friends. I'm back to Seminary a wee bit sunburned, but happy to have done good work. I've not posted in a while, but I have pretty good reason. My computer is pretty much a piece of junk. haha. It no longer allows me onto the Internet. I have a new computer on order, but I don't know when it will arrive. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Also, I was downstate earlier this week helping a friend do yardwork. We also fixed some of the roof on her shed and reshingled most of it before we were rained out. My friend took me past a river about 6 miles from her house and there were houses half under water. I can't even imagine what that'd be like. I'm confident they'd appreciate your prayers. There is flooding in much of the midwest. Yikes.

Anyway, I don't know how often I'll be able to blog until I get the new computer, which is a bummer, because I've had lots of ideas lately. But, I don't really feel comfortable doing this in the library. Privacy issues and what not... Alas. I hope you all are staying dry. Peace out.

Weeee!

School is cancelled tomorrow! SNOW DAY! I can't believe it!

My undergraduate school cancelled one time when I was a student there, but it didn't affect me because I didn't go to class everyday by that time. This snow day actually gets me out of a 7:30 small group and a morning class! Weehaw! The only bummer is that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and so I should probably find a place out in the community to do that worship tomorrow.

Tonight, we had a Mardi Gras worship service, which was AWESOME. Some talented students played their instruments (clarinet, trombone, trumpet, piano, and sax) and we got the hymns out of the "African American" ELCA worship book. It was lively and fun. After worship, there was a potluck. I can't cook, and so didn't bring anything. But there was plenty of food. I had a good time, and next time I will take pinwheels or something that requires little skill. If it hadn't snowed all day today, I might have gone to the store to get the stuff. But, I hate driving in snow.

Anyway, so, it was a good night, and I am ready for bed now. I think I may finish reading a "for fun" book, though, even though it's not a "fun" book. It's about a guy who suffered a massive stroke in his brain stem and can only communicate by blinking his left eye. But, it's an interesting read, so I wanna finish up. But, I went downstairs earlier and excitedly told some people that there is no school tomorrow. The rest of the night is mine, now though. Stay warm, stay safe.

The view

Here is a picture of the view from our first room. You can still see the buildings a little on each side, but I zoomed so they wouldn't be taking up much of the photo. Also, I included the view from the Christmas Lutheran Church, because it is right by the "hostel" part of the ICB.

Our first accomodations

First, these are my shoes that looked SO suspicious to the security at O'Hare. :) ha. I'm just giving them crap. They're keeping us safe.

These are pictures taken in my first room in Israel/Palestine. It's modest, but in all reality, all we did was sleep in there. I was more than happy.

Woops

I slept way too much this afternoon, and thus, I am still awake at 6:30 a.m. My bad. Ah well. I reckon I'd better start regaling you with the stories of our trip, and hopefully later, I will post some pictures.

We flew out of Chicago-O'hare on Thursday to catch a connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany. At O'hare, we went through security; having our bags and shoes x-rayed and what not. They asked me, "are these your shoes?" When I said yes, the security folks said, "We're going to look them over." I said, "ok." They took my shoes to a table and took these tongs with something like tissue paper and wanded them. Obviously they were clean, and so they gave them back to me. The day-glo orange shoelaces probably looked suspicious. :) When we got to Germany, we got on a plane to go to Tel Aviv; THE most secure airport in the world. It was daylight there, in part due to the fact they are 8 hours ahead of midwest time. Our guide met us in the airport and we walked out to our bus. These two people would move us around and give us boatloads of information the next couple of weeks.

We were all pretty tired from the flying and what not, so most of us slept some on the bus from Tel Aviv to Bethlehem. Naim talked over the microphone in the bus some, but I think he knew we were all just exhausted, and so for the most part, he let us sleep. When we arrived to Bethlehem, we had to go through an Israeli checkpoint at an opening in the separation barrier to get into the actual city. By then, it was getting dark, so our driver said something in Arabic and Naim told us that Atah (the driver) said, "We have 20 Americans on board." and they let us in, no questions asked. Only about two minutes after the checkpoint, we had to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way to our accomodations because Old City Bethlehem has WAY TOO narrow of streets for a huge honkin' tour bus to navigate. The walk is only about three or four minutes, so it's not bad. Plus, weather over there right now is around 50 degrees or so, so we were doing okay. We got to the International Center of Bethlehem, which has accomodations for tourists, a media center, a college, a church of the ELCA, and a few other things involved with it. We had chosen roommates beforehand, and when our luggage came to the ICB, we took it, along with our room keys and pretty much, we went to bed as soon as dinner was over.

Food in Israel/Palestine(I/P from here on out) is interesting. I couldn't even tell you what we had that first night. I remember there being pita bread, soup, some kind of salad, a main dish, and dessert. I wasn't that hungry because we ate multiple times on our flight, and I was more tired than anything.

My roommate, "A" and I went to our room, got ready for bed, and went to sleep around 8:00 P.M. and slept until about 7:00 A.M. It was a good thing we got to rest up because the next day, we were slated for much activity.

I have lots to tell

But right now, I am dreadfully tired. It's 2 pm. here, but my body is still on Jerusalem time (10:00 pm).

A few quick notes:

I checked my sitemeter thing, and I have received a HUGE number of hits because people are searching for the hymn, "Thy Holy Wings" this past few weeks. I'm amazed, and I wonder what is increasing that number...

I'm anxious to check my snail mail box because I've been away so long. I'm not sure if I can get over there today, or if it's locked. I'll have to check the website.

Israel and Palestine was an incredibly interesting trip. I took hundreds of photos, met with all sorts of people, and had my eyes opened to more of what the situation is for those people. The prayers for peace for that land are truly needed, and so is an understanding that we are only shown one side of the news for that region.

I am so tired that I am dizzy. That's what I get for being a good little girl and getting up for church despite the approximate 48 hours I went without lying down to sleep in a real bed, and only catching an hour here and there on buses and planes. I'm going to go before I fall off the chair! Check back, and thanks for not giving up on me in my absence!

T-minus 23 hours, 50 minutes and counting!

Okay, we're really leaving the seminary at 9:30 a.m., but we don't take off in the plane til about 3:30. But, the time is getting here! This will probably be the last time I blog for about 18 days or so. :) Pray for us on our trip! Please and thank you.

With that said, I need to work on packing my stuff and whatnot. I've been doing laundry like a madwoman today, and my last load is down in the dryer. Now I'm trying to make sure I'm not going to be the dork with the hugest amount of luggage. I want to be like everyone else in that regard.

Anyway, we're going to be going all over Israel (except the Gaza Strip, so I'm told) and I'm very excited. We're going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Via deLarosa, the Church of the Mount of Olives, Jericho, Nazareth, and all over the place. I'm going to take a gazillion pictures with my NEW camera, and hopefully post some of them on here. I also am going to make a presentation to show my home church because what good is taking pictures if you can't be obnoxious and show them to everyone? :) Ha.

There are many trips this J-term, and I hope everyone has a safe and great time. Some of the trips are domestic, while some others are international. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I just hope and pray we are held safely, and that we learn a lot in the coming 17 days. Blessings to you all. Peace out.

Time is fast approaching!

I am leaving for Israel on Thursday! I can't believe it. I'm going to be out of the country for 17 days. This is going to be a week of firsts. My first airplane ride without jumping out, my first time seeing an ocean (if I will be able to see it from the plane; I'm thinking cloud cover, here). My first time using my passport. I'm so excited.

YS and I went to Peoria today to do some shopping. I needed to get some stuff for the trip. I think I have everything I'm going to need. Hopefully, anyway.

I need to write down some information to take with me, and I need to pack and check and recheck to make sure I have everything, but I'm excited. I even got my hair trimmed up tonight (By a professional, even!) in anticipation of going.

I hope everyone else who is gearing up to go someplace for J-Term is getting excited as well. I'm confident there will be many interesting experiences. I'm excited to go, to experience, to come back, to share, and to here other people's experiences! Pretty much, I'm just excited all around. Yeehaw! Peace out, ya'll.

Watch out below!

Ok, first thing is first... I'm done with this semester. I'm fairly confident that I passed everything. The only thing I'm even slightly worried about is Exegetical Readings in the Greek New Testament, but I think I passed. I hope, anyway.

We had our history test today. Everyone was worried about that one. We studied SO hard, and came together to share knowledge. It was wonderful. Many of us walked away feeling much more confident about this test than the last. WooHoo.

Tonight, a friend invited me down to his place at some of the campus apartments. We watched my skydiving video, the movie, "Saved," and then we went to the park in town to look at the Christmas lights and support a good cause. It was an all around good night, except for the stuff leading up to hanging out...

I had to go run an errand, and as I was going out to my car, I saw a Seminary Volunteer having some difficulties getting out of her parking space, due to all the snow and ice. I shoveled some tracks for her and then another seminary friend came and we pushed her out. That was cool; I was glad to help. That's not the bad thing leading up to the hanging out.

Then, I was scraping the half inch of ice off my car so I could drive it, and I scraped up one of my fingers. Not too bad, though. And, the same seminary friend who helped me push the volunteer's car out helped me chip off the ice. So, that's not the bad thing, either.

When I got back from running my errand, I piddled around my room for a bit and was heading out to go to the apartments. I planned on walking because it's only a short walk. Another classmate was trying to get out, but the car was having difficulties. But, he managed to get out and make it out of the parking lot. I was proud because he is one of our international students who is not used to snow.

So, when I got down to the apartments, my friend said that he couldn't get his car to move at all. I helped him shovel a bunch of snow from around his car. He laid some salt and kitty litter and then another friend came and helped us push his car out. The friend I was going to hang out with, "J," parked it someplace where he wouldn't get stuck. We were heading toward the apartments, J holding the three buckets of stuff, and me carrying the shovel when all of a sudden I slipped and fell down really hard. J came over quickly and was like, "OH my! Are you ok?" I was just sitting there and I realized I needed to answer, but it knocked the wind straight outta me. I managed to whisper, "I'll be alright. I just need to stay here a second." So, I laid down. J came and took the shovel away because I was lying on it. I just kept repeating, "I'm okay, just give me a minute." Then we were laughing and I made a joke about how my breathing made me sound like I was giving birth. After a couple of minutes, I got up and we hung out. That was fun, although I had a monstrous headache and ended up cutting the night somewhat short. But, alas, what are you going to do? Anyway, my head is still hurting, so I'm going to go now. Stay safe in this winter weather!

History Test #1 is done!

Today, we had our Foundations of the Church midterm evaluation. This test has been a great source of stress and anxiety for most of the students, including me. When I was an undergraduate, I did not have to study hardly at all. I would glance over my notes the night before a test and most likely, get an A on the test.

That is NOT the case with seminary church history! I studied and studied, oh, and then I studied some more. I read and crammed so much information in my head this weekend that I am feeling a little zapped. We had the test today, and I didn't do really well, but I'm fairly confident that I will at least get credit. I really HOPE I passed. The test was only 25 questions, with two of those being essay questions. I think I answered them adequately enough to pass. We'll just have to see. Hopefully, they will be graded by Thursday.

Anyway, after the test today, I had some lunch, and a good laugh to do the whole "internal reset" thing. And then I realized I needed to go pick something up at a store. I asked a friend if she wanted to ride along, and she said she'd be willing to go with me.

When I walked to her room to let her know I was ready to go, she asked if we could go to a local Adult Beverage shop so she could take in her empty cans and bottles to recycle and get store credit. (Shout out to another good seminary pal for telling me about that program, so I could in turn tell this friend about it). So, we went down to my car and she put her bag of recyclables in there. However, the bag tipped over and all the bottles and cans came out. So, when we got to the store, we had to pick the things up and put them back in the bag. As we were doing that, a seminary professor pulled up. This Adult Beverage Store is NOT in a place where it could be confused where he was going. I was slightly embarrassed, but realized, "Hey, we're all adults here." He said, "Funny seeing you all here!" It was funny. I thought blogworthy, at least.

That is what happened today. It's been a good day for the most part. My main concern is the history test. On the way out of the building at Seminary where the chapel is, I saw the History professor (before class) and said, "Is there grace on Tuesdays?" And he shot back really quickly, "No!" Haha. I don't know if I should be laughing and crying... Yikes..

I'm off to do some more work now. Have a good day.

Overall, a good weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. I went home to preach at a church that is in a neighboring town to my home church. I led worship/preached there this summer, and the pastor asked me back. That's the main reason I went home. But, my weekend started long before this morning.

I said a short grace at the meal at my cousin's wedding reception a few weekends ago in the suburbs of Chicago. I was honored to be asked by my aunt and uncle. They are fantastic people, and I was glad to be of service. My aunt and uncle had wanted to get a hotel room for me and pay for my car expenses for getting there, but I told them that wasn't necessary because I was planning on going to the wedding anyway, and I was leading worship on Sunday, so I couldn't stay overnight. So, this past week, they emailed me telling their plans to come to SeminaryTown for some R&R after having spent much of the last year planning/organizing for the wedding, and my aunt made the wedding dress and bridesmaid dress. (She's VERY talented). Anyway, they were going to stay in a quaint little town about 20 miles away, but they couldn't because everyplace was booked or way too expensive. So, anyway, I digress. They ended up staying in SeminaryTown. They emailed and asked if they could take me to dinner on Friday. I laughed a little because I had heard they were coming my way, and I was going to invite them to a concert the seminary was having on Friday, but they emailed me first. So, we made plans to go eat and then come see the concert.

When they got here Friday, we didn't know where to eat, so we talked with some friends who were around, but nothing was really sticking out. Aunt and Uncle are kinda fancy people, and the only places around here I've been haven't been very fancy. But, Aunt remembered a place in nearby Quaint town that is good. So, we went there. We made it back in time for the concert, which was PHENOMENAL! Oh MY GOSH, was it great! There are good singers, and there are great singers. These people were GREAT singers. I myself cannot carry a tune in a bucket with a mule helping me, but I appreciate those who can sing because Ma was a fantabulous singer. She has sung at numerous weddings, funerals, community celebrations and dedications, has won community wide karaoke contests, and has done a gazillion solos at church. When she sang, boy, people listened. The soprano of the group reminded me of Ma, and it was rather nice to hear.

After the concert, the relatives left, and some pals and I went to the winery. I had a good time. I like being sociable.

Saturday morning, I woke up super early so I could get ready and go home (About 3 hours from the seminary is where my "home" is). Sis and BiL's neighbors who are moving (next week) invited us to go with them to the Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria. So, I went and we took the boys and it was a good time. I love parks and this was a nice outing.

Then Sunday, I led two worship services at neighboring church. Things went well, except I made a bunch of mistakes in the first service. But, to my credit, they were not all my fault. There were several errors in the worship bulletin and I rolled with the punches as best I could. I got good comments, and I hope that the people were able to hear a good word today.

YS (Younger Sister) came to the late service today, which was nice because she doesn't come to church very often. But, she came today and it was good to see a smiling, familiar face out there. I love YS dearly. She's a wonderful sister and a great friend. After worship, we went to visit Ma. She knew who we were today, before we could say anything. I was a little afraid at first because she just looked at us like we were random people. But, that could be because she was walking around without her glasses on. She said someone "stole" them right away from her. I went to the nurse's station and they had a bunch of glasses there. I saw a pair that looked like hers, so I took them to her, and they were hers. A nurse came and wrote Ma's last name on the inside of the earpiece so that there would be no question next time.

Ma was still pretty quiet, but she talked a wee bit more this time. She also looked less like Grandma looked. The doctor came and looked at her the other day, and he thinks she has arthritis in her back and hip. IT sucks because she's in a lot of pain all the time. Yikes. They are going to try some things to get her feeling better. I hope it works.

While we were sitting in Ma's room, a lady came in and sat on the bed next to me. Because the place Ma is happens to be a locked dementia unit, that gives you an idea that all the people there are fairly bad off. This lady launched into this story about how she was SO mad at her husband because he didn't wait to eat dinner til we were there. I talked with her a while and went along with her story. I figured her husband was probably dead and she was living in the past. I said a couple of things about how I hoped she could forgive him, and how we had eaten before we got there, so everything would be alright. And near the end of our conversation she said, "I feel better now. You helped me think through these things better. I can see how our lines could have gotten crossed. Jack probably thought he was doing it the way I wanted. Thank you, dear." Our conversation probably lasted about 15-20 minutes. Ma and YS just sat there looking at me like, "What are you talking about, Trish?" Because I didn't want to dismiss her as whatever, because if the woman were cognizant of what was going on, she'd probably feel bad for "interrupting" and then being angry at her probably dead husband for nothing. Then an aid came and took her back to her room. YS told me later in the car that she was totally impressed with my mad skills at calming the lady down and helping her be less angry at her probably dead husband. Because this lady was MAD. CPE skills in real life, folks. Learn 'em, love 'em, live 'em. :) Ha.

Anyway, so then YS and I went to my childhood home (which is not the same as "home") and we cleaned out the freezer and took the trash to the curb for pickup. We also did some home repair and YS took some of her things to her house. Then, I got a massage! (YS was going to school to become a massage therapist). It felt awesome, but I need to make sure to drink plenty of fluid so I don't have a "healing crisis" tomorrow. After the massage, YS took me on my first 4-wheeler ride around town. That was fun.

I stayed "home" a little longer than I'd planned today. I chased my nephew around and we played for a while. He was getting crabby cuz Sis wouldn't let him play in the bathroom, because he wanted a bath. Sis and BiL do league bowling on Sunday nights, and BiL's niece comes and watches the boys. But, she doesn't have enough hands to watch Sunscreen AND give Howard a bath. So, I gave him a bath and we played and had a lot of fun. The only thing is, it is REALLY hard to get him out of the tub because he loves it so much. And, he's been doing this screaming thing lately, where he'll get mad and just start screaming at whomever is making him angry. So, there was an instance yesterday and one today where after he started screaming, I got down at his level and let out a semi-loud yell. He did not like it either time, but I thought it was funny. I'm mean like that.

When it was time for me to go, I gave Sunscreen a hug and a kiss bye-bye, and then I gave Howard a hug and a kiss goodbye, but he started crying because he knew I was leaving. I felt really bad and I had to turn around and leave the house even though he was bawling his eyes out. Then I felt AWFUL because I had to go back in because I left my tennis shoes in there. He was still crying when I went back in, so I picked him up and held him, and he dive bombed my face with a big, wet baby kiss. I went and sat down with him for a minute on the couch and he got down and pulled me toward the floor to play with his toys with him. I did that for a little while, and then slipped out without him seeing. I had told him bye-bye a million times, but I still feel bad for going without saying goodbye the last time. But, it probably kept him from crying again. I love those boys (and my first born nephew, too!) so much I could puke. They are such special little people. I am anxious to see what they will be like when they get older. But, I am happy with them being wee ones right now.

Anyway, this has been a really long, rambling post, that probably means nothing to any of you, but whatever. I enjoyed my weekend for the most part. I am loved.

Salvation belongs to our God!

And to Christ the Lamb forever and ever!

I wanted to preface this post with that.

I posted a brief thought about worship this morning. I was not happy with the church I attended today. However, my FEELINGS have very little (if anything) to do with the fact that I am saved by grace through faith (which in itself is a gift). However, as a human being subject to emotions, I was disappointed by today's church service. I think the preacher only said "Jesus" once or twice.

But, the whole weekend was not a bust.

Some pals and I went to a state park about 30 miles from here. I've posted before on how nature makes me feel. As I reflect back on our time outdoors yesterday, I gain comfort in the fact that I got to feel close to God yesterday because I got to be in God's great creation (We are ALWAYS in creation, but for these purposes, I'm equating "Creation" with "nature").

The park was awesome and great. It helps me realize that, "The earth and all that is on it belong to the Lord." Ps: 24:1.

Thanks be to God for all of God's goodness, and for the salvation that is mine and ours through Christ!

Weee!

I can't believe how awesome seminary is! I am having such a blast. Today I was driving to a Taize service (which was in CPETown) to meet a friend from Greek class who isn't joining us this semester, and I was thinking about the upcoming semester. I'm SO excited about it. I'm excited to learn, to hang out with my friends, and to just grow a bunch in my walk of faith and knowledge. I am so excited about it all!

A friend and I are going down to do the high ropes course tomorrow. I've never done this and I really have no idea what it's about, but it sounds like fun. Plus, if I can skydive, I figure I can do high ropes, too. They're also doing the grape crushing thing tomorrow morning, but I'm not going to be a part of that because you have to be there at 7:30 A.M!!!! Fuggedaboutit. Yeah, Seminary makes it's own communion wine. The grape vines are in the grassy area by some of the parking lots. I got out of my car the other day and my childhood came and rammed into me.

Why? Because, when I was a kid, we had a grape vine out in the backyard. We'd pick grapes and eat them, or just throw them at boys or something. It was fun, but we didn't weed it, so the grapevine was choked out by weeds. So, one day a couple of years ago, I weeded the fence and posts that had been the support for the grapes, and it was bare, so I just pulled the whole thing out of the ground. Yup, I'm buff! It's a lot easier to take care of, but alas, no more grapes. I was kinda nostalgic when I smelled the grapes here at Seminary, and that's what knocked me back into my childhood. I think I've heard that smell is the most powerful sense that is able to trigger emotions. I think I'd have to agree.

Anyway, things are going pretty well, otherwise. Mom seems to be doing well with the new home. Good thing. I'm happy about that. And with that, I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed. Have a fabulous day.

Yeehaw, Woo, and other exclamations of excitement!

So, I went skydiving today and I lived! It was totally awesome. I posted about my first skydive back in August of 2006. This time though, I got the video and pictures. So, I'm willing to sacrifice my anonymity so you all can see it if you so desire. But, it's not uploaded onto the net yet, so be patient with me. :) Have a great day!