December 23, 2005

Merry Christmas!

The Real Saint Nicholas

Here is a brief blurb about the real Saint Nicholas. I think my dad, who sails for a living, will be happy to know that St. Nick is also the patron saint of sailors!

"The historical St. Nicholas of Myra is a far cry from Santa Claus. He's the patron saint of children, women seeking husbands, travelers and more. Of the few things we can say with historical certainty about this saint of early Christianity is that he indeed lived. He was born in 280 and his see was on the Mediterranean coast, in an area where St. Paul had first brought the gospel a few hundred years earlier. The busy seaport of Myra, in the Asia Minor province of Lycea, is present-day Demre, Turkey. He was such a devoted and holy bishop that, much like Mother Teresa today, the people immediately recognized him as a saint. Thus, the Church kept careful track of his remains after he died in about 342...

Patron of Sailors
There are countless stories of St. Nicholas intervening to help sailors in times of distress. The most famous is told of a time when Nicholas went across the sea on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A frightful storm came up, and the sailors feared they all were about to die. They came to the holy bishop and pleaded for his help. Nicholas prayed fervently, and the seas became miraculously calm. The sailors were amazed and gave praise to God.
It is said that on the return voyage a sailor fell to his death from a high mast. Nicholas prayed over the man and he came back to life. Nicholas never took credit for any of his deeds. He always instructed the people to turn their hearts to God and repent from sin. "
For full text, go to: http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Dec2002/Feature1.asp

December 22, 2005

The Powers of Ten

As promised in my last post, here is my favorite documentary video of all time. It can be seen in its entirety as this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5555313278261147278&q=powers+of+ten The video will start automatically if you click on this link. The video lasts 9 minutes, but it will feel like only a few went by. This video takes you from the edges of the universe to the nucleus of a single atom. Every ten seconds the picture on the screen will take you either 10x closer or 10x further from the specified object. Hillsdale friends may recognize this video from the physics movie nights. I myself saw it in my dorm freshmen year at a Neidfeldt Monday Night Documentary. So Neidfeldt, so good. So enjoy!

December 19, 2005

9th Annual IAWL Party

The big night came and went. We had 21 people at our 9th annual It's a Wonderful Life Party Christmas Party. I cleaned all day the day before and the day of while Kim was busy in the kitchen cooking some great hors dourves. She made several types of cookies, caramel corn, an amazing crab dip, meatballs, bacon-wrapped waterchestnuts, and we also had platters of veggies, crackers and warm brie, etc. The picture to the left is the sign given to us from our friends Setha and Carrie down the hall from us to hang from our door. We took out the bed in our bedroom and turned it into the talking room during the movie. In the past, most people actually did not watch the movie and would be in other rooms chit-chatting. This year all but three people watched the film, by far the largest percentage. Highlights include having Joel, Allie and sister Melissa drive in from the city to make the party. Joel has only missed one party in 9 years. His sister caught her long hair on fire, but Joel was quick to pound it out. The stop, drop and roll method was not needed. But I had a blanket if the situation had escalated. We had one first timer there who had never seen the movie before, which is always a treat. I showed them the alternate ending to the film [Saturday Night Live did a short skit were George's Uncle remembers what happens to the money and all the people that have gathered at the Baileys home in the last scene turn into a mob and go and beat-up Potter]. Classic. I forgot to take pictures like usual, but others there took pictures and once I get them, hopefully in a day or two, I will add them to the post. The picture to the left is the wall in our hallway, which is actually up all year. The smaller pictures are postcards that my Dad found for me in Minnesota, I believe. Sorry that there are not more photos, but like I said, I was busy hosting and forgot to take a few snapshots. I am officially all done with the semester after finishing a 15 page paper on Numbers 22:22-35, the passage is on Balaam's donkey. I could talk ad nauseum concerning it. Kim and I are flying to Nebraska on Saturday for four days and then it's back to work for Kim on the 28th. I have a great post to add later this week about my favorite documentary ever. Stay tuned.

December 12, 2005

Busy Week Ahead


Kim and I are getting ready for our 9th annual "It's A Wonderful Life" Christmas Party this Saturday, but we still have to clean, figure out a menu, buy food, and cook food and clean the house again. And if you have not seen this movie, here is a link to a 30 second synopsis of the film portrayed by bunnies: http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp.
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A big thanks to Anna D. for the link. I have one 15 page paper and a Greek final exam left for this semester. Kim is working late Thurs and Fri. So, we are wondering how its all going to work out, but it will. Look for pictures and recaps after the party.

December 04, 2005

Michigan vs. Nebraska



ESPN, Wed Dec 28, 8 pm:
Michigan vs. Nebraska.
.
.
The unthinkable has happened. For the next 25 days my marriage may experience major turbulence. We knew that the only way we would ever see our beloved teams play would be in a bowl. Low and behold, this is the year. We ask for your prayers during this trying time. We have always rooted for each other's favorite teams and have said many times that the only time we wouldn't root for them is if they played each other. I don't know if we'll be able to watch the game together... but we will and someone will be cheering every play while the other gives a very dirty look. Any ideas for a good "friendly wager?"
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"The match-up between Nebraska and Michigan will pit two of the all-time winningest programs in college football. Michigan is atop the all-time win list with 848 victories, while Nebraska ranks fourth with 793 all-time wins. The two schools have met just five times in school history and just twice since 1917. The most recent matchup between the two schools was 20 years ago, when Michigan posted a 27-23 victory over the Huskers in the Fiesta Bowl following the 1985 season. Michigan leads the all-time series between the schools, 3-1-1." (huskers.com)

November 27, 2005

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving was spent in Maine at Kim's cousin's home(Wendy the cousin, husband Josh and kids Isaac, Anna and 18 month old Noah). We were there for less than 24 hours but made good use of our time. We stayed up till almost 1 am talking with Josh and Wendy, which for us is extremely late. Thanksgiving was spent watching the parade and then having our own parade of sorts out in the front lawn. Pulling the kids on sleds with a lawn tractor is just not as effective as a snowmobile. The speed and traction suffered, but they had a good time. We gave each of the kids a Turkey hat thinking it would add to the festivities, which it did. Josh grilled the Turkey, Wendy baked a ton of sides and Kim made HOMEMADE BREAD from my Grandma's recipe. She made it the night before and having a hot slice of bread right out of the oven is so good. So Good. Many more years of Tuesday Toast Night shall continue! Anyway, all was going so well until I watched the Detroit Lions play their only nationally televised game and get thoroughly trounced. After that I got some sorta sinus cold and was down for the rest of the day (but feeling better after 12 hrs of sleep Thurs night). The dinner was delicious, and I couldn't help put have two huge plates full of everything. And then crash on the couch and take a nap (helped on by the sinus cold). The kids loved having us there, and I felt like a jungle gym because the kids kept crawling all over me wanting rides. Kim helped me out for a while by reading to the kids though. This is our second time up there and we can't wait to get back there and see them again.

November 17, 2005

Ketchup

I know, it's been 12 days since we've posted. It's not that we have been too busy, we've just hadn't have much too say. We enjoyed having Kim's grandparents here two weekends ago. I went and helped out at a prison worship night. It was a very minimum security facility. I don't think it would have been too hard at all for them just to walk out. But because most of them are in there for relatively brief periods, there was a much higher cost to escaping and getting caught again than just simply doing their time. The prisoners that were there had freedom to move around the complex and be with each other, so those who chose to attend chapel were there because they wanted to be at chapel and not just out of a jail cell. It was great to talk and worship with them. Gave me a good view of realities around me that I did not think much about. The great thing about this ministry is its focus on rehabilitation and getting them connected with a supporting church once their out. We heard some great success stories, but not all the stories ended rosey. Last week was another reading week. I have been working on research for a paper that can only be 3 pages single-spaced but must be thoroughly researched with an extensive bibliography and biblical foundation. So needless to say, every word counts. We've had great weather, even a late Indian-summer of sorts. Kim is still busy at work but is looking forward to her weekend off. we are getting together with another couple in our building who are Pistons fans to watch the game tomorrow night and then we are getting together to watch the big Michigan-Ohio St game on Sat (unfortunately they are buckeye alums). Thanks for all the comments. Keep em comin'!

November 05, 2005

At the Buzzer!!!


What a game, what a game!!! Richard Hamilton nailed a baseline shot with 0.8 seconds left in the game to give the Detroit Piston's a 1 point victory over the Boston Celtics and to make my year complete! This was the only time Detroit was playing in Boston, so I bought my tickets way in advance. Kim' s grandparents are in town, so her grandpa and I went. We had great seats about 15 rows from the floor in the corner behind the Piston's bench. We got to the game nice and early, actually an hour before the gates even opened, having some extra time we hit a local sports bar and had a sandwich. I saw a bunch of Detroit fans at the game, but none of them were sitting near me. Surprisingly, I received no heckling. Even after the game, most of the Celtics fans were either happy that got to see such a great finish or they were just surprised and happy that they hung with us. As we were exiting the arena, I saw a little boy sobbing because his beloved Celtics just lost the game with less than a second to go. I felt a little sympathy for him, but wanted to advise him not to use up all his tears tonight because the Celtics still have 80 more games and that he needs to pace his tears for the rest of the season. I will probably never see a better finish in person as I did tonight. Pure ecstasy.

November 01, 2005

A Pirate's Life for Kim


My wife has become a Pirate!!! This is the secret I have told no one about and the true reason we moved to the East Coast; so that she could sail the ocean instead of the Great Lakes in Michigan. While on land, this she-pirate enjoys working with the elderly and dressing up for them on holidays in October.

The other picture is of our friends, Sarah and Dave. Dave is Martin Luther (Oct 31st is also Reformation day, the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenburg, Germany). And Sarah is the Wittenburg door. We had a few kids from our apartment building stop by for candy, but we still have a huge tub of candy left. We tried to give it away but folks were coming to our door passing out candy (reverse trick-or-treating if you will). I guess I'll have to eat it all.

October 29, 2005

What happened to Fall?

It was summer till the end of September and then the rains came; record rainfall in October. All of a sudden you look out the front door and this picture is what you see. Hats and gloves? Snowballs flying at your head? A Snowman?!? It's still October! Where is this amazing New England fall that I hear so much about. Autumn in Hillsdale was much better than this. And, not only did we get snow, we got fat, heavy snow. So fat that it knocked down some tree limbs and we lost our power for two hours this afternoon. I feel like I'm back in Rogers City! Six months of hibernation, here we come!

October 25, 2005

You are who you hang out with...

When I was growing up my parents told me a million times to pick my friends carefully because the people with whom you spend the majority of your time have a lot of influence over you. I knew that meant not to hang out with the druggies or car thiefs, etc. I didn't realize that the same principal would extend into my job. The more time I spend with the elderly (this is Kim speaking, by the way) the more I start to become like them. It's getting a little scary. These are the top ten ways I know I'm spending too much time at work.

#10 I no longer know any of the latest music and instead walking around the house singing, "Meet me in St. Loius" "Tea for Two" and "How we Gonna Keep them down on the Farm"

#9 My college days are suddenly "those crazy days of my youth when my friends and I got into all kinds of larks."

#8 I watch movie previews and wonder why they don't make movies like they used to (consequently the only movies I've watched lately were almost all made earlier than the 80's).

#7 I have difficulty hearing above a shout and often find myself saying, "eh? Say that again?"

#6 I find myself more and more conscious of the obstacles in my path that pose a falling hazard.

#5 I often have the urge to adress girls not that much younger than me by patting their cheek and saying, "You are such a dear."

#4 Real teeth and hair become increasingly more valuable to me.

#3 My hip hurts when it rains.

#2 I get easily confused by too many options, excess noise, or people who talk too fast.

#1 I often find myself suddenly in a hallway not remembering why I am where I am and what I was doing that brought me there.

October 22, 2005

Mommy for a day

I feel I should start by letting you know that you are 100% correct if you have deduced from the title that this is not Lucas writing!
About a month ago Josh, our neighbor who has been featured in the blog before, asked Lucas and I if we would be willing to babysit Laura Jane all night so he could whisk Kim away for 24 hours of romance and relaxation. We readily agreed. I left work an hour early yesterday to get back in time to get all of the much needed baby info before they left (it was a surprise to her so she didn't know until after I was already at work). After mixed goodbyes (while they were excited to get away, it was incredibly hard to leave their adorable little girl for so long) they headed out the door and I began my adventure as mommy for a day (since I felt this would, in many ways, be a good example of the life of a mommy and leave me saying "I'm so into this, I want one!" or "Hmmm...maybe later..."). It wasn't much of an adventure. Laura Jane is a perfect baby. Last night she giggled and played until dinner time when she drank her bottle and then went to easily to sleep like the little angel she is...all before 7:30! The night time was a little more adventurous...but it really wasn't bad. She didn't wake up screaming and make me walk the floors, but she did wake up talking and laughing at 4 AM (Lucas mumbled, "That was really cute last night, but it is not so cute at 4 in the morning." I just turned the volume down on the monitor.) It was even more adventurous when I got up a little before 7 to head down to their apartment to get a wide awake Laura Jane. As I was walking down the hallway I thought, "This is insane! It's Saturday morning! I'm just not ready to give up sleeping in forever!" Then I walked into her room and she smiled up at me from where she was talking and playing in her crib and all tiredness went away. Suddenly I was making funny noises and talking in a high voice and enjoying the little giggles that resulted. Now today she didn't want to talk a nap (she wanted to talk and play instead) and by this afternoon I was not about to let naptime be optional (I NEEDED it!) so she and I cuddled together in the rocking chair until she fell asleep, and for an hour after. Josh and Kim just got home and I left their smiling baby in their arms. It was a lot of fun to babysit overnight, and it was a good experience. Now before either of our moms or any of my friends start getting excited and run out to buy baby clothes, I should clarify that the 24 hours of "mommyhood" didn't give me baby fever. I loved it, she was adorable, and there are few things as fun as making a baby giggle and cuddling with a sleeping baby, but why would I need one of my own when I can go next door and babysit anytime I want?? I still get to do those things, but I get to sleep in at least one day a week! Speaking of sleep...it's time for a nap...

October 20, 2005

Veronica Mars


Some wives like chocolate, others like flowers, but I know what my wife really wants: Veronica Mars Season 1 on DVD. Didn't take too much brain power on my end to figure it out as she would drool every time the commercial for it was on TV. She was not feeling well Sunday morning, so I picked it up for her on my way back from church. She is addicted. She has just about finished watching the entire season already. These are 1 hour shows each, not 30 min shows! If you don't know, Veronica Mars is a teenager in Neptune, California (made-up city) and she takes up detective work, which she learned from her father who is a private detective. Every episode has it's own mysteries and every season has an overarching mystery as well. I am not addicted like her, but I do enjoy watching it. Every Wednesday night (9 pm on UPN) I don't even try to make an attempt to watch something because it would be futile. Well, as long as it keeps the Mrs. happy that is a very good thing. Guess I will have to go somewhere else to watch the Detroit Piston's season opener two Wednesdays from now. But Kristen Bell (actress who plays Veronica Mars) will probably be watching the Piston's game like me because she is from the Detroit area and is a sports nut. Found a couple of other Piston's fans in the building and now have fellow fans with whom to watch the games as the seasons draws closer. I have tickets to the second game of the season, which is there only trip to Boston this year. Can't wait! Go Pistons!!!

October 17, 2005

CD Song Countdown

Here is a post that has nothing to do with much of anything except for my [Lucas] love of the "countdown". The classic top 40 weekly countdown one can hear on the radio every Sunday morning. I love lists, countdowns, top ten, etc. This summer I decided to reduce my CD collection by compiling my favorite songs onto a few discs. I have a bunch of CDs that I never listen to because I only like one or two songs off the disc, so I felt that if I compiled all those songs onto a few discs that I would probably listen to those songs more. And I have. While burning these CDs, I decided to create one that would have my top 20 songs in order on one disc. Well, here are my top twenty favorite songs from the CDs that Kim and I have in our possession. So, while I might have songs that I like more than others that are on my "Best Of" disc, if I didn't own it I didn't include it. Here's the list in countdown fashion, #20 to #1:

#20. "We Didn't Start the Fire" Billy Joel
#19. "I Would Walk 500 Miles" Proclaimers
#18. "The Sign" Ace of Base
#17. "Connected" Stereo MCs
#16. "Kiss Me" Sixpence None the Richer
#15. "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid soundtrack
#14. "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen
#13. "I Go Blind" Hootie & The Blowfish
#12. "Jump Around" House of Pain
#11. "One Headlight" The Wallflowers
#10. "My Maria" Brooks & Dunn
#9. "Lovefool" The Cardigans
#8. "Only the Good Die Young" Billy Joel
#7. "Ice Ice Baby" Vanilla Ice
#6. "Jump, Jive, An' Wail" Drew's Party Mix
#5. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Nikki French
#4. "Let's Get It Started" Black Eyed Peas
#3. "Baby Got Back" Sir Mix-A-Lot
#2. "Nations of the World" Animaniacs
#1. "Walk of Life" Dire Straits

There you have it. Those are my twenty favorite songs in my CD collection. Eclectic, eh? Ok, this is what I would like to see in your comments: I want to hear your list of favorite songs from your collection. This could be just your favorite song, a top 5 or even more. Remember to include song and artist. Did I mention that I love countdowns?

October 12, 2005

Got Clue?



We had a wonderful weekend on the Cape. Almost all of it was spent inside though as we have not seen the sun in since last week and are not going to see it till perhaps sometime next week. Josh and I did get out to do a little ocean fishing. No fish to show for three hours of work, but we did get some bites, a lot of wind and a kite surfing show. I had never seen such a thing in real life, but this guy would catch air and he'd be in the air for at least 4 seconds doing all sorts of twists and spins. Most of the weekend was spent playing the board game Clue. We played eight games in three days. Everyone won at least one, but Josh won 5 times. We were hooked. Each of us had our own version of shorthand to keep track of who guessed what and who showed cards to whom, etc. So we have a new "it" game. Did you know: Miss Scarlet always goes first? Mrs. Peacock has the shortest distance to get to her first room (6 spaces), while Mrs. White has the furthest to go (13 spaces), thus none of us ever selected her as a character. There was a lot of watching Laura Jane rolling around and playing with her toys. I was even in charge of watching her from time to time! Whoa. Lots of resting and chit-chat. A nice break from the busyness of school and work. But now that I am back, I am working hard. Finished a paper on the integration of Theology and Psychology on Monday (not too difficult considering I double majored in Religion and Psychology at Hillsdale). Slowly checking off items on my academic list for the break. By the way, we are loving all the comments. We read each one. I just need to do a better job of responding to comments with my own like my friend Hack Rambler does (http://silentmorbidity.blogspot.com/). Should be a new post up soon as I have had several good ideas in my head, but had to get this one in first. Till then, as one of our favorite comedians, Brian Regan, would say, "Take Luck."

October 07, 2005

Reading Week

I know we have been slacking, but we have plenty of excuses (none of which are that good though). Last week Kim and I put on our admissions representative hats again and host a couple from PA for 3 nights. Steve and Abby are there names. We had fun chatting at night; really down-to-earth, which I like. I've also been spending most of my free time in the library reading. I believe that I am ahead on my reading, but only time will tell. I have this week off for what the seminary calls a reading week. No classes, so students have a chance to catch up on work. But like I said, I feel caught up, but I do have a couple of papers sneaking up on me and 2 exams when I return in a week. Kim and I are taking the weekend off though and heading to the cape with our next door neighbors, Josh, Kim and baby Laura Jane. This is a link to another trip we took with them: http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2005/08/fish-story.html We should have pictures and stories up from our trip next week. Be on the lookout!

September 26, 2005

Reggie

Reggie lives across the hall and 2 doors down. He is 6 years old (that was how he introduced himself to me). Through an amazing turn of events (which included a sluggish, grumpy me one morning and a random roadside meeting) I now take Reggie to school in the morning. Reggie is a bundle of pure energy. There are mornings when he is literally (and I really mean literally) bouncing off the walls on our way down to the car to leave. Reggie has a Spiderman backpack (which I think is SO cool), but Batman is his favorite. In fact, Reggie wants to be Batman when he grows up, and our daily conversations often revolve around what his life will be like when he is Batman (in case you were wondering, it would be pretty cool). Everything is exciting to him..."Look horses! I like horses!" "Look, a white school bus! I've never seen one that color before. I bet they come in all different colors!" "Look! A boy with a backpack! I have a backpack! I bet he's going to school." There is never anything we see that isn't exciting in some way. And, like many boys much older than him, he relives his amazing sports moments often. I still hear about his first day of school during recess when they were playing basketball and a girl went to shoot the ball and he knocked it far, far away "right out of her hands. Isn't that amazing?" I have to leave 20-30 minutes earlier than I used to, but I really don't mind at all. I enjoy starting the morning looking at the world through the eyes of a 6 year old. I too find myself thinking, "I could do so many more things if I were Batman," and I'm starting to notice little things that may seem mundane, but now I think they are very exciting. It's a refreshing way to start my day. Although I do worry that sometime when I'm playing ball toss with my residents, that I'll be hoping for the chance to knock the ball right out of their hands, far, far away so I can brag about it in the car later...

September 22, 2005

Thoughts on Prayer & Evangelism

Things are well here on campus. I am learning a lot in my classes and from my required reading. I have been learning a lot about prayer, and not just reading a lot about prayer, but truly learning about prayer through study and practice. My professor for my Evangelism course has continued to stress to us the fundamental importance of prayer for our lives (mentally, physically and even spiritually!), for the church and especially for reaching those who do not yet have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So 1/3 of the class period is spent praying as a class or with our prayer partner. It has been refreshing and reinvigorating to say the lest. The more time we spend in prayer the more our focus is on God and his business here on Earth, in our communities and in our lives. This also dovetails with another book I am reading for a different class called "God at Sinai." This book details all those events in the Bible where God reveals himself to someone or someones. The example I am thinking about is when Moses is called by God to go up to the Mountain to make two new tablets in Ex 34. When Moses returns to the people, they cannot even look at him because there is a light shining about his head because he "has spoken with the LORD." It is so bright that Moses has to where a veil to talk to the people. In the same way as we draw close to God and are transformed into disciple of Christ and more closely walk in the way of the Spirit, we reflect that same glory that Moses encountered by drawing close to God. When we have that glory, people cannot help but wonder what is different about us or our lives or what is missing from his or her own life. This is evangelism as it is proclaimed in the Bible. People attracting others to Christ, not pushing or pulling them to Christ. Now, there are things I am leaving out that are important (building relationships, communicating the gospel message clearly, etc). Well, thus my thoughts over the last week. I didn't expect it to be this long, but I guess, once you get going, you really get going. Your thoughts?

September 19, 2005

Ice Cream Temptations

I know it has been a while since we posted a new blog. The school year has begun and I have about 6,000- 8,000 pages to read this semester, numerous papers, and a lot of Hebrew and Greek translating to do. So, it may be hit and miss for a while. Kim is usually exhausted after work, but I will encourage her to do more posting. Perhaps I will tempt her with ice cream? That certainly works to get her to do the dishes when I just don't want to do them. "If you do the dishes, I will run to the store and bring back ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter." That usually does the trick; that and she likes to race me to see if she can get the dishes done before I return, which she usually does. Off to study for my Hebrew Comprehensive Exam. Fun, fun. Just translated 1 Kings 18:1-16 yesterday, so if you are bored, read that passage about the prophets Elijah and Obadiah.

September 08, 2005

Orientation & Registration

Since Tuesday I have been going through orientation here at GCTS. While most of it is old news for me due to having moved here 3 months ago, I did register today and thought I would share my class schedule with you. Oh, good news, I took a New Testament and an Old Testament Competency exam and passed out of two survey courses. What this means is that I have 2 elective courses that have opened up for me. This is very exciting because the MDiv program here is pretty much mapped out for us (26 of our 30 courses are mandatory), but some of the mandatory courses do have options. For example, I need to take a course in Christian Ethics and there are 3 or 4 courses that would fulfill that requirement. Now that I have passed out of the OT & NT survey courses, I have 6 electives to play with instead of just 4, which is so nice considering that there are so many courses I want to take, but I just can't fit them all in! Anyway, here is my schedule for this fall:

Basic Greek M,W,F 8-9 am
Exegesis of the Elijah and Elisha Narratives M 1:15-4:15 pm
Introduction to the Old Testament T 1:15-4:15 pm
Personal Evangelism through the Local Church W 6-9 pm
Introduction to Pastoral Counseling F 1:15-4:15


A few comments:

1. Yes, I am taking 5 courses, which is considered to be a heavy load (most take four), but I have taken Greek before, so that should be more review than anything, and I am not yet heavily involved with our church yet, and I have a job that allows me to study as I work. Additionally, I am use to taking 5 courses per semester when I was at Hillsdale.

2. The exegesis course is my Hebrew class.

3. I am very excited to get started. I have been antsy lately, especially when Kim is at work and I am home bored.

4. I have already met and visited with 4 of my professors here and have been very impressed with how welcoming and personal they have all been. You can sense here that there is a very heavy emphasis with in the administration and faculty concering each student's spiritual life and character. It's humbling to see how much prayer there is on campus among the students and faculty. It certainly has been encouraging and motivating for my own prayer time. By the way, if you have something for which I can pray for you, please let me know via comments or shoot me an e-mail. This could be a one-time thing or I can add you to my weekly prayer list. Prayer is refreshing in and of itself for the soul, and then you add on top of it that God actually listens and acts upon them is utterly astonishing. I will write more concerning my classes as the semester proceeds. Ta, ta for now.

September 02, 2005

She's Alive!!!!

For anyone who has read the blog lately and wondered if I (Kim) am still alive, I am. Between work and visitors (Lucas failed to mention the visit from Maggen Stone and Dr. Jordan - they didn't come together - two weekends before his parents came) It's been a little hectic. Now, I would love to tell you all about my job, all that I have been doing the last 4 weeks, and all that is coming. But that would take forever. So, instead I will tell you about one event from this week that rocked my world. We had scheduled a Hawaiian luau over lunch on Wednesday. It was originally going to be outside and we had a professional hula dancer coming, and inflatable limbo set (we were going to set it high enough so wheel chairs could pass through), tropical decorations, Bryan (who is an activities assistant, but also a DJ on the side) brought in his sound system and tropical music, and a Hawaiian meal. BUT it was a crazy week, and the weather was absolutely awful, and we had to move it inside which meant less room (which meant not all of the residents could come). So we had to ask the residents and make lists of those who wanted to come and the morning of the luau we discovered that we had about 20 more residents coming than could currently fit in the room. It truly looked like we were going to have a disaster. But on of the administrators took it upon himself to drastically rearrange the room and bring in different tables to accomodate more residents, and everyone in the building (housekeeping, maintenance, social workers, CNA's, nurses, administration) helped with transporting residents and serving, and we ended up with about 15 more residents than we had on the lists but they ALL fit. Then the hula dancing started (and here I must add that the directors of maintenance and housekeeping - both males - had us order them grass skirts and coconut bras ahead of time that they wore to the luau and they jumped right in and did some hula dancing of their own) and the residents loved it. Some of them smiled more than they ever have before (granted most of these were men...oh the power of a coconut bra...). We ended up extending it almost a 1/2 hour over the time limit becuase everyone was having so much fun. In the end residents and staff alike were telling us that it was the most fun they've ever had at Brooksby. It's things like that, that make me so happy to be where I am. The best part is this wasn't that special of an occassion. While it turned out to be an extra spectacular time, we have similar events at least twice a month. It is truly an amazing place to work.
I have to add that the activities staff has been an amazing group to work with. I have learned so much, and continue to be amazed every day at how talented they are and how dedicated they are to the residents. And the residents are also amazing. They all know I'm new and they constantly encourage and help me, making me feel so welcome. I LOVE my job.
The only problem is that I love it so much I could stay there forever, and often do work overtime and bring work home (which is why no one has heard from me in such a long time). But starting Sunday I have a 3 day "weekend" and I am planning on using that time to reply to e-mails and phone calls. I love you all so much and thank you for all the prayers when I was looking for a job. I have definitely been blessed with this opportunity.

GCTS Bookcentre

Good news, Kim is not the only one with a job in our family anymore. I was hired to work at the bookstore here on campus. While this may not seem so glorious, this is one of the few jobs on campus where if work is slow, it is ok if I study for my classes while I am at work. How great is that? Plus, I love just walking around the bookstore because, well it's a Christian bookstore. In addition, I receive 15% off my textbooks. Not too shabby.

August 31, 2005

Hosting Withdrawal

Kim and I wrapped up a week of hosting yesterday as I took my friend Tony to the airport for his long flight back to Japan. My parents visited us for 4 days beginning last Tuesday. We went up to Maine and New Hampshire to do some day shopping, which turned out to be chocolate shopping at a homemade chocolate shop. We spent a day in Boston where we met up with Joel and Tony to take them sightseeing in Boston, which included lunch at the original "Cheers!", walking the Freedom Trail and a Red Sox game [see photos on post below]. While we were at our apartment, we managed to get in a lot of games included some down-to-the-wire games of Clue. On Saturday Tony, Joel and Allie drove up to spend the rest of the weekend up here, which included a lot of frisbee, Tony's late night chimichangas, Unexplained mysteries, a pancake brunch, and our own worship service in the chapel on campus. Monday, Tony and I had a visit from our friend Muffin and we spent the day shopping as Tony had a list of things that he could really only get over here in the US. This past week has been a lot of fun for Kim and I, but it was nice to have an evening to ourselves last night watching "The Best of Dana Carvey, Saturday Night Live".

August 27, 2005

Red Sox vs Tigers

What a night! Lots of offense (4 Tiger homeruns), lead changes, picture perfect night weather-wise. It was a great way to cap off my parent's visit with us.



Seinfeld's J. Peterman sings "God Bless America"!!!

Where was Grandma?




August 21, 2005

Summer Vacation Finally Begins!

Hebrew II has come to an end. Friday I had my final for the class, which consisted of parsing verbs, translating passages that we have done before, and translating a passage that we had not worked on in class (this ended up being Genesis 42:1-5, where Jacob sends ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain due to the severe famine in Canaan). We were allowed to use a lexicon on the unknown passage, which was helpful. Pretty sure I did just fine on it, I'll find out on Monday. Now I have 3 weeks off before the Fall semester begins on September 9. So what will I be doing with all this down time? Playing host for half of it. My parents will be visiting us this Tuesday till Saturday and then the boys will be in town for the weekend (and Allie & Muffin to even the girl to guy ratio) with Tony staying a couple extra days up here. I will try to translate a little Hebrew everyday to keep myself sharp for my exegesis class this fall on Elijah and Elisha. I am also reading a book that was assigned for me from my New Testament class at Hillsdale, "The Upside Down Kingdom" by Donald Kraybill. It was one of those books that I did not have time to read back then but put it on my will-read-later list. And now is later. I am also playing house (cleaning cooking, etc.) as Kim is busy with her new job, hopefully this can be a help. I am also thinking about experimenting in the kitchen and learning some new dishes. Going to try Orange Beef stir-fry with crab rangoon on Monday. That's all for now.

August 16, 2005

EFCA Meeting

As many of you know, it is my plan after finishing here at Gordon-Conwell to seek ordination in the Evangelical Free Church of America (also known as E.V. Free for short) Yesterday, I met with the New England District Superintendent, Dr. Sheely, to discuss the EFCA and myself. I was happy to inform him that Kim and I have just recently decided on which church to attend; Westgate Church, which looks amazing except for the fact it is 45 minutes away and gas is $2.60/gal around these parts. If you are curious, here is the church's website: http://www.westgate-church.org/. We also discussed opportunities for an overseas missions trip with him to train Christian workers in how to plant churches. The EFCA sponsors a week seminar on church planting right here on campus in January, which I will be attending. In addition to meeting with Dr. Sheely, I hope to meet with the pastor of Westgate church, Dr. Hollo, concerning possibly ministry mentoring opportunities through the church. So please be praying for Kim and I as we seek God's will concerning our ministry for the next two years and beyond. If anyone is interested in learning more about the EFCA denomination, please check out their website at http://efca.org/. Kim is doing well and is enjoying her new job. I need to get her on here to update everyone concerning it. I have my final exam for Hebrew II on Friday and feel confident concerning my knowledge of the language for the exam, but will still be reviewing quite a bit between now and then. Remember to leave a message :)

August 10, 2005

Meteor Showers

Not that we have been ultra busy, we just have had little to write about. But I felt that we don't want to lose readers due to infrequent posting, thus today's post. Now this is more of an announcement than a story, but it's still a post. This Thursday and Friday nights are the best days of the year to see a major meteor shower. Although the absolute best times are between 2 am and 4 am, a relatively easier time to see many shooting stars is around 11 pm. You will want to look East with the constellation Perseus as your focal point as this is the direction most of the meteors will appear (hence this meteor shower is called the Perseid meteor shower). Here on campus, I contacted the student life department and arranged for an announcement concerning the meteor shower and will host an all campus watch Friday at 11pm in our "big open space". Here is a link that has more information concerning the meteor showers this week: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22jul_perseids2005.htm.
Let's hope for clear skies!
Remember:
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the works of his hand
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge"
Psalm 19:1-2

August 01, 2005

A Fish Story



This past weekend (Thursday through Saturday) we were invited by our neighbors (Josh, Kim, and baby Laura Jane) to go with them to stay at a friend's cabin in New Hampshire on Lake Wicwas. It was an amazing weekend filled with laughter, sunshine, swimming, good food, and great fellowship with new friends. However, I think it would be safe to say that the highlight of the weekend was the fishing. Neither Lucas nor I have fished since we were little, so Josh was excited to get Lucas out on the lake and rejuvinate in him the joy of fishing. Now Kim and I had done some fishing off the dock the first night and caught more than Josh had caught out on the lake, so we requested that he leave two poles behind for us. The guys set out in the canoe with a high tech fish finder, four rather splendind poles, and a lot of fishing experience in Josh to catch dinner while we women stayed back at the cabin with the baby. Well, Kim and I decided that, since we had caught most of the fish so far, we should probably head down to the dock and see what we could catch before the guys got back. Once there, we discovered that the poles left for us didn't cast or reel, so we were fishing Huck Finn style with poles that were the modern equivalent of a stick and some fishing line. Long story short...three hours later Josh and Lucas returned with a high tech fish finder, four rather splendid poles, a rather disenheartened but expereinced fisherman, and no fish while Kim and I met them with three catfish and a bluegill caught right off the dock with our "Mark Twain" poles!!! The guys ended up going back out to salvage some of their masculinity and caught a mess of bluegill and a nice sized yellow perch (Lucas and I are both so excited not only to know the names, but also to know what they look like for future reference!). Lucas and I also learned how to filet and fry the fish which means we had the experience of bringing our dinner literally from the lake to our plates.

July 26, 2005

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

Periodically as I study here at Gordon-Conwell, I would like to share with you our readers some of the great things I am learning here and perhaps pass on the name of some good books. Here is my first recommendation: "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. This book can be read by anyone and is not by any means technical in nature. The book was written for the regular church attender who would like to be able to get the most out of reading their Bible like the title implies. This book does not really contain background info or commentary on the books of the Bible. Instead, Fee & Stuart show you how to approach the different books of the Bible based on the different literary forms. For example, how should we understand the psalms compared to the parables of Christ. Or how do we approach the Old Testament prophetical books or Revelations. The most helpful aid they provide is to give you the right questions to ask yourself as you read specific parts of the Bible. Are we to obey all the Old Testament laws and hold them to the same degree we do the Sermon on the Mount? Was the book of Acts intended to be a handbook about how to order the Church for all time or was it merely descriptive of the first century church? The way you answer these questions will drastically change how you read and understand these books of the Bible. The only way I can compare what this book can do for your understanding of the Bible is to compare it to a class I took in college where we studied the art of film and learned makes a movie a great movie and what makes a dud a dud. After taking that course, for better or for worse, I have never been able to watch another movie in the same way since. I believe that this book will have the same effect concerning your study of the Bible. You can find it used starting around $7 at Amazon.com. If anyone else has read this book or heard of it I would love to hear your comments. For those of you who attended Hillsdale, a lot of what is covered in the book was taught by Prof Westblade at different points in his Intro to Western Religion, New Testament and Old Testament courses. I am actually quite surprised that he did not have this as required reading for any of these courses. If I ever teaching an intro to Bible course, I believe this will be required reading for my students.

July 23, 2005

Following in Stiller's footsteps?


Good news! We're extending arts and crafts by four hours...
Will "Happy Gilmore" provide a model for Kim in her new job???

My new job

For all of those who have diligently prayed for my (Kim's) job search...your prayers have been answered. Actually, your prayers must have been really strong because I was offered three different positions! I went with a position with Brooksby Village (one of the Erickson Communities). The area in which I will be working (Rennaissance Gardens) in has 4 floors: 1 is rehab (a lot of turnover of patients) 1 is assisted care (more care is offered than an assisted living, but it is a little more independent than a nursing home) and 2 are skilled nursing (nursing home). I don't remember my exact title, but I'm working in the activities department and I will basically be the right hand man for the program coordinator (my position has the word "coordinator" in the title, but I can't remember exactly how it fits in). I'm very excited as I have worked in and with several nursing homes over the past few years and really developed a passion for working with the elderly. On top of that, this is the most amazing facility I have ever seen, with a great philosophy of care(you can find out more if you click on the link in the title). It is such an amazing and unexpected opportunity, and I am so excited. I officially start Aug. 8th (after I pass my drug screen an background check *fingers crossed*). So, this has been a day of much celebration. Although it was clouded when I broke the mirror in our closet...surely such a great day could not be the beginning of seven years of bad luck...Thank you all so much for your encouragement and prayers. They worked!

July 21, 2005

Acadia National Park

We're back. Kim and I spent 5 days in Maine. 2.5 days with family and 2.5 days at Acadia. We had a wonderful time with her cousin Wendy and husband Josh and their three adorable kids, Isaac, Anna and Noah. We played a lot in their backyard; hockey using a ball and baseball bats, frisbee golf (it was Isaac's idea!), plain old catch, trying to get me to master the unicycle only to laugh at me fall down, riding bikes, and my personal favorite trying to knock each other out of the hammock. By the way, I had a very nice nap in that hammock on Sunday afternoon. All of this was so nice especially after Kim's continuing job search and my final exam, which I got an A on and an A also for the class! We had some great talks with Josh and Wendy and look forward to going back up there soon. Monday morning we continued up the coast of Maine and were a bit exhausted from trying to figure out how to get there and setting everything up. But we did manage to go for a car tour around Acadia to see the sights. Tuesday was our adventure day. We got up nice and early and made eggs and sausages over the campfire(nothing like food cooked over a campfire). Then we set out for Long Pond and Mt. Mansell. We decided to take the Perpendicular trail, which was recommended in our guide book. It wasn't until we reached the trail that the "Perpendicular" part of the trail's name became so understandable. What was interesting about this trail is that much of the hike consists of a staircase made out of slabs of granite. It felt as if we had found the secret staircase that leads to Modor. After a challenging climb, we evetually made it to the top. And what did we see? Absolutely nothing because it was so foggy! Fortunately the fog cleared up... 2 hours later once we were squarely at the base! Nice. After the climb (and a desperate search for restroom, which ended successfully) we made our way to an enchanted rope swing that took some time to find; unmarked dirt roads and trails. But the time we put in to find it was well worth it. Not only was there a rope swing, but there were 15 foot cliffs to dive off of, which seems a lot higher when you are standing on them. The mountain in the background of the rope swimg picture is Mt Mansell. The lake was so refreshing especially since we had not showered for a couple of days. Later that afternoon we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountian which is the highest point on the island and, interstingly, the first place sunlight hits America each day between October and March. The picture of us was taken on Cadillac Mt. We spent the rest of the day in Bar Harbor, the main city closest to Acadia, doing some window shopping and going to Reel Cinema. This is no ordinary movie theater. This is a pizzeria and theater. You order your pizza, go and sit down in either regular movie seats that have a tray in front of you or in the couches closer to the front that require TV trays (we opted for the couch) and keep an eye on the elcetronic Bingo board for your order number to lite up signaling that your order was ready to be picked up. While most of the US was under a massive heat wave, it was nice and cool there, requiring us to wear jeans and long-sleeve shirts for most of the time. What a great place to get away from the daily concerns of life and enjoy the beauty of God's creation and not shave for a week. Gotta love that. School starts again on Monday (Hebrew II) and Kim continues the job search. Thanks go out to the seven folks who left us comments! Love getting home and having messages on the machine, e-mails in the inbox, and comments on the blog! Keep um coming!

July 15, 2005

Hebrew One, Done

To our faithful readers,
It proabbaly has been apparent that there has been a take over of the blog by Kim (I knew once I showed her how to do it that would be it for me!). I have been working hard on my Hebrew and have had little time to post. This morning I took the final exam, and I am pretty confident that I got an A on it and the class overall. I have enjoyed Hebrew much more than I expected. I especially liked that it was condensed into an intensive 4 week summer session. Not having a job or a church yet has allowed me to devote as much time as I need to the language. I receive a week off from Hebrew and start Hebrew II next Monday, July 25. As Kim mentioned in her last post, we are heading up to Maine for the next 5 days. Half that time with her cousin's family and the other half at Acadia National Park. We'll have lots to share next Thursday. By the way, I think Kim is getting close to landing a job. She had a second interview today for one job and a second interview tomorrow for another! Please pray for wisdom for her as she will be making some big decisions soon. We know that many of you are continually praying for us, and we want to let you know that we appreciate them and that your prayers are being answered. Hope there are lots of comments when we return...

July 13, 2005

Tid Bits

Since our 4th of July adventures there hasn't been much to post, but here is a collection of the things that have been keeping us busy lately. Last week we spent a few days recovering from our adventures (a testament to how out of shape we are). Sunday we visited the 3rd Evangelical Free church on our list, and we really liked it. Lucas met with the president of Gordon Conwell (who is also EV Free) to discuss becoming a pastor in that denomination and finding a church. He suggested that we attend an EV Free church during our time here. This is nice because it narrows our search, but we really liked 2 out of the 3 and now we're trying to figure out what will be the deciding factors. Sunday evening we had dinner with our neighbors, the Moodys. We have been so blessed to have such amazing neighbors, and we had a wonderful time. The highlights of the evening were Lucas eating meatloaf, hearing Josh's great stories (he was a police officer in Baltimore; it was better than watching COPS!) and learning speed Scrabble (even though Kim Moody beat Lucas!). Lucas is finishing up his last week of Hebrew (he has a final this Friday and I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers), but he found some time to play disc golf with our neighbor Seth (from the other side of us). Although, it sounded like they spent a lot more time looking in the woods for the discs than actually playing, and I ended up having to do a tick check. Last night we split up, girls in one apartment watching Big Brother and guys in our apartment watching the All-Star game. It was a nice time to hang out with friends of our respective genders - girl talk for me and male bonding for him. It seems that all of your prayers have helped as I (Kim) have a job interview tomorrow. It is for a receptionist position at a chiropracter's office, and I'm so excited. We have more adventures ahead as we are leaving to spend a long weekend in Maine visiting my cousin and camping at Acadia National Park, so you all can look forward to some exciting posts in the future!

July 12, 2005

Crossing the Finish Line



My Uncle's Amazing Race Part II:

I know a lot of you wanted to hear how my uncle's race went, so I wanted to give you a follow up. Due to time constraints they weren't able to fully complete the race, but they did finish the 2 1/2 mile run, the 10 mile bike ride, a portion of the 2 mile canoe race (I don't know exactly how long they went), and the mystery events before they crossed the finish line. It was a difficult undertaking, but they all crossed the finish line in one piece (from what I hear they were VERY sore and tired, but they finished nonetheless). They did a lot more than I have ever done in one day, that's for sure. I know that they really appreciated your thoughts and prayers. I definitely did (it was hard to be so far away. I really wanted to be there to watch the race and offer encouragement). In the picture above my uncle Jon is in the bottom left and my uncle Paul is bottom right. My youngest brother Matt is the one in the back. They look so happy and relaxed that I'm assuming this was taken before the race. The bottom picture is of one of the mystery events. You can see my uncles doing the wheelbarrow while my brother Matt (the young and fit one of the team) is resting in the sand.

July 08, 2005

Who wants Cake?


For those of you who read about Lucas and Hebrew and wondered what I do all day...this is pretty much it. I still do not have a job, and since staying at home looking for jobs on the internet (I check the local papers' Help Wanted ads and Bostonworks.com) has no dress code, I do it in my pajamas. Lucas often comes home to me looking exactly like our darling friend pictured here. I thought looking for a job would be a full-time thing, and it was for a few days, but, having exhausted most of my resources, it is now part-time with few benefits. One would think an entire day of free time would be lovely. I, myself, once thought an entire day of free time would be just that...but I'm going crazy! To fill up the extra hours I've been doing Pilates and a lot of baking...which are truly as counterproductive as they sound. It has gotten so bad that I deliberately make messes in the apartment so that I have something to clean up later. Now you would be right if you're thinking that applying to so many jobs and not getting calls for interviews would be depressing, but I'm dealing with it as best as possible (you think here that I'm going to say keeping a positive attitude and waiting for God to bring me the right job, but I'm much more human than that) - I make a lot of cake. I'm not posting this to make you feel sorry for me. I'm actually well within the normal time frame for job-hunting, and my patience could use a little practice. But I would appreciate your prayers. And if you happen to call and I sound dissappointed to hear your voice on the other end of the phone, don't take it personally.

July 05, 2005

My Uncle's Amazing Race

If you click on the blog title (My Uncle's Amazing Race) you can read an article that was feautred on the front page of the Sports section of the Lincoln Journal Star (very big in Nebraska). I just found out about this from my dad (I had heard my uncle wanted to attempt it, but didn't know it was official). I'm sure they (my uncles Jon and Paul and my brother Matt) would appreciate your prayers as they undertake the race. I'm new at posting links, so I hope you can actually get to the article. I know I'm close to the story and may be a little biased, but I thought it was an inspiring story and definitely worth sharing.

Lucas and Kim's Amazing Race

This rather long post is a tribute to one of our spring tv obsessions, and is dedicated to our friends who loyally watched with us.

July 4th, 8:42 A.M. We departed from our apartment on our way to the Hamilton depot to meet a train into Boston, our destination. After Lucas' careful research of train schedules we decided to meet the Hamilton train in order to make it into Boston in time to hear the Declaration of Independence read from the balcony of the Old State Building. The only setback was that the last train to return to Hamilton was the earliest of all the trains leaving Boston after the fireworks which would mean a fast getaway was needed after the fireworks, but we felt up to the task. We caught the train, made our connections on the T in Boston and made it to the Old State House just in time to hear them announce the end of the ceremony. BUT we caught a lively parade complete with veterans, modern day soldiers and Minute Men and soldiers from the Revolutionary War! The highlight of this was spotting one of the Minute Men in line at Starbucks...apparently even the Minute Men need a little something to keep them alert.

DETOUR! Since we missed the reading of the Declaration, we wanted to take in one of Boston's touristy things from the 4th while still making it to Joel and Alli's relatively on time. We had to choose between seeing the USS Constitution go out for her once a year turnaround, complete with a cannon salute, and participating in the debate over the tax on tea at the Old South Meeting House. After considering each choice we went to the tax debate and were each assigned parts - Lucas being a Loyalist Stonecutter (Long live the King!) and me being a Patriot Wine Merchant. Unfortunately we did not get to participate in the debate as another girl had my part and was called on first, and the moderator was too busy calling on little kids to notice Lucas' hand and give him opportunity to speak his line (which he still has memorized in case anyone wants to hear his fiery delivery!). We made it out at 11:30 and quickly headed to Joel and Allie's.

We met up with Joel and Allie and after a scrumptious, and cost-effective, lunch at Boca Grande we headed out to claim a spot to watch the fireworks (with the hopes that we would be the first to reach our destination - a.k.a. the perfect spot...). After a little wandering we found it. THE perfect spot right on the water, across from the firework barge, with shade and sun and a great view of the Boston skyline. The reward a restful afternoon filled with frisbee playing, good company (in the form of Joel and Allie Schellhammer) and a delightful walk, during which we encoutered the smiley button man ("Smiles, smiles, frowns, clowns, downs, bowns....").

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the especially delightful events of the day that have nothing to do with our amazing race, but are nonetheless noteworthy. There was the chance meeting with my college friend Gail Nelson. The alliance with our chair friends (which proved to be helpful when people closed in for the fireworks and they protected the Western border of our blanket). And the highlight: Allie's flag cake (mmmm...so good). Then we saw some AMAZING fireworks. Due to the close proximity of our perfect spot and the direction of the wind we did end up being covered with soot and hit by the paper remnants of the fireworks, but it was still enjoyable. As a true fireworks lover, I have to admit that this was not simply a conglomeration of colorful explosions in the sky, this was art. They were choreographed with music and I was enthralled as I watched the display and thought about the work that had to have gone into it. Bravo.

10:53(ish): The fireworks are over and the race truly begins. We grabbed our stuff just as the last fireworks were fading away, and without folding or packing what we grabbed we ran for the subway station; bobbing and weaving through the crowd with Joel leading the way. It was like we were in one of those movie where aliens are invading the planet (or some other natural or unnatrual disaster is striking). We were the heroes of course, because the heroes are always the ones who make it, and we were passing everyone in our mad dash. We made it to the station and on to our first subway train without a glitch (special thanks to Joel, our amazing guide. We couldn't have done it without you!). We got off two stops later to jump onto the green line that would take us to the North station to meet our train.

ROADBLOCK! Our train announces at the next stop (two stops away from our connecting train) that this is their last stop and all passengers must get off. Lucas and I exited the train without knowing where we were or how to get where we needed to be. We waited for the next train, hoping it would keep going to our stop, but it was kicking off all of its passengers as well. Notably frustrated, we waited for another train knowing now that we missed the train that will get us back to Hamilton, but also banking on alternative options. The next subway train that came through was going to our connecting stop and we crammed on with hundreds of other people (it smelled like that many at least) and thanked God that we were moving on. We got off and precious minutes were lost as we ran around trying to find the train station and we finally found it and confirmed that our train left, but we could take another train to Beverly (about 15 minutes from our final destination) and then take a cab back to our car). We did that, and thanks to John from Lowell and a Boston taxi driver we made it back to the Hamilton depot and our car.

We were truly excited, despite the countless hassles and frustrations, to have this Amazing Race-esque adventure. It was a wonderful day. Joel and Allie, thank you so much for being amazing hosts. We look forward to many more similar adventures in the future!