A confession...or a couple

1. When I came to divinity school I was not familiar with the word "theodicy," which deals with the issue of evil in a God-created world. When people would bring it up in class, I thought they were saying "The Odyssey," as in the ancient poem by Homer. Needless to say, I was confused about why we were talking about this in seminary. Even now, knowing what it means, when someone says this word I am still confused for a split second.

2. I can name many of the capitals of central and South America. This is due to a song I learned in high school. I never took Spanish, but the kids who did got to listen to a catchy song that taught them most of the capitals of Spanish-speaking countries. Us French kids were jealous and wanted to listen to it too. Our teacher said no. My friend Chip and I would surreptitiously take the tape player to the back of the class and secretly listen to it during class. Our teacher would look around and ask "Who's singing?" But we never got caught and this information aids me today because I can answer many geography questions on Jeopardy.

AHHH I'm back!

Friends, it's been awhile.
To catch you up, here are a few of my favorite things from the past few months:





Mr. Miles

Mr. Carver








Yes, after 3 months of not blogging, 2 of my friends have had babies!!! Miles belongs to Will and Chelsea, our friends in Durham. Carver belongs to Val and Ethan who live in Gainesville, FL. I'm sad because I haven't gotten to meet Carver yet, but I feel so lucky to get to snuggle Miles at least once a week. (I steal him at small group all the time.)
Of course, this leads you to ask: "Doesn't this make you want to have babies, Amy?" Well, yes and no. Holding Miles and looking at his perfectness and smelling his sweet baby smell definitely make me want a baby ASAP. Then I'll have a crazy busy week and can barely get myself fed and clothed and I think "Ok, not time yet!"
Just because I know it's not time doesn't make me want one any less though. It just makes me really excited thinking about when it'll be our turn and reminds me to soak up all the baby knowledge and advice I can. It's great to watch friends go through experiences and be able to take notes. Especially when those friends are really great parents and people in general. (Will/Chels, Andy/Anita, Val/Ethan, this means YOU!)
Thanks for being such great teachers guys!

The guy in the coffee shop thinks I'm crazy

Maybe it's because when he asked me how I was doing, I said: "Excited!!" I don't know if he was too, or just humoring me. I'm going to be honest; this morning felt a little like Christmas. I have plenty of things to say, I'm just not sure how to put them into coherent sentences. Check out my husband, Travis', thoughts on the election/Obama presidency here. He expresses many of my thoughts in a much more eloquent way than I am capable of at this time. I blame grad school on draining all of my creative juices.

Speaking of school, that's where I am now (or ALWAYS). Wednesdays are my long day. I get here around 8 am and my last class gets out at 5 pm. I realize this is a the length of a normal work day for most people, but when you're used to working independently, at your own pace on things, this long stretch is difficult. At least it is for me. I'd much rather be at school for 9 hours if it could be spent writing, reading or studying. Sitting in classes all day can be draining. I have a break (now), which is nice. I usually spend it with several of my friends, but today everyone is MIA. Thus leaves Amy, sipping coffee and trying to be studious and productive.

I need desperately to be productive because I'll be gone all weekend. I'm going home from Friday til Monday. Woo!!! I'm super excited to see friends and family, but also because I'll get to go to my friend Valerie's baby shower! I feel like I've missed out on a lot of big things in my friends' lives (engagements, weddings, pregnancies) in FL because we've been up here. It's so hard to be engaged in life here and keep an ear and eye on things at home. I talk to my family every week and still get a twinge of jealousy sometimes when they talk about things they did together. Most of my friends are spread out over the state, but at least they're still in Fl; they can visit more often and come home for big events and such. All this has lead me to realize I probably want us to end up in FL when we settle down. Not that I expect that to be anytime soon. I still have 2.5 years of school left and then we'll probably move wherever Travis wants to go to school/where I can get a job.

Settling down for me essentially means babies and career-focused jobs and buying a house. Most days I'm content to know that these things are a few years off. However, lately I've totally been feeling the maternal nudge. It most likely has to do with the fact that several of my friends are pregnant or have babies. I've known from a fairly young age that I was supposed to be a mom. Now that it's just a matter of time (hopefully), I'm getting impatient. Not that I feel particularly ready to be a mom.....but who does?

Now, don't all of you go out and buy baby clothes. I'm just saying that I'm excited. And maybe that I'll be ready sooner than I thought...

Ah democracy

It's not even 10 am on election day and I already feel like my blood pressure has shot up 10 pts. And I've been purposely avoiding watching/reading the news. That's a lie, I did watch Obama cast his vote. Which took like 15 minutes and is surely not an encouragement to those people who think they can vote on their lunch hour or something. Not that democracy should always be convenient, but still...

While perusing my favorite sites this morning, I did come across this: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/11/as-i-wreck-elect.html

Nothing screams "president" like baked goods.

I'm sure this won't be my last post today. Too much nervous energy makes Amy a good blogger, I guess.

GO VOTE!

I like watching Travis laugh

This update isn't just for Chelsea. But mostly.

I'm supposed to be writing a paper (I know, surprise, surprise) but instead I'm snuggling with Margot and watching Travis watch Conan O'Brien on DVR. When I say I'm watching Travis, don't think I'm creepy; I am purposefully not facing the TV so that I'll write and not watch it, but obviously it's not working too well.

This past week was Fall Break (ahem, I mean Reading Week). I did so much reading.....of my tween-vampire-romance novel. Which is totally my guilty pleasure these days. Speaking of guilty pleasures, I was having a discussion about guilty pleasure music with some of my friends/classmates the other day and needless to say, it is clear that people have differing views of what constitutes guilty pleasure music.
Here's my definition:
1)Guilty pleasure music is music you would not mention when someone asked: "Who do you listen to?"
2) You are embarrassed (at least a little)/or find the need to explain yourself if someone finds said music on your Itunes/Ipod/in your car
3) Includes: showtunes, rap, slow jams, honky-tonk country, cheesy 80s rock, Weird Al Yankovic, Celine Dion.....the list goes on.
4) For me includes: old school Christian catchy songs, the soundtrack to "Legally Blond: The Musical," "Dirty Dancing" and "The Big Chill," and 90s rap/slow jams....oh and maybe Eminem.

What's your guilty pleasure music???

oh and NO I will not answer any queries about above choice music...

plaster in the living room and coffee in my hand

I don't know why I do it, but I like to watch shows like The Hills and Dr. 90210. After watching them I always feel worse about the state of humanity and also like I need to have nice clothes. I know those two things don't mesh, but that's what happens. One good thing about watching these shows is that I totally know what Joel McHale is talking about when he makes fun of them on The Soup (which I obviously also watch).

Of course, I only watch these shows without Travis. Needless to say, they're not his favorite. It's pretty funny because the shows that stay on our DVR the longest are our individual guilty pleasures. For me that means reality shows, specifically anything on TLC, MTV or Discovery Health. For him, it's cartoons (Batman, Futurama, etc). Anything else we record we pretty much agree on and watch together. I think it's a nice use of the DVR technology: everybody wins.

I FINALLY bought the latest Death Cab for Cutie album (Narrow Stairs) and am looking forward to listening that on my walk from my car to school today. People at the div school probably think I'm rude/aloof cause I definitely walk right into school, to check my mailbox, and to class, all with my headphones on. I just like to stay in my own little world for as long as I can. Good music sets my tone for the day, and I like to stay wrapped up in that.

Chris Hohmann (the meteorologist on our local ABC news that looks like he has no teeth) tells me that there is a cold, rainy front coming through. Good; I'm ready for fall. Not rain particularly, but if rain equals cooler weather, count me in

I belong...anywhere but in between

First week of classes! Woo?
No, it's been good so far. The first week back to school is hard no matter what. You're not used to your schedule. You're not used to waking up early. You're not used to the babies in your classes that sit where you like to sit. Oh, I sound like such an old woman, so stuck in my ways. But seriously, move elsewhere kiddies. I put in my time.

It's been raining for 2 days and the weatherman tells me that it will continue for 3 more. Ugh. This morning was the ultimate you-should-stay-in-bed morning. Even Margot was hesitant to get up. That tells you something.

Back to school. So I've switched my classes around approximately 82356937856 times. I think I've finally secured my schedule. My first change happened because I decided I didn't want to continue on the Methodist track. That meant that I didn't have to take 3 (out of 4) classes that I was scheduled to. I ended up only switching 2. Then I switched yet another. My class schedule now consists of: Christian Theology (required), The Missional Church and Evangelism, Prophetic Ministries: Shaping Communities of Justice, and Pastoral Care and Women's Bodies. I just added the last one and am pretty excited about it. This also means that I am like one class away from the Gender, Theology and Ministry certificate. Aka it would be dumb NOT to get it.

Sometime last week (in the middle of helping with first year orientation), I realized that I was already pretty busy and classes hadn't even started yet. This year will be busy, but also fulfilling and probably less jarring than last year. I'm involved in a lot (Basin and Towel-Div School Service Club, Axe of the Apostles- improv comedy group, church small group, more things with church) and the list goes on. Oh, and I'd like to have quality time with the hubby and have a social life.

ok more later