Trains, planes, and automobiles...

Okay, here's the plan:

Carrie and I will be catching a ride with a friend to South Bend tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon, right after I'm finished writing my last exam. We'll be dropped off at the train station.


We'll be taking the train to Chicago. We're staying overnight at a hotel near O'Hare.


Thursday morning, the 18th, we're catching a plane first thing in the morning headed to Toronto and then fly from Toronto to Winnipeg, arriving in Winnipeg early afternoon.


A friend has offered to pick me up from the airport in Winnipeg and I'll be staying with another friend overnight in Winnipeg.


I'll be catching a bus headed to Yorkton on Friday morning and should arrive in there around supper time.


My parents or my brother will hopefully be picking me up in Yorkton for the last 2+ hours of the trip to Hudson Bay. Trains, planes and automobiles (the only thing I'm missing is a boat!)! I think I needed to write out this list more for my sake than yours.


Looking foward to being home for Christmas soon!

Breathing again...

I submitted my final paper of the semester yesterday so I took the opportunity to breathe today. My roommate and I took a trip out to Shipshewana to do some window shopping and pick up a few last minute Christmas gifts. On our way home we stopped to take some pictures for my Christmas cards. I thought I should post one on here so that you'd know that I'm not that much worse for the wear, given that my last post sounded pretty desperate.

I just have one exam left, the studying for which I'll be plunging in to tomorrow. This semester is almost done and I can't wait to go home for Christmas!

Tired beyond words...

Well it's the middle of the night and here I am once again at the computer. The last 2 nights I've stayed up 'til all hours of the morning working on my last few essays. I'm obviously not getting enough sleep given how shaky I felt in class today. Tonight I'm working on the last one which has to be done by Friday. The end is so close, and yet at this very moment feels so far away. While the world is asleep I'm up, forcing my brain to come up with something when all it wants to do is sleep. Must...keep...typing...... Have.......to..........finis.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Feeling England-y...

I think this is the third time that the ground has been covered with snow and I think, this is it, winter is here and then it disappears. Yesterday it was completely white outside with probably 4 inches of snow on the ground. This morning I woke up to fog and rain and most of the snow was gone! It was +5C today. As one of my colleagues described it, "It feels England-y here today."

Cookie Dough Truffles

I put together a batch of these cookie dough truffles and just had to share the recipe. They are so good!

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate candy coating, chopped

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour, alternating with milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Shape into 1" balls and place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip balls in coating, allowing excess to drip off; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in the refrigerator.

Yummy!

From Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2008.

The end is near (of the semester that is)...I hope...

I just finished reading my sister's life update on her blog and was inspired to give you a life update of my own. Life right now is crazy, hectic, insane, AAAAAHHHHH. I have 1 minor paper due on December 9, which I am breaking from writing right now, and 3 major papers due on the 10th. (In a sense I don't feel as though I should be complaining because I know of a few other individuals who have 5 or 6 papers due next week). The 10th will be my last day of class, although the official last day of class is on December 12. I have one final exam for Reading the Bible class on the 17th, which I am not going to even think about until after the 10th. Aside from school I am still working approximately 15 hours/week in the Admissions office and will be taking on a few extra responsibilities next week as my fellow assistant to admissions will be taking time off to spend time with her daughter and brand new grandson. I also had the opportunity to babysit the cutest little girl this afternoon, which was a good study break. I find it so necessary to do things other than study in order to keep me grounded.

Speaking of grounded, this semester I have been meeting with a spiritual director. I have never engaged in spiritual direction before but I am really enjoying the process thus far. My biggest frustration at the moment is not having enough time to actually reflect on all that was talked about in the session, but I guess not feeling like there are enough hours in the day is part of life whether you're a seminary student or not. In the end it is a matter of priorities. I have learned from a few students here the importance of discerning why you are at AMBS so that you can focus your attention to those things that will bring you closer in the direction of your calling because you are bombarded with so much information and opportunities that there is no possible way to develop expertise in every area.

I am really looking forward to a break over the Christmas holidays. I will be flying to Winnipeg on December 18th and busing to Hudson Bay on the 19th, then flying back on January 2. I will be taking a 3 week intensive interterm class in January so I will have to get some reading done over the holidays, but 'tis life. At least I will have a chance to relax with family. Though this semester has been an enjoyable one, it hasn't been without its challenges and I'm looking forward to it being over. Ta ta for now.

Remembering...

Two rich quotes that I am using in a paper that I'm currently writing:

• …the process of remembering begins, however, not with word, but with silence. In the beginning is silence. This silence is not empty, but pregnant with meaning; it is filled with yearning. Indeed, this silence screams words of pain, of ignorance, of evil unacknowledged, and of desire unfulfilled. These words have been denied or rejected; they have been rendered mute. The silencing is of those who have been victimized in history. Their silence contains thousands of words, a host of memories, that we have yet to hear and receive. We are called to enter this silence as witnesses. We are bade to listen attentively to the words of those who have not been fully heard.
  

• Such a witness is to holiness. If the church attends truly, it will hear the call of the Holy Spirit in and through voices of the victimized. It will enter into the depth and mystery of God in Jesus Christ: that life, which is ever precious, seeks itself, even in the midst of degradation and suffering and death. The testimony to suffering is at heart a witness to life, the power of life to endure and to continue to love and be effective. The Holy Spirit, the bearer of life, will be revealed as transforming power, able to manifest itself when life seems no longer possible. This Spirit, whose name is hope, arises out of remembering for the sake of re-membering. In this way the church as a community of remembrance carries the process of redeeming memories for the sake of a hope that can make real the promise of salvation contained in Jesus’ command to remember in his name.

Flora A. Keshgegian, Redeeming Memories: A Theology of Healing and Transformation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 21, 236.