My new found LOVE!

♥KNITTING♥! It's the most wonderful stress reliever! I've realized that it's a lot easier to learn than I first thought. After getting the hang of it, I just kept going and going until I finished this scarf. It only took about 3 days (I had a lot of down time). I only know the basic knit stitch now, but my next adventure is the purl stitch. I hope to make each one of my family members a scarf while I'm away in Korea. One of my co-workers brought up the TSA regulations against knitting needles, and it got me thinking I may not be able to take my projects on the plane. Turns out, as long as they aren't too long and preferably bamboo, it may be alright. I mean, if the Petries can pass through with kitchen shears, surely they'd let me take my knitting!
My next project is basically the same scarf, only dark green for Aaron.

School Update

As I write this post, I have just three more days of class (that is, if you include today) before finals week.

It's hard to express the combination of excitement, foreboding, stress, fatigue, and relief that I feel at this stage. Katie took charge of ordering, then sending, my graduation announcements, and I'll rent my cap-and-gown next week. Graduation is looming large, and this "final frenzy" is gaining momentum as I try to stay focused on finishing strong in my six classes.

What's left? All told: 3 short essays, 1 medium essay, 1 medium research paper, 2 longish research papers, 2 in-class final exams, 3 take-home final exams. All due in the next two and-a-half weeks! I'm sure you can begin to see where the "foreboding, stress, fatigue" part comes in.

Holiday Deliciousness

The holidays are such a wonderful excuse to fill up on cookies. I think cookies may be my favorite of the four food groups (cookies, cake, pie, ice cream). Soft, warm gingerbread cookies are particularly delicious. Katie baked some the other night, in honor of our putting up Christmas decorations.

And what are cookies without a hot, holiday beverage to complement them? Though the question is clearly rhetorical, I'll answer nonetheless: Not much! So Katie enjoyed her cocoa in a clear, glass mug, and I sipped mine from Santa's disembodied head.

Our trusty plastic Christmas tree is small, but festive. This year we put a little angel on top (made by Mom), in lieu of our usual star.

The holidays have really rushed up on us like a tidal wave, but Katie and I enjoy this time of year so much that it's hard to be unhappy about it. In a little less than three weeks, I'll be graduated and we'll get to enjoy the week of Christmas without worrying about homework. What a nice thought...

Thanksgiving, Times Two

For Thanksgiving, Katie and I split our day between my parent's house and hers. We have done this nearly each year that we've known each other, and it works out pretty well. Mom & Dad brined and roasted a turkey, and served up creamed corn, broccoli/rice/cheese casserole, stuffing, rolls, gravy, and fruit salad.

As you know from her previous post, Katie has been knitting lately. She's gotten quite good in a short period of time. We got to Mom & Dad's in the morning and she knitted while we visited. I've got a scarf on the way...

Each year, Mom makes the table really beautiful. We've already eaten in this photo, so it's a little disheveled, but you can still get the idea. Laura brought her boyfriend, Gabe, over as well, and we all enjoyed visiting with him.

At Katie's Dad's house, we visited with Mindy and her boyfriend, Dave, for awhile upstairs before eating. Bruce prepared quite a feast as well: Roasted turkey, ham, stuffing, two kinds of twice-baked potatoes, corn, stuffing, and gravy. I don't think it's possible to describe just how stuffed we were after enjoying two Thanksgiving dinners.

And of course, at about 2:15 AM the next morning, I drug myself out of bed to go to work. Here I am, trying in vain to drink enough coffee to wake me up. Black Friday was as chaotic as usual, but I was glad to get off of work earlier than normal. The holidays are officially in full swing.

Knitting Nancy

I've taken on knitting and I'm super excited about it! I want to make scarves, and socks, and eventually sweaters too. I've always wanted to learn, and now seems like the perfect time. Many things have settled down for me in my life, and I need something realxing like knitting to keep me sane. It's turning out to be a bit more difficult than I thought because I'm left handed. I'm trying my best to learn it all right handed so I don't have struggle with patterns. I may even take a class taught by Knitting Nancy, herself. Hmmm, too fun :)

Black Friday

Black Friday: The busiest shopping day of the year, and a great illustration of survival of the fittest. I will be at work sharply at 3:30AM, the day after Thanksgiving, to help maintain "line control". "Control" is such a relative term. I think the above photo pretty much sums up why. I found this pic on a local news website, and I think it pretty much does justice to the chaos that is Black Friday.

Having recently awoke from their tryptophan-induced slumber, these people are in the act of beating each other senseless in order to get their paws on all kinds of low-priced merchandise. Notice that one woman is wearing a festive Santa cap. Presumably, she thought it would be a cute touch, since she is shopping for presents. But, while it may be "better to give than to receive", she's not going to give an inch to any sucka that gets between her and those sweet deals... like the guy on the floor, for example.

Grandpa

I'm really going to miss Grandpa Scoma. I don't have any grandparents that live nearby or that I can say I'm close to, so thankfully, I've had the pleasure of calling Aaron's grandparents my own. He loved going to dollar stores, and before he lost his right to drive, he would frequent several dollar stores a day, picking up various items that he mostly bought because he got a good deal on them. He also liked to look through the grocery ads from several retailers, and buy up tons of cheap food.

My favorite memory going with him to his senior center, eating lunch and playing cards with his friends. I still can't think of a sweeter time than that day. It makes me laugh when I remember how Grandpa and his friends didn't like to participate in the group chair exercises. They reminded me of the naughty little boys in first grade, who would rather sit back and laugh at everyone else than do what they were supposed to do.

He liked to give you things, and it was next to impossible to turn them down. I made sure not to comment on too many of his knick knacks after he offered me a statue figurine of an old man sitting in an arm chair. What could I possibly do with that?! It was so sweet, though. :)

Each time Aaron and I would drive to Dallas, we always made it a priority to see Grandpa. He was the main reason we went.

I'm sad he's gone, but happy that he's with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We love you, Grandpa!

A Tough Day

Yesterday we found out, unexpectedly, that my grandfather had passed away (my mother's father).

Katie and I spent the day with Mom, up at the house, and we bought tickets to fly to Dallas tomorrow morning in order to attend the funeral on Monday. We'll miss Grandpa a lot, but we know that he trusted Christ. Just a couple of weeks ago I spoke with him on the phone, and he reminded me that, so far as salvation is concerned, God is not interested in what we have done to please Him, but only that we trust what Christ has done for us.

Philippians 3:20 says, regarding believers, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." Grandpa had the eternal hope that is promised to everyone who trusts Christ to save them from their sin.

Is There Life After School?

Recently I have been considering how difficult it will be for Katie and I to adjust to the "post-graduation" lifestyle. I mean, we have really grown accustomed to getting up early (for me, in some cases, 3:00AM), going to bed early (8:30 or 9:00), rarely having an entire day off together, the study being a disaster, and watching movies together in eight-part installments. What will it be like to sleep in every now and then? Stay up until midnight? Not spend all my free time writing papers?

Of course, I'm sure we'll adapt just fine. In fact, it's difficult to restrain my excitement when I consider that this time next month I will be in my last week of class. Despite the holiday rush that will be taking place at work, I'm confident that the last two weeks of December will be astonishingly relaxing for us. Among other things, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to take lots of pictures, read books of my own choosing, and eat lots of holiday food.

As you might imagine, we have also been thinking more of Korea as we approach graduation. At times the thought is rather overwhelming, mostly due to the volume of tasks directly at hand. It can be hard to think that after all this effort, we will pause briefly only to undertake another major life "project". During times of particular stress, it can be hard to envision being transplanted into another culture not long after graduation.

On the other hand, in many ways Korea helps keep us motivated. During breaks between semesters I have grown remarkably excited about Korea, and I know that following graduation the excitement will mount once again. Korea represents the liberation we will experience in our new, debt-free, post-graduation life. We have the ability to go to Korea only because we have worked as hard as we have.

In Celebration of Autumn

Katie and I had a rare day off together today. In celebration of fall, we spent some time hanging out together in a nearby park, enjoying the leaves. This morning we also watched "Hunt for Red October" (which we were disappointed to learn had nothing at all to do with fall). It was really quite warm today -about 70 degrees. The warm weather won't last, so we are enjoying it while we can.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

For Halloween, my tellers and I dressed up as celebrities who have been to jail or should probably go there. I was rocker Pink, and the usual Nicole and Paris were in there, and even an extra special inmate, the infamous Michael Jackson :) We had a great time decorating the teller line with black streamers hanging on the ceiling to create cell blocks, and spider webs everywhere! The best part of the day is when Anna, the sweet and innocent receptionist, gasped at my "nose ring"! It was really just foil but she was fooled and super surprised at me!! We had so much fun!! Tonight we're watching a movie and carving Aaron's pumpkin.

First Photos

Today I managed to get out of school early, as my last class was canceled. As the semester begins to wind down, I wonder sometimes if my professors are as dazed as I am. It is interesting to watch them grow more frazzled and disorganized as the semester wears on. I suspect that cancelling classes on the fly is their way of "skipping". Not that I'm any better. Each school day I stumble out of class slightly more disoriented than the previous school day, afraid the next inconspicuous morsel of information (for example, regarding Titus Quinctius Flamininus' dealings with Philip V after the second Macedonian War), will result in a massive brain aneurysm.

Despite the all the business, yesterday Kyle and I were able to go down town to try out the new camera. It was the first oportunity I have had to really experiement with it. Kyle brought his tripod along, so we were able to shoot some night scenes as well. The following are a few examples.