Vacation is nigh! Huzzah! It has been such a long week at work, primarily due to tight staffing, that I cannot wait until the end of the day on Friday.

Tonight is our last day to run silly errands -- we're looking for new backpacks at Eddie Bauer which was having a sale last Friday. I hope it's still going on -- $20 off each backpack is pretty good! I don't really need anything else, and I am hoping to do some shopping with Mom and Jenny while in Wisconsin.

It seems like such a long time since we were last on vacation, although it was just in July that we went camping. I guess since this will be an extended vacation -- 12 days -- it feels extra special. And I'll get to go the fair, a Brewer's game, Door County, and Chicago. We've got a pretty packed schedule planned for Chicago -- seeing the Art Institute and the Field Museum, going to Fronterra Grill for a fancy dinner, eating deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs, riding the ferris wheel at Navy Pier, and seeing "No Country for Old Men" at The Second City. Should be awesome and jam-packed!

Jenny will also be in Wisconsin for the first few days of our vacation. Initially she wasn't sure if she would be able to stay in Plymouth that long after getting back from Ireland, but I guess it will work out. So the whole Immich family and us Sullivans will hang out and do something next Monday. I assume it will also include a birthday celebration for Jenny -- her birthday is August 28.

Can't wait! I hope to also have some fun pics to share, either here or on Facebook.

Another Friday off, what a good feeling! Well, of course tomorrow I won't be super stoked to work Saturday, but that's another thing. I've got all kinds of interesting plans for today -- maybe making some jam (lemon-blueberry or peach), vacuuming, grocery shopping, and stopping at the mall to look for a new purse. Trip and I are going to Chicago in less than two weeks (!) and I want to have a nice bag that isn't too big but can sling across my chest rather than just stay on my shoulder. I just have issues with weight on my shoulder. I think it's an inherited thing from my Mom.

We're going to Bengies tonight with the Young Adult's group from church. It should be a fun night with a couple good movies. I am probably the last person in America who hasn't seen The Dark Knight, but that will be rectified tonight. Plus there is Henry Poole is Here, which sounds interesting. Maybe not as good as Wall-E (which I'd love to see again), but still interesting. And I like Owen Wilson. This time I am planning to purchase the "outside food pass" for our car -- for only $7 I can then eat good popcorn, candy, and whatever beverage I want to bring. I was super surprised, but the popcorn at Bengies is not so good -- kind of salty and dry. And they also use the gross buttery stuff that ends up being too gloppy.

Most of all I am looking forward to vacation that is coming up in just eight days! Sure, we've been able to take a few long weekends here and there, but this will be twelve days off in a row! Yay!

I'm still working on my discernment process. It's hard -- with the summer and everything going on, I'm finding it hard to take time out to work on actively discerning. There has been some progress...I am feeling like I am more called towards diaconal ministry, which is the intersection of the church and the world.

What exactly does that mean? Well, I would go to school for 2 1/2 years full-time or a maximum of 5 years part-time. I have some more freedom and creativity in where and what I do (compared to a pastor, at least at first!), but I have to work at getting the jobs more than a pastor would. Pastors go through a call process, which basically means that the ELCA will help them find a job. Diaconal ministers don't have an equivalent process -- while we are called to a position, it is more up to me as an individual to find or create the position. So I'd end up with another master's degree, probably an MAR (Masters of Arts in Religion). So we'll see! I really need to set up some meetings with people who are already serving and studying to become diaconal ministers. I am pretty interested in three areas: hospital chaplaincy, youth and family ministry, and college ministry. So we'll see what happens, but at this very moment, I am thinking that I might be able to start part-time Fall 2009! Where it will be, I don't know.

Trip and I have some fun plans for this weekend. We're going to a friend's wedding on Saturday night followed by a brunch on Sunday morning. It's the first of five this summer/fall and the only local wedding we will be attending.

Then we're heading to the Delaware beach for three days and two nights of camping! I'm really really excited to try out our tent for the first time. I've got all these giant lists of things to pack and food we're going to eat. And now we've got a new air mattress to make sleeping in the tent extra comfy! I've never gone camping near the beach before, so this will definitely be a first for me. It'll also be nice to just take some time out from life and work and be disconnected -- no computers or Internet! I'm also hoping to work on my tan a little bit.

Sorry about the radio silence on this end. It's been a busy June/early July. I've been discerning, y'know.

The Fourth of July was yesterday! I went to D.C. with Trip to stay with his friend Adam. We walked and walked and walked. And ate Bhutanese food (tasty dumplings!) and Texas ribs. The Texas coleslaw and beans were probably the highlight of the food for me. So yummy. But the Texas entree came with a piece of white extra-thick bread. It would've been super tasty as a piece of Texas toast, but I guess it's too difficult to make toast for a giant crowd of people.

I saw the fireworks behind the Washington monument -- a pretty cool experience. We didn't see any of the concerts on the Mall -- no Huey Lewis or Jerry Lee Lewis for me. (Apparently it was a Lewis-apooza!) The rain kept the crowds fairly small, so it was a great experience. We bought ponchos at K Mart before heading to D.C. -- patriotic ones in navy blue and red!

So it was a good Fourth of July. But now I am at work, attempting to do stuff and not doing so well. It's hard to come back after a two-day weekend for one day...and Saturdays are never fun at work any way! I just hope that it will be a quiet day that passes by quickly.

As for things on the discernment front...not so sure about what I'll be doing. I am trying to talk to a variety of people to hear how they discerned their call. I am beginning to think that perhaps I should become a diaconal minister rather than a pastor...it seems like less of my call to be a parish pastor and perhaps more of a person who works at the intersection of the world and the church. Sounds more fun too! Ha.

I think I'm coming down with a summer cold. Trip was feeling kind of yucky last week and we blamed it on allergies. But since I am now tired and sniffly, it probably isn't the pollen count. Boo.

Anyway! I can't be sick. Must be at work and a retreat this weekend! No rest for the wicked.

It's been a busy couple of weeks with the family reunion over Memorial Day and last weekend having fun with the ladies. I saw a couple of movies last weekend too -- Indiana Jones and Sex and the City. Both were fun and enjoyable, but not the best movies ever. I'm hoping to see a few more movies this summer -- maybe Iron Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the new Batman, and maybe Get Smart. Trip and I are planning to go to the drive-in movie sometime this summer. If you can make it through nine hours of being in the car, you can watch three feature films on Friday or Saturday night. A pretty good time too, for only $9!

I've got lots of pictures of the vacation in Minnesota that I should put up, but it will have to wait until later...

But the big news is that I'm all signed up for the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K on June 22. Yup, I'm back to training despite spraining my ankle a few weeks ago. I think I can do the 3.1 miles in a decent time, although to break the 10 minute mile mark I will have to train harder (and perhaps run a 5K in early fall!). So we'll see how it goes!

What a weekend!

I got to country line dancing which was actually pretty fun. I do not believe that I am quite coordinated enough to really get the intricate steps of many dances, but after a few beers, I tried and was actually pretty successful.

Saturday started out as a super nice lazy day. I made Trip breakfast in bed (apple oven pancake and fruit salad with Greek yogurt) and we watched 27 Dresses. But while we went for a run in the afternoon, I sprained my ankle and fell down. I have serious road rash on my leg and hand that's still kind of painful. The ankle seems to have healed surprisingly quickly and is only a little stiff now.

But I soldiered on! My friend Kelly got free tickets to Madame Butterfly so I went to my first opera in a foreign language. It was good -- the music was great! The Baltimore Opera Company has projected scenery rather than actual sets for this performance, which was distracting at times. But definitely an interesting concept!

Sunday was confirmation Sunday -- our confirmands got confirmed! It was great to see them dressed up and doing faith statements. Trip and I went straight from church to visit Grampy in the hospital in Delaware. He's doing pretty good, but doesn't want to eat, which doesn't seem like a good sign. We'll see what happens... I think we might go visit again in a couple of weeks and try to bring a hamburger and milkshake to encourage him to eat.

I'm excited for this week to be over with -- we're going to Trip's family reunion in Minnesota on Friday! I'll get to see my family and be on vacation at the same time! It also sounds like the whole trip will be lots of fun -- a boat trip on Lake Minnetonka and some horse racing. I think we might also go to a museum on Monday. Trip and I are spending Monday night with Jenny, so he'll get to see her super cute neighborhood. Maybe we'll even get breakfast at the Finnish Bistro!

Blargh.

It's THURSDAY! The happiest day of the week! YAY! Post from me!

Okay, excessive use of exclamation points is over. It's Thursday. I'm pretty stoked because I got a free(ish) Southern chicken biscuit sandwich from McDonalds today. It was pretty darn tasty, although not as good as Chick-fill-A. Chicken should've been a little crunchier. I also got a surprisingly good coffee -- it was buy a medium/large drink, get a chicken biscuit free! But I ended up overpaying for my sandwich. I confused the poor girl by giving her 50 cents after she'd rung up my coffee and she forgot to give me an extra dollar back. So instead of spending $1.50 on my breakfast, I spent $2.50. Not too shabby. Today is also free iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, so stop by if you get a chance. I'm not a huge fan of the DD's iced coffee, so I'm going to pass.

Today I will also get reflexology done by a friend. She took a class this spring and is now working on getting 100 pairs of feet to be certified. She did my hands a month or so ago and it was sooo relaxing. I hear that it might hurt at first especially when she is working on the toe joints, but that it will be worth it afterwards. We'll see. Trip and I made dinner for her as our payment. It's actually leftover homemade mac 'n' cheese. Normally I make mac 'n' cheese with ham in it, but I had forgotten to take out the ham to defrost. So I thought we'd just have plain mac 'n' cheese. Trip remembered that we had some bacon left -- so he cooked it up (took FOREVER it was sooo fatty) and we put it in the casserole. Soooooo tasty! Of course bacon makes everything better, but it is so fabulous in gooey cheese and noodles. Yum yum yum yum! I will definitely do it again. The thing is that we didn't even cook that much bacon -- just 5 pieces for around 6 servings of macaroni!

So I can't believe that Memorial Day is coming up next weekend. Trip and I will be in the Twin Cities next Friday for his family reunion! I'm really excited for it -- I think it will be lots of fun and it'll be good to see my family too. I just can't believe that it is coming up so soon. The downside is that we are flying out of Philadelphia so we are driving up on Thursday night to stay with Trip's aunt and uncle. Guess what is next Thursday? The big LOST finale! So yes, wah-wah, we might not be able to watch the LOST finale live. :( Oh well! Minnesota, land of no sales tax! Woot, woot!

Summer/fall travel plans have also been taking up a lot of my thinking time...mostly budgeting for them. Trip's cousin Amy is getting married in New Mexico and it seems that flights are just getting totally crazy. And we're driving out to Wisconsin in late August. My parents will be working during the week, so we need to figure out what we want to do to entertain ourselves. I'm hoping we can work out a day or two in Chicago (hotel stay!). The original plan was to visit Jenny and see the Minnesota State Fair, but I'm not sure that will work any more since her housing will be more temporary at the time. But who knows? Any suggestions as to what we should do in the Wisconsin area in late August? We are definitely going to the Sheboygan County Fair over Labor Day weekend -- it will be awesome and we'll eat cowpies and corndogs and other super tasty fried things. Yum yum!

Sorry I've been a total slacker lately on the blog front.

However, there's lots of exciting news today!

Last night I saw TRAVIS in Philadelphia! It was an AWESOME concert -- they played a lot of their new stuff, but songs from all the old albums too. We were super close to the stage and I got to watch and laugh at Dougie, their bassist. He cracked me up, the way he was tapping his extremely skinny leg to the music and just kind of grinning. Trip and I went last night and got there around 8:40 pm. The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, so we thought that the opening act hadn't gone on yet...meaning that it was going to be a late night with the drive back to Baltimore still ahead. But Travis went on instead! I didn't really realize it until midway through their intro. We got up and started walking towards the front and this guy came up from behind us and put his arms around me and Trip. I thought it was a random guy, but then I noticed the bassist (he's the most recognizable, being taller and blonde) coming up. Then Trip realized that Fran Healy had put his arms around us! Squee!! I've been touched by Travis! The show was great -- they played for about an hour and fifteen minutes and then did an accoustic/non-accoustic encore, which included "Flowers in the Window," "20" (not my favorite, it's a hidden track on the US version of The Man Who), and "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" I did the interpretive dance that Jenny, Kelly, and I made up back in 2000 when we saw them open for Oasis. It was a GREAT night. And I bought a T-shirt (of course!) -- from their new music video "Selfish Jean" that says "Music. Art. Jaffa Cakes." on the front and "Travis" on the back. Wee! And I'm not tired today, despite getting home at 1 am! Life's good.




The past few weeks have been super busy though. We met with our pastor on Tuesday for some wedding ceremony planning. I will also be involved with Confirmation again next year, and it looks like Trip will be too, to some extent. But it's really neat to start thinking about the whole service. It's the part that will probably stick with us the longest -- the whole vows and everything.

And there was the trip to New York City! It was really good, after a bit of a rough start. We got into Brooklyn and parked and were totally ready to get going on Friday, but had trouble with directions. Mainly, finding either the Brooklyn Bridge or Grimaldi's Pizza (which is near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge). We finally managed to find the pizza place, had a small cheese pizza to go, and enjoyed it at the base of the bridge. Tasty pizza, although I'm not a huge fan of the Brooklyn style pizza. It really hit the spot though! We walked across the bridge and meandered through SoHo, Greenwich Village, a smidge of Chinatown, the East Village, and a little of Tribecca. It was a hot day, so we took a couple breaks in Washington Square Park and Union Square Park before meeting Amy and Ana (and yes, we got lost going to dinner) for dinner at a Greek restaurant in Brooklyn.

Saturday we got tickets to see the matinee of 110 in the Shade, a super awesome musical! We had excellent seats, eight rows back. It was a really good old-fashioned musical with some awesome actors -- Audra McDonald as the lead and the guy who played the bartender on Northern Exposure. (Don't remember his real name or his character's name!) The musical made me laugh and cry and I would totally recommend it -- but the show closes at the end of the month, so hurry up! Also, to give away some of the fun at the end, it rains for real! In the theater!

After seeing the show, Amy, Trip, and I wandered around Central Park for a bit before heading back to Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Museum to catch a tiny bit of live music and some the exhibits. It was fun -- and I wish we'd been able to see more music! Then we headed back to Manhattan to see Ana's show (she's folk-rock-singer/songerwriter person) at The Living Room. We got some Middle Eastern food before the show -- I tried farafell, tasty but a little crunchy! Ana's show was fun and we got home kind of late.

Sunday was a relaxing day -- we got dim sum for breakfast at this really fun place in Brooklyn with pink table clothes. Amy picked out stuff for us -- made sure that we just got either vegetable or seafood. Apparently going with meat can be a little sketchy. And after seeing the Asian guys we were sharing the table with get some tripe, I agreed with her! It was super tasty and really fun to see these women pushing around metal carts full of dumplings and other tasty snacks. My favorite was a sesame ball with sweet rice paste in the center. Trust me, it tasted better than it sounds. Afterwards, Amy showed us the view of Manhattan from the Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Then she got to work and we headed to the Met to get cultured. Trip and I only spent about an hour there, but we managed to see a really interesting exhibit of Frank Stella "Art into Architecture" and modern photographs from their collection. The photographs were my favorites -- they showed very ordinary things from life that the photographers had managed to find something interesting in and could get this across to me, the viewer. I wish I had the eye for detail that they did! Although it took longer than we thought it was going to, Trip and I went to the Magnolia Bakery in the Village to get some cupcakes. They were quite tasty, although I don't know if I would buy the red velvet cupcake again. Frosting is what I look for in a cake, and the red velvet frosting was a little lighter and fluffier than their ordinary buttercream, which was divine!

We finally got on the road back to Baltimore around 6:20 and I was home by 10 pm. But on Monday morning I was feeling totally overwhelmed and tired from all the activity. So I ended up taking a personal day and staying home. It was very relaxing -- a good change from the hustle and bustle of our vacation -- and I managed to get some things done (grocery shopping, cleaning).

Tonight looks like it should be fairly relaxing. We're going to check out an apartment in Towson, but that's it!

Hopefully the next update won't be so long, but I've just had so much exciting stuff happen recently!

I'm back in Baltimore! The trip home to Maryland went quite smoothly and I had fun at Mitchell Airport waiting for my tiny little plane. Plus I got to read a lot of Television Without Pity (the book) which is so awesome. I wish I could write like those two.

It's quite silly. I am not usually a person who gets homesick. I've moved around and traveled and never really felt any surge of missing Wisconsin. But I get back from Christmas vacation and I miss it. I guess it wasn't quite a long enough of a holiday. Me, homesick! Who would've thought? Especially after living out in Maryland for three years.

Ah, Christmas at home. I am typing from my old room on my sister's laptop. I'm ripping several of my CDs on to her laptop (generous sister that I am) so I figured that I could also use the computer. It's not really doing anything else, now is it?

Christmas was good! I got some excellent presents, including a new rolly suitcase for carry-on purposes (big test drive in Seattle!), a black purse, and an Alterra coffee holder and coffee. I :heart: Alterra, and it's only a Milwaukee/Wisconsin thing. There's no snow in Wisconsin, but Christmas was still cold! Brrrr!

Yesterday we went shopping and I made out like a bandit. I got a new sweater, black wool skirt (which I've been looking for for years!), pants & top from Old Navy Outlet (super, super, SUPER cheap), super cute red patent leather-y peep toe flats, and bras. Pretty exciting! Plus we had lunch with Adam's family and I met his brother.

Trip got me a new Ugly Doll -- Ice Bat. I will have to upload some photos of the Icebox that he came in -- Trip made it for me! It was really cute.

I didn't manage to get together with any high school/college/grad school friends, but that's all right. I wasn't here all that long (just Saturday through this afternoon), and I was kind of tired last night. Sorry Paul, but you didn't call either!

My parent's new dog Sally is super cute and super cuddly. She's so sweet -- such a big dog but she loves to be around people.

Sally last summer when we went camping in July

Well, I should be getting ready. It's nice to just be kind of lazy today -- nothing too pressing to do now that I've printed out the boarding pass. And it's back to work tomorrow!

It's practically Christmas! Well, it feels that way at work. Honestly, does anything really get done this week? I have done a few things -- lots of emails and things getting put up on the web, but I still have a lot of major things to do.

But in more fun news, I have wrapped all my presents and given away a majority of the Christmas cookies that I baked last Friday.

I went out for dinner last night with Trip, Angela (a friend from church) and Mark (a new pastor who is dating Angela) for Ethiopian food. It was super delicious, and extra good because I got to eat with the injera bread. Yum! We got a big sampler platter and Ethiopian beer (which was good, even if it was a little pricy). I tried lamb, which was a little spicy, beef tibs, which was my favorite, two kinds of lentils, greens, tomatoes, which were fabulous, chicken, and yellow peas. Then we went over to Angela's apartment and had cookies and tea. I had this vanilla red tea -- it was Celestial Seasonings tea with the lion on the cover so we called it Aslan tea. Trip tried the blueberry tea which I didn't like as much. He didn't either.

My biggest excitement is that I will be going home for five days starting on Saturday. I'm really, really psyched to be off of work until next Wednesday. Not a super long holiday, but long enough. I don't really have any plans for my vacation -- just spending time with the family and maybe seeing Paul from high school. I've also got next weekend off as well -- so while I don't have any plans for the New Year's weekend, I will have it off!

Other big news is that I am going to Seattle in January! There is the ALA Midwinter Conference starting on the 19th. So I'll do meeting stuff for a few days -- through Monday -- and then I'll be spending time with my friend Kelly and her family. So I'll be on the West Coast for a week! Very exciting! I've never really been out there before -- we stopped at the Seattle airport when we flew to Alaska, but that doesn't count.

I feel like I need to look back and do another round up of the year like I did last year. It was fun and a good way to make me think about what I've been up to. Since I haven't been the most consistent of blogger....oh well!