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.

It's voting day! And in Maryland, it's also a state holiday! So I'm home, planning to go to the polls in about a half an hour. This afternoon I'm off shopping with some girls from the library. My goal: to find that chocolate brown cardigan that I have been looking for since September. And to have a tasty lunch.

The wedding this past weekend was really fun. The only downside is that it was a late wedding and I was getting tired by midnight. But the food was delicious! And the cake! Fabulous! It had chocolate and regular cheesecake as filling in the middle of the cake. Plus we got a dessert plate with the cake, vanilla ice cream in a chocolate wafer bowl, and apples wrapped in a pastry dumpling. They also had a live band, which was really, really good. People were definitely up and dancing! Having some Motown seems to really get the crowd going.

Before we went up to New York for the wedding, we saw a movie -- Flushed Away. It was HILARIOUS. I would totally recommend it to everyone -- especially if you like Wallace and Gromit and British humor. I am not a huge fan of the animated movies with all the celebrity voices (and am especially appalled to see that they are redoing Charlotte's Web with Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte. Seriously, why her?), but this one was great! Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet were perfect as the main characters and the supporting voices -- Bill Nighy (awesome as Whitey, the lab rat), Ian McKellan (as the bad guy The Toad), and Jean Reno (as LeFrog) -- were excellent. I especially loved the henchfrogs.

The French frogs -- complete with a mime!

So...that's about it!

How exciting! Blogger now has tags. I have always thought tags for blogging is essential, but I didn't want to move over to Typepad. Some weekend when I'm not crazy-busy, I'll have to figure out some tags for this blog.

Weekly update: the wedding I went to was really, really nice. Some friends from church (we'll call them Lutheran Lovers) got married on Saturday at my church. It was really cool to see a big-ish wedding take place at my church -- the Lutheran Lovers had 12 attendants total! And then we had the reception at the library, which was both pretty and weird. Weird mostly because people kept saying how beautiful it was and I look around and think, yeah, it is pretty, but I am here every day! I forget how beautiful the Central Hall is at night when there aren't as many lights on and people are dressed up. That was the nice part. Plus I got to dance at my workplace. A DJ really jazzes things up!

In other news, I am giving up buying candy until the end of the year. I feel like I get candy (M&Ms and Reese's peanut butter cups) fairly often, and with Halloween ending, I thought it would be a good idea to just say no to buying candy. Now, if someone were to give me candy, I wouldn't say no. Or if there is candy in our department -- but I won't be purchasing it.

I'm off to another weekend -- the end of the "Four Weddings and a Roadtrip Summer/Fall Extravaganza" is in sight. Trip and I are off to New York to a black-tie optional wedding. I am guessing it will probably be the best one we go to this year -- the bride mentioned that when the reception starts, there should be champagne and strawberries for everyone! I really like champagne (as long as it's not too dry), as I discovered at the Champagne Party I went to last spring, so that's awesome. They are also having a live band. So I've got a fancy dress -- it is a retro dress that I got in Hampden for around $20. It's got a Grecian design to it and is a bright peachy color with fake jewelery sewn into the bodice area. It is prettier than my description.

How is everyone liking the new fall TV shows? I haven't picked up too many new shows -- pretty much just Studio 60 (which I don't particularly like, but it's the only thing on on Monday nights), Desperate Housewives (which I know isn't new, but I just started watching it this season and it was surprisingly easy to catch up on), Top Chef (which isn't as good as Project Runway), and Ugly Betty (which I totally LOVE - it's so cute and kitschy!). I am still enjoying Veronica Mars, Lost ('cuz I get to watch it with my sweetie), How I Met Your Mother (LOVE Barney and Marshall!), and The Office (when I can catch it after Confirmation). Anything I should be watching? Anything I should drop?

I've also been going craaaazy reading this year. It's only the beginning of November and I've already read more books than I read last year. I think this may be due to the fact that I've been reading young adult fiction, but still...it's not that much shorter. I'm thinking that I may have to start trying to read more challenging fiction every couple of months. Perhaps during December I'll tackle re-reading Anna Karenina. It's my favorite book, and I still haven't read the new translation that I bought, oh, say four years ago.