Picking Pretty Pumpkins

Hello again!

The parentals came for a visit this weekend (stay tuned for a more detailed account) but on Saturday afternoon whilst Daddio got some much needed R & R in the hotel room, Mama and I struck out to go pumpkin picking with Elise and our friend Matthew. Matthew is a new friend of ours who is originally from Alabama, but graduated from the University of Virginia in 2009. He is a postulant through the diocese of Virginia, thus we like him especially for being Episcopalian and a future priest. Be sure to notice his hopeful face in the picture below as he looks towards his future as an ordained person...

We picked three pumpkins in all, which now decorate our front room awaiting a carving extravaganza to take place a little closer to Halloween. Luna likes to lick these pumpkins, I might add. Matthew and I also spent some quality time frolicking through a corn maze, which you will see documented in my "Allah Akbar" pose as well as the minxy ones I like to call, "Matthew through the Corn Leaves." Finally, be sure to note the one Matthew titled, "Amurrica"- it's Mama and me, pumpkins, flowers, and an American flag flying in the background. It's the kind of thing that would make Allen Ginsberg cry.

I guess New England isn't that bad...

News from New England: Apples are In

So, I spend a lot of my weekends reading, resting, and recuperating. On Saturday, October 2nd, I decided to embrace my New England experience and do a little apple-picking. Take a look...

Hello again!

Thought I'd write a quick post this time around to tell you what classes I'm taking and how they're going so far...

Transitional Moments- this is a required course for my Master of Divinity degree and it's essentially a broad, survey course of major events in Western history from O CE to the Reformation. We have lecture for fifty minutes twice a week and section meeting once a week with a Teaching Fellow. My teaching fellow is a third-year in the Religious Studies Department PhD program here at Yale. Conveniently enough, she's an Americanist and we share a similar passion for American Religious History... this class is the least stimulating out of my offerings this semester. This is not a negative review of the professor, Dr. Eastman, who is incredibly kind, very knowledgeable and a great lecturer, but it's just so broad and it's a history class for future ministers, not historians. Needless to say, Early Christian/Church history is NOT my future. However, it's always good to review the basics, and read the Gospel According to Thomas again.

Old Testament- I'm also required to have four semesters of biblical study for my degree, so I'm taking Old Testament in two parts, this semester and next. Biblical study is not exactly my strong suit, though I did take Hebrew Bible while at UNC. It was my first foray into my Religious Studies degree and was particularly intense, as it is taught by a professor who is known for his intensity. I will say this, though- I learned a lot that semester. This particular Introduction to the Hebrew Bible is taught by this wonderful (and hilarious) professor, Dr. Baden. He did his undergraduate degree at Yale where he was a member of the Wiffenpoofs, and he still utilizes his great stage presence. He says many funny things over the course of a week, and at a later date I'll remember to report back something he's said. We also meet twice a week for a fifty minute lecture (where I am furiously writing the entire time in order to get down all of his salient points), with one section meeting on Thursday mornings for another fifty minutes. That section is taught by Dong-hyuk, a Korean biblical studies student who is in his last year at Yale (he's been here for TEN years, going from a master's degree, through his PhD and all the way to post bacc work). This section is interesting because he has no qualms discussing faith claims in section and opening invites interpretation as one might use in a sermon. I'm very much not used to this kind of work, seeing as I come from an academic background to the study of religion, but it's an interesting exercise nevertheless.

Warrior Chants and Unquiet Spirits- what class is this, you may ask... first of all, it's taught by the academic dean, Dr. Emilie Townes, who is a social ethicist. Ethics is a field I have no experience in, but I signed up for the course because 1) it fulfills a lot of requirements of my degree, 2) it seemed like it could be a particularly salient intersection of my interests in social action and academic study and 3).... well.... Let's use an image: In Rogers and Hammerstein's The King and I, Victorian England-cultured Anna is just beginning her task of teaching the entire brood of the King of Siam. She decides to break the ice by singing the iconic song, "Getting to Know You." At the end of the film version, Deborah Kerr (the actress), sits her great hooped-skirt down on the ground, and the children end up sitting all around the hem. If Dean Townes is Anna, I want to be one of the Siamese children. She is this incredibly insightful and inspiring black woman originally from Durham, NC who is an ordained Baptist minister. She has beautiful locks halfway down her back and is a huge lover of all things Mac. To date, I've noted her MacBook, her iPad, her MacBook Air, and her iPhone. I don't always agree with her, but she's already provided incredible feedback on one of my paper's to help problematize my thinking. Besides, she assigned Pauli Murray, one of my North Carolina heroes, in the class. I knew it was meant to be...

Religious Freedom in US History- this is a class that I like more and more every week and so far is providing me a wealth of knowledge in a field I find fascinating. Essentially, the course charts the development of the separation of church and state in American consciousness, political life, and religious practices from the Puritans and their Massachusetts Bay Colony until today. What I've gained thus far is a basic knowledge of constitutional law of which I had very little prior knowledge. Professor Wenger, who teaches the course, is a colleague of my favorite professor of all time at UNC, Laurie Maffly-Kipp. Laurie is the bee's knees and recommended Dr. Wenger to me, so of course I took her advice. Dr. Wenger is teaching part two of Transition Moments next semester where we'll go from the Reformation to present-day. It was in this class that I turned in my first paper week before last and gave my first presentation of graduate school. I was incredibly nervous, but I think it went pretty well... we'll see...

Stay tuned for more exciting class notes!

Much love.

Meet Some Key Characters

Shalom once again!

I thought I'd take a brief moment to introduce you to a couple of important people pictured here to the left-- meet my new roommates, Elise and Luna (for those Harry Potter fans out there, that's Luna Lovegood). We now make up a happy little family here in New Haven, and some of y'all don't know them. So let me start by sharing our friendship love story...

Elise and I don't know exactly when we met because we'd heard about each other for some time before we actually had a face to put to a name. We guesstimate now that we've known each other for close to a decade. Our fateful stars aligned at Camp Gailor-Maxon when we were campers, but we became the close friends we are now my first summer on staff as a counselor. Elise is technically two years my senior, and she is a Hoya, meaning she graduated from Georgetown in 2008. By my first summer on staff, Elise had already been a counselor for two summers, so she took me under her wing as a kind of trainee. I have a very special memory of one night when all of staff was sitting on the front porch of my cabin, and some of my girls (it was Camp II so they were approximately 12 and 13 years of age) were having some issues typical of girls that age- one of them was homesick, so the rest felt homesick, everyone's stomach hurt, and it was all very dramatic. I went into the cabin to offer a nurturing presence and guide them somewhat firmly towards sleep. I came out some time later, exasperated and exhausted, and Elise, in her infinite wisdom, looked at me kindly and said, "Gracie, you are a good camp counselor." That is the kind of supportive and sincere friend that she is.

Now Elise is here pursuing an MAR in Ethics, which makes her an aspiring-ethicist. She's spent the last two years in her hometown of Memphis, TN working for Congressman Cohen in his district office, and gchatting me in her spare time ;-). She, too, hopes to pursue a PhD in hopes of becoming a professor, though ultimately she might like to move into administration as a dean- or who knows? Maybe even CHANCELLOR.

A side note of our friendship love story is Elise is a large reason why I am here. Two summers ago, after her last summer on staff and after my second stuff on staff at CGM, I was sitting on the couch in my parents' house talking to Elise on the phone and researching graduate programs in religion. By then I knew I was interested in some kind of master's degree as an extension of my undergraduate degree in Religious Studies, and Elise had majored in government and theology at Georgetown (she's a huge nerd- she also minored in Mathematics just for kicks). She was beginning her work in government, but had a feeling she didn't particularly want to make a career of it. So we began talking about graduate programs. She made me promise that, in a years' time, I would make her start studying for the GRE, begin her personal statements, start applications, etc. and that we could go through the process together. And a year ago, we did. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to have someone to walk through the process with--bounce ideas off of, read through personal statements, commiserate over the expense and anxiety, etc. However, when all applications were in and all was said and done, Elise and I didn't think we'd end up in the same place. I really was hoping for/expecting to end up at Emory in Atlanta, and Elise was thinking Vanderbilt in Nashville. But, through a series of events, circumstances and signs, we both ended up with a generous financial aid package from Yale. We came for Admitted Students' Day, confirmed one another's confidence, and here we are.

My other roommate is Luna. Luna is a year-and-a-half yellow lab and she is a constant companion. It is such a joy to have her to come home to, and there is something to be said for the purpose and responsibility caring for another creature brings. It keeps one grounded--it keeps one sane. She also brings me joy. At night, we've got this little routine--Luna will hop up into my bed whilst I'm preparing for a night's repast, and I'll come in and we'll snuggle while Elise gets ready for bed. Once Elise is ready, Luna goes into her kennel for the night. She's very good at keeping your feet warm while you read hundreds upon hundreds of pages a week for class, she's very good at playing fetch in the dog park a block-and-a-half from our house, and all of the other dogs love her... sometimes too much. She's a funny one, full of antics, which I will relay as time progresses, but for now, know that she is becoming an intimate part of my life and I don't protest in the least.

Before I sign off, I'd like to say that these two are a monumental portion of what is making my transition here so smooth. I am a creature of community and very much value my role in that community. Thus, transition is exceedingly difficult for me--change does not come easily. But having someone who has literally watched me grow up, who has grown with me, who knows my ins and outs, my attributes and shortcomings, my joys and fears, it's like being able to take a little bit of that home community with you. With moving so far away from so many that I love, it's like pulling a rainforest plant up by the roots and just throwing it onto a mesa and expecting it to take root. Having Luna and Elise is like having a pot of soil to rest in and thrive. We are building a family here, in a home we call are own, and are taking care of one another. It's a blessing that I am thankful for every day.

Much love.

PS- Like those pictures of Elise and Luna? You should go to www.whatsinaframe.com and check out some more original work by our awesome friend Ellen Coleman.

Bienvenidos A Mi Hogar!

Hello all!

And welcome to my home! Let me take you on a little tour...

This is the front door to our house. Once you enter the small foyer, the door on the right lead's upstairs to our landfamily's home, and the door to the left leads to our mother-in-law apartment.

This is the door to our apartment... Nancy, our cute landlady, put corn on both the "front" doors to our respective homes.

This is the first thing you see when you walk into our home. To the left is the living room, in front of you lead's to Elise's room. Notice the lovely painting Mama did of a daisy (my favorite flower), the naked lightbulb awaiting a shade, and the ever important wall-oh-basketball. Obviously, I framed the Daily Tar Heel newspaper from the morning after we won the NCAA title in 2009... one of the best moments of my life... Elise hung her Georgetown and Memphis posters, too.

This is our living room. The opening on the very left is the hallway, which we just left. The coffee table and chairs pictured Mama brilliantly found on Craig's List. I sanded and stained that coffee table myself because previously it was this ugly, factory-finish. The table and chairs came from Nate's mom. Those curtains cost $20 at Ikea.

This is our dining room, as viewed from the opening between the living room. That dining room table came from the milkbarn and originally belonged to my great-grandparents, Gracie and Stuart. The mirror and my desk on the right came from a consignment shop in Nashville.

This is the butler's pantry which is visible in the back of the previous photo. This is where Elise and I store all of our food. That hanging plant is named Pomona. I water her.
This is a shot of the kitchen. That island came in a ZILLION pieces, but was one-third it's original price from J.C. Penny.com. And, obviously, that angel in the photo is Luna, my other roommate. We replaced the hardware on the kitchen cabinets, but have plans to (hopefully) paint them white and strip the wallpaper in the future.... we're letting Nancy figure out that she loves us, first.

A closer shot of our stove and Elise's beautiful stainless steel cookware. Those walls came installed already!!

Shot of the bathroom, facing the kitchen which is across the little hallway connecting Elise's and my room. Elise got the shower curtain, the bathmats, and the ceramic stuff in the next photo from the Pottery Barn outlet in Memphis. Obviously, this is Luna again- she started following me around while I was composing this digital tour.

Shot of the sink. The toilet is in the corner where I took these two photos.

My room, from my doorway. There's the chiffarobe in the corner that belonged to another great-grandfather. We installed those blinds- they came from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

A shot of my bed. As you will quickly realize, Elise and I have the same bedspread. Accidentally/on purpose. I don't know why this shot makes my bed look crooked- it isn't. Also notice how there's only one lamp installed in the wall... the other one I found in my closet. Clearly it had fallen out of the wall. At first, there was no lightbulb in there, and since there are no overhead light's in our house, I was living in darkness in here until I could get a bulb of the appropriate wattage.

Not pictured: my really awesome closet that spans the wall to the right.

Elise's room fro her doorway. See the bedspread?

Elise's really neat build-in shelves.
The doorway from Elise's other doorway in her room, and the wall-o- Luna. Ellen took most of those photos, too. Correction: you can view her stuff at www.whatsinaframe.com.

The end! Much love!

Act Two, Scene Three: Connecticut!

Then, finally, a ray of hope. We saw the sign- it actually said, "New Haven," and boy were no truer words ever spoken. We first had to find a gas station in the Bronx that turned out to be incredibly expensive and in getting out of the station Elise literally missed a concrete pole by three inches in Marge, but when nature and a need for gas calls one must answer. Anyway, when we saw this sign, we knew we were an hour away. And that's when we REALLY started to get antsy.

Finally, we arrived. We got off the interstate and saw this:

And now for the truly remarkable part of the story: as we pulled up outside our house, our new landlady Nancy came out. We got Yvonne off of the car tow, and Nancy helped us get the car tow on the sidewalk. She called her daughter downstairs, and called her son home. They then proceeded for an hour to help Elise, Elise's Dad, and me to unload ALL of our stuff into the house. She then had us upstairs for homemade pesto and pasta, a vegetable medley grown from her own garden, wine, water and bread. It was glorious, and so hospitable. I knew I'd found a home with good people. Did I mention she's an Episcopalian? So yet another THANK YOU goes to Nancy and her kids CJ and Allie, our new landfamily.

This was one of our final moments to Marge the Barge a couple days later, where we bid her farewell, thank you, and good riddance.

On a final note, thank you to Elise's dad for his moral support. Thank you to MY mom and dad for THEIR moral support and expertise. And thank GAWD we made it here in one piece...