- working out and commuting are now one in the same. the quads are so getting back in shape.
- the trek can go all the places cars can't...like, when traffic is backed up at a stoplight, guess who gets to go to the front? it's like cutting the line at disney world, but no one can get mad at you.
- there is no bike insurance, bike parking pass, or bike parking meters. nor must i ride around the block five times looking for a place to lock up.
- on the trek, especially during rush hour, i go the same speed or faster than everyone else. like today, i definitely passed a porsche.
- how much are gas prices now?
- one-way streets (and that's pretty much every street here) are still one-way streets on a bike, so the law still applies. yet, it's also slightly optional...the shortest distance is still a straight line, so if that means going the wrong way down a one-way every so often, the trek can do that.
- there is this special adrenaline rush that comes only when riding through rush hour. dodging cars and peds and taxis and other bikes, that's all great. inches between me and an MBTA bus, yeah, that's AWESOME. [mom, i'm fine]
- and finally, and this would be the best part of all: more exercise = more calories burned = more food!! and i do love food. however, right now that means a lot of pb&j's, couscous, and spaghetti, but that's fine by me. :)
23 September 2005
out with the honda, in with the trek
so i sold the honda before i left indiana, and there are small moments when i kinda miss her. but these moments are few and very far between. i ride my bike now pretty much everywhere, and i love it. here's why my Trek is amazing:
20 September 2005
run
so i joined this women's running group, and tonite was my first time running with them. i got my butt kicked! we did a 4 miler along the charles, plus i ran a mile to get to the meet-up place. it was really good though...cool people and now extra motivation for preparing for my next race (whenever that might be). i'm excited to be getting back in good running shape, and even more excited to get to know my fellow runners. :)
also, i've been listening to snow patrol a lot lately, and i love their song "run." just thought i'd add that tidbit since that's the title of this entry.
anyway, so there's a ton of news to tell, seeing as i haven't posted in over a week. i started working at the harvard athletic center last thursday, and it was awesome. i met a few people i will be working with, and i had some GREAT conversations, especially with this guy named mike. he is just great. we talked for pretty much the whole four hours i was there. he is involved with athletes in action at harvard, and so he was very encouraging and excited about our campus ministry and church. we just had a lot of fun working; unfortunately, i don't think i will be working with him that often, but the other three people i met on thursday were just as cool. i was pretty amazed at how "normal" the people are, seeing as they are harvard students. they are so down-to-earth, and really aren't that far off from purdue (or any other school) students. i got a new perception of harvard, and i like that.
tutoring started last week as well, and i LOVE it. i have two students on friday, and one on saturday, and they are just great kids! i am incredibly amazed at the kids at this high school...their ability to work hard and stay focused challenges me! the tutoring sessions are 4 HOURS long, which for me seems long, since i have some slight ADHD action going on. but the kids are just all-over the practice problems, and they listen, and i think i actually did a decent job of teaching them some new things. i also got to meet some fellow tutors, most of whom are BU or BC students, and all of them are great. so yeah, tutoring is really great, and i'm afraid it might convince me to become a teacher, but we'll see.
random event of the week: sunday night part of the outside wall above my bedroom window just decided to crumble and fall. like, big chunks of concrete. so hopefully that gets fixed soon.
i get another visitor tomorrow!! my friend john is coming for the day, it should be a great time. i've been missing hugs lately (they are kinda rare out here), so a 'big john' hug will be very welcomed. plus, john is just a great guy and he's one of my best guy friends...so yeah, i'm glad he's coming!
also, i've been listening to snow patrol a lot lately, and i love their song "run." just thought i'd add that tidbit since that's the title of this entry.
anyway, so there's a ton of news to tell, seeing as i haven't posted in over a week. i started working at the harvard athletic center last thursday, and it was awesome. i met a few people i will be working with, and i had some GREAT conversations, especially with this guy named mike. he is just great. we talked for pretty much the whole four hours i was there. he is involved with athletes in action at harvard, and so he was very encouraging and excited about our campus ministry and church. we just had a lot of fun working; unfortunately, i don't think i will be working with him that often, but the other three people i met on thursday were just as cool. i was pretty amazed at how "normal" the people are, seeing as they are harvard students. they are so down-to-earth, and really aren't that far off from purdue (or any other school) students. i got a new perception of harvard, and i like that.
tutoring started last week as well, and i LOVE it. i have two students on friday, and one on saturday, and they are just great kids! i am incredibly amazed at the kids at this high school...their ability to work hard and stay focused challenges me! the tutoring sessions are 4 HOURS long, which for me seems long, since i have some slight ADHD action going on. but the kids are just all-over the practice problems, and they listen, and i think i actually did a decent job of teaching them some new things. i also got to meet some fellow tutors, most of whom are BU or BC students, and all of them are great. so yeah, tutoring is really great, and i'm afraid it might convince me to become a teacher, but we'll see.
random event of the week: sunday night part of the outside wall above my bedroom window just decided to crumble and fall. like, big chunks of concrete. so hopefully that gets fixed soon.
i get another visitor tomorrow!! my friend john is coming for the day, it should be a great time. i've been missing hugs lately (they are kinda rare out here), so a 'big john' hug will be very welcomed. plus, john is just a great guy and he's one of my best guy friends...so yeah, i'm glad he's coming!
12 September 2005
things i thought i'd never say, and other thoughts
example #1: "i work at harvard."
yes friends, i got the job at harvard! i'll be working at the athletic center part-time, working the front desk and washing towels and other miscellaneous things. i go for training tomorrow, so i will know more then.
the whole harvard job is so God. and the interview...yeah, it was great, but not for the reasons i thought it would be. so i walk into the interview on friday, and the woman is skimming over my resume, and she comments that i went to purdue. so she asks when i graduated, and then asks if i know a girl named kristi [i'm withholding the last name here]. well, yeah! kristi and i have been friends since practically our first day at purdue, we played lacrosse together, were both super-involved in campus house, even worked at the same coffee shop...yeah, i know kristi. :) so, i'm thinking, wow, small world! it gets better...the woman keeps looking at my resume and notices that i worked at springhill camp. so i'm like, yeah, i worked there back in the summer of '02, and she asks me if i remember a girl named miriam [again, withholding last name]. i say, yeah! and she says, "that's my little sister."
as i walked out of the interview, i pretty much knew i had the job. not because the interview was great (it was), but more because of the connections. i mean seriously, there are 40,000 students at purdue and millions of people here, and this was not coincidence in any form. i smiled and kinda laughed on the way home, you know, a joyful laugh. God just blows my mind sometimes, and i think He is [still] trying to get me to expect the unexpected. so yeah, i have a part-time job, i'll be getting to interact with college kids a lot, i have some pretty crazy connections with my boss, and to top it off, i get free gym membership. yep, God is taking really good care of me here.
example #2: "my butt smells like moth balls."
to my knowledge, no one has actually heard me say this, as it's only been said to myself in the privacy of my room. so, i got this chair on saturday at a yard sale. it is a sweet chair, exactly what i had been looking for: simple, wooden, painted white, $10. the people that sold it to be also gave me this black cushion, which is great because it goes perfectly with my black/soft yellow/green motif in my room. it wasn't until i got the chair home that i realized the cushion smells like moth balls, and pretty strongly at that. but i still use it, and thus, i am decently certain that my butt now smells like moth balls. :)
final thoughts for the night. i have had a LOT on my mind lately, and this is just one topic, but it's a big one. i have thought, and tried to pray a lot for the people of the gulf coast. but it's hard for me to pray about it, and it's hard for me to give money (since i really don't have any), because all i really want to do is just get down to louisiana or mississippi or even houston and help...sorting supplies, playing with some kids, talking to the people. and, i can't do that, for numerous reasons. so i feel trapped...my desire to serve and help these people is not able to be fulfilled by an action. or at least, a tangible one.
this leads me to think about how much i really desire to help people. it's huge. this is why i am part of a team in boston trying to start a campus ministry and a church, to help people find their way back to God. this is why i am volunteering at an inner-city charter high school, tutoring kids for 10 hours/week, helping them learn and have a greater confidence. this is why i hope to return to school at some point for nursing or education. i just want to help people. but this is not my deepest desire...more than anything, i really just want to love and know my God. and because of this desire, i am able to love and help people, and that in turn reveals new attributes of God to me and grows my love for Him. so it's a pretty sweet cycle. but i know, and have been very aware as of late, that my desire to help can not overcome or get in the way of my desire to be with my God. i know of several times in my life that i have allowed this to happen, and God has not hesitated to call me out on it. so yeah, there is really no conclusion to all of this thinking, aside from the fact that i want my desires to be in their respective places. all this thinking just leads me to more questions, about what i need to be doing in boston, what i need to be doing a couple years from now, but more than anything, what i need to be doing today. and i think i need to just focus on that last one, and that will eliminate most all my other questions. one day at a time, kimmy, one day at a time.
yes friends, i got the job at harvard! i'll be working at the athletic center part-time, working the front desk and washing towels and other miscellaneous things. i go for training tomorrow, so i will know more then.
the whole harvard job is so God. and the interview...yeah, it was great, but not for the reasons i thought it would be. so i walk into the interview on friday, and the woman is skimming over my resume, and she comments that i went to purdue. so she asks when i graduated, and then asks if i know a girl named kristi [i'm withholding the last name here]. well, yeah! kristi and i have been friends since practically our first day at purdue, we played lacrosse together, were both super-involved in campus house, even worked at the same coffee shop...yeah, i know kristi. :) so, i'm thinking, wow, small world! it gets better...the woman keeps looking at my resume and notices that i worked at springhill camp. so i'm like, yeah, i worked there back in the summer of '02, and she asks me if i remember a girl named miriam [again, withholding last name]. i say, yeah! and she says, "that's my little sister."
as i walked out of the interview, i pretty much knew i had the job. not because the interview was great (it was), but more because of the connections. i mean seriously, there are 40,000 students at purdue and millions of people here, and this was not coincidence in any form. i smiled and kinda laughed on the way home, you know, a joyful laugh. God just blows my mind sometimes, and i think He is [still] trying to get me to expect the unexpected. so yeah, i have a part-time job, i'll be getting to interact with college kids a lot, i have some pretty crazy connections with my boss, and to top it off, i get free gym membership. yep, God is taking really good care of me here.
example #2: "my butt smells like moth balls."
to my knowledge, no one has actually heard me say this, as it's only been said to myself in the privacy of my room. so, i got this chair on saturday at a yard sale. it is a sweet chair, exactly what i had been looking for: simple, wooden, painted white, $10. the people that sold it to be also gave me this black cushion, which is great because it goes perfectly with my black/soft yellow/green motif in my room. it wasn't until i got the chair home that i realized the cushion smells like moth balls, and pretty strongly at that. but i still use it, and thus, i am decently certain that my butt now smells like moth balls. :)
final thoughts for the night. i have had a LOT on my mind lately, and this is just one topic, but it's a big one. i have thought, and tried to pray a lot for the people of the gulf coast. but it's hard for me to pray about it, and it's hard for me to give money (since i really don't have any), because all i really want to do is just get down to louisiana or mississippi or even houston and help...sorting supplies, playing with some kids, talking to the people. and, i can't do that, for numerous reasons. so i feel trapped...my desire to serve and help these people is not able to be fulfilled by an action. or at least, a tangible one.
this leads me to think about how much i really desire to help people. it's huge. this is why i am part of a team in boston trying to start a campus ministry and a church, to help people find their way back to God. this is why i am volunteering at an inner-city charter high school, tutoring kids for 10 hours/week, helping them learn and have a greater confidence. this is why i hope to return to school at some point for nursing or education. i just want to help people. but this is not my deepest desire...more than anything, i really just want to love and know my God. and because of this desire, i am able to love and help people, and that in turn reveals new attributes of God to me and grows my love for Him. so it's a pretty sweet cycle. but i know, and have been very aware as of late, that my desire to help can not overcome or get in the way of my desire to be with my God. i know of several times in my life that i have allowed this to happen, and God has not hesitated to call me out on it. so yeah, there is really no conclusion to all of this thinking, aside from the fact that i want my desires to be in their respective places. all this thinking just leads me to more questions, about what i need to be doing in boston, what i need to be doing a couple years from now, but more than anything, what i need to be doing today. and i think i need to just focus on that last one, and that will eliminate most all my other questions. one day at a time, kimmy, one day at a time.
08 September 2005
the past 24 hours, in numbers
6-3: the score of last night's red sox/angels game. oh, and yeah, i was there.
5: price, in american dollars, of a foot-long hot dog at fenway.
3: miles i ran today, along mem drive as the sun was setting. my motivation today? keeping up with the harvard crew team as they were rowing the charles.
and one closing thought for tonight...i have an interview at harvard tomorrow. yes, the university. and yes, for a job. ok, so it's for a part-time job at the athletic facility, but STILL.
i love boston.
07 September 2005
the first visitor!
last wednesday i got a call from my wonderful friend jaime (she's on the sojourn team as well, but won't be out in boston until next summer). she had found this amazing deal on a plane ticket for labor day weekend, and since she is moving out here next year but has never actually been here before, AND since she's just pretty awesome, she came. and yeah, we had a great weekend...surprising tim and his family (and spending a lot of great time with them), being tourists on the freedom trail, dancing the night away at the Phoenix, beach time and jaime seeing the atlantic from THIS side, people-watching and reading while laying on the grass in the middle of harvard yard [haah-vahd yahd], and job-searching at universities. yep, it was pretty great. :)
i have a lot on my mind and heart tonight, mainly things i can't write about for the whole world to see, and some other things that i really can't define right now. you know what i mean? like...i feel certain emotions (that i don't think have words matched to them) that are just, well, there. for no reason. but really, for probably a very significant reason which i have been trying to hash out for a couple days now. much of what keeps pacing around in my head has to do with decisions, some for tangible things (i think i need a part-time job...a paying one, that is), others for heart-things. nothing completely overwhelming or anything...no worries. having much time by oneself leads to much thought, and that is a good thing.
time for bed. tomorrow: time to get real about the budget...and other fun adventures. oh yeah, and the sox game!! yay for fenway and our beloved sox...
01 September 2005
pad thai bliss
so i've been craving pad thai for the past week, and today i finally got it. it was great, but i definitely stuffed myself stupid. after tomorrow, it's back to cheap groceries and not much eating out anymore, since we will FINALLY be moved into our apartment!
this morning, tim (our team leader for campus ministry) and i met with a prof at BU. she is mad cool, and it was good to talk with her...we shared our vision for campus ministry (at BU and in general), and she shared with us some crazy stories of churches she and her husband tried to get plugged into over the past three years. like the one church that sent them a LETTER basically saying, "yeah, you can come here, but we don't want you to be involved." or another church where the overwhelming attitude is: "you need to have lived here 3-5 years before we can be friends with you."
seriously. no worries: our church will not be like this.
last night was dinner at tim's place. invited guests were me and a few others that are in some way connected to sojourn (those of us starting campus ministries) or the boston partnership (starting the church). it was fantastic...great conversation, home-cooked food, and 6 little kids chasing each other through the house. :) with each week, maybe even daily, the purposes and vision for why we are here becomes more and more clear. in talking with tim this week, we are totally on the same page with a rough outline of starting campus ministry: basically, we just want to form some really solid small communities over the next couple years. and as those communities grow, then campus ministries can start forming on the different campuses, depending on where the people in these communities are students. kinda like mitosis!! (me = biology nerd). we sketched out a 5-year plan for this. and, i mean, it's a sketch...it's on God's time, not ours. but i think starting small and being patient are two really good things, and definitely always better than cramming Jesus down everyones' throats (i'm not alluding to any specific organizations here, i'm just saying) because no one likes that, including Jesus.
so, it's going to take some time. but, then again, most good things do.
this morning, tim (our team leader for campus ministry) and i met with a prof at BU. she is mad cool, and it was good to talk with her...we shared our vision for campus ministry (at BU and in general), and she shared with us some crazy stories of churches she and her husband tried to get plugged into over the past three years. like the one church that sent them a LETTER basically saying, "yeah, you can come here, but we don't want you to be involved." or another church where the overwhelming attitude is: "you need to have lived here 3-5 years before we can be friends with you."
seriously. no worries: our church will not be like this.
last night was dinner at tim's place. invited guests were me and a few others that are in some way connected to sojourn (those of us starting campus ministries) or the boston partnership (starting the church). it was fantastic...great conversation, home-cooked food, and 6 little kids chasing each other through the house. :) with each week, maybe even daily, the purposes and vision for why we are here becomes more and more clear. in talking with tim this week, we are totally on the same page with a rough outline of starting campus ministry: basically, we just want to form some really solid small communities over the next couple years. and as those communities grow, then campus ministries can start forming on the different campuses, depending on where the people in these communities are students. kinda like mitosis!! (me = biology nerd). we sketched out a 5-year plan for this. and, i mean, it's a sketch...it's on God's time, not ours. but i think starting small and being patient are two really good things, and definitely always better than cramming Jesus down everyones' throats (i'm not alluding to any specific organizations here, i'm just saying) because no one likes that, including Jesus.
so, it's going to take some time. but, then again, most good things do.
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