mad busy and wicked good times.

the last 10-ish weeks have been absolutely crazy...full-time teaching (kind-of) and full-time grad schooling is somewhat intense. yet, i've never loved what i'm doing more...

i love my students at BAA.
i love teaching.
i love that the Sox won the Series (and that our school is right across the street from Fenway).
i love my classes at Tufts (except for my science curriculum class...oh well).
i love my neighborhood.
i love my 'adopted' dog.
i love the unseasonably warm fall we've had.
and...i love my kids at Quincy St (see pics above).

i am ridiculously blessed.

changes

so, i'm pretty sure the few people that did read this blog have probably peaced-out by now, seeing as my updates are even fewer and farther between...but, if you are still here, i'll briefly share my ever-evolving life:

• moving: to Dorchester in a few days...if you know Boston, you know that this is tagged as a very low-income, high-violence part of town. a place where most try to move out, not in. a place - particularly the Uphams Corner/Quincy St communities - that has captured my heart. i can't freaking wait to be living within this community, rather than commuting to it as an outsider.
  
• teaching: sort of. i'll be doing my teaching internship at Boston Arts Academy, a Boston Public School. i've only spent a couple hours there so far (and teacher professional days start next week - hooray!), but i'm falling pretty hard for these kids already...
• grad-schooling: oh right, that other part of my program...evening classes. should be amazing though, as my ed class this summer was great.
  
• running: of course. training for half-marathon #7. :)
  
• loving: the kids of Quincy St. and maybe playing a lil' guitar on the side.

to recap: living in a community-house in Dot, teaching urban teenagers, learning, growing, loving...yeah, pretty much living the dream. can't wait.

a change would do you good

i love it when i'm running and a song comes into my head that matches perfectly with my life, so perfectly in fact that it becomes a permanent addition to my internal life-soundtrack. [yes, music goes on in my head quite often, and not necessarily while running. and i don't find it a bad thing, back off.] maybe someday, when i'm old(er), i'll burn a cd to share this wonderful masterpiece with others.

better yet, maybe not.

anyway, today Sheryl Crow's voice came through brilliantly. A Change is a keeper.

lots of big-time changes coming up soon, and i can't stress how wicked excited i am about them all. in bullet point fashion, they are:

• job change [this is my last week of "employment" at Sojourn]
• change-of-scenery [exploring Spain and Morocco for a couple weeks]
  
• beginning grad school [at Tufts in July]
• turning the big 2-5 [and attaining "old" status, hooray]
  
• moving [into a community house in Dorchester - see picture above]
• getting the nose re-pierced, dreads, and my dream tattoo...just in time to be a teacher. [hopefully]
  

good times.

sister visit

i was super-blessed to have Corrine visit last week! this is us hanging out around Fan Pier. good times.

over six years have passed since we first met at Purdue. thankfully, her first impression of me (overstuffed backpack, lacrosse stick in-hand, angrily venting about a class...yikes) didn't scare her off. :) after two years living together in a house that had 35 girls and WAY too much estrogen, shopping for groceries together for those estrogen-laden girls, study-sessions and amazing conversations that lasted until early morning, and finding comfort in one another's only-childness, we were pretty much destined to be best friends for a very long time. living 1,000 miles apart and having lives that are different in many ways hasn't changed that. we "adopted" one another as sisters a couple years ago, and sisters we remain.

God's providence is pretty stellar. i am so thankful for my sister!

Tufts!

i've chosen Tufts!

first class in t-minus 11 weeks.

very exciting. very scary. very...good.

go Jumbos??

the simple life.

trying to simplify the life. i'd really rather do a couple things really well, than many things with mediocrity. and i've fallen into the latter category, once again.

with that comes some big-time decisions over the next six-ish weeks. stay tuned.

MuteMath rocks my world. and this rocked the city yesterday...fun times.

game, set, match.

small victories of the past couple weeks...

• 665 Beacon St: our new* office.
• B.A.A. half-marathon: check.
• first camping/hiking expedition in VT: first successful** trip with nate.
• bike accident in packard's corner: didn't die.
• second attempt at the GRE: improved by a whole 10 points.
• submission of first grad school application: not super-confident, but hopeful.

*new = new-to-us. it's slightly ghetto, but with some fresh paint and Ikea furniture, we should be settled in soon.
**successful = no injuries/frostbite. AND, it was actually several steps beyond successful [i.e. amazing], thanks to a little stop here.