Towards Memories

A year in the life...

First night in the Big Green House with Canadian David and Davis

Crying with new friends at orientation

My birthday was our first full day in the city

We spent a week developing our community covenant and had our first fight

Our first time volunteering at the Presbytery Meeting

Halloween was when Canadian David let us know he was leaving

Emily and I bonded over exploring our storage unit

Eden House had its annual fundraiser,  Building Dreams

Spent Thanksgiving with my host family, Sarah and her husband David

Went to Celebration in the Oaks with Emily

My best friend in Austria, Leah, and her friend, Marie, visited for New Year's Eve

Performed my first liturgical dance over MLK weekend

Had some bonfires with the house community
with some dramatic neighbor instances

My small group babies from Elon visited me

I went to a Mardi Gras Ball with my boss, Susanne (sorry for the terrible quality picture)

Spent Mardi Gras Day as a butterfly with Elton John (aka Emily)
after spending the night at Eden House to be closer to the parades

Visited Alabama with the Asheville YAVs for a retreat
and lost my voice completely

Crawfish season meant learning how to pick, pinch, pull, suck, and repeat

My mom and dad visited for a very anxiety filled weekend
as we wondered if everything would shut down

Nate and Davis evacuated and Sarah, David, and I began quarantine

Sarah and I went for weekly walks during the quarantine

After a month of quarantine, we were all so happy to have Nate back

We reconnected with the Asheville YAVs over Zoom

My housemates were guinea pigs as I started exploring old family recipes

Spent a community day doing yard work and taking breaks
 
After doing yard work, I baked 13 dozen cookies to be distributed with meals

Nate played guitar for my second liturgical dance performance for Pentacost

As the world opened up again, I went kayaking on the bayou

Taking it back to the basics, enjoying sno-balls with the sunset over the lake

Had a COVID-19 scare, so Sarah, Nate, and I stood in line
at the French Market for 2 hours to be tested

Visited Sarah's host family for a community pool day,
our first community activity after Davis left the program

Crafted a parasol to fight against the sun
and dressed up to take pictures with it

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Towards Community

Image
In the last week, I spent 3 days driving to New Orleans, moved into my new house, met my housemates, flew to New York with them, and have had 5 days of national orientation. me, once I had unpacked my room Pic cred: Davis me with Sarah, my roommate  and the other girl in the house Pic cred: Sarah's mom we were brought a cookie cake by a Board Member Pic cred: Sarah Each day has been jam-packed and exhausting. The first day that we arrived in New York, I was not doing great. I was exhausted from days of travel. I spent lots of emotional energy meeting new people and being "fun." The introvert in me needed a break. But instead of much needed alone time, I got up at 3:30 am to catch a 6am flight. I also am not a morning person and have a lot of travel anxiety when flying due to past hospital visits, so just the perfect combination. I was filled with worries about living in a new place and new people and with my defenses down, past traumas relived
Read more

Towards Anti-Racism

Most, if not all, of my blog posts focus on the internal. Generally, I do not write about society or politics. I think these topics are best reserved for in-person conversation so there is less possibility to misconstrue and so that you can see that there is a human on the other end of the conversation. At this moment, I think it would be irresponsible to not address the current social moment. I have friends and family who think I'm too conservative and friends and family who think I'm too liberal. My hope is that all of my friends and family will continue to engage with me in respectful and loving conversation. My hope is that you will challenge me to think deeper, reconsider my assumptions, and offer me your experiences and perspectives. I believe that spirituality is not completely separated from how we see and engage with society. I believe that no actions by a person of faith are secular. Jesus challenged social norms (speaking with and lifting up tax collectors, pro
Read more

Towards Courage

I have a Type A personality. I like lists. I like order. I like organization. I like plans. I leave tomorrow and there is so much I don't know and can't plan for for the year ahead. I feel like a tight rope walker. I have planned as much as possible and made the net below me that will catch me if I fail, but I don't know how long or high or wide or tight the tightrope is. I don't know what material the rope is made of, will it be on fire? I don't know whether the crowd will be nice or boo me and throw things at me. I don't even know how to walk a tightrope. I'm afraid of the unknown and, starting tomorrow, I will be jumping into the unknown. I'm so anxious. I have many, many unhealthy coping mechanisms for anxiety that are actually quite destructive to me. As I get closer to my big move, they are getting harder to resist. I have to be more creative in my coping strategies and I have to lean more and more on my support network (that's you!).
Read more