Westminster Confessions

For those of you wondering what’s up with the lack of activity on both Mark and my blogs, here’s a little update. First, it seems like we’ve both switched to posting the tidbits of our activities on Facebook. Mark has also been busy with some writing projects, so he hasn’t been writing for his blog. I guess you could say his blog went on a summer hiatus. In a nutshell, here’s what our late spring and summer have been like:

May 2007

• Finished papers and final exams at Westminster
• Karyn graduated from Westminster (lots of surprises at graduation… Sarah & her gang came up and surprised me at the actual commencement, along with my sister Barbara)
• My friend, Carl, visits and we show him around Philadelphia
• Watched “Pirates 3″ (that may not rate much in your book, but we never get to the movies during the academic year)
• My niece, Bethany, has a baby! I’m a great-Aunt.

June 2007

• Move in with the Waldens temporarily while we look for a potential community house for international students and guests to WTS (thanks, Hannah!)
• Hannah and I visit my sister Debbie in NY (and get to see Bethany’s baby).
• Go to Charlottesville to celebrate Adam Kadlac finishing his PhD.
• Éva’s ballet recital (what a doll)
• My niece, Sophia, gets married! Ethan & Éva were in the wedding (as was Hannah). What a blast to be with all my sisters!
• One week in the Adirondacks with me, Mark, Sarah, John, Ethan, Maggie, Hannah, Philip, Éva, Seámus, Jireh, and my sister Barbara all under one roof! Hiking, hot-tubbing, and just relaxing.
• Karyn burns all her unopened grade reports from the past three years at Westminster.
• Hannah and Philip celebrate their wedding anniversary.
• Sarah has a birthday!
• A few days at The Crags on Bailey Island, Maine with our friends Eric and Penny.
• Summer Hebrew begins; I am now a Hebrew Teaching Fellow at WTS (also, Sam Boyd arrives in town).

July 2007

• We visit Mark’s mom.
• Harry Potter… movie and book.
• Mark’s 50th birthday. What a great time surprising him. We had lots of family in town (Sarah and John again made the long trek from NC with the kids, and Mark’s mom made her first visit to Philadelphia). Many out of town friends came to help us celebrate.
• Sarah and John’s wedding anniversary.
• Lots of Summer Hebrew (teaching, grading, encouraging)
• Mark and I take a few days off and bicycle the Lehigh Gorge (50 miles) one day and also find a great Bed & Breakfast in Bear Creek, PA.
• I work on side projects (proofing, layout work, etc)
• Visit a wonderful “Pleasure Garden” called Chanticleer with friends (Libbie, Nan, & Susan). My sister Debbie would love this place.
• Reading and organization for my doctoral work (more on that below)

August 2007

• More Summer Hebrew (really, it’s Hebrew Boot Camp)
• Swimming (for fun with the Walden kids, for exercise for me)
• Saying “goodbye” to friends who have graduated and are moving on to the next step
• More reading
• Mark keeps busy with work at the bookstore and as a Fellow with the Gospel & Culture Project (more on that too)
• Getting more involved with New Life Glenside
• Still living with Hannah and Philip and kids (and still working to find a place that has enough room for an admissions guest suite, room for Mark and me, and space for 4-5 international students, know anywhere?)
• And in a few weeks (Aug 27) Mark and I will celebrate being married 30 years.

So, in a nutshell, it’s been a great summer. What’s next?

Well, I will be doing doctoral work with Christo van der Merwe at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in Biblical Hebrew. I’ve been busy with my dissertation proposal and with lots of reading. No, I won’t be moving to South Africa (Christo actually has one other doctoral student in the US). We have time in person when he is in the US, and I will be in South Africa next February for a few weeks. The internet provides very good contact (including virtual colloquia via iChat). I am attempting to learn some Afrikaans so that I can participate in some of the local language activities at the University. In the meantime, I’ll be working at Westminster with the Hebrew students as a Teaching Fellow. I even will have my own office (Sam is using my office for the summer, but I am looking forward to officially “moving in” later this month).

Before traveling to South Africa, I will travel to San Diego in November for a major conference (SBL). On my way, I’ll be able to visit our friends the Dawsons in LA. At the conference I’ll get some time with my advisor, visit the San Diego Zoo, and enjoy listening to lots of Geeky lectures.

Very soon the Gospel & Culture Project will have a website that will explain its goal and mission. We’ll put a link up so you can see what Mark is involved with. He is also still working at the WTS bookstore (he is now a manager) and will continue to work at finishing his MDiv at WTS.

With all this travel and activity I’m trying to sell my cello… so if you are looking for a cello, let me know. In fact, if you can help me find someone to buy it, I’ll give you a commission!

This has been a good summer and we are feeling very blessed. Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 11th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.