holidays, housing, job, car, faux-adult-life redux

Christmas and new year's in arkansas may be missing the weather typically called for during the season, but it is always home for me. i got to see family (matt and victoria visited from little rock for both Christmas and post-new year's celebrations), and friends new and old. namely, the five:

(spring 2005)

(winter 2006)

(winter 2008)


*(jenny, mary kate, me, claire, jessie). i am blessed to have these friends as close as we were 3, 4, 5+ years ago, and overjoyed that this picture has happened so many times. also, please note: i am wearing the same t-shirt and sweater in 2005 and 2008, and even though i'm not wearing them i still own the same glasses. in my defense, i gave the hand-knit hat away (which i now mildly regret: that was a good hat!). ahem.

as if that weren't enough, my folks blessed me with a graduation gift i would be years off from owning if left to my own devices: a 2008 scion xb.



it was a neck and neck race between the scion and a subaru forester, but the scion eked out a win with slightly better gas mileage and significantly higher marks for individuality (at least among my family). and who could forget that color! almost like our dearly departed periwinkle mystique, my beloved high school vehicle.


*but on we go! on january 8, i packed my car up with Christmas booty and drove back to the snowy state of illinois for my first stint at post-collegiate life. how has it gone?

i was able to nab a part-time job almost right away: interviewed on monday, started on wednesday. i'm an office assistant at the clapham school, a small Christian classical school that meets in a church near where i live. i do filing, answering phones, ushering kids to the bathroom, organizing spaces, basically a go-to gal for the already overworked administration team. i've only been to work once in the last week, as school was cancelled on thursday and friday for COLD (temperatures in the negative ten, teen, and twenties), and again today for a teacher's conference. thus far, it's been great. it doesn't pay all the bills but it's a good place to start while looking for something else.

in the meantime, i've been enjoying lots of time with friends. i've carted people from airports, to the city for comedy shows, and to and from various spots on campus in the bitter cold. my friends have recently gotten into cancelled tv series (dead like me, pushing daisies, firefly, and carnivale). i even got to see a bunch of friends in wheaton's production of gilbert and sullivan's patience, musical/opera i fondly watched my big brother in a few years back.

**i can't find you in there, b!

as i mentioned a few posts back, i'm staying in a house about a mile from campus. i'm one of six gals living here, all at various stages of life (early 30's ?- just starting school), and interestingness never seems to cease around here. either it's getting to know my housemates, all interesting to talk to in their own right, or learning where the communication gap begins and ends with my polish landlady, who comes over daily to tend the details of the place. i recently discovered that she may have thrown away a bag of my stuff on accident (both parties share blame in this: the bag was unlabeled and probably looked like trash; but at the same time: do you even chance throwing away stuff from where people [read: mildly disorganized college girls] are storing things without asking first?). i digress. i have a room of my own, a nice big bed, and i've even been able to hang up my own artwork in various places. it's a nice setup.

i must say, i'm doing a right classy job of avoiding long-term commitment. my rent is paid month-to-month, and i'm fairly certain i can still pack the majority of my things in the back of my car for the next adventure, and my only job (as of now) ends in the summertime unless i decide/want to stay and do it again in the fall. i'm trying my darndest to keep my eyes open for places to go and things to do when i can't allay the inevitable any more. as a friend of mine noted this weekend: "i love jesus. i'm trained in graphic design. i'm interested in social justice. i don't know how that plays out!" at the moment: it's january, and i have too much to take care of between then and now to worry too much. prayers, suggestions, and advice are welcome.

as everyone is wishing to our new president today, my prayers, best wishes, and highest expectations for my readers. praise God from whom all blessings flow!

*photo credit: mary kate
**photo credit: USC school of theater