First

This past week has been a week of first for me.

Thursday was my first day of graduate classes. So far all is going well. Most of my classes are 20-30 people. The largest class I have, Intro to Counseling is probably 80 people. It is a huge class because all of the counseling and MDIV (wanna be pastors/master's of divinity) students have to take the class.

First time to slice my finger as bad as I did. I've knicked my fingers many times cutting stuff but this was a doozie. I debated stitches and sat for 30 minutes trying to get it to stop bleeding. I wish I had a good picture but none of them have really turned out.

First time to run out of gas. Yup, that's right. It's been a big week for me. I had a babysitting job last night and was stranded (thankfully at home). I had to borrow a friends car so I could make it to the job on time. AAA came this morning to put some gas in for me so I could get to the gas station.

And I am on the first of approximately 19 books I have to read this semester. Actually, I am juggling 2 already but one doesn't really count because I don't have to write a paper for it!

This weekend was the Festival of Nations. I had my first Burmese meal and my first Turkish meal. Not really sure what I had from either of them but they were both good. The Burmese was chicken fried rice and a beef and garbanzo bean "salad". My Turkish meal was a doner (pretty much a gyro) with lamb and beef and some red sauce on top.

The Apt.

So I have more than just my room to live in here at Covenant. I was lucky enough to walk in to a completely decorated place! Both of my roommates had already done all the work. The only downside is when they move out next year I have to redecorate!

A lay of the land, the front is on your right in the top picture. Past the door is the bar in the kithcen. Then the hallway to all the bedrooms. My room is on the left at the back. Due to lighting the couch looks like 2 different colors in the pictures but it's really the same one. Movies and popcorn in down time and watching children crash in the bushes just outside the window.

Furnished kitchen is awesome. Even more exciting is one of the girls has a Kitchen Aid mixer!

Another nice thing being on campus is when the dreaded snow comes this winter, I won't have far to trek!

Job

Thank you for your prayers because I got a job Friday! In the student center on campus is a job board where different people from the community will come by and post different job needs. Well I applied for a new posting doing what I call, Family Assistant. I am helping a local family with all their needs. On Monday I will be baking 3 batches of brownies and who knows what else. My job may entail picking up carpool, laundry, cleaning, running errands.

This is definitely not the job I had envisioned for myself but I will be making good money. Plus, I always have the hope of referrals! Thank you guys for your prayers.

On another note, a welcome reception and orientation were this weekend. Both lots of sitting and awkward conversation. Just like any other orientation it was boring.

Now I am off to enjoy the beautiful weekend at one of the many parks St Louis has to offer!

Fast Eddie

Last night I celebrated a neighbor's birthday at Fast Eddie's in Alton, IL. I didn't meet the birthday girl until we were leaving for dinner, but hey it all works out great.

So far everyone I have met is a current student at CTS. No other newbies to be found. I guess we are few and far between or Michelle (my roommate) and I are just spoiled living on campus meeting people already!

Fast Eddie's is a bar/restaurant that hasn't changed prices much since it opened. I bought mine and Michelle's dinner for $10 and we had more than enough to eat! It is only 21 & up allowed in the establishment. You can get a 1/2 burger for $0.99, chicken or beef kabobs for $2.99, fries for $0.99. So you can get lots of food for really cheap! They also require you to purchase a drink-coke, water, or alcohol.

But it's a fun atmosphere with live music just a bit out of town. Oh and did I mention it was featured on Food Network? The saddest part is that when someone was describing the place to me I knew where we were going from watching Food Network!

Campus

There are a few pictures posted on Facebook of my room from this past weekend. But I am have taken a few more, not that anything has really changed. To the left of my desk in the first picture is my closet. It's a pretty good size. At the foot of the bed in the second picture is my dresser. It got cut off from the curtains.

Sorry if the pictures are a bit blurry.

A brief summary of the weekend:

Dad and I drove for 7, almost 8 hours. Mom slept.

We hit a local brewery tour for Schlafly . It was really good beer and a lot of fun. Of course the guy giving the tour was a Covenant student.

We also went to the SEC kickoff event downtown. I got to meet several Auburn folks. None of which were in my age bracket. Oh well, nice to meet some fellow Auburn fans.

Last but not least, was the St Louis Annual Naked Bike Ride! It was on the news all weekend. Of course we would get stopped so they could ride by! The picture doesn't show much other than we were a lot closer than we cared to be! Talk about a weekend of fun!

Free Dinner!

Bill made it safely to St. Louis. He and I grabbed lunch today at a pizza place up the road from campus. The entertaining part of this is he drove and neither of us know how to get anywhere. So after a minor detour we finally made it back to campus.

Ran in to Jimmy Agan, he preached at Southwood twice this summer. God is so good because I'm headed to his house for dinner tonight! Ribs are on the menu so I'm really excited. I'm intersted to see what their ribs are like.

St Louis barbeque is different from Southern bbq. They slather the sauce on the ribs and we normally eat our dry. But, any bbq rib is good to me!

Orientation is Saturday and classes start next Thursday. I've still got LOTS of free time. Keep praying that I find a job. I just keep applying for them!

I'll post pictures soon.

Heading West

I leave at 6am for St. Louis. My car and Dad's are packed. Apparently I do have a lot to take so I'm glad Bill didn't need us to take anything extra or it might be tight!
And not so surprisingly other than an empty closet it doesn't even look like I've moved out!

Despite the fact that I have cleaned and packed I still have 2 missing camera chargers...I have no idea how I do that but alas I did.

Looking forward to meeting the new roomies and seeing exactly what I have gotten myself into! Pray for us as we head to St Louis tomorrow. I'm hoping to move in around 2pm!

Also, Happy Belated birthday to Emily! Hope you enjoyed your celebration as much as we did!

2 Weeks!

Please excuse the fact that I have been MIA for a while. Life I guess has just gotten the better of me. Or I just haven't had good pictures to post of what has been going on in my life!

Currently, and I do mean at this very moment, Daniel and company are driving through AZ to the Grand Canyon. They hit the California coast for a few days, Vegas last night and now they are going to do sunset at the Canyon. No, Caylen they will not be joining you guys. What is the next stop I have no idea. All I know is he has to be home by Thursday or Friday!

To prepare me, or mom for the move we had a TTFN party (TaTa For Now, for all you not so savy Pooh Bear fans) this weekend. It was all the usual suspects in attendance and of course lots of food! This is no Sandra Lee tablescape but I think it still looks good . The food was fabulous and thank you to everyone that helped make the party such a huge success! I move to St. Louis on Friday, August 14! We are getting super close!

These are pictures of the after party with the family. C&D you were dearly missed.