the first of many...

Hello all!

Starting is always the most difficult, so they say. Sure, it was painful to see the tears in my mother's eyes as I drove away to my new apartment, but it is good to do new things. So here I am, completely uprooted from the comfortable life I knew, ready to lay down some new seeds and roots here in Boston.

So far, the adjustment hasn't been too bad, perhaps due to maturity or the lessening of social awkwardness that defined the start of undergrad for me. In reality, everything is dandy! My room-mates (Matt, a charming young man in the theology program with me; Jayne, a lovely lady studying sacred music at the school of theology too; and Raquel, who we've all deemed the epitome of young professional) are wonderful and functioning quite well as my little family. Our humble abode certainly looks shabby from the outside, and partially from the inside (note: fist-punch holes in my walls which I've attempted to mask by strategically placing photos and art), but it is a HOME, not a house, and that, my dear friends, is tremendous! Not to mention the rent is substantially less than that of our classmates...

School seems to be a-ok. I've been a reading monster today, slogging through several pages on church history...much more interesting than anticipated. And I'm learning to be thankful and excited for the opportunity to read about Jesus and Paul and God for school. It is pretty nifty after all. About to embark on some Old Testament reading, a class which is led by a preacher's daughter from Tennessee who takes an intense stance when addressing students that I've termed the "Captain Morgan," that comes complete with bent knee and fist on hip. Quite entertaining.

As for the city, I haven't seen all that much, but I love the walking here! After my desk job, I missed it very much and it's been nice to stroll over to the market or a restaurant. Although I don't know how that'll work out once it's snowing...I was browsing winter coats with both delight (oo snow! oo cute!) and horror (ahhh snow! ahhh cost!) and have decided to wait a little bit longer before investing in something substantial.

Well, there it is, a start. Write to you all soon.

Grace and peace,
Betsy