[Editor's note: pictures were lost in site transfer and were removed from this post.]

We started our trip at 10 pm on Wednesday night. It was raining. We stopped sometime on Thursday and had a picnic.

We arrived very late on Thursday night. We stayed in the dorms at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

We were very tired.

We slept in late on Friday, tooled around town, and then I went to the Rehearsal Dinner while A ate out.

Saturday I went to & Chuck’s wedding. It was very beautiful. I read Ephesians 3:14-21. At the reception, there was a dance, but I don’t like to, so I sat out.

The centerpieces were made up of flags from all the countries the couple had been to. I claimed Sweden.

Saturday evening, some of ’s friends and I cleaned their new apartment. had just moved in the week before, and the craziness of a wedding had quickly taken over the small space. I was glad to help.

Sunday, & I went to Boston. We slept in again, so we really didn’t spend that much time there. We did see some cool historical things, like the USS Constitution.

Then we drove up the coast and visited Gloucester. There was a nice memorial to those who had died at sea, some birds, and the ocean (Atlantic).

Notably, we touched the ocean, found a lobster trap, and saw this store that made us giggle.

Monday we started our long trip home. This is what most of the trip looked like.

We stopped by Niagara Falls, but didn’t get out of the car.

We also stopped in Erie, Pennsylvania, to see Lake Erie and this statue.

We spent the night in a Motel 6 in Toledo, Ohio (don’t recommend that particular one), and continued the drive Tuesday.

We stopped in Gary, Indiana (Shh! Don’t tell ’s dad) and at ’s house to pick up an air conditioner.

There was a knight in shining armor waiting for us at a gas station, but he ran away when I got pulled over for speeding.

Finally, home again!

Kitty feet!

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I just stopped by the photo place, a bit early, but just in case my pictures were ready. They’re not. Instead of being ready by 11, now they probably won’t be ready until 12. So, I’ll pick them up before 1 and get to posting them for you (and me).

Whatcha thinking about today?

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Which poem are you?
Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda
Aw, you’re a romantic. You believe in true love and all that sort of stuff. How cute are you? To you, love is incredible and amazing.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

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We’re back from Boston, and boy are we tired! I don’t recommend driving to Boston from Minnesota. Really.

Pictures will be up tomorrow afternoon, but until then I thought I’d leave you with some pictures I snagged off the web of things we did or saw but didn’t get pictures of.

We stayed at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, home of my good friend (the bride), and also some others (read more tomorrow).

On Saturday while I was at the wedding, went to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox game.

Sunday we both went into the city of Boston

and did some sight-seeing. We found the Granary Cemetery,

looked across the water at the USS Constitution,

and ate calamari at an interesting Italian place (actually just down the street from these)

where we heard the funniest things. None was as good as the t shirt shop down the street, where the owner (in a thick, Italian-Boston accent) said to another guy, “yeh, well, he owes me a favah.” Really? Straight out of the Godfather. Or… something.

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I can’t believe the day has gone by so fast! I am working a half day tomorrow, and then I’m computer-less until next Thursday! and I leave for Boston tomorrow night after youth group. The 20-something hour drive should end sometime Thursday evening. Friday is unscheduled until evening, when I need to be at & Chuck’s rehearsal dinner, and then Saturday is the wedding itself. But, the wedding’s at 10, followed by a luncheon and dance. So, I think I’ll be free by dinner (especially since they’re not serving a dinner). ’s not going with me to either event, and has plans to see a game at Fenway Park Saturday night. Sunday and Monday are unscheduled, but we need to start the drive home by Monday afternoon, so that we can be home by Tuesday night and go to work on Wednesday. Are you tired? I am, just reading that description. But it should be a blast. Oh, and I’m without a computer that Wednesday because I have to be at a stupid meeting for work. Bah.

Fun pics of Boston and the wedding are promised when I return. ’s got plans for a pink flamingo….

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You are Barefoot!

You’re a total free spirit, go with the flow girl

You can’t be restricted by shoes for very long

And unsuprisingly, the same goes for men

Your match is out there - and he’s as carefree as you are

What Shoe Are You? Take This Quiz

Find the Love of Your Life

(and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Compliments of Goofy Girl Blog

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I finished my Rain CD mix today. Here are the selections:

Jann Arden - It Looks Like Rain
Jo Dee Messina - Bring On The Rain
Eric Clapton - Let It Rain
Billie Myers - Kiss The Rain
Clint Black - Like The Rain
Counting Crows - Rain King
Keith Urban - Raining on Sunday
Joe Diffie - Wild Blue Yonder
Hillary Duff - Come Clean
John Denver - Fire and Rain
SHEdaisy - I Wish I Were the Rain
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain
Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved
Shania Twain - I’m Jealous
Spin Doctors - Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Blind Melon - No Rain
Temptations - I Wish It Would Rain
Willie Nelson - Rainbow Connection
Audrey Hepburn - Moon River
Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River

Want a copy? Drop me a comment!

Rockin’ out to: the above-mentioned CD

Wisdom Source: The Unquenchable Worshipper

Today’s Wisdom: Deuteronomy 32:1-2

“Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!
Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
My teaching will fall on you like rain;
my speech will settle like dew.
My words will fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.”

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This is my new blogchalk:
United States, Minnesota, St Paul, English, Kelly, Female, 26-30.

Thanks to Mikao’s World for the inspiration.

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I got this article off of The Ooze, and it was originally posted on The Next Wave, a website that I haven’t had much time to explore, but will try to in the next few days. The author also has her own blog, where she talks about reaction to this article.

I must admit I was taken aback by this article. But only because the I work in currently has the following staff:

Senior Pastor: female

Associate Pastor: search committee, vacant for over a year

CE Director: female

Youth Director: (self) female

Office Staff: female, female

Organist: female

Choir Director: male

Janitor: male

So, yeah, I haven’t really “felt” the reality of her article lately. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true. And some of the things she refers to are… abhorrible. The part where women aren’t supposed to be emotional, especially. And here’s the strange thing about working in my church. Last week, I had a… painful conversation with our CE Director about homosexuality (she thinks its OK, I don’t). One of the things she brought up in that conversation (when we moved more to the postmodern mindset stuff) was that she believes the reason we are moving away from the logical/rational/modern mindset to the postmodern/emotional/feeling mindset is because men aren’t in the church anymore and women are.

Um….. WHAT? No, I’m sorry, but… just NO.

There’s more in this article, but I don’t want to offend too much. Or confuse. Because, to be honest, my ideas and perspective on “women in ministry” is not clear and paradoxical.

But I’d like to know what you think. Read the article. Get back to me.

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Courtesy of the Star Tribune, this article was published yesterday [link removed].

I want to put something “out there” on the record. I am a firm proponent of ABSTINENCE. I myself have been practicing it for going on 26 years now. It works (no STDs, no unplanned pregnancies). Why have I chosen to be abstinent? Mainly because I believe that it’s what God wants (check out His book - The Bible). I made a promise in junior high that I would remain celibate until my wedding night, and I intend to keep it, even if I never marry.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m in favor of abstinence-only teaching. I think that abstinence should be offered up as the ONLY SAFE SEX. But I also think that youth should be taught how to prevent STDs, pregnancy, etc. I also think they should be taught the consequences of having sex before you’re ready. I think that parent-teen dialogs should be open enough to share thoughts on the matter. If I had kids, I would say to them, “I don’t want you having sex. But if you do, use a condom.” I don’t think that teaching kids to practice SAFER sex (because abstinence really is the ONLY SAFE SEX - I did a report on this in college) means you’re telling them it’s OK to do it. It just means you value their life over their sometimes wrong choices.

That’s all I have to say on the matter. I am wondering what you think….

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& I did Race for the Cure on Sunday. We invited both of our moms (it being Mother’s Day and all), and so hers joined us. ( is a seven hour drive away, and had just been here the month before, so no blame there on her not wanting to come up.) We actually did the Walk, not the Run.

I just got our shirts last night (picking them up prior to the event was a minor fiasco), and so I’m prompted to write about all the people I know suffering from Breast Cancer.

’s mom, Lois, died in May, 1978, a month before I was born. I don’t know much about her, except that she was a schoolteacher for a long time, and was deeply loved by all she left behind.

’s sister, Shirley, has had treatment over the past couple of years. I’m not sure if she got a double mastectomy or what went on - things are a little unclear. She is in good health, though.

’s wife, , is in stage 4. That’s supposed to mean no cure. The cancer has spread to some spots on her pelvic bone and spine. She believes she will be cured. Some of us are less optimistic.

has, obviously, suffered a great deal from Breast Cancer, being that so many women whom he loves have been affected with it.

A friend of mine from high school/church, her mom has Breast Cancer. She was diagnosed probably close to 10 years ago, and I haven’t heard an update lately. She was doing really well for a long time, though.

My cousin’s wife, Natasha, was diagnosed last fall. She stayed home from the family Christmas party (she was in the middle of chemo), and I played with their daughter, Z, for a long time. So cute. Apparently, Natasha had to go on fertility drugs to get pregnant, and they’re what caused the cancer, so Z (age 1 1/2 at Christmas) will be their only child.

And lastly, the reason why we did Race for the Cure, one of my youth group families, the mom had Breast Cancer some time before I started working there. She invited us to race on her team.

So if you ever need to think about someone who’s been affected… look no further. I know enough for several people.

Rockin’ out to: nothing (blessed silence!)

Wisdom Source: Taming of the Shrew, act 3 (hey, it’s a long book!)

Today’s Wisdom: Proverbs 2:3-4, “Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure.”

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In the list of things I wonder about comes colleges, and how my life would have been different, had I chosen a different one. The strange thing about playing the “what if” game is that I’m very happy I went to the school I did - I think it was the right one for me, and I benefited greatly by being there. Here, however, is a brief list of other schools I almost went to.

University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (what would I have studied? and everyone else from my high school went there. way to get away from it all.)

Illinois State in Bloomington/Normal (yeah, um, no.)

Gustavus-Adolphus ( went there, almost went there. Small world.)

Macalaster (about a mile from where I currently live. very strange.)

Concordia (I think the one in Iowa somewhere, but I don’t really remember.)

Wheaton (thank goodness they didn’t let me in.)

Bethel (only wanted me to go there, and I really didn’t. It’s OK. went there instead.)

Rockin’ out to: Summer 2004 mix samples
Wisdom Source: Taming of the Shrew (still)
Today’s Wisdom: Proverbs 1:7, “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

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Sour Patch Watermelon wedges in honor of , who is back from her stint in Africa (Malawi, to be specific) with the Peace Corps. This time in the store, when I saw them, I didn’t feel like I had to buy them for her. So I bought them for me.

Rockin’ out to: X Files Soundtrack

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TV Tuesday:

1. What show would you like to see brought back for an hour or two episode, to see how the characters are doing now? (This should be a show that it might be possible to do a reunion on.) Ally McBeal. I really miss that show. But it ended really well, so it’d be hard to bring it back. They did a good job with closure.
2. Pick a show that could not realistically be brought back for a reunion, because some or all of the cast members are gone. What if they could have done a reunion before it was too late? Name the show you’d most like to see. I can’t think of anything.
3. Which reunion show have you watched and thought ‘Wow, they should have left that one alone! I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed one. I like the spoofs, like the Brady Bunch movie - those are worth making. But the reunions? Eh.
4. ~Bonus~ Which do you prefer- a ‘reunion’ episode of the series, or a ‘cast reunion’ where the actors sit around and talk about the making of the show? Reunion episode, even though they’re always disappointing. I’d rather be disappointed with bad writing and acting and story lines than with loser actors who wish they were still in the glory days.

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Results…:

My inner child is ten years old!

The adult world is pretty irrelevant to me. Whether I’m off on my bicycle (or pony) exploring, lost in a good book, or giggling with my best friend, I live in a world apart, one full of adventure and wonder and other stuff adults don’t understand.

How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla

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