boston day 1

after a long three days in the car, dad and i finally made it to boston last night. it is COLD! today was the first and last time i will ever forget my gloves and hat. we spent today driving around, figuring out where i work and the best way to get there. i have two choices: pay a ton for the tollway and parking at the hospital or pay a slightly less ton and take a little bit longer/colder public transit. i learned today that downtown boston is crazy driving and people have no manners. i was going to take my camera with me today and take pictures, but i can't find it at the moment. i will try to find it tomorrow and take pictures since malarie and i are supposed to go sledding after church.

God is good!

I am moving up to Boston on Wednesday and as of yesterday I finally have a place to live!
Since I am just going to Boston for thirty days and then coming back to Plano for 6 weeks I figured that I could just live in an extended stay hotel or rent a furnished apartment for the first month and look for an apartment while I'm up there to move into when I go back. After some research I realized that I could not afford corporate or extended stay housing, but I found a furnished apartment really close to where I'm working for a semi-decent price that I could rent for the month. However, after a getting some more information about the place, I figured out that it wasn't a real apartment, just some guy wanting me to send him $1,000 cash. CRAZY! Anyway, it's 1 week before I'm supposed to move I'm stuck with no place to live (I had thought about sub leasing but most of those people have cats and it is kind of scary when you don't know the people). But, God is good. On Monday and Tuesday, I worked at the Pantego basketball tournament and I told my story/predicament to Meg Flint. Come to find out Michael's (Meg's brother-in-law) sister-in-law lives outside of Boston with her husband and two little girls and they might be willing to let me stay with them. After talking with Allison yesterday, she said I could live with them for my first month. YAY! Also, she said that they have a really good church, which is something I'd been worrying about since apparently churches up there can be kinda kooky. And, she offered to let me store my car in their garage while I'm down here for the 6 weeks so I don't have to put it in long term parking at the airport. I'm very relieved about having a place to stay and now I can get excited about moving.

God is good #2: my laptop has had a terminal error for a while now (which is why there have been no pictures for so long) and hadn't been working. I didn't think it could be fixed and didn't want to pay a professional to tell me that I needed to buy a new one that I can't afford. So, my mom asked Ray Mitchell to look at it for me and... he fixed it! Now, not only do I have a laptop again, it is much faster than before.

graduation

megan took some really cute graduation pics, but then her memory card had an oopsie and deleted them all. sooo... i'm left with a couple off of dad's camera and a few that megan took the day after but have yet to be uploaded. anyway, here are a few pics

mom and dad:


MAP+ haley:

diploma:

the signature close up of our faces picture:

side note: i ran in shorts and a shirt today. i move to boston in a couple weeks and have a feeling that won't be happening anymore.

MMEERRRRYY CCHHRRIISSTTMMAASS!!

Psalm 111

Psalm 111
1Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them
3Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.
9He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever--
holy and awesome is his name.

10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

i got a job!!

it's technically not official yet since i don't sign my contract 'til this week; but i got a job offer from perot systems. i will be a healthcare business systems analyst at the tufts medical center in boston, massachusetts. yes, that's right, boston. i'm a little worried that it is so far away and incredibly cold but very excited to try someplace new- boston is supposed to be a fun place to live. i start january 12th and live in boston for 30 days before doing six weeks of training in plano. then it will be back to boston. this is my first job that comes with health benefits and a retirement plan, which makes me feel very adult (since i am an adult, that is a good thing). also, the job involves interacting with physicians and no IT, which makes me happy. anyway, the job is an answer to prayer, but please keep praying because i have to find a place to live and moving up there and getting started is going to be expensive and i won't get a paycheck 'til the 30th. i know God will provide; He always has. i just have to quit worrying and trust Him.

school update: 1 more final to go before graduation!!!
**while i am excited about graduating and definitely ready to be done with school, i am a little apprehensive. i realized that i've been in school for a long time (almost twenty years?) and it is something that i'm good at. what if it is the only thing i'm good at? i've never had an "adult" job before and am kind of afraid i'll be a huge failure. i'm hoping these are just insecurities that come with the fear of the unknown and starting something new and that i'll get over it eventually.

quick brock story: i made a carrot cake for my mom's birthday on friday and when brock and brax came over to give her their present, brock asked if he could see my cake. he stuck his nose right next to it, took a big whiff, and announced, "mmmm... it smells like delicious cinnamon." i'm not sure if he even likes the taste of cinnamon, but he apparently likes the smell.

merry christmas to me!

since i was in DESPERATE need of new running shoes (we're talking incredible foot pain when running in the old ones) i got my christmas present early -in time for the turkey trot. We went to the FW Running Company and they filmed me running on the treadmill and then played it in slow mo on a monitor in order to figure out which pair of shoes would be best for me. i learned that i roll by ankles when i run, which i already knew since i kick my calves with my heel- btw, my calves looked huge! anyway, here are my new shoes... aren't they pretty?!?!?in other news, school is ALMOST finished. i finally finished my huge research paper so now i only have one and a half more presentations and a final exam and i'm finished. now i just need a job. keep praying, please.

it may still be over 70 degrees outside...

but it is officially wintertime (yes, wintertime and not christmastime--christmas comes AFTER thanksgiving people)... because today i ordered my first "double tall peppermint twist mocha extra hot". we will not discuss the fact that there was no "non-fat" put in that order because it was simply amazing.

btw, if you're not a starbucks person, coffee mate makes a wonderful peppermint mocha creamer.

sidenote: i'm interviewing with perot again today (face-to-face), so we'll see how that goes. the new thing is "behavioral interviewing" which is basically when they say "tell me about a time you displayed such and such skill or solved such and such problem or dealt with such and such situation..." For somebody without a lot of experience, coming up with relevant answers without making something up isn't always easy