the last planned trip and preparation

Ryan will be here in less than two weeks. We will be in Denver for a couple of days and then will be driving to California. It is surreal. It is also surreal that I was in California less than two days ago for an extended stay over the weekend.

When we had decided upon the trip, I was not planning on moving until May. It seemed reasonable to get together the weekend after Valentine's. Now that we will be living in the same area soon- it seems the trip was just a magnificent bonus to seal the end of the distance part of the relationship.

The trip consisted of: nap time, class, an interview, waiting in the car, tolls, a Valentine from Ryan's mom, jewelry, hugs and kisses, candy hearts, chocolate, bagel nutrition, gps, napa, downtown shops, some shaking, and sweet minty gum, tree lanes, an accident, a particular vineyard we did not run or walk to, a new friend and his marvel comics, sniff-swirl-swig, romance, wine, and cheese, and bread, hot tub, gloaming, carribian colored pool, whole foods feast, world market, laughter, tears, waffles, accidental sugar free, teasing, motion sickness, the ocean, the beach, a new nylon beach blanket, hot cocoa, wet waved toes!, kites, and kite surfers, shark signs, stories about Ryan almost dying (i.e. AUS island, and mt bike wreck), church, shrek, a theater date, lost leaf, conversation, more laughter, more tears, fog, delayed flight, missed flight, another airport pickup, turbulance. It was a blast.



...and now... we both how busy lists to complete well.

Ryan-
Continue to attend full time classes
Continue to study
Continue to participate in the church internship
Attend and lead a retreat at Lake Tahoe for an extended weekend
Attend a multi-day conference in TX
There is a bunch more details jotted down in his mind- Ill let him fill then in, if he wishes...
Fly stand-by to Denver (and pack basically nothing ;) )

Jasmine-
Hug my dear Denver friends... as much as, possible.
Final medical/dental appointments
Wrap up well at the college I work at
Continue to write the Independent Study
Pack
Visit the storage unit
Get up to Estes
Attend bash at Jenna and Meghan's
Attend gathering at Ben and Tine's
Clean the room I staying in
Additional final appointments
Find cheese curds
Visit the hot springs
Special shopping
Decide what can comfortably fit in the car
Overhaul on car
Wash car
Send Fi's Colorado animals
Find someone willing and excited to franchise a Culver's in California
Oh, and I should probably get tires though... did you know that tires don't have an expiration date on them so there is not actually was to show the tires' elasticay. ...that was on a documentary once. Anyways, I might get tires.

<3 you all. I am way excited, and quite a bit sad. <3 It is almost the appropriate time for this chapter to conclude. I wonder what the next bit is all about. I betcha it will certainly be an adventure!

classes, potential jobs, and one way tickets.

Well, classes started last week for Jas, and this week for me. Now that ODS is out of the way, I am officially back in the full swing of things as a full time student/part time pastoral intern/part time officer/full time boyfriend.

This week is a little bit hectic to be starting classes for me because the pastor at the church I am interning at is out after having his hip replaced, and the associate pastor is out of the country as the keynote speaker at a presbyterian women's conference, so I am the point man for the church. Thankfully, it has been a relatively quiet week and we have Deb, a wonderful parish associate, who is doing this week's sermon so I can concentrate solely on next week's.

I am looking forward to this semester because my classes seem pretty interesting; I am taking a performance preaching class, a class observing the interactions of Christians and Islam and how this effected the hybridity of art from each culture, and and New Testament Exegesis. I took NT Exegesis last Spring, but dropped it because I was taking 5 classes, searching for an internship, and finishing up everything in the process of Navy selection. The class was at the end of the week, and and I simply neglected it to get everything else done. Once I realized how much I had missed, there was no point to continuing so I dropped with plans to take it again this semester.

What I am REALLY looking forward to this semester however has nothing to do with school. One Ms. Jasmine Megan Kersting has potentially found a job in Corte Madera (which she will check out in two weeks when she comes to visit [this :D is my super happy face]). She dropped her class commitments for this semester, and has had several online courses approved that she can take over the Summer. Now she just needs to work through the 4th of March to cover the education assistance she received from her current job, then I hop on a plane (one way) after class on the 6th, and meet all of her friends for a going away party, a bunch of packing belongings into the Pontiac (or little black golf ball as I lovingly call it), a quick AM meeting, and we are off to the bay. :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more one weekend a month! No more having to make eye contact one at a time on Skype! No more distance! We will live close, see one another regularly, be able to hug after a bad day, be able to look into each others eyes rather than a camera on our macs. In case you haven't figured it out, I am VERY excited, happy, giddy if you will.

After 9 months of being in a long distance relationship, we will now be in just a relationship, and I couldn't be happier.