Exciting news!

Thomas and I are engaged!

Gather 'round children, for a little story time...

We had planned to go to Jackson, MS for our homecoming, which consequently, was also on the same weekend as my birthday. So on our way to Jackson from Oxford, Thomas asks if, during the hulla balloo of alumni events and reuniting with friends, that we can have some alone time for birthday presents. Of course, I say, and we go our separate ways as soon as we park on Millsaps' campus. Later on in the afternoon, we get back together, and Thomas suggests that we do the gift giving at the old observatory on campus, which, some of you already know, is kind of special to us for it's location and it's lending itself to good metaphors. (that's another story).

Best birthday ever. My first gift: gummy bears! 2nd gift: a framed piece of paper that Thomas painted and fashioned to look like an ancient scroll, which turned out to look like this:


Very neat. So he tells me what it says and that it's from Song of Songs, the verse that begins "Set me as a seal upon your heart"---very touching. And if you look at it through squinted eyes, it kind of looks like the United States, but that's beside the point.

Then down he goes, and the rest is history. I couldn't have planned it to be better.

I can't actually wear the ring just yet, thanks to my larger-than-life knuckles. So next weekend I'm headed to Nashville to get the official jewelers of the Tennessee Titans (you didn't know I was so special! haha!) to get it re-sized. In the meantime, for you who are curious, here is a photo:

In this light, it looks gold, but it is actually white gold. I took the pictures with my iPhone, so not the best quality, but there will be plenty of time for that! If I may say, I think Thomas deserves kudos for picking out such a pretty thing! *applause*

We aren't quite sure yet when the nuptials will happen, but we have been telling people that the summer of 2011 looks most likely, and it will probably take place somewhere in Tennessee, but probably not Jackson.

It's so exciting! I'm happy to finally be able to share this with people! (I had to write a blasted paper this week, one that I just now finished, so I felt like it was about time!)

La la la la la la la

Sunday was my first visit to a church here in Oxford, and my first visit to church (in general) in a while. On Dr. Coker's recommendation, I went to the Oxford-University United Methodist Church, where the Chamber Singers actually sprinkled our choral delights while I was still at Millsaps.

My motives, admittedly, were not primarily spiritual--I have been wanting to join a choir again, so I went to hear the choir sing and meet the choir director, Lee, and I happened to receive some spirituality along the way, which was fine by me.

And even though I went to hear the choir, I probably have the most to say about the sermon! (Granted, the choir only sang one song without the help of the rest of the congregation, so I wouldn't have much to work with in that respect, anyway). The minister's open remarks were simultaneously surprising and somewhat typical, and I will paraphrase them now: "Yesterday was a great day for Ole Miss football! What a great thing to play Alabama two weeks in a row [University of last weekend and UAB this weekend...wherein lies the joke] and come out triumphant in the end!" I have to say that I wasn't expecting a sermon introduced by football, and yet I should not have been surprised--knowing that football itself has its own religious followers! (See this post)

The minister seems like a good guy, and I will look forward to hearing more from him about football and other matters of spiritual concern--I have decided to join the choir, and I do look forward to singing regularly (somewhat) again! I joined at a good time: All Saints Sunday is November 1st, and apparently there is quite the repertoire planned.

Busy Weekend

I'll start this long, unattended blog with a list of diversions that I took part in this weekend: greek food, football, blooper reels, (crazy) people watching, seeing friends from college, a book reading, a book signing, and lots of sleeping in.

This weekend, Ole Miss hosted the largest audience in MS football stadium history. Over 62,000 people attended the Alabama/UM throwdown, and were lucky enough to see the UM quarterback, Jevan Snead, throw a grand total of 11 completed passes out of 30-something. 4 of those were interceptions. (Cue Benny Hill themesong).

With the game, comes The Grove. There were lots of typical grove-sightings--people dressed in clothes that weren't exactly appropriate for the misty, chilly weather, wooden lattice tents with large flower arrangements and red and blue decorations, flat-screen plasma TVs connected to mini-satellites, and cooky Ole Miss decorations (an old-timey red and blue car, with a license plate that said COL REB and an inflatable colonel, just to name a few). Because of the weather, there was also a lot of mud. And people braving that mud in their high heels.

After that game, Thomas and I had tickets to go hear David Sedaris give a talk and read from some of his diary entries and from his new book. Sedaris=hilarious. I wrote an email to a friend about the book-signing experience, so here is a little bit of that so I don't have to repeat myself:

"Hello!

I wanted to tell you about the amazing and hilarious "Evening with David Sedaris" that we had last night--coincidences and all.

First, when we got there, somebody calls my name in the lobby, and it's Jessica Nelson! Her sister lives in Oxford, and they were there together. Then, we go find our seats, and we see Laura Cost and Kate Garand (Thomas taps my shoulder and says, "Hey, those are Millsaps people!") and then, we look to the opposite side of the room and see JP, Katie, and Allison Purves. Crazy. . . .it was really good to see everyone.

I want to tell you the story of getting our books signed. We (Thomas and I) went up there together, and the first thing he said was, "Have you ever set anyone on fire?" To which I replied, mostly because I didn't know what else to say, "I'll have to think about that." Then he starts drawing a picture in my book, and it's a turtle. So I say, "What a nice turtle!" to which he replied "I drew it because I knew you would like turtles, since you're a Sagittarius." Well, I'm not, but I said that was close. Then we sort of chatted about us being in graduate school for this and that, and he asked Thomas if there could be a case for an obese Jesus (something he talked about in his reading) and we were on our way. It was so fun! I wanted to ask him if he knew of this town in France called Brive something, but that didn't really come up.

He read some really funny diary entries, and I want to tell you one of them. His "theme" for this tour was stories about rude behavior, and this was one of those stories he told about that: A woman was working at a Starbucks, and this customer comes up to the cash register, so the woman says, "How can I help you?" to which the customer doesn't really respond. So the cashier starts talking her her supervisor who's right next to her, to which the woman customer irately replies "Hello! Excuse me!" And the cashier says "Yes, I was just talking to my boss" and the woman customer says, "I am your boss!" Haha! There were lots of funny stories---I'll have to tell you some more later."

Well, it's that time again--time to fit a bunch of work into a small amount of time!

HAH

Update from UM #2

I'm still alive, and yes mom, I'm eating well.

There hasn't been much to post lately and there hasn't been much time to post. Here are just a few updates:
1. Yesterday was UM's first home game. It was pretty rainy, so we didn't go to the grove, but by the time we got to the stadium, the rain was gone and we enjoyed a shut out game from the Rebels.
2. I found (and participated in) a karaoke bar in Oxford.
3. The next journey to Nashville (via Jackson) is in less than 2 weeks!
4. If you don't have Netflix, or some home delivery movie-renting service, you should get it. It's fabulous.

That's all for now. Since school started, I have been the time management queen. Clock's a tickin!

HAH at U of M

I have been putting off an update from Oxford, MS because, well, nothing really noteworthy has happened since I've been here. I mean, moving in, setting up, orientation, and getting acquainted with Oxford has pretty much been the extent of my almost 2 week long residence. And it has all happened in a blur. I did manage, however, to bake my first loaf of bread. (Thanks Meagan!) But other than that: banality.

BUT! Something very exciting happened today. Let me begin this story by setting up a few starting points:

1. As of Friday morning (maybe Thursday afternoon, but either way), the Ole Miss Ticket office sold out of student tickets. However, they graciously announced that they would be selling 1500 more tickets Monday morning (this morning) at 8:00am.
2. I go to get my tickets Friday afternoon, wonder why there is no line, and find a sign on the door with the above info. No problem, right? I'm free Monday morning.
3. 9:00 Sunday night, my new friend Mary Elizabeth drives past the coliseum to see...people? No. TENTS. People have set up tents to camp in the day before classes start so they can get tickets to this year's Ole Miss football games.

Because I have to get tickets too, I say to Mary Elizabeth, who has already resigned staking out her spot in this line, "I will bring you coffee tomorrow morning, 6:00am sharp." I have class basically all day and all night Monday, so I opted to catch a wink before my first day of classes.

I promptly arrived, 2 large mugs of coffee in hand, to join 2 friends already in line, which has started to stretch all the way around the coliseum. The spectacle was incredible! Here are a few items I saw in tow with the students in line:
-futons
-air mattresses
-a tv, on which some guys were playing video games
-coolers of drinks and food
-an elaborate game kind of like cornhole, but with golf balls on strings and pvc pipe instead of bean bags and particle board.
-laptops and various media devices to occupy oneself. Speaking of which, I also heard a girl say, "I love my Blackberry and my iPhone. I wish I could just put them together!"
-pizza boxes
-dogs. Including Lily, my roommate's miniature dachshund.
-lots of Ugg boots. LOTS of them.

It was truly a religious experience. We were in line to be baptized at the font of the ticket booth, people playing music, chanting (Are...you.....READY!), murmuring about how excited they are and about how long they've waited for this, and celebrating, bursting into fits of excitement because they FINALLY got their tickets, after they've been faithfully devoted to standing in line for 12 hours.

I may have to devote these little reflective moments to the church of the SEC. So, until then, or in the unlikely event that something cooler happens,

Go Team!

YUM

Mom and I just saw the movie, Julie and Julia, and the story was so wonderful. I absolutely loved it. Without giving anything away, it tells the stories, side-by-side, of Julia Child, and a woman, Julie, who goes through her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, for one year, making every recipe.

It combined two of my most favorite things: food and humor. Ah, such an immaculate combination! I think part of Julia Child's charm was her ability to make others smile, but what I never, ever, EVER paired Julia Child and sexuality.

I know! What? But I am glad the film showed that side of Julia. Not only did it make her a real, round character (as she undoubtedly was) but it cast such a positive and joyous light on her marriage to Paul Child. Their relationship was so sweet and loving.

And some people may not have like the "Julie section" because she was neurotic and had "melt-downs" at the drop of a wooden spoon, but I thought it was perfect for her situation: a nervous, semi-insecure woman who loved to write, with a ho-hum day job, living the big city life on top of a pizza delivery store in Queens, with successful frenemies who have bested the corporate world and a husband who takes all her insecurities in stride. And I loved all of it.

The big meal of the film, boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child, (boning a duck got it's highlights, too) looked absolutely delicious. YUM. I'll tackle that one some day, with apron, tongs, and fearlessness in hand.

I don't think that it was typical of my generation to grow up with Julia teaching us how to tackle omelets with confidence and courage, but perhaps the closest icon I have to compare to Mrs. Child is Nigella Lawson. Her enthusiasm, but more importantly her beautiful way of expressing it, is on the Julia Child level of delightful. Someone should try all of her recipes and write about it! Someone...

Bon Apetit!

Sayonara, six-one-five

The wonderful days of my residence in Tennessee's capital city are over! Packing my last belongings and locking the door on my way out were some sad events, and leaving definitely had its share of bitter and sweet moments, but future visits are in the works, so Nashville and I will reunite, and it will feel so good.

On my last day, I went to a Titan's practice, (where some very outgoing children and I made friends, and I found out from Tyler, a 3 year old, that "Bears don't eat wood.") ate at the Horn of Africa, and watched some baseball on TV. If you have never been to an Ethiopian restaurant, it is not an experience to miss!

Things about Nashville I will miss:

• Do I have to say it? Family, friends, and Thomas. duh! and Mr. Bodhi. He's basically a person.
• That bangin' Farmer's Market.
• The attraction that "Music City" has to performers. (Coldplay, Flight of the Conchords, lton John and Billy Joel, Broadway musicals, etc. etc. etc.)
• It's proximity to other hubs of action and entertainment
  

Things about Oxford I'm anticipating:

• School! Go ahead; call me a nerd--but watch out for my sweet kickboxing moves.
• Getting to know my roommate (and her puppy, Lily).
• Square Books. And no, I don't mean books that are square. See hyperlink.
• Even though I hate to admit it (and still hold up my promise from this post), football games.

For now, I'm in Limbo/Jackson, TN. Oxford, I'll see YOU Friday!