We found our camera!

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful Vandy campus!



This is the main building, where the Classics department is.



This is moss on my building - I'm just amazed that I live somewhere where moss exists!



A typical path. The campus is technically considered an arboretum!



The first thing I saw on campus - Mr. Vandy himself.

So I have had my first two days of classes - a very interesting experience. I am taking two graduate seminars. One is on epyllia (literally "little epics") and the other on Greek historians. I am also taking History of the Roman Republic and Ancient Origins of Religious Conflict. For the time being I am also sitting in on a Horace (Latin Poet), but I can only take four classes, and I can't decide whether to drop one of the classes to take this class (which I really really want to take!). So far I have liked my professors, especially the two teaching the seminars. One, Dr. Wikkiser, just came from the school where my mentor Dr. Easton is teaching now. :) I don't know much about the other, Dr. Petrain, but he blew me away with incredible knowledge in the first session, and he clearly is a very good teacher.

One of the great things about this campus is that the Classics grad students have their own seminar room. It's just a room, full of almost every conceivable Classics first and secondary source we could wish for, and it's just for us. In fact, it's always locked, and we actually get into it with keys! That made me feel very, very special. Thus far the other students still seem shy and distant - I don't know if they are all just still out of sorts in their new environment, although Classicists are notoriously bad at all things social. We shall see.

Daniel starts class tomorrow. He was able to get into classes that will count toward his major: Pre-Calc and The Old Testament. His program requires many Gen Ed courses, of which these are two. I think it's probably a good thing he will be taking the OT class, while I am taking this Religious Conflicts class. I think we'll be able to talk about it and offer each other good information back and forth. And he will be approaching it from an academically Christian perspective, while I am being taught by a non-Christian.

So, things are back to normal for me - I am constantly in a text, spending my time doing nothing but translating, and I love it! Daniel is still working through issues with school in terms of getting an internship - the way it works is that he has to be enrolled in an internship class before he can apply to most studios. As they are unpaid, legally it needs to be for college credit.

Otherwise, all is well here. The last two days have been rainy and overcast. It's been wonderful! We miss you all very much.

Midday Musings

Here we sit after another wonderful Sunday morning, eating the leftovers of our indian meal last night. I start classes tomorrow, and Daniel starts on Wednesday! Hurrah! I'm so excited to be starting. We had a wonderful evening last night -an unofficial "the summer is ending" celebration. We went out to with friends last night to the Music Row area. And while Music Row is not my favorite place in the world (last night it resembled the chaos of Mill Ave. at its most crowded, bleh), it was fun to shoot pool and talk with friends. But now school starts, and the all consuming, ever present "I should be studying right now" burden will be placed on my shoulders, ne'er to be lifted again - for two years, anyway. :)

And along the lines of school, I thought I'd share part of an e-mail I wrote to Gordon today. We've been discussing various education options (namely seminary vs. divinity school), and he asked why I would be thinking about the next step even before I've started classes. So here is little of what is on my heart right now:

"There are two reasons I'm thinking about the next step already. The first: after it looked like graduate school in Classics would not be a possibility for me, I felt a strong draw to seminary and it excited me. It felt like it fit. In a very real way, that experience made me view this MA program in light of seminary. I think that Vandy is a stop on the road to seminary, while Daniel gets on his feet. Second reason: the first thing the Department Head said to us was to consider each class and each paper and each activity in light of what our post-MA goal is. For good or for bad, from the beginning of college the education system requires us to look ahead and plan toward our ultimate goal. The Lord can work anything out for me (obviously, as I am reminded every day I'm on the Vandy campus), but if I see Vandy as a means to the end (seminary), I have a responsibility to make choices that will help me down that road.

What I want to do after Vandy - I will preface what I'm about to say with the full knowledge that things may drastically change, and I am open to that. I may decide I'm actually called to raise llamas (unlikely, but hey . . .), and I'm open to change. But at this moment, and for the past several months, I feel that I am being led to teach Greek in a seminary setting. My gift is Greek and my passion is Greek - in a very real way I feel it is a waste to dedicate my life to Greek unless it's to teach people Greek to facilitate their roles in the body of Christ. This is what the Lord has put on my heart in the last few months. And if this is my calling, the Lord will work out the details, as He worked out the details so that we could here in Nashville together.

So I want to gear my two years toward that, and take hold of the opportunities before me. The human factors may dictate that we are to stay in Nashville for a few years. In terms of a divinity school: studying the Bible in a community of people who are not all seeking God is disconcerting, but not daunting. But the truth is, statistically I am an anomaly - people in higher education are not supposed to be Christians, so the world thinks. It will be spiritually an uphill battle no matter what school I go to, or what career I prepare myself for. And while the thought of being totally surrounded in my academic environment by followers of God that are passionate about Him and His work is very appealing and comforting (and that makes seminary so appealing), I have a very real sense of the urgency and importance of keeping Him first in and out of a community like that. My relationship with the Lord is my responsibility, and I am confident that I can grow in Him at a divinity school, at a seminary, or at a totally secular institution. Knowing and loving God is my goal, regardless of the environment I'm in. High school and college have taught me that, as well as my choice in friendships and relationships. Though, I think both Daniel and I have lately realized how important it is to fellowship and receive godly encouragement - and that does mean more than just Sunday morning. I do see how the two environments must be integrated and balanced, as you have said."

This comes after finding that Vandy has a PhD program comparable to the one I was so excited about at Fuller. Thoughts, feelings, reactions, advice? It would be much appreciated!

I took my diagnostic tests today - the ones I've been stressing about all week. It's hard to say how I did, or how harshly the faculty will "grade" the test. I bombed the Greek passages but was familiar with one of the  Latin passages -  that helped, but it will be rather ironic if I'm placed in remedial Greek and advanced Latin, as I've done twice as much Greek as Latin!

In any case, it was fun to tour the campus. The library is a very strange building - low ceilings, small isles, maze-like construction. It has a dark, very unfinished look about it, which I find very cool. I briefly introduced myself to one of the other grad students, but we didn't have a chance to talk. I also looked briefly into the Classics Department rooms - so cool! It's like it's a proper department! The Classics Dept. has its own study/sitting room, its own reserve library, its own classrooms and and seminar room! It really is amazing.  .  . Every time I'm on campus I am blown away that I have been so blessed to be here.

Tomorrow is the all important meeting with all the graduate students and the head of Graduate Studies! I am looking forward to it. The Classics community at ASU was very friendly and close-knit (there was sort of an attitude of Classics majors against the rest of the world). I'm hoping the same will be true for our small group. 

In other news, Daniel is diligently scoping out the studio internship opportunities out here. He starts school next week, as well. We would ask for your prayers that he can get into the classes he needs, since there was a monumental goof-up last time he registered and didn't get the classes he wanted (grrr). 

We miss you all terribly! Although Facebook has been a blessing (thanks Cate). I even connected with old friends from San Gabriel! Anyway, hope you all are having a good week.

Blessed Kingdom Days . . .

We sang a song in church today that was unfamiliar to both Daniel and me. Its simplicity, its repetition of such important and beautiful truths spoke loudly to our hearts. I tried to find the lyrics when we got home - I thought it was an old hymn, sturdy and passing the test of time. Turns out it was written by the church's worship team:

Holy holy holy Lord

Holy holy Lord

Be thy glorious name adored

Be thy name adored

Lord Thy mercies never fail

Lord they never fail

Hail my Savior Jesus Hail

Hail king Jesus Hail

Broken hearts, Lord, sing Thy praise

Brokenhearted praise

Clothed in mercy, saved by grace

By Thy cross of grace

Purer praise we hope to bring

Lord, we hope to bring

When around Thy throne we sing

Around Thy throne we sing

There no tongue shall silent be

None shall silent be

All shall join in harmony

All in harmony

In those blessed Kingdom days

Blessed Kingdom days

There will be one anthem raised

Singing endless days

Holy holy holy Lord

Holy holy Lord

Be Thy glorious name adored

This is the church we've been attending for the last five weeks. I love the way this church does worship. In a place where musical talent is always on display, and always seeking to be displayed, this church has quietly elected to go the other way. The band is not on stage, but is discretely placed in the corner, on the floor and almost out 

of sight. The instrumentation is always good, but mostly acoustic, quiet - the words are always forefront. The people of this church and the Spirit of this church has done nothing but refresh us and uplift us in our walk. We are so thankful.

In other news, school is son starting, and this upcoming week will be a difficult one for me. I have diagnostic tests that I have to take before Friday. These tests 

are supposed to determine how far along I am in my comprehension of Greek and Latin, which will then determine what level I am placed in this semes

ter. Aside from trying to overcome the general test-taking nervousness, I'm striving to remedy my laziness over the past three years. I fear I have not focused on learning vocabulary as I should have, because at ASU we were never forced to sight-read. So, in pictures this will be the whole of my next week . . .

And this is only one of the ways my wonderful husband helps me get through it all ;) . . . Cate, your post about the donuts warmed my heart. While this particular batch was a little more than $2, the principle is the same. (All of this is supposed to last the entire week, by the way!) But don't worry, Gordon, I've been exercising. I take my notecards on my walks. I get some funny looks, but it's a good way to budget time. 

Favorite Things

One of the greatest discoveries we've made here is a Farmer's Market about 10 minutes away from our apartment. It's open every day, and it's comprised of 10-12 local growers. The produce is spectacular! Just tons and tons of vegetables and fruits, honey, homemade jam, homemade lemonade, a flea market, two or three garden stalls with plants and pots, etc. We've been three times now. We keep going back to a particular grower - his produce is good, and he is such a sweet man. He talks and talks and talks when we're there. Last time we had to draw attention to another customer he had behind him, making very rude faces and being very noticeably annoyed at his lack of attention. But we like talking to him, and we like his amazing two pound vidalia onions! (Which he pronounces, "veeedaaaya")

Also at the Farmer's Market is an international grocery store - this was such a discovery for us. One our favorite things to do back in Arizona was go out for Indian food. There was a restaurant in Tempe called Pasand's that we went to probably once or twice a week when we could. It left rather a huge hole in our gastronomic lives when we moved here. :) And not quite being able to go out and sample the Indian food of Nashville, we decided to start cooking for ourselves! The first few times we had to buy spices at the grocery store - which was expensive and they didn't have all that we needed. But then we found the international market! Tons and tons of all the spices we needed, and every Indian food you could possibly wish for. So we loaded up on half-pound bags of all the spices, bought some rice too, and have been enjoying homemade Indian food once or twice a week. :) Our latest adventure was homemade naan (which is a type of bread). I have decided that baking bread is an extremely cathardic experience. Kneading can be quite fun after a stressful day, and it makes me feel like I'm really accomplishing something in my cooking. Daniel enjoyed it, too, because he got to laugh at me covered head to toe in flour! It was EVERYwhere. . . 

Cooking has become a special time for us. We never really cooked together before that much, but now it's a daily ritual. We take turns cooking, as Daniel can make a much better pasta than I can, but we always do it together. I see him developing into quite a cook . . . he has so much fun when we try a new recipe. And he's already talking about what he wants to cook for people when they come visit. :)

A quick glimpse of life here

Just wanted to share some pictures of Nashville! We lost our camera in transit, so I'm sorry for the quality. We've been having so many fun experiences out here, I wish I could share all of them with you guys! But one of the best so far was a lovely Saturday evening Daniel and I spent at Centennial Park in the downtown area. The park is only about half a mile from Vandy, so I look forward to studying there after classes. :)

The Parthenon is a 1:1 construction that was build for the World Fair in something like 1896, then rebuilt in the 20's as a permanent construction. We haven't been inside yet, but it houses a 40ft reproduction of the Athena Parthenos, the original cult statue. It's rather ironic that I wrote no less than 4 papers about the Parthenon and the Athena in Nashville, and now I get to live so close by!

And as if the Parthenon wasn't cool enough, the part has a beautiful pond surrounded by even more beautiful trees! There are about 10 willow trees with benches under them - it's just amazing. And I couldn't help but share the picture of this beautiful knarly tree. :)

And now for the apartment:
The kitchen is pretty nice. We've been cooking together quite a bit lately, and it works even for both of us in there at the same time. On the refrigerator proudly displayed are Daniel's birthday cards from the girls. 

The dining room is probably my favorite room in the house, and the one I spend the most time in - studying Greek and eating. On the left are the cypress prints. They are so beautiful! And the table we got at a local antique store. 

The candles were a gift from Linda - thanks!

Yes, that is a giant hanging camel head sconce. Don't ask . . . ;)

Here is the jewelry chest Grandma gave me with Cara and Rob's silver dish on top. Mom - do you recognize the prints on the wall? Still have them!

Bathroom with the shower curtain I was so excited about, and the print Dad brought back from Italy for me. 

The beautiful amethyst vase Grandma gave me!

It's a wonderful apartment - we feel so blessed to be so comfortable when we're just starting out. The neighborhood is great to walk in, with lots of trees and fun houses. We have lightning bugs and bats that come out every night! 

As for Nashville itself, we are loving it. What a wonderful city! We recently discovered a great farmer's market, there are tons to beautiful, green parks and tons of fun things to do. We've been attending a church called Midtown Fellowship for the last few weeks. We're already involved in a young couples' small group, and they've been looking for a sound volunteer . . . :) Once again, the Lord opened the way for us. This was the second church we visited, but we immediately got plugged in and are loving it.

Love you all!