Report and pics from the graduation party!

I threw a graduation party for James on Friday night. We had about 15 guests, and a great time was had by all. Since the College of Arts & Sciences doesn't individually recognize their master's and doctoral grads (DORKS), James isn't going to the commencement ceremony. So James' advisor agreed to "hood" him at the party. James donned the academic regalia, we played "Pomp and Circumstance", and Dr. Kang hooded him. It was very exciting. See below for all the pics!

Proud parents and yummy cake!

Top to bottom: A view of James' lovely cake (a la Kroger) before it's cut; some of our friends who came to the party; James with his mom (Nina) and stepdad (Bill).

Graduation party pics

Left to right: Dr. Money cheers after being "hooded"; James and Woody--note that Woody's collar matches James' robe; and Dr. and Mrs. Money.

Graduation party pics

James and his brilliant advisor, Dr. Sung Ha Kang.

Is there a doctor in the house??

...There is in OUR HOUSE!!! James successfully defended his PhD dissertation this afternoon. He did a fantastic job, and even I was interested at times! The committee took all of five minutes to deliberate before declaring him, "Dr. Money."

Congratulations, James! We're off to Rincon (our favorite Mexican restaurant) to celebrate.

I'm going to be a pastor!!!!

My DS (District Superintendant) called about 9pm tonight. I have been appointed to St. John's United Methodist Church in the Danville District. The church is just outside of Danville, Virginia. It looks like it should be a 1.5-2 hour drive from Durham. Average worship attendance is 50-60 people, and the church has experienced a reasonable amount of growth in the past few years.

So it's official: I will be using my MDiv next year. And I'll be making twice what I make now. :) :)

Of course, now James and I will each have a fairly large residence (parsonages have a minimum of three bedrooms) that will be very EMPTY...because our furniture collection is still fairly small. Oh, well. Maybe it's time to add to the collection. :)

Such a cute family...

Our church in Lexington is having a pictorial directory done by Olan Mills. So we went to have our portrait taken, and brought Woody along. Here's the result. We think it looks great. Although we have to say, it's kind of sad that Woody is more photogenic than his parents!!

Oh, and this time, we did buy the 16x20, since it includes all three of us.

Durham pics: apartment

James and I found a lovely 2 BR/2 BA apartment in Morrisville, just outside of Durham. The apartment has loads of storage space and a HUGE patio! These are pics of the actual apartment we'll be leasing. Obviously, they're all outside pics because we couldn't get inside. :) The first pic is of our view from the patio. Woody should like it!!

Awesome C.S. Lewis quote

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." --C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Durham pics: James' office

The following are pictures from James' office at North Carolina Central University. He has a lovely view of the parking lot. :) As you can see, Daisy the Chick-Fil-A cow is patiently waiting for her master to return.

Wanna buy a townhouse?

It's official...our house is on the market! We have the sign posted out front and a lockbox on our front door. Check out the listing (soon to have pics!) online at Rector-Hayden.

If you know of anyone who's looking for a very cute, well-built, nearly-new townhouse, send them our way!

Way to go, Nani!!!

The Bradenton Herald just published this great article about my grandmother, Jean Van Delft (aka "Nani"). You can read it for yourself by clicking here. Oh, and after you read the article, tell me your guess as to Nani's true age. Just for fun. :)

Check out the pictures to see a bride you might recognize.

Durham trip #2

We just returned from our SECOND Durham trip, and this time we were successful! We found an apartment we really like. It's in a really nice town and only 15-20 mins from NCCU. It's really big-1300 square feet-and is right near a park.

James will be teaching the summer session @ NCCU, which begins on May 15. He'll be moving into the new apartment a week or so before that. Woody and I (and all our furniture) will arrive sometime after Memorial Day.

Coming soon: pics of James' new office, new boss, and our new apartment!

Our house should be on the market by the end of this week. We're meeting with our realtor on Tuesday.

Guess what? It's flu season...

It all started on Tuesday night, when James came home with a cough. Within an hour or so, he had developed a fever, aches and pains...your usual flu symptoms. He went to the doctor the next day, who confirmed that he had the flu. Ironically, he had gotten a flu shot!

On Thursday, I started coughing at work. By 7pm or so, I was running a fever complete with soreness and headache. I went to the doctor on Friday, got tested for the flu and put on Tamiflu, an antiviral medication.

We're slowly on the mend now. My fever is down to 99 or so (it was up to 103 at times). James actually felt well enough to go to the post office earlier. And I actually accomplished something productive; I loaded and started the dishwasher!