OBX 2010

The whole group at Outer Banks

I'm a little shocked at myself for how badly I've neglected this blog. I had so many ideas for posts and NO time. I was going to write about judgment (as a Christian concept and social phenomenon), about my tumultuous relationship with technological devices, and about my summer reading. All this has passed, although if my diminished readership cries out to hear about one topic or another, i may be cajoled into supplying.

So now, I will give a quick update then hopefully upload more photos of the recent Elliott/Brand plus beach vacation to the stereotypical destination for Northern Virginians: the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Currently, I have finished making a big decision! Consider this a public announcement: I am moving out of the Campus Division household in Dinkytown to an apartment in St. Paul on Carroll Avenue. I'm thrilled to be living with two Christian friends who are also in the People of Praise and who also go to the University of Minnesota- Cara dal Pra and Rachel Miller. We are in the process of furnishing our newly carpeted 820 sq ft apartment as well as painting several rooms. I am flying up to Minnesota on Sept. 2 and we begin classes on Tuesday Sept. 7. That's the plan, Stan.

The beach was idyllic. In addition to the 13 Brands/Elliotts, Steffen and Maria Pawlosky, Billy and Bethy Brophy, Katherine Baldwin and the Kress family (all friends from NoVa) made appearances. With such a large group, we got to play sand soccer, beach volleyball, mafia, cards and other big games. We buried one person up to his neck in sand and made a mermaid out of him. I got in a lot of reading (finished The Problem of Pain, by CS Lewis), participated in a Casino tournament (skill-less card game. i'm a champ.), drank salt-water, cooked hamburgers, saw The Other Guys (funny but crass), went mini-golfing, went sailing, took walks on the beach with my girls, watched the sunrise with my Mom, and tanned myself brown. I thank God for relative peace in our very full beach house and many opportunities for everyone to serve one another through doing dishes, running errands and carrying things up and down the stairs.

Rose, Kathryn and Jane prepare to SAIL!

Jane, Kristin and Kathryn (on the only cloudy day)