Oh hai!

So I think it's probably about time to stop neglecting this blog, especially since I told myself that I would be updating it as both self care and a somewhat spiritual discipline duirng my internship year.  

So, I got to Denver just fine, and at this point have adjusted to the altitude enough that I don't have a headache most of the day, though biking to church from my house is about 3 miles which I think equates to about 10 miles in the Midwest.  I'll get there though, I plan on taking a few hours a week to hop on the muti-use trails here and bike 15 miles or so (no guarantees how long that will take the first few weeks).  

So HFASS is a really exciting place to be right now, and I have to admit, different than I expected.  I think one of the biggest shocks to me is one that I should have realized, and have been chided a bit about, which is totally deserved.  I will admit that I had a bit of a celebrity crush on Nadia before I got here...like....when I interviewed with her I was scared that her fame would make her judge me more harshly....

Which is absolutely not the case.  I have nothing bad to say about Nadia, but the thing I appreciate the most right now is that she's a real person, and I don't have to feel intimidated by her and her public speaking life because that is just a role she fulfills, and it does not define her life.  I like it...we can be real people together, and everyone at the church can be real...it's refreshing.  

I also have realized that my coffee consumption has gone up significantly here, and will continue to over the course of the year.  I posted on Facebook a few months ago that I did not understand the reason for "small" and "medium" when it came to coffee, and instead relied on the large as my only option.  After several cups in the morning in my house during orientation, and then going to get coffee with a parishoner where I ordered a large iced americano (which coincidentally doesn't have room for water, so it's basically an iced quad shot of espresso), I thought maybe in the afternoons I should switch to small coffees, or half caf, or maybe even tea.  In any event, my kidneys are going to be getting a workout for sure.  And I'm not mad about it, because I love coffee with every fiber of my being.