Life in the Girls’ Dorm

I noticed tonight that it had been too long since one of us had posted. The silence is due to the fact that it is crunch time for us. There are three weeks left in the semester and so much to be done in that time! Here are a few pictures from last weekend. In the midst of our hectic schedules we are still finding time to be festive!

The top picture is us in front of the big Christmas tree that is in Daley Plaza. We took this picture last weekend with my sister and her husband. We found out it is not one big tree, but 60 smaller trees put together. Brandon was very disgruntled by that fact, but he still smiled for the picture.

The bottom picture is us in front of our tiny, but mighty, Christmas tree. We can only fit a small tree in our apartment living room, but I still love it. Having a small tree really simplifies decorating, it only took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Brandon and I both had to work this Thanksgiving so traveling to be with family was out of the question. We decided to host Thanksgiving dinner at our place. We were joined by my sister, her husband, their new baby Wes, and our friend Cyril. I got up at 6:30 to put in the turkey. My first turkey ever! It cooked beautifully.

We spent the day cozy in our apartment eating good food and celebrating all that we have to be thankful for. Brandon and I both enjoyed snuggling our new nephew who is such a blessing. Brandon is at work now until 2 am. I just had my second piece of pumpkin pie. What a grand day! Tomorrow we put up our tree. I love this time of year.

Today was the last day that students were allowed to be on campus for the fall semester. The second floor (where we live) of the girls dorm is a ghost town. I cannot believe that my first semester here is over. It went so fast. One of the perks of my job is that I do not have to work over breaks. My fellow RS’s and I split up the total days of winter break to be “on duty”. My days are the 24-27th of December. So, Brandon and I are taking off tomorrow for time with family. Here is our schedule for the next couple weeks. If we are going to be near any of you and you want to see us, call and we will try to work it out!

December 15-18 Christmas with the Mick’s
December 19-21 Lincoln, NE to see the Thomas Family
December 21 Over night in Des Moines
December 22-27 Chicago….Christmas with my parents and “duty”
December 28-1 Des Moines for two weddings ( you know who you are!!)
January 1 Back to Chicago

Tonight, as I was thinking, I realized how different my life is from last year at this time and in so many ways. I know that seems like a “duh” statement, but I am talking “different” in more ways than geography. I am no longer working with individuals who are financially poor. My department at work decided to sponsor a child from Chinatown this Christmas. We bought items to give this girl as presents. I was so happy to participate in this. Picking out items to give to Jenny was so much fun. In my last job the families that I worked with were sponsored every Christmas and I had the joy of delivering the gifts to the families. From my experience, sponsor programs are meaningful and bring so much joy to the individuals. While I do not want to demean sponsor programs in any way, I was convicted in my own heart that this isn’t enough.

I was thinking back to last year and the fact that my interactions with needy (needy in the physical sense) didn’t come only once a year. At points my daily interaction with my clients drove me to feeling calloused and numb. I know that response was wrong, but I also know that giving one child Christmas, a child whom I will never even see or meet also feels inadequate. I am not working in the human service field right at the moment, and reaching out to needy people will take more work…but I don’t think that means I am off the hook in any way. This is just a thought that has been floating around in my mind. I am hopeful that it will lead me to loving the less fortunate around me on a consistent basis.

Here we are, back in Chicago. We had a great weekend with both of our families. Lots of time with all of our nephews and niece. It was a blast, but definitely good birth control… if you know what I mean. This may be the first time that our tiny dorm room/apartment has seemed quiet.

Though our stomachs are distending, the self-inflicted proof of another year of celebratory gluttony, Abe and I pressed on in holiday fashion. Tonight we set up our meager tree. This place still doesn’t feel totally like home, but throw up a fake fir and you are one step closer.