Okay, okay, okay.  I now recycle.  I took in all those plastic bags on Saturday.  I wish I had taken a picture…they really were quite a sight.  I think we’ve been collecting them since before we moved to this apartment almost a year ago.  I’m going to make it my goal not to get any more.  (This reminds me of the time a Walmart assistant manager MADE me take a bag to put my two items in…so annoying!  What happened to, “The customer is always right?”)  I now have room to start collecting all my Diet Dr. Pepper cans…

Now, onto your further questions:

Julie asked, “How do you like NC?”

Oh, this is a loaded question.  I had NO idea when I came here for school that I’d stick.  I didn’t really like the place: the cloudier summer weather gave me a bit of seasonal depression, it’s full of Southerners (many of whom have accents), half the roads aren’t labeled (and most of them also change names several times), there’s trees and hills everywhere, and there’s the East Coast Supremacy Disorder.

But then I found a church, a church that I can be a part of, a church that loves me, a church that I can serve in.  Really, the only reason I’m still here is because of this church.  I don’t want to leave unless/until I’m sent out from the church.

Since my early days, parts of NC have grown on me.  I love the beach, so I like having handy access (about a 2 1/2 hour drive).  I like basketball, and as you know, NC has some good basketball.  Raleigh has some definite perks: good swimming pools, good libraries, and a highly-educated population.  And as Southern as North Carolina is (while I recognize that it’s not the Deep South, my previous exposure to Southerners were just Oklahomans and Texans), there are many fellow transplants as well, so I don’t feel as excluded.

So, I guess the end answer is I like it here, and have decided to make it my home, until I’m called elsewhere.

Along the same vein, Liz asked, “I know you like where you’re living now, but is there another state that you would like to live in someday?”

Before moving to North Carolina, I thought I’d come here for school and then move out west.  I wanted to live and minister in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, or Portland.  Now, I realize that Portland is not for me weatherwise–if I couldn’t handle the additional cloudiness of NC, how could I handle the Northwest?–though I still think I could minister to those people.  On the other hand, I LOVE Phoenix’s weather, and that would be my number one choice if I had to move somewhere else.  So I guess the answer to your question is Arizona.

I also would love to live in a big city, somewhere I wouldn’t have to drive.  Though I like driving, I love getting to take covenient public transportation and getting to read on the commute rather than stress.  Still, I’ve been longing for a garden, so those things are a bit incompatible.

Thanks for your questions…more answers tomorrow.  If you still haven’t asked, feel free to jump in and ask away!