Sorry for the hiatus in writing! I was out-of-town for much of the last week, spending a glorious weekend traveling to Newport, RI and then driving with my sister to the mountains of PA to surprise my mom for her b-day. Good times. LOTS of travel time for little "people time," but every moment was worth it. My mom's dad (i.e., my grandfather) was in PA already, and when my "from PA" grandparents found out about the surprise, they decided to spontaniously make the two-hour trek. Very, very special. Sitting on the porch with all three living grandparents, my mom, sister and a handful of relatives, was quite breathtaking...and will likely never again offer an encore.

Smith family tales aside though, I'm getting excited for you and me, both, as we head into these next few weeks. New season and new semester, each of which impregnates loads of new beginnings. (I've just left a short-film titled: "Most." It's a work out of Poland that represents God in more of His fantastic brilliance than I've experienced in long time...though it's done in subtitles and makes no mention of His name. Imagine that. The pursuit of excellence (in art, or whatever), marks phenomenal and clear representations of the Gospel. Without help. Without WWJD bracelets hanging from the tag. I love that about Him.) Anyway, I'm at that point when the actual 'start' of classes will be a refreshing change from all the talk...you know what I mean?

Anxious to hear of your move-in tales. Keep your head-up and write when you can. I always love hearing from you.

abbie