Seven Quick Takes (#10): Life After Grad School

It is finished!

After submitting our thesis projects last weekend (which equaled a combined total of 54,000 words/171 pages). My husband and I are happy to report that we are done with our graduate theology program! 

Here are #7QT on all of the grand plans I have for life after grad school...

--- 1 ---
Unpack. Finally.

Right about the time we moved was the same time that thesis writing kicked into high gear, which means we have spent the last couple of months with boxes e v e r y w h e r e.  Praise God for basements, but seriously, it's time to make this home sweet home.  I have these grand plans for wine and cheese nights, summer BBQs, and NERF wars at Casa Johnston...

And trust me, there are going to be some pretty epic NERF battles in our future...

Stuff just got real.

--- 2 ---
Summer Reading

The last thing I thought I would want to do after writing this paper was read.  But these are two books that I am super excited about:  Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler (host of #7QT at www.conversiondiary.com!) and The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning by Simcha Fisher (blogger at Patheos and the NCR).

I love these ladies, and they both remind me that when you decide to follow Christ there are bound to be some pretty frustrating yet hilarious challenges.  

--- 3 ---
Green Thumb?  Probably Not.

I've never been one to really enjoy working in the yard, but now that we are renting a home that actually has greenery to care for I'm willing to give it a shot.  My husband knows exactly what he wants to do, so I'll at least be there for moral support :)  At the very least I'm bound to get a least a little sun this summer, and that's not a bad thing!

--- 4 ---
Wedding Pictures

We've been married 7 months and I still haven't had wedding pictures printed and framed!  I'm looking forward to making some photo books via Shutterfly and also picking out some favorites for the walls.  Any advice for picture framing and decorating?  It seems like there is an art to putting the right picture with the right frame, but I'm clueless.  I'll be consulting the great wisdom of Pinterest, but if you have suggestions I'm all ears.  Arts/Crafts/Decor are not my forte.

--- 5 ---
Sharing Our Story

I'm really looking forward to updating and redesigning this blog.  For some reason I image I'll have all of this free time now that school is over (ha!)  One of the stories I'd like to share is How I Met My Husband.  We're coming up on the 4th anniversary of the day we met and when we started dating, and it's a story I'd like to get down in writing.  Let's just say God has a very good sense of humor...and you should never say never.  

--- 6 ---

Summer Adventures

It looks like we'll be traveling at least once a month over the summer.  We've got a wedding in the Seattle, WA area in June, I'll be heading to Philadelphia in July for the TOB Congress, another wedding in August in Texas, and then my 10 year class reunion is in Memphis sometime in September.  Sheesh, by that point it will almost be our one year anniversary.  Time sure is flying...

--- 7 ---

Spiritual Growth

I'll be honest, most of my Lent involved just trying to survive the overwhelming task of research and writing. Lenten "spiritual growth spurt"... not so much.  At the same time, I did learn that there's nothing too small (or too big) to take to the foot of the Cross.  Maybe that was the one lesson I needed to learn this Lent.  I'd like to think that studying theology the last 3 years was more than just an academic accomplishment, and actually helped me draw closer to Christ.  But this is not an automatic thing.  It takes work.  Saints aren't saints because they had theology degrees.  The saints followed Christ and trusted Him with everything.  I want to do that.

Of course, these are all of the things that I think are going to happen now that grad school is over, but at the end of the day what I'm most looking forward to is seeing what adventures God leads us on!  Life out of the boat is usually never dull!  

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