well-deserved random update

It's about time I've updated. My younger siblings did a much better job of getting the pictures out - facebook, xanga, you name it. William Mathew (my nephew) arrived on January 6th.

I haven't had all that much time to hang out with the little guy yet (yesterday was my first real dose), but I trust that will change in the years to come! I've found him to be incredibly sweet and snuggly, and a well-needed boy into the Mathews clan.

So, below are highlights from the past few weeks:

Christmas - Time with family was too short, but it was good to be with them, and Christmas itself was relaxing. I wish I had a picture to post from Christmas, but I don't.

Urbana - I really enjoyed Urbana. Highlights for me were great times with staff friends, meeting Sharon Cohn (IJM) and introducing her seminar about Power and Women, and then hearing her speak in a general session. The strangest thing was running into a number of people who knew me, but I couldn't remember them. This happened every day (and sometimes multiple times a day). Sometimes I figured it out, but not always. I'm still racking my brain to remember who the guy was on the street that said 'hi Carole'. I really don't know.

MAC - hard to believe that it's this coming weekend! This morning I had the 'I can't believe the conference is tomorrow' feeling. I have some more prep to do tonight, but overall I'm excited. MAC is my favorite InterVarsity training conference; there's so much to love about it! One fun thing is that Derek (the new guy) is coming as well. That's another highlight from the past few weeks in general (this is a picture of us).

The guy whose office is across Nickels Arcade from mine (both of our desks face the windows so we can see each other, but don't have direct contact) just left. I still wonder what he actually does for his work, what his name is, etc. I do know that they got a new phone in before the holidays and that he often is in the office at strange hours. Maybe I'll start blogging about who I guess this guy is. Probably not.