Hello Adopted Family!!

A little bit about me: I am the middle child...dun dun dun.  I come from a very tight-knit family of three daughters. My older sister, Nicole, is married and lives in upstate New York.  I'm going on some summer adventures with her on the East Coast.  I plan on reenacting the Boston Tea Party to the embarrassment of my sister.  My little sister, Megan, is finishing up her first year at Western Washington University and I look forward to playing with her next year as my internship is only half an hour away!  She's taking highland dancing and I'm thinking I can con her into free lessons.

My parents are great.  They taught me you can be mature, but you don't have to "grow up".  They love fishing, crabbing, shrimping and anything that gets them out on the water.  My dad plays video games and just about any sport and my mom does all sorts of crafty things.  I love the little things in life: elementary school plays, ice cream, sunsets over the Golden Gate, sunrises over Tilden (yes, sometimes I'm up that early) and just generally stopping to smell the roses.

Even while making time for fun I have always been a very focused student and I've been working my way through seminary.  This year I spent as dorm proctor, administrative support to the Dean's office and administrative support to the President's office.  When I wasn't working or studying I was spending time with my teaching parish: Shepherd of the Hills, a fantastically welcoming congregation in Berkeley. 

I am currently writing up a frenzy to finish off my second year at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS).  I'm a Pacific Northwest girl by birth and I'll be heading back up to Mt. Vernon, Washington for internship next year.  It rains and pours and I love it!  I will be living in an upstairs apartment in an airplane hanger, my landlord raises pigeons and I hear there are so many farmers in my congregation I'll never go hungry...what could be better? 

I'll have to keep you up to date with the many adventures and the bloopers reel of my internship.  I'm very excited for the chance to be near my family again and take a "break" from school.  I look forward to a year where I can really spend time with all sorts of people while I grow in my pastoral experience.   I also look forward to a year where I might have some time for fun reading, any suggestions? 

I have felt so blessed this last year as I've gotten to know you through letters and visiting.  The amount of support I have received has been overwhelming.  There is nothing to renew your sense of call like people who are rooting for you even though they barely know you.  You are an amazing congregation and I'm so excited to continue to get to know you through the years to come!

Kelly Ayers