Cookies & Garrett

Due to various obligations, Christa needed to make some Christmas cookies. For those of you outside of the UW Oshkosh community, it is final's week here. So, Christa has been really, really busy this week. I figured the least I could do was make the cookies for her. I watched my mom bake cookies all the time growing up...I could make this happen. Regardless of my previous experiences, I was worried about the following possibilities:

1. I really have never baked cookies myself. I have watched cookies being baked, but I have never done it myself.
2. I don't have a mixer...I suppose it just means my arms are going to get tired stirring everything together.
   
3. I was worried that after I mixed everything together, it wouldn't have the write consistency and I would have no idea what to do aid with this problem.
4. Baking them also posed a concern. Would I not cook them through the whole way? Would I burn them? Would I forget about them in the oven?

Despite all the concerns, the cookies were made and I think they turned out OK. We'll see what Christa's class think of the cookies in class today. Hopefully no one dies...then the rest should be OK for distribution. Note to self, don't make the cookies so big. The ones that I made could constitute a meal each ;).

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In the mail yesterday, I received a package from the Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. It was an application for admission as well as other information about their various programs. As I think about the possibility of going into the seminary for ordained ministry, I am beginning to think about how it fight fit into the larger life picture.

They offer a full-time and part-time option. If I chose to go full-time, I could probably support a part-time job and Christa would need to find a teaching job. It would probably mean that we move to the Chicago area while I am in school. The full-time option would take three years.

If I choose the full-time route, it would be a five year process. I'm not sure how I feel about spreading out another Master's degree over five years. However, what I like about this option is that is offers some interesting options for employment. The part-time option is only two nights a week which means I could possibly live in Milwaukee or even Oshkosh. I could possibly take a position in the church or maybe work on campus part-time. I would like to stay in Oshkosh if I could. It would also allow Christa to utilize the greater Fox Valley area for possible teaching jobs. We'll see...I have a few weeks ahead to do some quality research!