just call me martha

stewart, that is. although sometimes (like every tuesday when my small group comes over) i can be a bit of a biblical martha as well. if you dont know the story, Jesus came over to her and her sister's house and she was bustling around being a good hostess and mary (her sister) was just chillin' with Jesus and this kinda ticked martha off, and she said something, and Jesus told her mary was doing the better thing.

so the reason i'm martha stewart is because i got all domesticated recently (i think it started with the sewing machine) and this led to me writing my first annual holiday letter. here it is, enjoy!

dear friends and family,

it’s that time of year again! time for my annual holiday letter! i know what you’re thinking…she doesn’t send out an annual holiday letter…well, this year, i’ve decided to start a new tradition. if my married friends can do it, why can’t i?

this past year has been full of exciting, fun, and challenging times which i shall now recount to you in all their glory. ah, i love holiday letters. in fall 2005, i moved across the country from Oregon to Boston, leaving throngs of mourners in my wake. while i continue to miss Oregon, i have fallen in love with my new city and love to spend time exploring it. i spent my first year here living with two girls my age in the suburb of Watertown, which unexpectedly has a river running through it (creative name, i know). i loved my huge, cheap apartment but hated the bus commute to work and the lack of creativity and nightlife that Watertown had to offer. so, in September, i moved into a smaller, more expensive apartment in Cambridge, just across the river from downtown Boston. Cambridge pulsates with creativity, diversity, and college students, and i pinch myself daily to make sure i really live in such an amazing place. i now live with two other girls my age, and we’re having lots of fun.

i continue to work with teenagers at Castle School, a residential school for high schoolers with emotional and behavioral issues. i absolutely love it. it’s like a second home and family, and i’ve got six teenage kids. i have a lot of fun with them, doing everything from helping prepare meals, to talking about their feelings, to hanging out and watching movies. i have also fallen in love with the school dog, Loki, an adorable, lazy chocolate lab, and i hope to get my own dog in the near future.

in august i started graduate school for art therapy at Lesley University in Cambridge. i will be going part time for three years, and, when i’m done, i’ll be a certified art therapist and licensed mental health counselor. i am learning soooo much, reading so many amazing books, and i’m required to make art about my feelings! it’s perfect.

another highlight of the year was selling my car, riding the bus all winter and spring, and then getting a “vintage” bike, then saying goodbye to it when i was told i was going to hurt myself or someone else if I kept riding it (geez, that lady at the bike shop was so overdramatic) and buying myself a beautiful, powder blue mountain bike. i outfitted my new bike with baskets and lights and it is now my primary mode of transportation.

this year i also joined a fabulous church here and an amazing small group of artists, some of whom have become my closest east coast friends. my best friend brian got married after proposing to his wife nicole in Boston, and i was a bridesmaid. my mom came to visit me, and i took two trips home. i serendipitously met another great friend on the bus, developed a love of diners, made an art studio in my room, and filled my closet with beautiful bargains from all over the city.

yes, it was a great year. of course i left out the long depressing winter and other not-so-happy moments, but they made the year meaningful, too. i hope each of you learned, loved, and laughed in 2006, and continue to do so in 2007. happy holidays!