TRUTH BE TOLD

I love the TV show ALIAS.

Truth be told... I am obsessed with ALIAS. Not only have I watched and analyzed every episode, but I also have some wonderful ALIAS friendships. My friend, Becky Lehman, and I watched every episode of seasons 3-5 together. The show is one of the foundations of our friendship - we're obsessed together. We once chased down a Postal Service employee to get a package from my mother containing a VHS tape of several episodes we had missed. We HAD to watch those episodes before the series finale. This past spring, Becky and I joined with our friends, Harriett and Lindsey, for an ALIAS season 5 marathon. We watched the entire season in one sitting - it was an amazing, action-packed day (9am - 1am).

I decided about a month ago that I was going to reward myself (with something) the day I resigned from my job. I mentioned to David not too long ago that I was thinking about buying myself all five seasons of ALIAS on DVD. Yesterday on our walk home from work, David surprised me with the ALIAS box set! The full set (pictured above) includes: EVERY MISSION. EVERY SECRET. EVERY ALIAS. What this boils down to is 29 discs, 105 episodes, a commemorative Rambaldi box (with a secret compartment containing another disc of unseen footage), and an ALIAS: Revealed book. I couldn't be more excited or more thankful to my husband for such a wonderful gift.

As you can probably imagine, I'm planning to watch the entire series during my summer sabbatical.

In addition to watching ALIAS and making ALIAS friends, I've also been sharing my love for ALIAS with members of the youth group at our church. I've been teaching the youth Sunday School class all year and ALIAS has some great material to teach from - friendship, honor, staying true to oneself, trust, deception, betrayal, lies. The youth enjoy watching bits and pieces of the show, and we have had some great discussions and lessons as a result. I've taught four lessons based on ALIAS so far and have another four planned. I'm actually contemplating putting together a curriculum...

If you're interested in learning what ALIAS is all about, you'll want to read this.

SO IT BEGINS

It is the beginning of so many things.

1. the beginning of the end of work (I resigned today).
2. the beginning of a new lifestyle (summer sabbatical & then back to school).
3. the beginning of my blog.

resignation ---

I resigned from my job TODAY. I've had the resignation letter in draft form for at least a month and have been tweaking it daily. It's been a good five years, but I'm so ready to move on. I've had some good experiences, learned so much (especially from my first boss, Pat), met some amazing people across the country, and traveled a lot. On the flip side, I've also had some not so good experiences. It has been a rollercoaster ride. During the past year (maybe two), it has been so hard to get out of bed in the morning and come to work, but I'm so glad I stuck it out. I'm so excited about what the future holds...

new lifestyle ---

My last day of work will be June 28th. I'll be taking two months off before going back to school. During those two months, I'm going to frequent the community pool, read some books, finish some crafts I've started (namely a baby blanket for a friend's new baby and a hat for David), and hang out with friends. I'm also going to travel (Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Taiwan). My time off will end in August when I begin my PhD program at the University of Maryland. I'm a little anxious about being a student again, but more on that in the coming months...

my blog ---

I'm so excited to actually have a blog. I love visiting the blogs of my college roommates, Jill and Sarah. They have been entertaining me for the past year. It has brought me much joy to share in both their day-to-day activities and major life events. I'm looking forwarding to documenting my life and my thoughts here; I also anticipate hours upon hours of self-entertainment. I intend to keep you up-to-date on the day-to-day happenings of my life through my QUICK UPDATES (in the upper right-hand corner of your web page). For the time being, I'll be keeping you abreast of my marathon training (I've entered the lottery to get a spot in the NYC marathon in November), what David and I are doing on our date night, the meal on our dinner table, the book I'm reading, and what I'm watching on TV. Enjoy...