ex(PR)essed

I’m not much of a numbers gal. Math was never my thing. I actually remember the moment when my math struggles became painfully obvious: It was sixth grade when my teacher, Mr. Santner, taught the section of the textbook about rounding numbers and estimation. I absolutely could not grasp the concept. My inability was of enough concern to my parents that they scheduled a meeting with Mr. Santner. He wisely recommended that we all lower our expectations and move me from advanced to intermediate math for the rest of my academic career. Thank goodness for Mr. Santner.

Regardless of my math inabilities and general forgetfulness of numbers, I am often impressed by statistics (though I quickly forget them just as I’m trying to tell someone how impressed I was). The number that impressed me the most today? A baseball score of 30-3! Who’s ever heard of such a thing?!

I have a few other number-related items that I want to share with you: According to a D3Kicks.com preseason poll, Messiah’s men’s soccer team is ranked #1 in the country; the same poll ranks Messiah’s women’s soccer #3 in the country; the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s preseason poll places the Lady Falcons at #2 in the country; and, lest you think Messiah is known only for superb athletic programs, the 2007 “U.S. News and World Report” college rankings place us #4 in two impressive categories — best baccalaureate colleges in the northeast and “Great Schools at Great Prices.”

Well, it’s back to work for me after spending a relaxing week on vacation. Believe it or not, once you’ve been away from your childhood home for awhile, there’s something wonderfully refreshing about spending a few days among all that was once so familiar to you.

One spot that I never get tired of visiting is the spillway at Pymatuning Lake. Imagine dumping about 500 carp into your bathtub. Next, imagine dozens of geese and ducks in the tub, and a few seagulls circling overhead. Finally, imagine scads of people throwing loaves of bread into the fish-infested water. The fish literally throw their scaly bodies out of the water in order to fend off fowl and each other to gobble up the bread. The sound? Unbelievable! When Jeff and I visited this infamous tourist attraction last week, I actually got wet from the fish splashing around so much in their desperate attempts to get their share of the bread being tossed in by giggling children and plenty of giddy adults. All the while, the ducks and geese are tramping around the lake fighting over their fair share of the treats. And yes, there are literally so many fish that the ducks can walk on them!

Feeding the fish was just one of my many vacation highlights. Jeff and I played several games of miniature golf and got bitten by troops of angry mosquitos at a backyard campfire. We had a lovely brunch at Peak-n-Peak ski resort with my cute mom before wandering the beautiful grounds of Chautauqua in the rain. We went to the Erie Zoo and Campbell’s Pottery and Presque Isle. We ate Eddie’s famous footlong hot dogs. We had cheese and crackers on my parents’ huge, new deck. It was fabulous!

Then, on Wednesday morning, mom and I departed on a mother-daugther road trip to Indianapolis to visit our dear friend Mary Lou. We had such fun shopping and navigating our way around together. I love spending time with my mom, and this time was no exception!

So, now it’s back to work, and the start of a new academic year at Messiah is just over a week away. Where has summer gone?! While many of us are wrapping up our vacation travels, my crazy friend Rachel is embarking on a grand adventure today — driving across the country! Keep her in your prayers and monitor her travels on ram*bling.

Ah…the wonderful world of blogs. Let’s see. I’ve been at this since January 24. I like to think that I was a bit of a pioneer — one of the first on campus to really embrace the idea of blogging and to even add it to my weekly to-do list. I don’t know how you access my blog, whether you sift down through the list at blogs.messiah.edu or whether you come directly to ex(PR)essed. But, if you use blogs.messiah.edu to read Messiah blogs, you may have noticed that they’re listed in order based on latest posting. So, if I’m the latest person to blog, ex(PR)essed jumps to the top of the list, and, I must admit, I like seeing ex(PR)essed at the top of the list. I get a strange satisfaction from such a little thing.

Ok…so today I mosey into work only to learn that Justin (web services guru) has added FOUR additional bloggers. Students. And guess what? Two of them are already blogging like crazy, and they’re doing a fantastic job. I think they’re funnier than me. They’re more interesting to readers (except my mom maybe), and they’re both clever and stuff. And, ex(PR)essed was dangerously close to the middle of the list. As I mentioned, I don’t care for that!

So, now it truly feels like “game on” in the blog world at Messiah. And, honestly, I love it! Be sure to check out Stephanie Rajchel, choose your own adventure, not as good as an ice-cream cone, and wit has truth in it. A few are still under development, but now’s the chance to watch these blogs develop and grow into true reflections of their writers!

Let the games — er, I mean blogging — begin!

Yesterday, under somewhat cloudy skies and with about 20 people looking on, I got baptized in the Yellow Breeches! What a great day! Some of my very favorite people were along the shore supporting me in this step of faith, and I felt truly blessed — once again — to be part of such a wonderful church family.

Pastor Terry gave me a few minutes to share my testimony, and I reflected on one of my favorite passages of Scripture — Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.” Again, I think of David Crowder: “What a glorious day!”

Speaking of lovely days, Brad and Jamie visited this weekend. Jamie and I are much like sisters, and I truly love every moment that I get to spend with her. On Saturday, Brad and Jeff ran a 5K in Camp Hill; Brad won third place in his age group! Then, we went for a lazy float down the Yellow Breeches before heading off to the longest Senators game that I ever care to sit through.

Like us, many people headed for the Yellow Breeches to try to beat the heat this weekend. What a pleasure to see so many people enjoying the College!