look in your heart and you’ll find

I am writing to you from a cold and rainy Messiah. This weekend is homecoming and the weather isn’t looking to get any better. It is really upsetting that such a big weekend at our campus is going to clouded over by gross weather. Homecoming is big at any school any year, but this year is Messiah’s Centennial homecoming making this weekend even bigger. There are so many events planned, it is crazy.With all  of the reunions, dinners, arts performances, athletic events, etc. etc. planned the list is almost never ending and the campus is sure to be buzzing all weekend long.

I am planning on helping out with Lil’ Falcon Zone again tomorrow which is a carnival that the Alumni Association holds for children (especially Alumnus’s kids) that come to visit Messiah for the weekend. I helped out with this event last year too and it was a bunch of fun. It is always fun working with kids and I’m sure a number of the kids at the carnival are visiting Messiah and seeing it as an exciting “vacation” of sorts making it even more exciting for them. Thank goodness that they have moved the event to inside instead of in Starry parking lot because of the weather. Even though I’m sure it would still be fun no matter where it was help, it will definitely be a much more enjoyable experience now that it will be held inside Hitcock away from the rain and cold.

I’m excited to see what all the weekend holds. Being home last weekend for IUP’s homecoming was filled with excitement for the most part, I just hope that Messiah’s is even better (and my now fixed car will not brake down again when I go to bring it back to campus).

As I sit here writing this post, I can not sit still and I cannot understand why. Today has been just one of those days where I have gone back and forth from being hyper and energetic to completely drained and then back to completely hyper. Sitting in my Bible class today, I could not sit still and was in the mood of laughing at almost everything (even those things that were not actually funny), which I’m sure was much to the chagrin of those around me. This action is currently continuing as I sit here in the office and I’m sure will continue as I go on to pick up things at the library and go back to my room to work on finishing my massive Children’s Literature paper that is due tomorrow.

Funnily, when I look back to a year ago today, I was in the exact same mood. On October 8th, 2008, I traveled up to Scranton in order to see Jason Mraz, and if any of you know me and my love of Jason you can assume I was pretty excited and needless to say…a little hyper. It is funny that a year later I am in the same exact mood, despite not going to see Jason tonight.
But despite my unexplainable craziness today, I do have things to be excited about…

1. The week is finally coming to an end. As I wrote in one of my past blogs, it has been a very busy past two weeks filled with papers, class presentations, tests, etc. etc. Even though the busyness of life will not end once I hand in my children’s literature paper tomorrow morning, it will be a definite relief to know that the past two weeks are over and all of the work that I had to do is completed.

2. Going along with school work…it is extremely exciting for me to say that I took the dreaded EDUC 301 Phonics test last night and feel pretty confident in how I did. Since I have done a number of my education classes a little out of order, I have always been in a class with junior elementary education majors in the fall and have heard their fears in taking this test, which is a two hour long, 120 question mid-term taken at night filled with a ton of information on phonics generalizations and early reading theories and practices. Knowing that I have never been able to understand phonics led me to have some worries about this test even two years before I would be having to take it myself. However, after all of the preparation that we did in class and then studying on my on for the test, I felt well prepared. So if you are an Education major awaiting this test…do not fear. You will be ready. But it is exciting to finally say, “I have survived the Phonics test!”
3. I am going home tomorrow for IUP homecoming. I have yet to be home since arriving on campus at the end of August and am not planning on going home again until Thanksgiving, so it will be nice to take a break and visit with family and friends. I love IUP homecoming too. Despite some of the cheesy things that we do, it is always fun to go watch the parade and  go to the football game. It is also just an exciting time in Indiana compared to the typical weekend in Indiana. Needless to say, I cannot wait.

So as I go off with the rest of my day…I am excited. There are lots of good things ahead of me and lots of worries behind me. Watch out world! Alyssa and her hyperness is about to leave the office!

It is now fall and October. In some ways, it is crazy to think that the first month of school is already done. In others, its hard to believe that we still have two months until finals. This month is going to be a busy one. As we fall into the month of changing leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, etc. etc., I see so many things that are coming up on my calendar. Not only do I have a ton of school work to do this month, but there are a ton of events going on as well. Next weekend I am going home for IUP homecoming. The following weekend is Messiah’s homecoming. The week after that brings fall break. We then finally come to Halloween and November. With everything that I have in front of me, I hope the busyness helps the month to go by quickly. Again, a paradox occurs though. While wanting everything to go quickly because of excitement and anticipation, I won’t want individual events to go by quickly. For example, I can’t wait to go home and see everyone again, but when I do I also know that I will not want to come back to Messiah only two days after leaving. I’m sure the same will be true for fall break. Even though I have decided to do a service trip this year instead of going home or visiting friends, I’m sure it will be such a great exerience that I wont want it to end either. Looking outside at the falling leaves, getting to watch football on tv, and hear stories from home about my 12-year-old brother’s successes in his first year of football excites me to no end, but I also just can’t wait to see snow and make it to the end of the month where everything will be crossed off of my calendar.

Monday was our first gospel choir rehearsal. Over the summer and into the beginning of the school year I have had some worries about United Voices of Praise (UVP). Our choir is currently going through a period of transition: our director, Dr. Thomas, is on sabbatical this year…our performance coordinator, Eunice Hager, no longer holds that position and they have yet to find someone to take over those responsibilities…our student director from last year, Margaret McKay, graduated…our piano players are no longer at Messiah…etc. etc. Needless to say I have had some fears about gospel choir this year. Despite these worries about the year, I believe it is going to be a great one and we will truly be blessed this year.

This Monday’s rehearsal was definitely a huge blessing in itself. Not only did we have a large number of returning members, but a bunch of new members showed up to audition as well. Even though we only sang a few songs together, but I could feel God’s presence with us and felt as if this rehearsal was only the beginning of great things to come. Back in my home church’s youth choir, Voices of Grace, we had a little saying, “It will all work out on Sunday.” This provided all of us with a bit of encouragement even when we felt that we weren’t prepared for singing at Sunday morning’s service. All of us truly believed in this and every Sunday we sang, it would all work out! We did amazing things and we all felt especially blessed after every service. Despite any troubles we may experience as a choir throughout this year, I believe UVP will follow this same principle and it truly will all work out on Sunday!

Today is the first day of classes at Messiah College and I have successfully made it through two classes including square dance and Bible. It is so hard to believe that summer is already over and that all of campus is back and ready for fall semester. I’ve been here for only two days but it all just seems so normal and as if I have been here forever already. It is great to come back and meet up with friends again, go to chapel as one big community again, and just get reacquainted with the atmosphere of Messiah. So while I dreaded coming back and having to start class and be away from the comforts of home, now that I am here there are no problems. I am glad to be back and get back to my life at Messiah (despite still missing summer).

This summer was absolutely amazing! Looking back at everything that happened this summer I really just want to live it all again (don’t we all wish that at times haha). This summer was largely defined by work and friends. At home I work at a daycare and I absolutely love it! I also spent a lot of time helping out with children’s ministries at my church this summer. I taught the 2 and 3 year old Sunday School class and spent a majority of Sundays helping out with children’s worship during the two services as well. I miss my all of my little kids so much now that I am gone. Being with them is definitely affirming what I am being called to do, work with children. Everyone always says how you should love your job and I truly do. It is funny to me at times, that I am actually working and getting paid for what I am doing since I do love it soooooo much.

Since my friends and I are getting older it is getting harder and harder to get our entire friend group (there are 12 of us) together. There were so many of my friends traveling the world or taking summer classes at their campuses this summer that there were really only a few of us left. Those of us who did stay behind in Indiana had a great time together though. We saw so many movies, had a number of bonfires, went out to eat or get coffee numerous times, and we also went to a Jason Mraz concert (August 11th, Jump the Line passes leading to front center standing spots, the best day ever!) Altogether it was just a great summer! I miss everyone terribly now that summer is over. It was so hard to say bye to everyone especially being the last to leave, but being back at Messiah is always good too.

Easter break has just ended and we have just under a month left here at Messiah. As previously mentioned in the past posts work is beginning to pile up as the semester comes to a close. Even though this time is such a busy time, it was nice to have a few days off and to go home last weekend.

Growing up I never particularly liked Easter. I somehow seemed to be sick every year on Easter, I was scared of the Easter bunny, and even though I got an Easter basket the presents just could not compare to Christmas. Now though I am old enough to really appreciate Easter for what it truly is. Even though I have always known the importance of Easter and Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning, that was never the most important thing about Easter until I’ve gotten older. Now I still do love searching for eggs and getting an Easter basket, but the most important part has now become reflection on what Easter actually is. Seeing family and friends is also a main focus of Easter break since I get to see my friends from home whom I haven’t seen since Christmas. This break was a really good time, getting to visit with everyone and spending time not only with others but also with myself in times of reflection.

Break should be a time of relaxation and revitalization, but that never seems to be the case. This is especially true once it actually comes time to get back to work. This break was no different. My break began with the United Voices of Praise tour to Ohio which was amazing. We all had a blast worshiping and ministering to others as well as getting to know each other much better. After tour I went home expecting to have a fun relaxing rest of the week. Even though I did get the chance to sleep in and relax a little bit, I also felt as if I was continuously running here and there and I never seemed to actually catch up on any work or sleep which I desperately needed. I had so much fun running around meeting friends and getting a few other things accomplished despite the lack of rest though. My roommate, Danielle, also came to visit me at the end of the week which was a lot of fun. It was nice to finally get to show her the little town I call home and to have her meet a few of my friends.

Now that I’m back at school though it seems as if I have thrown right back into the thick of things. Work is beginning to pile up now that we have less than 6 weeks of school left. It is also that time of year to figure out rooming and classes for Fall semester which can be quite a hectic time on campus. It is not in this busyness that I am truly feeling my lack of rest of break. Tuesday night even I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 9:30! That is completely crazy! I don’t even know the last time I went to bed before 10:00. I think now that it is the end of the first week back though, I am back in the swing of things and back to the busyness of school.

Spring break is fast approaching and I cannot wait. Spending this past weekend writing a paper, I’m definitely ready for a break. Even though I have a little bit of work to do over break, it will be a nice time to do some relaxing and hanging out with friends. A number of my friends have already been home or are home now on break so I will not be able to see a number of my friends, but I am excited to be able to see those who will be home. Break also starts off with UVP’s tour to a couple churches and a Christian school in Ohio, which I am also really looking forward to. Danielle and Sarah are also coming home with my the second half of break to get a little taste of Indiana. I am even more excited for their stay in my little town. Overall I’m just ready for break. This semester has been a pretty draining one with the number of general education classes I’m taking compared to my major classes. Even though the gen eds are not exactly hard, they become harder considering the interest level is much lower. This week I simply continue to push forward to looking at what is coming up next week.

Since my last post so much has happened it is hard to summarize it into one entry. I have finished finals, said good-bye to all of friends studying abroad for this spring semester, left Messiah after the end of fall semester and went home for break. Being home was amazing. It is so nice to take a break especially when there is no school work involved. In high school even though the couple weeks off at Christmas were always greatly enjoyed, there was always those couple papers, projects, or assignments lingering over your head that you had to worry about. Being in college the semester is over and there are no worries (at least school work related ones). My time at home consisted of a lot of visiting as any break usually does. I visited with all of my friends from home (numerous times complete with secret Santa, movies, sleepovers, Patty’s Pancakes, eat ‘n park runs, Commonplace coffee dates, and etc. etc.) I visited my extended family for Christmas and the couple of days after that. I did a lot of visiting with my immediate family as well. Not only did I live under the same roof with them again, but Christmas Eve my brother and I were surprised with an amazing gift, a trip to California to go to the Rose Bowl, so I spent almost an entire week with them on the other side of the country. While we were there, we did the typical Hollywood tourist stuff and went to Legoland for my brother. The Rose Bowl was amazing however. Being that my favorite team is USC and my family’s favorite is Penn State (my second favorite, if they were playing anyone other than USC I would have been rooting for them too), it was perfect for the entire family and provided a nice little rivalry between all of us. The day of the game we got up and left the hotel at 4 am, went and got in line for the Rose Bowl Parade at 5 am, the parade started at 8 am, and then we walked over to the stadium after the parade ended around 10 am. Before the start of the actual game we stopped to see the players from both teams get off of their buses and did a little souvenir shopping. Then we finally went to the seats to watch the game. Being a USC fan in the middle of Pennsylvania is very out of the ordinary so it was nice to be surrounded by USC fans and get to experience some of the USC spirit first hand and having them dominate in the game was amazing as well.

Now I am back at Messiah to begin J-Term and a new semester. My roommate from last semester, Emily, is gone to study abroad in England, but Danielle, who was studying in Greece last semester, has come back and taken her place. It is completely different, but I am so excited that she has come back to Messiah. J-term classes started this morning and even though my class looks like a fair amount of work especially reading, it should be a fun time. I get to spend over half of the days in the Early Learning Center with the kids which will be super exciting and a good time I’m sure. Even though part of me does wish it was still break and I wasn’t back to school work again, the other part of me is glad to be back.

This is the time of the year when everyone is super busy. Students are trying to finish the semester and have a bunch of tests to study for on top of a bunch of papers to write. Even those who don’t find themselves at the end of the semester are still running around doing holiday activities. This is the time when we all visit our family and friends, go shopping a million times, since one trip is just not enough to finish off our Christmas gift lists, and bake all of those holiday goodies.

This past week I have found myself super busy. While the rest of the semester I have a fair amount of spare time the past week has not been that way and I see the next week being the same. This weekend I had two large papers to write (which are still not entirely finished) along with other small assignments and studying. I was only able to take a break Friday night for a holiday/gingerbread house decorating party and then Saturday for a few hours to watch the USC game (during which I was too stressed to do any work and now I’m super excited/super nervous for the Rose bowl, but thats an entirely different story).  Looking ahead to the eight days I have two papers, one reflection paper, three presentations, one test, and three finals. On top of that our Gospel choir concert is this weekend (Saturday at 7:30 in Miller auditorium, you should come!) and some Christmas shopping to get done. I cannot wait for this semester to be over. I am definitely ready to go home, visit with my family and high school friends, and relax for a couple weeks. Even though I know I will be busy running around, I know I will still be able to slow down at least a little bit once break comes. And I just can’t wait!