look in your heart and you’ll find

When I wrote my post last week, I had no idea what was yet to come with the sickness going around Messiah. While I have still been extremely fortunate to not get sick, the entire campus had seemed to fallen even further into sickness. My roommate got the flu at the end of last week and was sent home and has still not come back, even though she is feeling better. I went away this weekend as well but to visit family. Walking down my hall to go out to my car, I read everyone’s white boards as I left. All of them had something to do with sickness: “DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE SICK!” “I’m sick” “Staying in my room and away from sickness” etc. etc. There is apparently no one who has been able to escape.

Not to exhaust that sickness idea though (which does seem to be getting better now that the weekend is over), I am actually going to be talking about music, specifically Jason’s music. Today is the release date for Jason Mraz’s new CD, A Beautiful Mess - Live from Earth. Because of my slight obsession (I will admit it now), I pre-ordered the CD two months ago which meant that I got the CD last week. It is absolutely AMAZING! Now being to two of his concerts (one being the concert directly before he recorded his concert in Chicago for the CD), it still does not do his concerts justice. There is nothing better than seeing him live. As apposed to many artists today, Jason sounds a great deal better live than on a recording. This CD definitely shows that ability and his pure musical talent, however. His love for the world and the people in it is also clearly displayed from the CD. There is a lot than one can learn from him in order to better thier life and outlook. I have been listening to nothing but the CD for the past week. I have also watched the DVD about 5 times since then. It is just absolutely amazing. You just have to take my word for it and go out and buy it…today!

I’ll leave you with these words from Jason:

Sometimes the sun shines on other people’s houses and not mine,
And the clouds can paint the sky in a way that takes away my summer time,
And somehow the sun shines upon you while i struggle to get by
But there’s a light in everybody so send your ray of sunshine

Fall break is over and now the entire campus is back to work. As I said in my last post I spent my Fall break on a service trip at Youth Development Inc., a youth camp and retreat center, in Headwaters, Virginia. My experiences there were some of the best experiences I had ever had. The trip was absolutely amazing! I went with five other Messiah students on this trip. Before leaving none of us knew each other, but by the end of the trip it was as if we had known each other forever. The group of us also immediately became close to the YDI staff as well.

After leaving Messiah around 12:45 on Thursday, we arrived at YDI around 5:00. The trip there was about 4 hours consisting of I-81 and then winding mountainous back roads until we arrived at Cow Pasture Road and the Headwaters Lodge. That night they allowed time for us to just explore the lodge and relax before being put to work. The group of us then went for a hike and then on a 4-wheel drive excursion to the top of a mountain that overlooked the Alleghenies. The view from the top of the mountain was astounding. It was amazing to look out over the tree covered hills colored with fall and realize how great our God is and how amazing his creation truly is. Then we traveled back down to the lodge for dinner, ping pong, and Apples to Apples.

Friday, we woke up had breakfast a time of devotionals and went to work. Our group was split up with the YDI staff and went outside to either stain two bunk houses or clear brush. I went up with two YDI staff members and three others from our Messiah group to stain the bunk houses. After a few set backs with the stain, we were able to completely stain both houses before lunch. Once lunch was cleaned up and all of the kitchen work was done, we went back outside to finish clearing up the brush. Despite the threat of rain, we were also able to finish with the brush before getting rained on; however, we then decided to go play volleyball in the field where it immediately started raining and then pouring. We were able to get a good game played in the pouring rain.

That night a youth group came for their fall retreat. The rest of the weekend was dedicated to helping with their retreat. We went to devotionals every morning and evening. We played games with them. We served them their meals and helped in the kitchen and dishroom. During the day on Saturday, we also we able to participate in many of the activities with them including a rock wall, the high ropes course and zip line, building a house out of index cards, and a whipped cream drop.

On  Sunday we had to leave and come back to school.  We didn’t leave before going to church with a large group of the YDI staff though. After church, we continued our way through four states back to Messiah. It was so hard to come back. After a weekend of no cell service, laptops, etc. etc., I was really reluctant to come back to the real world. It was surprisingly refreshing to escape the pressures of the world and run into the woods. It was also especially hard to walk away from the five amazing people that I had become so close to. Spending four straight days with them it was hard to realize that I wasn’t likely to see them everyday from now on. I know that we will remain friends and get together every once in a while, but its just not the same as the close knit family we had become over our time at YDI. Now that I am back at Messiah and have a couple of days back over with, I am almost reaquainted to the world I left behind last week. I will never forget my weekend though and will probably always have a small part of me that wants to go back to last weekend and escape back into Virginia and the woods.

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.

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.

It is the last Monday of the year. Granted we have finals next Monday still, but it is our last Monday of actual classes. The beginning of February, when we started Spring Semester, seems like yesterday and it also feels like years ago when looking back at it. It is sort of crazy to think about it all. Today is one of the gloomiest Monday’s ever too. Walking outside into the pouring rain first thing in the morning is never a good feeling. That feeling is even worse when it is Monday morning though. After a weekend of partying for my roommate, Danielle’s, birthday and doing a little bit of work, it was hard to get out of bed and actual go to class today. The rain outside made that feeling even worse. It is extremely nice to know though that after turning in two major papers today, I will only have one day of classes, 3 tests, and a presentation left until the semester officially comes to a close.

This weekend, as stated above, was as pretty good mix of work and fun. Since Danielle’s birthday was yesterday, we sort of had a weekend of celebration and had a good time going out and having fun. Friday we went to Panera for dinner and then went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey. Saturday, we basically just hung out and watched movies as well as got a little bit of work done. Sunday, after doing work in the afternoon we went out to Red Robin for dinner and then came back for cake. It was an overall really good weekend. It was especially nice to get everyone together for one of the last weekends of Sophomore year.

This has been a very eventful week. Not only has there been the business of classes and the end of the semester occuring, but there were a number of special events which have gone on as well.

Last Saturday was United Voices of Praise’s Concert of Praise. Some of my family as well as my best friend from high school and her friend from school all came for the concert. It was great to visit with them. It was especially nice to go out to eat and then have everyone from home meet everyone from school. Saturday was also such a gorgeous day in general. It became so hot in the church that we decided to just wear our t-shirts for the entirety of the concert instead of robes the first half and t-shirts the second. It was different, but it was definitely nice to not have to die of heat in our robes.

I also went to see Gavin Degraw with three friends this week. The concert was amazing! It is surprising the Gavin Degraw would come to Harrisburg and do a performance at the Whitaker Center, but I am definitely glad that he did. Up until this year I had only ever been to one concert, and in the past seven months I have been to three. It makes me laugh to think that all of the sudden I have taken up concert going basically out of no where. Even though Jason Mraz’s concert was by far my favorite, all three of them have been amazing. The four of us even had fun just hanging out before and after this past concert as well.

Yesterday was one of the busiest days as well as relaxing though in the past week. Yesterday was Service Day at Messiah (the day where there are no classes and all offices are closed in order for students, faculty, and employees to go out and do some sort of service project during the day). I participated in Special Olympics. I did the same thing last year and both years have proven themselves to be amazing experiences. Special Olympics is the biggest service project that Messiah participates in because it is one campus and a number of people are needed either to be a buddy to a participant or to run an event. The past two years, I have worked at the high jump and have moved the bar to up and down as well as reset it after it fell down. Now at first this job might not seem very important or completely as a great act of service and rightly so.  Granted it needs to be done and without it the process would just take even longer than it already does, but there is also so much to it. Just standing there and watching the participants as they jump over the bar is life changing. They are always so incredibly proud of themselves and you can tell how much fun they are having. It is amazing to see how much life and enthusiasm these kids have. Even the littlest thing that you can do in order to help someone and make their day a little brighter, can truly make your life a little brighter as well.

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.

It is amazing how close we are to the end of the semester. With only a month left of classes and then only one additional week for finals, we do not have that much time left. Looking at my calendar of things that have to get done in the next month though was when this actually hit me. All of those papers and projects that we were told about the first day of class and then quickly forgotten about now have due dates which are slowly creeping up on me. This past weekend, even though I did have time to relax, I had a bunch of work to do as well. Today consisted of taking a test and handing in a paper. Tomorrow consists of a paper and a debate. Even though the rest of the week after tomorrow is pretty clear and begins Easter break, there is still much to do over break and as so as I get back.

Despite the stresses of classes wrapping up and work being piled on, it is nice to know that there is only one month left until I am half way through my college career. It all seems to have gone by so fast the past two years, but I also still have those two years left of my college years to cherish. Oh my.

P.S. Happy Birthday Jessica!

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.