look in your heart and you'll find

I feel like it has been forever since I’ve written and there is no way I can write all that has happened in the past two weeks. Exactly two weeks ago from today though, my spring break started. That afternoon, the gospel choir left for our tour to Canada. Despite my nervous before leaving since I had done a great deal of the planning myself, tour was absolutely amazing. I can’t even describe in words how rewarding the trip was and how close the choir became because of it. It is amazing how we can spend at least two hours a week together as a choir and not truly know each other. During our five days on tour though, we became like family. We were able to all be impacted in such a strong way by those we sang for and those we were singing with. No matter where we were singing, at the school, a mega church, or a small country church, we were able to gather together and worship God as a group. After traveling and singing with them from Niagara, Toronto, New York, and back to Grantham, I was actually upset to have to go home for the rest of my spring break.

I definitely enjoyed my time at home though. While I spent a lot of time by myself doing nothing, it was nice to not have to worry about work and to take that time to relax. I did get to see my friends as well and get a little bit of school work done, so the entire week wasn’t completely wasted on nothing either.

Being back at school has been hard to get back into the swing of things. While break rejuvinated me it also helped to make me lazy. Being that I have been back into four days of classes though I feel as if I am getting used to being back again. Next week I will already be back in Indiana for Easter and despite just having a break, it will be nice to have a break again with family and friends.

This week is that last week before spring break. I am super excited for spring break this year not only because I will be able to get a break from classes and hopefully have time to relax at home, but also because United Voices of Praise will be traveling to Canada. We will be leaving Thursday afternoon and missing classes on Friday in order to go into a Christian school in Niagara. I can not wait to leave. It is sure to be an amazing time. Last year our group traveled to Ohio and had a blast. Through the three days we spent together on the bus and singing with each other, we were able to become so much closer as a group. After tour it was amazing to see all of the positive changes to the choir. This year we will be gone from Thursday to Monday and in a foreign country, so I can’t even imagine how much better it is going to be from last year. After all of the planning that I have put into the trip, I am slightly worried about how it will inevitably turn out in the end, but I believe that it will be wonderful and that great things are going to happen to us and through us! In the next entry I write I am sure that I will have great things to say, and I will be thrilled to write about what has happened. I have to get through the rest of this week though with a few projects and tests still to come though before I can officially head out. It is sure to be an amazing time though and I can not wait to see all that is going to come my way.

I feel as if the past week has actually spanned over a number of weeks instead of just one. Last Thursday at this time I was home in Indiana with my friend Jocelyn showing her around my little Western Pennsylvanian town. Over her trip home with me for j-term break, we visited a number of my friends from home, toured Indiana, traveled to Pittsburgh in the freezing cold, and celebrated my Mom’s birthday. It was so nice to be able to show Jocelyn a little bit of my life at home and have a break from Messiah before starting up classes on Monday.

This week has presented itself with a number of new challenges/experiences. Monday was our first day of classes. Being a junior Education major this semester’s classes was completly blocked out for me with education classes and involves me going into the classroom two mornings a week. After not having any classes since the middle of December, it was really difficult getting out of bed on Monday and starting to get back into the swing of things. Now that a couple days have gone by it seems to be getting better, but thinking about actually having class still seems like slightly a foreign concept to me. While being at school without classes was such a nice experience, the experience of getting back to school and actually having classes is a little rough. I feel as though this will be an enjoyable semester though. While it may present itself with some new and exciting challenges, I am ready for them. I am ready to make the most of my time here at Messiah and get ready to be thrown into a classroom. Bring on Spring Semester!

As predicted last friday…this past weekend was full of excitement. Our trip to Philly was filled with siteseeing and great times with friends. Once arriving at the Philly campus Friday night we got settled in and visited with Amber for a bit before leaving the room and exploring the campus. We got the tour of Messiah College Philly and then walked around Temple for a little bit too. Arriving back at Amber’s room we did a little bit more catching up before getting some sleep before our big day of siteseeing on Saturday.

We woke up Saturday ready for our day of touring the city. After grabbing a quick breakfast at the “caf”, we started our journey on the subway heading towards Independence hall. There we went to Fox 29 where Amber interns, Benjamin Franklin’s house, a few shops, the liberty bell, and Independence hall. We then set off to Naked Chocolate. This chocolate shop was amazing. After walking a number of blocks we finally found it and enjoyed the most delicious and thick hot chocolate I have ever seen or eaten in my life…DELICIOUS!! It was absolutely amazing! We also finished this little spurt of eating by having lunch at the IHOP across the street where we had a ton of fun and a great waiter who helped us find our way since our personal Philly resident was clueless to where we were. At the point we made our way to City Hall and Love park where we were able to take tons and tons of pictures. We then made our way to the Art Museum in order to run up the steps before getting back on the subway and heading back to the Philly campus. We then enjoyed an evening of movies, more food, pool, and more exciting exploration of the Messiah campus.

Sunday, we got up for church and then heading straight for the subway to find some authentic Philly Cheesesteak. After a bit of confusion on where exactly we needed to go we ended up finding the corner where both Pat’s and Geno’s stand. We ended up going to Geno’s (don’t yell at me I’m from near Pittsburgh and don’t know which one is better…except Primanti Bros.) and it was absolutely delicious! After finishing another delicious meal we headed back to the subway and found our way to Philly campus one last time before heading off down the Turnpike and back to Grantham after a quick stop at the King of Prussia mall. Our trip to Philly was a great time. It was nice to get to visit Amber and experience a little bit of the city life she and all of the Philly students get to experience everyday.

The end of last week and the weekend were absolutely amazing. We had fall break at Messiah Thursday and Friday which was definitely needed. It was by far the best break ever as well.

It all started Wednesday night when Kelly and I headed up to Scranton to see Jason Mraz. As you can probably imagine if you read my last post, I was ecstatic! The concert blew my mind. It was just so good, beyond words. He is an amazing musician and that was definitely displayed at the concert. Even though we were five rows from the back, we even had great seats. I have absolutely no complaints about last Wednesday night. I was so excited throughout the whole thing I just couldn’t stop smiling or shaking.

The next morning I headed off to Penn State to visit Jessica, my best friend from home. This was the first time I had actually been able to visit her at school. It was really nice to see her again, see her in her school environment and meet all of her Penn State friends. (It was especially nice waking up Friday at 12:30 after Penn State had already been up and having classes for hours and I had no classes to worry about.) It was a great chill and catch up time. I really miss my friends from home even though I love my friends at Messiah. There is just something different between your home friends whom you have been friends with for what seems like forever that you don’t get with your new college friends.

After leaving Penn State since Jessica had to go with her choir to Mechanicsburg for the weekend (thank you irony), I went and visited my grandparents Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. As a child I always spent a great deal of time with my grandparents but as I got older the time I have spent with them has definitely dwindled. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them again.

Its definitely sad that Fall break is over. All of the anticipation leading up to it is now gone and its really quite depressing. After having two days of classes though I’m starting to get back into the swing of things I guess. I just wish it could be last Wednesday and I was on my way to see Jason Mraz all over again.